Ministry Matters . . . supporting Christian ministry with resources, community, and inspiration – This Sunday, 5 January 2014

Ministry Matters . . . supporting Christian ministry with resources, community, and inspiration – This Sunday, 5 January 2014

What's Wrong with Playing the Lottery? by Mike Poteet

‘Tis the (Scratch-Off) Season

Did you find lottery tickets in your Christmas stocking? Did you stuff some in someone else’s? Every holiday season, state lottery agencies spend their advertising dollars persuading consumers to buy tickets for folks on their gift lists. Here in Pennsylvania, we’ve watched versions of the same TV commercial for 20 Decembers: A jovial gentleman shuffles through snow-filled streets giving scratchoff tickets to coffee-shop and newsstand workers, while faux Dickensian carolers sing about various “instant win” games to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

I once received lottery tickets as a Christmas gift. The givers wanted me to “scratch-’n’-win” in their presence. My five tickets, which cost them a dollar each, yielded zero dollars, zero cents prize money. Call me ungrateful, but I’d have preferred the five bucks! And what if I’d won a fantastic sum? Would I have felt obligated to share it with the givers? Would they have felt resentful if I hadn’t?

Across the pond, the United Kingdom lotto suggests, “If you can’t stand the idea of your friend winning without you, you could always buy a duplicate ticket for yourself so that the jackpot is shared if those numbers come up!” O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi,” it ain’t.

“Hope and Dreams on Sale”

Whether or not lottery tickets figured into your festivities, they are familiar to plenty of Americans all year long. Forty-three states, along with the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, run lotteries. (The lottery-less states are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming.) In addition, such games as Powerball and Mega Millions draw players from across state lines with the possibility of huge payouts. As of December 8, the Powerball jackpot stood at $122 million—an impressive amount, but far from the record-smashing totals that persuade even more people to play. When the jackpot reached its highest level yet, $590 million, last May, 232 million tickets were purchased.

“More than half of us have played the lottery in the last year,” according to Cable News Network (CNN), “although 20% of customers buy the majority of the tickets.” In fiscal 2012, Americans spent around $78 billion playing lotteries. Since 1964, when New Hampshire launched the first modern state lottery, ticket sales have gone up every year, “even during the Great Recession,” reports CNN Money, “when the sale of most other items declined.”

What drives the popularity of lotteries? Not the astonishingly long odds. You’re more likely to be attacked by a shark (one in 11.5 million) or die in a lightning strike (one in three million) than you are to win Powerball’s grand prize (one in 175,223,510). You’d have to buy 86 million tickets to reach even a fifty-fifty chance of winning. Science journalist Eric Berger says the only eventuality with even higher odds is a meteor crashing into your house (one in 182 trillion).

Other factors, then, influence people’s decisions to play. Economist Melissa Kearney says, “For the majority of lottery players, they are getting a bit of entertainment or consumption value. Simply the fact that it isn’t a positive return doesn’t mean it’s an irrational choice.” One reason the lottery can be so entertaining is that we enjoy fantasizing about what we’d do with a seven-figure (or more) windfall. As Rebecca Paul Hargrove, president of the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation, puts it, “For $2 you can spend the day dreaming about what you would do with half a billion dollars—half a billion dollars!”

Clinical psychologist Dr. Stephen Goldbart suggests the lottery appeals because “it lets you believe in magic: that you will be the one who spent a little and got a lot . . . the money that will . . . give you a respite from the conflict, complexity, and angst of everyday life.” In other words, the lottery offers a vision of a better future, even though it won’t grant it to most who play. “It’s a game,” writes journalist Adam Piore, “where reason and logic are rendered obsolete, and hope and dreams are on sale.”

“The Worst Thing That Ever Happened”

Most states don’t allow lottery winners to remain anonymous (only Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, North Dakota, and Ohio do). Pennsylvanians can browse an online gallery of winners and read about their lucky tickets; if your state runs a lottery, you probably can, too. “The single-best commercial that the lottery has,” says attorney Andrew Stoltmann, “is the press conference that winners hold discussing how the lottery winnings have changed their lives.”

Some winners’ stories generate positive publicity. For example, among the “Oceans’ 16” Powerball winners last August—coworkers in New Jersey who jointly held one of three winning tickets in a $448 million jackpot—were several people who lost property to Superstorm Sandy. One winner announced her immediate plans: “Buy me and my daughter a home and bring my dog back home.” Stories of storm victims, single parents, or financially struggling families “hitting it big” can make us feel good about lotteries and the players who win them.

But the public generally overlooks the potentially negative consequences of winning the lottery, unless or until those consequences make attention-grabbing headlines, too. In 1997, Billie Bob Harrell Jr. won $31 million in the Texas Lottery. After two years of stress caused by strangers seeking handouts (Harrell had to change his phone number multiple times), bad business choices, and a separation from his wife, Harrell died, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. “Winning the lottery was the worst thing that ever happened to me,” he once said.

Harrell’s case may be extreme, but some lottery winners find their new wealth brings new woes. “There are very few things in life that someone’s life could change that great, that suddenly,” observes Jason Kurland, an attorney who specializes in representing lottery winners. The instant influx of money, the unwanted attention it brings, and the internal emotional and psychological responses to winning can all create problems. Financial planner Michael Boone reports only half of lottery winners are actually happier three years later. He quotes Henry Ford: “Money doesn’t change a person, it simply unmasks them.”

Social Benefit or Social Bane?

In its 1999 report to Congress, the National Gambling Impact Study Commission observed, “The principal argument used in every state to promote the adoption of a lottery has focused on its value as a source of ‘painless’ revenue: players voluntarily spending their money (as opposed to the general public being taxed) for the benefit of the public good.” According to the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL), states gained over $19 billion in 2012 for education, senior citizen services, health care, and other programs.

But do lotteries intended to help “the public good” actually harm great portions of the public?

Like any gambling, the lottery carries addictive potential for some players. In 2005, the New York Council on Problem Gambling found 40 percent of calls to its hotline were from people with lottery-related issues. “There’s just not a lot of research,” said director Jim Maney, but for those who gamble, the lottery is “the biggest problem in New York state.”

Others question the lottery’s impact on people in poverty. In 2012, for example, the Dallas chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called for an end to the Texas Lottery, charging it “targeted . . . black people and poor people. . . . Our people are spending their little money, their life savings away in hopes of winning,” said president Dr. Juanita Wallace. One analysis of North Carolina lottery data revealed that “all but two of the [state’s] 20 most impoverished counties had per capita [lottery] sales that topped the state average.” The Bangor Daily News found residents of Maine’s poorest county spent the most per capita on tickets.

For its part, the NASPL points to research suggesting that frequent lottery players “are no more likely to be poor or have little formal education” than anyone else, and claims, “The overwhelming majority of poor people, along with the overwhelming majority of upper-income people, play with restraint and moderation.”

George Loewenstein, a professor of economics and psychology, rejects the idea that most lottery players, poor or otherwise, are harming themselves: “It’s ridiculous to say that 51% of the population is just irrational or self-destructive. . . . [The lottery] serves a psychological function. . . . Our pleasure of living is not only based on our current situation, but . . . what we can imagine our situation could become.”

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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The First Step (baptism)

The First Step by Brett Younger

Matthew 3:13-17

We don’t think about it much, but for most of us, one thing that brings us to church on Sunday is the fact that we were baptized. Some of us were baptized without being given any choice in the matter. Cries at the baptismal font are not interpreted theologically. Some of us were baptized because we turned ten years old and decided that we were sick and tired of not getting to drink the grape juice. Some of us went to a worship service where the minister made us cry and invited us to be baptized. Some of us have never been baptized because we’ve never seen any reason why we should be. Some of us haven’t been baptized, but we’ve had to work hard to avoid seriously considering it.

It’s good that we learn the meaning of our baptisms after the fact. None of us fully knew what we were doing on the day we were baptized. Years later, as we make our way slowly into faith, the purpose begins to unfold. We discover what our baptisms mean after the event rather than before. That’s how it was for Jesus too, at least in Matthew’s Gospel.

The story skips from Jesus as an infant to Jesus as a thirty-year-old, and we don’t have a clue as to what happened in between. One day Jesus puts down his hammer, takes off his tool belt, hangs a “Closed” sign on the door of the carpenter’s shop, and asks, “What does God want of me?” Jesus heads south and finds his cousin John, standing in the muddy Jordan in his camel-hair baptismal robe, smelling of locusts and honey. Jesus gets in line and waits his turn. He wades out into the water, right next to real live sinners like you and me.

While three Gospels tell the story of Jesus’ baptism, only Matthew records the curious conversation prior to the baptism. Jesus is eager to be baptized, but John hesitates. They stand hip-deep in the river and engage in a fervent theological debate concerning who should baptize whom. The first time Jesus speaks in Matthew’s Gospel, it is to say that he needs to be baptized, because baptism will help him learn who he’s meant to be. Jesus leans back into the water because he believes that God is calling him to a different kind of life.

When Jesus stands up, the waters of the Jordan dripping down his face, he sees the Spirit descending like a dove to rest upon his soggy head. The Spirit comes, not as an all-consuming fire of judgment, but with the flutter of hopeful wings. A voice says: “You are my child. I love you. I’m delighted with you.”

Then Jesus goes into the desert for forty days to think about what it means to be God’s child. Jesus spends all the days and years that follow that afternoon in the Jordan discovering the meaning of his baptism. Jesus gives everything—his dreams and deeds, his labors and his life itself. Jesus gives himself to God’s people, takes his place with hurting people. Baptism was Jesus’ commissioning to ministry.

During the week before his death, the leaders of the temple challenge Jesus: “By what authority are you doing these things?” (Matthew 21:23). Jesus answers with a reference to his baptism: “Was the baptism of John from heaven or not? I was baptized. That’s why I do the things I do.” In the waters of baptism, Jesus heard the Spirit calling him to speak the truth and live with grace.

So Jesus doesn’t die of old age. He dies because he takes his baptism seriously. When Jesus cries on the cross, “It is finished,” it is his baptism that is complete.

Baptisms, like most beginnings, find meaning long after the event. Beginning is often easy, while finishing is often hard. The significance of any decision takes a while to emerge. Moments of initiation are meaningless until we are true to the promise of that beginning. We’re handed a map, but then we have to take the trip. It takes our whole lives to finish the journey we begin when we’re baptized.

So what does it mean to us to live out our baptisms? If we are true to our baptisms, we cannot make ourselves comfortable, cannot do only what will be appreciated, and cannot be satisfied with the way things are. Our baptisms demand that we struggle with what’s right and what’s wrong, what’s important and what’s not.

The children of God tell the truth in a world that lies, give in a world that takes, love in a world that lusts, make peace in a world that fights, serve in a world that wants to be served, pray in a world that waits to be entertained, and take chances in a world that worships safety. The baptized are citizens of an eccentric community where financial success is not the goal, security is not the highest good, and sacrifice is a daily event.

Baptism is our ordination to ministry, our vow to live with more concern for the hurting than for our own comfort, and our promise to take issue with ideas with which everyone else agrees. Baptism is the commitment to share our time with the poor and listen to the lonely.

What did it mean when you were baptized? The meaning of your baptism is seen in what you think, feel, and do this day. Have you done anything today that you wouldn’t have done if you had not been baptized? We are forever answering the question “Why was I baptized?”

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Divine Design (Kim Miller)

Divine Design by Kim Miller

In the beginning, the earth was like an unpainted, poorly lit room with all the furniture in boxes in the hallway waiting to be assembled and properly arranged. So God started rearranging the furniture. —Andy Stanley, Deep & Wide

One reason I was attracted to Ginghamsburg Church was the attention to detail I noted when I  first arrived at worship that Sunday in 1993. Not only was casual attire the norm, but guests were allowed to bring their mugs of hot co‑ffee into the worship area. ­ This was unheard of at the time but spoke volumes to me about this unique faith community. ­ The message was that I could be the same person inside the church walls as I was outside the church. ­ This was a place that found a way to integrate sacred and secular, as evidenced by this one hospitable permission (and a few radio songs they played on the side).

It was Advent season in the early 1990s, and my young family was new to Ginghamsburg Church. My husband and I told each other we were there to “hide and heal” after a very rough patch in another ministry setting. Sitting in worship in the crowded Discipleship Center (located on what is now Ginghamsburg’s South Campus), I happened to notice that a lightbulb in the garland encircling the room was burned out. ­ This bothered my obsessive self, but I seriously doubted it bothered anyone else—after all, I was in a church and was quite used to being put off‑ by things that no one else seemed to notice, especially in church environments. On that day, however, I found company in my disturbance. Between worship celebrations, the young man who had been running sound in the back of the room sidled up to that green garland and screwed in a brand-new bulb—voilà, lights uninterrupted! What joy! ­ This could be my church after all.

You see, what I know now is that how our church buildings are cared for, how the gardens are weeded, how the glass shines, how the spaces are intentionally designed—these details all whisper to human guests that they will or will not be cared for. It’s really the only manual we have on such matters as we enter a space for the very  first time. As church leaders, we must consider our relationship with those we seek to serve: men, women, students, infants, grandparents, and the lost and oppressed along with the rich and famous. We must lift a vision for the way life can look. Missiologist Michael Frost asserts, “Our true calling from God is to wipe the grime from the window [of life], allowing the light of Christ to dispel the darkness—and to reveal the beauty and goodness of God to a hurting world.” New pictures and hope for our lives and locations and a haven of hospitality in the midst of all sorts of brokenness—this is the call I’ve found as my own.

excerpt from: REdesigning Churches: Creating Spaces for Connection and Community by Kim Miller Copyright©2013 by Abingdon Press. Used with permission.

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This Sunday

Epiphany Sunday (Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12) -or- Second Sunday after Christmas (Jeremiah 31:7-14; Psalm 147:12-20; Ephesians 1:3-14; John 1:[1-9], 10-18)

Rise and Shine

Rise and Shine by Brett Younger

saiah 60:1-6

An atheist was upset with me. It started when I wrote a response to an article in the local paper about the growing number of people with no religious affiliation who consider themselves spiritual. I gently suggested that spirituality without God is empty, and that what many people who claim to be spiritual without going to church really want is to be spiritual without taking any responsibility. I implied that some use their lack of faith in the church as an excuse to not give money to the needy or work for social justice. I argued that true spirituality leads people to feed the hungry, listen to the lonely, and join with others who are doing the same.

What I wrote made perfect sense to me, but a self-described “hard-core atheist” in Colorado sent an e-mail informing me that I am “painfully ignorant.” He helpfully pointed out that those who attend church can be just as greedy, cheap, and unfeeling as those who don’t. This is not news to a Baptist preacher.

One of the disadvantages of e-mailing preachers is that it’s easier for us to send a sermon than a thoughtful response. So I attached a sermon on why it makes sense to believe in God, and the debate was on.

My atheist friend responded with a lengthy rebuttal that led to an exchange of opinions on heaven, hell, prayer, faith-healing, easy answers, difficult questions, astronomy, awe, skepticism, curiosity, the death penalty, black holes, quantum gravity, warped space-time, fifteen billion years of evolution, Carl Sagan, Jerry Falwell, which one of us had the worse experience in Sunday school, subservient wives, and wives who aren’t subservient at all.

As you would guess, neither of us has changed the other’s mind. My atheist pen pal wanted verifiable proof—“no evidence, no belief” is how he put it. Ultimately, I had to admit that what I hold is impossible to prove. I believe that once in a while I see a glimmer of light. It’s not much to go on as tangible proof.

Isaiah cannot prove he has seen a flash of light in the middle of a stormy night. The prophet lives in dark times. Palestine is forever being overrun. Wars between the countries to the east and west bring those foreign armies to Israel. When battles take place Hebrew parents watch their children be carried away. The days are even darker because the people’s hearts are far from God. No one pays attention to anyone who thinks God matters. An enemy army has wiped out Jerusalem, the temple, and the economy of once-proud Judah. The tiny remnant of Israel, those who were not killed or carried off to Babylon, is again threatened with destruction.

In the middle of the night, the prophet sees a light. “Rise and shine,” Isaiah shouts. “Get out of bed. God is here.” Jerusalem is in ashes, ruin, and despair, but just when it looks as if the sun will never rise again, dawn is about to break.

“Your sons will return from far away, and your daughters will be carried in their mothers’ arms again,” Isaiah continues. “The sight of the exiles coming home will make your face break out in a grin, your heart pound, and your eyes light up. The whole world will come riding camels and bringing gifts. People will march in from the South and sail in from the West. They will bring gold and frankincense, and they will bow down and worship God’s light” (author’s paraphrase). Isaiah saw that one day the darkness would be overcome by the coming of the light.

The world is still dark with ignorance, hatred, and death. We know that during this new year children will starve, terrorists will strike, and armies will retaliate against the innocent. Hard workers will lose their jobs, sick people will die, and drunk drivers will commit murder. Preschoolers will be abused, women will be molested, and older adults will be mistreated. Wealthy people will find it hard to give, lonely people won’t find the friends they need, and lost people won’t find their way home.

If it’s not dark for you this minute, be grateful even as you recognize it will be dark again. The day always turns into night. The dark shadows of the past never go completely away. Not all your dreams will come true. You won’t always love your job. Your family will have problems you haven’t imagined. Someone will leave too soon and you’ll be praying for a sunny day.

When life seems hard we need to remember that no matter how dark it gets, there’s a flickering light that tickles the retina just enough to give us hope. The light shines on, into, and through us. Some of the places we go are shadowy. Some of the people we know haven’t seen any light in a long time. We are the lights in our homes, neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and church. God’s light illumines everything we do—the way we treat our employees, serve our employers, and speak to one another. We are candles that keep others from cursing the darkness, candles on birthday cakes that celebrate life, flashlights that make emergencies less terrifying, searchlights looking for those who’ve lost their way, lighthouses leading sinking ships to shore, and traffic lights pointing out when to go and when to stop.

Do you remember singing, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine”? Who can forget “hide it under a bushel, no!” Like most children’s church songs with motions, it was fun to sing. Our greatest joy comes in shining our little light. Light is the joy of a doctor giving sight to the blind, a lawyer protecting someone who is innocent, and a follower of Christ shining light where there was only darkness. Joy comes in being what we are meant to be, doing what we are meant to do, and shining as we are meant to shine.

This child of light whose birthday we just celebrated—who Isaiah dreamed was coming, who the magi traveled so far to see—took on the darkness so we could see the light. It’s hard to explain and we can’t prove it, but if we look carefully we may see a flicker of hope even in the darkest night.

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With a Song in Your Heart

With a Song in Your Heart

Ephesians 1:3-14

What kind of a song does your heart sing as you go through your days? Almost everyone sings some song. Of course, we may sing different songs from time to time, depending upon what is happening in our lives, but most of us have one song that is our song, a song that expresses our feeling about life. Some people dance to meet life, singing something like, “Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay; My, oh my, what a wonderful day.” Others drag themselves into life singing something like, “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.” Do you see what I mean? It makes a difference. Many of us have been walking around for several weeks now humming or whistling or singing Christmas carols. That helps, doesn’t it?

In many churches, it is customary to begin every worship service with a hymn of adoration. There may be lots of different moods and acts of worship during the service, representing different human experiences and different aspects of our interactions with God. But, everything comes into perspective more effectively if the congregation starts by remembering that the worship all takes place in the presence of the living God who is great and good and loving. Adoration puts us in the presence of God and reminds us of what we know about God and sets the stage for everything else.

The writer of the letter to the Ephesians evidently believed that everything should start with adoration. Our scripture lesson, the passage just after the address, the passage that is intended to set the stage and to establish the tone for the whole book, is a hymn of adoration. No, it is not actually a hymn that is intended to be sung.

But it is an act of adoration that is intended to perform the same purpose.

The passage starts with a traditional blessing of God, a variation of the blessing with which Jewish people were accustomed to starting their Passover prayers. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The hymn then incorporates several of the most joyful themes of the Christian faith. God has made known to us the mystery of his will. God has a good and loving plan for the whole creation and he is working to bring it to fulfillment. God is working to draw all things together into a harmonious unity. There is a place for us in that plan. God chose us before the foundation of the world to be adopted as God’s children. He has provided for our redemption, the forgiving of our sins, and he is at work to make us holy and blameless before him in love. We who have believed, who have set our hopes on Christ, have claimed our inheritance and are privileged to live in praise of God. A person who can sing that hymn with confidence has plenty to be happy about, no matter what is going on in his or her life.

Can you sing that kind of a song?

It makes a difference what song your heart sings. A certain man who served in the Air Corps during the Second World War told his son later of his experience after being shot down behind enemy lines. He was captured and confined in a prison camp where the prisoners were subjected to exceptional cruelty. He told his son that the only thing that made him able to endure the ordeal was the songs he had learned in Sunday school when he was growing up. He really had not been much of a churchman but he remembered the hymns and gospel songs that assured him that God is God and that God loved him and cared what was happening to him. He kept remembering those songs and either humming them or singing them when he could, and they helped him to keep everything in perspective and to find the strength to carry on.

A Choctaw Christian woman was dying of cancer in a hospital far from her home and from her people. But her daughter was there, and her daughter stood by her bed during the last hours singing Christian hymns in the Choctaw language, and the woman was able to die with God’s promise of eternity in her heart.

And blessed is the person who is able to experience good fortune with a hymn of adoration in his or her heart. In the context of adoration, good fortune evokes gratitude rather than pride or insatiable appetites for more and more. Gratitude is a really happy way of relating to good fortune. It allows us to enjoy fully without slipping into any of the greedy excesses of our culture.

Look at the themes that are parts of the act of adoration in Ephesians. If they are really parts of our song, they can make a great difference in our lives.

The wisdom that God has shared with us teaches us that we do not live our lives in the midst of a chaos of dangerous accidents or under the brazen skies of an indifferent reality. Instead, we live out our lives in the presence of a greater reality who knows and cares and loves. And that one is engaged in significant ways in the dramas of our lives and of human history.

We are also assured that behind and within all of the different things that are going on around us, there is a movement toward the accomplishment of some good purpose that we may not be able to see clearly but that is always there before us. Yes, terrible things happen in our world, stupid, cruel, irrational things that cause awful suffering. And bad things happen in our individual lives, too. They happen because of the freedom God has allowed to exist in the creation. But God has not abandoned the creation. God is still working in it all to pull things together and to move things toward some good future. One observer of the tragic conflicts between Palestinians and Israelis in the Holy Land asserted that, even in this destructive againstness, God is working to draw things together eventually into loving unity. Believing that in the center of our hearts can give life new meaning — and hope. When you have given yourself to the accomplishment of some good purpose and been disappointed by your inability to accomplish it, you can find encouragement in the knowledge that you were not alone in working for that good. The one who called you into that commitment will keep on working through others until everything really good is accomplished.

And when you, yourself, feel defeated, rejected, and hurt, you can know that there is a special place in God’s love and in God’s plan for you. The adoration from Ephesians tells us that God knew you before the beginning of all things and that God wants something good for you and God is working in your life to achieve it. It may not be the particular good that you have chosen for your goal in life, but, if it is not, it is something better. And God is at work in your life to make it possible. That should invite you to go to meet life in openness and expectancy. Sing a song of adoration and it will make a difference in your life.

But how can we sing a song of adoration? Our experiences of life do not always seem to call for it. The truth is that we all choose what song we will sing. Our circumstances do not always determine it. Look around and you will see that it is true. Look around and you will see people who have everything but the right song who live as if they have nothing. You will also see people who seem to have nothing but a song who are living as if they have everything. Look around and see if it is not true.

But there has to be some reason for choosing to sing a song of adoration. There are too many people who seem to be making up their own songs without regard to reality, just to psyche themselves up or to escape from reality. That can’t be right. But we have to make a decision about what we believe about reality. There has to be some truth in it. The song that we sing has to be true. It doesn’t always have to be true in the way that theorems in physics and mathematics are true. It can be true in the way that poetry is true. But we have to be able to believe that it is true.

What reason do we have to believe that the affirmations in the Ephesians adoration are true? God has shown us that it is true through Jesus Christ. The text says, “With all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ ...” (Hebrews 1:8-9). God has made known the real meaning of life in Jesus Christ. Yes, it takes an act of courageous faith to believe that what was shown to us in Jesus is true. But we can look for further evidence at the lives of those people whose lives sing his song. Can we dare to believe that they are the ones who have really discovered the truth about everything? Can we dare to let that song set the tone for our lives?

It is true that life will sometimes call us to sing other kinds of songs. There will be times for singing fun songs or the blues, lament, songs of protest, love songs, and patriotic songs, and lots of other kinds of songs. Life is rich and varied and so is the music of our participation in it when we dare to experience it deeply. But, if the song of adoration is the main theme of our lives, all of the other themes become parts of the symphony. If we allow one of those other songs to be the main theme, our lives will play a different symphony.

The Apostle Paul was a man whose life sang a hymn of adoration. Scholars are still squabbling over whether the letter to the Ephesians was written by Paul himself or by one of his followers who hoped to represent him. But, almost everyone agrees that the letter represents Paul’s teachings well. It is also safe to assume that the hymn of adoration with which the letter begins also represents the song that Paul’s heart sang throughout his life and work.

Do you remember the story of Paul? As a young man, he was called Saul. He had all of the advantages — a prominent family, a good education, status in the Jewish community, and Roman citizenship — and that was really something special. But Saul was an angry young man. Who knows where that kind of anger comes from? He focused his anger on the early Christians whom he regarded as a threat to his people’s way of life. He stood and watched and approved as Stephen was stoned to death for witnessing to his Christian faith. He became a leader in the persecution. But he must have had some misgivings because he seemed to have been accumulating some subconscious guilt feelings that were at war with his anger. Finally, this tormented soul got a warrant for the arrest of any Christians he could find in Damascus. But on his way to that city, he had an encounter with the risen Christ who asked, “Why are you persecuting me?” He was struck blind and taken by members of his party to Damascus. There, a brave Christian named Ananias, one of those whom Saul had come to arrest, came to him and shared the Christian faith with him. Paul accepted the Christian faith as his own faith. He experienced God’s freely given love. He knew himself forgiven for all of the bad things he had done. He was given a new way of life and a new purpose to live for and he found great joy in it.

Paul’s life was no longer an easy one. He traveled all around the ancient world enduring all sorts of hazards, to share the Christian faith. The young man, who had once had all of the advantages, suffered beatings, imprisonment, shipwrecks, persecution from his own people, and abuse from the Roman authorities. But he did his work with a joyful song in his heart. Even when he knew his death was coming near, he said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness” (2 Timothy 4:7-8). I am sure that the people to whom he ministered heard the song that his life sang as well as the message that his lips spoke. This must have been part of the reason that the people listened.

The eighteenth century in England was not a happy time for many people. It was the time of the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, a time when many people were uprooted and moved to urban centers where they worked long hours at hard labor for very little pay. Lots of people lived in poverty during those days. But the eighteenth century was also the time of the Wesleyan revival in England. The Wesleyan evangelists told the poor people, who felt like outsiders, that God loved them and gave his Son to die for them and that salvation, both now and hereafter, was possible for them. It gave them a new outlook on life. And the Wesleyan revival produced thousands of hymns intended to let the poor people sing the new faith that they had found. Imagine miners, who hardly ever saw the sun, walking together to the mines singing songs like, “Jesus! the name high over all, in hell or earth or sky: Angels and men before it fall, and devils fear and fly. Jesus! The name to sinners dear, the name to sinners given; it scatters all their guilty fear; it turns their hell to heaven.” The songs made a difference in the lives of the people and, eventually, in the quality of life in the nation.

Have you known some who always had a positive attitude toward life no matter what was happening to them? Have you known some who always seemed to be grateful to be alive? Have you wished that you could be like them?

Each of us chooses what song his or her life is going to sing. And we always make that choice in the absence of any conclusive evidence about which is the “right” song. A big part of choosing a song is choosing what kind of life we want to live. That gives us good reason to dare to believe what God has shown to us about the meaning of life and to choose for the theme of our lives a hymn of adoration. Let’s learn to hear each new sunrise calling to us, in the words of the liturgy, “Lift up your hearts.” And let us learn to respond joyfully, “We lift them up unto the Lord.” Then let us move into each new day singing, “Joy to the world....”

This is an excerpt from Sermons on the Second Readings Series I Cycle A; Copyright © 2004 CSS Publishing. This digital resource is available with a subscription to the Ministry Matters Reference Library.

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Worship Elements: Epiphany Sunday 2014

Worship Elements: Epiphany Sunday 2014 by Joanne Carlson Brown

Epiphany Sunday

Color: White

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12

Theme Ideas

In the Northern Hemisphere, we are experiencing the darkness of midwinter. Days are short and nights long. But there are other forms of darkness—poverty, war, injustice, oppression, hatred, prejudice, fear—forms that also affect us just as they did the people of biblical times. In these passages, light breaks through the darkness: a prophet calls us to arise and see the light of liberation and peace, reconciliation and joy; the psalmist prays for a ruler who will light the way of his people with righteousness, prosperity, and an end to oppression and injustice. The writer of Ephesians lights the way through mystery, with a message of the good news of Christ Jesus; and the Magi follow the light of a star, finding more than they were looking for, to return home transformed.

Invitation and Gathering

Call to Worship

Arise; shine, for your light has come!

We are called out of our darkness into light.

Lift up your eyes and look around.

We rejoice in the gift of light.

Come let us worship the God of light and joy and peace.

We come to kneel at the cradle of the babe,

the light incarnate.

Opening Prayer

God of promise and light,

open our eyes this morning,

that we may see your light in the darkness.

Open our hearts,

that we may perceive your promises

of justice and righteousness

fulfilled in the babe of Bethlehem.

May we, like the Magi,

have a star to guide us

on our journey quest

to find the one who will truly set us free.

May this time of worship

bring us closer to you,

that the good news

of the birth of light and love

will transform our lives. Amen.

Proclamation and Response

Prayer of Confession

Ever-patient God,

we are a people who live in thick darkness.

We stumble around

bombarded by news of war and poverty,

famine and genocide,

injustice and oppression.

The maelstrom of things and issues

and people of the dark,

can overwhelm and paralyze us.

Help us be people of the light,

shining your light of righteousness, peace, and joy

into all the dark places of our lives and world.

Unlock the mystery and glory

of the babe born in Bethlehem.

Turn our aimless wanderings

into a journey of purpose

guided by your star.

Let the light break into our lives and our world,

and transform us into people of the light.

Words of Assurance

As certain as the dawn follows the night,

so is the promise of God's forgiveness

and love for us all.

Arise and Shine.

Follow the star.

Find the light of the world born in Bethlehem . . . .

and be transformed from darkness into light.

Passing the Peace of Christ

Lift your eyes and look around.

The light of the babe of Bethlehem

shines from the face of each one here.

Let us now greet that light,

rejoice that we are here together,

and pass the peace of Christ,

our joy and our hope.

Invitation to the Word/Sermon

Open our hearts and minds to the light of your word

read and preached.

Response to the Word/Sermon

We rejoice in the mystery

made plain through the good news

of the babe of Bethlehem.

May this good news transform us and guide us

as we seek to follow the star of love and light.

Thanksgiving and Communion

Invitation to the Offering

We have seen the light of the world.

We have been called to follow the star of promise.

Like the Magi,

let us bring our gifts to honor the babe of Bethlehem

and bring the light to all the dark places

in our community and our world.

Offering Prayer

God of light and promise,

we bring our gifts

to further your work in a dark world.

May they bring your light

to those overwhelmed

by darkness, pain, and loneliness.

Accept these gifts of money and time,

indeed, the gift of our very selves.

Let them shine for all to see,

and be brought into the sphere of your love

and righteousness.

Sending Forth

Benediction

Arise, and go forth to shine for all the world to see.

We go to spread the good news of light and love,

righteousness and justice.

Go now and follow the star

that will guide you on your journey

this week, this year, and forever.

As the Magi of old,

we go forth in trust and excitement,

transformed in the presence

of the child of light.

May the blessing of the God of light

rest upon you and fill you with light.

Amen.

Contemporary Options

Contemporary Gathering Words

Light has broken in on the darkness of the world!

Can you see it? Can you feel it?

Open the eyes of your heart and light the light within.

There is a star beckoning us to follow.

Let's go and see where it leads us today in worship.

Let's see where it leads us tomorrow

as we go about our day, our week,

and the rest of our lives.

Praise Sentences

Arise and shine, for your light has come.

Lift up your eyes and look around.

Praise the God of promise and light and love.

Praise the God of the guiding star.

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Worship Connection: Epiphany Sunday 2014

Worship Connection: Epiphany Sunday 2014 by Nancy C. Townley

Color: White

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12

CALLS TO WORSHIP

Call to Worship #1:

L: Darkness is banished!

P: God’s light has come to us!

L: The brightness of the Star leads us!

P: We come to celebrate God’s abiding love!

L: Glory be to God in the Highest!

P: And on earth, peace forever. AMEN.

Call to Worship #2:

L: O Come, Let us Adore Him, Christ the Lord!

P: The Star in the dark sky heralded His Coming.

L: Led by the light of the Star, the Wise Ones came to pay homage.

P: We, too, come to the stable, seeking the infant King.

L: Come, Arise! Shine! The Light has come.

P: God’s Light of love is shining upon us. AMEN.

Call to Worship #3:

[Using THE UNITED METHODIST HYMNAL, p. 243, “De Tierra Lejana Venimos,” offer the following call to worship as directed.]

Choir: singing verse 1 of “De Tierra Lejana Venimos”

L: On the Eve of His birth, shepherds were led to a stable, to see the Child in a manger, the child who would be the hope for all those who were oppressed and hopeless.

P: The night sky, dark and foreboding, was filled with angelic light, and the voices of the heavenly host brought the good news to those who least expected it.

Choir: singing verse 2 of “De Tierra Lejana Venimos”

L: Others were drawn to the manger scene, from distant lands, seeking to find a king who would change the world, who would bring good news.

P: They came bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, costly and precious for the most precious Gift of God.

Choir: singing verse 3 of “De Tierra Lejana Venimos”

L: Let us come this day, bearing our burdens and our joys. Let us come before the manger of the King.

P: We come, bringing what we have, to pay homage to the one who will change the world.

Choir: singing verse 4 of “De Tierra Lejana Venimos”

Call to Worship #4:

L: Darkness is not limited to night skies; darkness invades our spirits and our souls.

P: In darkness of doubt and despair we have lived, until we witnessed the birth of the Savior.

L: Now the light has truly come to us!

P: Darkness has been banished away!

L: Arise! Shine! For the Light of God’s love has come!

P: And we shall be led to that Light in joy and celebration. AMEN.

PRAYERS, LITANY/READING, BENEDICTION

Opening Prayer

Loving God, who breaks through the darkness of doubt and despair, be with us this day as we hear of the visit of the Wise Ones, who risked everything to follow a Star. Let us open our hearts and be willing to risk receiving the gift of gracious Love that you have to offer us in the form of our Savior, Jesus Christ. AMEN.

Prayer of Confession

Lord, we confess that we have been wrapped up on our secular celebration of Christmas. We have thoroughly enjoyed the music, the food, the swirl of activities. We have looked happily at the Christmas lights and decorations, and yet we have chosen to ignore the people who are most in need of compassion and assistance during this time. We often feel overwhelmed by the demands on our resources and so we turn our “deaf ear” and look away. Open our hearts today, precious Lord, and help us hear the cries of those in need. Bring us to an understanding of active discipleship in which we work helping others and thus serving you. Heal us and give us courage and joy in your service. For we ask this in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.

Words of Assurance

As surely as the Light follows the Darkness, the light of God’s love, given to the world so long ago, is given for you, for healing and hope. You are beloved of God. In God’s name, receive the Light. AMEN.

Pastoral Prayer

Patient Lord, wait for us while we get nostalgic over the Manger Scene. Our hearts are warmed by the witness of the shepherds and the journey and adoration of the Magi. We want to stay right at that time and feel the glow of that love. But you call us to go from the manger, back to our fields, back to our schools, back to our homes, back to our work. You pour your transforming love into our lives and we are challenged to bring back to all those places the glad good news of hope and salvation. Remind us again of all the opportunities we are given to celebrate your love and power. Help us find joy in serving others. As we have brought the names of those near and dear to us before the throne of grace, asking for your healing mercies, help us remember that the love poured out in the Light of the Natal Star is still given for us this day. Give us grace and peace to reach out to all those in need. For we ask this in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.

Reading

[This reading should be done as though the readers are parents of children in a Christmas pageant. The readers should be able to “get into the part,” so some time should be taken for rehearsal, particularly timing on Reader 3. The voice should be from offstage and should be a strong voice, full of confidence and compassion.]

Reader 1:

Did you see him? My little Billy? He’s the King with the purple bathrobe and the gold cardboard crown on his head. His mother made the gift box from glitter and beads. Look how he is standing there looking at the baby Jesus! Isn’t he cute? I’m so proud of him!

Voice:

“Wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”

Reader 2:

My daughter Amy is actually one of the kings. After all, who says they all have to be boys! I think girls work just as well. It says they were wise men, but some people call them Magi. Anyway, I think she makes a regal royal person. Look how nicely she is standing there. Her grandmother made her royal robe, and I decorated her jar with glitter. We put Epsom salts flavored with perfume and food coloring in the jar, you know, so that it can be used afterwards.

Voice:

The Child shall be born “in Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.”

Reader 3:

Daniel, Daniel, stop wiggling! Honestly, he can’t stand still for a minute! He wanted to be a shepherd, but all those parts were taken. They asked him if he would like to be Joseph, but he said no. So he got to be a king. Daniel, push the crown back up on your head. He’s not too happy about this. He’s the king who’s carrying the ointment--I think it’s called myrrh--for the burial of Jesus. He didn’t like that. I don’t know why they told him that he had that gift. Couldn’t they just have left it as a gift and not mentioned the contents? Daniel, look at the Baby Jesus! He’s not comfortable with this at all. But he will be OK. He’s a good boy.

Voice:

“On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”

Reader 1:

I wonder what it was like, actually for those wise men, kings, or Magi, whatever they are called? It wasn’t just a play for them.

Reader 2:

I wonder what they risked to make the journey. There were some pretty inherent dangers in such a trip, dealing with King Herod.

Reader 3:

I wonder what forebodings they had. Did they know to whom they would truly be led?

Voice:

We, too, are led to Christ. It’s not a play; there are great risks in placing your whole trust in his love; there are dangers in the journey. But we do not travel alone. That’s what this whole thing is about--“GOD IS WITH US.” God has chosen to be very present to us in all that we say and do. We aren’t alone. Thanks be to God.

Benediction

The Light of the Star, the light of God’s love, shines before you as you leave this place. Go in peace, go in joy, go in love to meet God’s people in the world and greet them with the good news of salvation. AMEN.

ARTISTIC ELEMENTS

The traditional Color for this Sunday is: WHITE

Note: For some churches, Epiphany Sunday is a celebration of bright light. Many churches place stars throughout the sanctuary and in the worship center. You may choose to do this, for it will add to the theme of the day.

SURFACE:

Place a 6” riser on the center back of the worship center. Other shorter risers may be placed at various spots on the worship center.

FABRIC:

Cover the entire worship center in white fabric. You may choose to wind gold ribbon, about 2” wide, across the worship center and trail the streamers down the front of the worship center to the floor

CANDLES:

White votive candles may be placed throughout the worship center, or you may choose to place a large white candle, the Christ Candle, on the center 6” riser and other smaller candles nearby

FLOWERS/PLANTS:

If you have poinsettias left after the Christmas celebration, you may want to place them on the floor in front of the worship center. White poinsettias would look especially nice on either side of the Christ Candle.

ROCKS/WOOD:

Not necessary for this setting.

OTHER:

Have someone make three crowns to be placed on the worship center in front of the Christ Candle. You may also have the treasure chests, jars, or other representations of the gifts placed on the worship center.

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Worship Elements: Christmas 2 (Year A)

Worship Elements: Christmas 2 (Year A)

Second Sunday after Christmas

COLOR: White

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Jeremiah 31:7-14; Psalm 147:12-20; Ephesians 1:3-14; John 1:(1-9), 10-18

Call to Worship

Arise, shine, for your light has come!

The glory of the Lord has risen upon us!

Like sages from afar, come and behold your Christ!

Let us fall on our knees in his honor! Let us lift our voices in praise of his name!

Call to Worship

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

And also with you.

Sing out your praises and say,

God has saved his people.

See how the Savior brings them from the end of the earth,

the blind and lame among them,

women with child

and women in labor, a great company.

Young men and old shall rejoice,

then shall the girl show her joy in the dance.

God turns their mourning into gladness,

and gives them joy to outdo their sorrow.

Invocation

O Christ, pass through the doors of heaven into our presence. You were not created by the Most High to recline upon the clouds in the company of angels. You were fashioned to make your home among the creatures of God. God has chosen the place where you shall erect your tent. There we shall meet you. And where you go we shall go, and where you lodge we shall lodge. Your people shall be our people; your God, our God.

Invocation

God of our hopes, Christ of our faith, Spirit in our hearts, we come to worship you with joy and gladness. Your goodness knows no limits of generation or gender, of condition or citizenship. You are kind to all, and we worship you in all sincerity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Litany

For so long God has hoped for a righteous leader,

And we have seen visions and dreamed dreams.

We have waited for one who would share God's spirit—

Who would judge the fearful with righteousness and the poor with justice;

Who would show compassion to the weak and mercy to the condemned;

Who would break down the walls dividing the peoples, that all on earth might follow a star.

For so long have we seen the visions; for so long have the dreams been dreamed.

But now the vision has found its life, arid the dream has come to pass—

ALL: Here is the One for whom we have waited! Let us open our treasures and offer our gifts: our hearts, our souls, our minds!

Prayer of Confession

All-glorious God, we have faith in Jesus Christ, and love towards your people, yet we are not without blemish in your sight, not full of love, wisdom, and other spiritual blessings you still have available for us. Our love is not as inclusive as yours, and there is much we need to learn. Give us clearer vision of all that we are meant to be, so that by becoming fulfilled, we may increase the glory that is properly revealed in Jesus Christ, your beloved. Amen

Declaration of Pardon

Friends, hear the Good News! The liberator has come to free us from all proud pretenses.

The Christ has come in Jesus of Nazareth to show us the undeserved favor of God.

Friends, believe the Good News!

In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.

Exhortation

Accept the limitations of your own knowledge. Have reverence for the wisdom of the Creator. Be thankful for his love in Christ and for a humble place in his house.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

We give thanks, God of Job and Jeremiah, David's Lord, Anna's Christ, Luke's Savior, that we have found your house in many places. We have found places of prayer with the swallows and the sparrows. We have sung your praise in a quiet circle under the stars. We have enjoyed the choir of many voices and the joyous sounds of musical instruments and found inspiration and refreshment. Along our pilgrim way you provide the cup that sustains both soul and body. We are happy when we trust in you. Amen

Benediction

O Christ, we know that the gifts of our hands are no substitute for the loyalty of our lives. As we leave this sanctuary, enable us to serve your creation as we have worshiped you, with ourselves as well as our gifts.

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Worship for Kids: Epiphany Sunday 2014

Worship for Kids: Epiphany Sunday 2014 by Carolyn C. Brown

From a Child's Point of View

Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12. The details of this story are often missed in children's Christmas pageants, when wise men simply follow the star to the manger. The encounter with Herod is skipped. When the story of the wise men is the focus of the day, it is possible to mine from the story two themes that are important to children.

First, God went to some trouble (by providing the star) to announce Jesus' birth to people of another race and country. In other words, God loves all people everywhere. Jesus came to all people. Thus, as Jesus' followers, we are to be one family with all people everywhere. We are to exclude no one from God's church or from our family. Although this inclusiveness is to be extended to people in our own school and community, Matthew's account of the wise men focuses on God's insistence on racial, national, and cultural inclusiveness.

Elementary children get heavy doses of national and cultural pride in school, Scouts, and similar activities. This is a chance to balance that pride with deep appreciation for other nations and cultures. It is also an opportunity to explore the value of nations working together and of cultures sharing their ways of doing things.

Second, this is a story of palace intrigue in which God and several foreigners outwit an evil ruler. The wise men learn from Herod where to find Jesus, but do not give Herod the information he needs to kill the child. God is at work on the side of the powerless. This is one of the success stories in the struggle of the powerless. Invite children to celebrate the story.

Epistle: Ephesians 3:1-12. Paul's announcement of God's "secret plan" reminds us that all people are members of God's family. Therefore, the wise men, like the Gentiles, are not "foreigners" but "kin." Today most children have contact at school or in their communities with children of other nationalities, races, and cultures. Older children are aware of people in other countries who dress, eat, speak, and act differently fromthe way we do. Paul's secret is that all these people are part of God's family. We must, therefore, respect them and treat them lovingly.

Note: The compound/complex sentences in this text are hard for children to follow. You will need to put Paul's announcement into simpler statements.

Psalm: 72:1-7, 10-14. This is both a prayer for, and a description of, a ruler who is everything Herod is not. This king is God's ideal—fair, caring, and kind. Christians have interpreted the passage as a description of the king that Jesus would be. But it also can be instructive for team captains, class officers, Scout patrol leaders, and other young leaders.

Old Testament: Isaiah 60:1-6. This Old Testament prophecy is read today to point to the arrival of the wise men. The connection is too obscure for most children.

Watch Words

Our tendency to use the terms wise men, magi, and kings interchangeably can confuse children.

Stick with one of the terms, or explain your use of others.

Do not assume that the children recognize the word Epiphany and understand its significance.

Let the Children Sing

"We Three Kings of Orient Are" is an obvious choice, but it includes abstract vocabulary that needs detailed explanation before children can sing all the verses with understanding.

"Come, Christians, Join to Sing" praises Christ the King with a repeated chorus of "Alleluia, Amen!"—in which even nonreaders can join (a specific invitation helps!).

"Jesus Loves the Little Children" is a familiar children's song celebrating the worldwide family of God. Perhaps a young children's class could sing it for the congregation, or the entire congregation could sing it as a hymn or in response to a point within the sermon.

The Liturgical Child

1. Light the Christ candle in your Advent wreath once more today. Then use it to light any other candles in your worship center. Explain the significance of the candles as they are lit. For example, many congregations light two candles on the table to recall Jesus' "twin" statements that he is the light of the world and that we also are called to be the light of the world.

2. Psalm 72 is a combination of the good wishes (or prayers) and cheers of a crowd celebrating their good king. So have four readers read the psalm with enthusiasm:

Reader 1: Verse 1

Reader 2: Verse 2

Reader 3: Verse 3

Reader 4: Verse 4

Reader 1: Verse 5

Reader 2: Verse 6

Reader 3: Verse 7

Reader 4: Verse 11

Reader 1: Verse 12a

Reader 2: Verse 12b

Reader 3: Verse 13

Reader 4: Verse 14

After delivering a sermon on leadership, repeat this reading as a prayer for specific leaders in the world today.

3. Use the characteristics of a good king found in Psalm 72:1-4; 12-14 as the basis of a prayer for leaders of the world today—name presidents, governors, and local leaders. Be sure to include leaders of countries other than your own.

4. Include prayers and music from different cultures and branches of Christianity in today's worship to celebrate the worldwide family of God. Perhaps a choir can prepare a hymn from another culture as an anthem. Create a display of hats from around the world in your worship center. (An older children's class might be enlisted to gather such hats.)

5. Pray for people of different nations and cultures. Using weather as a format, note the different kinds of weather in which Christians are gathering to worship on this day; then move to deeper concerns for the worldwide family of God.

For example, in a northern-hemisphere congregation, we might say, "It is hard to remember that for some Christians, today is the middle of summer. We remember our brothers and sisters in South Africa who gather in hot buildings and summer clothes toworship you and to find ways for black and white Christians to live together as your children."

Sermon Resources

1. Many children and adults would like to be "king." Compare the kings in this story: grasping, jealous Herod; the three worshiping kings; and King Jesus, who would be a serving, sacrificing king. Illustrate with stories about leaders of all ages.

2. Build a sermon around the three strange gifts the wise men brought. Consider using the verses of "We Three Kings of Orient Are" as an outline. Ask worshipers to follow along in open hymnbooks. Some religious bookstores sell samples of frankincense and myrrh, which you could display in your worship center.

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Worship for Kids: Christmas 2 (Year A)

Worship for Kids: Christmas 2 (Year A) by Carolyn C. Brown

From a Child's Point of View

Gospel: John 1:1-18. Though "the Word," "the light," and "the life" in this poem are too abstract for children, the poem has the answer to questions they often ask: "What is the difference between God and Jesus?" and "How are God and Jesus related?" Jon's answer is that God and Jesus are one. Jesus was part of God when the world was created. God became a person in Jesus of Nazareth. No one has seen God, but anyone who has seen or read about Jesus has seen or read about God, and therefore knows all there is to know about God.

If you explore "the Word" (Logos), introduce it to children as a code word for God. Though this oversimplifies the term, it allows older children to hear John's message—that God and Jesus are one throughout history, even before Creation.

Children also can appreciate that God's presence with us as a person, Jesus, is the most important of the many ways God has loved us and care for us. John mentions God's gift to Moses of the Law (the Ten Commandments). Other texts for the day mention God's other gifts in creation and in the history of Israel.

Epistle: Ephesians 1:3-14. Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians by listing God's gifts to us. Paul's list is filled with abstract theological terms that mean nothing to children as they are read. In children's terms, these are the gifts:

• God chose us before the creation of the world. To children, this says that God's love for us is to big that it stretches back before the creation of the world. Such love gives children both security and a sense of identity a members of God's people.

• God give us forgiveness.

• God promises that one day God will bring the whole world together in peace.

These gifts will need to be named and illustrated with everyday examples in the sermon.

Old Testament:Jeremiah 31:7-14 or Sirach 24:1-12. Jeremiah 31:7

Sirach 24:1-12 celebrates the fact that Wisdom (Old Testament precursor to "the Word" in John's prologue) is in residence in the Jewish nation for all time. Because there is no way to explain Wisdom/Word that does not make it seem to children like a fourth person of the Trinity, either select Jeremiah's text or present Wisdom as another code word for God (like Word) and read this passage as a celebration of God's presence with people of faith.

Psalm 147:12 Both these poems hit several examples of God's loving activities in our behalf. Because the psalm identifies familiar natural gifts as the gifts of God, while the Wisdom poem refers to historical deeds which few children will recognize as gifts of Wisdom, the psalm is the better choice for children. If the weather is wintry, children will especially enjoy the references to God's winter gifts of snow and frost and ice (sleet or hail).

Watch Words

Be careful about "God" vocabulary, especially Trinitarian language. God is called Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is also called Creator, Redeemer (Rescuer), Friend, and much more. It is easier for children to understand Word or Wisdom when they are presented as part of the second list, than if they are related to the Trinitarian list.

Either avoid incarnation or make it the word of the day, defining it and using it frequently to build familiarity.

Let the Children Sing

To praise Christ, sing either "Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart," with its repeated chorus, or "When Morning Gilds the Skies," with its repeated phrase, "May Jesus Christ be praised!"

The easiest incarnation hymn for children is "That Boy-child of Mary," which uses simple vocabulary.

The link between the creator God and Jesus in today's text makes it a perfect time to sing the familiar "Fairest Lord Jesus." "All Things Bright and Beautiful" is another good hymn to God the creator.

The Liturgical Child

1. Read John's prologue during the lighting of the Advent wreath candles and Christ candle. An acolyte stands at the center of the sanctuary with a candle, or the candle lighter, raised high while verses 1-5 are read, lights the four candles of the wreath during verses 6-13, and finally lights the Christ candle as verse 14 is read. The acolyte and reader (perhaps a parent/older child team) need to practice a time or two to get the timing right.

2. Before reading the Jeremiah passage, explain the situation of the people for whom it was originally written. Invite listeners to imagine they are living among the captives in Babylon; urge them to imagine how the captives felt when tye heard these words.

3. In a bidding prayer, name the many gifts God gives us: family; people who are our heroes, heroines, and guides; special friends; congregational life; the natural order, particularly the pleasures of winter weather; events in the world in which you sense God at work; and most especially, Jesus. Pause after describing each general gift to allow worshipers to pray about specific gifts they recognize in their own experience.

Sermon Resources

1. Preach about God's gifts to us: God created a beautiful world for us to enjoy, explore, and care for. (Focus in the joys of winter weather.) God has given us directions for happy living—for example, the Ten Commandments. God has come to help us when we get into trouble. God's best gift is coming to live among us and to save us, gift-wrapped in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

The title of the sermon might be "Whad Ya Get from God?" Open with the question children frequently ask as they meet friends—especially on the first day of school after Christmas—"Whad ya get?" Tell about one gift you were given, then move on to what God gives all of us every day.

2. To help children understand John 1:10-13, point out examples from the Christmas stories of people who did not know who Jesus was. For example, the innkeepers of Bethlehem did not know it was Jesus who would be born when they sent Mary and Joseph away. The shepherds, on, the other hand, listened to the angels and knew who Baby Jesus was.

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Sermon Options: Christmas 2 (Year A)

Sermon Options: Christmas 2 (Year A)

A JOYFUL NEW BEGINNING

JEREMIAH 31:7-14

The beginning of a new year is always a period of refreshment and renewal. No matter how many bad things may have come your way in the last year—no matter how many problems, how much illness, how many family difficulties, how many notices from the IRS—that year is now history; and 2014 is here—fresh, clean, and full of promise. (Although you still have to answer those letters from the IRS!)

Even as Israel is in captivity in a foreign land, the prophet Jeremiah writes of a new beginning—a day when God will restore and renew his people, giving them a fresh start. Despite what has gone before—the nation’s sin and rebellion, their lack of faith and vision—God will bring them home and establish a new covenant with them. It will be a joyful new beginning.

Could you use a joyful new beginning in your life right now? Just as God gave Israel a new beginning, God is willing to give you one as well. You can enjoy a new covenant, a new beginning with God through Jesus Christ.

What was that new covenant, that new beginning like for Israel?

I. A New Beginning Produces Praise (vv. 7-9)

God would bring a remnant back to the land of promise. None would be excluded who were willing to come—even the weakest and most vulnerable among them: the blind, the lame, those who had just had children or who were about to have children.

And what was the result of Israel’s salvation? Resounding praise! They would “sing aloud with gladness” and “raise shouts.” They would “give praise” and celebrate the greatness of their nation—not because of any inherent value in Israel, but because God’s covenant relationship gave them significance.

Verse 9 is important because it reminds us that an important part of authentic praise is sincere repentance. Israel was to know a new kind of greatness, based not on political power or military might but based on a covenant relationship with God.

If you wish to have a new beginning with God, it must include repentance—a godly sorrow for sin and a willingness to allow God to turn your life in a new direction.

II. A New Beginning Is Based on Grace (vv. 10-11)

It was important for Israel to understand that their new beginning was not produced by their own efforts; it was a gift of God’s grace—unmerited, undeserved, flowing out of divine love. And Israel was to demonstrate God’s grace to all the nations.

Two important words are used here: ransom and redeem. To ransom means literally “to loose”—it involves paying a price to receive ownership of something, often something once owned or possessed. God was willing to pay the price to ransom Israel and give her a new beginning. To redeem is an act of deliverance, usually relating to a family member; for example, one might redeem a relative who had been sold into slavery by purchasing his or her freedom, or one might redeem a piece of land that had been sold away from the family.

Just as God was willing to ransom and redeem Israel, so he offers the same deliverance to us. God wants us to be a part of his covenant family, and he has already paid the price—through Christ’s death on the cross.

III. A New Beginning Results in Joy (vv. 12-14)

Now freed and restored to their homeland, Israel would rejoice in celebrating God’s abundant gifts. Israel was to be a new community focused on worshiping God.

A new beginning with God always results in joy. That’s why Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” ( John 10:10) . Through a relationship with Jesus Christ, you can experience that joy which God alone can produce in the human heart.

Are you ready for a new beginning? There’s no better day than today for a fresh start with the Lord. (Michael Duduit)

HEIRS OF THE PROMISE

EPHESIANS 1:3-14

Timothy William Hennessy, a child of the promise, was baptized on the Sunday that this scripture came up in the lectionary many years ago. And in his baptism on that particular day, we found a perfect explication of this reading from Ephesians.

Many months before that, his mother, Susan, herself a child of this church, stood up during the sharing time to announce another birth in their family. Wistfully she added, “All we need now is an heir.” In due time, in God’s good pleasure, an heir was born to Sue and Tim, Sr., and they requested this date for his baptism. None of us knew then what the lectionary scripture for the date was. It was thrilling to find the answer to Sue’s prayer from so long before, already given beforehand by the Spirit, so clearly in the scripture for the day of their “heir’s” baptism.

We could even call this passage “Susan’s Song,” as it rejoices in the riches of our inheritance of redemption, forgiveness, and boundless grace as heirs through Christ, which, as Paul says, is “marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; [which] is the pledge of our inheritance” (v. 13).

I. Our Inheritance Is Cause for Thanksgiving

All eleven verses in this scripture seem to have leaped from Paul’s heart, in one single exuberant sentence in the Greek! It is as if the effervescence of joy and thanksgiving that Paul is feeling can hardly be spoken in words. So it flows out of him in a song that his soul “speaks.” The contents of God’s mysterious “will” (vv. 9, 11) have been revealed to Paul, and he is overwhelmed by the generosity of his benefactor—the boundless riches of his inheritance! Here is the passionate gratitude of one who knows what it means to be truly guilty of great sin and then experience the life-restoring redemption of being made “holy and blameless before him [Christ] in love” (v. 4).

II. Our Inheritance Is Couched in Mystery

Paul also realizes the incredible synchronicity of this as a blessing for which he had long before been “chosen.” This is not the kind of predestination that the Presbyterian woman was talking about when, after she fell down the stairs, she said, “Thank goodness that’s over!” Rather this is the destiny that is part of a vision of spiritual blessing planned from the beginning and offered, mysteriously, as the inheritance to many. Yes, it is mysterious; but perhaps sometimes we make it more oblique than necessary.

Do you know what you get when you cross a Mafia leader and a theologian? An offer you can’t understand! But that’s not the kind of offer Paul wants to advise us of here. The full extent of the blessings in our inheritance is beyond our comprehension, to be sure. But these blessings are being revealed to us daily, and Paul extends God’s invitation to exalt in being open to receive all that is offered to us in these blessed promises that are our rightful inheritance.

III. Our Inheritance Is the Basis for Abundant Living

It is a great sadness, and one of the most insidious forms of evil, that the systems of this world lead so many “children of the promise” into blind alleys, where the great promise and the hope that was in them are lost. Most unfortunately of all, even the church itself has often been in confusion about what it means to be called and blessed by God. Too often “Give your selfish will to God” has meant, “Give your will and resources to this person who rules in the church in the very same way others rule in the world, by imposing their will, not by helping you to find God’s.”

Like a child whose baptism functions also as an elucidation of this scripture, we were all created out of God’s love and similarly destined for the fullness of love’s expression, each in our own unique way. It is our birthright, in Christ. Praise God who has made us blessed heirs to such a glorious inheritance! (Kathleen Peterson)

THE GLAD SONG OF SALVATION

JOHN 1:1-18

There are days when it happens unexpectedly. When the Spirit blows like a cool breeze on a sweltering afternoon. When you hear the voice of angels in the prayers of your colleagues or friends. When you know—really know for sure—that what you hope and believe and trust in is true.

I had shuffled into my liturgy practicum a few minutes late. What we were doing—what we had been doing all semester—was rehearsing the rituals. Over the twelve weeks each student was to baptize a Cotton Patch Premie, offer a Great Thanksgiving over a fictional Eucharist, and “marry” a couple of fellow students. The professor would make suggestions and critique each student along the way, and then the class members would have their shot after the ritual was performed. It was pretty dull stuff, to tell you the truth—except on one day.

I arrived late, not altogether excited about another round of eucharistic prayers to be offered, as they were, over water and a wadded up paper towel. I slipped into my seat, only to be called on to assist a student, a candidate for episcopal orders. With a certain chagrin, I took my place at her right shoulder, ready to endure as best I could, when suddenly, almost ethereally, I heard music. Heavenly music! The celebrant was singing the prayer. Chanting it! I stood transfixed.

The usually chatty professor was speechless. The mouths of most class members hung open; they were barely able to utter the congregational responses. The celebrant’s plainsong had floored us. When the ritual ended, everyone was silent. After a few moments the professor said, “And that, class, is why, in the early church, nothing was said that could be sung.”

Prose comes after the poetry, explanations after the arias. Mere speech is no match for a love song, and especially when the beloved is God.

Christianity is a faith that sings. Look no further than our lesson scripture, where John the evangelist sings the beginnings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Although this text is most often referred to as the “Prologue,” I have come to regard it more as the “Overture,” for in it all the themes of the balance of the gospel are sounded.

Consider it a hymn with three stanzas, with two descants regarding the Baptist thrown in for good measure. The first stanza, verses 1-5, sings of the creating God’s relation to all creation through the Word. The second stanza, verses 9-13, sings of the intervening God’s relation to all humanity through the Word. The third stanza, verses 14-18, sings of the redeeming God’s offer of salvation to all who receive the Word.

Of course, the gracious theme of these stanzas is counterpointed with rejection, hatred, and darkness. But the overture’s climax is one of mutual Christian confession; for while many, even of God’s own people, did not receive the Word, “we did.”

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory . . . we have received grace upon grace . . .” It’s a song more than a syllogism, poetry more than prose. And though we have lost the original tune, we can, in faith, still find the glad rhythm of this song of salvation.

We all learn our faith by singing it. By singing our faith, we learn more of it. And the Scriptures, by example and exhortation, remind us that the Word became flesh is a truth that has to be sung to be believed. (Thomas R. Steagald)

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Gifts and Prayers

Gifts and Prayers by Leanne Ciampa Hadley

They entered the house and saw the child with Mary his mother. Falling to their knees, they honored him. Then they opened their treasure chests and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:11 CEB)

Advent is such a busy season, and I try to make it more manageable by buying Christmas gifts all year long. No matter what the month, I am looking for just the right gift for each member of my family and friends. I shop at the mall, look through catalogs, and search online. I want something that will be perfect for each of them.

The other day as I was looking though a catalog. I had an epiphany: I spend more time looking for Christmas gifts for these people than I do praying for them. The wise men brought gifts to Christ, but before they offered them, they knelt down. Do you think they prayed in that moment, thanking God for this child? I am going to try to do the same. I need to get the shopping done, but I also need to pray for the people I am shopping for. Each time I find the perfect gift or a gift possibility, I am going to pause and pray for the person.

God, please remind us that while our gifts are precious to those whom we love, our prayers are the best gift we can ever give them. May we pause and pray for those we love, knowing that you hear our prayers.

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The Way (BIN)

The Way by Adam Hamilton

Lord, help me to be a stretcher-bearer for others—to give the time and energy to care for them and carry them when they need it most. Help me to be open to the care of others in my time of need. Amen.

The Way is a churchwide study with studies for children, youth, and adults. Adam has also written a 40 Days of Reflections book.

What If Judas Had Waited?

What If Judas Had Waited? by Adam Hamilton

When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. He said, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself. (Matthew 27:3-5 NRSV)

Several years ago I had the chance to visit the place tradition says Judas hung himself. The field, known as Potter’s Field or the Field of Blood, overlooks the Valley of Hinnom—Gehenna. Gehenna served as the city trash dump in the time of Christ and, owing to the constant fires that burned the rubbish there, came to be synonymous with hell. On the site of this field are the ruins of a twelfth-century Crusader church and a host of discarded tombs in the side of the rock outcropping. And there, in the middle of the field, is a lone tree, a reminder that when Judas came to this place, overwhelmed with guilt over having betrayed Christ, he hanged himself.

As I stood at the tree, a thought came to me: “What if Judas had waited three days?”

Many people, at some point, think of ending their lives. For most, the thought is momentary and fleeting. For others, who are overwhelmed by guilt, depression, or pain, the thought lingers. Tragically, a few will conclude that death offers the only way out.

Judas was one of these few. He had betrayed Christ. His friend would die for his betrayal. He felt there was no other way out. Yet I could not stop thinking, “If only he had waited three days.” Had he waited, he would have seen Christ risen from the grave. He would have known that even his betrayal was not the final word. He could have fallen at Jesus’ feet and cried out, “Lord, forgive me!” And what do you think Jesus would have said to Judas? Can there be any doubt that Jesus would have shown mercy to him?

Imagine what would have become of Judas had he waited. His witness might have been the most powerful of all the disciples’. Can you imagine him telling his story throughout the empire? “I betrayed the Lord for thirty pieces of silver. I watched him die on the cross. But on the third day, he rose. And he forgave even me! If he forgave me, what can he do for you?”

In our lives, we have moments that seem overwhelmingly bleak. We make a mess of things and see no way out. Judas felt that way. But the message of the cross and Resurrection is that God is the Lord of second chances. In even the most dire circumstances, there is always hope. After our most egregious sins, there is the offer of grace. In the darkest of times, there is an Easter yet to come.

Listen carefully: there is always hope. God is able to take the pain and despair of the present and bring from it something remarkable. You can’t imagine it now, but look for someone or something that can help you find hope: a pastor, a family member, a friend, a suicide hotline. Remember Judas’s story. Think about what could have been, if only he had waited three days.

Lord, help me to trust you in my darkest hour. Help me to remember that you can take something as ugly as a cross and turn it into an instrument of salvation. Grant me courage to keep walking when I feel like giving up. Amen.

* * * If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, contact a suicide hotline in your area and contact the pastor of your local church.

excerpt from: The Way: 40 Days of Reflections by Adam Hamilton Copyright©2013 by Abingdon Press. Used with permission.

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Who Are Your Stretcher-Bearers?

Who Are Your Stretcher-Bearers? by Adam Hamilton

When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:1-5 NRSV)

In this account, Mark notes that Jesus was “at home” in Capernaum. Once again, as had happened that first night in Capernaum, Jesus was ministering in a house, likely Simon’s home where he was staying. The houses were relatively small, and there were perhaps twenty or thirty people surrounding him as he taught, with more standing in the doorway and at the windows. So, when the friends of a paralyzed man brought him on a stretcher to be touched and healed by Jesus, they could see that there was no getting into the house.

Some friends would have given up, saying, “We’ll have to bring you to Jesus another time,” but not these friends. Refusing to take “no” for an answer, they climbed to the roof of Simon’s house, hoisting their paralyzed friend up with them and intending to lower him through the roof. Luke tells us that the roof consisted of tiles. Mark tells us, in the Greek, that they dug through the roof, which would imply a roof made of mud and reed or palm branches. In either case, these men were determined that Jesus would touch their friend, and they were willing to tear the roof off Simon’s house to see that it happened.

Can you imagine the boisterous Simon Peter looking up as dust began to fall from the ceiling, then seeing the four men pulling off the roof to lower their friend? I can imagine him roaring in anger, “What in the name of Abraham are you doing to my house!?” But I picture Jesus reaching out his hand to calm Peter down.

The men lowered their friend before Jesus. Mark tells us, “Seeing their faith, he spoke to the paralytic” and healed him. In other words, the man was healed not because of his own faith, but due to the faith Jesus saw in his friends!

Everyone needs stretcher bearers like these—friends who will carry you when you are at your weakest, friends who not only will pray for you but will do whatever it takes to help you get back on your feet. In my experience, the only way to have such stretcher-bearers is to be a stretcher-bearer like that for someone else. Who are your stretcher-bearers? Whose stretcherbearer are you? Investing in them could change your life. It did for a man in Capernaum.

Lord, help me to be a stretcher-bearer for others—to give the time and energy to care for them and carry them when they need it most. Help me to be open to the care of others in my time of need. Amen.

excerpt from: The Way: 40 Days of Reflections by Adam Hamilton Copyright©2013 by Abingdon Press. Used with permission.

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The Way

The Way by Adam Hamilton

Travel with Adam Hamilton as he retraces the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Using historical information, archaeological data, and stories of the faith, Hamilton follows in…

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Travel with Adam Hamilton as he retraces the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Using historical information, archaeological data, and stories of the faith, Hamilton follows in the footsteps of Jesus from his baptism to the temptations to the heart of his ministry, including the people he loved, the parables he taught, the enemies he made, and the healing he brought.

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Why Was Jesus Baptized?

Why Was Jesus Baptized? by Adam Hamilton

One day, as John was baptizing in the Jordan, he looked up to see a familiar face. He smiled as Jesus approached, and the two men embraced. These men had known one another their entire lives. They had played together as boys and dreamed together as young men. John was six months older, but he always knew it was his younger cousin who would play the greater role in God’s plans. The two had shared long walks and conversations both in Jerusalem and in the monastery by the Salt Sea. They had stayed up long into the night discussing the Scriptures and the kingdom of God. John’s preaching and baptism at the Jordan would officially set in motion a chain of events that would lead to John’s own death in a matter of months, and to Jesus’ crucifixion just three years later.

Jesus took off his sandals and robe and said to John, “Baptize me, brother!” John stepped back, confused, protesting: “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus insisted, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:14, 15 NRSV).

With his baptism, the three-year public ministry of Jesus began. From this time on, the die was cast. The prospect was exciting, and terrifying. Jesus’ ministry publicly began here, at the age of thirty, when he waded into the waters of the Jordan to be baptized by his older cousin.

Even in the first century, Christians were unsettled by John’s baptism of Jesus. When the disciple John (not John the Baptist) wrote his Gospel, he didn’t explicitly mention Jesus’ baptism in his initial encounter with John at the river. Christians wondered why Jesus would come to John to be baptized. Why would one who “knew no sin” receive a baptism, indicating a repentance of sin?

In Jesus’ baptism, the sinless man chose to identify with sinful people. He stepped into the water, not out of his need but for ours. Later he would tell his disciples that “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10 NRSV). He wasn’t embarrassed to identify with sinners by wading into the waters of repentance. He didn’t announce to everyone present, “I don’t really need this; it’s for you.” He chose to let others think what they would—he was walking into the water with us and for us. In the days ahead, he would eat with sinners and tax collectors. He would befriend prostitutes and adulterers. This was his mission. In his baptism, Jesus identified with sinners.

Baptism has many meanings. Like a kaleidoscope, it presents a different picture with each turn. As Jesus stepped into the water to identify with sinful humanity and become the “son of man,” the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove. He heard the voice of God announcing that he was God’s “beloved son,” with whom God was “well pleased” (Mark 1:10-11 NRSV). Thus, in that moment Jesus was at one and the same time the “son of man” and the “son of God.” Jesus also received power from the Spirit for the ministry that lay ahead. Here at the Jordan, we see the first glimpse of what Christians would come to call the Trinity. The Son came to be baptized. The Father spoke. The Spirit descended.

The words spoken by God at Jesus’ baptism come, at least in part, from Psalm 2:7, a coronation song in which the psalmist speaks of the kings of Israel as God’s sons. But it is not an exact quote. The Psalm says, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” But to Jesus, God spoke in the midst of his baptism, saying, “You are my Son, my beloved, with you I am well pleased” (emphasis added).

Jesus was “beloved” of God. The word used was agapetos—a Greek adjective that is a term of endearment signifying a special and deep bond, a favorite, one who is treasured and dear. God reaffirmed this special relationship with Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration, not long before Jesus’ death, by using the Greek verb eudokeo (Matthew 17:5). The word indicates taking particular delight or pleasure in someone or something.

Recently our oldest daughter Danielle and her husband moved back to Kansas City after a one-year stint in Africa and a couple of years in Chicago. They returned to the area so Danielle could go to graduate school. Having her back has brought great joy to my wife LaVon and me. I gave Danielle a big hug the other day and told her, “I love you so much. I’m so proud of you, and I feel such joy that you are back in Kansas City and I get to see you regularly.” To me, this is the sense that agapetos and eudokeo carry with them; this is what Jesus was hearing from God.

For Jesus, his baptism was a defining act. In that moment, he identified with sinners and heard God’s affirmation that he was the Father’s beloved son. He received the Spirit’s power. And it marked the beginning of his ministry. Jesus’ baptism was an ordination in which he was set aside and empowered for his mission of drawing people to God, inviting them into God’s kingdom, demonstrating God’s will, and ultimately laying down his life for humanity.

For us, as Christ followers, Baptism is also meant as a defining act. Through our baptism we are claimed by God, anointed with the Spirit, and set aside for God’s purposes. Our brokenness is recognized and God’s grace is promised. And in our baptisms we are initiated into, and become a part of, God’s covenant people. We are meant to remember our baptisms each day. Even if we don’t remember the act itself, we remember that God has promised to forgive our sins, that we are called to ministry, that the Holy Spirit resides in us, and that we are God’s children.

Excerpted from Adam Hamilton's newest book and study, The Way: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus. See program elements below. Used by permission.

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The Way

The Way by Adam Hamilton

Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus

The Way

Author    Adam Hamilton

Publisher Abingdon Press

Publication Date   12/2012

Binding   Book - Hardback

ISBN 9781426752513

Retail Price  $18.99

Discount Price $11.96 (37% discount)

Travel with Adam Hamilton as he retraces the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Once again, Hamilton approaches his subject matter with thoughtfulness and wisdom, just as he did with Jesus’ crucifixion in 24 Hours That Changed the World and with Jesus’ birth in The Journey. Read The Way on your own or, for a more in-depth study, enjoy it with a small group or part of a 40-day church-wide emphasis during Lent and Easter or anytime of the year.

Using historical information, archaeological data, and stories of the faith, Hamilton follows in the footsteps of Jesus from his baptism to the temptations to the heart of his ministry, including the people he loved, the parables he taught, the enemies he made, and the healing he brought.

This 40-day focus will help you and your group grow deeper in their faith, learn more about the life of Christ, spend time daily reading and reflecting upon the Scriptures, and invite families, through the children’s and youth studies, to grow together in their faith. Additional resources include a DVD, devotional, youth and children editions, and a worship download to help with sermon planning.

Lent, Lenten, Lenten Resource, Lenten Resources, Lent Study, Lent Studies, Easter, Easter Study, Easter Studies

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The Way: DVD with Leader Guide

The Way: DVD with Leader Guide by Adam Hamilton

Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus

The Way: DVD with Leader Guide

Author    Adam Hamilton

Publisher Abingdon Press

Publication Date   12/2012

Binding   Mixed Media

ISBN 9781426752537

Retail Price  $39.99

Discount Price $31.99 (20% discount)

Travel with Adam Hamilton as he retraces the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Once again, Hamilton approaches his subject matter with thoughtfulness and wisdom, just as he did with Jesus’ crucifixion in 24 Hours That Changed the World and with Jesus’ birth in The Journey. Using historical information, archaeological data, and stories of the faith, Hamilton follows in the footsteps of Jesus from his baptism to the temptations to the heart of his ministry, including the people he loved, the parables he taught, the enemies he made, and the healing he brought.

Designed to use as part of a 40-day church-wide emphasis during Lent and Easter or any time of the year, The Way DVD is perfect for adult and youth classes. Also includes a Leader Guide to facilitate small-group discussion about the book, the devotions, and the DVD.

Lent, Lenten, Lenten Resource, Lenten Resources, Lent Study, Lent Studies, Easter, Easter Study, Easter Studies

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The Way: Youth Study

The Way: Youth Study by Adam Hamilton

Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus

The Way: Youth Study

Author    Adam Hamilton

Publisher Abingdon Press

Publication Date   12/2012

Binding   Book - Paperback

ISBN 9781426752544

Retail Price  $8.99

Discount Price $5.66 (37% discount)

Travel with Adam Hamilton as he retraces the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Once again, Hamilton approaches his subject matter with thoughtfulness and wisdom, just as he did with Jesus’ crucifixion in 24 Hours That Changed the World and with Jesus’ birth in The Journey. Using historical information, archaeological data, and stories of the faith, Hamilton follows in the footsteps of Jesus from his baptism to the temptations to the heart of his ministry, including the people he loved, the parables he taught, the enemies he made, and the healing he brought.

Everything needed to conduct a 7-week study during Lent and Easter for ages 13-18. Use with the adult-level DVD.

Lent, Lenten, Lenten Resource, Lenten Resources, Lent Study, Lent Studies, Easter, Easter Study, Easter Studies

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The Way: Children's Study

The Way: Children's Study

Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus

The Way: Children's Study

Author    Adam Hamilton

Writer    Sally Hoelscher

Publisher Abingdon Press

Publication Date   12/2012

Binding   Book - Paperback

ISBN 9781426752551

Retail Price  $16.99

Discount Price $10.70 (37% discount)

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

- Realize the significance of Jesus’ life on earth

Contains everything needed to conduct a seven-week study complete with reproducible handouts.

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The Way: 40 Days of Reflection

The Way: 40 Days of Reflection by Adam Hamilton

Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus

The Way: 40 Days of Reflection

Author    Adam Hamilton

Publisher Abingdon Press

Publication Date   1/2013

Binding   Book - Paperback

ISBN 9781426752520

Retail Price  $9.99

Discount Price $6.29 (37% discount)

In this companion volume that functions beautifully on its own or as part of the churchwide experience, Adam Hamilton offers forty days of daily devotions on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, enabling us to pause, meditate, and emerge changed forever. The reflections - ideal for use during Lent - include Scripture, reflection, stories from Hamilton’s own ministry, and prayers.

Lent, Lenten, Lenten Resource, Lenten Resources, Lent Study, Lent Studies, Easter, Easter Study, Easter Studies

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Suspending the Laws of Physics

Suspending the Laws of Physics by Adam Hamilton

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” (Matthew 4:5-7 NRSV)

I LOVE TO BE DARING—not too daring, but just a bit. I like to ski, fast. I enjoy riding my motorcycle with the wind at my face and the pavement under my feet. I like to hike in the mountains, getting fairly close to the edge.

I enjoy taking mission trips to developing nations, hiking alone with a backpack across Israel, and traveling to retrace Moses’ life even as Egypt is experiencing turmoil. These things all come with risks. I try to calculate those risks and minimize them by, for example, wearing a helmet when riding my motorcycle or avoiding trips to locations that are too dangerous. But I’m also aware that there is some element of risk in almost everything we do. It’s impossible to avoid completely. Every time I get in my car to drive, there is risk involved.

Do I believe that because I am a Christian, a pastor, a tither or because I carry a Bible in my back pocket every day, nothing bad will happen to me? No. Bad things happen to Christians, to pastors, and to tithers. I knew a man who died while showing off driving his very fast car. His friends were angry, wanting to know how God could have let it happen. The man was in the prime of life, was the father of two children, and he was a follower of Jesus. But the laws of physics still applied.

This is part of what I think the devil meant when he suggested that Jesus jump from the pinnacle of the Temple. The devil even quoted one of the beautiful Psalms of promise: “Jump, Jesus, for the Scripture says he protects those he loves, and he’ll protect you” (Matthew 4:6, paraphrase). In jumping, Jesus could prove to himself, and to all in the Temple courts, that he really was the Son of God. But Jesus responded, “It is also written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” In other words, even Jesus wasn’t expecting God to suspend the laws of physics if he jumped.

Jesus, at times I’ve been confused by the tragedies that happen in our world. I want you to suspend the laws of nature and protect those I love, and yet I see that even you did not expect this from the Father. Help me to live wisely, and to trust that in living and dying I will belong to you. Amen.

excerpt from: The Way: 40 Days of Reflections by Adam Hamilton Copyright©2013 by Abingdon Press. Used with permission.

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Righteousness that Surpasses the Pharisees

Righteousness that Surpasses the Pharisees by Adam Hamilton

I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20 NRSV)

The Sermon on the Mount seems, at so many points, impossible to live. It must have seemed the same to Jesus’ first hearers. The Pharisees were focused on purity before God. The name Pharisee means “set apart” or “separated,” and they sought to distinguish themselves by the lengths to which they would go in being pious. How could anyone’s righteousness exceed that of the Pharisees?

Some have felt that the point of the Sermon on the Mount was to offer an impossible picture of righteousness, so we would be led naturally to recognize our need for a Savior. Perhaps. I’m more inclined to see it as capturing an ideal that is always beyond where we are and yet offers a vision of piety for which we are meant to strive.

The piety described by Jesus involves more than just obeying the letter of the Law; he asked that our hearts and motives and words be holy. Consider what Jesus taught in Matthew 5: The Law says not to murder; I say don’t speak with anger or hatred toward another. The Law says not to commit adultery; I say don’t look at another with adultery in your heart. The Law allows divorce; I say that vows were meant to be kept. The Law says not to break an oath; I say you shouldn’t need to swear an oath, and your word should always be your bond. The Law says you can seek retributive justice—an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; I say you should turn the other cheek when wronged. Common wisdom says to love your neighbor and hate your enemy; I say to love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you.

I don’t claim to live up to these words of Jesus. I sometimes speak in anger. I occasionally find lust knocking at the door of my heart. I’ve stretched the truth, and I’ve found it hard to turn the other cheek. At times I haven’t wanted to pray for, much less love, my enemies. But while I don’t perfectly live up to these teachings of Jesus, his words represent an ideal to which I strive. They define the person I want to be, and they often form the words of my prayer: “Lord, forgive me for falling short of your will, and help me become the person you described in the Sermon on the Mount.”

Perhaps you could pick a section from the Sermon on the Mount that describes something you struggle with, and begin to pray that God will help you become the person God desires you to be.

The Pharisees excelled at following rules and displaying outward purity. Jesus called us to have hearts that are pure—inward purity—and to practice acts of love, mercy, and faithfulness. This is what it means to have a righteousness that exceeds the scribes and the Pharisees.

Lord, I fall short of the ideals you set out in the Sermon on the Mount, but they do reflect the person I wish to be. Help me, by your Spirit, to become the person you long for me to be. Amen.

excerpt from: The Way: 40 Days of Reflections by Adam Hamilton Copyright©2013 by Abingdon Press. Used with permission.

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