10w for December 1st, Fiery Faith, NL.

The following is a 10 minute worship for December 1st, Fiery Faith, NL.  You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The song for the day is: “In the Bleak Midwinter" by Dakota Road from the CD "Love Can Break Through"  http://www.dakotaroadmusic.com/index.php?p=product&id=92&parent=4

 

10w for December 1st, Just Be Ready, A1.

The following is a 10 minute worship for December 1st, Just Be Ready, A1.  You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The song for the day is: “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" by Dakota Road from the CD "Love Can Break Through"  http://www.dakotaroadmusic.com/index.php?p=product&id=92&parent=4

 

10w for November 30th, Andrew, Apostle.

The following is a 10 minute worship for November 30th, Andrew, Apostle. You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The song for the day is: “Only by following Jesus" by Keith Green from the CD "The Ministry Years, Vol 2".  http://www.lastdaysministries.org/Shop/Sections/Items/Item.aspx?item_id=1000010624
 

10w for November 28th, Thanksgiving.

The following is a 10 minute worship for November 28th, Thanksgiving. You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The song for the day is: “Thanks for the joy" by Ruthie Foster from the CD The "Truth according to Ruthie Foster"  http://www.ruthiefoster.portmerch.com/stores/product.php?productid=16795&cat=381&page=1


 

Narrative Lectionary reading for Advent 1 as impromptu congregational play

The Image of Gold and the Blazing Furnace

Note: bring several musical toys and instruments, colored cloth for shawls etc. large name tags on string to hang around peoples necks, helium balloons on long strings with gold crepe paper you can let go to the ceiling for the idol, a fiery furnace drawing on one wall. The congregation I serve is kind of Norwegian Lutheran so I have changed Abednego to Abednegoson which could be modified any way you wish. Have fun.  let me know if you use it.  

King Nebuchadnezzar (pointing to his golden statue)  Look what I have made, or perhaps I should say, look what I had someone else make for me. (to the congregation)  Isn’t it wonderful, isn’t it magnificent, isn’t it marvelous?  (Congregation Ooohs and Awes ) 

King Nebuchadnezzar: (pointing again to the golden statue) This Wonderful, Magnificent, Marvelous golden god is made of solid gold.  It is 90 feet high and 9 feet wide.  See, I have set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of  Babylon.  (motions to satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials in the congregation) Come up here, (the officials all come up front) come up to the front all you satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials. Come to the dedication of the Wonderful, Magnificent, Marvelous golden god I have set up. ( the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials gather before the golden god and bow to it again and again )

Herald the herald: (comes to the front of the church and proclaims loudly)  “Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do:  As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, (everyone with a musical instrument makes lots of noise until Herald the herald motions for you to be quiet) When you hear that wonderful music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.” (Herald the herald points to the fiery furnace and the congregation gasps in horror followed by a pregnant pause )

(then Herald the herald motions and everyone with a musical instrument makes lots of noise. As soon as the congregation hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all kinds of music, they wave their arms in a bowing motion to Wonderful, Magnificent, Marvelous golden god)

Some Devious Astrologers: (come forward and speak to King Nebuchadnezzar), “May the king live forever! Your Majesty has issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music (musical instruments make lots of noise until the Devious Astrologers tell you to be quiet) Boy they are loud.  Anyway, when the people hear that sound, your decree mandates that all must fall down and worship the image of Wonderful, Magnificent, Marvelous golden god and whoever does not fall down and worship the Wonderful, Magnificent, Marvelous golden god will be thrown into a blazing furnace (congregation gasps in horror) But there are two Jews, and a Norwegian Lutheran whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegoson —who pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of the Wonderful, Magnificent, Marvelous golden god you have set up.”

King Nebuchadnezzar: (yelling with great anger)   Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegoson, come here now.  Don’t make me come down there. (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegoson come to the front of the church). “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegoson, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of the Wonderful, Magnificent, Marvelous golden god I have set up? (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegoson nod yes and murmur “ya sure, you betcha or something like that)  Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music (musical instruments make lots of noise until the Devious Astrologers tell you to be quiet)  yes, well, when you hear that wonderful sound,  if you are ready to fall down and worship the Wonderful, Magnificent, Marvelous golden god I have made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. (congregation gasps in horror) Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”(Nebuchadnezzar does a devious laugh)

Shadrach: (to Nebuchadnezzar) “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 

Meshach: If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the Most High God we serve is able to deliver us from it. Yes, our Most High God will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand.  

Abednegoson: But even if our Most High God does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of the Wonderful, Magnificent, Marvelous golden god you have set up.”

King Nebuchadnezzar: (in great anger)  Guards, come here (the guards come forward) Heat the furnace seven times hotter than usual and since you are so strong (Guards flex some muscle)  tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegoson and throw them into the blazing furnace. (the guards tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegoson and throw them in the furnace) (God comes forward and walks around with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegoson in or near the fiery furnace)

Guards:   This furnace is too hot, aaawwwwweee, we can’t stand the heat and we can get out of the kitchen. (Guards fall down dead, while Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegoson walk around near the fiery furnace, a fourth person, God, walks around with them)  

King Nebuchadnezzar: (jumping up and down and pointing to the fiery furnace) “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”

Some Devious Astrologers & Herald the herald:  “Certainly, Your Majesty.”

King Nebuchadnezzar: “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” (King Nebuchadnezzar approaches the fiery furnace and yells loudly) “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegoson, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegoson came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers come forward and crowd around them checking out and smelling them)

Satrap: The fire did not harm their bodies.

Prefect:  Nor was a hair of their heads singed.

Governor:  Their robes are not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

King Nebuchadnezzar: “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegoson, who has sent an angel and rescued the servants of the most high God! Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegoson trusted in the Most High God and defied my command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god, even the Wonderful, Magnificent, Marvelous golden god I have made. In their loyalty, they will worship only their own Most High God.  Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the Most High God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegoson, will be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, (congregation gasps in horror) for no other god can save in this way.” I hereby promote Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegoson to be high and mighty muckity mucks in the province and proclaim locs, bagels and lefsa to be official foods of Babylon

Poem for 1st Sunday in Advent Matthew 24:37-44

Watch

Be ready

            (when???)

for the Son of Man to come

            (when???)

be ready

for you do not know

            (when???)

and the small child looked into my eyes

and said she saw butterflies

and the clouds were beautiful

and the wind made here giggle

God made a wonder place

She knew

She could see God’s hand at work

And loved God’s creation

In her smile was God’s love

Her words also

Filled those who heard

With the Holy Wonder of God’s love

When did I lose that???

When did I move from the innocence

Of being ready

In God’s love

To getting ready

Wrapped up in me???

Christ is coming

Live once again in the readiness

Of now.

Opening Litany based on Psalm 122

Opening Litany based on Psalm 122

Pastor: I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”

Congregation: Our feet rejoiced standing in the gates of the New Jerusalem, and now we are called to be city built on a hill where all the tribes and nations go up to Praise the name of the Lord our God. 

Pastor: As we light this first candle we remember that you have stirred up the power of hope among us as you announced the birth of the messiah.

Light the first Advent Candle

Congregation: We rejoice in the light that brings hope to the world and to our lives as we prepare for the coming of the Lord, let our light shine forth in this world as we live as the children you have called us to be. 

Pastor: Pray for the peace of the world and for peace in the Holy Land that all those you live may live secure and without walls.

Congregation: For the sake of our families and friends we will live in the hope of peace as we say to all, “Peace be with, and within you.”

Pastor: For the sake of the house of the LORD our God let us seek a shared prosperity for all the children of God

sanding

Sunday December 1^st, Isaiah 2: There's a day coming when the mountain of God's House will be solid and towering over all mountains. All nations will be drawn to it and people from all over the world set out for it, saying, “Come, let's climb God's Holy Mountain, and go to the House of the Lord. In that day God will show us the way He works so all can live the way they were made." The years of running away from God didn’t erode the mountain for me.  It was right there in front of me all the time.  The years of running probably helped get rid of some of the rough edges of hypocrisy however; God has a way of using our own abrasiveness to sand away the rough edges over time.  That calling to come to the Lord is always there, and will be there for you throughout your life, and the lives of your children and your children’s children.  The day is coming when all nations will be drawn to the house of the Lord.  Perhaps some of the rough edges we need to hone are the thoughts that we have it right and others have it wrong.  The house of the Lord has many rooms, and they are not all decorated in a western motif.  I was glad when they said to me let us go to the house of the Lord, I was more glad still when I looked around and saw the rainbow of color and hue walking up that mountain with me.  What attitudes and ideas need honing and sanding and polishing until you can see the vastness of God’s kingdom on the way to that mountain with you?  

anniversary

Monday December 2^nd, Isaiah 2: God's Message will come forth and He'll settle things fairly between nations. God will make things right between all peoples and true justice, God’s justice, will prevail.  In the realm of power structures in this world, those with the power and money always think they are being more than just, and the powerless and poor always know they are once again getting screwed. The recent Citizens United case is a case in point.  God’s justice is not like human justice. God’s justice gets at the why, not just the “who” and in the process the victims and the victors can seem to reverse roles.  With God’s justice hope is born for all. God’s justice deals with both sides of the equation and the systems the keep the injustice going and therefore may not look like justice at all for those in power. It is comfort for the afflicted and affliction for the comfortable. The comfortable sometimes have a little trouble seeing that as good news in the beginning. They will, in time. God’s love is for all, it is just that in balancing the scales (God’s justice) one side doesn’t like the way things move and both sides have yet to experience what a God balanced life is like.  On a side note, today is my ordination anniversary.  December 2^nd, 1990.  Still in my first call.

war profit

Tuesday December 3^rd, Isaiah 2: all nations will turn their swords into shovels, their spears into hoes. No more will nation fight nation; nor will they play war anymore. Come all you people let us let's live in the light of God.  As we bring the message of Hope this first Advent, one of the things we hope for is a change from the ways the world deals with differences.  Throughout history the tendency has been for a little effort to be put toward peace for a while and then a lot of effort and money put toward war.  War makes more money for a few people even as it destroys the economy and lives for the many.  It is those few, with the right connections, along with the human tendency to seek profit at any cost to someone else, that fuels war.  War after war after war it is largely our children and the children of others that give their lives in battle so that a small number may maintain power and reap profits.  None of the justifications for war will mention it, but in the end it was profit and revenge that is the justification for war again and again and again.  What would happen if the nations put as much time, effort, GNP, labor and resources into building up, caring for, and innovation as they do for destruction and death?  Would not you be inclined to respond more favorably to someone who saved your children than to someone who killed them? Would not others, those we become convinced are our enemies, do the same?  Let us hope that at lease our grandchildren may live to be able to answer that question of what if.

hope

Wednesday December 4^th, Romans 13: 12 Night is almost over, and day will soon appear. We must stop behaving as people do in the dark and be ready to live in the light. 13 So behave properly, as people do in the day. In Biblical writing, darkness is a way of indicating chaos, evil and fear.  We as the children of God are called to live in hope; we are called to live in the light.  We are called to live in a place where things are not hidden, back room deals are not made and full disclosure is the norm.  Christ came to offer forgiveness and hope for a world caught in the darkness of despair of our fear filled closets.  What’s in your closet?  Christ will not only help you clean it out, he will even find a way to make good use of all stuff you feel so ashamed of.  Live in hope and let Christ help turn your shame into blessing. 

move

Thursday December 5^th, Romans 13: 14 Let the Lord Jesus Christ be as near to you as the clothes you wear. Then you won't try to satisfy your selfish desires.  Twenty three years ago this week I was ordained, and I have served the same church that full time.  Over the years many things have changed besides the color of my hair.  The followers of Christ go through stages of belief and practice and so do the institutions.  First they discover this loving Christ and are in love.  Then they learn about this love of Christ for them and are in awe.  Then they get busy being a Christian, studying to be a Christian, discovering what it means to be a Christian and find themselves surrounded with what seems like work.  Eventually they ending up not working so hard, studying so hard, trying too hard, and they just fall back in love again.  It is then that others discover what a Christian is by watching the way they live, someone who simply wears this Christianity as a part of who they are and are not even aware of the wonderful love they show in the process.  They no longer even try to satisfy their selfish desires.  My prayer is that as the church moves through these stages, that it too will show the world what it means to be in love.  

rapture is a racket

Friday December 6^th, Matthew 24: 36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. The Rapture is a racket (The Rapture Exposed, Barbara Rossing) and the losers in this racket are the millions of Christians who lose their way and their money on the way to helping others through this rapture maze.  It takes little conversation with 20 somethings who have abandoned the church to see the damage all that rapture talk did to the children of God in the last three decades.  In rejecting the mean spirited idea of the rapture, they have rejected the church as a whole.  Matthew tells us that no one knows the time, except the Father.  We are called to live in this world as the children of God showing the love of God in our lives and in the way we love one another.  All that rapture talk was just about money and control and more money, and in the end it was the church that lost.  Now is the time for the remnant of the children of God to rebuild that trust in God through the one constant, love for one another acted out in this world in the way we live our daily lives.    

saints

Saturday December 7^th, Matthew 24: 42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.  There are two different kinds of waiting, active waiting and passive waiting.  Passive waiting is the kind where you know the thief or the end times are on their way and so you stockpile your food, get yourself set, and wait and wait and wait.  Active waiting can best be expressed by Luther’s statement that if the world were to end tomorrow, he would plant a tree and be about the business God put him on earth to do.  It is active because you are not sitting around waiting, but rather it is up and active and busy with life.  There are many sad examples throughout history of passive waiting and I am sure many of you can name someone who did just such a thing.  There are also some shining examples of the active waiting by people who didn’t care when the end was because they were just living their lives in love.  We usually call them saints.  

10w for November 24th, Tomorrow's Promises Today, NL.

The following is a 10 minute worship for November 24th, Tomorrow's Promises Today, NL. You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The song for the day is: “Already There” by Casting Crowns, from their album Come to the Well. You can find this album and others at their website: www.castingcrowns.com

   

10w for November 24th, Living Like a King.

The following is a 10 minute worship for November 24th, Living Like a King. You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The song for the day is: “Cling to the Cross” by Lost and Found from their album, This. You can find this album and others at Lost and Found’s website, www.speedwood.com.

Opening Litany and Confession based on Psalm 137 for Narrative Lectionary

Opening Litany and Confession based on Psalm 137

Pastor: By the rivers of Babylon the people sat and wept when they remembered their homeland.  They hung up their harps when their tormentors demanded entertainment saying, “Sing us joyful songs of your homeland.”

Congregation: we want things the way they used to be.  We remember the glorious days of old, when in our memory, all was right and good.  Sometimes we don’t even know if we can make it in this world.

Pastor: Sometimes we want to live in the past, clinging to the false memory of how thing were, clinging to thoughts of revenge.

Congregation: We confess that we are sinful and unclean.  We have sinned with our selfish ambition against God’s view of the world in what we have done and in what we have left undone.  We have not loved God with our whole heart and we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

Pastor: Forgive us Lord, and send your mercy upon us

Congregation: Forgive us Lord, and open our eyes and hearts to your calling, your vision for this world.

Pastor: And this is the greatest commandment, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself

Congregation: We will strive to be the children of God in this world, loving God and loving others.

Pastor: Go forth and live as the children of God, showing mercy and seeing all those whom you encounter as your brothers and sisters in the family of God, Amen. 

Opening Litany based on Psalm 46

Psalm 46

Worship Leader: It is God who is our refuge and strength and our ever-present help in times of trouble, therefore we will not live in fear.  For even though the earth may give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, even if the waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging, we will not fear. Our God is with us, our refuge and strength is ever-present with us. 

Congregation: In Revelation there is a river whose streams bring life and joy to the city of God, the holy dwelling place of the Most High. God is within this Holy City, this dwelling place of God with us, and she will not fall. 

Worship Leader: God brings help to us at the break of each new day and though nations may be in uproar and kingdoms may fall God is still with us and ruler of all. 


Congregation: The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.  Come one and all and see what the LORD has done in our lives and in the lives of all the people of the earth. 

Worship Leader: The Lord brings wars to an end.  The Lord breaks the bow and shatters the spear destroying all the instruments of war, and then says, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Congregation: We will exalt the Lord our God among all the nations of the earth, for the LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our strength.

Worship Leader: Welcome to Worship at Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church. 

Congregation: Where we are Inspired by God’s Love to Praise, Nurture and Serve and where we live out this calling when we  Gather to Grow through God’s Grace.

Poem for Christ the King Luke 23:35-43

Even on the cross

with the whole world of power

mocking

laughing

in the folly of our pride

humanity

the creation of God

put up the sign

            King of the Jews

            King of us all

and in the midst of the mocking

and pain

Christ looked on the one

            who turned to him

and pronounced t he blessing

Today

            You will be with me in paradise

And in that moment

            gave hope

                        life

to us all

shepherds

Sunday November 24^th, Jeremiah 23: What sorrow awaits the leaders of my people—the shepherds of my sheep—for they have destroyed and scattered the very ones they were expected to care for,” says the Lord.  How often has the word of God been used for control and power rather than God’s version and vision of good?  The metaphor of shepherds is used extensively in scripture.  A shepherd cares for, nurtures, and does what is best for the sheep.  A shepherd also learns that helping and cooperating with other shepherds is a good thing and that if all work together, all the sheep are better off.  A good shepherd does not scatter the sheep.  All too often the word of God trumpeted through the ministries of the visible representatives of God has been used to scatter the sheep.  Jesus calls us to bring together, nurture and care for one another.  Wouldn't it be nice of the political discourse took on such a tone?  We might actually find someone worth electing.  

chop

Monday November 25^th, Jeremiah 23: 5 “For the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. 6 And this will be his name: ‘The Lord Is Our Righteousness.’ In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety.  You cannot easily kill an olive tree.  If you chop it down, it won’t be long before a shoot will come up out of the dead looking trunk.  In our lives too, even when things seem to have hit bottom, a new shoot of life, a gift of God, can come forth.  God sees in our lives and in our souls that spark of life that comes from the dawn of creation and is called good.  Each and every life, no matter how much it may appear to be just like an old dead stump, can bring forth wonderful life and an abundance of fruit.  Help us to see one another through the eyes of the creator who calls all creation good.  

life

Tuesday November 26^th, Colossians 1:  9 Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works.  What a blessing that would be able to have one’s mind so attuned to the will of God.  Not the will we would like it to be and that would benefit us, but the will that truly is the will of God.  Maybe then the preferred vision of God could come to past, the visions of the lion and lamb lying down together, swords turned into plow shears and all of creation seeing one another as part of the creation of God that is called good.  How can you help bring about that vision in your life today?

Warrior?

Wednesday November 27^th, Colossians 1: 15 We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen.  Jesus is for humanity, the manifestation of God.  All we can know of God, all we need to know of God, all that is helpful for us to know of God, we see in Jesus.  When one thinks of Jesus, what do you see?  A Warrior?  A Power monger?  No, what you see is the empty cross.  What we see of God is the totally giving, forgiving bringer of new life.  No matter where you are in life, no matter what situation you are in, no matter how much your life may seem like the pits some days, God is interested only in you discovering full what it means to be created in the image of God.  Part of what that means is to recognize that everyone else is also created in the image of God and treat them accordingly.  Perhaps in doing so, we begin to see the peace and piece of God in us also.  

Interest

Thursday November 28^th, Luke 23: 33When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. Christ the King Sunday and the place called the skull?  Totally outside of what we would consider as Kingly.  And, yet, such is the giving nature of God.  Can the God who created all and called it good condemn that very creation to the pit?  Can the God who so loved the world he gave his only son, condemn anyone, including you, to the pit?  That is not where God’s interest lays.  

question

Friday November 29^th, Luke 23: 38 There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Jesus was also known as King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Prince of Peace, Son of God, all titles attributed to Caesar whose power Pilot represented.  The title “King of the Jews” was a way of making fun of the idea that Jesus, and not Caesar or Herod or Pilot might represent the true Ruler of the world.  Little did they know that Jesus was all that and more.  The question is, is Jesus the king of kings in your life?  Well, maybe that is not the question, but rather the answer.  The question is, do you know it?

criminals

Saturday November 30^th, Luke 23:  39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"  40 But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." 42 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." 43 Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."  The other criminal may take a bit longer to convince he is forgiven and usher him into the kingdom of God.  We often take the other stance that one made it into the kingdom of Heaven and one did not, period.  The conclusion therefore is that some will make it in and many will not.  Those who believe like me, which we define as the way God thinks, will make it in and others will not.  Jesus said however that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  That is why Jesus came to save us.  We weren't doing such a great job.  Jesus’ gift extends to all of creation.  Perhaps one of the things we need most to be forgiven for is thinking and treating others as if they might be outside Jesus’ reach.  Today you will be with me in paradise, someday, all will be with me in paradise.  Knowing this, how would that change the way you live today?

10w for November 17th, Mirror, Mirror, NL.

The following is a 10 minute worship for November 17th, Mirror, Mirror, NL. You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The song for the day is Light Shines in the Darkness by Dakota Road from the CD Break These Chains which can be purchased HERE  

10w for November17th, New Temple,

The following is a 10 minute worship for November 17th, New Temple. You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The song for the day is: “If I Had My Way” by Patty Griffin from the CD “Downtown Church” which can be purchased HERE 

Opening Litany based on Psalm 98

Psalm 98

Pastor: Let us raise our voices and sing to the LORD a new song, for all the marvelous things the Lord has done, for the Lord’s right hand and holy arm have brought about salvation.

People: The LORD has brought this message of salvation before all nations and all peoples remembering the love out of which all things and all people were made.

Pastor: Yes, truly all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God therefore let us shout for joy to the Lord over all the earth.

People: Let us burst into jubilant song with all kinds of music from the people as we sing and shout for joy before the Lord our God.

Pastor: Let all of creation resound with songs of joy; let the sea and everything in it resound, let the world and all who live in it resound; let the rivers and mountains and all who live in them resound with clapping of hands and songs before the Lord our God.

People: for the Lord comes as a just judge for all the earth and will look upon all peoples and all creation with righteousness and equity

root and ashes

Sunday November 17^th, Malachi 4:1 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.  We like to think of these types of scripture to be about the other.  The ones who are giving the people of God trouble in their pursuit of happiness.  The message however is meant for you and I, the ones called to be the children of God and who are taking that opportunity to pad our own little nest at the expense of others.  Instead of the root of Jesse, blessed to bring the blessings of God to all of creation, we will simply be fuel for the fire, and an ash heap in the end.  The next time you get ready to point to the other and highlight their wrongs as they apply to you, remember, the reason we are here, the reason we exist, is to bring the good news of God’s grace to others.  If there are failings in life, it is the failing to be the root of Jesse, and to choose ashes instead.  

get crazy

Monday November 18^th, Malachi 4:2 ² But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.  I loved to go out in the spring on the farm and watch the calves out in the pasture for the first time.  They would run and jump and get all crazy with joy and freedom.  It was a picture of what God has in mind for you and I, running and jumping and getting crazy with joy and freedom.  It is a picture God has in mind for all of humanity, created in the image of God and called to grasps the grace of God in such a way that the only possible response is to run and jump and get crazy with the joy and freedom that comes with knowing our salvation comes from God.  So go out there, embrace the grace and get crazy. 

addicts

Tuesday November 19^th, 2 Thessalonians 3: 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."  Twelve of the members of congress who voted to cut food stamps from the farm bill have collected billions of dollars form farm subsidies from that same bill.  There are in this world, the givers and the takers.  The givers have differing abilities to give, but are driven by the realization that God loves them as a gift and they are called to be a gift to others.  The takers, sometime have amassed a large fortune and sometimes are simply obsessed by the idea that they might someday, but either way, they are not in control of their lives.  It is the thought of what more they could get that is their drug of choice.  They are addicts and in the end will simply die with want surging through their veins. 

maximum wage

 Wednesday November 20^th, 2 Thessalonians 3: 6In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. There are always enough examples of those who are cheating the system to provide cannon fodder for those who wish to get rid of it. Just look at that person or this person who is not working and could.  What is ignored in this discussion are the many who are made poor by the system of power in place.  Everyone who is able should pitch in and do what they can to contribute to the good of society.  And by the same reason, no one should be making the enormous sums that are now prevalent in CEO wages.  As William Sloane Coffin has said, if there are good arguments in favor of a minimum wage, there are more than good arguments in favor of a maximum wage.  It is a sin to pay someone who works hard the minimum wage.  It is also a sin to pay someone who works hard greater than a hundred times what the lowest employee in their organization makes.  What Paul is calling for is fairness.  We should strive for no less.  

we

Thursday November 21^st, 2 Thessalonians 3:  11 We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. 13 And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.  And for those who know what is the right thing to do, never tire of doing it.  Good advice.  Life is about your journey, and doing your journey right.  Being a busybody is about someone else’s journey and your obsession with it.  God calls us into an attitude of us and our journey together as brothers and sisters in the family of God.  The world often pushes us toward an attitude of Me, where others are not brothers but simply a means to get to where we want to go.  What is your tendency in life, to look at what is best for the me, or what is best for the we?  If it is the “we,” then the next question is simply how big is your concept of we?

heart

Friday November 22^nd, Luke 21: 5 Some people were talking about the Temple and how it was decorated with beautiful stones and gifts offered to God. But Jesus said, 6 "As for these things you are looking at, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another. Every stone will be thrown down."  In taking a tour in Jerusalem through the excavations along the wall, one of the things that impressed me was the size of the stones.  There was one stone that was 39 feet long, 9 feet high and over 7 feet thick, solid granite.  The estimated weight was over 100,000 pounds.  One of the hallmarks of Herod’s walls were the size of the stones in the lower levels of construction.  If an enemy were to come against the wall, they would not be able to chip away at the stones and remove them from the wall.  Jesus prediction of the wall being torn down was almost laughably beyond belief.  But Jesus is not impressed with either the grandiose pretensions of our structures nor the grandiose pretensions of our programs when accompanied with an underlying lack of Gospel passion and grace.  For Jesus it would be torn down, and in time that was true.  It is not the thing that holds the love of Christ, it is the heart.  

money machine

Saturday November 23^rd, Luke 21: 12 "But before all these things happen, people will arrest you and treat you cruelly. They will judge you in their synagogues and put you in jail and force you to stand before kings and governors, because you follow me. 13 But this will give you an opportunity to tell about me.14 Make up your minds not to worry ahead of time about what you will say.15 I will give you the wisdom to say things that none of your enemies will be able to stand against or prove wrong.16 Even your parents, brothers, relatives, and friends will turn against you, and they will kill some of you.17 All people will hate you because you follow me.18 But none of these things can really harm you. 19 By continuing to have faith you will save your lives.  When a follower of Christ in the first century says that Jesus is Lord, they are also saying that Caesar and all that stands for the powers that be, are “Not” Lord.  By standing up for Christ as the Prince of Peace, they are saying that Caesar and the powers that be, at Not the prince of peace.  Throughout history, there are attempts to meld together the powers that be and the word of god.  It helps give the powers that be the illusion that they have more power.  But Christ is counter-cultural.  Our powers that be pass huge military spending bills the still don’t have the operating budget feed the poor, Jesus says pray for your enemies and reconcile your differences.  Very few heard the voice of praying for your enemies following the attacks on September 11^th.  Instead it has simply been a cry for bigger and bigger budgets that are spent with less and less scrutiny in the creation of a war machine that can roll over any program having to do with children’s health, living wage, public education and the like and fund the political ambitions of the ones who control the purse.  We went to war in Iraq and killed hundreds of thousands of the children of God on our side and on theirs, for the sake of political funding for reelection.  For those who do speak up, yes people will hate you because you present the real Jesus rather than the one molded from iron to look like the military money machine.  

10w for November10th, :Living our Worship" NL.

The following is a 10 minute worship for November10th, :Living our Worship" NL. You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The song for the day is: “Jesus and Gravity” by Dolly Parton from the album: Backwoods Barbie. You can find this album, along with others, at www.dollyparton.com

10w for November 10th, Haven is Different, P25.

The following is a 10 minute worship for November 10th, Haven is Different, P25. You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The Song for the day is "Listen" by Trinity Choir and Friends from the CD: Songs for Hope and Healing. You can find this CD and others at www.trinityoakland.org 
 

down

Sunday November 10^th, Job 19: ²³ “Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll, ²⁴ that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever! ²⁵ I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. Words commonly used in funerals.  But instead of our words engraved in rock or on a scroll, what we have is God’s word engraved on our hearts.  It is the grace of God, the presence of God, the love of God that lives within each and every one of us and along with it the call to see that presence in the hearts and minds and souls of others.  In the end, as noted in the book of revelation, it is that love of God that will stand upon the earth, as the holy city comes down, as God has always come down, to dwell with the likes of you and me and thee. It is called grace.

journey

Monday November 11^th, Job 19: ²⁶ And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; ²⁷ I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another.  How my heart yearns within me! Ultimately this life is less about this life and more about living into the next. God is not just the god of the here and now, but the God of all humanity and all life created and called good. Come join the journey and walk as a child of God.