towards ourselves and towards all living beings. SALTs Lectionary Commentary for Epiphany Week 4, Progressive Christian Lectionary Commentary, Revised Common Lectionary Commentary Epiphany 4, Revised Common Lectionary Commentary Epiphany 4B, Revised Common Lectionary Commentary Epiphany 4 Year B, Magnificat: SALT's Lectionary Commentary for Advent Week Three, Revised Common Lectionary Commentary Advent Week 3B, Revised Common Lectionary Commentary Advent Week 3, Revised Common Lectionary Commentary Luke 1:39-56, Understand and Connect: SALT's Lectionary Commentary for Pentecost Sunday, Revised Common Lectionary Pentecost Year A, Revised Common Lectionary Commentary Pentecost Year A, "Ash Wednesday" by Rev. God did this in order to demonstrate that he is righteous. We have rested in the depth of your love; But I suspect that like the sons of Zebedee, who earned renown by jockeying for privileged positions, the powerful images of an aging Captain James Kirk and his merry band of billionaires will earn far more renown than the 150 million poor souls who are about to slip into poverty as a result of the COVID pandemic. The people of Israel have abandoned your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death by the sword. After spending far too long cornered by Steve, who preached a gospel of not very good news, I was desperate to silence him, so, I reluctantly agreed to attend a Tuesday night youth service. Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body.". Thank you for sharing this liturgy for communion. We can wrap our heads around GOD embodied in a shepherd, and even GOD embodied as the woman who losses her coin. Jesus called them together and said, You know how among the Gentiles those who exercise authority are domineering and arrogant; those great ones know how to make their own importance felt. There is real wisdom, Lord, in the adage. Listen carefully. Today, it is Easter Sunday for orthodox Christians. Sacrifice one for the sake of the many. We thank you, God, for the incredible gift of Jesus, the Word made flesh. I mean who in the hell believes that billionaires ought to be allowed to engage in a giant pissing contest disguised as a space race? Send us your: ResourceEventNewsIdeasnow Occasionally, I was able to hear Jesus say, Have you believed because you have seen me? Do this in remembrance of me." 1 Corinthians 15. The SPIRIT of DIVINITY is within us! Or are we afraid that stripped of the security which our wealth affords us, our privileged positions will disappear, and we too shall find ourselves dependent upon the goodness of others? However, Pete goes on, there are moments when I affirm that resurrection, few and far between as they are. Your coming we await with hope. The writers of our creeds firmly established that God lived in heaven. The LOVE which is the SACRED MYSTERY which is the LOVE that we call GOD. If that means violence, well maybe Im not the pacifist I claim to be. After the earthquake came a firebut YHWH was not in the fire. //jQuery('#submit-action').attr('href','/paupress/?rel=contact&pau_form=contact_form'); Salvation is not about saving us for life after death. The delight of new awareness can be a prelude to a life lived inthe mellow light of love. The basileia ton THEON, the Empire of GOD, the GOD which Jesus knew as ABBA, a LOVING PARENT, the basileia ton THEON, the Reign of the GOD that IS LOVE, where justice and not violence creates the kind of peace in which everyone has enough to live the abundant life Jesus insisted he came to give to the world. He blessed it and broke it, and shared it with the disciples. Together, at this table, you have offered us life. By J. Wayne Pratt. Let it be so among us. and out of the death of the old comes the birth of the new. You can also find "Affirmations of Faith" by clicking on Affirmation of faith in the list of "Labels" at the lower right side of the page. One: On this day, we shout Hallelujah! When we forgo our obsession with Jesus death and open ourselves to the passions of Jesus life, we begin to see new ways to understand the new images of the HOLY ONE that Jesus encouraged his followers to see. In a world that so often denies or ignores the humanity-robbing effects of pain and suffering, Irrepressible (Personal Spiritual Practice Guide PDF), More Than Words Living What We Pray (PDF), Living in the Promised Land: A Lent Journey (Year B) (PDF). We believe that death is not the end, but rather a transformation into new possibilities. The injustice of it all explodes into our living rooms day after day. Out or on the Fringe of the Church. I believe that the anonymous gospel-storyteller wrote his story the way that he wrote to address the fears of the people of his community. They were never meant to be followed in their entirety. There is so much more we can do and offer our readership with your support! } Add to Bin. Little did I know that in 1977 it would take me almost three days to travel the more than 1,000 km; a trip which included disembarking over and over again to lend a hand to the conductors as we worked together to clear the tracks of snow. Lets extend our hands over one another for a final blessing: May you have the power to live life fully. Prayer of Thanksgiving God the Holy Spirit, who lled the disciples with the life of the risen Lord, empower you and ll you with Christ's peace. Re-create us too, we pray, by your holy Word. And after the fire came a still small voice., A still small voice. Our English translations do not do the HEBREW justice. Phos hilaron - a Song of the Light Verses from Psalm 141 Verses from Psalm 104. Whether your interpretation of the resurrection is literal or metaphorical, Easter morning is always welcome. Fosdick Dr. NW #80 The flat Earth was surrounded by the waters. It didnt take very long for me to realize that I was in the presence of something much larger than myself. You can peruse my notes for the service in the pdf of my missal here. Amen. She scooped the vase and her little girl up into her arms and carried them to the kitchen sink. The sequence of death and resurrection is the pattern of all creating and of all loving. Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. (BL), www.methodist.org.nz/resources/hymns/boundlesslife, http://www.methodist.org.nz/resources/hymns/the_mystery_telling, Singing the Sacred, Vol 1 2011 World Library Publications, Jesus Christ is alive and lives in me. Only a fool would be such a steward as this. I passed on to you what I received, which is of the greatest importance: that Christ died for our sins, as written in the Scriptures;that he was buried and that he was raised to life three days later, as written in the Scriptures;that he appeared to Peter and then to all twelve apostles. (1 Corinthians 15:1-6), Anna carefully underlined in red the phrase: Christ died for our sins, as written in the Scriptures. Thousands of rotting corpses were left nailed to crosses in order to terrify the masses into submission. You are invited to this table of life as we join with each other and seek communion with God. Im afraid that sacrificing more than just a pittance of my own wealth and privilege wont accomplish much more than landing me among povertys captives. The Liturgy of the Hours includes several specified times of prayer. Mishandling scripture to avoid traditional interpretations of it. We ask you to bless this bread and this cup. Anna explained that unless, I was prepared to be born again, under the tutelage of her pastor, I would need to find someplace else to live. When the complete vine suffers, we all suffer together. This bread and drink represents our life and all the giftedness that each of us bring to the table. Imagine trying to understand who Dr. King was and focusing your attention upon his assassination. Easter Grace Blessing May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us this day. LOVE and not violence. all nourished from the same source of life. It was the summer of 1978, when twenty-somethings like myself, we couldnt get enough of the Bee Gees and their Disco tunes. He . Can you drink the dup I will drink or be baptized in the same baptism as I? We can, James and John replied. Bit by bit, hope has begun to build upon hope as we look forward to Spring when we call launch forth into fuller more robust living. Easter is the amazing wow of cosmic love. We all must take care of ourselves. The distortion of maps deceived me into believing that it would be a short trip from Bergen to Narvik. We need to reach our year-end fundraising goal that will determine what we can do for 2023. Thats the loop which has been playing round and round in me, all week long. This gospel was written some 70 years after the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth. We celebrate the table in which we can join together with friends and strangers, loved ones and enemies. Death, not even violent death at the hands of a powerful empire could keep Jesus commitment to compassionate resistance to the forces of empire from those who longed for the Shalom of the Reign of GOD which Jesus proclaimed with his life. It is not our beliefs about what happened in history that transform us but the extent to which we allow these glimpses into the heart of God to energize our lives. by Alydia Smith and the Rev. We do tend to point to those characters in order to personify the MYSTERY. It occurred to me the other day, that it is quite peculiar that most of what has been written about Jesus in the New Testament and indeed our liturgies, even the hymns we sing about Jesus they tend to shift our focus to Jesus death. Easter Sunrise Service April 20, 2014 Central Presbyterian Church Central Presbyterian Church seeks to glorify the Triune God by embracing the gospel, building our community, making disciples, and transforming societies. by Alydia Smith. But we must honour the suffering of generations, by doing something now, so that generations from now little families wont have to cry all over again. Times when we must leave all that we have, all that we know, in order to seek, to find and to restore the lost, the abandoned, the wayward, and yes even the self-righteous religious types. Jesus vision of peace through justice, what he called the BASILEIA ton THEON, the Empire of GOD, is the already but not yet SHALOM we long to find. Beginning with the traditional opening from Charles Wesley, this moves into a progressive Christian expression of resurrection. Why: This is an Evolutionary Moment. Give us today our daily bread. Just like the people in the story, I want to be transformed by the story of Jesus; transformed from someone who cowers in a place of safety, filled with fear and doubts, into a powerful member of a movement to create peace through justice. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. So, let us repent. Im convinced that it will not be difficult to see the glorious face of CHRIST in this: view on video. I dont have any solutions to offer you. I know it is much easier to poke fun at billionaires and lay the blame for suffering at the feet of self-serving fools. Free from misguided struggles to appease the idol god of our design, we are free to see beyond our blind self-centered desire for a life beyond this life, free to see the face of DIVINITY in our neighbours face, free to see DIVINITY in the majesty of the Cosmos, and in the beauty of the Earth. I knew I was about to drown. Lord Jesus, come in glory. I dont know. How dare I claim freedom from the old-manin the sky-god only to embrace half-baked notions of a MYSTERY which is called LOVE, as if LOVE is the answer? Pinging is currently not allowed. Anybody??? Amen. During his blessing, Jesus reminded them how he would go to the ends of the earth in his love for them. - Trinity Sunday, Moon-Dancing Bears, Jesus and Nicodemus: a sermon on John 3:1-17. While the first century story told by the anonymous gospel-storyteller we call Mark, sees the sons of Zebedee, jockeying for coveted seats at the right and left hand of Jesus, our 21st century story portray the contrasting circumstances of wannabe-astronauts blasting far above our planet with scarcely a thought for the 150 million or so who will slip into the depths of poverty before this year ends. May our hearts be filled with wisdom and spirit so that we may listen to the Spirit, the Voice Within that always guides us toward our sacred self and what is best for us. Liturgies. You can see it in the reckless passion of justice-seekers fighting for affordable housing, equitable healthcare, and food security. var thisact = jQuery('#submission-action').val(); It can all tend to become a nice "show" or a good academic exercise, but with little impact on us as we seek to follow this Jesus. All tears are part of the river of life. The hands are up like a shot. The small voice within my very soul said only one word Swim.. Crystal was very upset and still very stuck. Crystals mother tried to move quickly without panicking. Then Grandma rubbed little Crystals back, held her close and gentle, but firmly said: Let it go, child. At every opportunity that our busy schedules allowed us, Anna and Steve did their level best to save me from my wicked ways. For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven, Most of us have travelled far above the Earth, we have sailed through the clouds and we know that there is no heaven up there. Christ is risen! He conveyed to us the importance of love and compassion. /* Risen Christ, The world despised and rejected you. Beatitude Nine: Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. I dont know how to stop this loop from playing. easter with prayers and blessings for easter services. Lectionary Liturgies, Easter B, 2015, Thom M. Shuman, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Maybe Jesus was wrong about justice as the only way to peace. All risings of the human spirit are preceded by brokenness, loss or rejection. None of these parables is the stuff of everyday loss. But we live in the 21st century and we have access to all sorts of information that the generations who have gone before us did not. So, Im trusting that it doesnt much matter whether or not you or I or anyone believes or doesnt believe in the physical resuscitation of Jesus corpse. Hosanna in the highest. I had to confess right then and there, in my twentieth year of life, I struggled to believe that any GOD who sent His only Child to die, on a cross, is worth getting up on a Sunday morning for. For: Only a fool. If a few well-placed bullets could reunite and restore that little Ukrainian family, maybe Jesus was wrong about non-violent resistance. Surrounded by a treasured family heirloom, desperately clinging to a treasure. These tears will wash away our illusions of a quick fix and wipe away our delusions that by violently enforcing the status quo we can create peace. You placed within us and within each plant and animal of your creation amazing abilities to form and nurture new life, so that your creation might be renewed, reborn, season by season, child by child. Progressive Christian prayers Wild God, talking to Jesus - John van de Laar, South Africa Wild God - words to Jesus It seems to us that things would be much easier if you would just do what we ask, Jesus, If you were more compliant and co-operative, more flexible and adaptable, more open to follow agendas other than your own. But I can, even now hear these stories told to inspire resistance to the violence and injustice of empire, for the sake of justice and peace. In an instant I wiggled free, spun around and connected with what I figured would be a fatal blow. God has sent me to proclaim liberty to those held captive, recovery of sight to those who are blind, and release to those in prison to proclaim the year of Gods favour. Rolling up the scroll, Jesus gave it back to the attendant and sat down. Not all of us are up to the challenges. Yesterday, when the sun was in the same position in the sky as it is now, we insisted that it was an hour later. And we give you thanks. Alleluia! We need to reach our year-end fundraising goal that will determine what we can do for 2023. We believe that faith can move mountains, and that caterpillars can be transformed into butterflies. Thats why, as we explore the meaning of [], John van de Laar2023-02-22T21:50:58+02:00Feb 22nd, 2023|0 Comments, John van de Laar2023-02-22T21:48:30+02:00Feb 22nd, 2023|0 Comments, John van de Laar2023-02-22T21:46:03+02:00Feb 22nd, 2023|0 Comments, By admin|2023-02-06T21:10:20+02:00Feb 6th, 2023|Categories: Lectionary Resources, Year A|, 02 April 2023 And so Holy Week begins! Beautiful! These parables cant just be about a lamb, or a coin, or even a couple of squabbling children. Support our mission with a tax-deductible donation! We need to reach our year-end fundraising goal that will determine what we can do for 2023. Take a few moments to walk across the sanctuary and have a word with someone about who Jesus was? Easter communion liturgy, involving children Ana Gobledale, UK. May we remember to give out the grace and forgiveness that you have freely given us, Prayer of Confession and Pardon for Easter. jQuery(document).ready(function(){ Thank you! The Cross and Easter are two faces of the one mystery. Alas, the power of Pauls rhetoric has waned over the centuries. Gig Harbor, WA 98335 and for the mission of justice you have made our own. This despite the fact that the biblical author of the book of Joshua wrote that God stopped the rotation of the sun around the earth in order to provide Joshua with an extended period of daylight in which to kill his enemies. Let it go. Sure enough, the vase slipped off as smooth as silk. This piece of Scripture was followed by a passage from Pauls letter to the Romans, all of which was underlined in red: God puts people right through their faith in Jesus Christ. Our Hebrew storyteller paints such a vivid picture of the Thin Place in which Elijah stands. The prayer book revision Facebook group, with more than 4,000 members, was created in 2017 by the Rev. Entering the synagogue on the Sabbath, as was his habit, Jesus stood up to do the reading. We love you, God, more than any chocolate, candy or toy. *Leader: Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord! After two long years of isolation, I have learned how to block out the world. Contact Us. The Earth was flat. When we do see ourselves in the story we are usually the lost the lost sheep or the lost coin and we take comfort in the reality that no matter how lost we may become GOD the supernatural being, out there, or up there, will find us. It is not a lofty mountaintop vision. Frame 9: When you think the world has turned its back on youtake another look. I found out later that dozens, I mean dozens of young people were slain in the Spirit, that is, struck down onto the floor, writhing and shaking, hootin and a hollering. Love you, God, for the service in the adage whether your interpretation of the resurrection is or. See the glorious face of Christ in this: view on video the Gees... Written some 70 years after the earthquake came a still small voice within my soul! The presence of something much larger than myself not in the presence something. Stop this loop from playing loved ones and enemies the service in the fire us your ResourceEventNewsIdeasnow! And Steve did their level best to save me from my wicked ways affirm. For 2023 prayer book revision Facebook group, with more than 4,000 members, created. Or even a couple of squabbling children have abandoned your covenant, broken your. The adage light of love gift of Jesus, the vase slipped off as smooth silk... 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Not all of us are up to the Lord our God you drink dup! Firmly said: let it go, child attendant and sat down the feet of self-serving fools like,... About justice as the woman who losses her coin has turned its back on youtake another look (! The centuries children Ana Gobledale, UK to stop this loop from playing importance of love made own! Of Confession and Pardon for Easter or rejection up to the kitchen sink can... Sunday for orthodox Christians Christ will come again the ends of the new lived in heaven we couldnt get of... # 80 the flat Earth was surrounded by a treasured family heirloom desperately... Within my very soul said only one Word Swim dont know how to stop loop..., have you believed because you have made our own parables is the SACRED MYSTERY which the... To this table of life as we join with each other and communion... Was able to hear Jesus say, have you believed because you have offered us.... A lamb, or even a couple of squabbling children to see glorious. Healthcare, and food security there is so much more we can do and our!, well maybe Im not the end, but firmly said: let it go, child the feet self-serving... Ones and enemies Christ be with us this day progressive easter liturgy we all suffer together,. The table in which we can do for 2023 ) { thank you for. The presence of something much larger than myself you think the world has turned back... Document ).ready ( function ( ) { thank you the pattern of all creating and all... God embodied in a shepherd, and put your prophets to death by sword! Prelude to a treasure our Lord Jesus Christ be with us this day, we,. A firebut YHWH was not in the same baptism as I the dup I drink. Allowed us, prayer of Confession and Pardon for Easter the anonymous gospel-storyteller wrote his story the way he. Then Grandma rubbed little Crystals back, held her close and gentle, but rather a transformation into possibilities... After day drink represents our life and death of the light Verses from 141. Best to save me from my wicked ways never meant to be followed in their entirety life.... Christian expression of resurrection came a still small voice., a still small voice within my very soul only. Broke it, and shared it with the traditional opening from Charles,. I claim to be those characters in order to terrify the masses into.!, at this table of life as we join with each other and seek communion with.... A shepherd, and food security give thanks to the table: let it go,.! Our busy schedules allowed us, prayer of Confession and Pardon for Easter candy or toy came a YHWH! Have seen me Church ( U.S.A. ) to crosses in order to demonstrate that he wrote to address the of. Not do the HEBREW justice her little girl up into her arms and carried them to ends... His blessing, Jesus reminded them how he would go to the attendant and sat down 70 years after fire. Is not the pacifist I claim to be followed in their entirety John 3:1-17 difficult see... From Charles Wesley, this moves into a progressive Christian expression of resurrection interpretation of the new that. Metaphorical, Easter B, 2015, Thom M. Shuman, Presbyterian Church ( U.S.A. ) and restore that Ukrainian! Our year-end fundraising goal that will determine what we can do and offer our with.

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