Reclaiming Christmas // Learning from Mary
Sunday December 22nd, 2024

Text:

Luke 1:

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

46 And Mary[f] said,“My soul magnifies the Lord,

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.

50 His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.

51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;

53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.

54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,

55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

56 And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.
——

Quotes:

”In Mary’s Magnificat, we are drawn into a vision of profound peace, one that upends the world’s power structures and comforts the lowly. Her song proclaims the faithfulness of a God who lifts the humble, fills the hungry, and remembers the forgotten. This prophetic peace is not passive but transformative, offering hope to those who long for justice and a kingdom where mercy reigns.”

”“Music has always been inseparable from religious expression, since, like religion at its best, music marks the "limits of reason." Because a territory is defined by its extremities, it follows that music must be "definitively" rational. It is the most corporeal of the arts: it is produced by breath, voice, horsehair, shells, guts, and skins and reaches "resonances in our bodies at levels deeper than will or consciousness."
-Karen Armstrong, Case for God
————

Reclaiming Advent // Peace in the In-Between
Sunday December 8th, 2024

Text:
Matthew 2:

Then we pick up the story:

13 Now after they (Magi) had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 Then Joseph[h] got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

The Massacre of the Infants

16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi,[i] he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the magi.[j] 17 Then what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”

The Return from Egypt

19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20 “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” 21 Then Joseph[k] got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. 23 There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazarene.”

——

Quotes:

“Of all weapons, love is the most deadly and devastating, and few there be who dare trust their fate in its hands.”
-Howard Thurman

—-

“In the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt, the God of parsecs and millennia is snuggled tightly to his mother’s breast and smuggled to safety, all so that the God of parsecs and millennia can whisper into the dreams of fleeing Syrians and Somalians and Central Americans, ‘Me, too.’”
-Pastor Kate Hayes

——-

Reclaiming Advent // Hope Beyond Nations
Sunday December 1st, 2024

Text (s):
Isaiah 9:
9 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—

2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.

3 You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
when dividing the plunder.

4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.

5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.

6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.

——

Mark 12

13 Then they sent to him some Pharisees and some Herodians to trap him in what he said. 14 And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere and show deference to no one, for you do not regard people with partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay them, or should we not?” But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me see it.” 16 And they brought one. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this and whose title?” They answered, “Caesar’s.” 17 Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at him.
——-

John 18
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”
——
1 John 4 says:

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

———

Quotes:

“Should disciples of Jesus love their nation, the one they claim and are claimed by? This is the wrong question. The question we are compelled to ask and answer by our lives is, How might we show the love of God for all peoples, a love that cannot be contained by any nation, a love that slices through borders and boundaries and reaches every people group, every clan, every tribe, and every family?”\
-Dr. William James Jennings, Acts Commentary
——-

“We would like a church that again asserts that God, not nations, rules the world, that the boundaries of God's kingdom transcend those of Caesar, and that the main political task of the church is the formation of people who see clearly the cost of discipleship and are willing to pay the price.”
-Stanley Haurwaus, Resident Aliens

——-

Reclaim // Discipleship
Sunday November 24th, 2024

Text:

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
——

Quotes:

"It's an idea that you can taste," says Jones. "I have some imagination, so this idea of grace and forgiveness... suddenly that idea of the divine is in your mouth. What a concept! It gets stuck in your teeth. It's something which is really interesting for me – what can I learn from that? How can you give people an experience?"
-Sanderson Jones
——

“The Eucharist is the definitive action practiced in the Christian community that keeps Jesus Christ before us as the savior of the world and our savior, and ourselves as sinners in need of being saved. It is very easy to drift of into imagining Jesus as just our great example whom we will imitate, or our great teacher from whom we will learn, or our great hero from whom we will be inspired. The Eucharist is the sacramental act that pulls us into actual physical participation with Christ, eating and drinking bread and wine as he gives his very life for us and for our salvation…”
-Eugene Petersen
——

In terms of the communion part, the significance I gathered was that food holds so much memory, like our faith and traditions, this supper we emulate as a ritual in our faith. Remembering is sacred, and feasting with friends and enemies and strangers around food is sacred. And there’s still so much that is mysterious and open and I’m pondering around this act in our faith. My biggest conclusions so far are that we really need one another—a true sense of interdependence. In times of celebration, in times of dispair, and everything in between, we will be the ones to help one another, and creating systems and spaces where that can happen, more moments of connection, proximity, vulnerability, and practically is necessary.
-Marianna

———-

Reclaim // Discipleship
Sunday November 17th, 2024

TEXT:

Luke 14:25-35 (NSRVue)

The Cost of Discipleship

25 Now large crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot, then while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

About Salt

34 “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?[a] 35 It is useful neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. If you have ears to hear, then hear!”

Luke 14:25-35 (First Nations Translation)

COUNTING THE COST

Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was coming near to Jerusalem. Large crowds were following him, so he turned to them and said, “The ones who come to me must put me first, above all others. To walk the road with me, they must love and respect me above their own fathers and mothers, wives and children, and aunties and uncles. They must love me even more than their own lives. Only the ones who are willing to follow me and carry their own crossbeam are ready to walk the road with me and learn my ways. “Who would build a great lodge without first making sure he had enough trees to finish it? If he only built the floor and then ran out of trees, others would laugh at him and say, ‘How will you finish what you started?’ “Would a chief go to war against another chief if he only had half as many warriors? No! He would send messengers ahead to make a peace treaty! “You must count the cost of following me, for all who are not willing to give up all they have are not ready to walk the road with me and learn my ways.” Then he added, “Salt is a good thing, but if it loses its saltiness, how will it get its flavor back? That kind of salt is thrown away. It is no good for the garden or the manure pile. “Let the ones who have ears hear what I am saying!”

QUOTES:

The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried
― G.K. Chesterton, What's Wrong with the World, 1910

The threads of connection between Primitive Christianity and the world are to be sought not in the high regions of culture and power but in the lower levels of the common life of the people.
― Adolf Deissmann, 1922

——

Reclaim // Evangelism
Sunday November 10th, 2024

Text:

Matthew 28:16-20:
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

——-

Quotes:

Adapted Serenity Prayer

God, grant us the serenity
to accept the things we cannot change
the courage to change the things we can
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Let us never grow weary in doing good

Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time.
Accepting hardships as a pathway to peace.
Taking, as Christ did, the sinful world as it is,
not as we would have it.
Trusting that you will get the last word

Give us the strength and faith to keep going
To keep healing, serving, and loving our broken world
Amidst the losses and gains found in particular moment in humanity
May we never let our hope be stolen
May we continue to build peace at all costs
And may we lean on one another and you always
——

“It was actually dangerous to put the Scriptures in the hands of people whose inner self is not yet sufficiently awakened to encounter the Spirit, because they will try to use God for their own egocentric purposes. (This is why religion is so subject to corruption!)
- Thomas Merton”
—-

“People who have lost their sentness expect their church to deliver on its promisest o meet their needs, to care for them, to make them feel good. Pastors who have lost their sentendess see their primary responsibilities as organizing services and meeting the needs of the people who are paying their bills”
-Kim Hammond and Darren Crenshaw
.—-

Chris’ paraphrase of the Great Commission (Reclaimed)

“Go love and serve the whole world with urgency because the world is in great need. Become learners that create communities and relationships of humility and curiosity. Do it all with love in your heart and in the spirit of the God who gave everything to offer healing of the world. Practice radical love in your words, deeds, and thoughts, with an eye for those on the margins, and an awareness of the corrupting influence of power, greet, lust, and hate. And remember that you are never ever ever alone…..

——-

Reclaim // Church
Sunday October 27th, 2024

Text:
Colossians 3:

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

——

Quotes:

“Church attendance is impossible, just like attending your family is possible. Church is a family you belong to, not an event to attend.”
-David Dark, Lifes too short to pretend you’re not religous

——

”When you join a church you’re just picking which hot mess is your favorite...”
“The modern-day church likes results. Convinced the gospel is a product we’ve got to sell to an increasingly shrinking market, we like our people to function as walking advertisements: happy, put-together, finished—proof that this Jesus stuff WORKS! At its best, such a culture generates pews of Stepford Wife–style robots with painted smiles and programmed moves. At its worst, it creates environments where abuse and corruption get covered up to protect reputations and preserve image. “The world is watching,” Christians like to say, “so let’s be on our best behavior and quickly hide the mess. Let’s throw up some before-and-after shots and roll that flashy footage of our miracle product blanching out every sign of dirt, hiding every sign of disease.” But if the world is watching, we might as well tell the truth. And the truth is, the church doesn’t offer a cure. It doesn’t offer a quick fix. The church offers death and resurrection. The church offers the messy, inconvenient, gut-wrenching, never-ending work of healing and reconciliation. The church offers grace. Anything else we try to peddle is snake oil. It’s not the real thing.”
-Rachel Held Evans
——

“E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G—is connected. The soil needs rain, organic matter, air, worms and life in order to do what it needs to do to give and receive life. Each element is an essential component. “Organizing takes humility and selflessness and patience and rhythm while our ultimate goal of liberation will take many expert components. Some of us build and fight for land, healthy bodies, healthy relationships, clean air, water, homes, safety, dignity, and humanizing education. Others of us fight for food and political prisoners and abolition and environmental justice. Our work is intersectional and multifaceted. Nature teaches us that our work has to be nuanced and steadfast. And more than anything, that we need each other—at our highest natural glory—in order to get free.”
-Adriane Marie Browne, Emergent Strategy

———

Reclaim // The Bible
Sunday October 20th, 2024

Text:

1 John 1:1-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

——

Mathew 5
21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment….

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

——

Quotes:

“It was actually dangerous to put the Scriptures in the hands of people whose inner self is not yet sufficiently awakened to encounter the Spirit, because they will try to use God for their own egocentric purposes. (This is why religion is so subject to corruption!)”
-Thomas Merton

“The story of the Hebrew Bible has to tell is the story of an evolving consciousness, a consciousness that went through many stages of development and that, like all living things, sometimes grew slowly and sometimes grew in spurts.”
-Dan Cahill

“The Bible is AT LEAST a collection of books and writings assembled by the Church that chronicle a people group's experiences with, and understanding of, God over thousands of years. EVEN IF that is a comprehensive definition of the Bible, study of scripture is warranted to understand our culture and the way in which people come to know God.”
-Mike Mcharge

——

Books to read:
-Inspired, Rachel Held Evans
-How the Bible Actually Works In Which I Explain How An Ancient, Ambiguous, and Diverse Book Leads Us to Wisdom Rather Than Answers—and Why That’s Great News, Peter Enns

Reclaim // Faith
Sunday October 13th, 2024

Text:

Matthew 13:31-32

Matthew 17:20
“For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

——-

Quotes:

“...I had arrived at an understanding of faith that had far more to do with trust than with certainty. I trusted God to be God even if I could not say who God was for sure. I trusted God to sustain the world although I could not say for sure how that happened. I trusted God to hold me and those I loved, in life and in death…

“I wanted to recover the kind of faith that has nothing to do with being sure what I believe and everything to do with trusting God to catch me though I am not sure of anything.”

― Barbara Brown Taylor, Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith

—-

“The civil rights movement was based on faith. Many of us who were participants in this movement saw our involvement as an extension of our faith. We saw ourselves doing the work of the Almighty. Segregation and racial discrimination were not in keeping with our faith, so we had to do something.”

-John Lewis

——-

Ask / Seek / Knock
What would Jesus ask?
Sunday September 29th, 2024

Mark 8:34-48

34 He called the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?

————-

Ask / Seek / Knock
What is my purpose?
Sunday September 22nd, 2024

Text(s):

1 Samuel 8:6-9

But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel, so he prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.

8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”

1 Samuel 8:17-22

17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you on that day.” 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. 22 The Lord answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”

Matthew 28:19-20

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Emphasis mine.)

Galatians 4:7

"Therefore, you are no longer a servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” (Emphasis mine.)

Psalm 23:6

“Surely Your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Emphasis mine.)

——

Ask / Seek / Knock
What if God is a construct?
Sunday September 15th, 2024

Text:

I. John 9:1-12

II. As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

III. 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

IV. 6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

V. 8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was.

VI. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”

VII. But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”

VIII. 10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

IX. 11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

X. 12 “Where is this man?” they asked him.

XI. “I don’t know,” he said.

——

Ask / Seek / Knock
What do I want?
Sunday September 9th, 2024

Anchor Text(s): Matthew 16:13-20

First Nations Version:

YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE!

They journeyed on and came into the territory of Ruler of the Horsemen (Caesarea Philippi).

This territory was ruled by Chief Looks Brave (Herod) under the authority of the Ruler of the People of Iron (Caesar). There was a cave and a deep, bottomless pit there that was called by the local people “The Gate of the Dark Underworld of Death (Hades).” This was a place of bad medicine and lying spirits.

When they came into this place, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) asked the ones who were walking the road with him, “Who do the people think the True Human Being is? What are they saying?”

His followers looked around at each other and then back to Creator Sets Free (Jesus).

“Some say Gift of Goodwill (John) who performed the purification ceremony,” they answered. “Others say Great Spirit Is Creator (Elijah), or even Lifted by Creator (Jeremiah), or one of the other prophets.”

He then lowered his voice and spoke in a more serious tone.

“So tell me,” he asked them, “How do you see me? Who do you say that I am?”

Silent faces stared back at him. They began to look at each other, and some looked down to the ground. The moment of truth had come, but no one dared to speak. Then suddenly a voice pierced through the silence.

“You are the Chosen One,” One Who Hears, also called Stands on the Rock (Simon/Peter), answered, “the Son of the living Creator!”

Creator Sets Free (Jesus) smiled at him and said, “One Who Hears (Simon), Son of Wings of Dove (Bar-Jonah), Creator’s blessing rests on you, for flesh and blood did not help you see, but my Father from above opened your eyes. For this reason I have given you the name Stands on the Rock (Peter), and upon this great rock I will make my sacred family stand strong. And the powers of the Dark Underworld of Death (Hades) will not stand against them.

“I am giving you the authority of Creator’s good road from above. The things you do not permit on earth will be what Creator has not permitted in the spirit-world above. The things that you permit on earth will be what Creator has permitted in the spirit-world above.”

He then instructed his followers not to tell anyone that he was the Chosen One.

New Revised Standard Version:

13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But what about you?”he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”20Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Additional Texts:

Psalm 37:4 — Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Jeremiah 17:9 — The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Acts 4:11 — Jesus is “the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone” [this passage is referencing Psalm 118:22]

Matthew 7:24 — “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise person who built their house on the rock”

——

Ask / Seek / Knock
Questions about the Bible and Sexuality
Sunday September 1st, 2024

Text(s):

1 Cor 6:9:Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Tim: 1:10 9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine
——

Romans 1:25-27
“25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.”

——
Song of Songs 7:6–14

He says:
How fair and pleasant you are

O loved one, delectable maiden.

You are stately as a palm tree,

And your breasts are like its clusters.
I say I will climb the palm tree, and
Lay hold of its branches.

Oh, may your breasts be like
Clusters of the vine.

And the scent of your breath like apples,
And your kisses like the best wine that
Goes down smoothly

Gliding over lips and teeth…

She answers:
That pleases my lover, rousing him
Even from sleep.

I am my lover’s,

He longs for me,
Only for me.

He answers:
Come my beloved,

Let us go out into the fields,

And lie all night among the flowering henna.
Let us go early to the vineyards…

There I will give you my love.
——-
Matthew 22:34-40

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

——-
1 Corinthians 10:23

"Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything.

Quotes:

“Many conservative Christians condemn same sex relations, especially among women, by quoting Paul’s statement in Roman 1:26-27. But this passage really condemns the Isis Cult practiced in Rome during Paul’s age. The animals mentioned in Romans 1 correspond to the animal images of gods popular in the Isis cult, the unnatural sex practiced by the women refers to the behavior of Isis priestesses, and the immoral men refer to castrated male priests in the Isis cult. Love between two free, adult people in love is not condemned here by Paul.” - Prof Robert Gnuse, “Romans 1:26-27 condemns the Cult of Isis, not Homosexuality”,Loyola University

——

“The Song of Songs is a delightfully erotic, sensual dance between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman, who, given what we know about marriage at the time the Bible was written, are probably in their early teen years. Their desire for each other is mutual; their passion is mutual; their fulfillment is mutual. The emphasis is on passion and intimacy; there is no discussion of marriage or fertility. And, it is only one of the places in Scripture where physical beauty is affirmed; where pleasure is good, where there are many forms of blessed relationships, and where sexuality is a source of pleasure and pain in our lives.”
-Debra Haffner
——-

“Scripture is less concerned with an ethic of sexuality than it is with an ethic of love. I believe that any use of Scripture that violates people’s essential nature, excludes them from God’s love, and impedes them from living according to their own conscience and integrity violates the very message of the good news.” Debra Hafner
——-

Resources:

Podcasts/Audio
-The Liturgists LGBT: http://www.theliturgists.com/podcast/2015/5/18/episode-20-lgbtq

Movie:
1942 / The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture

Books/Articles:
-The Widening of God's Mercy: Sexuality Within the Biblical Story, Chris and Richard Hayes

-Sexuality and Scripture: What Else Does the Bible Have to Say? Debra W. Haffner
-God and the Gay Christian, Matthew Vines
-Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate, Justin Lee
-Shameless, Nadia Bolz Webber
-Walking the Bridgeless Canyon: Repairing the Breach Between the Church and the LGBT Community , Kathy Baldock
-Christianity and Homosexuality Reconciled: New Thinking for a New Millennium!, Dr. Joseph Pearson

-A Letter to My Congregation, Ken Wilson

-Unclobbered, Colby Martin
-Changing Our Mind, second edition: A call from America’s leading evangelical ethics scholar for full acceptance of LGBT Christians in the Church, David Gushee

———

Ask / Seek / Knock
Questions about the Afterlife
Sunday August 18th, 2024

Text:
Matthew 25:31-46

The Sheep and the Goats

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
——

Quotes:
“Our picture, which we get from Dante and Michelangelo, particularly of a heaven and a hell, and perhaps of a purgatory as well, simply isn’t consonant with what we find in the New Testament,” Wright said. “A lot of these images of hellfire and damnation are actually pagan images which the Middle Ages picks up again and kind of wallows in.”
-NT Wright

“Those theological symbols, heaven and hell, are not crudely understood as spatial destinations but rather refer to the experience of God's presence according to two different modes (of being).” -Papanikolaou, and Prodomou

“Christianity asserts that every individual human being is going to live forever, and this must be either true or false. Now there are a good many things which would not be worth bothering about if I were going to live only seventy years, but which I had better bother about very seriously if I am going to live forever.”
-CS Lewis
——-

Closing Invitations

Research & reflect on the afterlife

-Liturgists podcast on eschatology,
-Eschatology / Hans Scwartz
-Liberating Eschatology / Letty Russell
-On Living / Kerry Egan
-Great Divorce / C.S. Lewis
-Julian of Norwhich “The Showings”

Consider your ancestors

Ask: Are you living your life in light of the beyond?

—————-

Ask / Seek / Knock
When will the world end?
Sunday August 11th, 2024

Text:
Matthew 24
Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.

26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

29 “Immediately after the distress of those days

“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’[b]

30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.[d] 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[e] is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Quotes:
"God's plan is not to abandon this world... Rather, he intends to remake it.”…. That is the promise of the Christian gospel"  
NT Wright  

“Revelation “is not about a rapture out of this world but about faithful discipleship in this world.”
― Scot McKnight, Revelation for the Rest of Us: A Prophetic Call to Follow Jesus as a Dissident Disciple
——-

Ask / Seek / Knock
Why do you like God?
Sunday August 4th, 2024

Text:
John 3:1-15

1. Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

3. Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

4. “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5. Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.7. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’8. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

9. “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

10. “You are Israel’s teacher,”said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11. Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13. No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15. that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

“Do you believe in miracles? Well, you should. In fact, life itself is a big miracle. There are so many things that are beyond our understanding. There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.“ — Albert Einstein

——

Ask / Seek / Knock
How We Heal
Sunday July 21st, 2024

Text:
Luke 10:25-37
25 An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.[a] “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” 27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

29 But wanting to vindicate himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and when I come back I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Quotes:

“The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as we have defined it."
-David Orr
——-

“We live stitch by stitch when we’re lucky. If you fixate on the big picture, the whole shebang, the overview, you miss the stitching. And maybe the stitching is crude, or it is unraveling, but if it were precise, we’d pretend that life was just fine and running like a Swiss watch. This is not helpful if on the inside our understanding is that life is more often a cuckoo clock with rusty gears.

In the aftermath of loss, we do what we’ve always done, although we are changed, maybe more afraid. We do what we can, as well as we can, stitch by stitch.”
-Ann Lamott
——-

“One of the great problems is to see clearly what we have to resist. I would say that at the moment we have to understand better than we do the war mentality. If we do not understand it, we will run the risk of contributing to its confusions and thereby helping the enemies of man and peace. The great danger is that under the pressures of anxiety and fear, the alternation of crisis and relaxation and new crisis, the people of the world will come to accept gradually the idea of war, the idea of submission to it’s total power, and the abdication of reason, spirit, and individual conscience. The great peril is the deadening of the conscience.”
-Thomas Merton
———

Takeaways
-Notice how you interact with the headlines of the world
-Pray for those who come to mind
-Do one act of healing
-Begin to fill your life with “healers”

Ask / Seek / Knock
Theodicy & Amipotence
Sunday July 14th, 2024

Text:

Job 38:

1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:

2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

3 Gird up your loins like a man;
I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.

5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?

6 On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone

7 when the morning stars sang together
and all the heavenly beings[a] shouted for joy?

8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,

9 when I made the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,

10 and prescribed bounds for it,
and set bars and doors,

11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?

12 “Have you commanded the morning since your days began
and caused the dawn to know its place,

13 so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
and the wicked be shaken out of it?

14 It is changed like clay under the seal,
and it is dyed[b] like a garment.

15 Light is withheld from the wicked,
and their uplifted arm is broken.

16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.

19 “Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
and where is the place of darkness,

20 that you may take it to its territory
and that you may discern the paths to its home?

21 Surely you know, for you were born then,
and the number of your days is great!

22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,

23 which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?

24 What is the way to the place where the light is distributed
or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?

25 “Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain
and a way for the thunderbolt,

26 to bring rain on a land where no one lives,
on the desert, which is empty of human life,

27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
and to make the ground put forth grass?

28 “Has the rain a father,
or who has fathered the drops of dew?

29 From whose womb did the ice come forth,
and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?

30 The waters become hard like stone,
and the face of the deep is frozen.

31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades
or loose the cords of Orion?

32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
or can you guide the Bear with its children?

33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you establish their rule on the earth?

34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
so that a flood of waters may cover you?

35 Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go
and say to you, ‘Here we are’?

36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts[c]
or given understanding to the mind?[d]

37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens

38 when the dust runs into a mass
and the clods cling together?

39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lion
or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

40 when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in their covert?

41 Who provides for the raven its prey,
when its young ones cry to God
and wander about for lack of food?

——-
Psalm 34:18
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
——
Matthew 9:35
“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.”
——-

Quotes:

“Anyone who takes the Bible seriously agrees that God hates suffering. Jesus spent most of his time relieving it.”
-Joni Eareckson Tada:
——
“Believing God is both loving and omnipotent is incompatible with the evidence of evil.”

― Thomas Jay Oord, The Death of Omnipotence and Birth of Amipotence
——
The “potence” of amipotence pertains to God’s influence. Divine power is immensely more influential than creaturely power. God is more powerful, in part, because God affects all creation. And divine love is more powerful because everlastingly relentless. The power of amipotence is active and receptive, empowering and empathetic, wooing but persistent, and always uncontrolling. God’s love is literally the most powerful force in the universe.

An amipotent God is not omnipotent in the sense of having all power. It is impossible for a loving God to have all power, because love requires responsive others with power. An amipotent God is not omnipotent in the sense of being able to do absolutely anything. After all, love cannot sin, cannot force its own way, cannot be isolated, cannot make 2 + 2 = 7, and more. And an amipotent God does not control creatures or circumstances, because love is inherently uncontrolling.

God exerts the greatest conceivable power but, thank goodness, is not omnipotent. Amipotence is maximal divine power in the service of love.
———-

An amipotent God creates alongside creatures and creation rather than overpowering or conjuring something from nothing. God co-creates. The steadfast love of an amipotent God is relentless; divine love for creation literally endures forever. An amipotent Lover forgives and never sends anyone to hell. God redeems. An amipotent God enjoys covenantal relations – hesed – with all creation. God relates. Divine wisdom rests primarily upon compassion for all rather than self-referential glory. God cares.
-Thomas Jay Oord

———
“Justice is what love looks like in public, just like tenderness is what love feels like in private,”
-Dr. Cornel West
——-

Closing Reflections:

Ask: Do you feel like you can bring your suffering before God?

Reflect: Where can you alleviate the suffering of others in the world?

Explore: Read/Explore the Book of Job
(Bible Project Video)

————

Ask / Seek / Knock
Questions and Conversations about Life and Faith
Sunday July 7th, 2024

Text:
Matthew 7:7-8
“7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

——

Quotes:

”Faith isn’t pretending to be sure of what we don’t know, it’s the process of entering into the unknown with a posture of hope.”
—-

“Fundamental to living a meaningful life is asking questions”.
-Rabbi Jones
——-

“It is not the answer that enlightens but the question."
-Eugène Ionesco
——

“When religion won’t tolerate questions, objections, or differences of opinion, it obstructs our ability to think, empathize, and live lives of authenticity and genuine engagement. The God of the Bible not only encourages questions; the God of the Bible demands them. If that were not so, we wouldn’t live in a world of such rich, God-given complexity in which wide-eyed wonder is part and parcel of the human condition. The possibility of redemption and revolution depends on the questions we ask of God, governments, media, and everyday economies. It is by way of the questions that we resist the conformity that deadens and come alive to visions that redeem.”

“Religion is born out of questions, not answers. Only a twisted, unimaginative mind-set resists awe in favor of self-satisfied certainty.”
- David Dark
——-

That Didn’t Go as Planned
Lessons from the Labyrinth
Sunday June 23rd, 2024

Text:
Matthew 7: 24-29
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

——-

Romans 8:37-39

37 No, in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

——-

What helps you when life goes off course? (from the community)
-Really good music
-Talking to my parents
-Mediation
-Community
-Nature
-Playlists of worship centered on hope
-Calling my mom and praying
-Praying
-There is no such thing as off course! Just expectations, grief, and embracing of both
-Drugs
-When Greg sings that song “Be Still” by Isaiah
-It’s been a struggle not knowing where it’s all leading but I prayed and that’s what helped me
-Baby snuggles
-Me too!
-Praise and worship
-Talking and praying with my best friend
-Getting outside
-Standing in the ocean letting the waves wash over me and praying
-Me time
-Taking a walk
-Breathe take a walk, me time
-Meditating on God’s word, journaling, tending to my garden
——

A Blessing for ourour Labyrinth Journeys:

Dear Oak Life

May you embrace the harsh, beautiful, and holy reality of this labyrinth life.

As you journey ahead along path of love, may you find wells of peace and comfort that sustain you and nourish you.

May you encounter fellow pilgrims to travel with, who’s burdens you will carry, and who will carry yours.

May you live authentically and sincerely, as you are able, offering your whole selves

May there be holy laughter, sacred tears, joyful songs, and healing hugs

May your hearts be filled and open with Good Samaritan compassion as we encounter kin who have tripped or fallen on their own journey

May we see these clothes and possessions and jobs as just the things sustaining us as we pass through this plane of spirit and matter onto the next, learning to see the invincible preciousness of all things

We do not know what is around the next bend

All we really have is the hope of our faith

That the God of the universe is small enough to walk with us

As our feet crunch the dirt and gravel and pavement of this earth, step by step

And we become more and more aware of the love at the center and the sides of this existence.

May we find God’s loving arms holding us always

Until we return to our home and center

Amen

——
Reflection Questions:
-What is your foundation?
-Where do you need balance?
-Where might you need support?
-Where do you need repair?
-Where can your foundation be a support for others?

———————

That Didn’t Go as Planned
When careers go off course
Sunday June 9th, 2024

Text:
Acts: 9:1-16

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing;[a] so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 For three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank.

10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision[b] a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem, 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; 16 I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
——

“Matthew 6:19-21 TLV

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in or steal.”

Quotes:

“Your profession is not what brings home your weekly paycheck, your profession is what you're put here on earth to do, with such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling.”

― Vincent van Gogh

——
"It is love alone that gives worth to all things.”

-Teresa of Avila
—-

“Somehow we’ve got to get the word out that any honest work done in love that keeps the world God loves moving or contributes to wellbeing of the people God loves so much is a calling. Anything. Anywhere. Got that? Anyone and everyone is called by God. Period.”
-Rob Bell

Response:

Ask: What is your TELOS?

Read: Kerry Egan “On Living”

Act: Take a sabbath

———

That Didn’t Go as Planned
Finding God in our intimate lives
Sunday June 2th, 2024

Text:

Psalm 139: 7-12

Where shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where shall I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me.

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and the light about me be night,”

even the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is bright as the day,

for darkness is as light with you.

John 6:25-29

25 They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

26 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. 27 But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man[f] can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”

28 They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”

29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

John 8: 2-11

2 At dawn [Jesus] appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

——

That Didn’t Go as Planned
When faith goes off course
Sunday May 26th, 2024

Text:

Jesus the Bread of Life

25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[c]”

32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believesin me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered.44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’[d] Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Many Disciples Desert Jesus

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit[e]and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.”For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
———

Quotes

“I have no other reason to do anything except love of God and love of neighbor. And I don’t even need people to know this.” When I can say this I have total and full freedom. I can no longer be bought off! Finally I realize that my life is not about me. It’s about Love.”
-Franciscan Priest

——-

“Chesterton said, “Christianity has had a series of revolutions, and in each one of them Christianity has died. Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it had a God who knew the way out of the grave.” Death is something empires worry about, not something resurrection people worry about. Lately I’ve been wondering if a little death and resurrection is exactly what the American church needs.”
-Rachel Held Evans

——

“But the modern-day church doesn’t like to wander or wait. The modern-day church likes results. Convinced the gospel is a product we’ve got to sell to an increasingly shrinking market, we like our people to function as walking advertisements: happy, put-together, finished—proof that this Jesus stuff WORKS! At its best, such a culture generates pews of Stepford Wife–style robots with painted smiles and programmed moves. At its worst, it creates environments where abuse and corruption get covered up to protect reputations and preserve image. “The world is watching,” Christians like to say, “so let’s be on our best behavior and quickly hide the mess. Let’s throw up some before-and-after shots and roll that flashy footage of our miracle product blanching out every sign of dirt, hiding every sign of disease.” But if the world is watching, we might as well tell the truth. And the truth is, the church doesn’t offer a cure. It doesn’t offer a quick fix. The church offers death and resurrection. The church offers the messy, inconvenient, gut-wrenching, never-ending work of healing and reconciliation. The church offers grace. Anything else we try to peddle is snake oil. It’s not the real thing.”

“As my friend Ed puts it: “When you join a church you’re just picking which hot mess is your favorite.”
-Rachel Held Evans

That Didn’t Go as Planned
Affliction & Renewal
Sunday May 5th, 2024

Text: 2 Corinthians 12:6-10

6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Quotes:

“Embrace passing pain and discomfort to spare yourself chronic suffering. There exists great benefit to acute pains and discomforts, with the caveat that one must choose to acknowledge that benefit. Growth is the product of these undesirable moments, should we choose to see them that way.”
Brian Bogert Former Forbes Councils Member
“You never know how strong you are until strong is your only choice”
Bob Marly

——

That Didn’t Go as Planned
When world events disrupt our lives
Sunday April 21st, 2024

Text:

Matthew 24:
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times

24 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
…
42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
——-

Quotes:

—-
“True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.”

― Martin Luther King Jr.

———
God, grant us the serenity
to accept the things we cannot change,
the courage to change the things we can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
taking, as Jesus did,
this sinful world as it is,
not as we would have it;
trusting that You will make all things right
if we surrender to Your will;
so that we may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

Reinhold Niebuhr

——
That Didn’t Go as Planned
The invitation of faith when life goes off course
Sunday April 14th, 2024

Text:
Luke 5:1-11

5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a] the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

———
Quotes:

“You were not just born to center your entire existence on work and labor. You were born to heal, to grow, to be of service to yourself and community, to practice, to experiment, to create, to have space, to dream, and to connect.”

““Loving ourselves and each other deepens our disruption of the dominant systems. They want us unwell, fearful, exhausted, and without deep self-love because you are easier to manipulate when you are distracted by what is not real or true.”
-Tricia Hersey (nap ministry)

——-
Easter 2024
That didn’t go as planned
Sunday March 31st, 2024

Text:

Luke 23:
44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land[l] until three in the afternoon, 45 while the sun’s light failed,[m] and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Then Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last. 47 When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.”[n] 48 And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. 49 But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these things.

——

Luke 24:
1But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women went to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body.[a] 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. 5 The women[b] were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men[c] said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen.[d] 6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be handed over to the hands of sinners and be crucified and on the third day rise again.” 8 Then they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.
-
Quotes:
“A prayer labyrinth is like a maze you walk through, except there is only one path from start to finish. A form of movement meditation, this is an ancient spiritual tool, steeped in spiritual mystery and practiced all over the world. The path may be winding and counterintuitive, but the meaning is that God is our home and destination and the love holding it all, like the unpredictable path of our lives.”
——-

”Nature teaches nothing is lost.
It’s transmuted.
Spread between rows of beans,
last year’s rusty leaves tamp down weeds.
Coffee grounds and banana peels
foster rose blooms. Bread crumbs
scattered for birds become song.
Leftovers offered to chickens come back
as eggs, yolks sunrise orange.
Broccoli stems and bruised apples
fed to cows return as milk steaming in the pail,
as patties steaming in the pasture.
Surely our shame and sorrow
also return,
composted by years
into something generative as wisdom.”
-Laura Grace Waldron
——
”This is the hope of Easter. That even when things do go as planned and we’re left picking up the pieces of our broken lives, we can look to the empty tomb and have hope. Hope that the sorrow of our times does not tell the whole stor, but that healing and salvation are ahead. That love is bigger than hate and injustice. That love holds all of our dead ends and wrong turns. That love sees our faults and brokenness, yet sees through them to the our invincible belovedness and preciousness, as God sees us. That love knows the way. That God is writing a bigger story, even if we don’t see it yet. That love wins.”
——

Closing Questions:

What is one thing that didn’t go as planned?

What emotion do you feel (write it on the seeds and plant them to become flowers)
———

Sifting Through The Noise
The Practice of Peace
Sunday March 24th, 2024

Text:
Matthew 26:36-56

36 Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

40 Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

42 Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away[a] unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open.

44 So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”

——
Quotes:
“Spiritual disciplines are activities that open us to God's transforming love and the changes that only God can bring about in our lives.”
Ruth Haley Barton

”“I cannot transform myself, or anyone else for that matter. What I can do is create the conditions in which spiritual transformation can take place, by developing and maintaining a rhythm of spiritual practices that keep me open and available to God.”
Ruth Haley Barton

——
“Many convert to a non-religious lifestyle not for negative but for positive reasons… they want to align themselves with progress, reason, and science.
But, when people abandon their ancestral religion, they usually cease to take part in a whole series of practices that their ancestors took for granted, including: Giving thanks as a community and as a family, being a part of a community that sings together, praying, accepting death as a transition and not an end, going through rites of passage like baptism, confirmation, and marriage, having traditional religious funerals, acknowledging ancestors, celebrating festivals that give structure to the passage of time through the year, connecting with sacred places, participating in rituals that give a sense of collective identity and continuity, being encouraged to help other people, being a part of a larger story that helps give meaning to individual lives, feeding a connection to a spiritual reality that transcends space and time.
By giving up a religion and the practices that go with it, people’s lives are indeed freed from restrictions. For ex-Christians, Sunday need no longer be a special day of thanksgiving, rest and recreation; it can be just another day for work or shopping, There is no religious barrier to a 24/7 lifestyle”
-Rupert Seldrake, Science and Spiritual Practice
——

A couple quotes about spritual practices:
On meditation
“Since the 1960s, scientific journals have published thousands of papers on the effects of meditation on health and well being. These effects include a reduction of anxiety, a reduction of allergic skin reactions, less incidence of angina and caring arrhythmias, relief from bronchial asthmas and coughs, reduced problems with constipation, fewer problems with duodenal ulcers, less dizziness and fatigue, lower blood pressure in people suffering from hypertension, alleviation of pain, reduction of insomnia, improved fertility, and help in mild to moderate depression.”

On connection to religious community
“People who regularly went to church tended to have less mental illness, suffer less depression, show less anxiety, and live longer than those with little or no religious participation. This affect was not confined to Christianity. There was a similar effect in Taiwan in a predominantly Buddhist context.

There are exceptions. For a minority of people, especially thise who are filled with guilt, fear, or who have experienced severe religious conflicts, religious practices can have negative effects on health and well being”

On being in nature
“The effects of exposure to the natural world have been studied scientifically According to a recent summary of this research, ‘Nature improves mental health- people are less depressed when they have better access to green spaces. The beneficial effect is not just a matter of physical excersice, although that is part of the picture. There is something about natural environments that improves people’s well being… Put simply, being in nature feels good.

Studies in Japan of the practice ‘forest bathing’ (shinrin-yoku) have shown that wandering in the woods had a calming physiological and psychological effect, including reduction of the storess hormone courtsol in the blood, and an enhancement of the activity of the immune system.”
-
On mental health:
“Mindfulness practices possess the transformative ability to continually reshape our brains into “new creations,” rewiring their structures…. Through mindfulness and centering prayer, not only does the amygdala shrink post practice, but the functional connections between the amygdala and pre-frontal corten strengthen, reducing fear and increasing empathy and awareness”
-Shaleen Kendrick

—-

Further Engagement:
-Sacred Rhythms, Ruth Haley Barton
-Soul Care, African American Spiritual Practice, Barbara Peacock
-Science and Spiritual Practice, Rupert Sheldrake

———

Sifting Through The Noise
How to engage the world’s suffering
Sunday March 17th, 2024

Text:
Luke 10:25-37
25 An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.[a] “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” 27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

- Mr Rogers
———
“The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as we have defined it."
-David Orr
——-

“One of the great problems is to see clearly what we have to resist. I would say that at the moment we have to understand better than we do the war mentality. If we do not understand it, we will run the risk of contributing to its confusions and thereby helping the enemies of man and peace. The great danger is that under the pressures of anxiety and fear, the alternation of crisis and relaxation and new crisis, the people of the world will come to accept gradually the idea of war, the idea of submission to it’s total power, and the abdication of reason, spirit, and individual conscience. The great peril is the deadening of the conscience.”
-Thomas Merton
——
Takeaways
-Notice how you interact with the headlines of the world
-Pray for those who come to mind
-Do one act of helping (donation, text message, connection, clean house, etc).
-Begin to fill your life with “helpers”

—————

Sifting Through The Noise
Sunday March 10th, 2024

Text: 1 kgs 18: 15-45

15 But Elijah said, “I swear by the Lord Almighty, in whose presence I stand, that I will present myself to Ahab this very day.”

16 So Obadiah went to tell Ahab that Elijah had come, and Ahab went out to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw him, he exclaimed, “So, is it really you, you troublemaker of Israel?”

18 “I have made no trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “You and your family are the troublemakers, for you have refused to obey the commands of the Lord and have worshiped the images of Baal instead. 19 Now summon all Israel to join me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who are supported by Jezebel.[a]”

20 So Ahab summoned all the people of Israel and the prophets to Mount Carmel. 21 Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent.

22 Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but Baal has 450 prophets. 23 Now bring two bulls. The prophets of Baal may choose whichever one they wish and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood of their altar, but without setting fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood on the altar, but not set fire to it. 24 Then call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by setting fire to the wood is the true God!” And all the people agreed.

25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “You go first, for there are many of you. Choose one of the bulls, and prepare it and call on the name of your god. But do not set fire to the wood.”

26 So they prepared one of the bulls and placed it on the altar. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noontime, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no reply of any kind. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.

27 About noontime Elijah began mocking them. “You’ll have to shout louder,” he scoffed, “for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming, or is relieving himself.[b] Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!”

28 So they shouted louder, and following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out. 29 They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no reply, no response.

30 Then Elijah called to the people, “Come over here!” They all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down. 31 He took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel,[c] 32 and he used the stones to rebuild the altar in the name of the Lord. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold about three gallons.[d] 33 He piled wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces, and laid the pieces on the wood.[e]

Then he said, “Fill four large jars with water, and pour the water over the offering and the wood.”

34 After they had done this, he said, “Do the same thing again!” And when they were finished, he said, “Now do it a third time!” So they did as he said, 35 and the water ran around the altar and even filled the trench.

36 At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,[f] prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. 37 O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.”

38 Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”

40 Then Elijah commanded, “Seize all the prophets of Baal. Don’t let a single one escape!” So the people seized them all, and Elijah took them down to the Kishon Valley and killed them there.

Elijah Prays for Rain

41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go get something to eat and drink, for I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!”

42 So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees.

43 Then he said to his servant, “Go and look out toward the sea.”

The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, “I didn’t see anything.”

Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. 44 Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.”

Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him, ‘Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!’”

45 And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Jezreel. 46 Then the Lord gave special strength to Elijah. He tucked his cloak into his belt[g] and ran ahead of Ahab’s chariot all the way to the entrance of Jezreel.

1 kgs 19:1-18

19 When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way he had killed all the prophets of Baal. 2 So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.”

3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. 4 Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”

5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” 6 He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again.

7 Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.”

8 So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai,[a] the mountain of God. 9 There he came to a cave, where he spent the night.

The Lord Speaks to Elijah

But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10 Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”

11 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

14 He replied again, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”

15 Then the Lord told him, “Go back the same way you came, and travel to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to be king of Aram. 16 Then anoint Jehu grandson of Nimshi[b] to be king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from the town of Abel-meholah to replace you as my prophet. 17 Anyone who escapes from Hazael will be killed by Jehu, and those who escape Jehu will be killed by Elisha! 18 Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him!”

——

Sifting Through The Noise // Sabbath
Sunday March 3rd, 2024

Mark 1:12-13

12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted[a] by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

Mark 1:35

35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Quote:

“The Soul is like a wild animal --tough, resilient, savvy, self-sufficient, and yet exceedingly shy. If we want to see a wild animal, the last thing we should do is to go crashing through the woods, shouting for the creature to come out. But if we are willing to walk quietly in the woods and sit silently….the creature we are waiting for may well emerge.” - Parker Palmer, Let your Life Speak

——

Sifting Through The Noise // Tests & Temptations
Sunday February 18th, 2024

Text: Matthew 4:1-11 (NSRVue)

The Testing of Jesus

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, 9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ”

11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NET2)

9 But he [Jesus] said to me, “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in me. 10 Therefore I am content with weaknesses, with insults, with troubles, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

Matthew 6:1-18 (NET2)

Pure-Hearted Giving

6 “Be careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people. Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven. 2 Thus whenever you do charitable giving, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth, they have their reward! 3 But when you do your giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your gift may be in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

Private Prayer

5 “Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward! 6 But whenever you pray, go into your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. 7 When you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the Gentiles because they think that by their many words they will be heard. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 So pray this way:

“Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored,

10 may your kingdom come,

may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us today our daily bread,

12 and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.

13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

14 “For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins.

Proper Fasting

16 “When you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, they have their reward! 17 When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others when you are fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

——

New Year, Who Dis? // Creation Care
Sunday February 11th, 2024

Text:

”Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
-Gen 1:26

”The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”
-Gen 2:15

”But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
-2 Peter 3:10

”I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”
-Revelation 21:1-5

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
-Luke 10:27, Matthew 22:37

”20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”
-Romans 1:20

——-

Quotes:
Eschatology shapes ethics. And a truly biblical eschatology of creation renewed should inspire us to become earthkeepers. More exactly, such a view of the future should motivate us to become people who embody ecological virtues such as justice and love, courage and hope.
-Steven Bouma-Prediger

“The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them”
-Thomas Merton

THE CANTICLE OF THE CREATURES, St. Francis

Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,

Yours are the praises, the glory, the honor, and all blessing.

To You alone, Most High, do they belong,

and no man is worthy to mention Your name.

Praised be You, my Lord, with all your creatures,

especially Sir Brother Sun Who is the day and through whom You give us light
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,

in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind,

and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather

through which You give sustenance to Your creatures.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water,

which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire,

through whom You light the night

and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth,

who sustains and governs us, and who produces varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

——-

Sadies Creation Care Ideas:

1) Throw trash in trash receptacles not recyclable receptacles

2) Reuse containers/packaging/papers/etc.

3) Buy in bulk

4) Buy used

5) Don’t buy the new version of electronic products just because it is the newest

6) Only buy things when you need them

7) Don’t buy single use items if you can help it

8) Bring your own bags to the store

9) Use the green bin/compost

10) Don’t overwater your lawn

11) Turn your yard into edible, native, or drought-tolerant landscaping

12) Eat less meat

13) Buy food that isn't packaged if possible (eat more fresh foods)

14) Buy food/products that come from your area

15) Make your own food (eat out less, eat less prepared/packaged food)

16) Make your own coffee/latte/tea in the mornings

17) Grow some of your own food

18) Save the water while you are waiting for the shower/bath water to get hot enough

19) Turn off lights when you leave the room

20) Open your windows and use fans instead of running the AC

21) Put on/take off layers of clothing instead of adjusting the temperature

22) Shower less

23) Wash your laundry w/ cold water

24) Use eco-friendly soaps/detergents/body products (all that stuff goes down the drain and into our waters)

25) Use less antibacterial soaps/gels

26) Try natural cleaning products before taking out the big guns (bleach, Drano, etc.)

27) Don’t take antibiotics or hormones unless you need them (extras get peed out and negatively effect the environment)

28) Use less plastic
29) Blow your nose w/ a hankie instead of tissues

30) Walk or ride your bike

31) Take public transit

32) Borrow books from the library

33) Give usable items to thrift stores instead of throwing them away
34) - recycle and compost as much as possible (stuff does not break down in dumps)... find out what is recyclable and compostable (more than you'd think)

——————-

New Year, Who Dis? // Intellectual Engagement
Sunday February 4th, 2024

Text:

Romans 12:1-2 (NRSV)

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2 (Frist Nations Version)

1 So then, my sacred family members, because Creator has shown us such mercy and kindness, I now call on you to offer your whole beings, heart, mind, and strength, to the Great Spirit as a living sacrifice. Do this in a sacred and spiritual manner that will make his heart glad.

2 Do not permit the ways of this world to mold and shape you. Instead, let Creator change you from the inside out, in the way a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. He will do this by giving you a new way of thinking, seeing, and walking. Then you will know for sure what the Great Spirit wants for you, things that are good, that make the heart glad, and that help you to walk the path of becoming a mature and true human being.

James 1:19-21

19 Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. 20 God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. 21 So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation garden of your life.

—

Quotes:

Intellectual engagement is an absorbing, creatively energized focus resulting in a deep personal commitment to exploration, investigation, problem-solving and inquiry over a sustained period of time.

Dr. Michele Jacobsen, 2013

——

New Year, Who Dis? // Contextualization
Sunday January 28th, 2024

Text:

John 1

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
——

John 1:14 MSG
The Word became flesh and blood,

and moved into the neighborhood.

We saw the glory with our own eyes,

the one-of-a-kind glory,

like Father, like Son,

Generous inside and out,

true from start to finish.

——-

John 1:14 (First Nations Version)
14Creator’s Word became a flesh-and-blood human being and pitched his sacred tent among us, living as one of us. We looked upon his great beauty and saw how honorable he was, the kind of honor held only by this one Son who fully represents his Father—full of his great kindness and truth.

——

1 Corinthians 9:19-23
19 For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a servant to all, so that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

—-

Quotes:

“A mature Christian sees Christ in everything and everyone else. That is a definition that will never fail you, always demand more of you, and give you no reasons to fight, exclude, or reject anyone.”
-Richard Rohr

——

“In realizing that union with God is achieved in and through union with others, we see that the religious person is basically a loving person. They love others not simply out of personal inclination or an arbitrary external law, but rather because they intuit God’s presence in the presence of the other.”
-James Finley

——-

Reflection Questions:

How has God met you in your context(s)?.

How can you honor, in loving presence, the context of your neighbors?

———-

New Year, Who Dis? // Creativity
Sunday January 21st, 2024

Text:

Genesis 1:
1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

—-
Quotes/Resources/Links:

James Webb Telescope Discoveries

Partners Relief and Development Art for Peace Project

Article on "Tohuwabohu"

——-

Closing Questions:

1) Do you believe God is done? With you? With our world?
2) Where is your “Tohuwabohu.”?
3) Where is there “Tohuwabohu” in the world?

———

New Year, Who Dis? // Compassion, Peace, & Justice
Sunday January 14th, 2024

Text:

Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

——

Mark 1:40-45
A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said.

Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed

——-

Amos 5:
There are those who turn justice into bitterness
and cast righteousness to the ground.

8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night,
who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land— the Lord is his name.

9 With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold and brings the fortified city to ruin. 10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth.

11 You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine.

12 For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.

13 Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times, for the times are evil.

14 Seek good, not evil, that you may live.
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.

15 Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

————
21“I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me.

22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.

Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.

23 Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.24 But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!

——

Quotes:

Rev, Dr MLK
“When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”
-“Revolution of values,”

“Again we have deluded ourselves into believing the myth that Capitalism grew and prospered out of the Protestant ethic of hard work and sacrifice. The fact is that capitalism was built on the exploitation and suffering of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor – both black and white, both here and abroad.”
-“The three evils of society,”

“The problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power.”

— “The three evils of society,”

"First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection."
— "Letter from a Birmingham jail,"

“Everybody can be great because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.”

——-

New Year, Who Dis? // Deep Community & Restorative Practices
Sunday January 7th, 2024

Text:

“Matthew 12:46-48
"46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”

48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
——

Matthew 16:
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[b] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[c] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[e] loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

——

Colossians 1:15-18
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
——

Acts 2:42-47:42
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
———

Quotes / Resources:

Conflict Communication Styles
Competitor
Collaborator
Deal Maker
Avoider
Peace Keeper
——

Bell Hooks:
“I think that part of what a culture of domination has done is raise that romantic relationship up as the single most important bond, when of course the single most important bond is that of community.”

——-

Closing Questions:

How does Jesus’ view of family/body/community challenge me?

How have you received from sacred community in your life?

What might intentionality and investment into community mean for me?

Christmas w/ Oak Life // Christ in the Rubble
Sunday December 23rd, 2023

Text:
Luke 2:1-20

2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

———

Quotes/Resources:
Christ in the Rubble: A Liturgy of Lament (2023 Christmas Message by Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac)
Munther Isaac Sermon clip
Munther Iaaac News Story

Closing Questions:
How is the Christmas story holding you this year?
Where do you see Christ being birthed into our world?

——-

Advent Embodied // Carrying Christ
Sunday December 17th, 2023

Text: Luke 1: 26-38

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”, But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Quotes:

“Mary wasn’t ordinary, her womb was where Heaven and Earth combined. The Spirit that created everything from a formless and empty space while hovering over water, hovered over Mary and created a life that changed our world forever. Her obedience and faith in the creative wonders of God is something to behold. “

—

“Obedience is an unpopular word nowadays, but the artist must be obedient to the work, whether it be a symphony, a painting, or a story for a small child. I believe that each work of art, whether it is a work of great genius, or something very small, comes to the artist and says, ‘Here I am. Enflesh me. Give birth to me.’ And the artist can either say, ‘My soul doth magnify the Lord,’ and willingly become the bearer of the work, or refuses; but the obedient response is not necessarily a conscious one, and not everyone has the humble, courageous obedience of Mary. Mary did not always understand, but one does not have to understand to be obedient. Instead of understanding-that intellectual understanding which we are so fond of- there is a feeling of rightness, of knowing, knowing things which you are not yet able to understand.”

-Madeleine L’Engle

—

“One need not be a saint, or a mother, to become a bearer of God. One needs only to obey. The divine resides in all of us, but it is our choice to magnify it or diminish it, to ignore it or to surrender to its lead.”

-Rachel Held Evans

Take-a-ways:

What does it mean to carry Christ in our current context? (going against the norms despite the difficulty or backlash)
What is God asking us to Create?
How can we magnify the divine within ourselves? How can we see the divine in others?

——

Advent Embodied // The Magi, the Weird, & the Sacred
Sunday December 10th, 2023

Text:

Matthew 2:1-12

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Visit of the Magi

2 1In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star in the east[b] and have come to pay him homage.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him, 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah[c] was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet:

6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah,
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.’ ”

7 Then Herod secretly called for the magi[e] and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” 9 When they had heard the king, they set out, and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen in the east,[f] until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped,[g] they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

——-

Romans 1:20
“Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made”.

———

Qoutes:

"Dark matter" refers to matter of an unknown nature that many astronomers and cosmologists think must make up the majority of the mass in the universe. Its presence is revealed by the gravitational effects on objects that we can see. According to the current understanding of how gravity works, the way the visible matter behaves indicates that there should be much more matter than we can detect — and therefore, much more mass exerting a gravitational influence — in objects in space, like stars in galaxies, or galaxies in clusters. The clusters move at speeds that are too high to be attributed just to the visible galaxies.

If we were to apply the rules of gravity to the matter that we can see, galaxies (and galaxy clusters) would fly apart, losing the swiftly moving outer components, because there isn't enough mass (and therefore gravity) present to hold them in place. So, if more mass is added to the visible matter, the equations work, objects remain in their paths, and everything makes sense, mathematically. Results from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) show that roughy 1/4 of the mass of the universe is composed of dark matter. But what is it, really?

For the time being, dark matter can be thought of as a way to fill in a variable in an equation — the definite quantity of indefinite substance, or the indefinite influence of some as-yet undetectable force.”

https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/dark_matter2.html

——

When confronted with the order and beauty of the universe and the strange coincidences of nature, it's very tempting to take the leap of faith from science into religion. I am sure many physicists want to. I only wish they would admit it.

-- Tony Rothman
——

Instead of an intellectual search, there was suddenly a very deep gut feeling that something was different... seeing that Sun... set in the background of the very deep black and velvety cosmos, seeing--rather, knowing for sure--that there was a purposefulness of flow, of energy, of time, of space in the cosmos--that it was beyond man's rational ability to understand, that suddenly there was a nonrational way of understanding that had been beyond my previous experience... On the return trip home, gazing through 240,000 miles of space toward the stars and the planet from which I had come, I suddenly experienced the universe as intelligent, loving, harmonious.

-- Edgar Mitchell, U.S. Astronaut

———-

Advent Embodied // Incarnation
Sunday December 3rd, 2023

Text:
John 1:1-18
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life,[a] and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.[b]

10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own,[c] and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son,[d] full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ ”) 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.[e] 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who[f] is close to the Father’s heart,[g] who has made him known.
——

Quotes:

“The incarnation is "a kind of vast joke whereby the Creator of the ends of the earth comes among us in diapers…”
-Fredrich Beuchner
——

“There is nothing so secular that it cannot be sacred, and that is one of the deepest messages of the Incarnation.”

― Madeleine L’Engle
———

“God was consistent in working through one man to reveal himself everywhere, as well as through the other parts of His creation, so that nothing was left devoid of his Divinity and his self-knowledge… so that the whole universe was filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters fill the sea”

- St Athanasius
——-
“Whenever I meet someone in need, it’s really Jesus in his most distressing disguise.”
-Mother Thersa

———
“While most of the cells in your body regenerate every seven to 15 years, many of the particles that make up those cells have actually existed for millions of millennia. The hydrogen atoms in you were produced in the big bang, and the carbon, nitrogen and oxygen atoms were made in burning stars. The very heavy elements in you were made in exploding stars.”
-https://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/the-particle-physics-of-you?language_content_entity=und

—-

“And in this he showed me a little thing, the quantity of a hazel nut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed. And it was as round as any ball. I looked upon it with the eye of my understanding, and thought, ‘What may this be?’ And it was answered generally thus, ‘It is all that is made.’ I marveled how it might last, for I thought it might suddenly have fallen to nothing for littleness. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasts and ever shall, for God loves it. And so have all things their beginning by the love of God.
In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is that God made it. The second that God loves it. And the third, that God keeps it.”
-Julian of Norwich
——

Takeaways:
-Your body is a reflection of God’s image and creativity
-Every other body is a reflection of God’s image and creativity
-Maybe our bodies are connected to all things

Closing invitation
1) Get in touch with you body (taste and see)

Three ideas:

-Meditate and listen to your body
-Sacramentalize your next meal
-Do something loving towards your body
-Practice slow breathing

————

Body Scan Script:

A BODY SCAN SCRIPT

Begin by making yourself comfortable. Sit in a chair and allow your back to be straight, but not stiff, with your feet on the ground. You could also do this practice standing or if you prefer, you can lie down and have your head supported. Your hands could be resting gently in your lap or at your side. Allow your eyes to close, or to remain open with a soft gaze.

Take several long, slow, deep breaths. Become aware of God’s loving presence here and now….

Breathing in fully and exhaling slowly. Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose or mouth. Feel your stomach expand on an inhale and relax and let go as you exhale.

Begin to let go of noises around you. Begin to shift your attention from outside to inside yourself. If you are distracted by sounds in the room, simply notice this and bring your focus back to your breathing.

Now slowly bring your attention down to your feet. Begin observing sensations in your feet. You might want to wiggle your toes a little, feeling your toes against your socks or shoes. Just notice, without judgment. You might imagine sending your breath down to your feet, as if the breath is traveling through the nose to the lungs and through the abdomen all the way down to your feet. And then back up again out through your nose and lungs. Perhaps you don't feel anything at all. That is fine, too. Just allow yourself to feel the sensation of not feeling anything.

When you are ready, allow your feet to dissolve in your mind’s eye and move your attention up to your ankles, calves, knees and thighs. Observe the sensations you are experiencing throughout your legs. Breathe into and breathe out of the legs. If your mind begins to wander during this exercise, gently notice this without judgment and bring your mind back to noticing the sensations in your legs. If you notice any discomfort, pain or stiffness, don't judge this. Just simply notice it. Observe how all sensations rise and fall, shift and change moment to moment. Notice how no sensation is permanent. Just observe and allow the sensations to be in the moment, just as they are. Breathe into and out from the legs.

Then on the next out breath, allow the legs to dissolve in your mind. And move to the sensations in your lower back and pelvis. Softening and releasing as you breathe in and out. Slowly move your attention up to your mid back and upper back. Become curious about the sensations here. You may become aware of sensations in the muscle, temperature or points of contact with furniture or the bed. With each outbreath, you may let go of tension you are carrying. And then very gently shift your focus to your stomach and all the internal organs here. Perhaps you notice the feeling of clothing, the process of digestion or the belly rising or falling with each breath. If you notice opinions arising about these areas, gently let these go and return to noticing sensations.

As you continue to breathe, bring your awareness to the chest and heart region and just notice your heartbeat. Observe how the chest rises during the inhale and how the chest falls during the exhale. Let go of any judgments that may arise. On the next outbreath, shift the focus to your hands and fingertips. See if you can channel your breathing into and out of this area as if you are breathing into and out from your hands. If your mind wanders, gently bring it back to the sensations in your hands.

And then, on the next outbreath, shift the focus and bring your awareness up into your arms. Observe the sensations or lack of sensations that may be occurring there. You might notice some difference between the left arm and the right arm – no need to judge this. As you exhale, you may experience the arm soften and release tensions. Continue to breathe and shift focus to the neck, shoulder and throat region. This is an area where we often have tension. Be with the sensations here. It could be tightness, rigidity or holding. You may notice the shoulders moving along with the breath. Let go of any thoughts or stories you are telling about this area. As you breathe, you may feel tension rolling off your shoulders.

On the next outbreath, shift your focus and direct your attention to the scalp, head and face. Observe all of the sensations occurring there. Notice the movement of the air as you breathe into or out of the nostrils or mouth. As you exhale, you might notice the softening of any tension you may be holding.

And now, let your attention to expand out to include the entire body as a whole. Bring into your awareness the top of your head down to the bottom of your toes. Feel the gentle rhythm of the breath as it moves through the body. Give thanks for your body and begin to sense Gods pride and joy over you….

As you come to the end of this practice, take a full, deep breath, taking in all the energy of this practice. Exhale fully. And when you are ready, open your eyes and return your attention to the present moment. As you become fully alert and awake, consider setting the intention that this practice of building awareness will benefit everyone you come in contact with today.

——-

Reimagine // Faith
Sunday November 26th, 2023

Text:

Matthew 13:31-32

“I wanted to recover the kind of faith that has nothing to do with being sure what I believe and everything to do with trusting God to catch me though I am not sure of anything.”

― Barbara Brown Taylor, Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith

—-

-John Lewis

“Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the staircase”
-Dr King JR.

——-

Reimagine // Church & Community
Sunday November 19th, 2023

Text:
Colossians 3:

——

Quotes:

Reimagine // The Myth of Redemptive Violence
Sunday November 12th, 2023

Text:
Psalm 44 (NIV)

National Lament and Prayer for Help

To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Maskil.

We have heard it with our ears, O God;
our ancestors have told us
what you did in their days,
in days long ago.

2 With your hand you drove out the nations
and planted our ancestors;
you crushed the peoples
and made our ancestors flourish.

3 It was not by their sword that they won the land,
nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand, your arm,
and the light of your face, for you loved them.

4 You are my King and my God,
who decrees[c] victories for Jacob.

5 Through you we push back our enemies;
through your name we trample our foes.

6 I put no trust in my bow,
my sword does not bring me victory;

7 but you give us victory over our enemies,
you put our adversaries to shame.

8 In God we make our boast all day long,
and we will praise your name forever.[d]

9 But now you have rejected and humbled us;
you no longer go out with our armies.

10 You made us retreat before the enemy,
and our adversaries have plundered us.

11 You gave us up to be devoured like sheep
and have scattered us among the nations.

12 You sold your people for a pittance,
gaining nothing from their sale.

13 You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,
the scorn and derision of those around us.

14 You have made us a byword among the nations;
the peoples shake their heads at us.

15 I live in disgrace all day long,
and my face is covered with shame

16 at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me,
because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.

17 All this came upon us,
though we had not forgotten you;
we had not been false to your covenant.

18 Our hearts had not turned back;
our feet had not strayed from your path.

19 But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals;
you covered us over with deep darkness.

20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,

21 would not God have discovered it,
since he knows the secrets of the heart?

22 Yet for your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

23 Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.

24 Why do you hide your face
and forget our misery and oppression?

25 We are brought down to the dust;
our bodies cling to the ground.

26 Rise up and help us;
rescue us because of your unfailing love.

——-

Matthew 5
Eye for Eye

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[h] 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Love for Enemies

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[i] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

———

Quotes:

The Myth of Redemptive Violence’ is a phrase coined by theologian-activist Walter Wink, who argues that it’s the predominant myth of our culture and possibly of most cultures throughout history. Put simply, it’s the idea that violence or brute force is the primary means by which good wins, evil is dealt with and positive change is accomplished.

——

”Millions of soldiers have given their only lives by believing the lies of Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Stalin, Pol Pot, and Hitler, to name a few. The vast majority of violence in history has been sacralized violence. Members of ISIS probably believe they are doing God’s will. The Ku Klux Klan uses the cross as their symbol!

With God on our side, our violence becomes necessary and even “redemptive violence.” But there is no such thing as redemptive violence. Violence doesn’t save; it only destroys in both short and long term. Jesus replaced the myth of redemptive violence with the truth of redemptive suffering. He showed us on the cross how to hold the pain and let it transform us, rather than pass it on to the others around us.”

Richard Rohr

—-

Resources:
-Walker Wink, Jesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way
James
-Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited
-Shane Claiborne, Myth of Redemptive Violence
——-

Closing Questions:

Where has the lie of redemptive violence infected me?

How can I alleviate the suffering of others with my life?

—————

Reimagine // Gender & Marraige
Sunday November 5th, 2023

Text:

Proverbs 31:10-31

10 A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.

11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.

12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.

13 She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.

14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.

15 She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her female servants.

16 She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

17 She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.

18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.

19 In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.

21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.

25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.

26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:

29 “Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”

30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

——

Quotes:

"the first line of the Proverbs 31 poem—“a virtuous woman who can find?”—is best translated, “a woman of valor who can find?” (The Hebrew is eshet chayil, “woman of valor”; the male equivalent is gibor chayil, “man of valor.”) To make this fact even more fun, Ahava explained to me that she and her friends cheer one another on with the blessing, celebrating everything from promotions, to pregnancies, to acts of mercy and justice, to battles with cancer with a hearty “eshet chayil”! (Think of it as something like the Jewish “you go girl.”)”

“for women like me who grew up thinking of the domestic super-heronie of Proverbs 31 as just another impossible standard by which to mark my shortcomings as a woman, the passage can come with some…baggage.

When presented as a song through which a man offers a woman praise, Proverbs 31 is presented as a task list through which a woman earns it. This, I believe, misses the point of the text entirely.

That’s because, too often, we focus on the Proverbs 31 Woman’s roles as a way of reducing womanhood to marriage, motherhood, and domesticity, when really, this passage is about character that transcends both gender and circumstance. “

-Rachel Held Evans, Blogposts “Three things you might not know about Proverbs 31”

——

“Or another example, we’ve expanded marriage to include same-gender marriage, but how are we still upholding the marriage superiority complex in our society? Rather than expanding the categories, how can we reimagine their very existence? How do we share power and mental loads as part of loving one another? How do we value all types of relationships and celebrate one another on par with the value and celebration we ascribe to marriage?”
-Oak Life Community Member

——

Resources
-A Year of Biblical Womanhood, Rachel Held Evans
--Rachel Held Evans, Blogposts “Three things you might not know about Proverbs 31”
-Modern Kinship: A Queer Guide to Christian Marriage, David Khalaf , Constantino Khalaf
-God and the Gay Christian, Matthew Vines

——

Closing Questions:

Who in your life is crushing it? How can you celebrate them?

How have you been conditioned to be something you’re not?

What does it look like for you to be free for who you are?

How can we allow people to more fully express their identities and relationships?

————

Reimagine // The Afterlife
Sunday October 29th 2023

Text:

2 Corinthians 5:1-4
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.[a] 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.
———

Quotes:

“When our suffering ends, at last our eyes will be open, and in that sudden clarity our light will be total. This light is God, our Father-Mother, our Creator, and the Holy Spirit, inside Christ Jesus our Liberator. I saw that our faith is our light in the darkness of night, and that light is God, our endless day.”

-Julian of Norwich
——-

“Christianity asserts that every individual human being is going to live for ever, and this must be either true or false. Now there are a good many things which would not be worth bothering about if I were going to live only seventy years, but which I had better bother about very seriously if I am going to live for ever.”
-CS Lewis
——

“The trouble is they have no Needs. You get everything you want (not very good quality, of course) by just imagining it.”

““There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.”

“Hell is a state of mind - ye never said a truer word. And every state of mind, left to itself, every shutting up of the creature within the dungeon of its own mind - is, in the end, Hell. But Heaven is not a state of mind. Heaven is reality itself. All that is fully real is Heavenly. For all that can be shaken will be shaken and only the unshakeable remains.”
C.S. Lewis
——-

“Our picture, which we get from Dante and Michelangelo, particularly of a heaven and a hell, and perhaps of a purgatory as well, simply isn’t consonant with what we find in the New Testament,” Wright said. “A lot of these images of hellfire and damnation are actually pagan images which the Middle Ages picks up again and kind of wallows in.”
-N.T. Wright

——
”Those theological symbols, heaven and hell, are not crudely understood as spatial destinations but rather refer to the experience of God's presence according to two different modes (of being).” -Papanikolaou, and Prodomou
—-
Lord of the Rings:
Pippin looks over at Gandalf and says, “I didn’t think it would end this way.”

PIPPIN: I didn't think it would end this way.

GANDALF: End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it.

PIPPIN: What? Gandalf? See what?

GANDALF: White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.

PIPPIN: Well, that isn't so bad.

GANDALF: No. No, it isn't.

———

Further Resources:
-Liturgists podcast on eschatology,
-Eschatology / Hans Scwartz
-Liberating Eschatology / Letty Russell
-On Living / Kerry Egan
-Great Divorce / C.S. Lewis
-Julian of Norwhich “The Showings”

————-

Reimagine // Atonement
Sunday October 22nd 2023

Text:
Luke 23:32-46

32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”[c] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.

39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

The Death of Jesus

44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”[e] When he had said this, he breathed his last.
——-

Quotes:

“Lose your soul in God’s love I swear there is no other way. Love causes the earth to tremble. God said if not by pure love how could I have created this world? I have brought everything into existence so you can know the glory of love”
- Rumi

"If you are frightened into God is is never the true God you meet. If you are loved into God you meet a God worthy of both Jesus and Christ. How you get there is where you arrive.”
-Richard Rohr

“What is revealed in the cross “is not Jesus’ necessary passive victimization divinely decreed as a penalty for sin, but rather a dialectic of disaster and powerful human love through which the gracious God of Jesus enters into solidarity with all those who suffer and are lost.” It is “the paradigmatic locus of divine involvement in the pain of the world.”29 Not only does God participate in the suffering of the world through the cross, but for Johnson, God “overcomes, inconceivably, from within through the power of love.”
-Elizabeth Johnson”
——

Further Study:

-The Nature of the Atonement: Four Views by Boyd, Eddy, Green, Screener
-Christus Victor, by Gustaf Aulen
-Things Hidden Since the Foundations of the World by Rene Girard (for the scapegoat theory)

-The Crucified God by Jürgen Moltmann (one of the best modern works on the atonement)
-She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse, by Elizabeth Johnson

——

What we can know about God from the Cross (bass notes):
1) God enters into our brokenness/darkness/ suffering in love etc (presence)
2) Those things are not final word (hope)

————-

Reimagine // Oak Life’s Sprout-Day!
Sunday October 1st, 2023

Acts 2:42-46
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

43 Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceedsto all, as any had need. 46 Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous[c] hearts, 47 praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

————
First Nations Version:
Acts 2:42-27

42This newly formed family continued daily to learn from the twelve message bearers. They lived together in harmony, ate ceremonial meals, and prayed with one another. 43Great respect and awe came down upon all, and the message bearers performed many powerful signs. 44As these new followers lived together in peace, their harmony grew stronger, and they shared all things. 45Many of them had a giveaway to provide for all who were in need. 46Each day they gathered at the sacred lodge. With good and pure hearts they feasted together in their homes and shared the ceremonial meal of frybread and wine given to them by Creator Sets Free (Jesus). 47They gave honor and thanks to the Great Spirit and were respected by the people. Each day Creator sent more people who being set free to join them.

M. Wildman, Terry. First Nations Version (p. 216). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

—————

Reimagine // Responding to Sin
Sunday September 24th, 2023

Text:
John 8:1-11

CONFLICT BETWEEN LAW AND KINDNESS [First Nations Translation]

But Creator Sets Free (Jesus) went to Olive Mountain to find lodging there. Early in the morning at the sunrise, he returned again to the sacred lodge. All the people began to gather around him, so he sat down and once again began to teach and tell his stories.

Across the plaza a cloud of dust was rising from a group of people who were walking toward Creator Sets Free (Jesus) as he was teaching. They were forcefully dragging a woman along with them. He could see her tears and the look of terror on her face.

It was the scroll keepers and the Separated Ones (Pharisees). They brought the woman to Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and forced her down on the ground in front of him and all the people.

“Wisdomkeeper,” they said, “we found this woman in the very act of being unfaithful to her husband. Drawn from the Water (Moses) instructed us in the law to throw stones at her until she dies. What do you have to say about this?”

They were putting him to a test, so they could have a way to accuse him.

The crowd was silent and waited to see what he would say, but he said nothing.

He bent over and with his finger wrote something in the dirt.

When he did not answer right away, the Separated Ones (Pharisees) became angry and kept questioning him.

Creator Sets Free (Jesus) looked up at them and said, “The one who has done no wrong should be the first to throw a stone at her.”

He then bent over and again began to write in the dirt with his finger.

When they heard his words, they all stood there silently. Then, beginning with the elders, one at a time they dropped their stones and walked away. Soon all were gone except for Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and the woman. He stood up and looked at her.

“Honored woman,” he said. “Where are the ones who were accusing you? Is there no one who finds fault with you?”

The woman looked up timidly into his eyes and said, “No one, Wisdomkeeper.”

“Then I also find no fault with you,” he said to her. “You may go your way, but take care not to return to this broken path you have been walking.”

[NSRV Translation]

while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and, making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”

Reimagine // What is God like?
Sunday September 17th, 2023

Text:
Luke 15:11-32

“There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

——
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
——-

1 John 4:16

16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
——-

Romand 8 31-39
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
——-

Quotes:

“The reason the very concept of God has become so impoverished, so thoroughly mythical, and ultimately so incredible for so many modern persons is not because of all the interesting things we’ve learned over the past few centuries but because of all the vital things we’ve forgotten. Above all we’ve forgotten being, the self evident mystery of existence.”

-David Bently Hart: The Experience of God
——-

“The God that holds you over the pit of Hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times so abominable in his eyes as the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours.”

”“The apostle tells us that “God is love”; and therefore, seeing he is an infinite being, it follows that he is an infinite fountain of love. Seeing he is an all-sufficient being, it follows that he is a full and overflowing, and inexhaustible fountain of love. And in that he is an unchangeable and eternal being, he is an unchangeable and eternal fountain of love.”
- Jonathan Edwards
—-

“I desire to make no dispute, will myself dispute with no man, but for the sake of those whom certain believers trouble, I have spoken my mind. I love the one God seen in the face of Jesus Christ. From all copies of Jonathan Edwards’s portrait of God, however faded by time, however softened by the use of less glaring pigments, I turn with loathing. Not such a God is he concerning whom was the message John heard from Jesus, that he is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
-George Macdonald
——

Takeaways:
1) Reflect on the words and images for God that you’ve inherited.

Here are Two book recommendations then some responses from a bunch of other pastors=
-Sinners in the hands of a loving God, Brian Zahn
-Healing Spiritual Wounds, Reconnecting with a loving God after experiencing a hurtful church, Carol Howard Merritt

2) Cultivate some spaciousness/practices to center on the God of Love.

3) Be a reflection of the God of love (and it will start to soak into your being)

———-

Reimagine // Towards a more loving practice of faith (the Bible)
Sunday September 10th, 2023

Text:

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Shadowlands // Learning to befriend our whole selves
"A Lifelong Pilgramage”
Sunday September 3rd, 2023

Text:

Psalm 121

A song of ascents.

1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?

2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;

6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;

8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

——-

Quotes:
“It is only through shadows that one comes to know the light.”
– St. Catherine of Siena

“The geographical pilgrimage is the symbolic acting out an inner journey. The inner journey is the interpolation of the meanings and signs of the outer pilgrimage. One can have one without the other. It is best to have both.”
-Thomas Merton

“Addiction recovery communities use a gesture called “lifetime amends”. It represents an acknowledgement that the harm and impact of dysfunction caused by addiction is so far reaching that only ongoing amends will build trust to heal… Doing shadow work makes acknowledging and understanding privilege restorative, not exhausting”

“Shadows cannot thrive where repairs are made. Repairs soothe inflammation cause by previous generations neglect. Making repairs can be the new norm when we are not offended by the needs and rights of others”
-Pixie Lighthorse

“While in your healing process, it is challenging to focus on others as much as yourself. It is a sacred time to devote to your wellness. The gold unearthed is found in clearing the path back to your soul’s blueprint and living from it. To take this work forward, you will need to believe that every soul is sacred and has a beneficial purpose."
-Pixie

“Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.”
-Bel Hooks

——
Song: -May Erlewine, Never One Thing

I'm the underbelly, I am the claw