Finding a Word: Listening to the Texts – March 24, 2019

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Wisdom shouts in the street; in the public square she raises her voice. Above the noisy crowd, she calls out. At the entrances of the city gates, she has her say: “How long will you clueless people love your naïveté, mockers hold their mocking dear, and fools hate knowledge? You should respond when I correct you. Look, I’ll pour out my spirit on you. I’ll reveal my words to you.” (Proverbs 1:20-23)

The Wisdom tradition within Christianity invites us to love knowledge, especially the self knowledge that comes from examining ourselves in relationship to the liberating Word of God. Lectio divina (“divine reading”) is an ancient tradition of mixing the reading of scripture with prayer and meditation. Rather than an analytical approach to the words of scripture, it is a way for the words to simply be present and live in us. What will we hear when we let go of what it all is “supposed to” mean and simply let it reside within us?

Finding Your Breath: Listening to our Bodies – March 17, 2019

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Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.  (Romans 8:26)

Our sacred texts connect the breath of God with our own aliveness–God blew breath into us at creation and we continue to breathe all of creation in and out of our bodies constantly. The early church also believed that breath and Spirit were one in the same. How might the meditative practice of paying attention to our breath be, in and of itself, a prayer of connection to God? When we embrace our bodies as the holy vessel of God, we become even more our True Selves–which has been there all along.

Finding Your Cave: Listening Spaces – March 10, 2019

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…he went into a cave and spent the night… The Lord said, “Go out and stand at the mountain before the Lord. The Lord is passing by.” A very strong wind tore through the mountains and broke apart the stones before the Lord. But the Lord wasn’t in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake. But the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake. After the earthquake, there was a fire. But the Lord wasn’t in the fire. After the fire, there was a sound. Thin. Quiet…  (1 Kings 19: 11-12)

Sometimes we just need to get away in order to hear from that “still small voice” within. This quiet voice is an attribute of the Holy Living God, as Elijah found out in a cave where he expected to experience God in big wind and earthquake and fire. What is your “cave” equivalent? What place (a park, a path, a rocking chair, a shoreline) and practice (walking, journaling, reading, making art) helps you get quiet enough for long enough so you can hear past the chaos and into the depths of your life?

Ash Wednesday: Finding Your Life: Listening Deeply – March 6, 2019

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“…repent and believe in the Good News.” – Luke 1: 9-15

As we prepare for our 40-day journey of Lent, we “turn around” (the root meaning of the word “repent”) from the distractions of daily noise and focus our attention on listening in a deeper way. Writer Parker Palmer suggests we must listen “to what our life is telling us”–in other words, to listen to the deep wisdom God gave to us as a birthright, connecting to God’s purpose once again.

It’s the End of the World As We Know It – March 3, 2019

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So, since we have such a hope, we act with great confidence. 2 Corinthians 3:12)

The Transfiguration reminds us that we have hope in Christ and the confidence to follow Christ even when the world as we know it comes to an end, and we must trust God’s promises. The message of Revelation is one of hope and confidence in God, and is placed at the end of our scriptures to give us confidence that as God is glorified in Jesus, and in us, the world will change for good.

The Church Goes on the Road – February 24, 2019

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The Church Goes on the Road – February 24, 2019

Those who had been scattered moved on, preaching the good news along the way.  Philip went down to a city in Samaria and began to preach Christ to them. (Acts 8:4-5)

Philip was the first of the disciples to go on the road, and he was followed by many, especially Paul, Barnabas, Luke, Silas and eventually Timothy and others. The church grows when we leave the building, the spaces where we are comfortable, and the world is waiting to hear our witness of Christ.

Did I Hear That Right? The Enigmatic Teachings of the New Testament – February 17, 2019

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 Jesus raised his eyes to his disciples and said:“Happy are you who are poor, because God’s kingdom is yours. Happy are you who hunger now, because you will be satisfied.

Happy are you who weep now, because you will laugh. (Luke 6:20-22)

Jesus said the most enigmatic things, possibly none so enigmatic as the Beatitudes. This sermon will explore a variety of things Jesus says, and what we should make of them, based on the teachings in Luke called the Sermon on the Plain.

God’s Gift of Jesus – February 10, 2019

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He began to explain to them, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it.” (Luke 4:21)

The gift of Jesus is the foundation of all we are as Christians, the culmination of all scripture up to that point, the vision for a future with God.

Tell-A-Vision Personalities – February 3, 2019

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Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said o me, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms. (Jeremiah 1:.9)

Who were the prophets of Israel and just what was their commission to share the vision of God? Our journey through the Bible continues as we discover just what the prophets said, how they said it, and how our response today is important.

Old Testament Lit. 101 – January 27, 2019

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The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple, the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes… (Psalm  19:7-8)

An overview of Ecclesiastes, Job, Psalms, Proverbs and Song of Solomon.

The sages had two sources of information about life: the natural world and their Wisdom tradition. Unlike prophets and priests, the sages believed that God wove important principles into the fabric of the universe, which careful observation could discern. The sages believed that things happen for reasons and that humans are able to figure out the workings of the universe. The prophets, in contrast, believed that God gives divine knowledge to select humans thorough dreams, visions, ecstasy, and divine appearance. Yet some of the sages felt outrage because their expectation was that the universe should make sense, but in their experience it did not. So these sages challenged the rationality of their universe and even the justice of God.