"Why many welcoming churches are dying churches" by Joseph Yoo
Bigstock/LityaDenis
I was listening to a sports radio show on my way to church one morning. The two DJs were doing their usual bit of asking each other trivia questions. One of the DJs asked, “What are the top nine favorite religious Christmas Carols in the United States?” The other DJ had a hard time answering. He got only one: “O Holy Night.” Upon learning that another popular carol is “Silent Night” he asked, “Wait, that’s a religious one? How?” He was familiar with the tune of “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” but again, he didn’t know it was religious.
That same day, for our church preschool’s Christmas party, I was helping one of the teachers and her teenage daughter set up some decorations in the sanctuary while the musicians were practicing some Christmas carols. Unknowingly I was humming along and the daughter asked, “Oh, what song is that?” After realizing that I was humming aloud, I had to take a moment to think about what song I was humming along to.
“Oh. It’s ‘It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.’”
“I never heard of that song.”
What is it about this song that no one knows about?
Out of curiosity, I started asking her if she knew other “well-known” Christmas carols. Nope. I don’t think so. Sounds familiar. I think so…? Manger? What’s a manger? Those were the answers to my spur-of-the-moment pop quiz.
It’s no secret that our culture is becoming increasingly “secular.” What’s frustrating is that a lot of our churches still operate with the assumption that everyone knows about the church. And when we meet people that don’t know the Lord’s Prayer, instead of trying to teach them, we become more outraged at the secularity of our culture.
Where I believe my church and others fall short is meeting people where they are and joining in on the conversations they are already having. We still seem to want people to meet us where we are. At a recent visioning meeting, we talked about how we can reach our community and let them know that our church exists. A majority of the ideas were something along the lines of a facelift for our campus so that we can look fresh, brighter, newer for the people driving by.
“If they see a new landscape, they might think there’s life in the church and may want to come and check us out.”
That’s all good, but a new landscape or change of color of the church building isn’t going to draw people in.
That’s the second mistake many of us make. Not only do we assume that a majority of our neighbors know about church, we also look at outreach through the lens of the question “How do we get people into our pews” rather than actually being missional.
My church is absolutely welcoming. Many other churches are also welcoming… and happy, gracious and grateful to meet new families. But a welcoming church can easily become a dying church. Welcoming suggests passively waiting for people to come to be embraced, much like a dog anticipating and waiting for its master to come home.
Yes, we need to be welcoming… but more importantly, we need to be invitational. That means taking a risk and putting ourselves out there for possible rejection when we invite people to our church. It means going out into the world, making contact with people and building relationships with them.
Many decades ago, people looked for the cross and flame (the United Methodist Church logo) when they moved into a new town.
We don’t have that luxury anymore.
We can’t just wait and assume people are going to show up — because they won't. We’re also going to encounter more and more folks who don’t know the things about our faith that we take for granted. And that’s okay.
What’s not okay is for us to mistake the words of Jesus to “Go” for “Stay and wait for people to come” — no matter how welcoming we may be.
Joseph Yoo is pastor of St. Mark United Methodist Church in Santa Barbara, California. He is the author of Practical Prayer and Encountering Grace. He blogs at JosephYoo.com.
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"10 ways to embrace confusion in 2016" by Laurie Haller
Our seven-year-old grandson, Ezra, thrives on routine. When he spent last week at our house, I had yogurt available for breakfast. Because it wasn’t the Go-Gurts he is accustomed to, Ezra refused to eat anything. Then I tried to offer him Cheerios, but it wasn’t the kind of Cheerios Ezra likes, so he wouldn’t eat them, either. Like many children, he was unwilling to try anything new.
Ezra is just like the church! We become so attached to the way we’ve always done things that even when statistics remind us that what we’ve always done is no longer working, we refuse to imagine a different future and accelerate our own decline.
As a new year begins, how will it be different in your church in 2016? How will you reach the hundreds or even thousands of people in your neighborhood who are just waiting to be invited into a discipleship that feeds body, mind and spirit? What’s holding you back?
Have you ever caught yourself saying things like, “God, if we can just get through this crazy time, the church will get back to normal. Once we get the new staff position filled … once the strategic plan is done … once the parking lot is repaved … once the new software is installed … once I get organized, things will settle down again.” Do things ever settle down? If they ever did, they don’t now. And they never will again.
The most important truth of 2016? There is no normal anymore. The goal of stability is not only unrealistic, it is no longer achievable or even desirable. The change that is happening in today’s world is so fast that the church will only survive and thrive when we embrace the chaos through innovation and imagination.
Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric between 1981 and 2001, is quoted as saying, “If you’re not confused, you don’t know what’s going on.” So take heart, if you’re confused about our crazy, tumultuous times, you know what’s going on!
How can local churches make disciples and flourish in the midst of the speed and constant unpredictability of change in our world? Consider 10 ways to embrace and transform the confusion in which most churches find themselves today.
- Remember what the church has to offer when interacting with the culture. We proclaim hope in the midst of despair; meaning in the midst of uncertainty; healing and wholeness in the midst of fear and brokenness; and reconciliation in the midst of racial, religious and political divisions.
- Create a Spirit-led and non-anxious atmosphere where church members and friends can serve effectively and joyfully in a complex and chaotic environment.
- Adapt your ministries to the unique context in which you serve. Know your community, discover its hopes, dreams and challenges, and then initiate ministries that not only serve those needs but also invite others into relationship with Christ. There will never again be one-size-fits-all.
- Align programs, evangelism, outreach and mission with your cores values. Know who you are as a congregation and acknowledge your strengths. At the same time, do not be constrained by perceived limits. Encourage excellence in ministry to emerge from the gifts and passions of church members and friends.
- Don’t be afraid to take risks. Do your homework, then go for it! Reach beyond what you know, acknowledging that you may not always succeed. Recognize that all vital and growing churches try things that don’t work and that failure is a necessary stepping stone to success. Admit well-intentioned failures, recover quickly, shake the dust off your feet and risk again. The attempt to avoid failure at all costs often makes failure more likely.
- Create a culture of continuous learning, evaluation, innovation and art. Permission-giving is essential in order to encourage others to try new things. Analyze and learn from others without hampering the creative tension that stimulates imagination and propels congregations forward into bold action. In his book, Creativity, Inc., Ed Catmull, President of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation, says that his directors joke that only one mention of Star Wars is allowed at each meeting. He explains, “When film makers, industrial designers, software designers or people in any other creative profession merely cut up and reassemble what has come before, it gives the illusion of creativity, but it is craft without art. Craft is what we are expected to know; art is the unexpected use of our craft.”
- Have a “not know mind.” Korean Zen emphasizes having a beginner’s mind that admits confusion, is open to anything and is willing to move beyond what is already known to experiment with new things. The phrase used to describe this state is to have a “not know mind.” The “not know mind” is emotionally intelligent, vulnerable, non-reactive, and comfortable living with uncertainty. The most effective congregations today have “not know minds” and are continually growing and pushing the envelope of creativity and innovation.
- View differences as a gift to be tapped rather than as conflict to be avoided. Intentionally seeking dialogue with those holding a variety of views inevitably strengthens organizations and sharpens focus.
- Seek collaboration. The old model of one leader at the top making all the decisions doesn’t cut it in today’s confusing and constantly changing world. Great spiritual leaders today elicit wisdom from many sources and welcome the gifts of all, knowing that the best ideas often come from the least expected sources. Leaders guide group vision-casting with confidence, have a generosity of spirit, offer gracious feedback, encourage thinking outside the box and are clear that no idea is too crazy to consider.
- Be humble, fearless, resilient and lead from your heart. “If you’re not confused, you don’t know what’s going on.” In the midst of the constant nature of change in our world, one thing doesn’t change. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Yet even Jesus would do whatever it takes to engage our world by embodying a radical, suffering love that reaches out to all as neighbors.
Things probably won’t settle down in 2016. So, go ahead, create some confusion and change the world! And may the grace of God go with you.
Laurie Haller blogs at LaurieHaller.org.
"America's affordable housing crisis" by Jeanne Torrence Finley
Bigstock/KurhanAffordable housing in short supply
In a recent interview on Houston Public Media, Shad Bogany, past chair of the Houston Association of Realtors, commented on the shortage of affordable housing in Houston, Texas, where the number of jobs in the gas and oil industry has increased, but affordable housing has not. Although many of these jobs don’t come with high-end salaries, most of the new housing construction is high-end. Bogany said that’s where the money is. However, he added that there’s another factor at work. He explained that when builders agree to construct affordable apartment complexes in exchange for tax credits, they often run into opposition from local residents who say, “Not in my backyard.”
Many people in the United States spend a significant portion of their income on housing, which leaves less for other essentials such as food and transportation. According to a September 2015 research report by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies and Enterprise Community Partners, 11.8 million households spend more than 50 percent of their income on rent, and that number is expected to increase to 13.1 million by 2025. By the federal government’s definition, housing is affordable if it costs less than 30 percent of a family’s income.
The Harvard University report also states that according to theU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the “need for affordable housing is already overwhelming the capacity of federal, state and local governments to supply assistance. At last measure, 11.2 million extremely low-income households competed for 7.3 million homes affordable to them — a 3.9 million home shortfall, and just over a quarter of eligible very low-income households received rental assistance, leaving 7.7 million unassisted very low-income renters with worst case housing needs in 2013.” (By HUD’s definition, low-income limits are set at 80 percent of the median income for a given area, and very low-income limits are set at 50 percent of the median income. Income limits vary from area to area.)
HUD housing
Among the options available for low-income households seeking affordable housing, a major one is HUD-assisted housing. HUD provides a number of affordable housing options. Its public housing program provides rental housing for eligible low-income families, the elderly and persons with disabilities. Public housing is available in a variety of sizes and types, from single-family houses to high-rise apartments for elderly families. There are approximately 1.2 million households living in public-housing units in the United States. HUD also offers privately owned subsidized housing by helping apartment owners offer reduced rents to low-income tenants, and HUD offers a voucher program (Section 8 housing) through which tenants find their own place and use a voucher to pay for all or part of the rent.
Among HUD’s grant programs to increase the stock of affordable housing for low-income households is the HOME Investments Partnerships Program (HOME), which provides grants to states and local governments for funding a range of projects such as building, buying and/or rehabilitating housing for rent or homeownership and providing direct rental assistance to low-income families. Another HUD program is theSelf-Help Home Ownership Opportunity Program (SHOP), which provides funds for nonprofit organizations to purchase home sites for low-income families and to develop or improve the infrastructure for sweat equity and volunteer-based homeownership programs.
Habitat for Humanity
Another option for affordable homes is Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit, Christian housing ministry in which many congregations are involved. Based on the belief that “every person should have a decent, safe and affordable place to live,” Habitat builds, renovates, and repairs houses nationally and internationally by using volunteer labor and donations. It also advocates for public policies that “increase access to decent, affordable housing around the world.”
International headquarters for Habitat for Humanity in Americus, Ga.
Habitat doesn’t give houses away. It sells the houses that it builds and renovates to partner families who invest hundreds of hours of their own labor (“sweat equity”) as they work with volunteers and other Habitat homeowners. These partner families purchase the houses through affordable monthly mortgage payments. Families seeking homes apply to their local Habitat organization, which chooses homeowners on the basis of level of need, willingness to be partners in the program, and ability to repay the loan. The process is nondiscriminatory in regard to race and religion.Habitat also works in other ways to create affordable houses. It renovates existing buildings, especially in urban areas, and it helps people repair and make improvements on their own homes. Its disaster-response program works with local communities to provide housing after natural disasters. Through its partnerships and advocacy work, Habitat also helps to raise awareness about housing needs around the world.
Community land trusts
Community land trusts are one way for homes in a specific area to remain affordable over a long period of time. These trusts make it possible for local nonprofits to acquire parcels of land that they pledge to use for the benefit of the neighborhood. Among those benefits is affordable housing. The nonprofit builds a house on the land and sells it to someone who needs it. However, the nonprofit retains ownership of the land itself and leases it to the homeowner for a specified time period, such as 99 years.
This model is beneficial in two ways. First, it keeps the land in the community’s possession, thus ensuring that it won’t be sold to developers. In addition, the buyers can enjoy home ownership and earn equity on the house. The home will always be affordable. Homeowners have a lease with the nonprofit that sets a fixed rate for the house’s appreciation so that the price will be kept down for the next buyer.
What you and your church can do
How can the church support those who are seeking affordable housing? A starting place is to do research on the availability of affordable housing in your area. Are there affordable, adequate rental units available? Are developers building affordable homes?
Another way is to become involved with your local Habitat for Humanity affiliate. Your donations will help it build and repair homes. You can offer your skills and time to work on building and repairing homes or to help in your local Habitat ReStore, which sells new and used furniture, appliances, home accessories, building materials, and other items at a fraction of the retail price.
Still another way to support those who need affordable housing is to partner with other organizations to build it. For example, Ronald United Methodist Church in Shoreline, Washington, has partnered with a housing developer and a community service organization to create housing units for low-income households .
A fourth way is to advocate for affordable housing. Call or email your state senator and representative and tell them how important affordable housing is. Encourage them to increase or keep at the same level monies for your state’s housing authority, which helps provide affordable rental and homeownership opportunities for citizens of your state. Research and learn where your city and county put their federal housing monies from HUD. Call or email your U.S. senators and representative to tell them how important affordable housing is, and ask them to do all they can to ensure that your state gets all the monies it can for housing (HUD allocations). The Habitat for Humanity website provides information about some advocacy opportunities.
Another way to support those who need affordable housing is to become involved in regional planning to ensure its availability. Who is responsible for this planning, and how is it done? How can we learn more about the process?
For faith communities, a foundational reason to support affordable housing in our communities is love for neighbor, which underlies the conviction that all people should be able to afford a safe and decent place to live. By being advocates for affordable housing and by helping to build affordable housing, we put our faith into action.
Be sure to check out FaithLink, a weekly downloadable discussion guide for classes and small groups.
"New creation agriculture:An interview with Dr.
Presian Burroughs"
by Clifton Stringer
Recently I was able to visit with Dr. Presian R. Burroughs about matters ranging from faith and biblical scholarship to the ecological crisis. Below, she shares a bold vision for the way United Methodist churches and others can respond to the ecological damage caused by industrial agriculture through alternative agricultural networks. Dr. Burroughs is Assistant Professor of New Testament at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. She holds both a Th.D. (2014) and M.Div. (2006) from Duke Divinity School.
Clifton Stringer: In high school, I believe, you began attending a non-denominational “Bible Church.” How did you come to faith in Jesus Christ?
Presian BurroughsPresian Burroughs: I grew up in a family that didn’t attend church but loosely believed in something I’d call “American Christianity.” I’d watch Charlton Heston’s The Ten Commandments every Easter with my dad when it aired on public television. Note that I associated this movie more with Easter than with Passover! When I’d spend a Saturday night at a friend’s I’d often attend church with her and her family.
By high school I had a very dear friend that noticed I was going through a difficult time and asking questions about God. He and his family invited me to church several Sundays. Eventually I got one of my parents to drive me to my friend’s church every Sunday until I could drive myself. During that time, I heard and received the gospel message that God loved me and forgave me on account of his precious Son’s death on the cross.
CS: You've become a member, as an adult, of the United Methodist Church. What's the story there? How on earth did you wind up deciding to pursue biblical studies at the doctoral level?
PB: After high school I attended a number of different denominations – mostly in the Baptist and Presbyterian traditions. I didn’t perceive myself as anchored in any denomination until my second year of a Master’s program at Duke Divinity School. I was so impressed with the theology (such as it is!), worship, and doctrines of the United Methodist Church, as demonstrated by several key professors at Duke, that I began contemplating membership. Membership became a lot more practical once I married my husband, Brad Burroughs, who is United Methodist!
As for a doctorate, I had hoped to pursue a doctorate in New Testament since about 2000 or 2001. While I was studying to be a Bible translator (at Canada Institute of Linguistics at Trinity Western University in lovely British Colombia), I had the privilege of TA’ing for a professor of Old Testament. I began to sense that my passion, skills, and interest aligned more with higher education than with full-time overseas mission work. Eventually, I attended Duke for a Master of Theological Studies degree that then took a more practical turn in my second year to the Master of Divinity degree. It took several years for me to find a doctoral program that fit my interests – in other words, a program that accepted me and that I wanted to attend! Although I was a little hesitant about a “ThD” at first, the degree and program at Duke have fit me like a glove and have empowered me to do New Testament studies in a way that is relevant to real Christian living.
CS: A major focus of your scholarship is bringing together your interest in Scripture with pressing matters ecological and environmental. How did you acquire this "green" scholarly passion?
PB: I am sure my love of creation began outside on my family’s small farm in Ohio. Additionally, my seventh and ninth grade science teacher instilled in me a concern for conserving water and caring for animal habitats and introduced me to the wonders of the biological sciences. When I attended college, I majored in Biology and one summer took a couple of classes at Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies. There, I encountered Christians who were passionate about science and about learning to live in God’s creation sustainably and faithfully.
CS: Your dissertation looks at Romans 8:19-22 in relation to what Paul calls the "futility" and "travail" we see in the created world around us. What did you discover in your research? What is the call you see St. Paul issuing the church in our present moment?
PB: In a nutshell, Romans 8 expresses the Christian belief that humans await the healing of our bodies and souls through resurrection (8:23). But, just as humans await this apocalyptic event, other-than-human creation also eagerly awaits our resurrection, the apocalypse of the sons of God (8:19). During the miracle of resurrection, other-than-human creation will be liberated from the futility of untimely and excessive death (and possibly death itself) (8:21). We find at the heart of Paul’s soteriology, then, the Creator God working to restore life through resurrection, and this restoration does not end with humans. God plans to liberate the other-than-human creation too, renewing the earth itself. Creation will be liberated from its bondage to destruction and its subjection to futility at the resurrection of humanity.
Consequently, God’s ultimate goal for creation – the New Creation – should influence the way we live now. We get this ethical principle from Paul himself: his eschatology informs and determines his ethics. For example, in Romans 6:1-4 Paul indicates that Jesus’ saving grace does not excuse people from living in righteousness now. Because we have died and risen with Christ through baptism and because of the eternal life to come, we are to walk in newness of life even in the midst of futility and destruction (6:3-5). Participation in Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection empowers and obligates people to live in righteousness now according to the new life of resurrection. So the future goal of Christian faith – glorious resurrection life – necessarily shapes ethical behavior now. Now, in Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, the possibility exists for us to break the cycle of violence and excessive destruction that plagues the world – at least to a limited extent. Just as we cooperate with God in the process of sanctification, we cooperate with God in the liberation of creation. I could of course say more about this. Stay tuned for my first book publication . . .
CS: Indeed we will! And, speaking of the future: As you think about the ethical implications of the New Creation in relation to your participation in the United Methodist Church and our present ecological moment, what are your hopes, dreams and visions for the future?
PB: Part of my research has led me to investigate some of the ways in which agriculture has deteriorated the health of local and global ecosystems. Although I plan to study a wide variety of agricultural activities, up to this point I’ve primarily focused on the growing of wheat in the United States. To put it briefly and too simply, a number of our agricultural practices are having deleterious effects on both human and other-than-human creation. These practices include: the annual plowing of precious topsoil; the planting of patented wheat seeds in huge swaths of former prairie lands; the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides; the irrigation of wheat fields with un-replenished aquifers; and the continual movement of heavy fossil-fuel-driven tractors and trucks in the production of wheat.
Every year when fields are plowed, our topsoil washes downstream and whooshes into the atmosphere. Our “clever” fix-it approach leads us to add chemical fertilizers to the less-than-fertile soils. No matter how carefully we apply these fertilizers, some gets swept into the creeks and rivers of the Mid-West and finds its way to the Mississippi River Delta. Because algae thrives in nitrogen-rich waters, excessive amounts of algae grow along the Gulf coast and ultimately consume much of the oxygen that other life forms – like shrimp and fish – need to survive. What has resulted is a huge dead zone at the mouth of the Mississippi.
Further, and as is more widely known, the burning of fossil fuel has filled the atmosphere with an inordinate amount of carbon dioxide, leading to global climate change.
To be sure, the growing of wheat does not stand as the sole culprit for these devastating ecological realities. Modern wheat production is one slice of a much larger toxic pie.
So much for the bleak realities of our ecological crisis. What about hope for the future? My hope takes root in the prospect of perennial rather than annual varieties of grain (see the work of The Land Institute for examples). Perennial agriculture may resolve the primary complications of traditional industrial agricultural practices. Consider that:
(1) Perennial crops do not require annual plowing and planting, as do annuals. They can prevent thousands of barrels of fuel from being burned.
(2) Farmers don't need to replant these crops each year. Thus they are liberated from the annual expense of purchasing seed, often from multinational corporations.
(3) Perennial plants secure and also make available more soil nutrients than do their annual counterparts. This is both because they are not plowed up and because their roots reach deeper into the ground. So they require fewer (or no) additions of chemical fertilizer. This frees farmers from the heavy financial burdens that industrial farming places on them.
(4) The grain grown from perennial varieties exists outside the traditional grain market. This liberates farmers and consumers from the market forces that drive up conventional grain prices.
(5) Polyculture perennial crops have greater resistance to drought and insects. Because of this resistance, they provide local and regional communities with more reliable harvests in a time of climate change.
Now to the nuts and bolts of what the church can do. Since the UMC has administrative and communication networks ready to hand, it can effectively get the word out about alternative agricultural networks and can help mobilize ecologically sound farming practices.
I propose that a large number of churches collaboratively adopt or sponsor individual farmers. I offer this proposal in hopeful coalition with a variety of efforts, including political advocacy, sustainable agriculture research and development, personal lifestyle changes and international sustainable agriculture activities. Yet church adoption or sponsorship of individual farmers could make for real change. Farmers stand in very vulnerable positions in the transition to sustainable agriculture. This is in part due to debt, but also as a result of farmers' need for a reliable market. Together, churches (rather than corporations) would contract with farmers to purchase their grain at affordable yet profitable prices. The contracts would provide the financial security that farmers need (no matter crop yield) and the food security church members and the people they serve (including low-income persons) require. This “perennial bread cooperative,” as I will call it, mimics the model of community supported agriculture (CSA) relationships.
Local millers and bakers would benefit from these ecclesial-pastoral relationships since consumers would need the grain to be milled and, perhaps, baked into delicious and nutritious foods. Thus, rather than the jobs and profits of these enterprises benefiting large manufacturing businesses far removed from farmer and consumer, the perennial bread cooperative would revitalize local businesses and communities. Local millers, moreover, might function as local grain reserves, providing communities with a small but significant measure of protection in times of dearth and high market prices.
At first, churches might commit to purchase enough grain for weekly or monthly Communion bread. Eventually (and, ideally, initially) churches and their congregants would purchase grain products (breads, cereals, granola bars, etc.) for use in homes, soup kitchens, and congregational meals. As more people participate in this alternative, perennial market and as more products become available, so too more farmers would be invited to transition out of annual into perennial wheat farming.
I imagine the UMC would promote this perennial bread cooperative but would not administrate it. Thus, a business – preferably one that is not-for-profit – is necessary to facilitate the cooperation between farmer, miller, baker, and consumer. Such a business – in addition to having a positive figure on its bottom line so that it might expand its work – must ever seek a positive figure on the triple bottom line. The triple bottom line includes not only economic profit but social and ecological profits as well. Thus, the perennial bread cooperative would pay its employees and farmers living wages and would choose zero emissions practices, for example.
The business (and the clientele it serves) could take a biblical tithing model to its sales as well. Perhaps for every nine products sold it could give one product to a low-income person or family (thus, one tenth of its products would go to those in need). First and foremost the health and wellbeing of all creation – human and other-than-human – would be in view.
Since perennial bread will not require the sacrifice of ecological health for its production, our offering of this bread to God in the Eucharist will represent the one intended sacrifice: that of Jesus Christ. This is my dream!
Clifton Stringer is a Ph.D. student in Historical Theology at Boston College and the author of Christ the Lightgiver in the Converge Bible Studies series.
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"Blessed are the pure in doctrine?"
by Zack HuntImage courtesy Larycia Alaine Hawkins via Facebook
When’s the last time you read the Sermon on the Mount?
I’m sure you’ve heard snippets of it preached here and there recently, but if it’s been a while since you sat down and read the whole thing, find some time, grab your Bible and read it again. It won’t take you very long, probably less time than it would take to rewatch an old episode of The Office — which, incidentally, you also should do because Michael Scott is a gift from God.
But if you can, do find the time because it’s well worth the read, particularly in these tumultuous times of ours; not simply because it so beautifully captures the heart of Jesus’ teaching and not just because it speaks to so many challenges facing the Church today, but because if you read it carefully, you’ll notice something missing, something most of us couldn’t imagine leaving out if we were trying to craft the perfect Christian sermon.
I’m talking about doctrine.
Of course, there are verses in the Sermon on the Mount that support later doctrinal formulation, but the closest thing you’ll find to the sort of thing we would typically label doctrine today are the handful of theological claims which begin the Lord’s Prayer. Outside of Jesus’ description of God as our Father who dwells in heaven, the Sermon on the Mount doesn’t seem to be particularly concerned with the doctrinal minutia.
Instead of a call to orthodoxy, what we find is an almost exclusive emphasis on orthopraxy.
It’s strange; instead of catching one moment in time, Matthew probably collected the things Jesus most often taught about and brought them together in one easy-to-digest message that focuses on the heart of his ministry. And yet there is virtually nothing in there about any particular list of doctrines Jesus’ followers must affirm if they want to call themselves his disciples.
Rather than harping on what his followers should believe, Jesus spends his time talking about how they should live. In fact, he even seems to go out of his way to make it clear to his listeners that orthodoxy isn’t a guaranteed ticket to heaven.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’”
I say the absence of traditional doctrine in the Sermon on the Mount is strange because given how much emphasis we place on doctrinal orthodoxy in the Church today, you would expect Jesus to value doctrinal purity as much as we do. And yet, strangely, “Blessed are the pure in doctrine, for they shall be given the keys to heaven,” is nowhere to be found in the Beatitudes.
It’s almost as if we care too much about the wrong things and not enough about the right ones.
But if the saga of Wheaton College professor Larycia Hawkins is any sort of sign of the times (and I think it is), then we’ve done our part to help correct Jesus’ tragic oversight.
Whether formally or not, we’ve made doctrinal purity the litmus test of true discipleship and the boundary which we must plant ourselves firmly inside, lest we be cast out into utter darkness. From the fiasco at Wheaton College, to Jerry Falwell Jr.’s calling for the death of our enemies, to a collective disdain for immigrants and refuges, our actions and responses have made it clear that living like Jesus has become far less important than affirming a particular list of right beliefs.
Take Prof. Hawkins’ story, for example. When judged merely by her public actions, a case could be made that she has, in recent days, been an exemplar of the Sermon on the Mount in general and the Beatitudes in particular. She’s shown love for those she was told are her enemies, hungered and thirsted for the righteous found in authentic Christian discipleship, and sought to make peace with those others are eager to bomb back to the Stone Age, all the while being persecuted for righteousness’ sake.
But none of it has been enough to keep Prof. Hawkins from facing termination at an ostensibly Christian university.
It’s almost as if the leadership at Wheaton College cares little if anything about how well their faculty embodies the life and teaching of Jesus, so long as they properly indoctrinate their students.
I hope that’s not the case, but their recent actions make it hard to believe otherwise.
That’s not to say our beliefs are irrelevant. They’re not. What we believe is important, particularly to the extent that it shapes how we live our lives.
But that’s the thing about all of this.
The cruciform shape of Prof. Hawkins life has made it clear her actions flow directly from her faith in Jesus. Or, you might say, from her “right beliefs.” Prof. Hawkins wore what she wore, said what she said and posted what she posted not because she is some sort of reckless heretic, but because she is utterly and particularly committed to following Jesus.
If the leadership of Wheaton College needs a litmus test for her orthodoxy, it need only look at her orthopraxy. For that is ultimately where our identity as Christians is to be found: not in how well we articulate our faith, but how we go about living like the Jesus we say we believe in.
That’s a lesson all of us would do well to remember.
Because according to Christ himself, when we finally come to the end of all things, Jesus won’t be standing at the pearly gates asking, “Do you affirm the virgin birth?” “What are thoughts on the inner life of God?” or even “Did you ever post anything positive about Muslims on Facebook?”
Instead, he’ll look at each of us and say, “I was hungry. Did you feed me? I was thirsty. Did you give me something to drink? I was a stranger. Did you welcome me? I was naked. Did you clothe me? I was sick and in prison. Did you come and care for me?”
This is of ultimate concern for Jesus — a particular way of life defined by love and care for the least of these. Therefore, this is what must be of ultimate concern for us.
This particular and peculiar way of life — not doctrinal purity — is what ultimately defines our identity as true followers of Christ.
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"Tiny churches, big hopes: Why some thrive despite the odds"
by Cathy Lynn Grossman / Religion News ServicePastor Robin Bartlett, far right, conducts a new-member ceremony at First Church in Sterling, Mass. Photo by Matt Lucarelli, courtesy of First Church
(RNS) Hope, by nature, is defiant, counterintuitive and lodged in surprising places.
So a new report detailing the spiritual, demographic and financial challenges faced by small religious congregations meant little to the Rev. Robin Bartlett.
She plants her hopes for First Church in Sterling, Mass., on firmer ground.
“This does not look like a dying and sad church. It looks like a vibrant and active church on a Sunday morning,” said Bartlett, who usually sees 130 people on Sundays, even though the sanctuary was built for the days when more than 300 came to worship.
Just this year, 30 new members have joined, including young adults such as Ann Taft, 28, who delighted in the warm welcome at First Church: “Everyone was just so excited that I was there.”
Pastor Robin Bartlett hugs a member of the First Church congregation in Sterling, Mass. Photo by Matt Lucarelli, courtesy of First Church
More people in the pews, more energy for programs, more funds to maintain the roof — these are all keys to survival for such small congregations, according to the latest Faith Communities Today report, released Monday (Jan. 4) by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.
It finds that congregations with fewer than 100 in weekend attendance — the most vulnerable to collapse — rose to 58 percent in 2015, up from 49 percent five years ago.
Yet the report is optimistically titled: "American Congregations 2015: Thriving and Surviving."
David Roozen, author of the report and retired director of the institute, wanted to highlight signs of hope in the research by asking about innovation, growth and positive change, particularly in those very small churches.
He analyzed data from clergy and senior church leaders at 4,436 U.S. congregations. Although congregations serving Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and other religions were represented, they were too few for analysis. Ninety percent of U.S. congregations are Protestant (22 percent mainline and 68 percent white evangelical or historically black congregations) and 6.5 percent are Catholic, said Roozen.
Survival is relatively easy to measure.
When the Rev. Jonathan Iguina arrived at Iglesia Cantico Nuevo (New Song Church) three years ago, the Pentecostal congregation in a commercial plaza in Longwood, Fla., was on the verge of shutting its doors. The last 19 people in the congregation welcomed the new pastor the first Sunday — and never came back.
Iguina dug in. He cold-called former members. He found musicians to play the instruments left behind. He cut “unfruitful” programs such as “a visiting ministry that wasn’t visiting anyone” and boosted outreach to families with children.
As he concentrated on “nurturing the people I found, setting a focus on drawing closer to God,” Iguina said, attendance has inched up to 90 on Sunday mornings, and the church’s debt has been replaced by a surplus.
Cantico Nuevo is an exception, according to the study’s grim overall findings for congregations under 100 in weekend worship: Only about 18 percent say they’re thriving, and 29 percent declare themselves OK.
Meanwhile, two mainline churches in Northern Virginia are selling their grounds to nonprofit groups that will build affordable housing. And at the Southern Baptist Convention, a report showed an average of 1,000 churches a year disappeared from the denomination’s database.
Roozen found that congregations willing to “change to meet new challenges” fell to 62 percent in 2015, down from 74 percent a decade ago.
“Thriving,” however, is a more subjective term.
“It comes down to being all you can be in a religious setting," he said. "These congregations feel they are energetically living out their understanding of their call.”
Hope thrives where change is welcome, Roozen said. “Thriving congregations are nearly 10 times more likely to have changed themselves than are struggling congregations."
"That's critical," said Nancy Ammerman, professor of sociology of religion at Boston University. She observes that those aging congregations slipping toward insolvency "can take a long time to die because a handful of really determined folks will keep it going. That works — if they are willing to revolutionize themselves.
"People haven't lost the urge to congregate together spiritually. But how they do it is being expressed differently and the churches that do well are reshaping constantly," she said.
The Rev. Jon Brown left a denominational headquarters job to lead a congregation of 45 participants at Old Bergen Church in Jersey City, N.J. Five years later, Old Bergen, a multiethinic, multiracial congregation, averages 100 people in the pews on Sundays — and tries new things constantly.
To him, this congregation is "a treasure hidden in a field,” he said, echoing a parable in the Gospel of Matthew.
“If we are only concerned with the numbers, that becomes discouraging and a trap," he said. "It could be that we have just a small faithful group of people continue to be the membership but there is a ministry to the community that is a powerful witness of God’s love and grace."
Even as they streamlined the programs inside the congregation, members ventured outside, with simple, low-cost activities such as making empanadas to hand out at Pentecost or taking an occasional prayer walk through the city, asking strangers, “How can we pray for you today?”
Old Bergen Church has two advantages over many small, old, urban churches.It has an endowment to support the facilities and its downtown location is proving to be a blessing. Six new housing towers, designed for urban professionals commuting to Manhattan, are being built within four blocks of the church.
These advantages “take the anxiety and pressure off me as a pastor. We aren’t absolutely living on the edge. It’s very possible that our best days are still ahead of us,” said Brown.
In Roozen’s study, the percentage of congregations that reported more than 2 percent growth in worship attendance was at 45 percent, down from 57 percent in 2005.
Congregations that beat the 2 percent growth rate were:
located in new suburbs (59 percent)
offered “very innovative worship” (53 percent)
served fewer than a third seniors (47 percent)
Bethany Lutheran Church, an evangelical congregation in Bigfork, Mont., has none of those advantages.
It’s even smaller than it was when the Rev. Christopher Miller arrived nearly five years ago — down to 92 people at Sunday worship. A contentious split with the more liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America prompted young families to leave — and leave behind the debt incurred when the congregation expanded the sanctuary and built new facilities for the youth.
Still, Miller looks up: “I don’t know what Bethany will look like on quantitative terms but by qualitative ones, God is showing himself faithful.”
His motto is from the Little Mermaid's song in the Disney film: “I want to be where the people are … ”
That means building relationships, weaving young people into the life of the church, and the church into the community and beyond. The Bethany congregation has built six churches in Honduras with funds raised washing cars and selling huckleberry pies. Next up, installing a free library stand in downtown Bigfork where people who pause to browse can drop a prayer request in a mail slot below the books. The idea, said Miller, is to "show people what is important to them is important to us."
Attracting young adults and families is a challenge in any location at a time when restless “church shoppers” move amid competing congregations, said Roozen.
While more than 20 percent of the U.S. population is 18–34 years old, that age group represented only 10 percent of U.S. congregations in 2015, down from 15 percent in 2010, the congregations study finds. More alarming, Roozen said, is that fewer churches were making this age group a priority.
The latest Pew Research Landscape study to examine American's beliefs and practices, released in November, found slow but steady decline from 2007 in the percentages of U.S. adults who say they believe in God, pray daily and regularly go to church or other religious services all have declined modestly in recent years. The chief reason: The rise of people, particularly Millennials, who identify with no religion.
Doug Davis, who grew up attending First Church in Sterling and at age 50 is the youngest deacon, said church elders looked around and saw few young adults in the pews. Davis said, "We realized we were falling behind in energy and that was no way to be vibrant."
But Bartlett, the 39-year-old pastor, a married mother of three, says membership is 285 people — “They just don’t all attend at the same time.”
When Bartlett started a “pub theology” night aimed at millennials, it was such a hit that older congregants complained, “We like beer! We want this, too!” So she’s added a second night, open to all ages.
Ann Taft is part of the young adult group and looks forward to discussion nights, dubbed “Eat, Pray, Learn.” Her husband, Andrew, once a “militant atheist,” is now on the operations committee. She serves on a task force investigating how the church can be more open to gays and lesbians.
Taft recalls when they were new in town and church-shopping. She soon found “there’s no time to search out and explore every theology,” and ultimately, she took Bartlett’s advice:
“Choose one and go with it and let that be the way God is revealed to you.”
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"Is there too much standardized testing?" by Rebekah Jordan Gienapp
Bigstock/lisafx
More than 100 standardized tests
Last fall, the Council of the Great City Schools, a national organization that represents the needs of urban public schools, released the first comprehensive study of standardized testing in the United States’ largest school districts. The research found that the average public school student takes 112 required standardized tests between preschool and high school graduation. The study noted that the majority of countries that outperform the United States on international exams only test their students three times throughout their academic careers.
How have standardized tests come to play such a large role in our schools? The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) passed by Congress in 2001 required states to test every student in reading and math each year from third through eighth grade, as well as once during high school. Because states that didn’t make adequate academic progress on the test would be penalized, states and school districts began adding additional tests to check whether students were on track for the primary annual test. New grant programs introduced by President Barack Obama required states to evaluate teachers, partly on student test scores, in order to receive grants. So states began adding even more tests in social studies, science, languages and other subjects in order to have data that could be presented for grant application purposes. A flood of marketing to school districts by standardized testing companies also contributes to the problem.
Debate over standardized tests
As Congress prepared to rewrite the No Child Left Behind Act in 2015, there were vociferous debates over whether the requirement for states to test students annually should be removed entirely. The National Education Association (NEA), the largest teacher organization in the country, criticized No Child Left Behind for shifting the focus “away from student learning and opportunity [and] towards testing, labeling, and punishing schools — with no significant closure of achievement gaps or opportunity gaps.” The advocacy organization Network for Public Education (NPE) stated that the testing required by NCLB has led to the closure of “thousands of predominantly poor and minority neighborhood schools — the anchors of communities.” A small but growing number of mostly affluent parents are having their children boycott federally required tests. These parents say the frequent tests put too much pressure on students who already face heavy homework loads.
However, the Education Trust, a nonprofit that promotes high academic achievement for all students at all levels, opposes removing annual testing requirements. Katy Haycock, president of the organization, said that doing so “would be a devastating step backward, for it is very hard to make sure our education system is serving every child well when we don’t have reliable, comparable achievement data on every child every year.” Supporters of the testing such as the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCHR) believe the data is needed in order to advocate for equitable resources for low-income students, students of color, students learning English as a second language and students with disabilities.
Seattle public school principal Justin Baeder stated in a 2011 blog post why he believes we still need the information standardized testing provides, despite the shortcomings in how it’s been used. “We owe it to our students to pay attention to how they’re doing, and to change what we’re doing when it’s not working,” he wrote.
A blog post written in 2015 by Four Colorado Teachers of the Year takes a different perspective, saying, “Tests that only measure the information students retain . . . are too limited. We need to determine beyond standardized tests what skills students have acquired and mastered.” They also point out that many standardized test results aren’t even available to teachers until the next academic year, making it impossible for them to adjust approaches with particular students who are struggling.
What will change
In December 2015, Congress passed and President Obama signed a new version of the federal education law named the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, replacing NCLB). While in many ways the new law is similar in its approach to its predecessor, the main difference is that it moves accountability for performance from the federal government to the states. Many education reformers are heralding the fact that the new law ends requirements for “Adequate Yearly Progress” shown through standardized test scores, which often ended up penalizing schools. While NCLB focused heavily on “core academic subjects,” ESSA emphasizes a “well-rounded education.” Many hope this means subjects such as social studies, science, and the arts are less likely to be underfunded. The legislation also allocates $250 million for early childhood education grants.
Professors Mary Battenfeld and Felicity Crawford of Wheelock College believe that a major shortcoming of ESSA is that it “emphasizes K-12 accountability over root causes of educational inequality. And the new law flies against history’s lesson that federal oversight is a good thing for vulnerable children.” Battenfeld and Crawford believe this lack of attention to inequality means that schools who serve students of color, impoverished students, and those with special needs will continue to be penalized at higher rates.
How our faith guides us
Scripture speaks often about the blessing that children are and about our responsibility to guide and direct them. Yet because children have little power in our society, too often we ignore their presence and their needs. As Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral has written, “We are guilty of many faults and errors, but our worst crime is abandoning the children, neglecting the fountain of life. Many things we need can wait. The child cannot.”
In any discussion by people of faith about how our educational system can fully serve all children, it must be noted that in 2013, for the first time, low-income children became the majority in our nation’s public schools. It’s difficult to imagine significant educational progress being made without also making major efforts to reduce poverty. Any assessments and reforms within our educational system must be measured not just by how they affect middle class or affluent children, but also by how they affect our most vulnerable children. As budgets are hashed out within the halls of government, the voices of people of faith are needed so that those who have the least aren’t asked to bear the greatest burden.
Knowing how prone we are to ignore those with little power or standing, God reminded the Hebrew people over and over that they were to attend to the needs of widows, orphans, and immigrants. Jesus continued this emphasis when he placed a young child in the midst of the disciples and said, “Whoever welcomes one of these children in my name welcomes me” (Mark 9:36-37). Surely such a welcome means embracing all children for who they are and for what they need so that they may be educated and nurtured into reaching their full, God-given potential.
As composer Pablo Casals once said of what we teach children, “When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel.” We must all work, he concludes, “to make the world worthy of its children.”
Be sure to check out FaithLink, a weekly downloadable discussion guide for classes and small groups.
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"5 suggestions to help you worry less"
by Ron EdmondsonWorry is like a plague to our body. It attacks our mind, then our heart, and over time, it can consume our overall health.
Wouldn’t it be great to never worry again?
I’m not sure this is humanly possible — although I can’t imagine either why Jesus would give a command he wouldn’t fully allow us to obey.
Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life.” How good are you at obeying that verse?
But, then again, he commanded a lot of other things I’m not perfect at either.
So, I’m still a work in progress.
I know this, however — one part of maturing as believers is to begin to eliminate worry from our life. Certainly, as we mature in our Christian life, we should, over the years, worry less.
Let me share a few things I’ve learned, which may help.
Here are five suggestions for having less worry:
Pray more.
You see, it’s a trade-off. You can pray or you can worry, but you can never do both at the same time. Which would you rather do? Seems to be a reasonable trade. How amazing is it the Creator of sunsets wants to have a conversation with me? Worry seems to be a cheap substitute in this regard.
Do wise things.
As a believer, sin is always going to cause my inner conscience to feel guilty — which usually translates quickly into other emotions, such as doubt, anxiety and worry. When I know I’m doing the best I can do my heart is freed of needless worry.
Read more.
Of course, I’d recommend the Bible. I think followers of Christ should read it every day. It’s where we find the hope, faith and trust spelled out for us by God himself. But the other things we read and take in should also speak of truth and bring encouragement.
For some people this may mean turning off the news and reading. In our home we opted not to have a television in our living room. We have to “go” watch TV. It’s not that television is necessarily bad, but I just don’t seem to find much on it that really encourages me these days. I try to read at least one chapter of a Christian book every day, in addition to my Bible reading.
The point is when we fill our minds with good things it crowds out some of the bad things.
Choose your thoughts carefully.
The Apostle Paul said to think about these things — “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy.” (Philippians 4:8) I always ask myself: Why worry about what I can’t control? Why worry about what might happen when I can choose to think about good things that are happening? Lots of good things occur every day — when I choose to think about them.
Trust more.
This really is the key to worrying less. The more I trust, the less I worry. I can step up my faith, because I know God is on his throne. He has a plan and he will do what is best. Every time! And, listen, the key to trusting him more is simple: spend more time with him. Like any healthy relationship it grows stronger with time and effort. The more you know God the more you will love and trust him.
Here’s to a worrying less lifestyle! Who’s with me?
Ron Edmondson blogs at RonEdmondson.com.
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"Are local pastors the future of the UMC?"
by Ed TrimmerOne of the more interesting trends in The United Methodist Church is the explosion of local pastors. Since 1985 the number of local pastors has almost doubled from 3,804 to 7,464 while the number of elders has decreased about 30 percent from 21,378 to 15,019. The number of local pastors includes both full and part-time with part-time local pastors comprising slightly over 60 percent of the local pastors. So the national average in the UM Church is two elders for every one local pastor. In 1990 there were five elders for every one local pastor.
According to the data the Lewis Center has provided, there are a couple of annual conferences that now have more local pastors appointed to churches than seminary-educated elders. Whether this is good or bad depends on one’s point of view but certainly it is worth reflecting on. The top six conferences in percentage terms in use of local pastors compared to elders are in order: West Virginia; Tennessee; North Alabama; Kentucky; Missouri; East Ohio.
The four conferences using the least amount of local pastors as a percentage of elders in the conference are Oregon-Idaho; New York; Northern Illinois and New Mexico.
I sent my work study students to explore the numbers in the Tennessee Conference by checking the 2015 Tennessee Conference Appointments “book.” They found 185 elders appointed and 11 retired elders appointed as well as 60 full-time local pastors appointed with 133 part-time local pastors appointed and 30 retired local pastors appointed as well. In other words more local pastors than elders appointed and more part-timers than the national average.
Many believe the trend of more and more local pastors will continue, as do I. If this is true and we are headed to a time when we have more local pastors than elders, is it time to reflect those changes in our organization structure? For example: is it time for a local pastor to be a district superintendent? This would, of course, require a change to the Book of Discipline (see ¶417) but it would reflect a significant signal to the way pastoral leadership occurs within The United Methodist Church.
Should we begin to include more local pastors on conference committees and national boards and agencies? For example if the Tennessee Conference is essentially a one-to-one ratio of elders to local pastors, should every conference committee have a local pastor for every elder on the committee?
If local pastors (especially part-time local pastors) are going to become the primary way churches have clergy leadership, do we need to radically rethink how we educate them?
Is the trend toward more local pastors a reflection of the increasing difficulty of becoming an elder, especially in conferences with additional requirements beyond the Book of Discipline? Or is this trend reflective of the pay package that elders require?
Another trend worth reflecting upon is the gender of local pastors. While the trend among UM clergy is for more female elders than ever before, the number of females as local pastors is decreasing, at least among those local pastors 35 or younger. So has the office of local pastor become a default way to try and avoid female clergy, especially for those males who do not believe in female ordination or for those churches who “decline” a female clergyperson?
Is the explosion of local pastors a reaction against the “professionalization” of clergy who may be seen as more concerned with minimum salary, pension, health care benefits and running the “organization” of The United Methodist Church than they may be perceived as attempting to win people for Jesus Christ? Or is it simply the reality of churches who can no longer afford a full-time seminary educated elder as pastor?
Questions such as these need to move more to the forefront of The United Methodist Church and Boards of Ordained Ministry as we contemplate, plan and pray for our future. What do you think?
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"This Sunday, January 10, 2016"Baptism of the Lord: Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
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Lectionary Readings:
Sunday, 10 January 2016
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Isaiah 43:1-7
Psalm 29
Acts 8:14-17
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Lectionary Scriptures:
Sunday, 10 January 2016
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Isaiah 43:1-7
Psalm 29
Acts 8:14-17
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Lectionary Scriptures:
Isaiah 43:1 But now this is what Adonai says,
he who created you, Ya‘akov,
he who formed you, Isra’el:
“Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you;
I am calling you by your name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through water, I will be with you;
when you pass through rivers, they will not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire, you will not be scorched —
the flame will not burn you.
3 For I am Adonai, your God,
the Holy One of Isra’el, your Savior —
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
he who created you, Ya‘akov,
he who formed you, Isra’el:
“Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you;
I am calling you by your name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through water, I will be with you;
when you pass through rivers, they will not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire, you will not be scorched —
the flame will not burn you.
3 For I am Adonai, your God,
the Holy One of Isra’el, your Savior —
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia and S’va for you.
4 Because I regard you as valued and honored,
and because I love you.
For you I will give people,
nations in exchange for your life.
5 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
I will bring your descendants from the east,
and I will gather you from the west;
6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
and to the south, ‘Don’t hold them back!
Bring my sons from far away,
and my daughters from the ends of the earth,
7 everyone who bears my name,
whom I created for my glory —
I formed him, yes, I made him.’”
Psalm 29:(0) A psalm of David:
(1) Give Adonai his due, you who are godly;
give Adonai his due of glory and strength;
2 give Adonai the glory due his name;
worship Adonai in holy splendor.
3 The voice of Adonai is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
Adonai over rushing waters,
4 the voice of Adonai in power,
the voice of Adonai in splendor.
5 The voice of Adonai cracks the cedars;
Adonai splinters the cedars of the L’vanon
6 and makes the L’vanon skip like a calf,
Siryon like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of Adonai flashes fiery flames;
8 the voice of Adonai rocks the desert,
Adonai convulses the Kadesh Desert.
9 The voice of Adonai causes deer to give birth
and strips the forests bare —
while in his temple, all cry, “Glory!”
10 Adonai sits enthroned above the flood!
Adonai sits enthroned as king forever!
11 May Adonai give strength to his people!
May Adonai bless his people with shalom!
Acts 8:14 When the emissaries in Yerushalayim heard that Shomron had received the Word of God, they sent them Kefa and Yochanan, 15 who came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Ruach HaKodesh. 16 For until then he had not come upon any of them; they had only been immersed into the name of the Lord Yeshua. 17 Then, as Kefa and Yochanan placed their hands on them, they received the Ruach HaKodesh.
Luke 3:15 The people were in a state of great expectancy, and everyone was wondering whether perhaps Yochanan himself might be the Messiah; 16 so Yochanan answered them all, “I am immersing you in water, but he who is coming is more powerful than I — I’m not worthy to untie his sandals! He will immerse you in the Ruach HaKodesh and in fire. 17 He has with him his winnowing fork to clear out his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the straw with unquenchable fire!”
21 While all the people were being immersed, Yeshua too was immersed. As he was praying, heaven was opened; 22 the Ruach HaKodesh came down on him in physical form like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, whom I love; I am well pleased with you.”
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John Wesley's Notes-Commentary for Isaiah 43:1-7
Verse 1
[1] But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
But — Notwithstanding thy gross insensibleness, I will deal mercifully with thee.
Created — That made thee his people, and that in so miraculous a manner as if he had created thee a second time.
Redeemed — From the Egyptians.
Called thee — By the name of God's people, which was as proper and peculiar to them, as the name of Israel.
Verse 3
[3] For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
I gave Egypt — This was fulfilled when the king of Assyria, Esar-haddon, who designed to revenge his father's disgrace, upon the Jews, was diverted and directed by God to employ his forces against Egypt, and Ethiopia, and Seba.
Seba — The Sabaeans were confederate with the Ethiopians.
Verse 4
[4] Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.
Since — From the time that I chose thee for my people, I have had an affection for thee.
Men — As I gave up the Egyptians, so I am ready to give up others to save thee, as occasion requires.
Verse 7
[7] Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
For my glory — And therefore I will glorify my power and goodness, and faithfulness in delivering them.
Formed — I have not only created them out of nothing, but I have also formed and made them my peculiar people.
Psalm 29
Verse 1
[1] Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
Ye — Ye potentates and rulers of the earth.
Glory — By an humble and thankful acknowledgment of it.
Verse 2
[2] Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
Give, … — The honour which he deserves: own him as the Almighty, and the only true God.
Holiness — Or, in his holy and beautiful house.
Verse 3
[3] The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters.
The waters — Above in the clouds, which are called waters, Genesis 1:7; Psalms 18:11. The Divine power displays itself in those high places, which are far above the reach of all earthly potentates.
Many — Upon the clouds, in which there are vast treasures of water, and upon which God is said to sit or ride, Psalms 18:10,11; 104:3.
[1] Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
Ye — Ye potentates and rulers of the earth.
Glory — By an humble and thankful acknowledgment of it.
Verse 2
[2] Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
Give, … — The honour which he deserves: own him as the Almighty, and the only true God.
Holiness — Or, in his holy and beautiful house.
Verse 3
[3] The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters.
The waters — Above in the clouds, which are called waters, Genesis 1:7; Psalms 18:11. The Divine power displays itself in those high places, which are far above the reach of all earthly potentates.
Many — Upon the clouds, in which there are vast treasures of water, and upon which God is said to sit or ride, Psalms 18:10,11; 104:3.
Verse 5
[5] The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
Lebanon — A place famous for strong and lofty cedars.
Verse 6
[6] He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
Them — The cedars; which being broken by the thunder, the parts of them are suddenly and violently hurled hither and thither.
Sirion — An high mountain beyond Jordan joining to Lebanon. Lebanon and Sirion are said to skip or leap, both here, and Psalms 114:4, by a poetical hyperbole.
Verse 7
[7] The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.
The flames — The lightnings.
Verse 8
[8] The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
Kadesh — An eminent wilderness, vast and terrible, and well known to the Israelites, and wherein possibly they had seen, and observed some such effects of thunder.
Verse 9
[9] The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.
To calve — Through the terror it causes, which hastens the birth. He names the hinds, because they bring forth their young with difficulty, Job 39:1,2.
Discovereth — Heb. maketh bare, of its trees, which it breaks or strips of their leaves.
Glory — Having shewed the terrible effects of God's power in other places, he now shews the blessed privilege of God's people, that are praising God in his temple, when the rest of the world are trembling under the tokens of his displeasure.
Verse 10
[10] The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.
The flood — The most violent waters, which sometimes fall from the clouds upon the earth. These are fitly mentioned, as being many times the companions of great thunders. And this may be alleged as another reason, why God's people praised him in his temple, because as he sends terrible tempests and thunders, so he also restrains and over-rules them.
Sitteth — He doth sit, and will sit as king for ever, sending such tempests when it pleaseth him.
Acts 8:14-17
Verse 14
[14] Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
And the apostles hearing that Samaria — The inhabitants of that country, had received the word of God - By faith, sent Peter and John - He that sends must be either superior, or at least equal, to him that is sent. It follows that the college of the apostles was equal if not superior to Peter.
Verse 15
[15] Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
The Holy Ghost — In his miraculous gifts? Or his sanctifying graces? Probably in both.
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22[21] Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
Jesus praying, the heaven was opened — It is observable, that the three voices from heaven, see Luke 9:29,35; John 12:28; by which the Father bore witness to Christ, were pronounced either while he was praying, or quickly after it. Matthew 3:13; Mark 1:9.
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The Upper Room Ministries
The Upper Room Ministries
PO Box 340004
Nashville, Tennessee 37203-0004, United States
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Sermon Story "God's Love" by Gary Lee Parker for Sunday, 10 January 2016 with Scripture Isaiah 43:1 But now this is what Adonai says,
he who created you, Ya‘akov,
he who formed you, Isra’el:
“Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you;
I am calling you by your name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through water, I will be with you;
when you pass through rivers, they will not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire, you will not be scorched —
the flame will not burn you.
3 For I am Adonai, your God,
the Holy One of Isra’el, your Savior —
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia and S’va for you.
4 Because I regard you as valued and honored,
and because I love you.
For you I will give people,
nations in exchange for your life.
5 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
I will bring your descendants from the east,
and I will gather you from the west;
6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
and to the south, ‘Don’t hold them back!
Bring my sons from far away,
and my daughters from the ends of the earth,
7 everyone who bears my name,
whom I created for my glory —
I formed him, yes, I made him.’”
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We come to reflect on this passage of Scripture form the prophet Isaiah where God is giving the Israelites encouragemnt that God still loves them and has a plan for their welfare and care, not their harm or destruction. As we think on this Scripture concerning the Israelites, we think about today's violence of one sect of religion aganst another and wonder what God is doing around the world today for the people who worship the One True God. There are divisions within the Jewish Faith, The Christian Faith, and the Islamic Faith that appears to be desrctive and filled with hate for people who are not like them or think about God like they do. We as Followers of His including the followers of the Messiah known as Jesus go into fearful tyrnts looking for answers from their government officials and politicians rather seeking more og God in their lives. Jesus is the light of the world and His followers are to be lights in the darkness of the world to see how God really loves all people. We must as followers of Jesus become fully trusting that all things are in God's hands and He is calling us to love all people, take care of all His creation, seek to live in holy lives for the mercy and love He gives us to give to all other people whether they look or think like us or not not. We truly need a revial into the life and teachings of God through His Law and His Holy Son. How do you look at this ancient passage to be applied to today's problems? How are living out God radical love and holiness towards all people? How are you seeking more of God for your life and the life of your faith community? We come to receive more of God and His blessings as we take and eat His Son's Body and Drink His Blood known as the Holy Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. We come to receive from God singing the Hymns "This Little Light Of Mine" by Harry Dixon Loes:
1. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
2. Won't let Satan blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine
Won't let Satan blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine
Won't let Satan blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
3. Hide it under a bushel, no! I'm gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bushel, no! I'm gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bushel, no! I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
4. Let it shine till Jesus comes, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine till Jesus comes, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine till Jesus comes, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!
"Atheist" by Brian McLaren
1. I am an atheist when it comes to the god of violent jihad.
I am an atheist when it comes to the lord who converts by the sword
I am an atheist when it comes to the mission of politicians using religion as ammunition.
2. I believe in you - the artist of trees and galaxies
I believe in you - the poet of oceans and rivers and streams
I believe in you - the god of compassion who calls us to action
3. I believe in you
4. I can’t believe what they believe but I believe in you (4X)
I can’t believe what they believe but I believe in you (4X)
4. I believe in you - majestic designer of space and time
I believe in you - composer of beauty and music of life
I believe in you - the holy forgiver and wild reconciler
I believe in you
5. I am an atheist to the gods of the greedy ignoring the needy.
I am an atheist to the gods who make others torture and suffer
I am an atheist when it comes to the view of the chosen few, who judge and condemn all who differ them.
6. I believe in you … mighty in meekness and gentle in power
I believe in you … the word who has spoken good news to the broken
I believe in you … Transcending mystery, with us in history
I believe in you
1. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
2. Won't let Satan blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine
Won't let Satan blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine
Won't let Satan blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
3. Hide it under a bushel, no! I'm gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bushel, no! I'm gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bushel, no! I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
4. Let it shine till Jesus comes, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine till Jesus comes, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine till Jesus comes, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!
"Atheist" by Brian McLaren
1. I am an atheist when it comes to the god of violent jihad.
I am an atheist when it comes to the lord who converts by the sword
I am an atheist when it comes to the mission of politicians using religion as ammunition.
2. I believe in you - the artist of trees and galaxies
I believe in you - the poet of oceans and rivers and streams
I believe in you - the god of compassion who calls us to action
3. I believe in you
4. I can’t believe what they believe but I believe in you (4X)
I can’t believe what they believe but I believe in you (4X)
4. I believe in you - majestic designer of space and time
I believe in you - composer of beauty and music of life
I believe in you - the holy forgiver and wild reconciler
I believe in you
5. I am an atheist to the gods of the greedy ignoring the needy.
I am an atheist to the gods who make others torture and suffer
I am an atheist when it comes to the view of the chosen few, who judge and condemn all who differ them.
6. I believe in you … mighty in meekness and gentle in power
I believe in you … the word who has spoken good news to the broken
I believe in you … Transcending mystery, with us in history
I believe in you
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Sermon Story "The Gathering" by Gary Lee Parker for Sunday, 3 January 2015 with Scripture Text Jeremiah 31:7 (8) Look! I am bringing them from the land in the north,
gathering them from the far ends of the earth;
among them are the blind and lame,
women with children, women in labor,
all together, a vast throng
returning here.
8 (9) They will come weeping and praying
as I bring them back.
I will lead them by streams of water
on smooth paths, so that they won’t stumble.
For I am a father to Isra’el,
and Efrayim is my firstborn son.”
9 (10) Nations, hear the word of Adonai!
Proclaim it in the coastlands far away. Say:
“He who scattered Isra’el is gathering him,
guarding him like a shepherd his flock.”
10 (11) For Adonai has ransomed Ya‘akov,
redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
11 (12) They will come and sing on the heights of Tziyon,
streaming to the goodness of Adonai,
to the grain, the wine, the olive oil,
and the young of the flock and the herd.
They themselves will be like a well-watered garden,
never to languish again.
12 (13) “Then the virgin will dance for joy,
young men and old men together;
for I will turn their mourning into joy,
comfort and gladden them after their sorrow.
13 (14) I will give the cohanim their fill of rich food,
and my people will be satisfied with my bounty,” says Adonai.
14 (15) This is what Adonai says:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamenting and bitter weeping.
It is Rachel weeping for her children,
refusing to be comforted for her children,
because they are no longer alive.”
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We come to realize that is going to gather all His people or as Jeremiah says all of Israel. The greatest thing about these ords is that the people who are differently abled will be fully included into His Kingdom. This sounds as though this is a mandate for His church to begin to fully included people who are differently abled in the church as God has been calling His people to do. We listen to the words of Jeremiah in the final verse we have about Rachel weeping for her children because they are no more. This could almost be the case with the people who are differently abled being abent from His church even though part of this prophesy was fulfilled in the killing of all the children 2 years old and younger in and around the vicinity of Bethlehem after Jesus was born and the people from the east did not come back to tell King Herod where he could find the baby King of Israel. How would you have responded to the prophet's words? How do you respond to them in today's world? How are you able to see the connection to the missing people who are differently abled and Rachel weeping for her children who are no more> As we come to seek God in reviving the need to ful include the people who are differently abled into the church we take and eat the Body of Jesus and drink His Blood through the Holy Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist to receive God's power, strength and blessing to include people who are differently abled into the church. We come to receive singing the Hymn "THE HYMN FOR CONQUERING MARTYRS RAISE" by From Cassander’s Hymni Ecclesiastici (Cologne, Germany: 1556) (Hymnum canentes martyrum), where it is attributed to the Venerable Bede (673-735). John M. Neale translated it from Latin to English in Mediaeval Hymns, 1851
1. The hymn for conquering martyrs raise,
The victor innocents we praise,
Whom in their woe earth cast away,
But Heav’n with joy received today;
Whose angels see the Father’s face
World without end, and hymn His grace;
And while they chant unceasing lays,
The hymn for conquering martyrs raise.
2. A voice from Ramah was there sent,
A voice of weeping and lament,
When Rachel mourned the children’s care
Whom for the tyrant’s sword she bare.
Triumphal is their glory now,
Whom earthly torments could not bow,
What time, both far and near that went,
A voice from Ramah there was sent.
3. Fear not, O little flock and blest,
The lion that your life opprest!
To heavenly pastures ever new
The heavenly Shepherd leadeth you;
Who, dwelling now on Zion’s hill,
The Lamb’s dear footsteps follow still;
By tyrant there no more distrest,
Fear not, O little flock and blest.
4. And every tear is wiped away
By your dear Father’s hands for ay;
Death hath no power to hurt you more,
Whose own is life’s eternal store.
Who sow their seed, and sowing weep,
In everlasting joy shall reap,
What time they shine in heavenly day,
And every tear is wiped away.
5. O city blest o’er all the earth,
Who gloriest in the Savior’s birth,
Who are His earliest martyrs dear,
By kindred and by triumph here;
None from henceforth may call thee small,
Of rival towns thou passest all:
In whom our Monarch had His birth,
O city blest o’er all the earth!
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Benediction:
Go out into the world in peace;
Be of good courage;
Hold fast to that which is good;
Render to no one evil for evil;
Strengthen the faint hearted;
Support the weak; help the afflicted;
Honor all God’s children;
Love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen
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Gary Lee Parker
4147 Idaho Street, Apt. 1
San Diego, California 92014-1844, United States
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BAPTIZED TO WHAT? by Robert Gorrell
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Last summer my wife and I were visiting Santa Fe, New Mexico. We were searching for a piece of art to go in the foyer area of a new addition to our church building. We went from shop to shop, experiencing the local art. We entered one gallery and I was taken aback by a bronze sculpture created by a respected artist named Gib Singleton. Singleton’s work appears in the Vatican, the Cowboy Hall of Fame, and he was a favorite artist of Golda Meir, Israel’s prime minister. A few years ago he helped restore Michelangelo’s Pietà when vandals damaged it.
The particular piece that stopped me in my tracks was called The Dove. It brings to life that moment when Christ has just been baptized. A dove has descended and landed on the outstretched hand of the Savior. What is so compelling about the way the artist represents that moment in Christ’s life? First, Christ’s arms are outstretched in a manner that seems to be welcoming all. It is as if Jesus stands ready to embrace anyone who is willing to come to him. Second, Christ’s outstretched arms and his body form a perfect cross. The artist’s intent is to reveal to us that Christ’s baptism commissions him to begin a mission on earth that will culminate in the ultimate saving act performed on the cross. The Christ portrayed by the artist’s sculpture is both welcoming to all and ready to die for the sins of all. This welcoming and sacrificial character of Christ is symbolized in the moment of baptism when God’s Spirit descends upon him to empower him for all that lies ahead. Christ is baptized to a mission that both welcomes the sinner and redeems the sinner.
Luke tells us that the people were “filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah” (Luke 3:15).
As sometimes happens, the people are close to mistaking the messenger for the message. But John the Baptist clears things up by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals” (v. 16).
It is a powerful statement. While John is popular enough to draw a crowd, he is honest enough to admit that he is not the main attraction. While John baptizes with water, the “one who is more powerful” will baptize with something else. John explains that Jesus will baptize with “the Holy Spirit and fire” (v. 16). I’m not sure which is more frightening, being baptized with God’s Holy Spirit or with fire. John’s point seems to be that Jesus will have an awesome power that will be enacted through baptism. John confirms that Jesus will have the authority to judge souls: “His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” (v. 17).
Luke tells us that all of the people were baptized and that Jesus was baptized too. As Jesus is praying, the Holy Spirit descends upon him in the bodily form of a dove. As if that isn’t enough, a voice speaks from heaven, saying, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (v. 22). It is a moment of incredible power as the Trinity is joined together in this brief scene.
God’s voice affirms three things about Jesus: (1) Christ is God’s Son; (2) Christ is loved by God; and (3) God is “well pleased” with Christ.
Perhaps the act of baptism also makes all three affirmations about us: We are God’s children; we are loved by God; and God is well pleased with us. I suggest that baptism enables us to follow our part of Christ’s mission. We too are called to welcome all and to serve others even unto death in the name of Christ.
John baptizes the sinless Christ into servant and sacrificial ministry. Jesus’ baptism represents a moment of empowerment by the Holy Spirit and affirmation by God.
I always get a chill when we begin a funeral service for a sister or a brother in Christ. We lift up the affirmation that this Christian put on Christ in baptism and pray that they may now be clothed with the glory of Christ. Baptism represents the beginning of a journey of sacrificial servanthood that culminates when one enters the very gates of heaven.
Christ lived out his baptism every day as he taught us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the dying, and share the good news with a broken world. As a people who bear the name of Christian, God calls us to live out our baptisms in the same way, caring for the needy and sharing the good news. We too are baptized to a mission of welcoming and redeeming sinners.
I recently baptized a newborn granddaughter named Allison. The whole process fascinated her four-year-old cousin, Kelsey. She asked her preacher grandpa all kinds of questions about the mechanics of baptism. Another pastor and I were celebrating the baptism. In the middle of the sacrament Kelsey turned to me and said, “More, Papa, more!” Somehow Kelsey understood that this was a moment of great power and affirmation. She wanted to make sure that her cousin Allison got the full dose.
Epiphany celebrates God’s unexpected appearances in our lives. Those appearances always remind us of God’s equally unexpected forgiveness and love. Baptism celebrates God’s love and forgiveness. Jesus commanded his followers to go to all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). May we all share some of Kelsey’s enthusiasm in fulfilling Christ’s command.
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WORSHIP ELEMENTS: JANUARY 10, 2016 by Laura Jaquith Bartlett
Baptism of the Lord
First Sunday after the Epiphany
COLOR: White
SCRIPTURE READINGS: Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
THEME IDEAS
The psalmist depicts God’s glory and majesty. Isaiah shows us God’s strength—divine power is not just for show but is available to protect, support, and nurture God’s beloved children. The story of Jesus’ baptism evokes feelings of awe and wonder. It is impossible to picture the heavens opening and the Holy Spirit descending as a dove without total amazement! And yet, through our own sharing in the baptism of Christ, we are able to experience the intimacy of a God who loves us as precious children, a God who calls each of us by name.
INVITATION AND GATHERING
Call to Worship (Isaiah 43, Psalm 29)
Our God is a God of power and strength!
God has created each of us
with tender care.
Our God is a God of majesty and awe!
God walks with each of us
every step of the way.
Our God is a God of glory and wonder!
God loves each of us
with tenderness and passion.
Our God calls us each by name.
God calls each of us
to unite in worship together!
Opening Prayer (Psalm 29, Luke 3)
Holy God of glory and majesty,
you have called us by name.
We pray in this moment
for the courage and the strength
to answer your call.
As we open our ears
to hear the story of your Son’s baptism,
open our hearts also,
that we may experience again
the renewing power of rebirth
in the Holy Spirit.
Inspire us in this time of worship,
that we may claim our own identity
as your beloved children.
We pray in the name of our brother, Jesus Christ. Amen.
PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE
Prayer of Confession (Isaiah 43, Psalm 29, Luke 3)
Creator of the universe,
we stand amazed at your power and glory.
We are eager to worship you and offer our praise,
but we are often reluctant to answer
when we hear you calling our name.
We sing our songs of tribute in the sanctuary,
but shy away from the river,
lest we be baptized
with the fire of the Holy Spirit.
Forgive us when we forget your promise
to be with us always, O God.
Renew us with the power of your ever-present love,
and strengthen us to proclaim your justice
throughout the world. Amen.
Words of Assurance (Isaiah 43)
Hear the words of our creator,
spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
“I have called you by name.
You are mine. Do not fear,
for I have redeemed you.”
Passing the Peace of Christ
As you greet those around you, look at each person and offer these words from Isaiah: “You are precious in God’s sight.”
Response to the Word (Isaiah 43, Luke 3)
Creator God, Holy One,
you have made us in your image,
and we are precious in your sight.
Jesus Christ, Son of God,
we stand at the river,
ready to share in your baptism.
Holy Spirit, Dove of Peace,
set us on fire with the power of your love.
THANKSGIVING AND COMMUNION
Offering Prayer (Psalm 29, Acts 8)
Gracious God,
we come today with joy for your baptism;
we come with praise for your glory;
we come with gratitude for your love.
As we offer these gifts to you,
send your Spirit upon us,
that our hands and our hearts
may do your work in the world.
As we offer our lives to you,
bless us with your strength,
that we may join with you
to work for the blessing of peace
throughout the world. Amen.
Invitation to Reaffirm Our Baptismal Covenant
We gather today to worship and praise the God of awe and majesty. We come to encounter the God who knows us each by name and who walks with us in intimate love. We come to reaffirm the blessing we have received through our baptism. In baptism, we remember God’s saving actions throughout history, and we have the opportunity to answer yes as God whispers our names. As a
community of God, we gather today at the waters of baptism to reaffirm our commitment to Christ and to experience anew the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.
SENDING FORTH
Benediction (Isaiah 43)
You are each precious in God’s sight.
We go from this place,
claiming our identity as children of God.
God has called you by name.
We go into the world
to answer God’s call. Alleluia!
CONTEMPORARY OPTIONS
Contemporary Gathering Words (Isaiah 43)
(Three leaders are visible to begin the service. An unseen voice
[amplified] speaks the words in bold print. The words are NOT
printed for the congregation to see.)
Leader 1: (Sounding bored) Well, the clock says it’s
about time to start, so let’s all just . . .
Voice: (Interrupting) You are precious in my sight,
and I love you.
Leader 2: What?! Who is . . . ? Who are you talking to?
Voice: I’m talking to you. You are my child, and I
love you.
Leader 1: Hey, what’s going on here? We’re trying to
start worship!
Voice: You are precious in my sight, and I
love you.
Leader 3: God, is that you? Are you really here?
Voice: I am here, and I have called you because I
love each of you.
Leader 1: God is here!
Leader 2: God loves us!
Leader 3: Let’s worship God!
Praise Sentences (Psalm 29)
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
The voice of the Lord is powerful and full of majesty.
The voice of the Lord thunders over mighty waters.
Worship the Lord in holy splendor!
From The Abingdon Worship Annual edited by Mary J. Scifres and B.J. Beu, Copyright © Abingdon Press. The Abingdon Worship Annual 2016 is now available.
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WORSHIP CONNECTION: JANUARY 10, 2016 by Nancy C. Townley
Baptism of the Lord
COLOR: White
SCRIPTURE READINGS: Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Call to Worship
Call to Worship #1
L: God is with us always and calls us each by name.
P: When we pass through difficulties and stress,
L: God is with us and calls us by name.
P: When we are discouraged and feel lost and alone,
L: God is with us and calls us by name, and heals us.
P: Blessed be God who knows us and calls us by name. AMEN.
Call to Worship #2
L: We are marked as God's beloved ones.
P: What have we done to deserve God's love.
L: God's love is God's free gift to us, always and forever.
P: Even when we are difficult and turn away from God,
L: God's love never vanishes from us.
P: Thanks be to God who is ever faithful to us, AMEN.
Call to Worship #3
[Using THE FAITH WE SING, p. 2123, "Loving Spirit ", offer the following call to worship as directed]
L: Darkness is gone. New Hope has arisen for each of us.
P: We are forgiven and blessed. Choir singing verse I of "Loving Spirit"
L: We are marked by God as disciples
P: God has entrusted us with God's own message of hope.
Choir singing verse I of "Loving Spirit"
L: Come, Spirit of God, and rest upon us.
P: Enable us to be people of hope and peace. AMEN.
Call to Worship #4
L: All creation proclaims the greatness and love of God.
P: God's love permeates even the deepest darkness.
L: The light of God shines on us with new hope.
P: We are called to be people of compassion and justice.
L: Open our hearts, O Lord, to see your light and live in your hope.
P: Prepare us for service to all your people and to this world. AMEN.
PRAYERS, READING, BENEDICTION
Opening Prayer
Lord of Hope and Light, in the midst of Darkness you offered light to people who lived in fear. Today that light comes to us as we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. Open our hearts this day and remind us that you have marked us as people of hope and light. Prepare us to serve you by serving your world. AMEN.
Prayer of Confession
Sky-shattering God, we confess that we have not always paid much attention to the baptism of Jesus, but viewed it as a nice story which begins Jesus' ministry. We don't always see ourselves as standing in that long line of those marked for service; and therefore it is easy for us to dismiss this as a nice story and nothing more. Yet you have called us by name, knowing each of us, and loving us. We are astonished by this. We know that we have behaved in very unloving ways and in some behaviors which do not promote your love and peace. Forgive us for our blindness. Turn us around. Help us to be people who not only recognize the light, but who are willing to live in that light, bringing help to others in your name. For we pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. AMEN.
Words of Assurance
People of God, you are known and loved by the Creator. You are marked as God's chosen ones to bring hope and peace to others. Be at peace and live in hope. AMEN.
Pastoral Prayer
Your word of light and hope floods into our lives, O God. We have lived in darkness, in despair and fear, doubt and strife. But on this day of celebration, you remind us that we are marked by you to be witnesses to your light of new hope. As the heavens opened at Jesus' baptism, so is your love poured out on us. We have brought before you names and situations which concern us, people who face illness and grief, whose lives are torn by poverty, war, alienation, addiction, and hopelessness. We ask for your loving mercy on them, O Lord. Heal them and bind up their wounds. Help us to be people who are ready to be involved in ministries of peace and justice, bringing the light of your hope to those who dwell in darkness and despair. We ask this in Jesus' Name, AMEN.
Reading
Reader 1: Let us worship the Lord this day. Please open your…
Voice: Beloved children, I know you and have called each of you by name.
Reader 1: What's going on? Who is this?
Voice: From the very beginning of creation, I have loved you.
Reader 1:Sorry for the interruption, folks…now let's…
Voice: Even when you lived in fear and doubt, when the way did not seem clear, I loved you and walked with you.
Reader 1: Really……who is this? Come on…
Voice: Who do you think?
Reader 1: I don't know…maybe, God?
Voice: Why do you doubt?
Reader 1:Well, shouldn't we have been alerted? I mean, shouldn't there have been trumpets, or at least an email?
Voice: Would that have made you feel more comfortable?
Reader 1: I don't know about more comfortable……just not so surprised, I guess.
Voice: That's part of the problem, you guess. You should know that I am always with you. I have never left you and I never will. You are precious to me. No matter what happens in life, I am with you.
Reader 1: Even in times when I am afraid; or I turn my back on you?
Voice: Yes, right with you in all those times.
Reader 1: What about the times I do wrong things and I just don't care whether or not you like it?
Voice: Then and there also.
Reader 1: What about the times when I'm not sure I believe in all this religion stuff?
Voice: I'm still with you. I know your name. You are precious to me. When you feel doubt and weakness, I am with you. When you are arrogant, I am disappointed but I am with you. When you hurt yourself and others, I weep, but I am with you, seeking you to turn around, to change your fears into faith; to place your trust in my presence; to be part of the workers for peace that are so sorely needed here.
Reader 1: What's required?
Voice: Your willingness to place your trust in me and to find ways to serve which will be healing and bring hope to people.
Reader 1: O God, please forgive me. I'm sometimes so stupid and arrogant. I think I know it all, and I know so little. Heal me. Help me. Lead me.
Voice: Consider it done!
Benediction
People of hope and peace, go into the world. Bring God's healing love to all whom you meet. Help with ministries, which promote justice and compassion. In Jesus' Name, go in peace. AMEN.
ARTISTIC ELEMENTS
The traditional color for this Sunday is: WHITE
SURFACE: Place a 10"riser at the center back of the worship table. Place two 8" risers to the right and left of the center riser, slightly forward. Place three 4" risers in front of the 8"risers across the worship table.
FABRIC: Cover the entire worship center with a light blue/green fabric, making sure that it puddles on the floor in front of the worship center.
CANDLES: On either side of the 10" riser, place tall altar/worship center candles. Place a votive candle in front of each of the three 4" risers.
FLOWERS/FOLIAGE: Place new, small plants on each side of the tall candles and at various places around the worship table. These may be set in small containers or terra cotta pots, but they should be newly grown plants.
ROCKS/WOOD: Place small groups of pebbles around the base of each of the containers
OTHER: Place a brass cross on the 10" riser. At the apex of the cross place a descending dove. OR you may make a descending dove from poster board or heavy cardboard and place it above the cross on the worship center.
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SERMON OPTIONS: JANUARY 10, 2016
A COVENANT WITH THE LORD
ISAIAH 43:1-7
Why do we wear a wedding ring? The old joke is that it is like a tourniquet in that it cuts off your circulation. A wedding ring is both sign and symbol. The ring points beyond itself to the covenant we have entered with our beloved.
God had entered a covenant with his people Israel. Though they frequently failed to live up to their end of the bargain, God promised that he would ultimately be vindicated. His grace would assure their completion in his purpose.
I. God's Covenant Offers a Sure Word (v. 1)
"This is what the Lord says. . . ." The covenant making and keeping God reminds his people that he has both created and developed them for a specific purpose. That purpose is that they might be his people.
The doctrine of "election" is frequently a word of assurance for an oppressed minority. In spite of any external and circumstantial evidence to the contrary, such as persecution and suffering, it is a reminder that the believer is the object of God's love and favor. God takes the initiative in our salvation. Further, we are saved for a purpose, that we might be the people of God. From a New Testament perspective God has chosen the means to accomplish this through the word of the gospel energized by the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit.
II. God's Covenant Offers a Sound Mind (v. 2)
"Fear not. . . ." The opposite of fear is faith. Because we can have confidence in the God who has called and claimed us, we need not be overcome by fear.
Walking in faith is always a delicate balancing act. We walk between the precipice of doubt and presumption. In biblical times a person's name was the key to their character. God knows us most intimately yet his love and gracious purpose are not deterred. Therefore, we have no reason to fear. If God is for us, who can be against us?
III. God's Covenant Offers a Secure Journey (v. 3)
"Waters . . . fire." When I found myself going through a difficult time in my Christian life, a friend quipped, "No battle, no victory." Believers are not immune to difficulty. Christians get sick, have family problems, lose their jobs, and face the same adversities as everyone else. Instead of overwhelming us, the flood will lift us up, the fire will purify our hearts. Therefore, we can face anything, secure in the knowledge that our God is in control.
IV. God's Covenant Offers a Certain Future (vv. 4-7)
I once heard someone say, "Even if there were no life after death, if this life were all there was, it would be worth it to know Jesus now." I couldn't disagree more. The Christian message makes no sense apart from the Resurrection and the hope it gives. Paul emphasized, "If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith" (1 Cor. 15:14 NIV).
Israel looked forward to restoration. We have confidence for the future because we are loved by the God who is willing to give all in our behalf.
His faithfulness and our faith in the midst of the trials and tribulations of life are a constant reminder of the gracious covenant we have entered through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We can rest on a sure word, the promise of a secure journey, and the hope of a certain future in this new year. (L. Joseph Rosas, III)
THREE BAPTISMS
LUKE 3:15-17, 21-22
Historical accounts indicate that some of the early Christians practiced a Trinitarian form of baptism. The new convert was immersed three times, once each for the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The text for this morning describes three baptisms that affect our relationship with God.
I. Jesus' Baptism Is Our Example
I'm sometimes asked, "Why should I be baptized?" As a Christian I want to walk in Jesus' steps. His example is enough for me. When John balked at baptizing Jesus, the Lord insisted, "Let it be so now, it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness" (Matt. 3:15 NIV).
Jesus declares baptism is the right thing to do. As the sinless Son of God, he didn't need to give evidence of repentance, but he gave us an example to follow. If you won't follow this first example, will you follow Christ any further?
II. Water Baptism Is Our Witness
Jesus desired public baptism to identify himself with those he came to save. His baptism was an outward witness of his inner commitment. Baptism testifies of our personal faith in the crucified and risen Lord. In baptism we declare his Lordship over our life. "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life" (Rom. 6:4 NIV).
Baptism, like my wedding band, declares that I belong to the One who holds first place in my heart and life.
III. Spirit Baptism Is Our Power
Jesus "will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (v. 16 NIV). The baptism with the Spirit occurs at conversion (1 Cor. 6:11) . "He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5 NIV). But we must continually allow ourselves to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18) .
The Holy Spirit washes and refreshes. He works like fire to judge, refine, and purify. Powerless religion results when individuals have water baptism without Spirit baptism. Where the Spirit actively works, a ready and willing heart will eagerly seek water baptism as a witness for Christ.
In the Tournament of Roses parade one year a beautiful float suddenly sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could get a can of gas. The float represented the Standard Oil Company! With its vast resources, its truck was out of gas.
Buildings, programs, and ministerial staff cannot guarantee the power of God. What good is a magnificent piece of machinery if there is no power to run it? We are assured power to do all Christ asks—the same power that brought Christ from the grave! (Eph. 1:15-23).
What will you say to Christ if you ignore his example and refuse to declare your faith through baptism? Are you experiencing his power since your baptism? (Bill D. Whittaker)
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WORSHIP FOR KIDS: JANUARY 10, 2016 by Carolyn C. Brown
From a Child's Point of View
Today's texts focus on the role of the Holy Spirit in baptism, a difficult subject. But for children the basic message is that just as God's Holy Spirit was with Jesus, giving him the power for his work, God's Holy Spirit is also with us and works through us. The presence and power of the Holy Spirit is not something we deserve or earn but is given to us by God at our baptism. God gives the Holy Spirit to every Christian—even those who are different from us or those we do not like much.
Gospel: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22. The focus in this story is not on what happened in the water, but on the coming of the Holy Spirit. Before the Holy Spirit descended at Jesus' baptism, Jesus worked in the carpenter shop, studied the Scriptures at the synagogue, thought deeply, and prayed. After the Holy Spirit descended, he began his work of teaching and healing. Children are interested in the difference the Holy Spirit made in Jesus' life and can make in ours.
Children need help to move past the appearance of the dove and identify other ways we recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit (e.g., a sense of of deep peace at times in worship; knowing exactly what God wants us to do and feeling God with us as we do it; take a brave disciple's stand that we know we would not be brave enough to take on our own; feeling God very close to us; and so forth).
Old Testament: Isaiah 43:1-7. Though Isaiah addressed this message of hope to a people in exile, promising their return to their homeland, in the context of today's lections, it also could have been addressed to Jesus at his baptism and to us today. Children do not grasp the phrases that include references to Old Testament geography and speak symbolically of fire and water. But they do hear and claim scattered phrases that promise safety: "Do not fear, for I am with you" (vs. 5), and "I have called you by name, you are mine" (vs. 1b). These offer the security children crave and tie in with God's promises to Jesus and to us at baptism.
Epistle: Acts 8:14-17. The Holy Spirit is the mark of all Christians and is given by God—even to Samaritans and today's outsiders. The challenge to children is to follow the example of Peter and John, welcoming all who are baptized and recognizing that God's Holy Spirit lives in them and works through them too.
Psalm: 29. Psalm 29 celebrates the power of God felt in a thunderstorm. The psalm traces the path of a storm as it comes in from the sea, crosses the mountains, and moves into the desert. Children will not appreciate the connection for which this passage is read today (i.e., the connection between the water, wind, and fire of baptism and that of a thunderstorm). However, they will respond to the psalmist's invitation to the fearful child in each of us—not to fear the power of the storm but to let it remind us of God's great strength.
Watch Words
Check your Holy Spirit vocabulary. Holy Ghost sounds like a friendly sort of Halloween spook. Holy Spirit comes closer to the realities of the power that moves us to action. The ways we sense the presence of God's Spirit and respond to it are similar to the ways we sense and act on team spirit or patriotic spirit.
Avoid the harvest imagery (winnowing shovel, threshing grain, burning chaff). Today's nonagricultural children understand harvesting as gathering the good products, rather than as separating the good from the bad.
Let the Children Sing
The inner verses of "How Firm a Foundation" parallel Isaiah's promises. When fifth- and sixth-graders are told that these verses are God's promises to them, they can understand the promises as they sing them.
None of the hymns about Jesus' baptism is particularly attractive for, or make much sense to, children. However, "Open My Eyes, That I May See" is a prayer to be as responsive to God's Spirit as Jesus was. Children understand and share its specific, everyday requests.
"The Lone, Wild Bird" and "I'm Goin' a Sing When the Spirit Says Sing" are simple folk tunes about the Spirit that children enjoy.
The Liturgical Child
1. Highlight regular elements of your worship that mention Spirit: the Gloria Patri, Doxology, etc. Put each one into your own words. For example, in the Gloria Patri we praise God whose Spirit gives us the power to live and work as his people, and we remember that God's Spirit has been at work in God's people since the beginning of time and will be until the end of time. Note in passing that Holy Ghost is an old name for the Holy Spirit. (This might be done as the references come up in worship or during the sermon.)
2. If there are baptisms, invite children forward where they will be able to see. Point out the ways the Spirit is mentioned and involved in promises made and actions taken. Put one of the key traditional phrases into your own words, or tell what we mean when we say it. For example, in infant baptism you could say, "When we pray for God's Spirit to dwell in name, we are praying that name will learn about God and Jesus as he/she grows up and will be a loving, kind person. We pray that one day name will stand before a congregation to make his/her own profession of faith and become Christ's disciple. None of that is possible without God's Spirit working in him/her."
3. To emphasize the sense of the thunderstorm in Psalm 29, invite the congregation to accompany the reading of the psalm by following a "hand-choir" director. The director stands near the reader and shows the congregation what to do:
verses 1-2 hands folded in lap
verses 3-4 pat lap in strong, slow cadence
verses 5-6 beat the pew seats or pewbacks a little faster
verses 7-9 clap hands still faster
verses 10-11 fold hands in laps again
The reader will need to read with a strong voice to be heard and to emphasize the strength of God's voice in the storm. If you cannot imagine your congregation doing this, ask a children's class to serve as a hand choir to accompany the reader. This group and the reader should practice together.
Sermon Resources
1. Explain the use and purpose of a breath prayer and suggest that worshipers use God's baptismal promise—"I have called you by name, you are mine"—as a breath prayer several times a day this week. Lead worshipers in practicing the prayer with the breathing. Describe what it would mean to pray the prayer in a variety of situations, such as getting up in the morning, when you feel very capable and good about yourself, when you've received a bad grade or someone has made you feel very stupid, and so forth. Encourage members of households to share their experiences with this prayer each day this week.
2. Tell stories about times you have sensed the Holy Spirit's presence in the life and work of this congregation. Include activities such as worship services, retreats, mission projects, and educational moments in which children have participated. Describe what happened, how it felt to be there, and what made you sense that the Holy Spirit was involved.
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Ministry Matters
2222 Rosa L. Parks Boulevard
Nashville, Tennesse 37228 United States
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