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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2017
A Word from John Wesley
But whom then do we mean by “one that is perfect?” We mean one in “whom is the mind which was in Christ,” and who so “walks as Christ also walked;” a man [or woman] “that has clean hands and a pure heart,” or that is “cleansed from all filthiness of flesh and spirit:” one in whom is “no occasion of stumbling,” and who accordingly “does not commit sin.” — John Wesley, The Character of a Methodist, ¶15.
A Hymn from Charles Wesley
1. Whoever receives
The life-giving word,
In Jesus believes,
His God and his Lord,
In him a pure river
Of life shall arise,
Shall in the believer
Spring up to the skies.
2. My God and my Lord!
Thy call I obey;
My soul on thy word
Of promise I stay;
Thy kind invitation
I gladly embrace;
Athirst for salvation,
Salvation by grace.
(Collection-1781, 3:3 & 4)
Questions for Reflection:
1. In John Wesley’s description of the character of a Methodist he reminds us that holiness is a matter of the heart. Do you know anyone who: “‘walks as Christ also walked;’ a man [or woman] ‘that has clean hands and a pure heart,’ or that is ‘cleansed from all filthiness of flesh and spirit:’ one in whom is ‘no occasion of stumbling,’ and who accordingly ‘does not commit sin'”?
2. Is this something you desire for yourself? Do you pray of it to become real in your heart—why, or why not?
3. As we live in this Easter Season, where do you see and experience the life giving power of God?
4. What is the meaning for us today when Charles Wesley guides us to sing:
“Whoever receives / The life-giving word, / In Jesus believes, / His God and his Lord, / In him a pure river / Of life shall arise, / Shall in the believer / Spring up to the skies”?
On April 25th the Judicial Council heard various positions on the election of the first openly gay bishop elected in the Western Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church. On April 28 or 29 their ruling on this election is due to be released. Please pray for the members of the Judicial Council as they consider this matter and render their decision.
Prayer
Blessed are you, O God of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we receive the legacy of a living hope, born again not only from his death but also from his resurrection. May we who have received forgiveness of sins through the Holy Spirit live to set others free, until, at length, we enter the inheritance that is imperishable and unfading, where Christ lives and reigns with you and the same Spirit. Amen.
The Wesley excerpts are from A Disciple’s Journal—2017: A Guide for Daily Prayer, Bible Reading, and Discipleship, by Steven W. Manskar. Copyright © 2017 Discipleship Resources, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved. Used by permission. The prayer is reprinted with permission from Revised Common Lectionary Prayers, copyright © 2002, Consultation on Common Texts.
Copyright © 2017 The Upper Room, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
The Upper Room Strategic Initiatives
PO Box 340007
Nashville, Tennessee 37203, United States
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Self-guided courses to help your church from United Methodist Communications in Nashville, Tennessee, United States for Wednesday, 26 April 2017
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Church leaders are so often in a time crunch. That’s why we developed a series of self-guided courses to help strengthen your ministry. Each is open for registration at any time. Beat that for convenience!
Plan, build and launch online
Your website is critical to outreach and serves as a way to keep members engaged with up-to-date content. Register for Your Church Website so you can get the most from your online presence.
If your church needs help funding a website, you can apply for a grant that includes this online training course as well as free web hosting/domain registration for one year. All you need is someone in your church who will build and maintain your website.
Learn more
A complete marketing plan
Effective Church Marketing leads you through the process of studying, dreaming and planning through use of our Church Marketing Plan Tool. The result: a completed framework of strategy and action to help you reach your community better than ever.
Learn more
Giving from the heart
People give more when their souls are stirred, and our Connectional Giving course is built on that foundation. Through materials that discuss the biblical view of generosity, you’ll learn to encourage greater giving through compelling, heartfelt stories.
Learn more
The backstory of our faith
So what makes our denomination unique? What It Means to Be United Methodist explains the structure of our church and the history behind our beliefs. This course is designed for both new and long-term United Methodists.
Learn more
United Methodist Communications
810 12th Avene South
-------
Self-guided courses to help your church from United Methodist Communications in Nashville, Tennessee, United States for Wednesday, 26 April 2017
-------
Church leaders are so often in a time crunch. That’s why we developed a series of self-guided courses to help strengthen your ministry. Each is open for registration at any time. Beat that for convenience!
Plan, build and launch online
Your website is critical to outreach and serves as a way to keep members engaged with up-to-date content. Register for Your Church Website so you can get the most from your online presence.
If your church needs help funding a website, you can apply for a grant that includes this online training course as well as free web hosting/domain registration for one year. All you need is someone in your church who will build and maintain your website.
Learn more
A complete marketing plan
Effective Church Marketing leads you through the process of studying, dreaming and planning through use of our Church Marketing Plan Tool. The result: a completed framework of strategy and action to help you reach your community better than ever.
Learn more
Giving from the heart
People give more when their souls are stirred, and our Connectional Giving course is built on that foundation. Through materials that discuss the biblical view of generosity, you’ll learn to encourage greater giving through compelling, heartfelt stories.
Learn more
The backstory of our faith
So what makes our denomination unique? What It Means to Be United Methodist explains the structure of our church and the history behind our beliefs. This course is designed for both new and long-term United Methodists.
Learn more
United Methodist Communications
810 12th Avene South
Nashville, Tennessee 37203, United States
Training@umcom.org | Phone: 615.742.5400
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Weavings April 2017 newsletter from The Upper Room Publishing in Nashville, Tennessee, United States for Tuesday, 25 April 2017
TRANSITIONS - April 2017
This newsletter is a partnership of Weavings, Alive Now and The Academy for Spiritual Formation.
From the Editor: Weavings Journal and Alive Now magazine have both completed their print journeys and we are the time after. This month we consider "Transitions" and we welcome Alive Now readers to our monthly reflections.
On Keeping an Open Heart by Marjorie J. Thompson
In August of 2014, on the day marking our thirty-third wedding anniversary, my beloved soul mate passed into the greater Life from which this world is veiled by our ordinary senses. John [Mogabgab] was the founding editor of Weavings journal. He conceived and shaped its birth, tenderly shepherded its unfolding identity, fiercely guarded its distinctive qualities, wrote some of the most poetic and profound editorials to grace any journal, and built up a generation of fine spiritual authors, many of whom gained national recognition as they were given a voice through Weavings. John was more than my best beloved; he was loved and respected by authors, readers, friends, and colleagues alike. His death came unexpectedly and too soon for us all.
When John was taken from my life, I could feel my heart close from sheer pain and incomprehension. It seemed vastly unfair. His mother—for whom we cared eleven years in our home—had died only nine months before, attaining to the ripe old age of nearly 100. I struggled mightily with God in the months after John’s death. A wounded heart—battered, broken, ragged, and raw—tries valiantly to protect itself from further vulnerability.
I cannot imagine what it means to “stay open to the Holy” without pondering how we come to terms with profound loss, grief, or pain. The question for me is framed by a fine paradox: How do I stay in love with a God who seems either to tolerate or visit upon us all manner of suffering in this world? And, on the other hand, how can I endure the miseries of life in a spirit of dignity, patience, and grace without the reality of God to uphold me? The tension between these perspectives reminds me of the passage in John’s Gospel where, after a difficult and disturbing teaching that turns many disciples away, Jesus asks his chosen Twelve if they too will leave him. Peter answers, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). …
Sometimes staying open to the Holy is just the sheer tenacity of hope, a steady desire not to lose the thread of connection. Thank God we are created with an innate thirst for this relationship and cannot finally be satisfied without it. A contemplative writer once noted that God is on the inside of our longing. God resides within our hope and desire, prompting our growth toward the Light. It seems to be the great task of the Spirit to draw us back to our soul’s magnetic North.
[Adapted from "On Keeping and Open Heart," Weavings: A Journey of the Christian Spiritual Life, Vol. XXXII, No. 1 (Nashville, TN: The Upper Room, 2017), 21-22.]
Bless This Journey
Bless this journey,
God of past and future.
Guide our steps,
Walking beside us,
Before us, within us
[As we step across this threshold.
By Beth Richardson. From Alive Now, M/J 2017 (Nashville, TN: The Upper Room, 2017), p. 25.]
Audio Lectio
Pray with us. Audio Lectio is a guided meditation using each week's gospel reading from the lectionary.
Order single copies of the FINAL ISSUE of Weavings by calling 1.800.972.0433.
Back issues of Weavings are available while supplies last.
Order Back Issues
This monthly newsletter brings resources for your spiritual journey and updates from The Upper Room.
This month we welcome readers of Alive Now, a sister Upper Room publication.
Blessings to you during this Easter season.
Share this email:
1908 Grand Avenue
Nashville, Tennessee, 37212, United States
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RSVP NOW! CST's Info Session is 3 Days Away - Thursday, April 27th at 4:00 pm from Claremont School of Theology in Claremont, California, United States for Monday, 24 April 2017
Join the Office of Admissions
Information Session
Thursday, April 27, 2017
4:00pm - 5:00pm
The Office of Admissions at CST gives you the opportunity to visit campus, review admission and financial aid requirements, plus more. RSVP to get any questions you may have answered about CST. Applications are open and available for the Fall 2017 semester, so come to Claremont School of Theology to find your degree program!
RSVP HERE
Important Links:
Start Your Application
Degree Programs
Admissions Deadlines & Requirements
Visit Campus
Financial Aid & Scholarships
Questions? Don't hesitate to contact us!
Office of Admission
admission@cst.edu
Or Chat with us LIVE at CST.edu
(909) 447-2507
Claremont School of Theology
1325 North College Avenue
Claremont, California 91711, United States
Main Number: (909) 447-2500
Copyright © 2017 Claremont School of Theology, All rights reserved.
-------
Training@umcom.org | Phone: 615.742.5400
-------
Weavings April 2017 newsletter from The Upper Room Publishing in Nashville, Tennessee, United States for Tuesday, 25 April 2017
TRANSITIONS - April 2017
This newsletter is a partnership of Weavings, Alive Now and The Academy for Spiritual Formation.
From the Editor: Weavings Journal and Alive Now magazine have both completed their print journeys and we are the time after. This month we consider "Transitions" and we welcome Alive Now readers to our monthly reflections.
On Keeping an Open Heart by Marjorie J. Thompson
In August of 2014, on the day marking our thirty-third wedding anniversary, my beloved soul mate passed into the greater Life from which this world is veiled by our ordinary senses. John [Mogabgab] was the founding editor of Weavings journal. He conceived and shaped its birth, tenderly shepherded its unfolding identity, fiercely guarded its distinctive qualities, wrote some of the most poetic and profound editorials to grace any journal, and built up a generation of fine spiritual authors, many of whom gained national recognition as they were given a voice through Weavings. John was more than my best beloved; he was loved and respected by authors, readers, friends, and colleagues alike. His death came unexpectedly and too soon for us all.
When John was taken from my life, I could feel my heart close from sheer pain and incomprehension. It seemed vastly unfair. His mother—for whom we cared eleven years in our home—had died only nine months before, attaining to the ripe old age of nearly 100. I struggled mightily with God in the months after John’s death. A wounded heart—battered, broken, ragged, and raw—tries valiantly to protect itself from further vulnerability.
I cannot imagine what it means to “stay open to the Holy” without pondering how we come to terms with profound loss, grief, or pain. The question for me is framed by a fine paradox: How do I stay in love with a God who seems either to tolerate or visit upon us all manner of suffering in this world? And, on the other hand, how can I endure the miseries of life in a spirit of dignity, patience, and grace without the reality of God to uphold me? The tension between these perspectives reminds me of the passage in John’s Gospel where, after a difficult and disturbing teaching that turns many disciples away, Jesus asks his chosen Twelve if they too will leave him. Peter answers, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). …
Sometimes staying open to the Holy is just the sheer tenacity of hope, a steady desire not to lose the thread of connection. Thank God we are created with an innate thirst for this relationship and cannot finally be satisfied without it. A contemplative writer once noted that God is on the inside of our longing. God resides within our hope and desire, prompting our growth toward the Light. It seems to be the great task of the Spirit to draw us back to our soul’s magnetic North.
[Adapted from "On Keeping and Open Heart," Weavings: A Journey of the Christian Spiritual Life, Vol. XXXII, No. 1 (Nashville, TN: The Upper Room, 2017), 21-22.]
Bless This Journey
Bless this journey,
God of past and future.
Guide our steps,
Walking beside us,
Before us, within us
[As we step across this threshold.
By Beth Richardson. From Alive Now, M/J 2017 (Nashville, TN: The Upper Room, 2017), p. 25.]
Audio Lectio
Pray with us. Audio Lectio is a guided meditation using each week's gospel reading from the lectionary.
Order single copies of the FINAL ISSUE of Weavings by calling 1.800.972.0433.
Back issues of Weavings are available while supplies last.
Order Back Issues
This monthly newsletter brings resources for your spiritual journey and updates from The Upper Room.
This month we welcome readers of Alive Now, a sister Upper Room publication.
Blessings to you during this Easter season.
Share this email:
1908 Grand Avenue
Nashville, Tennessee, 37212, United States
-------
RSVP NOW! CST's Info Session is 3 Days Away - Thursday, April 27th at 4:00 pm from Claremont School of Theology in Claremont, California, United States for Monday, 24 April 2017
Join the Office of Admissions
Information Session
Thursday, April 27, 2017
4:00pm - 5:00pm
The Office of Admissions at CST gives you the opportunity to visit campus, review admission and financial aid requirements, plus more. RSVP to get any questions you may have answered about CST. Applications are open and available for the Fall 2017 semester, so come to Claremont School of Theology to find your degree program!
RSVP HERE
Important Links:
Start Your Application
Degree Programs
Admissions Deadlines & Requirements
Visit Campus
Financial Aid & Scholarships
Questions? Don't hesitate to contact us!
Office of Admission
admission@cst.edu
Or Chat with us LIVE at CST.edu
(909) 447-2507
Claremont School of Theology
1325 North College Avenue
Claremont, California 91711, United States
Main Number: (909) 447-2500
Copyright © 2017 Claremont School of Theology, All rights reserved.
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