Animation on John 11, Lazarus Come Forth

10w for April 6th, Jesus Condemned, NL.

The following is a 10 minute worship for April 6th, Jesus Condemned, 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 Christ Our Savior Lutheran singing How Deep the Father's Love for us.

10w for April 6th, Lazarus Come Forth, L5.

The following is a 10 minute worship for April 6th, Lazarus Come Forth, L5.  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 Christ Our Savior Lutheran singing Precious Lord, Take My Hand.

Poem based on 5th Sunday in Lent John 11:1-53

Life, Death

in the span of things

they are all part of the one

all part of who we are

Life limited to the here and now

Death, beyond that

and loving yet

by a God who loves on this side of the grave

and beyond

Come out Lazarus

Come out that the world me see

not so much one risen

but the one for whom

rising and living and dying

are all part of love

May the love of Christ

be with you now and forever more

Amen!

Opening Litany based on Psalm 130

Pastor: Out of the deepest parts of my life I cry to you, LORD; Let your ears be attentive and hear my cries for mercy.


Congregation: If indeed the LORD kept a record of sins, who could stand before the Lord our God?


Pastor: Instead of records, there is forgiveness so that all might know of the joy of serving the Lord. 


Congregation: In my life, I put my trust in the Lord and wait for the LORD.  My whole being waits for the Lord; for it is there that I put my hope. 

Pastor: With a longing in our souls, we are like the night watchman waiting for the morning to fill our lives with light.  

Congregation: People of God, put you hope in the Lord for there you will find unfailing love and the fullness of redemption.  For the Lord will redeem the children of God from all their sins.  

I hear something

Sunday April 6^th, Ezekiel 37:  1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "O Sovereign LORD, you alone know." 4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.  There are times when the ministry of the church feels like a valley of dry bones.  With the decline in attendance in most churches except for the most radical and intolerant, now seems like one of those times. It is tempting at these times to look around and feel utterly helpless, all you want to do is sit in the dust and weep at the frustration.  Sometimes, if your ears and heart are open, in the midst of that frustration there is a still small voice that says to prophesy that the dry bones come to life.  It seems futile, and without God at the helm, without God being behind that still small voice it most likely is futile.  But if the voice is from God, even though it may feel futile, it isn’t. Prophesying alone for prophesy sake is futile.  Prophesying and praying with the family of God however opens the doors to hope.  Pew research says that people are leaving the denominational churches, and my experience and the experience of many of my fellow pastors confirms that.  We struggle with whether the good solid theology of the denominational churches can survive the draw to fun worship?  Some even toy with whether it is possible to have both good theology and fun worship?  I don’t have any answers right now, I am busy sitting in the dust, looking at the dry bones with stains on my cheeks from my tears running down my face…. But off in the distance I think I hear something….  

breathe

Monday April 7^th, Ezekiel 37: 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.  11 Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.' “The prophesying was the act of Ezekiel; the breath was the gift of God.  This same breath moved over the waters in creation.  This same breath entered in the lump of humus and created humans, or as it says in the Hebrew, it entered into the adamah and created Adam.  Breath on us Lord, bring your recreating spirit to this place and fill us anew with your spirit.  In a world that sees the message of Christ as being against, help us to bring forth the message of being for; for the sake of the needy, for the lost and the lonely, for the dispossessed, for the children who suffer from too much and those who suffer from not enough, for the lives that are hollow and dry, empty and dead, for…..   Help us to be the voice that prophesies to all whose lives who are so busy that they are empty of that for which they are searching.  Help us to be the voice that prophesies to all whose lives who are so busy that there is more than just keeping themselves and their children busy, and that their kids deserve more than just another activity or sport or vacation or lesson. Help us to be the voice that prophesies to all whose lives who are too busy, that they may open their eyes and hearts and realize that without a connection to God, they lose more than just a little free time on Sunday morning. Fill your Church O Lord with the mighty wind of your spirit and blow away the complacency of pew potato christianity with a small “c” and replace it with the life giving, life breathing blast of Your Spirit. Fill our lungs and our hearts and our souls once More O Lord, not with your peace that lulls us into complacency, but with an uneasiness that keeps us moving to your voice, your calling, your grace. Amen.

fill us

Tuesday April 8^th, Romans 8: 6 If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace. 7 Our desires fight against God, because they do not and cannot obey God's laws. 8 If we follow our desires, we cannot please God.  9 You are no longer ruled by your desires, but by God's Spirit, who lives in you.  I want, I want, I WANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And when we get, we often find ourselves filled with only more want.  If there is an emptiness within you that does not seem to be easily satisfied, a hole that longs to be whole, try prayer and ask the Spirit to fill the hole in your life with the wholeness the comes from God.  Ask not for what you want, but ask instead for the Lord to fill your heart with what it needs.  Let that emptiness within you melt away with the light of Christ and the warmth of his love just as the snow melts away with the coming of spring.  Fill us with your Spirit O Lord and breathe in us once again the breath of new life.  

start living

Wednesday April 9^th, John 11: 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick." 4 When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.   Two More Days!?!?!?!?!?!  What was he thinking?  And yet, the whole focus was on love.  Love for the people, love for Mary and Martha, and love for Lazarus.  Anyone who has had a near death experience knows that Lazarus had the hardest time.  He was in that peaceful place, surrounded by the love of God and the combined love of all creation when he hears his name being called to go back.  Nooooooooooooooo! Jesus, they won’t listen, not even with that.  But back he comes.  Some are comforted for a while, but it is more than comfort, it is a foretaste of what is to come.  Lazarus will die again, and soon.  This is the event that starts the rulers plotting Jesus’ death. But this event in a small village sets the stage and gives us a hint of what God has in mind for all of humanity; life, in this world and in the next.  Listen to his voice now and start living.  

wept

Thursday April 10^th, John 11: 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.  32When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34"Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied.  35 Jesus wept. This last verse, “Jesus wept” is the shortest verse in scripture.  Jesus demonstrates the compassion of God in these two words.  Faced with deep deep sorrow, Jesus felt that sorrow and does the only thing he can do at that point.  He is drawn into that deep sorrow and weeps.  Are the tears for Lazarus or Mary or Martha or are they a reaction to the deep sorrow in that place?  Before we do the all too common pastoral thing, stepping in to fix something, it is a call to sit and truly connect with those involved.  This is not religion doing to, it is religion with, it is God, being with us in that moment.  How do we minister in the church?  Do we minister to, or do we connect with and minister with those in need.  If it is to, we are just a religious handyman, tool belt in place and ready to go.  If we minister with, then we are the presence of God, and it is OK, as with Jesus, to cry.  

unbind

Friday April 11^th, John 11:  41So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."  43When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."  Jesus did the healing, the calling forth, but Jesus also called into play the actions of others.  You take off the grave clothes and let him go from that which would bind him, what a beautiful description of ministry.  Jesus calls forth and we unbind.  Too often the church has been in the binding rather than the unbinding business.  We bind with our traditions and rules, our histories and our hysteria.  The old jokes about how many (fill in the blank with any religion) does it take to change a light bulb, are just humorous ways of looking at the bindings we use, it is a way to begin to see our chains and dogmas that hold us down.   Our calling is to unbind and Jesus is calling us out of our tombs to do it.  

come to life

Saturday April 12^th, John 11: The Plot to Kill Jesus  45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.  I included the title, “the plot to kill Jesus” as a way to mark what happens when we do ministry well.  When we successfully find ways to unbind others from the wrappings that are keeping them down, there will be a reaction.  The reaction here was that things were getting out of hand and the power structure was getting a bit shaky and sensing a loss of control.  Worst of all, someone was about to lose some power and money connections, and the only solution the structure could come up with was that someone had to die.  Imagine what would happen if the church was able to confront and do something about injustice in this world?  We Would pay the price, but perhaps in the process we would also come to life.  

10w for March 30th, Jesus & Pilate, NL.

The following is a 10 minute worship for March 30th, Jesus & Pilate, 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 Christ Our Savior Lutheran singing Abide with me.

10w for March 30th, Blind and seeing, L4.

The following is a 10 minute worship for March 30th, Blind and seeing, L4. 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 Christ Our Savior Lutheran singing Amazing Grace.

John 9, I saw the light

Narrative Lectionary, John 18, What is truth?

Poem based on 4th Sunday in Lent John 9:1-41

Agendas, agendas

this just does not fit.

We have the world all figured out

and not this

it does not fit.

It is not E=MC2

or blue and yellow make green

This is pigs flying

and cancer cured

and it does not fit into the world

as I have created it.

            And Jesus spat on the ground

            Made clay and put it on his eyes

            And told him to wash in the pool

            Siloam.

How then can this be?

If the world does not run by my/our

fixed rules

Where can I put my trust? 

My faith?

            and his eyes were opened

            through faith

                        in Christ

                        of Christ

Opening Litany based on Psalm 23 and healing the blind man

Pastor:There are times when we seem almost blind to the blessings that surround us.  In the midst of our fear, our pain, our complacency, we either don’t see or don’t care about the Lord’s presence in our lives.  But then something happens, the scales fall from our eyes and we see what has been there all along.

Congregation: The LORD is our shepherd, we shall not be in want for the Lord makes us lie down in green pastures, and leads me beside quiet waters. The Lord restores my soul and guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 

Pastor: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for the Lord is with me; The Lord’s guidance comforts me.

Congregation: For the Lord prepares a table before us in the presence of those who would harm us. The Lord provides us with all we need and our cup of blessing overflows. 

Pastor: Surely goodness and love will follow us all the days of my lives,

Congregation: And we will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

helmet

Sunday March 30^th,  1 Samuel 16: 1 God addressed Samuel: "So, how long are you going to mope over Saul? You know I've rejected him as king over Israel. Fill your flask with anointing oil and get going. I'm sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I've spotted the very king I want among his sons."  Things just weren’t working out as planned.  Israel wanted a king like all the other nations and now that they had a king, and he turned out to be….. well, a king. Hell is truth seen too late. We too have our plans and ideas about how things should be.  Lord knows I have gone down that road time and again in my life.  I think I know and understand the Lord, I get up a head of steam, take off full throttle and wham!!!!!!! into a brick wall.  It is usually after I pick myself up from hitting the brick wall several times that I finally stop following my own lead.  It is then I start to listen to the Lord, look around and find the open door and the Lord who is calling me in a direction I didn’t even know was a direction and I get back on the path God was calling me to all along.  Only this time I have a bruised forehead and bruised ego?  I think the bruised forehead and ego comes from too much “me” in the equation.  I pray that someday I will hear the still small voice first, until then I think maybe I should wear a helmet.  

passion

Monday March 31^st, 1 Samuel 16:  10 Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel. Samuel was blunt with Jesse, "God hasn't chosen any of these." 11 Then he asked Jesse, "Is this it? Are there no more sons?" "Well, yes, there's the runt. But he's out tending the sheep." Samuel ordered Jesse, "Go get him. We're not moving from this spot until he's here." 12 Jesse sent for him. He was brought in, the very picture of health— bright-eyed, good-looking. God said, "Up on your feet! Anoint him! This is the one." 13 Samuel took his flask of oil and anointed him, with his brothers standing around watching. The Spirit of God entered David like a rush of wind, God vitally empowering him for the rest of his life. David was the runt, that is if you are thinking of power and might in earthly terms, if you are thinking of who you want on your side in a knock down drag out fight with a giant, well, perhaps it is a good idea to listen to God.  God sees the whole strength thing a bit different.  God thinks of who would be best on your side, not so much in a fight, but more often in a solution.  Yes I know David beat Goliath and there is the whole military strategist’s side to him, but in the end, the real power, from the slingshot to the grave, came in his passion and his devotion to God.  It was not always without a glitch however.  Bathsheba is but one of many examples of passion gone astray, but always there was an equally passionate return to the Lord.  How about you, do you gather your strength in selfish pursuits or in passionately returning to the Lord?  If it is in returning to the Lord, then everyone around you also benefits.  That passion is catching and maybe that’s the point.

pretty dim

Tuesday April 1^st, Ephesians 5:  8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.  Just as light allows us to see the world as it is, the light of the Lord allows us to see the world as it should be.  As it should be, as in the way it was created, and as in what it was called at creation, which was and still is, good.  When our eyes are open we can look into the eyes of others and see there the good of God within them.  Yes I know, there are the Hitler’s of the world as well as those who want to call everyone they disagree with, Hitler.  There are many others that differing diverse groups would put into the same scoundrel category, but, I believe God, can see even see good in them.  After all, are they more evil, or are they more successful in the quest for power and control we are all quite capable of?  The light of Christ always turns our souls back to seeing the love of Christ.  The love of Christ as it is manifest in our lives, and the love of Christ as it is manifest in the lives of others.  Sometimes I must admit, that light is pretty dim, but it is there and God did call creation good including the dimmest among us, which is a category we all inhabit from time to time. 

blind

Wednesday: April 2^nd, John 9:  1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" For some there just has to be a cause and effect reason.  Otherwise they have to accept the idea that they too, could be blind someday if they aren’t already.  If there is a cause and effect reason, then I am safe, or at least have the illusion of being in control.  Sometimes the illusion of being in control feels safer than faith.  How often do we practice external judgment as a substitute for internal faith instead of an internal judgment and an external faith?  But then of course, we would never judge others like that unless they are a convicted criminal, or a drug dealer, or a drug user, or an Islamic terrorists, or an unwed mother, or someone who complains too much, or is overweight,  or, or, or, or, or, or……………………………………..  all an attempt to keep reality at bay and us in control.  God offers a different approach.  No matter what befalls us in life, be it good or ill in the eyes of the world, we are never alone.  God is always with us. Instead of right or wrong, God offers a relationship. 

dirt

Thursday April 3^rd, John 9:  6 Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. 7 "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.  8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, "No, he only looks like him." But he himself insisted, "I am the man."  Mud and spit, was it magical, miracle or mercy?  The Pool of Siloam is in Jerusalem, in ancient times it was noted as a place of healing.  Jesus simply makes mud out of the earth and some spit, not a very appealing healing package, and applies it to the eyes and tells him to go wash in the pool.  If we think magical, then it was all Jesus and the spit.  If we think miracle, then the earth is available for us to bring forth cures for the world, healing for the ill, hope for the hungry.  If you think mercy, then it is God who created humanity from the humus recreating this one example of humanity as he was called to be. So for you and I the correct answer is a combination of #2 and #3.  God has given us all we need in this world to care for ourselves and to care for one another.  With the help of God and the creation of God, miraculous things can be done, and those broken, from whatever they are broken from, can be made whole once again, restored to the family of God and the family of man.  Just some spit and some dirt, imagine the possibilities and protect this precious planet God has given us for the miracles yet to be found. 

cured

Friday April 4^th, John 9:  24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. "Give glory to God," they said. "We know this man is a sinner."  25 He replied, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!"  26 Then they asked him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"  27 He answered, "I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?"  Their parameters of understanding were set.  Sin was involved, someone was guilty, because otherwise it would not fit within their world view.  The man born blind simply tells his story.  In a world of skeptics and power, can we do any better?  In the end, aren’t we all just called to tell our story and how it interacts with the story of God?  It is through stories that our eyes are open and we begin to see the presence of God in the world round us as well as in our lives.  It is through people telling their God stories that we are given the strength to give voice to our God story as well.  It is through these stories that our world and the world around us can begin to see, can be cured from their blindness.   Tell your God story and let the healing begin.  

never alone

Saturday April 9^th, John 9: 34 to this they replied, "You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!" And they threw him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" 36 "Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him."  37 Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you."  38 Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." The reaction to the loss of control is often anger.  Jesus’ reaction to the victims of that anger is the gift of the presence of God.  Jesus is there for each and every person in this world.  But when we are overly concerned with maintaining our power and control, the only thing we accomplish is blinding ourselves to this present hour and situation.  We think we walk alone, out of choice, and out of ignorance of what our man made walls are keeping us from seeing.  It is when we find ourselves truly in the dark for the first time, our batteries dead, our ambitions gone and our control and anger and ego deflated, that we begin to see what was there all along, Christ, calling us to be a part of the family of God.  Sometimes it is only when we find ourselves blinded by shining our own light in our own eyes one time too many that we discover that the one taking us by the arm and leading us is Christ.  It is then we too begin to see.  Just like all of us, someday even the ever ready bunny kicks the bucket.  When that happens to us, remember you are never alone.

10w for March 23rd, Living Water for Thirsty People, L3.

The following is a 10 minute worship for March 23rd, Living Water for Thirsty People, L3. 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." There is no song for today as we work out some issues.

10w for March 23rd, Who Could Blame Him, NL

The following is a 10 minute worship for March 23rd, Who Could Blame Him, 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." There is no song for today as we work out some issues.

Hell is truth seen too late

Joe and Sarah get a little rooster theology.

Foot Washing

Oops, forgot to post the animation on foot washing.  Here it is.

Poem based on John 4:5-42

Ahhh!

let me feel the hate

If I could just get in a word

I could nail him

maybe even to a cross

To relish the verbal jab

the well timed cut

the jousting and positioning

until

ready for the kill

I use the phrase I know invokes

deep deep pain

Ahhh!

the joy of the battle

then

I perceive there is no battle

I’m dancing around here like a fool

waving my sword in the air

and no battle.

And Jesus said:

The time is coming when you will

worship neither here or there

when your petty differences matter no more

and you will worship in Spirit

the childishness of our battles is called

to an end.

We are called in for supper

fed

on bread and wine

Body and Blood

forgiveness and love

Opening Litany based on Psalm 95

 

Pastor: Come People of God, let us sing for joy to the Lord and bring forth a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation.

Congregation:  Let us come before the Lord with thanksgiving, music and song, for the LORD is the great God and the above all gods.

Pastor: The Lord holds the whole world in his hands, the depths of the earth, the peaks of the great mountains, the seas teaming with life and the very ground on which we walk and grow our food.  The Lord God has made them all. 

Congregation: Let us bow down in worship and kneel before the LORD our Maker; for the Lord is our God and creator of all, we are the people of God living in the beauty of this creation of God under the presence of our God's creating love and care.

Pastor: Hear the words of the Lord, let the spirit of the Lord guide your ways and your thoughts. Do not harden your hearts or close off your ears to the love and word of the Lord as did our ancestors long ago, for they tested the Lord even after being witnesses to the mighty acts of God's salvation.

Congregation: Lift your anger and judgment from us O Lord though we daily go astray from your ways.  Bring us again to the hope of your salvation so that we may indeed sing for joy to the Lord and bring forth a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation.

buy me a beer

Sunday March 23^rd, Exodus 17:  5 The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah (or Testing) and Meribah (or quarreling) because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"  Massah means testing and Meribah means quarreling, which are not very flattering names.  They are however reminders of what we are all quite capable of from time to time when things do not go our way, or with our timing.  But even with all the grumbling God sent Moses on ahead of the people to lead them.  Out of their testing and grumbling comes the question, Is the Lord among us or not?  We might like to judge, but then again, we often operate in a similar manner.  Amid our grumbling and quarreling we sometime hear or at least ponder the question, is the Lord among us or not?  Amid our fighting and fussing and killing and greed and manipulation of voters rights and elections comes the question, is the Lord among us or not?  The answer of course is yes.  Not because of our fighting and fussing and killing and greed and manipulation, but in spite of those all too often human responses to fear.  We are all quite capable of walking into a room and without the least thought, opening our mouth and deeply offending someone.  All of us can do this at sometimes in our lives, some of us more than others.  When we are in one of those moods, or someone we know is in one of those moods, remember the question, is the Lord among us or not?  Remember, we live in a world of blessing, everything that is not chaos, even the chaos we work hard at creating all by ourselves, is from God.  We all have the right to choose to dwell on what is not going right by our definition and timing.  We must also realize that in the process what we miss is that we are the ones who fail to see the blessings of God.  We have that right, but it is a selfish and sad way to live. 

P.S.  Today is my 65^th birthday.  If you have enjoyed my rants, you might want to think about dropping off a blueberry pie (I am not a big fan of cake so my mother would always make me a blueberry pie with candles for my birthday)  If you are not in the neighborhood and want to say thanks, you can go to www.coslc.ws and buy me a beer in the offering page.  My mother never did that, but I’m sure she would approve.

reading the Bible

Monday March 24^th, Romans 5: 1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.  The message that all too often heard delivered from the Christian community and heard by the community at large is that you really cannot be confident in looking forward to sharing God’s glory.  There is a whole lot of my way or the highway theology out there, and the highway is question often includes flames. William Sloane Coffin talked about engaging those who want little to do with the church in conversation by having them describe the god they do not believe in.  He goes on to say that most of the time he can tell them that as a pastor, he doesn't believe in that god either.  How do we as the children of God present this God we profess to love and be loved by?  It is not always the words we use, but often the way we live our lives.  Out of 100 people, one reads the Bible and the other 99 read the person that reads the Bible.  Do we present ourselves as being in a place of undeserved privilege, confidently looking forward to sharing in God’s glory because of what Christ has done, or do we somehow make it about us and require others to somehow pursue the same path we are on?  Remember, God is in the center and each of us are at a different place in life.  We do not rise to the occasion and go to God so much as respond to God who has already come down to us. Remember, that for God to get to each of us, that often times God must travel a different path.  Before you judge someone else’s path you might want to remind yourself that it is God who is traveling the path, not the person we are judging. 

darkest times

Tuesday March 25^th, Romans 5: 3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.  There are experiences in my life that I am very happy to look back on, and wish not to repeat.  It is often not the easy times that define us and who we are as the children of God, but the difficult ones.  When we find ourselves stripped of all of our bravado and self-glorification and are left only with God in our darkest of times, that is when we know what true light in the darkness is.  When times of trouble come along, do not go it alone.  The rugged individualism of John Wayne ideal is not a Christian example.  Include the family of God, let the voice of God come through others as well as through your own personal prayer.  Then you will begin, at least for a brief moment, to see what God sees in you.  From that point you can often find the path where God has already come to meet you. 

path

Wednesday March 26^th, Romans 5: 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.  This is God centered, not me centered, theology.  We have been saved by Christ taking the ultimate ends of what human centered greed and power can do, and stepping out the other side to show us the way we were called and created to be.  Where ever we go, and where ever we are going, God is already out there ahead of us showing us the way, and calling us to walk along with God on this path.  This is the gift of salvation for a God creation called good.  True to God’s form, it is first called good and then through time and love, made good.  What we are called into is to walk in that created good, fully aware that it is all a gift from God.  God is walking with you today, on the path God has set before you.  Are you following or are you trying to lead?

outsider x3

Thursday March 27^th, John 4:  21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." 25 The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."  26 Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."  This is the first and best example of Christ choosing evangelists in his ministry.  She is a Samaritan (outsider) woman (outsider) drawing water at noon because with her background in marriage the other Samaritan women most likely won’t let her get water with them in the coolness of the early morning or evening (outsider).  This outsider times three blessed and sent on her way by the triune God who is out ahead making things right in a world full of wrongs.  We often hear of her being a harlot, somehow attributing her fate to her actions.  Perhaps that is because as we look at ourselves that is often the case.  The story however says only that she was gathering water around noon and had been married five times and was not dependent upon someone to whom she was not married.  Were we to describe her as someone from our “tribe” or “group” or “belief system” we could perhaps see her as victim.  All too often however we see her as perpetrator or harlot.  Jesus saw her as neither.  Jesus saw her as child of God, created in the image of God and chooses her to be the first, and I might add quite successful, evangelists.  Jesus saw her and recognized her for who she was, which in Jesus’ eyes was a child of God.  Last week we heard of Nicodemus who couldn’t quite figure out who Jesus was.  This week we hear of the Samaritan Woman who perceived him as a prophet.  Both fulfilled their calling as a child of God.  What about you???

barrier

Friday March 28^th, John 4:  27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?"  28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him. The disciples didn’t know what to say.  Here was Jesus, their Rabbi and Master, talking to an outsider times three.  What in the world would possess him to do this?  And then surprise of surprises, she takes off and starts the church while they are still scratching their heads wondering how to stop her.  They had been in that town buying supplies, but never stopped to see the people for who they were, the children of God looking for direction.  Jesus on the other hand looked into the eyes of the woman at the well and saw there a child of God.  Paulo Freire in his book, “The Pedagogy of the Oppressed” talks of inviting persons into a situation that must remain unchanged is an act of violence.   Too often in history the church has acted like the disciples, not the outsider times three.  Perhaps it is because for many centuries now, the church has been an insider trying to reach out to outsiders by expecting them to do things and think like insiders.  If Jesus had his way we wouldn’t even be having these discussions about illegal immigrants, he would want us to treat them like people of God who have something to offer this world, and who in the process would change the conversation.  What barriers do we place between the church and the people we are trying to reach?  What is one barrier we in the church can take down this year?

planting

Saturday March 29^th, John 4:  39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.  42 They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world." The church is started, washed in the living water and full of hope and expectation.  It was not the righteousness of the woman that did it, it was the word of God that filled their hearts.  In our worship communities, it is not the pastors or priests that are called to go and tell, it is the people, each one with a different story of God’s love and lives filled with enough garbage to sink a ship.  Come and see is the message.  Jesus saw all the garbage in my life, Jesus saw all the pain in my life, Jesus saw all the hope in my life and called me to bring you this good news.  My life is not changed, it is changing.  It is the day by day, moment by moment, deed by deed that others see, and that is what connects with the hole in their own lives.  Perfection and righteousness never won anyone to Christ, only the living word, seeing exactly who we are and changing our lives one little piece at a time brings about acceptance and change in others.  The outsider times three becomes for us an example of how to plant a church.  

10w for March 16th, Intimacy, NL.

The following is a 10 minute worship for March 16th, Intimacy, 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: “One of Us” by Joan Osborne from her album Relish. You can find this album and others at www.joanosborne.com.

10w for March 16th, Signs of God.

The following is a 10 minute worship for March 16th, Signs of God. 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: “Lo, I am with You” by John Bell and the Wild Goose Worship group from the album and songbook There is One Among Us. You can find the album and more information about the group at www.ionabooks.com.

Opening litany based on Psalm 121

Pastor: I lift up my eyes to the mountains, I search and wonder where does my help come from?

Congregation; Our help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth who will not let our foot slip and watches over us day and night

Pastor: Indeed the LORD watches over us and will be the shade at our right hand

Congregation: The sun will not harm us by day nor the moon by night for the LORD will keep us from all harm and will watch over our lives.

Pastor: The LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Congregation: Where does our help come from?  Our help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth who will not let our foot slip and watches over us day and night

Poem based on John 3:1-17

Perched high in our own protection

we search

looking for that one someone out there

who will give us

                almost

what we are looking for

that one someone who will drag us along

on coattails of almost making it

We search the crowd

                busy and on its way

for one

lover

                                friend

                                                teacher

who will give us that edge

                that way

of fulfilling the desires within

sitting here

perched up high and finding nothing

in a world busy preaching but not hearing

I don’t even see the scene change

                (God)

Suddenly a newness splits the air

and is sucked into our

                lungs

                                heart

                                                soul

almost painfully filled with life

                (so loved the world)

drawing us onward into the crowd

                (that Christ was given)

of life and death swirled together

                (that whoever)

in search

                (believes)

of the fullness that must come

                (lives)

from out there somewhere

trauma, trials and wonder

Sunday March 16^th, Genesis 12: 1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." This was the beginning of the book of Genesis before the addition of the stories of creation, fall and flood.  It starts with a man led by God.  Abram, go where God will show you.  Abram, trust this God who is out ahead of you, leading you on to a plan already set in motion.  How would your life be different if you did the same and followed God on a path you did not know?  What paths would your life take from where you are right now if you followed God’s plan for you?  How do you know it is God’s plan and not just some inner desire looking for an avenue of justification?  “Honey, God told me to buy a Harley and tour the lower 48 next year while you work and take care of the kids,” is probably not from God.   “Honey, lets pray about how God is calling us to be more involved in making this community a better place for all children, not just ours” would fit a bit closer to what the Bible tells us would be God’s leading.  God’s leading is rarely about escape from the cares of this world, and most often about diving in and tackling the cares of this world.  When the deep sense of Joy starts to sink in, you know you are getting close to the path God has in mind for you.  It will not be all roses and glory.  All you have to do is read a bit of the story of Abraham to see that, but in the midst of the ups and downs, the trauma, trials and wonder is that unshakable sense of joy in your soul and you just know you couldn’t be anywhere else.    

Abram did not go alone

Monday March 17^th, Genesis 12:  4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.  For a few of us, God calls us to leave and go somewhere new.  The path is not easy, even Abram did not go alone.  Abram had the voice of God calling him and urging him on.  We have the scriptures, which is the voice of God calling many through the ages and urging them, and us, on.   If, after fervent prayer, your calling fits a few verses in scripture, or what someone else tells you are a few verses in scripture just for you, you might want to double check.  If however, after fervent prayer, your calling fits the general pattern of the teachings of Christ, and is particular to your gifts and talents and dreams from down in your soul, you might want to listen.  Remember Abram was 75 when he started down the path God had set before him. You can be sure there was lots of fervent prayer over the years before his journey began.  A true calling is less what you want to do and more what have to do, no matter how many times you have prayed to get out of it.  Once you are on the path, it won’t be easy, but your soul will know it is home, and so will your heart.  The journey is not always to a far country, more often than not it is right where you have planted yourself and are growing.  In those cases the calling is simply to bloom as an active child of God where you are planted.  There are cases however when, like Bilbo Baggins, you need to ready yourself for an adventure.   

knees

Tuesday March 18^th, Romans 4:  1-3 So how do we fit what we know of Abraham, our first father in the faith, into this new way of looking at things? If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we're given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story. What we read in Scripture is, "Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own."  What a beautiful description of the God life, Abraham entered into what God was doing for him.  If it is the other way around, you are just misusing the scriptures to justify your own gig, and that fits under the eating of the tree thing in Genesis.  As in all cases of the God directed life, God is the director and Abraham is the actor.  Have you entered into what God is already doing for you?  God, who is out front, scouting the land, checking the contacts, God who had created everything and knows just how you will fit best into the overall plan, have you entered into this God-director in your life?  Abraham was not special because of being Abraham.  Abraham was special because he gave up trying to be Abraham’s Abraham and started being God’s Abraham.  Instead of limping along on 2 cylinders, the turbo kicked in and Life came alive.  What is your life like?  Is it two or turbo?  The best way to get into turbo is to stop what you are doing and get down on your knees.  

less free time

Wednesday March 19^th, Romans 4:  17-18 We call Abraham "father" not because he got God's attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. Isn't that what we've always read in Scripture, God saying to Abraham, "I set you up as father of many peoples"? Abraham was first named "father" and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn't do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, "You're going to have a big family, Abraham!"  I like that vision, first named and then became.  You are a child of God, God named you and then God claims you.  God has called you before you were born, sanctified you at your birth and commissioned you at your public baptism, and now it is up to you to let God have the reins and let you run to where you have always belonged.  Which do you tend more to do, go to church or gather for worship?  If it is the former, you are still in charge and your life is going nowhere compared to where it could go if let God have the reins.  If you miss worship some Sunday do you have more time for you and your family or do you have an empty feeling inside.  If all you've gained is more time and maybe an empty laundry basket, you are missing the point of having that time and what life is all about.  Live into God’s calling for you and your life, you might have less free time, but every moment will be precious.  

wowie zowie church experience

Thursday March 20^th, John 3: 1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." 3 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."  Nick comes to Jesus at night seeking the light in the midst of the chaos of darkness.  The term “born again” in Greek means to be born from above.  Too many Pentecostals try to conger up the born again experience in their own lives and end up with only being born from below and an endorphin rush.  Sort of a one night stand with God they hope to repeat someday through great music and a wonderful wowie zowie church experience.  Too many main line Protestants are afraid they will lose control and end up speaking in tongues or wanting to go on a mission and hold the spirit at bay and learning many good Biblical principles in church when they get around to going.  Both extremes suffer from wanting to be in charge.  God tries to work through these barriers and sometimes succeeds but all too often our free will gift to be able to say no wins the day and in the process loses the spirit.  On a continuum between God control and your control, where would you mark where your life is right now?  I don’t know if it is true, but we are told that prayer can move mountains, I do know it can move the mark between God control and self-control.  Evangelicals need a bit more self-control.  Main-line Protestants need a bit more God control.