sorry!

my apologies for not getting the daily meditations done this week.  Synod convention following Easter.  I thought I would share this cartoon by nakedpastor.com

 

10W for 5/2/11 Phillip and James Apostles

10W for 2nd week of Easter, Doubts

10W for 4/25 the Festival of St. Mark, Evangelists

10W for Easter Week

2nd Sunday in Easter John 20:19-31

I sit in darkness

late at night

the kids are asleep

quiet now

--after a day of fun

oblivious to the adult world

--as we have made it

of war and hate

and children very much like themselves

loved very much like themselves

without enough

--of their share

--to survive

I want to venture out

To help in this world

--of too much

----and not enough

but I often find myself

----------hiding

here in the darkness

----------comfort

-------------safety

of my own walls

when

--into this sanctuary

--of my

------awareness fear

comes a voice

----(peace)

of disturbing comfort

that seeks to destroy

------------my little kingdom

-------of what

--------------can

------------------I

--------------------do

-----------------------anyway walls

I am heralded again

----(peace)

from that voice of life

----(be with you)

I long to

--but wish not

------------hear

peace

in the midst of your world

and because of it

as the words still ring

------in my mind

I remember the one who came

To make all things new

And I long

--for that contact

that would take me by the hand

and lead me

--down the path of what will be

lead me

----(as the Father sent me)

somehow to show

--that Christ lives

show it to others

------and myself

Help me Lord to do thy will

----(I send you)

today

John 20:19-31 2nd Sunday of Easter (2)

Let me see

(the sun shinning)

I want to feel

(the wind)

How can I know

(a babies smile)

It is you Lord

(the rain)

How can I know

(the joy of another)

You have risen

(the joy of touch)

From the dead?

(my love)

How can I know

(for you)

Love lives

(the warmth I feel when I care

For another)

That was once dead

(prayer)

I can’t know unless I see

(faith)

Opening Litany based on Psalm 16

Pastor: Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge.

Congregation: We said to the LORD, “You are our Master! Every good thing we have comes from you.” The godly people in the land are our heroes and we take pleasure in them!

Pastor: Troubles seem to multiply for those who chase after other gods.

Congregation: We will not take part in their sacrifices or pretend to follow in their ways for the LORD alone is our inheritance, our cup of blessing.

Pastor: You guard all that is ours. The land you have given us is a pleasant land and a wonderful inheritance!

Congregation: We will bless the LORD who guides us; even at night our hearts instruct us to follow the ways of the Lord. Therefore we know the LORD is always with us and we will not be shaken, for the Lord is right beside us at all times.


Pastor: No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. I rest in safety knowing the Lord walks with us and will not leave us to the powers of death.


Congregation: The Lord will show us the way of life, granting us joy of living in the presence of the Lord forever.

10W for Easter Morning and the week following

Easter Morning


Easter Week


4-25 St. Mark Evangelists

Poem for Matthew 28:1-10

Watching from the margins
From the dark edges of the world
As the representatives of power
Guard the rock
Not letting anything happen by chance
Lest the people
In hope
Longing for something better
In the darkness of the morning
Know hope…
The earth rattles
The stones roll
The guards freeze
And hope is born
Watching from the margins they see it
Mary and Mary
Still and silent
They see the open tomb
They see the angel appear
They see the Messiah raised
They see the future of a universe
That has never been
And can never
Return
To what was.

Mary and Mary
You and I
Don’t freeze
Don’t hold on
Don’t stand still…
Run and tell…
And the church is born
To Run and tell.

I have been in the desert of life

Sunday April 24th, Jeremiah 31: "At that time I will be the God of all of the tribes of Israel," announces the Lord. "And they will be my people." The Lord says, "Some of my people will live through everything their enemies do to them. They will find help in the desert. I have been in the desert of life, and I am sure that most of you have also been there, or at the very least will be there sometime in your life. These are the dry times with no love, no hope, nothing feeding your life and you are in a state of mere existence where even taking a breath is hard work. If you have not been there, you will. And yet there is something strangely pleasant in that place. Facing our darkest hours, we find ourselves comforted somehow. Without even realizing it we become aware that every breath we take, no matter how laborious, is somehow a prayer. In that abandoned forlorn place, we are not alone. I will be the God of all the tribes of Israel, says the Lord and from that statement it is a short hop to the promise made to Abraham and the realization that God will also be the God of all the tribes of Abraham, and of your life also. So put down those rockets, give back the land, stop selling arms and making war for profit and everybody just get along. Like it or not you are sisters and brothers loved by the same God. All this bickering and fighting does to God the same thing your children bickering and fighting does to you. So knock it off and go to your room until you can come out and learn to get along.

I was glad when they said to me let us go to the house of the Lord

Monday April 25th, Jeremiah 31: "Once again you will use your tambourines to celebrate. You will go out and dance with joy. Once again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria. Farmers will plant them. They will enjoy their fruit. There will be a day when those on guard duty will cry out. They will stand on the hills of Ephraim. And they will shout, 'Come! Let's go up to Zion. Let's go up to where the Lord our God is.' " Won’t it be a wonderful day when peace among the children of God will be in the land and the children of Isaac and the children of Ishmael and the followers of Jesus all go up to the hill together, once and for all accepting one another as brothers and sisters in the family of God? Won’t it be a wonderful day when the children of God grow up and give up the childish ways of bickering and fighting and recognize that all our differences only reflect the vastness of a loving God and father of us all who calls for us to simply get along? Won’t it be great on that day when we gather on the hills of Ephraim and shout not insults to one another but invitations to come and gather as one people and recognize that the Lord our God is indeed the Lord and God of all? Won’t it be great? Until that day, work for kingdom, work for peace and justice in this world.

God does not show favoritism

Tuesday April 26th, Acts. 10: Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. When the spirit came Peter started to get "it." The "It" he got was that God does not show favoritism any more than you show favoritism to your own children. They are each different, they each have unique needs and talents and wants and foibles, and you love each and every one. Some parents may wish they would grow up and do this, others you wish would grow up and do that, but in the end you love them and recognize they are each on a path to becoming what they are called to be. So too God loves all humanity, the creation God formed, breathed Into and called Good. God did not just do this for part of humanity, not just for the ones that look like this or that or the ones who express their love for God this way or that way, but humanity, all of humanity. When we recognize that and we find ourselves on the path to reconciliation, we find ourselves on the path to truly discover the love of God.

It is about the goodness of God being gooder than all the bad in the world

Wednesday April 27th, Acts 10: He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." Jesus comes as the one promised from of old. All the prophets testified to the love of God coming into the world. Now in this person of Christ, the love is manifest and lives among us, then and now. What of those who don't believe? What of those who may use another name or may not recognize Jesus as the Messiah? If grace is the order of the day and grace is the message of Christ, then it is not dependent upon belief to be manifest in the world or even to be manifest in the unbeliever’s life. It is about Christ, not humanity. It is about the goodness of God being gooder than all the bad in the world. Our job is to preach the "good" news. Sometimes the church gets that mixed up with judging or claiming exclusive rights to the love of God. For that we apologize, it just goes to show how much more work there is to do to manifest the love of God and the vastness of God's grace in this world.

hope that will come and lives that will change

Thursday April 28th, Matthew 28: After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God's angel came down from heaven, came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. Shafts of lightning blazed from him. His garments shimmered snow-white. The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn't move. Why do you think God always seems to use the marginalized in society as the witnesses and the messengers of the good news of God’s grace? The disciples never seem to get it, but the Samaritan woman does, Mary and Mary seem to get it, Nicodemus seems to get it, the woman anointing Jesus with the bottle of ointment seems to get it, and the list goes on and on. I think that Jesus is good news only for those who in the deep reaches of their souls long for something different, long for hope that things will change, long for the grace that can only come from God. The mainstream often seems to be vested in maintaining what is. It is those in the margins that are looking for hope that will come and lives that will change, especially their own. Mary and Mary, keeping watch, waiting for the dawn while others are sleeping soundly, they are the ones who see. And what they see is hope reborn.

He is going on ahead

Friday April 29th, Matthew 28: The angel spoke to the women: "There is nothing to fear here. I know you're looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed. "Now, get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, "He is risen from the dead. He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.' That's the message." And the Angel said to them, fear not!!! Where have heard that before? Every time the messengers of God come into the world, they start with the message “fear not.” One reason is that the church of that day, just as the church of our day, seems to preach more fear than faith. The status quo lives in fear that the status quo will no longer be the status quo, so any intrusion of God would indeed be seen as a fearful moment. To the least, lost and lonely the message is always one of hope, not fear. Hope is reborn and the message is that the status quo may not be the status quo forever which, though it may not seem like it to some is good news for all.

run and tell

Saturday April 30th, Matthew 28: They ran to tell the disciples. Then Jesus met them, stopping them in their tracks. "Good morning!" he said. They fell to their knees, embraced his feet, and worshiped him. Jesus said, "You're holding on to me for dear life! Don't be frightened like that. Go tell my brothers that they are to go to Galilee, and that I'll meet them there." It is not about hanging onto Jesus, it is about telling others the good news. Jesus is risen and now the ball is in our court. Go tell the good news that hope is reborn in the world and in peoples lives. Go tell the good news that death ultimately holds sway over us no more. Go tell the good news that life begins anew each day and the sins that plagued our lives plague them only when we let them, because forgiveness is the name of the game and Christ is alive. Christ is Risen, Christ is Risen indeed!! Christ is Risen, Christ is Risen indeed!! Christ is Risen, Christ is Risen indeed!!

Problem with blog

instead of a months worth being posted I can only get 7 posts to show on the page and on the archives for April and March.  I am working on resolving the problem

Pastor Dan

10 W for Holy Week

Here is a short 10 minute worship services based on the text for Holy Week, beginning April 17th. If you wish to download any of these worship services you can go to www.10worship.blogspot.com and click the download option for that service.

Passion Sunday


Monday of Holy Week


Tuesday of Holy Week


Wednesday of Holy Week


Maundy Thursday


Good Friday

Matthew 26:14-27:66 Passion Sunday

Ride on Ride on in Majesty

Through the dusty streets

The crowds raise up their voices

And with hosannas greet

The horseman and his mighty legions

Law and order to keep

Solders

Leather, shields and swords

Marching in perfect step

Behind

The one who represents the son of god

His symbol leads the way

All the dignitaries were there

As he entered through the gate

Pilot rode in up the white horse

Onward solders marching

As to war

Ready to keep the peace and any cost

Life was secondary

Marching on in majesty

The flexing imperial power of Rome

On this powder keg celebration

of liberation

and the leaders came to see

on the other end of the holy city

a simple procession

down the hill and through the dusty streets

no armor, helmets or swords

only their voices, cloaks and a few palm branches

to line the way

of the

This is My Son

My Beloved

In whom I am well pleased

Riding on a small gently colt

While the shouts went up

Hosanna to the Son of David

The stones ready to roar

Quiet

Pilot will be sore if he hears

Hosannas from the heart

The stage is set

Majesties ride on

To the climax of the ages

New beginnings, fresh start

Betrayal

A meal

And coins change hands

And soon the beginning of the end

For the son of man

The dark night

Denial

Three times before the dawn

Another procession

A man dripping red

No hosannas this time

Only shame

Only dread

And soon the sound of spikes hammered

And blood being drawn

While silent

From a distance

The people looked on

Jesus remember me in paradise today

Forgive them

It is finished

Some heard him say

The darkness

The earth quake

The curtain torn in two

Hopes dashed and power roared

As the body was laid to rest

The tomb sealed

Life back to normal

And yet

Off in the distance a glimmer of light

Fresh breeze in the air

In the dark early morning

The body wasn’t there….

Opening Litany based on Psalm 31

Pastor: Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.

Congregation: My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.

Pastor: Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends— those who see me on the street flee from me.

Congregation: I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life.

Pastor: But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.

Congregation: Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.