Ministry Matters. . . supporting Christian community with resources, community, and inspiration for Wednesday, 19 February 2014 ~ Preach! Teach! Worship! Reach! Lead!
Living stone
#LivingStone
Living Stone is a FREE multimedia worship series from MinistryMatters.com and the content is meant to be shared—on social media, on your church website, in your bulletin with friends, colleagues, small groups, and your congregation.
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#LivingStone
Now you are coming to him as to a living stone. Even though this stone was rejected by humans, from God’s perspective it is chosen, valuable.
1 PETER 2:4 CEB
Living Stone is a free multimedia worship series from MinistryMatters.com and the content is meant to be shared - on social media, on your church website, in your bulletin, with friends, colleagues, small groups, and your congregation.
Each week we will make a group of content available for you to use each week of Lent including PowerPoint backgrounds and visuals, worship elements including an opening prayer, calls to worship, benedictions, sermon starters or sermons, and more.
We are also providing you with three professional videos: one overview or trailer video (available now), one 3-minute video for Palm Sunday, and one 3-minute video for Easter Sunday (coming soon).
Stones are a basic imagery used for Lent, but not overused, which is why we eventually went in this direction. We were pleasantly surprised by the number of stories we found around stones in the Bible.
Here’s a synopsis of the stories and the key verses from each:
Week 1: Sacred Pillar
After Jacob got up early in the morning, he took the stone that he had put near his head, set it up as a sacred pillar, and poured oil on the top of it.
GENESIS 28:18
Week 2: Covenant Stone
Remember—don’t ever forget!—how you made the Lord your God furious in the wilderness. From the very first day you stepped out of Egypt until you arrived at this place, you have been rebels against the Lord. 29 But these are your people! Your own possession! The people you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm!
DEUT. 9:7 & 29
Week 3: 12 Stones
This happened so that all the earth’s peoples might know that the Lord’s power is great and that you may always revere the Lord your God.”
JOSHUA 4:22
Week 4: Foundation Stone
Therefore, the Lord God says: Look! I’m laying in Zion a stone,
a tested stone, a valuable cornerstone,
a sure foundation:
the one who trusts won’t tremble.
ISAIAH 28:16
Week 5: Stones to Food
The tempter came to him and said, “Since you are God’s Son, command these stones to become bread.”
MATTHEW 4:3
Week 6 (Palm Sunday) : Stones Cry Out
He answered, “I tell you, if they were silent, the stones would shout.”
LUKE 19:40
Week 7 (Easter Sunday): Empty Tomb
Look, there was a great earthquake, for an angel from the Lord came down from heaven. Coming to the stone, he rolled it away and sat on it.
MATTHEW 28:2
In the end we hope that there is one nugget, one Scripture, one thought that makes you stop and say "Aha!" or brings you or someone in your congregation closer in your walk with God. Or maybe this series will provide inspiration to you as a preacher or worship leader, as you seek to make Easter worship fresh, and new, and engaging.
As with #FollowTheStar, the content is free - free to use, free to share, free to modify. It's YOUR content, do with it as you will. We only ask that you share with others, if you believe they will find value in it.
Blessings on you, and on your ministry.
Your MinistryMatters.com team,
Betsy, Myca, and Shane
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Bad Decisions
7 Ways to Make Bad Decisions by Ron Edmondson
I’ve made lots of bad decisions in my life. That includes my time in leadership — both in business and ministry, but I’ve also made plenty of bad decisions in family and personal situations. None of us set out to make bad decisions, but sometimes the way we make them can significantly increase or decrease the quality of our decisions.
Granted, I’ve learned from every bad decision I’ve made. And, I’ve even repeated a few of them a few times — and still learned something. But, as much as I can, I want to make better decisions — the first time.
In my experience, there are a few common factors that lead to me making a bad decision.
Here are 7 ways to make bad decisions:
Make them too fast – I’ve learned that haste does indeed make waste. I make lots of decisions each day. I would be a poor leader if I couldn’t make most of them quickly. I’d always be stalled from my potential. When the potential outcome is significant, however, the more time I can give to it the less likely I am to make a mistake — certainly the ones that could have been avoided with more thought. Learning when to wait, seek God, the counsel of others and for better personal discernment is part of maturing, but can help us avoid some of the more costly bad decisions.
Make them too slow – Equally true, there are times when a fast decision is easy; even prudent. If I know the right answer — if it has a Biblical basis, for example, or my conscience is clearly convicted — but it is simply hard to implement, I’ve learned that waiting seldom makes the decision easier and often only complicates the process. I’m more likely to make a bad decision the longer I wait.
Make them to keep people happy – The right decision is seldom the popular decision. People pleasing as a decision motivator rarely accomplishes matters of worth. It often makes the worst decision of the options available.
Make them when angry – I don’t know about you, but I don’t think clearly when my emotions get in the way. If I’m angry — or emotional in any other way — I tend to overreact or under react. Emotionally based decisions, especially immediate decisions, are often ones I tend to regret later.
Make them alone – “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.” (Proverbs 15:22) A part of leadership involves standing alone at times, but rarely are we really alone. We should always walk in the counsel of God’s Spirit, and, in my experience, even when I have to make the decision seemingly alone — if I’m making wise decisions — it’s not really that I’m alone. I’m just ahead of where others know we need to go, but haven’t yet been willing to go. Building a collaborative environment as much as possible helps me avoid bad decisions.
Make them reactionary – Ultimately we want to work from a plan. We want to make decisions before the decision is needed. We want proactive decision-making. That’s obviously not always possible, but in my experience, I’m more likely to make a bad decision when I’m reacting to a situation, rather than having thought about the scenario and my response beforehand.
Make them out of fear – We are called to walk by faith, yet fear is often a more powerful initiator. But, I’ve learned, when I decide because I’m afraid to — or not to — do something, I almost always make a mistake. Following my faith gut, even when afraid, is part of leadership. And, part of life.
I’m sure there are many other ways to make a bad decision. These are some of my personal examples.
Which of these get in your way the most in making good decisions?
What are some ways you end up making bad decisions?
This post originally appeared at RonEdmondson.com.
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First Time Guests
Fast Cash and First Time Guests by Tom Fuerst
A couple of Saturdays ago, my wife took me to the Ole Miss vs. Missouri basketball game for my birthday. During the half-time show, they gave a randomly selected member of the crowd an opportunity to get free money. All she had to do was, literally, catch it.
They put her in a wind-tunnel that looked a lot like a phone booth from Dr. Who. With a bunch of random dollar bills on the ground, she was given the instructions: She can’t trap the money. She can’t pick it up off the ground. She can only catch it in mid-air. She’d have one minute to catch as much as she can.
As soon as they turned on the wind, it was obvious that there was a pattern to the air movements. All the air was coming from the front corner. This made the money swirl up toward her and then fall back down. Had she taken time to notice the wind pattern, she would have caught a lot more dollar bills. Instead, she just spent her one minute in the money booth flailing her arms around like crazy. She had no plan of attack. She was not prepared to notice patterns. And she probably cost herself a lot of money.
I’m not saying my observations skills would have made me a better money catcher. For all I know, a plan wouldn’t even work. But still, it would have been worth trying.
One of the biggest things churches struggle with is how to capitalize on the opportunity they have with first, second, and third time guests. For most of us, it’s like being stuck in a wind tunnel and told to catch random bills as they fly by our heads. We don’t have a plan. We don’t notice patterns. And therefore we, metaphorically (unless you’re me, then it’s literally) flail our arms around and try to catch any ole random person we can.
But simple observations and planning will go a long way in helping us catch more guests. For example, noticing the universal pattern that we have more visitors on Christmas and Easter ought to tell us that those particular holidays ought to raise planning questions in our meetings about how we can get contact information, follow up, and personally greet each of these C&E guests.
And for most churches, Christmas and Easter aren’t the only days in which a lot of guests show up. My church, for example, just had over 150 first-time guests because we were celebrating the school we’re associated with. I wasn’t part of the planning committee, so I’m not sure what was done to capitalize on this boost in guests, but I’m hoping it was something.
The fact is, catching guests will always be like trying to catch dollar bills in a wind tunnel. But with simple planning and observations of patterns, we can at least be a little more efficient in noticing, welcoming, and following up with those guests we do happen to catch.
Here are some other brief tips on how to capitalize on a predictable increase in guests:
Beef up your hospitality crew that day. Let your congregation know months in advance that you’ll be wanting to make a huge hospitality push that day and you’ll need all hands on deck.
Train your hospitality crew to be rude to people they know so they can meet people they don’t know. Obviously I’m overstating my case here, but it gets the point across. We don’t need more greeters who spend all their time speaking with people they know. We need well-trained greeters who know their job is to make newcomers feel like family.
Figure out a way to get their information that benefits them. Don’t just ask them to sign a contact card for you. Give them an incentive to give you their information.
Ensure they don’t have to worry about their children. Like it or not, if they don’t feel their kids are safe or accessible, they will not come back. If they feel your children’s ministry is disorganized or sketchy, they will not return.
Everyone likes getting something for free. Don’t give them something lame. You’re doing this on a special occasion, so make the gift special.
Design your service with new guests in mind. This doesn’t mean you have to dumb everything down. But it does mean that a high percentage of your audience may not know the basics of the biblical story. Therefore, cater your message to them – don’t assume they know Abraham, David, Peter, or even Jesus. Don’t assume they know the basic Bible stories.
Specifically speak to those guests from the stage. Acknowledging their presence, acknowledging the reason they’ve come, and even acknowledging (in a playful way) that some of them may not even want to be there, will go a long way in building rapport with them.
Talk about what they care about. If God is at work in their lives (Prevenient Grace), then acknowledge their fears and loves and idols and concerns. They want to know if God has something to say to them right where they are. And God does. So make sure you point that out.
If they sign a contact card, contact them that very week. Don’t call them unless they ask for a phone call. But within a week they should receive an email, a letter, or a text from you.
Your Turn: What would you add to this list to help churches be better prepared (either on special dates or week-in-week-out) to make the most of their opportunity to maintain their guests?
This post originally appeared on Tom's blog, Tom1st.com.
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If Genesis Isn't Literal, Is the Bible Reliable?
If Genesis Isn't Literal, Is the Bible Reliable? by JR. Forasteros
In the aftermath of my review of the Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham Debate, I’ve been explaining why a pastor is not a 6-day creationist. I reject Young Earth Creationism not because I have any expertise in science (I most assuredly don’t), but because I don’t read Genesis 1-11 as a historical, scientific account of the creation of the world. To read those texts that way—as Young Earth Creationists do, is to misread these texts, to read them through the lens of our modern culture rather than as their original audience would’ve read them.
The goal for Christians who live in the modern world and read this ancient collection of texts is to learn how to think like our ancient fathers and mothers. We don’t want to assume the Bible was written for us. It was written for them, and they preserved it for us. So it’s entirely possible that something that seems totally normal for them would be completely lost on us.
When I offer that into conversation, however, I always get variations of the same question:
If Genesis 1 isn’t historical, then is any part of the Bible trustworthy?
The implication is that Genesis 1 can only be read historically/scientifically. That if we say that creation didn’t happen the way Genesis 1 says it happened, then we’re undermining the authority and trustworthiness of not only Genesis, but the whole Bible. Obviously, I don’t hold to that idea—the Bible is authoritative for me, and Genesis is one of my favorite texts, and the foundation of much of my theology. Even though I don’t read it historically/scientifically.
With that said, here are 5 reasons not reading Genesis 1-11 as a historical, scientific text doesn’t undermine the truth or authority of Genesis 1-11 (or the whole Bible).
1. Non-historical doesn’t mean untrue. These conversations often begin something like, “How do we know what’s historical and what’s just myth or poem?” The underlying assumption is that if a text is historically accurate, then it’s more reliable, more truthful or more important than something mythic or poetic.
That’s a bad assumption. Consider, for instance, Jesus’ parables. No one (that I’ve met) thinks there was a historical Good Samaritan. Or a historical Prodigal Son. Or that Jesus grew up down the street from a woman named Rebekah who had 10 gold coins and lost one once.
We understand that parables are stories that Jesus made up to illustrated truths about God’s kingdom. But does the fact that Jesus’ parables aren’t historical mean they’re somehow less important? That the spiritual truths in them don’t matter? Not at all. In fact, Jesus’ parables are so powerful they’ve become some of Christianity’s most cherished and influential texts.
So if Genesis 1 (or the story of Jonah or Psalm 34 or Elijah’s showdown at Mt. Carmel) isn’t a historical text, that doesn’t automatically mean it’s unimportant or unspiritual. More to the point, God can work through any genre of literature to communicate salvific truth.
If it’s in the Scriptures, then whether it’s history, legal code, letter, poem, myth, apocalypse or any of the other genres, we confess that it’s God-breathed and useful to teach, correct, prepare and equip God’s people.
2. Are miracles really unbelievable? But still the question: How do we know which is which? After all, we’re not dealing with one or two passages here. Quite a bit of the Bible is narrative, and stories are what press the issue of historicity. How do we know whether a narrative is historical or something else? Obviously, that’s a complicated question, but from the outset we should make a plain observation.
Just because something is miraculous doesn’t mean we should automatically toss it out.
That is what a person who holds a naturalistic worldview would do. No 6-literal-day creation, no big fish swallowing a guy, no fire falling on Mt. Carmel or commanding she-bears, and certainly no resurrection from the dead. The universe is a closed system, and if there is a god, s/he doesn’t intervene.
But the central confession of the Christian faith is that Jesus’ physical body came back from the dead. As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians, if Jesus’ physical body didn’t come back to life and exit the tomb, then Christians are all fools, and should be pitied more than anyone else in human history.
If we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, then we’re embracing an open system.
God can and does act in human history. So miracles shouldn’t be off-limits for Christians.
We don’t reject the historicity of a text just because it has some sort of miraculous event in it. So why do we?
3. Reading according to genre is reading literally. So it comes back to the question of genres. I want to know if a story about 6 literal days of creation is meant to be read historically, scientifically, mythically, parabolically or any of the other options available to me. How do I do that?
We’ve had a lot of brilliant, faithful people inside the Christian tradition who’ve been trained in how to read and understand ancient literature. Who get inside and understand ancient worldviews. And they’ve helped us to read this text the way an ancient Israelite would’ve read it. They’ve helped us to hear what God was saying to his people then so we can discern what God is saying to us now.
Reading according to genre is reading a text literally—as it was originally meant to be read. To read it as literature.
I met a guy once who stubbornly declared over and over that the world is a flat square. His reasoning was that in Revelation, the Bible talks about the “four corners of the Earth”. So this man said that if that’s how the Bible describes the Earth, that must be what the Earth is. No matter what evidence to the contrary.
Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so they did not blow on the earth or the sea, or even on any tree. (Revelation 7:1)
That position is (to most of us) self-evidently foolish. We know that is indeed what the Bible says, but we also recognize that “four corners of the Earth” is metaphorical language. It was never meant to be taken as a scientific description of the Earth, so to read it as such is to misinterpret the Bible. It’s not being faithful to God’s Word. It’s being faithful to a particular (and wrong!) method of interpretation, one that doesn’t respect the original intention of the author.
The correct way to read Revelation 7:1 is as a metaphor because that’s what the original author intended. That example is obvious, but many narratives, including Genesis 1-11 are less obvious to our modern eyes.
What of those genres we’re less familiar with? And in cases like Genesis 1 where translation obscures genre?
4. Learning to read according to genre takes training and practice. Ultimately, this is what concerns me about Mr. Ham’s approach to the Bible. He doesn’t know Hebrew. He hasn’t had any formal training in how to read the kinds of ancient documents that comprise the Bible. And he seems unwilling to consider that he might have the genre of Genesis 1-11 wrong, despite the fact that people who’ve spent a lot more time on that question than he has are telling him otherwise.
When Ken Ham says to hundreds of thousands of people, “No matter what the evidence says, I’m going to believe X because the Bible says so,” I get very nervous. Not because I don’t believe in miracles, not because I am a science expert. But because the Bible doesn’t say that. Not to the best of my knowledge, and I’ve spent a lot of time working on that from a Biblical studies perspective. A lot more time, it seems, than Mr. Ham has. (On the flip side, I’d never get into a scientific debate with Mr. Ham – he’s spent way more time there than I have).
I don’t want that to sound elitist. The point isn’t that reading according to genre is impossible. It’s also not that you have to earn a PhD in Hebrew to do it. There are tons of resources out there that help us, and we can all become students of the ancient world in which the Bible was written.
Does that take work? Yes. But you can learn this.
5. You can learn to understand biblical genres. There are a couple of great resources for helping us understand the genres early in Genesis – I highly recommend:
The Lost World of Genesis One by John Walton
The Evolution of Adam by Peter Enns.
Lots of commentaries on Genesis also address these interpretive issues, including Walter Brueggemann’s excellent volume in the Interpretation series and the JPS volume on Genesis.
Learning to read genres in the Bible is a lot like how we learn to read genres in our world today. We easily distinguish more or less unconsciously among science fiction, legal code, novels, short stories, letters, emails, tweets, and dozens of other kinds of literature. It’s easy for us because we grew up with it and it seems normal to us.
So too with the genres of the ancient world. The more time we spend reading them, immersing ourselves in the ancient world, the more these make sense to us. We can also spend time reading other ancient documents, learning how people then saw the world. Reading other ancient apocalypses (we have dozens of them) helped me to understand the Revelation better. Reading the Babylonian creation epic, the Enuma Elish, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the fragments of the Canaanite creation stories we have has helped me to get a better grasp on Genesis 1-11.
These resources help us learn how to read genres the ancient world would’ve naturally understood.
What’s at stake for Christians in this argument is the authority and reliability of the Bible. My particular denomination—the Church of the Nazarene—holds the position that the Bible is wholly without error in all matters regarding salvation. That’s the most important thing for me: that no matter how we read Genesis (or Elijah or Jonah or Acts or Philemon!) we understand that there is a God who loves us and who became one of us to rescue us from our Sin and rediscover the life and love we were originally created for.
Your Turn: Do you find the various biblical genres challenging?
This post originally appeared on JR.'s blog at jrforasteros.com.
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Healthier Fast Food?
Healthier Fast Food? by Jim Hawkins
Popular Cuisine
Fast food is ubiquitous. In my small town, you can choose from Hardee’s, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, a KFC/Taco Bell combination, a local fast-food chain known for its hamburgers and milkshakes, and several local pizza restaurants. Within a 15-minute drive, the choice widens to include most nationwide fast-food chains, including Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, and Burger King.
Our area is not unique. Thousands of fast-food restaurants can be found across the country as well as in much of the world. A recent study of nearly 600 teenagers and adults in Minnesota discovered that most respondents ate fast food at least three times a week. Their most common reasons for choosing fast food meals: Fast food is quick (92.3 percent), the restaurants are easy to get to (80.1 percent), the respondents like the taste (69.2 percent), fast food is inexpensive (63.6 percent), and the respondents are “too busy to cook” (53.2 percent).
Fast food may be popular, but is it healthy? It can be, according to Linda Van Horn, professor of preventative medicine at Northwestern University. “You just have to be selective, both about the choice of restaurant and the choices you make when you get there,” Van Horn says. “Some, but not all, fast food restaurants have grilled chicken, salads, low-fat milk, fruit and even oatmeal choices for breakfast.”
Personal Research
I decided to find out if fast food can indeed be healthy. While I loved it as a child, I rarely go to a fast-food restaurant now. My wife and I make tastier hamburgers than most chain restaurant offerings; and if I either want or need to eat out, there are other options that are more appealing to me. My ten-year-old son is a fan of fast food. Peter’s school was closed because of snow the day I had the conference call with the FaithLink editors to decide on this topic, so I took him along for research. He was thrilled to go, because generally fast food is a treat reserved for times when I have other meal plans.
McDonald’s has changed since the last time I was there. Not only did our local franchise physically change, with the old restaurant torn down and a new one replacing it in the last several years, but the menu has changed as well. Peter knew what he wanted: a Happy Meal. He always gets this combination geared to children. I was impressed that Happy Meals now automatically come with a small hamburger, a small order of fries, a bag of apple slices (about half of an apple), a soft drink, and a toy. Although the hamburger and fries might not be the healthiest choices, he also ate a serving of fruit.
While Peter knew what he wanted to order before we arrived, I took longer to decide. I relied on the calorie counts beside the items on the menu to make my choice: a Premium McWrap Sweet Chili Chicken (Grilled) combo meal. I felt pretty good about my choice: The menu said it was only 360 calories. I have had tastier wraps, both in other restaurants and at home, though the accompanying fries were as good as I remember.
How healthy were our choices? According to the nutrition facts on the reverse of the tray liner, my choice was not as healthy as I supposed. While the wrap itself was only 360 calories and had a relatively low nine grams of fat, it had 1,030 milligrams of sodium. My complete lunch, with the accompanying fries and soft drink, totaled 880 calories, 28 grams of fat, and 1,330 milligrams of sodium. Peter’s lunch totaled 505 calories, 14 grams of fat, and 580 milligrams of sodium. The meal was not as healthy as I hoped, but the price was right. Our lunch cost only $8.78—not bad for two people.
Becoming Healthier
Just as I discovered in my firsthand research, many fast-food restaurants are offering food with lower fat and calories. Yet the National Institutes of Health (NIH) warns that “even with these changes, it is hard to eat healthy when you eat out often. Many foods are still cooked with a lot of fat. Many restaurants do not offer any lower-fat foods. Large portions also make it easy to overeat. And few restaurants offer many fruits and vegetables.”
“In general, eat at places that offer salads, soups, and vegetables,” the NIH recommends. Other NIH recommendations: Choose smaller portion sizes; hold cheese, bacon, and other items that add fat and calories; and choose meats that are roasted, grilled, baked, or broiled.
If you want to make fast food healthier for children, choose fruit or vegetables instead of fries. That might not be a popular switch if your children are like my son, but you could split an order of fries with your children in order to control portion size. Choose grilled options instead of fried. The American Heart Association also recommends drinking low-fat milk, juice, or water. “No one ever said that every fast food meal must be eaten with soda,” the association states. “Sodas are loaded with sugars, which have calories your kids don’t need. Nearly all fast food restaurants offer alternatives.”
Making a Difference
Linda Van Horn asserts that consumers can make a difference. “Consumer behavior strongly influences what restaurants choose to serve,” she says, “so if you want healthier choices, choose them and let it be known.”
Mark Bittman, a food writer with The New York Times, agrees that consumers now expect fast-food restaurants to offer healthier options. “In recent years, the fast-food industry has started to heed these new demands,” Bittman writes. “Billions of dollars have been invested in more healthful fast-food options, and the financial incentives justify these expenditures. About half of all the money spent on food in the United States is for meals eaten outside the home. And last year McDonald’s earned $5.5 billion in profits on $88 billion in sales. If a competitor offered a more healthful option that was able to capture just a single percent of that market share, it would make $55 million. Chipotle, the best newcomer of the last generation, has beaten that 1 percent handily. Last year, sales approached $3 billion. In the fourth quarter, they grew by 17 percent over the same period in the previous year.”
Bittman warns that even with a recent surge in new and healthier fast-food restaurants, there is still a crisis in the industry. “Fast food is, at its core, a class issue,” he asserts. “Many people rely on [inexpensive fast food] because they need to, and our country’s fast-food problem won’t be solved—no matter how much innovation in vegan options or high-tech ovens—until the prices come down and this [healthier] sector is no longer niche.”
Fast-food restaurants are not the only option when it comes to quick and inexpensive food. “It’s often cheaper and just as easy to run into a grocery store and buy more nutritious food like a freshly made sandwich on whole-grain bread using fresh turkey or chicken and a piece of fruit,” Van Horn says. “Also, many grocery stores sell packaged salads and soups to go, but again, read the label. When it comes to choosing a quick meal, you can think inside or outside the fast food box.”
Fast Food and Faith
So why is whether or not we eat fast food a faith issue for Christians? Unlike many of our Jewish cousins in the faith, we do not have religious dietary restrictions; we are free to eat anything we like. In a letter to the Christians of Corinth, Paul reminds those early believers that their bodies are “parts of Christ” (1 Corinthians 6:12-20). In his letter, the apostle mentions food. He concludes his appeal for healthy living by reminding the Corinthians, “Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?” (verse 19). If we are in Christ, if he lives within us, our bodies are indeed temples of the Holy Spirit. Our bodies are gifts from God. And we are better able to do God’s work in the world around us when we are healthy.
Be sure to check out FaithLink, a weekly downloadable discussion guide for classes and small groups. FaithLink motivates Christians to consider their personal views on important contemporary issues, and it also encourages them to act on their beliefs.
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Finding Purpose
Finding Purpose by Ben Kendrick
Ever since The LEGO® Group began producing their trademark interlocking blocks back in 1949, the toys have grown to become a global childhood staple. In recent years the brand has extended beyond traditional block sets as a multimedia platform—including franchise-themed LEGOs (such as Star Wars and DC Comic superheroes, among others), videogames, television series, and now a full feature-length, big-screen adventure. However, in The LEGO Movie, the world isn’t saved by superhero do-gooders like Superman and Batman; instead, the fate of LEGO-kind falls to everyman construction worker, Emmet (voiced by Chris Pratt)—who has been dubbed “The Special” by a force beyond his understanding. After spending the majority of his life attempting to fit in, listening to pop music, and drinking expensive coffee, Emmet’s unremarkable existence is turned upside down. One night he stumbles upon “The Kragle,” a mysterious tool, which according to prophecy can end the reign of Lord Business (played by Will Ferrell).
Finding the Special Within Lord Business is a tyrannical dictator, obsessed with erasing creativity and individual expression from the LEGO Universe. It is up to Emmet, along with the heroic Master Builders (LEGO people who are free to create whatever they want) to stop him. Yet, when it becomes clear that Emmet isn’t like most Master Builders, many of the heroes begin to doubt his credibility and outright reject him as “The Special.” Armed with renewed purpose and a desire to protect the LEGO Universe, Emmet learns to embrace his own unique gifts, discovering there is no one single “Special.” Every LEGO person has been provided with talents, skills, and passions that make them capable of doing (and creating) amazing things—especially when working with others (and a set of instructions) for the sake of a greater good. Like Emmet, it’s easy to look at other people for a model of whom we could be and what we should do with our lives. After all, if we can fit in, we don’t have to risk the challenges that come with standing out or rocking the boat—but we are not supposed to hide away who we truly are just to be accepted by the in crowd. We are called to a larger purpose.
An Awesome Faith
God created each of us with special intent, and to that end, equipped us with unique gifts. Understandably we don’t always know where to start or what we can become, but by growing in confidence, by rejecting outside pressures to conform, and by embracing who we truly are inside, we are positioned to do awesome things. Our Creator sees into our hearts, loving us for whom we are, accepting and celebrating what is inside us. If we hide what makes us special, how can we ever align our lives with God’s intended purpose? As stated in Matthew 5:14- 15: “You are the light of the world. A city on top of a hill can’t be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on top of a lampstand, and it shines on all who are in the house.” We are faced with a lifechanging choice: Suppress our interests, passions, and gifts so that we can go unnoticed in a culture of conformity—or embrace our differences, celebrate them with others, and accept God’s plan for our lives without hesitation.
This article is also published as part of LinC, a weekly digital resource for youth small groups and Sunday school classes. The complete study guide can be purchased and downloadedhere.
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Getting Started in Caring Ministries by Betsy Hall
One of the greatest challenges for the pastor and staff of a church is providing care and support to individuals and families. The needs are often great in our communities and can be overwhelming. It is crucial to spend time with individuals who have spiritual gifts in caring who can come alongside to share in the pastoral care.
I asked Carol M. Miller who is the Parish Care Coordinator at Noblesville First United Methodist Church if she would share a general list of her responsibilites.
HOME COMMUNION – Each month we provide homebound persons and those in the hospital or nursing homes with Holy Communion first Sunday of each month).
Contacting communion stewards two weeks before
Sending reminder cards and devotional
Assignments sent
Preparing elements and bags
Delivering communion
Report to pastors
GRIEF SHARE – 13 week sessions, twice a year
Publicity
Mailing letters
Registration
Staff: Facilitators, Welcome, Snacks, Follow up
SUPPORT GROUP – meets second Thursday
SURVIVING THE HOLIDAYS – in November
CARING CONNECTION – This is a ministry that shares Christ’s love by providing meals to those who are experiencing a particular hardship. Several groups within this ministry serve as the core team for contact when a person or family has a need. These situations are loosely defined as hospitalization or a long-term illness (usually greater than one week), however, other extenuating circumstances can also apply.
using the website Take Them a Meal
Arrangement of food when needed
PRAYER CARDS
Cards are printed each week on Friday and placed out for signatures
Monday morning envelopes are addressed and cards mailed
FOLLOW UP CARD MINISTRY
Cards mailed to those released from hospital or out-patient surgery
FUNERAL DINNERS
PRAYER QUILTS AND PRAYER SHAWLS
The Prayer Quilts and Shawls are handmade by persons in our congregation and are given to people in need to help them remember they are loved by God.
People are needed to deliver the quilts and shawls.
PRAYER CHAIN
HARBOUR MANOR SING-A-LONG
First Tuesday of each month – 6:15 pm
No talent needed
FLOWER MINISTRY
Twice a year – Easter and Christmas
Flowers taken to homebound members and bereaved families
PHONE CALLS
Follow up calls
Shut-ins
Those in need of a friendly voice
FRIDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY
10:30 – 11:00 am
Prepare lesson and interact with residents
SURGERY VISITS
HOSPITAL AND REHAB FACILITY VISITS
The congregation is asked to contact the church whenever a family member is hospitalized or preparing for surgery. Once notified the pastoral care team makes every effort to visit in the hospital and to pray with those who are having surgery. Please note that due to HIPAA rules, hospitals no longer notify the church when members are hospitalized.
HEALTH CARE FACILITY VISITS
We extend the caring ministry of the church by visiting with members of our congregation via telephone call, in-home visit, nursing home visit, or by writing cards of encouragement.
NEWSLETTER ARTICLES
SUNSHINE FRIENDS
Other care the church provides:
Counseling the church has a licensed marriage and family therapist available for counseling.
Alzheimer's (Memory Care) Support Group meets once a month
Stephen Ministries Lay people providing one-to-one Christian care for hurting people. Confidential, non-judgmental, dependable, listening, compassionate, trustworthy and Christ centered. On-going care, continues as long as needed, often after initial crisis support has ceased.
In my own church, our care team has been discussing questions like the ones listed below. We've also agreed to take turns leading a study of the books listed under Related Products (see our example schedule).
Who in your church has spiritual gifts in caring?
What caring needs are present in your faith community?
Have you talked with your pastor or a staff member about a brainstorming session on what caring ministries might look like in your church?
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Disabling Temptations
Disabling Temptations by Brett Younger
Matthew 4:1-11
Most of the time, without any real thought, we do what we want to do and make inferior choices. We trivialize sin when we think of it as an error in judgment. Sin is a flawed approach to decision making that leads us to the worst decision with which we can be comfortable. In a thousand ways we get used to making lesser choices. We’re so used to choosing what’s easiest that deciding to become more than we are doesn’t occur to us.
Yet it’s always possible to be true to the higher calling. Jesus is baptized in the muddy water of the Jordan River. The voice from heaven proclaims, “You are my child, my beloved, in you I am well pleased.” Then Jesus goes to the middle of nowhere to decide what kind of child he’s going to be.
The wilderness is hot and barren. The hills are dust heaps. The rocks are jagged. The wind howls at night. Jesus is so weighed down with the burden of choosing the direction for his life that he doesn’t even think of food. It’s been days, weeks since he has eaten. It’s a great understatement when Matthew writes, “and afterwards, he hungered.”
The silence is broken when from somewhere there comes a voice—a whisper, a screaming whisper: “If you are God’s child, command this stone, so that it becomes bread.” Jesus remembers John, the River Jordan, the sky opening and the voice saying, “You are my child, the beloved.” Now it’s a different voice, “If you are God’s child.”
Jesus was the first person tempted by fast food. A rounded stone becomes a loaf of pumpernickel; a flat rock becomes a tortilla. Who will it hurt? If he is God’s child, then why shouldn’t he have what he wants?
We struggle with the attraction of doing what’s easiest. This first temptation is to make our decisions on the basis of what requires the least effort. We often pass on what’s eternally best for what’s momentarily satisfying.
We’re tempted to choose the easy way when we realize how hard it is to forgive the guilty, listen to the lonely, and share what we have with the poor. It’s much easier to settle for a tepid faith. We get so used to choosing what’s easiest that we seldom consider the hard way of sacrifice. We’d like to believe that an easy life is a sign of God’s approval, but if we’re comfortable, then we’ve missed what’s best.
Jesus understands the temptation of the easy way; “One cannot live by bread alone. Obedience to God is more important than my own comfort.”
Satan tries again like a con man with an arm covered with Rolexes. This time it’s from the steeple of the old First Church, “If you are God’s child, throw yourself down. You know that the Bible says, ‘God will protect you.’ ”
The first-century Jews believed that when the Messiah came, he would reveal himself from the temple roof. The tempter is reminding Jesus that he can be the Messiah the people want. He can be a great religious teacher and skip the hard parts. Jesus could have modified his ministry ever so slightly and been what they wanted him to be.
When Monty Hall offers us what’s behind door number two, it’s the temptation to look spiritual. We can keep up appearances even as we lower our expectations. In T. S. Eliot’s play, Murder in the Cathedral, the tempter comes to Thomas Becket and offers the temptation of being a martyr, a religious hero. Becket understands, “The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason.”
We’ve figured out that we can look religious without truly seeking God. It’s easy to meet people’s religious expectations. We know how to pretend that we are living as God’s children.
The screaming whisper returns with an offer of palaces and kingdoms, “Compromise and it’s all yours.” This is Frodo Baggins offering the one ring that rules them all. To worship Satan is to choose success. This third temptation is to want what everyone wants.
The evil one doesn’t appear for us in a readily identifiable red suit with a pitchfork. The tempter appears as reasonableness. Evil’s nagging voice is the desire for a little bigger house, a little more in savings, and a little better job.
Have you ever learned that someone who does the same job you do makes more money than you make? We know it doesn’t do us any good to think about it, but we keep thinking about the injustice of it all and what we would do with the extra money. We choose to hang on to greed until it starts to crowd out things that matter more.
O.A. Battista wrote, “You have reached the pinnacle of success as soon as you become uninterested in money, compliments, or publicity.” By that standard, most of us are still some distance from the summit.
Through cracked and bleeding lips, Jesus answers the master counterfeiter, “Bow down to God alone; worship only God.”
The adversary retreats temporarily, but Jesus never stopped being tempted to make it easier for himself. Jesus faced the same temptations to compromise that we face. We choose every day between what seems okay and what’s true to the gospel.
We need to remember this story of Jesus in the wilderness. There were no witnesses. Jesus must have told the disciples because he hoped that they would remember. Maybe you’ve had the experience of meeting someone so kind and caring that they made you want to be kind and caring, too. Remember that there was one who lived beyond comfort, praise, and affluence.
Remember whose we are. The voice at Jesus’ baptism was the voice of assurance, “This is my beloved child.” God has assured us that we too are God’s children. We come to this Lenten season of repentance confessing our longing for the paths of least resistance and asking for new and honest hearts.
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How to
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Lent
Ideas for Lent 2014
We've put together some free resources to help you plan for Lent. Remember, it's never too late to tweak a worship service!
5" Christ's Story Hand Cross with Story Box Display
This hand-held cross walks users through the life of Christ with an engraved visual representation of His story. Each 5-inch cross is packaged with a story card.
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#LivingStone: A Free Multimedia Worship Series for Lent from Ministry Matters
Articles#LivingStone: A Free Multimedia Worship Series for Lent from Ministry Matters by Myca Alford
Late last fall, the MinistryMatters.com team got together and decided to launch our first-ever free worship video series: #FollowTheStar. The results were beyond our wildest expectations with nearly ten thousand views of the weekly videos, over 20,000 visitors to the series web portal, and thousands of people who took time out of their busy day to share videos or images from the series with their friends and family on social networks.
After that overwhelming response, we knew we had to create a worship series for Lent. We just finalized the details and are (quickly!) working on a graphic direction.
Our free Lent worship video series will be called #LivingStone, and is based on this Scripture:
Now you are coming to him as to a living stone. Even though this stone was rejected by humans, from God’s perspective it is chosen, valuable. (1 Peter 2:4 CEB)
As we were brainstorming, we all agreed that we wanted to base the direction off of a strong Lenten symbol but none of us were really feeling connected with any of the "standard" symbols of Lent. On an internet search for Lent symbols we found a Catholic website and one of the symbols was a barren stone. The idea of a barren stone really resonated with me but Betsy and Shane weren't sure so we kept digging.
Between coffee breaks, lots of scribbling and drawing arrows on a white board, and even a few arguments everything began to come together around the idea of stones in the Bible and we realized we had our theme: #LivingStone.
Stones are a basic imagery used for Lent, but not overused, which is why we eventually went in this direction. We were pleasantly surprised by the number of stories we found around stones in the Bible.
Here’s a synopsis of the stories and the key verses from each.
Week 1: Sacred Pillar – Genesis 28:18 After Jacob got up early in the morning, he took the stone that he had put near his head, set it up as a sacred pillar, and poured oil on the top of it.
Week 2: Covenant Stone – Deut. 9:7 & 29 7. Remember—don’t ever forget!—how you made the Lord your God furious in the wilderness. From the very first day you stepped out of Egypt until you arrived at this place, you have been rebels against the Lord. 29 But these are your people! Your own possession! The people you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm!
Week 3: 12 Stones – Joshua 4:22 This happened so that all the earth’s peoples might know that the Lord’s power is great and that you may always revere the Lord your God.”
Week 4: Foundation Stone – Isaiah 28:16 Therefore, the Lord God says:
Look! I’m laying in Zion a stone,
a tested stone, a valuable cornerstone,
a sure foundation:
the one who trusts won’t tremble.
Week 5: Stones to Food – Matthew 4:3 The tempter came to him and said, “Since you are God’s Son, command these stones to become bread.”
Week 6 (Palm/Passion Sunday) : Stones Cry Out – Luke 19:40 He answered, “I tell you, if they were silent, the stones would shout.”
Week 7 (Easter Sunday): Empty Tomb – Matthew 28:2 Look, there was a great earthquake, for an angel from the Lord came down from heaven. Coming to the stone, he rolled it away and sat on it.
The full Scriptures for each week are:
Sacred Pillar – Genesis 28:10-22
Covenant Stone – Deut. 9:6-29
12 Stones – Joshua 4:20-22
Foundation Stone – Isaiah 28:14-22, Romans 9:30-33
Stones to Food – Matthew 4:1-11
Stones Cry Out – Luke 19:29-40
Empty Tomb – Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-12
And the full Scripture for the series: 1 Peter 2:4-10
What do you think? We expect there to be a few raised eyebrows about our choice of symbols to base the series around, but that's ok. There will be some people who love it, some who aren't sure about it.
In the end we hope that there is one nugget, one Scripture, one thought that makes you stop and say "Aha!" or brings you or someone in your congregation closer in your walk with God. Or maybe this series will provide inspiration to you as a preacher or worship leader, as you seek to make Easter worship fresh, and new, and engaging.
As with #FollowTheStar, the content is free - free to use, free to share, free to modify. It's YOUR content, do with it as you will. We only ask that you share with others, if you believe they will find value in it.
Blessings on you, and on your ministry.
Your MinistryMatters.com team,
Betsy, Myca, and Shane
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Lent Displays for Teaching and Worship
Lent Displays for Teaching and Worship by Kasey Hitt, Betsy Hall, Peggy Jennings
The Lent and Easter stories can become so familiar that they become rote. Yet, Lent can be a time of tremendous spiritual growth and a deepening commitment to live as disciples of Jesus Christ. Now is a great time to introduce people to the practice of spiritual disciplines (i.e. study, prayer, worship, fasting) and the content here will help with that but you'll also want to supplement with some hand's on mission work in your community.
Encouraging each other to participate fully in spiritual disciplines will help us see the stories with fresh eyes.
The original idea for this content was to plan prayer stations to use in worship during Lent to help people understand what Lent celebrates using scripture, illustrations, readings, and other props. Not everyone uses prayer stations so we've developed this in a way that you can pick and choose what will work in your setting.
What is available for free as download content are the stations which we refer to as displays. Your space will dictate how you use what we've provided and allows for your own creativity and ideas. Tailor the displays to your church setting, needs, and your audience.
Ways to use these resources:
plan to set up each display in your worship space, fellowship hall, classroom, hallway or gathering space, wherever you have room
change the displays each week or if you have room set leave them set up until after Easter
Free resources to download:
Lent Display Chart (scripture links, planogram item inventory, kind of an at a glance)
7 Display Planograms (the displays photographed with notes, thanks Peggy Jennings!)
14 Illustrations (four color photos)
17 Bible Verse Signage (vertical format used on the display table)
17 Bible Verses for Projection (jpgs in horizontal format, could be used in worhship)
7 Readings "Lent: A Yearly Reminder of the Daily Call to Come Home" (thanks Kasey Hitt!)
7 Audios by Kasey Hitt (thanks Russ Hitt for the music!)
CEB Study Bible scripture and study notes for the readings (free download is 45 pages)
7 Table Identification Signs (on display table)
Ideas to get you started:
invite people to help plan the displays
download the free resources to review
select the scriptures and pictures appropriate to your setting
decide where the displays will be set up [note: the table on the planogram is a 6 foot round]
decide on a schedule (will all of the displays be set up at once or will you change them weekly)
be creative, collect additional props for the displays (other religious art and tangible symbols that are meaningful to your people)
promote, communicate, and invite people to come visit the display
plan a date now to discuss ways to improve on the experience for next year
Finally...
This is an introduction to Lent only, it's not perfect.
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Quick Links for Lent with Children
Quick Links for Lent with Children
For children's ministries and parents below are some quick links to Lent and Easter resources to help you in planning. Check back more will be added:
Pretzel Sunday written by Robert W. Sapp
Lent for Kids: Focusing on God's Time written by Jenni Duncan
What is Lent? Preparing for Easter is a little booklet that you can use in your children's ministries or individually with your child to teach them about Lent. The link includes a download for teaching helps.
An Intergenerational Lenten Fair written by Nancy Gammill, set this fair up using different stations. Your adults will learn about Lent alongside the children!
The Way: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus Based on Adam Hamilton’s The Way: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus and used in conjunction with the churchwide experience during Lent and Easter, children will explore the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Children will: explore the stories of Jesus, learn about the places where Jesus’ ministry took place, experience some of the culture of Bible times, and realize the significance of Jesus’ life on earth. Contains everything needed to conduct a seven-week study complete with reproducible handouts.
Come, Taste the Bread: A Storybook About the Lord's Supper retells the biblical story from the Gospel of Luke a good resource to talk with children ages 4-8 about Communion.
This Is Good News! is a book is based on the Gospel of Matthew and includes activities and stickers (for ages 4-10). If you have younger children see Happy Easter Day below.
Happy Easter Day written for ages 18 months—2 years.
The Easter Garden: A Lenten Experience for Children is a 7 session or one-day event for large-group/small-group settings. Includes a worship experience.
How Do I Explain Easter to My Child? written by Carolyn Brown
Dealing With Children's Hard Questions written by Ellen Shepard
Additional articles and more ideas may also be found on Quick Links for Lent.
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Stations of the Cross: Projectable Art
Stations of the Cross: Projectable Art by Jessica Miller Kelley
Enhance your Holy Week observances with this free Stations of the Cross artwork and devotional experience.
The Stations of the Cross, also called The Way of the Cross, is a historic practice of Christians around the world, observed especially during Lent and on Good Friday in particular. The concept was originated in medieval times, to bring a taste of Holy Land pilgrimage to people in their own churches. Rather than walking the Via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrows) around Jerusalem to remember Jesus' humiliation and sacrifice, devotees could process from station to station within the church or an outdoor space, meditating on visual representations of Jesus' journey—often sculptures, paintings, or reliefs.
There are traditionally fourteen stations, marking Jesus' experience from condemnation to burial, though adaptations exist, including the addition of a resurrection station (which some would say defeats the purpose of meditating on Christ's suffering before jumping to Easter) or a version that only depicts scenes explicitly recorded in Scripture. (Jesus stumbling and falling under the weight of the cross might be logically assumed, though not stated in Scripture, and one station—Veronica wiping Jesus' face with a towel—introduces a completely extrabiblical character and incident.)
The Stations of the Cross experience offered below follow the traditional fourteen stations, with the substitution of resurrection (as Station 14) for the traditional station 13, Jesus is taken down from the cross. These worship elements may be projected or printed free of charge for use in congregational settings.
Artwork is mixed media collage, created by Jessica Miller Kelley in 2006, photographs ©2013.
Corresponding and thematically-related scriptures are from the Common English Bible, ©2010.
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Praying Through Lent and Easter Toward Pentecost
Praying Through Lent and Easter Toward Pentecost by Ron Anderson
Does Lent often seem to you like a time to be "gotten through" as quickly as possible as we move toward Easter? Seen this way, Easter becomes the end of a journey or ordeal we have had to suffer through.
What would happen if we treated Easter as both an ending and a beginning, a midpoint around which we truly shape our Christian lives? What if we begin to understand Lent as the ending of one life and the time immediately following Easter as the beginning of a new life?
Winter seems to sharpen our senses in anticipation of spring. So, too, Lent may sharpen our spiritual senses to see, hear, touch, smell, and taste the resurrection and the new life that begins at Easter.
This is the vision I encourage you to use this year. This vision is based on a centuries-old tradition of the church which sees Lent as a special time of intensive spiritual preparation that climaxes a longer period of preparation (some say three years) for baptism. In this tradition baptism occurs at Easter, marking the formal end of a non-Christian life, even as it marks the beginning of a new life centered in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Easter, then, serves as the "hinge" on which our Christian lives turn. It is both the end and the beginning, our death and our anticipated resurrection. We hear the words of the apostle Paul: "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:3-4).
The following suggestions are intended to help you find the ending and beginning, to help you sharpen your spiritual senses in readiness for new life, to help you pray your way both toward Easter and toward Pentecost.
These suggestions will help you engage scriptures briefly each day, patiently living with each text throughout an entire week.
The process is very simple:
1. Read the text for each week in your own Bible at least once each day of the week. (Note: Begin where you can and don't worry about being behind in the readings.) Try to memorize the text or at least an outline of its contents.
2. Also pray the prayer accompanying the text each day or use it as a guide for your own prayer time.
3. Begin using the text on Sunday of each week. It is, after all, the first day of the week.
4. At the end of each day, or at least at the end of the week, take a few moments to collect your thoughts about the text and prayer. Write a few notes in a journal, create a drawing or talk to a friend. Find some way of summarizing your thoughts and reminding yourself of the important ideas.
5. After Pentecost, take a few extra moments to review your notes. Think about what you have learned, how you have been challenged or comforted, and how you have found new endings and beginnings in your own Christian life.
Repent, the Kingdom Is at Hand!
Read Mark 1:9-15.
0 God, not only for myself but for the church and the world help me this day to turn away from those powers of wickedness and evil that keep me from you, that I may more fully turn toward you in all that I do. Amen.
Take Up the Cross
Read Mark 8:31-38
0 God, not only for myself but for the church and the world help me this day to confess Jesus Christ as my Savior, to trust wholly in the promise of your grace, and with the whole church and all of creation to serve you in all that I do. Amen.
Cleanse the Temple
Read John 2:13-22
0 God, not only for myself but for the church and the world help me this day to accept the freedom and power you have given me to resist the powers of evil, injustice, and oppression whenever and wherever they present themselves. Amen.
God So Loves the World
Read John 3:14-21;
0 God, not only for myself but for the church and the world help me this day to nurture all who have been given into my care, that by my words and deeds I may guide them to accept your grace, to claim their faith, and to live in their words and deeds a Christian life. Amen.
Dying an Living
Read John 12:20-33
0 God, not only for myself but for the church and the world by your grace help me this day to be a faithful member of Christ's holy church, that I may faithfully serve you as Christ's representative in the world. Amen.
Crucified!
Read Mark 15:1-47
0 God, here I can only confess that I do believe in Jesus Christ, your only Son, my Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; who descended to the dead; who on the third day rose again and ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father and will come again to judge the living and the dead. Amen.
Christ In Risen!
Read John 20:1-18
0 God, in his death Christ destroyed my death. In his resurrection Christ restores my life. I wait for that time when Christ will come again in glory, that even as I am clothed in the glory of baptism, I may come into the glory of your kingdom. Here and now, 0 God, I am your child. Amen.
Peace Be With You
Read John 20:19-31
Mighty and powerful God, in Jesus you have destroyed all that binds us and would keep us from life. Empower us now with such faith and trust, that in the face of suffering and death we too may triumph as Christ has triumphed for the sake of your church and all of creation. Amen.
You Are Witnesses
Read Luke 24:36-38
God of love and life, high on the cross you took the suffering of the world upon yourself. Low in the grave you defeated the powers of death. Raised in power and glory, you restored us to glory. Now in these fifty days of Easter we are witnesses to all that you have done for us. All honor and glory is yours now and forever. Amen.
I Am the Good Shepherd
Read John 10:11-18
Almighty God, you sent Jesus to shepherd your flock, to seek out the lost, and to keep all in safety. Help us to follow where Christ would lead us, neither wandering from the path nor fearing the journey, until that day when we come to our rest in the safety of your eternal fold. Amen.
I Am the True Vine
Read John 15:1-8
Lord and God of all creation, guide us throughout our lives by your grace and your love. Nurture us by your holy word; cleanse us by your holy fire. Prune us where we are no longer bearing fruit; be patient with us when we are slow to blossom. In all things help us to worship you in word and deed that we may come at last to eternal life with Christ our Lord. Amen.
Abide In My Love
Read John 15:9-17
0 God, by the power and grace of your Holy Spirit you have filled us with a love that is complete only in you. Grant us the strength and joy which are yours to give, that we may love as you love and befriend even those whom only you have befriended, for the sake of the one who calls us friend, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Jesus Prays for Us
Read John 17:6-19
O God, even as Jesus prayed for his disciples and sent them into the world to preach good news, so now you guide us and send us into a world still longing for your good news. By your Spirit empower us, by Word and bread sustain us, by your love bind us together that we may be with Christ in faith, love, and service. Amen
The Spirit Bears Witness
Read John 15:26-27; 16:4b-l5
God of truth, God of comfort, God of hope, as you have promised, you have sent to us the care and power of your Holy Spirit. For all your gifts great and small we give you thanks. Now, not only for ourselves but for the church and the world accept our gifts of life and love. Accept our words and deeds, our praise and worship, as we tell of your love throughout all the earth. To you, 0 God, through Jesus Christ and in the unity of the Holy Spirit, be blessing and honor and glory forever. Amen.
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Welcome Home!
Welcome Home! by David Lowes Watson
For those of us privileged to be called into Christian discipleship there is a work of grace in our lives that transcends the heights and plumbs the depths of our being as we never thought possible. Not only are we forgiven all that separates us from God—past, present, future, and whether or not we are to blame. We are also reconciled to God in a new relationship that can best be described in two words: Welcome Home!
An Invitation Extended from the Cross
It was the purpose of Jesus' ministry to extend this invitation from God to the whole of the human race, and supremely from the cross. His sacrifice made clear how serious is the human predicament, and how lethal. No rationalization, no self-justification, could ever again disguise the awful reality of human sin. For those who represented us two thousand years ago, it may have been a matter of mistaken identity. For God, it was a matter of life and death.
Grace and Resistance
When we look at the cross and remember our own spiritual homecoming, we realize how much God was willing to risk, and continues to risk, to have us back home. God will always grant the freedom to accept this gracious invitation or refuse it, and since the basic nature of human sin is resistance to grace, God is graciously vulnerable to our repeated rejections, and often our abuse.
The Anguish of a Parental God
We can all recall what it is like to be rejected by anyone, even by a stranger. Much worse is the pain of rejection by a relative or a friend. If God is parental, as Jesus taught, we can only begin to imagine the divine anguish inflicted by this wayward human household throughout its history.
Think of it. Not only one prodigal, but countless millions of daughters and sons across the centuries who have lived their lives away from their true home, alienated from their true family, suffering from the ravages of human sin, and especially those who have been sinned against. How much grief and torment has this heaped on a God more loving and protective than any human mother, more trustworthy and honorable than any human father. At least, so Jesus would have us believe. Why else did he die on the cross?
The Joy of Surrender
This is what makes our surrender to God's grace, our acceptance of God's invitation to come home, such a joyous occasion. It is the relief of giving up on a pointless struggle, the lifting of an impossible burden. Never mind what we would like to do with our lives, the reality is that we are God's family, and we are now back home where we belong.
Empty Places
Even so, our joy remains guarded. We know that the homecoming celebration has not yet begun in earnest. There are still empty places at the table. There are sinners who still need to come to their senses. There are millions of God's family still without enough to eat. There are countless little ones of God still being sinned against with all the demonic ingenuity of a prodigal human race.
We must help Christ invite them home, dry their tears and heal their wounds. At least, so Jesus would have us do. Why else be his disciples?
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Thy Will Be Done
Thy Will Be Done by H. Stephen Shoemaker
Abba, all things are possible to you;
remove this cup from me;
yet not what I want, but what you want.—Mark 14:36
NRSV, adapted
Mark's Gospel, the earliest one written, is the only one to capture Jesus' use of Abba in his Aramaic tongue. It is here in the Gethsemane prayer: "Abba, all things are possible to you."
Earlier in the Daily Prayer, Jesus had taught his disciples to pray: "Your kingdom come, your will be done." Now in the garden of Gethsemane, the night of his arrest, the eve of his death, came its moment of truth. "Do I mean this prayer?"
At this moment Jesus knew his arrest and death were imminent. Jesus' preaching of the kingdom had gotten caught in a vortex of political, social, and religious paranoia, and people saw his death as a way out of danger. The mechanism of sacred violence by which a people believe the sacrifice of someone's life will save the whole was in full swing.
Jesus' prayer was the agonized cry of one who knew this was the last moment to turn from death's path. Can one imagine a fiercer inner conflict than this, to preserve one's life or to offer it up in the inscrutable hope that God will somehow use it for the good of the world? So in agony he prayed to God, his Abba:
Abba, all things are possible to you;
remove this cup from me;
yet not what I want, but what you want.
Luke's version has the more familiar cadences: "Not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42). There is the intimate address, Abba. There is the expression of trust in the power and goodness of God, "All things are possible to you." There is the acknowledgment of the clash between the will to live and the will to serve God's highest purpose; and there is the offering of one's life into God's purposes, "Yet not what I want, but what you want."
As we flesh out the entire scene the drama is only intensified. Jesus took his disciples to the garden. He asked them to sit while he prayed. Here was another instance of Jesus needing sustained, solitary prayer. He then asked Peter, James, and John to go with him to the place of prayer. These three were chosen by Jesus to be with him at other key moments, such as at the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2-13).
The text says next that Jesus was "greatly distressed and troubled" (Mark 14:33). Raymond Brown comments that the Greek verb for "distressed" connotes profound physical and emotional disarray, "a shuddering horror," and that the Greek verb "troubled" conveys deepest anguish.1 The other Gospels soften or omit this picture of Jesus as one at such desperate a place.
Jesus then said to his disciples, "My soul is very sorrowful, even unto death; remain here and watch" (Mark 14:34). The call to stay awake and be watchful had more to do than with simply not falling asleep. More is needed than extra caffeine.
Then the text says he went a bit farther, "he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him" (v. 35). Then the prayer, "Abba . . ." Matthew's Gospel says that three times Jesus prayed this prayer. Three times signifies a long agonized night of prayer. Luke's Gospel says that "his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground" (Luke 22:44 NRSV).
Jesus prayed to the God he trusted utterly. He prayed honestly to be spared an excruciating and humiliating execution on a Roman cross. He prayed for God to intervene and make some new way in this crisis so he wouldn't have to die this way. He could have chosen to run from this scene and escape death this way, but the integrity of his life and mission would not permit him to do so.
So with one breath he begged his God to find another way, and with the next breath he submitted himself to the train of events, whatever they proved to be. He would be true to his calling—and to the way of the kingdom he preached. God had used his life for the kingdom's sake; if death were to come, God could use his death too.
Remove this cup . . . yet not what I want, but what you want.
This prayer forces us to the ground floor of our belief. It portrays the utter freedom of the person and the utter freedom of God. Jesus knows he is free to go ahead with a martyr and savior's death or to flee that death. He believes that God may yet find a way to fulfill the kingdom's purpose other than by his death. The Hebrew Scriptures are replete with people of faith praying to God, hoping God will change God's mind—and God doing exactly that.
In the radical openness of God's universe and of God's continuing creation and redemption of it, prayer is a way of discerning our human participation with God in creation and redemption. It is sometimes an honest cry to ask God to find another way. It is an act of deep trustfulness to follow our best discernment of God's will even if that means suffering and death.
On one level it is morally absurd to think God would "will" or "want" Jesus' death. This would make God a monster. Remember, it was Jesus who said, "It is not the will of my Abba that one of these little ones should perish" (Matthew 18:14). The phrase "God's will" has been used to cover the most horrendous and heartbreaking of events, from the tragic death of the young to natural catastrophe to the sacred violence of crusades. Again, God's true will is the uniting and healing of all things (Ephesians 1:9-10; Revelation 21:1-2). It is shalom, well-being and peace.
Moreover, in the kingdom of God that Jesus preached and embodied, the means must be consistent with ends. The ends are present in the means, so Jesus chose nonviolence as the way. You just can't kill for Jesus or in the name of God, whether that name is Yahweh, Allah, or Abba.
The powers of evil call for resistance from God's people, but we are always tempted to become evil in order to defeat evil. As the saying goes, "Be careful whom you call enemy. You may become them." Jesus was willing at this point to give his life; he was not willing to take life.
In John's Gospel Jesus is interrogated by Pontius Pilate the Roman procurator. He inquires about Jesus' being called "king of the Jews." He wonders what Jesus' modus operandi might be. Jesus responds:
My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight. . . . But my kingship is not from the world. (John 18:36)
These words of Jesus do not imply an overly spiritualized kingdom disconnected from the real world. They describe a kingdom with the goals of transforming the world without the violent and coercive means the world has adopted.
We should hear this prayer in the broader context of the Lord's Prayer: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven." Jesus offers his will, his life, to the ultimate purposes of God.
When Jesus knelt in the garden he knew that his preaching and living of the kingdom had brought him to a final clash with the powers that be and their resistance to God's kingdom. Who wants to die, especially this one who loved life as much as anyone who ever lived? But now to refuse death would be to deny all he had lived for. James Hillman considers the death of Socrates, who himself felt bound to his death: "His death belonged to the integrity of his image, to his innate form."2 And so did Jesus' death belong to the integrity of his personhood and the integrity of the way God had chosen to redeem the world—not through the power of the sword but through the power of love made eloquent in suffering.
Following his prayer, Jesus returned to the three, Peter, James, and John, and found them asleep. Jesus said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial" (Mark 14:37-38 NRSV). These words are a call to prayer that leads us back to the petition of the Lord's Prayer, "Save us in the time of trial and deliver us from evil." The key words that unite these words with other teachings of Jesus are, "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation" (Mark 14:38).
Watchfulness is a form of prayer. Prayer keeps us watchful. What we wish to be alert to is the lure of temptation, the time of testing and trial. The Greek word for temptation is again, as in the Lord's Prayer, peirasmon. Keep awake and pray lest you enter into temptation, trial, testing.
C. P. Snow's provocatively titled book The Sleep of Reason is taken from the title of one of Goya's etchings, El sueño de la razon produce monstruos: "The sleep of reason brings forth monsters." Jesus rouses us from spiritual sleep to spiritual watchfulness. Prayer is what alerts us to the presence of evil in all its forms, monstrous and banal. It keeps us from giving up our sacred personhood and becoming capable of monstrous acts.
In south-central Kentucky is the Abbey of Gethsemani where Thomas Merton lived. The brothers have built a "garden of Gethsemane" out in the woods. When you approach it, you see first a memorial plaque. The garden is erected in memory of Jonathan Daniels, a young seminarian who was murdered in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. This is no sentimental journey. Then you come to a sculpture, life-size, of the three disciples. They are reclined against one another, dead asleep.
Then you go around a bend in the woods and see the solitary agonized figure of Christ kneeling on a hard stone. (How long could one kneel like that?) His head is not bowed in pious resignation; his hands are not folded in proper prayer. His head is thrown back in agony, his hands cover his face. With his head thrown back you see his neck, a strong, sinewy neck, exposed to earth and heaven.
This is how Jesus came to the garden, offered his prayer to his Abba, prayed for some other way, then yielded himself in deep willingness to the purposes of God, which he could barely see but trusted with his life.
He asks us to watch and pray so that in our hardest hours of testing and trial we will be true to God and to our best, truest self.
1. Raymond Edward Brown, The Death of the Messiah (New York: Doubleday, 1994), 1:153.
2. James Hillman, The Soul's Code: In Search of Character and Calling (New York: Random House, 1996), p. 203.
excerpt from: Finding Jesus in His Prayers by H. Stephen Shoemaker
This book is included in the Ministry Matters Premium Subscription, or you may order the print book below.
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Mid-Lent Crisis
Mid-Lent Crisis by Lisa Nichols Hickman
I have never completed a Lenten discipline.
Such confession may cause you to breathe a sigh of relief or perhaps make a judgment. Recently a parishioner heard me say this in all its honesty, “Really, you too?” Certainly I have tried to be disciplined. I have made charts to plot the journey and laid out calendars to mark off those exhilarating moments when the discipline was seen through for the day. I have worn bracelets of reminder and called upon friends for accountability. I’ve tried the Forty Days of Purpose and the Serendipity Study Bible charts and graphs.
But always something causes me to lose my focus, to lay down the cross thereby leaving me unable to cross this desire off my list: to complete a Lenten discipline.
Eugene Peterson says, “Disciplines are overrated. Discipline is a word that should be struck from our theological lexicon.” Some might hear his words as dismissive for those of us seeking to be disciplined disciples of Christ. But others might nudge from these words the deepest of truths: Christ is Lord and Savior, not us. My failure helps me to follow the one who is discipline, the one who is disciplined, the one who calls us to follow him—not our charts, plots or ploys. We are saved by grace, not by our own doings or undoings.
Still, echoes of all those Lenten “shoulds” reverberate through my mind and heart.
If I am to strike “discipline” from my theological lexicon, then what am I to “do” this Lent?
This Lent I’ve been reading Lauren Winner’s “Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis.” Winner encourages a new Lenten practice of letting go of the “shoulds." She speaks of the logismoi,” the Desert Father's name for the internal narratives that deform us: gluttony, greed, dejection, anger, pride, listlessness, vainglory and lust. My prayer, with her encouragement, is to live into new conversations this Lent. This Lent will be less about limitation and instead an invitation to listen.
So I start to listen to those internal narratives. I hear a lot of this: “if only,” “when…,” “I wish,” “later,” “I don’t want to,” “I want,” “I should, “if…. then.” And I begin to realize these may be my internal narratives, but they certainly are not incarnational ones.
Even in the first words Jesus utters, he invites us into a new narrative. “Let it be so now,” Jesus commands in Matthew 3:15. “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the Good News,” Mark 1:15 offers. “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I’d be in my Father’s house?” Luke 2:49 tells the story of Jesus’ conversation with the rabbis in the temple. “Come and you will see,” he says in John 1:39.
These words call us to do three things: get out of our heads, get into the sanctuary and get out into the broken world to serve. Now. Internal narratives are easy. They reverberate with the “logismoi” of gluttony, greed, dejection, anger, pride, listlessness, vainglory, and lust. Christ turns these conversations around with simple commands: Now. Come. Repent. Know. See.
As a leader in the church, there are days I ache and pray for new conversations. Can we let go of some of our old litanies?
Can our churches let go of some of the “logismoi” that bind us and live into the lexicon Christ teaches? The church lives and breathes, all too often, phrases like: “if only,” “when,” “I wish,” “I want,” “if… then,” instead of the corporate narratives offered by Christ: Now. Come. Repent. Know. See.
If I strike “discipline” from the theological lexicon, I have a few new words to add. These words, by grace, save us and guide us through Lent as we listen to a new conversation that is much less internal, and much more incarnational.
Now. Come. See.
This post originally appeared on Faith & Leadership's Call & Response blog.
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Take a Look
Take a Look by C. Thomas Hilton
Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
(1 Corinthians 11:28)
A man died. He was known for his wild living. When his will was read, it was discovered that he had willed his farm to the devil. The courts, deliberating on such a ridiculous set of circumstances, decided that the best way to carry out his wishes was to let the farm grow up in weeds and briars, to allow the houses and barns to remain unpainted and to rot, and to permit the soil to erode and wash away. The court said, "The best way to let Satan have it is to do nothing with it."
Isn’t that the truth with an individual life? Isn’t it true of your life? All that is needed for a life to go downhill spiritually is for a person to neglect his or her spiritual side, the most important side. You don’t even have to make a great ringing declaration about your future intentions. All you have to do is stop taking care of your spiritual life to see how quickly your spiritual home collapses, your spiritual roots decay, and the weeds of sin prosper.
"We give our spiritual life benign neglect."
I’m convinced that nobody ever really declares that he or she is going to live the life of an atheist. Few, if any, of us really come to a conscious decision to turn our backs on Christ and God’s church. I don’t think we really look at the Bible and say that it is of no help to us, that prayer is a waste of time, and that worship is unnecessary. We just neglect them and let the devil take over our lives by default. We give our spiritual life benign neglect.
God knows this. God has been around long enough so that we can pull very few surprises. That is why God keeps giving us opportunities to reexamine our direction in life. Life is full of these kinds of opportunities that in the normal course of events introduce a sober thought to our minds, no matter how shallow we may be living.
One of these times is when we are ill. We wonder about pain and why we were born and what death is like. When we leave home, we discover another time for self-examination: Who am I without my family? Does God live everywhere? When we get married and become parents, we seem to have more inner questions: What kind of husband or wife am I going to be? What kind of mother or father will I be? Am I being all that I want to be? Should I change what I have been? If so, how? The whole maturing process is geared toward self-examination from childhood, through adolescence, young adulthood, middle age, and old age. Today, I’m personally discovering that middle age has its own times of self-examination and reflection.
When my father had a series of strokes, I had many spiritual questions. This is one of those "normal" experiences in life that call for self-examination. These are God-given opportunities, not to be feared or ignored, but to be grasped and used for our own growth. Someone has rightly said that an unexamined life is no life at all.
Our text tells us to "examine ourselves" before we "eat of the bread and drink of the cup," lest we bring judgment upon ourselves. How’s your examination coming? What kind of tests are you administering? What kind of goals are you establishing? How are you measuring your progress? What kind of life will you lead after your self-examination?
"A love feast . . . was being used as a divisive tool."
The poor Corinthian church was greatly in need of this call for self-examination by Paul, for they were in the midst of a feud. For a number of generations after Christ, the Lord’s Supper was observed not as part of a formal religious service at Sunday worship, but as the climax of a common meal together, a meal much like the covered-dish supper today. Each family brought food to be shared. Some were poor, and some were rich, but all shared equally, except in Corinth. The rich, who could arrive early, since they were their own bosses, were gathering early in cliques and eating alone and sharing their fancy contributions of food only with one another. The poor, mainly slaves, arrived with their humble contributions after they had done their day’s work, and so were forced to eat only their own food. In other words, a love feast that was meant to be shared with the whole Christian community, so that rich and poor, master and slave, would be together, was being used as a divisive tool. Christian fellowship was not being served by the meal; it was being severed. In addition, many were finishing the meal in a state of alcoholic stupor, so that they were drunk when it came time for the Lord’s Supper to be celebrated. The Corinthian church was being selfish, gluttonous, and was eating the Lord’s Supper in an irreverent manner, as if it was meant only to be another meal. Examine yourselves, they were told, in the light of what you are doing.
At the conclusion of some celebrations of the Lord’s Supper, the minister turns to the people and proclaims, "Now you are the body of Christ." That is a good thought, for when we eat this bread and drink from this cup, these elements enter our bodies and literally become a part of us. They go into our blood stream and travel to our brains, our hearts, our sinews, and our muscles. The body and blood of Christ become incorporated into our own body and blood. Thus we become in the process a part of him.
We take him, his life, his death, his resurrection into our very selves, into our own lives and deaths and even rising. Now we are the body of Christ, and now we are meant to be a Christ to our neighbors.
Someone has suggested that every college graduate should be examined every five years to see whether she or he still deserves the degree. We Christians should be examining ourselves regularly to see whether we still deserve the degree of "Christian." Are we moving in the right direction? Are we striving to be better people? Are we taking advantage of opportunities for growth?
Let’s take a look! This is one of those God-given opportunities for spiritual self-examination. Let’s examine ourselves. We don’t have to be perfect, but we should be trying, striving, moving in the direction of Christ. For now we are the body of Christ on this earth. Jesus said, "This is my body, broken for you. This is my blood, shed for you, and when you eat this, I become part of you and you become part of me."
this excerpt is taken from: Be My Guest: Sermons on the Lord's Supper by C. Thomas Hilton, it is part of the Biblical Themes Sermons Series within the Ministry Matters Premium Subscription
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Lenten Distractions
Lenten Distractions by Victoria Atkinson White
Exodus 20:1-17
My eight-month-old daughter is an avid crawler. She has the synchronized movement of her limbs down to an art. She can dart across a room faster than I ever imagined was possible. This can be adorable at times, like when we are reunited after some time apart. She will hear my voice at one end of a room and scurry as quickly as she can to fall into my arms to greet me. But she is as fickle as she is fast. If in the midst of her crossroom race, she hears our dog bark or perks her ears to the ring of the telephone, my hoped-for greeting is gone. She is, to put it mildly, easily distracted. Thankfully, her easily distracted nature is due to her young age and her stage of development. Sometimes I wish I could claim the same in my shortcomings, but I know better.
On the journey of Lent, it is easy to get distracted. In some traditions, we are invited to either give something up or add something to our lives to help us focus our relationship with Christ in the forty days of Lent. We are to supercharge our discipleship in preparation for the grand celebration within the Christian faith, Easter Sunday. But just as a child must crawl before he or she walks, we too must journey through Lent before we flower the cross and celebrate the risen Christ.
So here we are halfway through. If you gave up chocolate, you may have snuck a few candies or at least have been very tempted to do so. If you promised yourself you would exercise every day, you might be considering skipping a day or two, “just to give yourself a break.” The Lenten journey is not an easily traveled path. It is uncomfortable and challenging to focus on the rough spots of our humanity in our desire to be more like Christ. We would much rather speak of our strengths than our weaknesses, especially in Lent. In this season, it does not take much to be distracted.
We know from the journey of Moses and the Israelites in the verses preceding our text for today that their wilderness wandering had taken them to Mount Sinai. Moses summoned the elders to prepare them for a word from God. The people responded appropriately. They said they would do everything God asked them to do.
What proceeds is the text that has shaped nations and people groups. God offers the boundaries of all boundaries to help focus the Israelites through their wilderness wanderings. He gives them the Ten Commandments to help alleviate distractions on their journey to the Promised Land.
It is important to note at this point that the Ten Commandments are not forced upon the Israelites in anger or retaliation. They have not misbehaved or turned their backs on God, as they will do many times as the story in Exodus unfolds. God gives them these words out of grace and love. God begins the conversation by reminding them of their relationship. “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” God recalls their relationship before laying out the new boundaries. Grace and love precede restrictions and guidelines. They are the foundation for this new kind of connection with God and with each other.
Grace and love are critical to the deliverance of the Ten Commandments. It is not as if they are easy to accept. The Israelites will come to be trapped in a cycle of denying God, starving, feeling lost, and wanting to kill their leaders; but first God gives them boundaries for their relationships with God and with each other for their time in the wilderness and beyond.
God nurtures the relationship between the Israelites and the divine through the first four commandments listed in verses three through eight. In a firm but loving way, God invites the Israelites into an exclusive, intimate, and holy covenant.
Through the last six commandments, God sets the boundaries for healthy and respectful community among the Israelites. God knows they have a long journey ahead of them. They will spend generations wandering in the wilderness. The guidelines must be set. The rules must be in place, lest chaos lead them further and further away from the Promised Land. A lack of food, misguided leaders, a jealous God, and grumbling people are enough to distract any group of people by themselves, but when added together, disaster can reign.
All the commandments are important, and each is significant alone and taken as a part of a collective group. However, the way we relate to the first commandments informs how we will relate to the latter ones. The same is true in our relationships. Our relationship with God informs our relationships with others. If we focus on our relationship with God and take seriously the commandments referring to our commitment to God, the other commandments will seem less like rigid rules or forced boundaries and more like natural outpourings of our Christian journey.
Just as we are in the midst of our Lenten journey with the goal of Easter a few weeks ahead, this text speaks to us from the journey of the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness searching for the Promised Land. While the distractions are different today, they are nonetheless all around us. The Israelites probably wished many times that they could “be there already.” And for us, we might think life would be so much easier if we skipped from sweet baby Jesus in the manger at Christmas to the risen Christ celebrated on Easter Sunday. Or perhaps we are tempted to skip from the Hosannas of Palm Sunday to the flowering of the cross on Easter Sunday. But there is important work to be done in Lent, especially as we draw closer and closer to Easter. This journey is here to prepare us for the holiness of Easter and make us more Christlike for the rest of the year. God’s words of love, grace, and boundaries help us along and keep us focused. May these words help guide you on the remainder of your Lenten journey—distractions and all. Amen.
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Shrove Tuesday Ushers in Lent
Shrove Tuesday Ushers in Lent by Diana Sanchez-Bushong
Shrove Tuesday (as in "to shrive," to absolve or do penance) marks the last hurrah before the austerity of Lent begins. It's the same concept as the festivals of Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) or Carnival (farewell to the flesh, carne). In some European countries, it is called Pancake Day as the pantry gets cleaned out of extravagant, fatty, cake-like foods that would be a temptation during Lent in favor of foods that were designated for a journey, such as unleavened bread.
One of the most fun, intergenerational events we’ve had at church is the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. As you enter the gym doors you are greeted with the sweet smell of syrup and pancakes, and sense the festivities to come. The tables are wonderfully decorated in Mardi Gras colors; there are beads and coins and confetti and even masks. Then the meal is served; and on a cold winter night you get to eat warm pancakes with syrup and butter, spicy sausages, and fruit. Along with the pancakes, coffee, juice, and milk is great fellowship and conversation. For most kids, this is their last chance to wear a Halloween costume before outgrowing it.
With Ash Wednesday comes the time to look internally, to grow spiritually by becoming more disciplined followers of Jesus Christ. It sometimes feels like a chasm that spans the time from the party of Mardi Gras to the celebration of the resurrection on Easter Day; but if we view this time as an opportunity to forge deeper relationships with our family and with God, how much greater will the celebration be on Easter? The contrast only heightens our appreciation for the joy of Christ's resurrection. Then, the feast is not a pancake supper but a banquet that is hosted by our risen Lord and Savior. Bread and juice become the foretaste of a heavenly banquet for which we are preparing during and after Lent.
One meaningful way to spend these forty days of Lent is by taking a few moments on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday to set some definite goals and intentions.
Here are some ways to observe the traditional Lenten disciplines of fasting, penitence, and prayer.
Fasting
For many Christians fasting is either giving up some favorite food or not eating lunch one day a week and giving that money to charity. Either way, the intention is to draw closer to God when we are hungry and to ask God to fill the space with something other than food. Fasting can also mean refraining from certain things coming out of our mouth, such as unkind words, biting remarks, and criticism, to name a few.
Penitence
The act of repentance is one of the hardest for us in our culture today. But the simple words, “I’m sorry,” can be so powerful in healing relationships and building trust. Sometimes this is with other people, family, co-workers, church members, and sometimes it is with God. Penitence is an action that opens the door to atonement, becoming one with God. It is also an action that has to be begun by us, not by God. In a sense it is a reaction to God’s abundant grace.
Prayer
If we do nothing else during the forty days of Lent except pray each day, we have accomplished a great deal. This is the simplest and most effective form of communication we have with God. Prayer also has great value for each one of us: it helps us reduce our stress level, slows our heart rate, allows us to breathe more deeply, and helps us listen to our own voice that can so often get lost in our hectic day-to-day lives.
Some places to pray are:
When you first open your eyes: “Thank you, Lord, for another day.”
When you are driving (especially when you are in slow traffic), pray for all those around you (the people in the other cars) and for all those around you in your daily life: “God, today I lift up . . . ”. Keep a strand of prayer beads in your car to help you focus, or a cross you can hold.
When you get home and can relax for a few moments: “Thank you God for bringing me home. Fill this home with your love and warmth so that we can rest in you.”
When you finally make it to bed: “Thank you, Lord, for this day and for walking with me. I saw you in . . . I give all this to you, knowing you will be with me while I sleep.”
If we take small steps like this in our prayer life it will bring us closer to God.
How do you plan to connect the party of Shrove Tuesday to the banquet feast of Easter Sunday?
What intentions do you plan to set for your spiritual disciplines during Lent this year?
Where do you want God to work in your life? Now is the time to think about it.
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Blinding Light into Lent
Blinding Light into Lent by Clifton Stringer
The harshest and most unwelcome light I can recall woke me up at 6 AM in Brownsville, TX during the mission trips on which my church sent the middle school youth group. Lights abruptly flipped on, my youth director's voice came crashing down upon our heads in the words of a too-cheerful song: "Rise, and shine, and give God the glory, glory!" That was quite a horrible and jarring way to wake up, and because of the early cataclysm it caused in my teenage psyche I will always love that song about Noah and the "arky arky." And I will always remember that wonderful unwelcome light.
On Transfiguration Sunday, we hear the voice of the Father speak out of a cloud: "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" This, as the Light of Jesus' divinity shines before Peter, James, John, and us, blinding.
The theme of light came before on Christmas Eve, as the Light of our God incarnate shone on a people in deep darkness. The Father's voice in Jesus' transfiguration bookends this theme of the light of the revelation of the Son of God, which also received an emphatic introduction in Jesus' baptism, when the Spirit descends and the Father's voice speaks: "This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I am well pleased."
Transfiguration is the culmination and (temporary) end of this season of Light.
The light is not precisely gone. There is a light brighter even than the light of Jesus' transfiguration, a light which is the Church's sole reason for existing: the Light of Jesus' resurrection. But between the light of the Transfiguration and the light of the Resurrection there is a great chasm to be traversed.
This chasm we call Lent. Lent is a season of penance, fasting, and spiritual preparation for the feast of our Lord's resurrection. It seems the light of Christ's incarnation reveals much, too much, of us: it reveals the sins we would rather keep hidden, and it reveals the paths by which we avoid looking too closely at ourselves and our choices. Standing before the radiance of the Son of God, the ways in which we have become creatures of darkness are all the more clear.
And so we need Lent. We need the desert. We need the ashes on Ash Wednesday. We need the desolate places of the spiritual life, in order to journey from grace unto grace: from the grace of our creation, unto the double-grace of God's holy redemption.
So let us reach up, and let Jesus take us by the hand, and go where we do not wish to go. The desert beckons. The Spirit drives us out. And we will find, as we approach the terrible mystery of Good Friday, that even wandering in the desert, we are not without divine fire and cloud—just enough light—to guide us.
O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
[from The Book of Common Prayer]
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A Seasonal Journey
A Seasonal Journey by John D.I. Essick
Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51:1-12
Perhaps no prophet is more representative of the Lenten season than Jeremiah, and no psalm more appropriate for repentance than Psalm 51. Desolation, weeping, mourning . . . Jeremiah has it all. Transgression, iniquity, hyssop . . . so does Psalm 51. Wow, if you were to make your all-time Lenten team, these two would be first ballot entries. Still, we don’t often rush to read these passages. Fifty-two chapters of Jeremiah could be too much. Too much hyssop could be depressing and disturbing. Maybe that’s why we don’t begin looking forward to the next Lenten season as quickly as we do Christmas. Day after day of desolation, weeping, and mourning is difficult to digest. Am I being too hard on Lent? No, but do you ever feel like Lent is being too hard on you? I know I do. So many weeks I spend in sackcloth and ashes. So much sin I find. It’s everywhere. Places I couldn’t have imagined. And it spreads—quickly.
“Enough already,” I find myself saying, when it’s only the second week of Lent. “How many more weeks of this!” Then it dawns on me, I understand a little better about this spiritual path I’m on. After all, isn’t that what Lent calls us to? Brutal honesty. Repentance. Self-awareness. There is a reason Lent is referred to as a season. It lasts for a while. It lasts longer than we might like, and it always comes back around. Just like our sin. You’ve been on this path long enough to know that your sin doesn’t take a vacation when Easter arrives. We don’t retire from spiritual work. And contrary to many Christian books, real spiritual assessment doesn’t happen overnight or in seven easy steps. We can’t get to Easter without engaging in serious spiritual labor, but that doesn’t mean some of us won’t try. We can’t find resurrection without first encountering repentance, but that doesn’t mean some of us won’t try. We don’t get Easter morning without experiencing our own dark night of the soul, but that doesn’t mean some of us won’t try. No, Jesus didn’t bypass the desert or the cross. So here we are on this fifth Sunday in Lent, and we find that we really do need Jeremiah’s outlook and the uncanny ability of Psalm 51 to voice what we are unable—or perhaps unwilling—to voice.
But to our joy and surprise during this season, neither Psalm 51 nor Jeremiah is all gloom, doom, and tears. In fact, it is in the midst of these brutally honest words that we are reminded that this season, like all seasons, will transition into another. Jeremiah points to the future and the new covenant it will bring. The psalmist looks to the future by begging for the restoration of joy and salvation. We too need a new covenant, joy, and salvation, so we look where Jeremiah points; we strain to see what the psalmist already sees. For this moment, as we pause on this journey toward Easter, will you look with me to that bright horizon? If you do, you might get a momentary glimpse of life after cloudy skies, a future after our own pettiness and smallness fade away.
Can that be? Can you see it? It’s hard to understand at first. Our eyes aren’t used to it. Our eyes are in Lent mode, so we have to concentrate and be open. Can you see it yet? I see a ray of life extending after and beyond death. The future is not like the past we all know. No, you’re not quite seeing it if you think it is exactly like those times we broke our promises or took advantage of people. You’re not quite seeing it if you think only of those times when self-doubt consumed you or prideful arrogance overtook you. No, I’m not getting it if all I can think of are those times I tried to pull myself up by my bootstraps only to fall on my face time and again. No! It is not like those times we wondered why grace was not extended to us, or when we refused to give mercy. No, what we are looking at is something altogether different. Look harder, let your eyes adjust, let your mind be open to God’s future.
Yes, yes, I can see it too! God is beginning again with us. He’s not giving up! God has not scrapped the whole project. We who were beyond repair have been given new life, along with those who mistakenly thought they needed no repairs. Do you see it? If you’re picturing two irreconcilable parties reconciling, you see it. If you picture God forgiving sins great and small, then you see it. Do you see the son forgiving his mother, the worker her boss, the wife her husband? Do you see the parent refusing a promotion in order to spend more time at home? Do you see the church opening its arms to a hurting, violence-plagued world? What’s that? Yes, I see it too. I know it hurts to see him on a cross in the near future, but don’t look away. . . he’s not.
The clouds of our current situation are rolling back in, and we have much left to do during this season. It’s tempting to try to skip ahead in this redemptive journey, but if we resist that temptation, maybe, just maybe, somewhere along the way it will dawn on us that it is only in the midst of mourning and hyssop that we encounter our need for redemption . . . that we experience redemption. A lot can happen in forty days. Just wait, you’ll see. Amen.
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Why Lent?
Why Lent? by Clifton Stringer
Last year on Ash Wednesday, a kind woman from the congregation I serve asked me, “Why Lent? Why should Christians observe a season called Lent?”
She was a longtime Christian, but had never before taken part in any Lenten observance, since most of her life she was a member of churches that did not “do” Lent. We had a great conversation.
The topic of Lent brings up the whole topic of the “church calendar” in general—the yearly cycle of seasons shared by most Christians throughout the world (Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and many Protestants). Now, the church calendar is not fixed in Scripture. Rather, it has developed in the common worship life of the Christian churches through the centuries.
So if it is not in the Bible, why use it?
It is helpful to remember first of all that Lent is just as much a part of the church calendar as are Christmas and Easter. Even many churches who do not use of the rest of the church calendar celebrate Christmas and Easter. At Christmas we celebrate God’s incarnation in Jesus Christ to save us, and at Easter we celebrate the victory that comes by Jesus Christ’s resurrection.
The celebrations of Easter and Christmas convey the focal messages of the Christian faith. I am grateful for these seasons and celebrations that give me a strong reminder of how God is saving us in Jesus Christ. They provide a crucial focus for me as a disciple of Jesus, and put the whole church all on the same page. Still, why add Lent into the mix?
Thomas Aquinas, the 13th century Christian preacher and theologian, liked to say, omnis Christi actio nostra est instructio—“every action of Christ is for our instruction.” To grow into maturity as disciples of Jesus requires that we attend to the whole life of Jesus, not only to his birth and resurrection. Through Jesus’ whole life among us, God is working to save, to heal, to drive out demons, to teach us, to redeem creation.
The season of Lent is a season of preparation for Easter. During Lent we remember that important part of Jesus’ life when he dwelt fasting in the desert for forty days, and was tempted by the devil. Where Adam and Eve gave in to the serpent’s temptation, Jesus does not: even in self-denial, Jesus is victorious over temptation.
And late in Lent, during Holy Week and especially on Good Friday, we remember Jesus’ suffering and death to save us. The day is so much brighter when you have been through the darkness. To see the light of Jesus Christ’s resurrection on Easter, you have to acknowledge the suffering of his execution that precedes it.
In Lent, we are attentive to the parts of Jesus’ life—his self control, his patience, his faithfulness even in suffering—that we hope to gain as his disciples. I have found a yearly observance of Lent helpful in this respect.
Lent is Not New Year's Resolutions Round Two
Many people give up something during Lent. But in our culture, fixated on self-improvement as we are, this can result in a big misunderstanding: we start (even if only in the back of our minds) to think of a Lenten fast in terms of a diet! But Lent is not New Year's Resolutions Round Two! Lent is not about us! Lent is about Jesus Christ.
In Lent we might give up something, do a specific prayer discipline, or change something to push ourselves spiritually. But the point is not self-improvement. The point is not even just self-denial. The point is to feel a little discomfort, a little pain, and by that to be constantly reminded of the love of our Savior Jesus Christ, who denied himself for our salvation.
If you observe Lent with prayer and fasting, use that prayer and fasting first of all to remember Jesus. If Lent is not about getting to know Jesus Christ better, it really is a waste of time.
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Lenten Series: Seven Essential Questions
Lenten Series: Seven Essential Questions by Martin Thielen
Both lifelong Christians and people on the edges of the church have some of the same basic questions about life and faith. Lent is the perfect time to explore these questions, leading up to the big question that is answered with Easter: is there hope for life and life beyond death?
Week One: Who Is Jesus?
Matthew 16:13-16
Every person needs to grapple with Jesus’ question to his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Christians believe he is “the Christ, the son of the living God.”
Week Two: What Matters Most?
Mark 12:28-34
Relationships—with God and others—matter most.
Week Three: Am I Accepted?
John 8:1-11
Even with our flaws, Jesus loves and accepts us as beloved children of God.
Week Four: Where Is God?
John 1:1-5, 14
Although God is not limited to working through people, God primarily works though human instruments.
Week Five: What Brings Fulfillment?
John 13:1-5, 13-17
True fulfillment comes from serving others.
Week Six: What about Suffering?
Matthew 27:27-31
(Palm/Passion Sunday) Although God does not prevent suffering, the crucified God fully enters human suffering and works to redeem that suffering.
Week Seven: Is There Hope?
Matthew 28:1-7
(Easter) Jesus Christ’s resurrection gives us hope for life and even hope for death.
This series is based on my book What’s the Least I Can Believe and Still Be a Christian? A Guide to What Matters Most.
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Giving It Up: A Sermon Series for Lent
Giving It Up: A Sermon Series for Lent by Matthew L. Kelley
Many of us give up certain things for the forty days of Lent, and doing so can be a very beneficial thing for us. This seven-week series takes that idea one step further and talking each week about things that God wants us to give up, not just for forty days, but forever.
Giving Up Control
Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7; Matthew 4:1-11
Adam and Eve disobeyed God, thinking that they knew better than him, with disastrous consequences. While being tempted in the wilderness, Jesus denied his own impulses and followed God's will. In the modern world, where we are used to having control over so many things, we often fail to seek God's will for our lives and try to call all the shots ourselves. God wants us to deny ourselves and give him the final say when we are charting out the course of our lives.
Giving Up Expectations
Genesis 12:1-4a; John 3:1-17
Abraham followed God's call to leave his homeland and travel to the place God promised his descendants, even though he didn't know how it would all work out. When Nicodemus is talking to Jesus, he has a hard time understanding what God's grace is really about because he is used to thinking in terms of religious structure. Sometimes we just can’t know what’s going on or what’s coming next. God doesn't guarantee any future circumstances or uninterrupted prosperity, but we can trust that God will be with us through whatever circumstances we face and that God will work with us to make the best result out of even the most hopeless of places.
Giving Up Superiority
John 4:5-42
Jesus broke all kinds of social conventions by speaking to a woman in public, a Samaritan no less, whose own life was such a mess that it could have really messed up Jesus' reputation as a holy man. But Jesus brought his message of grace and freedom to the woman, knowing that in her humility, she would actually hear and respond, while the religious people were too busy and self-important to hear. God doesn't care about any of the artificial lines we draw to make ourselves feel superior to others. If we let go of our status symbols and judgmental attitudes, we too can hear Jesus’ call more clearly and respond more faithfully.
Giving Up Enemies
Luke 19:37-44
Loving our enemies can sometimes feel like as idealistic a notion as instantaneous world peace, but Jesus showed us that caring even for those who persecute you is a real, actionable mandate that we can carry out by following Jesus’ example. Peace isn’t just a far-off fantasy. Jesus wept over Jerusalem because the people following him misunderstood his message to be about peace in Heaven instead of on Earth. We call Jesus the Prince of Peace, but do we really believe and live like peace is possible in our world today?
Giving Up Our Lives
Ezekiel 37:1-14; John 11:1-45
God creates life from death, nothingness, and hopelessness. The Bible is full of such paradoxes, as Jesus tells us that those who try to keep their lives will die, but those who give up their lives for others will live. We are used to thinking of life in terms of fixed beginnings and ends, but the story of Jesus calls us to throw away our old categories and embrace God's larger vision of eternal life that begins here and now.
Giving Up Popularity
(Palm Sunday)
Matthew 21:1-11
What a welcome Jesus got as he entered Jerusalem. “Hosanna!” the people cried, hailing him as an honored king. The crowds loved Jesus on Palm Sunday, but just a few days later a different crowd was calling for his death and the release of a murderer. Popularity and acclaim in the eyes of others is fleeting, and if we put all our faith in it we will be very disappointed. Instead, God calls us to put our faith in God's unending love and grace- something that will never go away, and will sustain us through the times when others have abandoned us.
Giving Up Death
(Easter Sunday)
Acts 10:34-43; John 20:1-18
Jesus’ rising on Easter morning was more than a showy miracle to shock and awe his attackers and followers. When Jesus rose, he turned the entire order of the universe on its head. The Resurrection shows us that Death does not have the last word. God has the last word, and that word is Life. Suffering and Death end, but God's Kingdom lasts forever.
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Lent: Host an Agape Feast
Lent: Host an Agape Feast
The love (agape) feast is a meal of Christian fellowship that mirrors the meals Jesus shared with his disciples and others throughout his ministry. Fellowship and community are celebrated around the theme of a meal.
The love feast should not be confused with Holy Communion, but it is similar in some ways. Hold your love feast around a common table with a full banquet of finger foods in various baskets. Have a common cup or pitcher of juice, lemonade, tea, or other beverage. Distribute the food by passing around the baskets and the pitcher.
While the food is being passed, have volunteers read aloud Scripture passages about meals or banquets:
Luke 9:12-17, Jesus feeds the multitudes
Luke 14:16-24, the parable of the great dinner
John 6:25-35, Jesus is the bread of life
Sing hymns or praise songs and share testimonies.
When everyone has been served, have a time of community prayers. Pray for the needs of your group, the needs of your community, your world, and so on. Open the prayer so that everyone gets a chance to pray. Use this time to celebrate and unify the group.
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What's Your Lent Study Style?
What's Your Lent Study Style? by Jessica Miller Kelley, Betsy Hall
Lent is a time of preparation for Easter, but each of us approach Lent differently and are drawn to different aspects of the season. We prepare in different ways. Some focus on Jesus' time in the wilderness, some on Holy Week, others on Easter itself and what comes after.
Whatever your style, there are studies to take you or your group on a meaningful path to Easter.
The Traditionalist
If it's less than seven weeks before the first Sunday succeeding the first full moon after the Spring Equinox, then it must be Lent! The liturgical seasons are important to you and you're so devoted to the lectionary you wonder if Jesus handed out a bibliography of Old Testament readings with every parable.
You prefer straightforward, Bible-based studies and devotions that engage the mind and touch the heart. You probably have your favorite Lenten study preordered already, but if not, you may want to check out God's Gift of Life, Lent for Everyone Year A
The Neomonastic
Taize, candles, lectio divina . . . It's ancient-modern all the way for you, as you find meaning in simplicity, self-denial, fasting, and spiritual disciplines. Your focus on Jesus' time in the desert, resisting temptation, lends itself to a more austere observance culminating in meditation on Christ's suffering.
You'll love Simplifying the Soul, from Catholic author Paula Huston, a collection of daily practices for Lent that draws on the wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. And Holy Week just wouldn't be, well, holy, without walking the Stations of the Cross. Pray using The Stations of the Cross which includes photographs and meditations by Paul Hoffman, or Alfred McBride's The Challenge of the Cross, which includes a fifteenth station for the resurrection.
The Pre-Easter-er
It's not Lent, it's our Easter series! Christ is risen, so why focus so much on his suffering and death? For the several weeks leading up to Easter, you want to focus on what Christ's death and resurrection mean for us today. Themes of redemption and new life reign. Try Beth Moore's Breaking Free, J. Scott Duvall's New People Forever, or John Stott's LifeGuide Bible Study, The Cross.
The Jesus Journeyer
For you, Lent is all about following the path of Jesus, studying and discussing death and resurrection, sin and atonement. You embrace the emotion and suffering of Jesus' final week in Jerusalem, pondering the confusion and chaos that ensues.
There are many studies available exploring Jesus' journey to the cross, many with a DVD component. Check out The Last Days of Jesus by Matt Williams, and two from Adam Hamilton: 24 Hours That Changed the World, and Final Words from the Cross.
The Activist
If you're more focused on the actions and attitudes that proved Jesus to be all that we have been waiting for, you may be an Activist. You're tired of giving up something for Lent—you want to give back, change the world, focusing on living out Jesus' values in the world. If this is you, you might like A Practical Christianity, meditations focused on a faith we "do," and you won't want to miss A Place at the Table: 40 Days of Solidarity with the Poor.
So what's your Lent study style?
Find even more choices in the study and worship resources bin!
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The Final Week: A Lenten Series
The Final Week: A Lenten Series by David Emery
Why would we celebrate Palm Sunday on the first Sunday of Lent? Because Holy Week is a sacred time for Christians everywhere; but the week passes by so quickly that we don’t have the time to reflect deeply on what it means. Instead of cramming our reflection time into one schedule-packed week of special services, we are going to slow down and spend the entire season of Lent on the events that took place during Holy Week.
Weekly Schedule
It just makes good sense that if Jesus' final week begins on Palm Sunday in Jerusalem that we begin there. Each week afterwards we will spend our time examining a day-by-day account of what Jesus did during his final week before his crucifixion and resurrection.
Week 1
What Kind of King is Jesus? (Mark 11:1-11)
Week 2
Trouble in the Temple (Mark 11:12-19)
Week 3
Conflict and More Conflict (Mark 11:20-13:37)
Week 4
The Need for a Traitor (Mark 14:1-11)
Week 5
A Last Supper and Gethsemane (Mark 14:12-71)
Week 6
The Crucifixion of Jesus (Mark 15:1-41)
Week 7
Easter Sunday: Resurrection (Mark 16:1-8)
Preparing Ourselves
As I was planning and preparing for this series, I read a helpful book called The Last Week by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan. This book helped me think about the final week in the life of Jesus in a new way, and would prove a stimulating read for small groups to study throughout the series.
Our primary source for this series, however, is the Gospel of Mark.
Why Mark? Because Mark was the first Gospel written and the other gospel writers used Mark as a source themselves.
The congregation should be encouraged to prepare and participate in the following ways:
Read the final week on your own in Mark 11:1-16:8.
Spend time each day praying about what you have read.
Be present each week and expect to hear from God.
Join a small group studying The Last Week.
I’m excited about this series for many reasons. I’m certain that we are going to be challenged in new ways by the life and teaching of Jesus. We may even have some long-held beliefs about Jesus and the Kingdom of God overturned. I’m praying that this rather unorthodox approach will make Easter much more meaningful this year as we explore some big questions, like:
What actually happened during the Final Week of Jesus’ life?
Why were the religious authorities threatened by him?
Why did the disciples desert him in his hour of need?
Why was he crucified as a common criminal?
And more importantly, what does it all mean for me as I follow Christ in my own time?
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Worship Ideas for Lent
Worship Ideas for Lent by Sara Webb Phillips
When our staff team plans out worship services, we first look at the liturgical season as a whole. What is it we want to have happen in our own lives and for others during this period of time? How do we enhance the worship to speak to what God would have us become? In Lenten planning, we tone down the mood of our worship, to become more reflective, so as to make the contrast with an explosive Easter Vigil and Easter morning even more joyous.
In that spirit, we use purple cloth to drape our baptismal font and Christ candle, symbolic of dry, dark times. We do not schedule any baptisms during Lent; rather Lent is when we hold Inquirer's Classes for faith exploration, and prepare our youth confirmands and others for baptism. (We then use the Easter Vigil service as the time to receive new members and baptize any persons coming to the faith.) We incorporate liturgical dance in an understated way, providing movement to a scripture reading, psalm setting or anthem. One Lent we “grew” a banner. Each week we pinned on prayer crosses with concerns written on the back. The banner was processed into worship for a front visual. We incorporated it into every service throughout Lent and Holy Week. Another year, our after-worship hospitality team decided not to serve coffee; rather they had bottles of water and simple cheeses and crackers as understated foods over which to share in fellowship.
Several years ago in Louisville, Kentucky, across from the Wayside Christian Mission was a “Cross Museum” with thousands of crosses on display. It no longer exists, but it is an interesting idea. Perhaps as a Lenten theme, the congregation could be invited to bring a variety of crosses to either have on the altar during Lent or in the gathering/entrance space of the church as a visual of this season of the cross.
We also use the change of the liturgical season to do different things in worship. If you do not regularly include a prayer of confession, reciting a creed, singing the psalm, music from other traditions, or using all four scripture lessons, those might be parts of worship to consider inserting into your Lenten Sunday pattern. This might be a time to introduce more congregational response. The collect can begin with “The Lord be with you,” with the congregation responding “And also with you.” Perhaps you would want to consider a format of Prayers of the People that uses a response such as the leader saying “Lord in your mercy,” with the congregation responding, “Hear our prayer.” Following the prayers, the sharing of the Peace might also be included. This would not be a time of greeting to say hello to neighbors, but the quiet intention of wishing God's deepest shalom for those seated close by. One might also consider including a “Response to the Word” through personal testimonies, saying a creed, adding a minute for mission, or introducing a new hymn and singing it each of the six weeks.
If you currently only celebrate Holy Communion monthly or quarterly, the Lenten season could be a time when the congregation experiences weekly or an every other week celebration of the Lord's Supper. Perhaps a sermon series on the sacrament could draw together the themes of sharing and sacrifice, cross and celebration, anticipating Maundy Thursday's table fellowship, and the sacrament on Easter.
Sara Webb Phillips is Pastor of Discipleship at First United Methodist Church in Evanston, Illinois. This article first appeared in Circuit Rider.
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More Than Giving Up Chocolate!
More Than Giving Up Chocolate! by Kathy Hershman
"I gave that up for Lent."
Many people—even ones who do not go to church—are familiar with the idea of giving up something for Lent. What most are not familiar with is why people give up something for Lent. Nor are they familiar with the season’s wealth of other traditions, which can be a source of deep meaning. Wouldn’t it be exciting to hear a person say, "I got that from Lent"?
After some research, I realized that the season was full of learning opportunities—opportunities that lend themselves to the entire congregation.
With this in mind, I combined youth and adult education (through church newsletter articles and bulletin inserts), to create a comprehensive study of Lent. Here are a few highlights:
Shrovetide
Shrovetide (from shrove/shrive, meaning "to absolve or do penance") is the time of festivity before the solemn season of Lent. There are a variety of colorful Shrovetide customs throughout the world. Perhaps the most famous of these is Mardi Gras. Following a study of major Shrovetide customs and traditions, the group chose two projects aimed at bringing the festivities of Shrovetide to our church.
Mardi Gras—For Mardi Gras ("Fat Tuesday"), we selected the event that culminates celebration–the Mardi Gras Ball. In preparation for the ball, we found someone in the church who agreed to offer Ballroom dancing lessons to everyone who wanted to come the week before the event.
The ball was fashioned after the famous Mardi Gras "Rex Ball," in New Orleans. The church’s fellowship hall was decorated in the traditional Mardi Gras colors of royal purple and gold. And even two adults whom the youth admire were crowned king and queen.
Ladies attending the ball were announced as the queen's court and given a small gift. Some of the guys in our youth group extended their arms for the first waltz. I was surprised when I realized that some of the guys had practiced all week for this dance!
Shrove Tuesday—In England, Pancake Day is celebrated on Shrove Tuesday to use up rich, sugary food that is forbidden during the fasting times of the season. The group selected Pancake Day as their second project, hosting a breakfast for the church and community.
The breakfast took on special meaning because a study on fasting preceded it. Traditionally, fasting was an important part of Lent.
The study included Jesus’ teachings on fasting, the types of fasting, and fasting guidelines. As a result, some group members chose to give up one meal a week during Lent and to fast all day on Good Friday. They promoted the idea among the entire church and the middle school youth gave up a favorite food during Lent.
The group distributed to church participants savings banks and devotional guides from the Society of St. Andrew. People put the money they saved by fasting into their banks and brought them to the altar on Easter morning. The proceeds went to the Society of St. Andrew to feed the hungry (for more information visit their website and search: Lent).
A mother of a younger child in church told me about the following incident: While one of our youth was babysitting for her third-grade child, she explained why she was not eating with them. The child, in turn, demanded that every member of her family give up something for Lent. The child’s suggestion was chocolate, since that was her favorite food.
The Lenten Season
Ash Wednesday—Ash Wednesday services became especially meaningful to our group. They learned the early history of the tradition, which included the church’s practice of offering the ashes to only designated sinners. Only after friends and family of the "sinners" claimed to be sinners too, were ashes available to the entire congregation.
Maundy Thursday—A study of the events of Holy Week included the experience of a Jewish Seder. Eleven other churches in our town joined our group to experience the seder. The evening ended with a demonstration of the washing of the disciples’ feet and everyone participating in Communion. The experience brought the Last Supper to life for everyone.
Good Friday—We ended our Lenten study of Good Friday by sponsoring a Lent breakfast open to the community. Our study group presented a program for those who attended on what they had learned and experienced during Lent. Their testimony included why they were not eating breakfast on that day.
Many of the other churches in our community do not observe the season of Lent. However, after the program, we had several requests to provide study materials for them.
Prior to the breakfast, we had made cross necklaces out of nails–one for themselves and one to share. I gave mine to a young man who was sitting on the outskirts of the group. He put it on, but immediately placed it inside his shirt. I was disappointed. But, as everyone was leaving, I noticed that the young man was moving the cross from the inside to the outside of his shirt. One of our young people noticed too. She looked at me and said, "We did good!"
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Ministry Matters
201 8th Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37202 United States
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