Looking In – November 8, 2020

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Scripture: Matthew 6: 19-24

“Stop collecting treasures for your own benefit on earth, where moth and rust eat them and where thieves break in and steal them. Instead, collect treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust don’t eat them and where thieves don’t break in and steal them. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how terrible that darkness will be! No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be loyal to the one and have contempt for the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” (Matthew 6:19-24)

George Bailey gets a wonderful gift of seeing what he world would have been like without him in it. We live an “incarnational” faith–the belief that, like Jesus, our faith is not just an idea, but it gets lived out in our actions in the world. This week we integrate money and meaning by looking in at the courageous vision for our presence and impact in the world. This is the bedrock for how we “spend” our assets–time, energy, and money–so that we approach the life we have left with attentiveness and intentionality to making it a“wonder-full” life.

Looking Back – November 1, 2020

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All Saints Day

Scripture: Matthew 22: 15-22

Then the Pharisees met together to find a way to trap Jesus in his words. They sent their disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are genuine and that you teach God’s way as it really is. We know that you are not swayed by people’s opinions, because you don’t show favoritism. So tell us what you think: Does the Law allow people to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

Knowing their evil motives, Jesus replied, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used to pay the tax.” And they brought him a denarion. “Whose image and inscription is this?” he asked. “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” When they heard this they were astonished, and they departed. (Matthew 22:15-22)

Our relationship with money has a history as long as our lives but also as expansive as the family systems and culture of which we are a part. Creating spiritual practices for how we deal money invites us to look back, to see with new eyes how and when our values and fears were initiated. Like George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, we sometimes need some help in the midst of the discouragement that can come with being in the “whale” of our fear about money. We look back with a practice of compassion for ourselves and others and a faith that reminds us of our true worth.

Passing It On to the Next Generation – October 25, 2020

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Scripture: Deuteronomy 34: 1-12

[Then Moses said,] “Israel, listen! Our God is the LORD! Only the LORD! Love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your being, and all your strength. These words that I am commanding you today must always be on your minds. Recite them to your children… In the future, your children will ask you, “What is the meaning of the laws, the regulations, and the case laws that the LORD our God commanded you?” tell them: We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. But the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.” (Deuteronomy 6: 4-7)

God shows Moses the Promised Land, though he is not allowed to enter it. That honor is reserved for Joshua, who was ordained by Moses to follow him. It seems likely that as Moses died he held in his mind that vision of the Promised Land’s beauty. Israel mourned, and remembered their great leader. But Moses’ story wasn’t over. He reappeared centuries later in the Bible’s story. If anything, now he had a greater honor—he was encouraging Jesus, the LORD he’d served all his life, as Jesus prepared to face the cross on which he would save the whole world. Moses was a reluctant prophet, but set a course to follow God at all costs, a course we can still follow today.

Then and Now – October 18, 2020

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Then and Now – October 18, 2020

Dr. Alex Shawn Preaching

Scripture: Numbers 14: 1-11

Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron; the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? (Numbers 14:1-11)

With the law given (and re-given) at Sinai, God instructed Moses to lead the people toward the Promised Land. As they got close, Moses sent out 12 spies, one from each tribe, to scout the land. After all, none of them had ever been there. They reported that yes, it was a good, fruitful land. But 10 of the 12 spies were also gripped by fear, and said they didn’t dare try to take the land. They seemed to utterly forget that God’s power, not their own, had brought them this far. The trek in the wilderness was important for the development of Israel. Where do we find ourselves in our own trek, and what is our response?

Living In a Tent – October 11, 2020

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Scripture: Exodus 25:1, 8-9, Exodus 29:42-46

And have them make me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell among them. (Exodus 25:8)

The Exodus was so sudden. Practically overnight, the Israelites went from being slaves, struggling to survive making bricks without any straw provided for them to use, to being a free people, but out in a desert they had never lived in. Leaving an Egypt that worshiped frogs, cows, a river and the sun (among other “gods”), the Israelites had a lot to learn about Yahweh, the awe-inspiring LORD who had freed them. And God commanded Moses, “Build me a sanctuary”—a visible symbol that God was in their midst. What are the visible symbols that are important to us? What do we use to maintain a sense of God’s spiritual presence with us?

God’s Top Ten – October 4, 2020

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God’s Top Ten – October 4, 2020

Scripture: Exodus 20: 1-20

Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:1-2)

After the shocking destruction of Pharaoh’s army, Egypt was definitively part of Israel’s past.Through Moses and the pillar of smoke and fire, God led the newly freed people to Mount Sinai. They knew who they weren’t: slaves to Egypt. Now God began the process of helping them understand who they were. As they reached Sinai, God gave them this divine purpose statement: “You will be a kingdom of priests for me and a holy nation.” How does Israel’s identity affect us in the 21st century?

 

Remembering – September 27, 2020

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Scripture: Exodus: 17: 1-7

He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7)

The people of Israel had an over-arching tendency to forget their blessings when they were confronted with hardship. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” They questioned Moses’ leadership over and over again, as well as God’s presence on an almost daily basis. In what ways do we question God’s presence in our midst? What is the role of a leader in engaging God’s presence?

The Exodus: Passover, Pillar of Fire, and Pharaoh’s Pursuit – September 20, 2020

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The Exodus: Passover, Pillar of Fire, and Pharaoh’s Pursuit – September 20, 2020

Scripture: Exodus 14: 19-31

Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. (Exodus 14:30-31)

Highlights of the Exodus, beginning with the Passover, guided by the pillar of fire and culminating in the victory at the Reed Sea, set the stage for Israel’s history, including their propensity to complain, and God’s way of responding to those complaints. What does our march into the Promised Land today look like?

What Do You Say to a Burning Bush? – September 13, 2020

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Scripture: Exodus 3:1-15

When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.” (Exodus 3:4-6)

Moses’ call began with curiosity and his initial conversation with God included exploration, fear, confusion, questions, and more as he began to sense the identity of the presence in the burning bush. What do we say when the burning bush speaks to us?

A Fearful Pharaoh vs. A Quartet of Courageous Women – September 6, 2020

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A Fearful Pharaoh vs. A Quartet of Courageous Women – September 6, 2020

Scripture: Exodus 1: 8-2:10  Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”

Synopsis: The story of the Exodus begins with fear…fear of a numerous people by a new king who arose over Egypt, who worried that they would become more powerful than the Egyptians, and who put in place ways to oppress and enslave them. Four women defied the orders of the king in different ways: the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, the Levite Woman, and the daughter of Pharaoh. Moses was born in a time of fear, but the women who surrounded him showed a way of dealing with the oppressive nature of power. How do we apply their courage to our time today?