10w for August 3rd, I Was Hungry, 8th Pentecost.

The following is a 10 minute worship for August 3rd, I Was Hungry, 8th Pentecost. 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 "Round the Table" by Dakota Road from the CD Boundless Love  http://www.dakotaroadmusic.com/index.php?p=catalog&parent=4&pg=1

10w for August 3rd, Love One Another, 1st John 4.

The following is a 10 minute worship for August 3rd, Love One Another, 1st John 4. 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 "Show the Way" by Ed Kilbourne from the CD "the Greatful Ed" https://www.edkilbourne.com/store.html

Poem for 8th Sunday after Pentecost Matthew 14:13-21

I was filled with hunger

longing for something to fill

the ache in my stomach

and longing hear every word

from the mouth of my Savior

I longed to be filled

and healed

to know the truth

and feel it in my should

and in my stomach

Take this bread and eat

as the loaves were passed

This is my body

as the people gathered

and shared Christ’s love through a loaf of bread

This is my body

Shared

Enough for the whole world

and the more shared

the more abundant was the love

and life

help me Lord to turn to my neighbor

Give

and say

The Body of Christ

Given for You

Opening Litany based on Psalm 145:8-21

Pastor: The LORD is gracious and compassionate; slow to anger and rich in love.

Congregation: The LORD is good to all and has compassion on all creation and creatures.

Pastor: All of creation Praises You O Lord and the people of faith extol you and tell of your glory day in and day out in what they say and in what they do so that all will know the wonders of the Lord.  

Congregation: Your love and your kingdom is forever and ever, your loving rule for all generations.

Pastor: Who can you trust but the Lord who upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down?

Congregation: The eyes of all look to the Lord and the Lord supplies enough and desires for all to have enough food at the proper time, for the Lord’s open hand desires that every living thing have enough to live and flourish. 

Pastor: The Lord is righteous and faithful, near to all who truthfully call upon the name of the Lord

Congregation: The Lord works to fulfill the desires of all the children of God.  The Lord hears the cries of the despised and saves them from all who would destroy them.

Pastor: My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD.

Congregation: Let every creature praise the holy name of the Lord forever and ever. Amen!

Come all who are thirsty

Sunday August 3^rd Isaiah 55:  1 "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. This is the invitation to the Land of the Lord.  What if!!?!!! What if that was the way the world worked?  What if the children of God, all who claim that, no matter what name they use for God, worked toward this vision?  What if the children of the world had at least the minimum for life? What if the children coming across the southern borders were treated as the children of God?  What if the children in Gaza didn’t have to die because of the hard heartedness of the Palestinian and Israeli leaders?  What if!!?!? Reality Check!!!! 1 in 10 children in this world dies before age 5 in developing nations - hunger being a primary cause. (1 in 165/ U.S.)  That reality is not God's reality nor is it God's calling, however; it is the result of the world as we have made it.  But, What if we were to put as much energy, ambition, imagination and money into following God's plan as we do into the antithesis of God's plan, war.  The US spends as much on military as does the rest of the world.  What if?!?!?  What if a quarter of what is spent on military was spend seeing to it that all had enough to eat and live, would we not then have more than enough military to fit our needs? Most of the deaths of children in this world are a result of the greed of those who sell the weapons to the nations who then find a need to use them.  The U.S. is one of the largest supplier of weapons.  Come all who are thirsty is the call of the God we claim to serve. 

what we think of you

Monday August 4^th  Isaiah 55:  2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. 3 Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. How much of your income, your time, and your labor, goes to what does not satisfy?  Seek ye first the kingdom of God, we do not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  Well reality check!!!!  There are many things we do that we might not enjoy, but that contribute to the quality of life.  I am washing clothes as I write this.  But it would not take a rocket scientist to do a time and income flow chart for our lives to determine what we value most by what we spend the most time and money on.  Sadly, it is not kingdom life.  A seminary professor challenged us to use this offertory prayer: After all we say and do, this is what we think of you.”   I have only used it once, there was a little nervous laughter.  How does your time management and cash flow stack up against your priorities, God’s priorities for you?  After all you say and do, what do your actions say about God?

world of scarcity

Tuesday August 5^th  Isaiah 55: 5 Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor."  These were the people of God, chosen by God to be a light to the world.  Well, they didn’t do a great job.  But before we get all righteous, let us recall that through Christ that same mantle has been given also to us, and we haven’t done such a great job either.  God’s vision is a land of peace where there is enough for all, equity for all, justice for all, food for all, no one having too much and no one having too little.  We still have half the nation angry because we try to assist with health care. We still have calls to cut veterans benefits and food stamps and unemployment to pay for the tax cuts for the already way too wealthy.  How can we move our communities, our churches, our nations to be closer to God’s vision?  Impossible you say?  Remember what happened with the feeding of the multitudes in Matthew 14?  If we see the miracle as Jesus multiplying the food, then we live in a world of scarcity.  If we see the miracle as Jesus opening the hearts and multiplying the love so that people share the food that was given to them by God, then we live in a world of plenty.  

How long?

Wednesday August 6^th Matthew 14:  13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.  What had happened was Herod’s banquet, where many were fed, all were entertained with dancing, and the dessert was John’s head served up on a platter.  Power politics at its finest, all the insiders fed and entertained and all the outsiders and dissidents silenced.  It was a feast fit for a king.  In a takeoff on Buechners definition of anger from his book “wishful thinking” however, what Herod was wolfing down was himself, the skeleton at the feast was him.  Sometimes the ways of the world, the ways of power and politics and might and money get to be too much, even for Jesus.  Sometimes we all need to take time to withdraw to a solitary place before we can once again tackle the hate and victim filled drive toward power in this world.  How many victims of terrorists, and victims of ill-conceived responses to terrorism will it take before the people cry with Christ, enough? How many children will die from hunger and want while we bomb Gaza and scream at those crossing our borders will it take?  How many times will we let the anger within us rule the day?  How long until we see all the children of God as being the children of God and then act with Christ and do something about it!!  How long?

Herod or hillside

Thursday August 7^th, Matthew 14: Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.  Who were the ones responding to presence of Jesus in this way?   We can be quite sure it was not the guests from Herod’s banquet who enjoyed the head of John the Baptists for dessert.  I believe rather it was the uninvited, unwelcomed and the unworthy in the kingdom of power politics.  These were the victims of power, the masses.  These are the ones we are asked to reach out to.  These are the ones who invited, welcomed and worthy in the Kingdom.  These are the ones who make up the kingdom of God here and now.  And what did Jesus do?  Was it a self-absorbed response, “People, Come on, I just need a little space right now”?  Was it empathetic, “I feel your pain; you must all feel so bad right now”?  Was it self-help, “follow these ten easy steps and you too can be an up and coming person of power in this world”?  No!! It was rather a call to the kingdom life, Blessed are you when you are down and out, blessed are you when you help the down and out, blessed are you when you get in trouble for helping the down and out.  Hear the words of God, be there for one another, treat others justly, share what you have.  The new reality of the kingdom in a world long locked in an old reality power base and what’s in it for me.  Which kingdom, Herod or hillside, is the church called to be?  Which kingdom, Herod or hillside is the church in reality?  Which kingdom, Herod or hillside are you and the ones you? Which kingdom, Herod or hillside does your vote put in our state and national capitols?   Which Kingdom?

Herod’s system

Friday August 8^th, Matthew 14: 15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food."  Great seminar Jesus!!!  The people learned a lot that they can apply to parts of their lives.  Now before things get ugly because they think you have gone on too long let’s send them back into the imperial kingdom.  That is where Herod’s system and Herod’s economics will feed them.  That is where they may be able to get a minimal job someday with minimal pay to try to feed themselves and their families.  We on the other hand will go on and listen to you some more, biding our time until you establish the Kingdom and we become leaders in your cabinet of power.  Jesus instead calls us to a different reality.  A reality where it is the least, lost and lonely who are called.  It is a reality where all are part of the Kingdom of God and where all are welcome.  It is a reality where Isaiah’s call, "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost” becomes our call as the children of God in this world. Jesus’ reality for the world is not just different from the imperial reality, it is counter to it.  What would Jesus call you to do?  What are you doing?

dirty, Kingdom living

Saturday August 9^th, Matthew 14: 16 Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." 17 "We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered. 18 "Bring them here to me," he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.  The Kingdom is near.  You give them something to eat!!  Don’t look at what appears to be scarcity; You give them something to eat.  Don’t look at recidivism rates; You give them something to eat.  Don’t worry about getting your hands dirty, You give them something to eat.  Don’t look at how this will affect your political party base, You give them something to eat.  It is not busting unions while giving tax money and breaks to big business, it is You give them something to eat.  Don’t worry about taxing your wealthy friends who fund your campaigns so you can get reelected and screw the little people all over again, You give them something to eat.  This is not come to church on Sunday and be done with it stuff, this is get down in there and get your hands dirty, Kingdom living.  It is not pie in the sky by and by in white robes righteousness living, it is blue jeans and roll up your sleeves day to day that is the righteousness of God living.  Welcome to the Kingdom, now get out of the pews and get to work and You give them something to eat!!!!

10w for July 27th, RCL, "The Whatifs Will Not Win"

The following is a 10 minute worship for July 27th, RCL, "The Whatifs Will Not Win" 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 "I Am the Resurrrection" by John Michael Talbot from the CD "Our Blessing Cup" Used with permission. Please support the ministry of John Michael Talbot by purchasing this or another CD at: http://johnmichaeltalbot.com/complete-discography

10w for July 27th, NL, "Greater is God's Grace Within You."

The following is a 10 minute worship for July 27th, NL, "Greater is God's Grace Within You." 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 "I Am the Resurrrection" by John Michael Talbot from the CD "Our Blessing Cup"  Used with permission.  Please support the ministry of John Michael Talbot by purchasing this or another CD at: http://johnmichaeltalbot.com/complete-discography

1st John, Radical Love

1st John, I'm OK, Really!

10w for July 20th NL "End of Deceit"

The following is a 10 minute worship for July 20th NL "End of Deceit". 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” used by permission from Dakota Road, from their album “Break These Chains.” You can find this album and others at the group’s website, www.dakotaroadmusic.com. 

   

10w for July 20th, RCL "Wheat & Weeds"

The following is a 10 minute worship for July 20th, RCL "Wheat & Weeds". 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 of the day is “We have a dream” used with permission from Heatherlyn from her album “Storydwelling.” You can find this album and others at her website, http://www.heatherlynmusic.com. 

Opening Litany for July 27th, based on Psalm 119:129-136

Worship Leader: Your laws and principles make sense to me, when I think of how my life would be if I were to follow them, I feel the awakening of Joy in my heart.

 Congregation: As I look into your words, each layer unfolds to bring more light into my life.  When I read them my life seems to come into focus and I long for a deeper understanding. 

Worship Leader: Let your face shine upon us O Lord, and continue to bath us in the light of your mercy. 

Congregation: Lead me down the path you would have me go in life and do not let my sins draw me to one side or the other.

Worship Leader: For you O Lord have brought salvation to all humankind, that all may be free from oppression, political, spiritual, cultural and economic and may live in the glory of your ways. 

Congregation: May the light of your ways continually shine upon us O Lord as we learn your ways,

Worship Leader: and may we never depart from the path you have set us upon. 

Congregation: Let us feel the consequences should we ever stray from your path so that our lives may be an example of grace to all who know us.  

Poem for July 27th, Matthew 13:44-52

I confess that I am by nature sinful and unclean

Give us this day our daily bread

In God we trust

Our Father who art in heaven

I believe in God the Father Almighty

Words, words, words, words!

Right under our eyes, ears, noses

Shining so bring we sometimes fail to see

In our but it’s bright and sunny

---- I’m too tired

---- I’ve too much to do

---- ho-hum Sunday mornings

right there all the time

the very thing we spend a life searching for

only to find

it’s given

given

and sometimes for a brief moment

when we hear a new born baby cry

or the final breath of a life long friend

we hear also the words we speak

and the love and hope they carry

and see the shinning treasure

of the kingdom is like..

in Christ’s outstretched hands

Opening Litany for Narrative Lectionary, 1st John.

Worship Leader: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—

Congregation: this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

Worship Leader: If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 

Congregation: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Worship Leader: Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 

Congregation: Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.

Worship Leader: For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

Congregation: Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Worship Leader: This is how we know that we love the children of God: 

Congregation: by loving God and carrying out his commands.

Poem based on Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

We live in the world

Full of grace

And full of fear

Among those who have not heard

---- are longing to hear

---- struggling

---- and could care less

to just hear

the Word

Give me grace Lord

Give me Peace

Give me the strength to see the weeds

As God’s children

---- who have not heard

---- are longing to hear

---- struggling

---- or could care less

to feed them the Word you have given me

the Word that can transform

and does transform

children like me

into the children of God

Opening Litany based on Psalm 86

Worship Leader: Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy, a member of the least lost and lonely and you have promised to be there for me and all who trust in you.

Congregation: You are my God;  have mercy on me and bring joy into my life O Lord, as I learn to put my trust in you.

Worship Leader: You hear my prayers O Lord when I cry for mercy. You are forgiving and good and abounding in love to all who call to you.

Congregation: There is nothing in this world or beyond that is like you O Lord. All nations and powers will come before you and bow O Lord, for you are great and do marvelous deeds for all your people.

Worship Leader: Teach me to rely on you fully O Lord, that I may praise you with my whole being and glorify your name forever. 

Congregation: For great is your love which has delivered me from the depths.

Worship Leader: Those who live in fear and surround themselves with power attack me and all the least and lost for they have no regard for you O Lord.  But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

Congregation: Show me your mercy and strength O Lord and let me see your goodness.  Let the arrogant and powerful be put to shame and learn to turn to you where they will find the comfort I have found in you. 

ask the kid to pray

Sunday July 20^th, Romans 8: 26 in the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. Ever notice how whenever the pastor is around for some occasion, he or she is the one asked to pray.  I believe that is because others think we have all the fancy words that will impress God and therefore God will listen and the job will get done.  It is true that pastors have more practice than most at the whole praying in public thing, but then again, that may be a problem.  Pastors who are used to praying in public therefore, knowingly or unknowingly, tend to slip into a pattern.  The early TV host, Art Linkletter created a whole genre of interviewing kids, which was accompanied with articles and books titled, “Kids say the darndest things."   Most of the darned things they came up with were simple truths stripped of their public veneer.  Most adults found it cute and quant, perhaps because that is what they would say without their self-imposed restriction of a public veneer, and perhaps it was always about someone else’s parents and not themselves.  The next time there is a gathering where a pastor is present, don't ask him or her to pray, do yourself and them a favor and ask them instead to listen.  Then ask the kid among you, or someone new to the faith, or anyone other than the pastor to pray, and then listen as truth reaches into the world.  What you will most likely hear is the spirit speaking.

That is our baggage

Monday July 21^st, Romans 8:   28  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. Predestination is not a subject for most cocktail conversation, or even church conversation for that matter.  Martin Luther and Calvin went round and round on it no doubt boring anyone within earshot to tears before too long.  Most theologians today tiptoe quietly past the subject lest they run the risk of boring anyone within earshot to tears.  Not that it is not an interesting subject, but it is one to which there is no answer, only more questions.  My wife, after having spent too much time in a Bible study that broached the subject, throws up her hands and mutters something like, “Oh, No, No, No, No, I don’t want to go there again should the subject be brought up.  So let us take a look at what Paul says.  God works for the good of those who love him and who have been called, they may be the same people, but then again, they may not.  When you throw in all those who are called however, that pretty much includes us all.  Those God foreknew are predestined to be like his son, Jesus.  God created all that is, proclaimed it good and created humanity in the image of God, and so like Jesus, and therefore called good.  Those who are predestined, are called, justified and glorified, and since God foreknew all that was and called it good, then we can only conclude that all are called, justified and glorified.  Some of us don’t respond very well to that call most of the time, and all of us don’t respond very well to that call some of the time.  That is our baggage on our side of the equation.  On God’s side of the equation, all are called, justified and glorified and our task is to learn to live with that, in ourselves, and perhaps more importantly, in others.  

The Kingdom is like Kudzu

Tuesday July 22^nd, Matthew 13:   31 He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches."  From my experience with mustard, my first thought is that I don’t have the foggiest idea what Jesus is talking about here.  I used to pull lots of mustard out of the oats when I was growing up on the farm.  It had a green stem and leaves and yellow flowers and it wasn’t much bigger than the grain among which it grew.  But hearing the parable contextually, perhaps we could substitute a Redwood seed for a mustard seed.  The kingdom of heaven is like a small little thing that finds root and grows and grows and lives and lives.  Or, the Kingdom of heaven is like an apple seed that grows into a full beautiful tree providing shelter and nourishment for all in the kingdom.  Or to take on the obnoxious nature of the mustard pant we could say the kingdom is like chickweed that takes over your garden.  The Kingdom is like Kudzu that you planted in your garden, that took over and covered over all the things you planted.  The kingdom of heaven is like, and Jesus offends his hearers by suggesting the Kingdom of God is like a garden in which an unclean weed is planted, violating the diverse kinds rule from Leviticus 19:19 and making your garden unfit to produce anything to be used for holy purposes.  My take???  The kingdom of God is like an invasive weed you plant in your garden and takes over, covering all the things we think are important until all you see is Kingdom stuff.  

wort

Wednesday July 23^rd, Matthew 13: 33 He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough." I sometimes brew a batch of beer while I write these meditations.  In the kitchen I cook up the grains, boil the wort, add some hops to counter the sweetness with some bitterness and then cool it down before I add the yeast.  The yeast comes in a foil pouch with nutriment and some yeast cells in a small packet inside.  I often brake open the inside packet the night before so the yeast and the nutriment can mix and grow.  By the time I us it, the packet of yeast looks like it is ready to explode.  The yeast has come in contact with the nutriment and is working and growing.  After mixing it in the cooled wort, it will start working even more using the sugar in the beer wort as nutriment.  By the next day the water in the airlock will just be bubbling away and if you look in the glass jug, it will almost seem to be alive with movement.   The Kingdom of heaven is like the yeast in a batch of beer, a little bit is added, and before you know it the whole batch comes alive and is transformed into something new.  After a little clarifying and maturing, this something new is also very refreshing.  Sometimes we humans like to try to skip the clarifying and maturing part.  Yeast in wort is just not the same as beer.  The clarifying and maturing is where the faith community comes in. The result is refreshing and often brings celebration

scratched the surface

Thursday July 24^th, Matthew 13: 44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.  45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. If you could buy the kingdom of heaven, what would it cost?  Could you get it for some lose change in your pocket?  Could you buy it with your savings?  Would you have to take out a loan, and mortgage the wife, kids, car, boat, house, soul? I had a friend of mine ask me while he was dying, What is heaven like?  I had to tell him that I didn't know, but that every attempt to describe it only scratched the surface, but even then described a place of beauty, joy, peace and love.  I asked him to let me know if he could.  He passed away a couple of hours later, at peace and surrounded by his loving family.   It has been close to 30 years and I haven't heard from him yet.  I think it has more to do with him being busy enjoying himself than anything else.  He found out he couldn’t buy it, it was a gift.  

wheat from tares

Friday July 25^th, Matthew 13:  47 "Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.  Oh, how we want to interpret this as an insider/outsider tale.  We of course are the good fish in that scenario.  But let us break it down.  First the kingdom is like a net that catches all kinds of ….. the English translation is fish. In fact, the word "fish" does not occur in the text, but "all kinds of things" and "good things and rotten things". "Rotten" things would not be a proper term to use for freshly caught fish. Elsewhere in Matthew it is used of bad or rotten fruit (7:17, 18; 12:33). Do you get that, All Kinds of things.  Next, it is the kingdom that does the catching, not fancy programs or lures or bait. The image is one of a net dragged along that just picks up everything whether it wants to get picked up or not.  If churches are not doing kingdom work then it is just entertainment.  Entertainment is not bad, but it is still only entertainment, it is only showing the insiders the lure you might use if you ever get around to going fishing.  Next, in all these separation texts, wheat from tares, sheep from goats, good fish from bad fish, we need to ask ourselves if they are about individuals or groups.  Is what is being separated the chaff within the community or the chaff within ourselves?    

use-to-be blues

Saturday July 26^th, Matthew 13: Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old."  The Church should always be ancient/modern.  Ancient, in that it tells of God's interplay with humanity through the ages.  Modern in that the old old story is told in a new new way every day. There are the timeless stories like creation that tell us deep truths about God, and the time bound stories of Israel’s passage through the centuries.  Worship should always be contextual, meaning that it relates to what is going on in people’s lives today.  Attempts to bring the church back to the heydays of yesteryear, while it may bring comfort to those from yesteryear, it also brings irrelevance for mission today.  The Ancient/Modern context of scripture is always attempting to frame the beautiful story of yesteryear in the language of today.   If you are bothered that the church doesn't do things the way it used to, that discomfort is most likely the kingdom calling you to get involved in mission.  The best cure for the use-to-be blues is outreach fever.  

10w for July 13th, Incarnational love.

The following is a 10 minute worship for July 13th, Incarnational love.   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 "Born of Blood and Love" by Bryan Sirchio from the CD "J-Walking: Songs for Justice Walkers"  http://www.sirchio.com/index.php?page=cds&viewas=list

10w for July 13th, Work the soil, P5.

The following is a 10 minute worship for July 13th, Work the soil, P5.   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 "Right by the water" by Dakota Road from the CD "Break These Chains"  http://www.dakotaroadmusic.com/index.php?p=catalog&parent=4&pg=1
 

1st John 1, Incarnational Community

A little Incarnational Jesus. Pastor Dan, along with Moses welcome John for a discussion.

Poem based on Matthew 13:1- 9,18-23 The Parable of the Sower

A small kernel

Lifeless

Except for what is inside

Slowly comes to life

Sending down roots

And up tender shoots

Seeking only nurturing and light

And the community

The children of God

Gather around

We receive you as a fellow member of the body of Christ

A worker with us

In the kingdom of God

Is how it is suppose to be

How busy

How stuck in our ways

How important our programs

And yet

Some grow

Help us dear Lord to till the soil

That allows

Them all

Go grow

Opening Litany based on Psalm 65

Pastor: Praise awaits you O Lord our God for to you our vows will be fulfilled.  To You O Lord who answers prayers, to You all people will come. 

Congregation: When we were overwhelmed by our sinful ways and lives without meaning, you offered forgiveness and purpose.  

Pastor: Blessed are those the Lord has chosen to be the people of God.  As we live our lives near to your calling we find our lives filled with good things from your holy realm. 

Congregation: In our times of need you answer our prayers with awesome righteous deeds.

Pastor: You O Lord are the hope of all the ends of the earth, of all lands near, and all lands far off.  You O Lord are the one who formed the seas and the mountains of the earth, calming the chaos of the roaring waves as well as the turmoil of the nations. 

Congregation: The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.

Pastor: You care for the land you created for us.  You water and enrich it abundantly. 

Congregation: We will care for this creation you have given us sharing the abundance of its harvest.  For you O Lord drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften this gift of creation with showers and bless its crops for all people.

Pastor: You Crown the harvest time with your bounty, the carts overflow with abundance. 

Congregation: The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness.  The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; surely we will join with all creation and shout for joy and sing.

light

Sunday July 13^th, Isaiah 55: 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. As the rain provides nourishment for those plants who consume it, and helps them grow, so too, the word of God provides nourishment for those who consume it and it helps them grow.  We have several plants that have survived despite our tendency to forget to water them.  They have a certain tenacity about them.  Many humans also have that same certain tenacity.  In spite of ignoring the word of God, the spirit continues to work within them and within us.  There comes a point when some of my plants are just too far gone.  I wonder if it is the same with us and God’s word.  My understanding of grace is that there is never an end to it, but looking at my plants sometimes, I wonder just how far the soul can go without nourishment and still survive?  God’s grace is beyond my understanding, but I still would rather not test the hypothesis.  It is a much better idea to live in the light and love of grace your whole life long.  

dance

Monday July 14^th, Isaiah 55: 12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.  What a vision, the trees and all of creation singing and dancing and clapping their hands.  My wife bought a new chair and ottoman several years ago and I love it.  Somehow to me it looks like something from a Disney movie that should start singing and dancing any moment.  We hear that the whole world groans for the time of reconciliation with God, somehow I think that may even include my favorite chair.  If all that is comes from God, and God called all creation good, we have little choice but to celebrate the love of God in this world.  We might be able to stint it for a while, but we can never stop it, so we might as well sing and dance along with it.  Life in Christ, isn’t it grand?!?!  Join the dance.  

already done

Tuesday July 15^th, Romans 8:  1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.  No condemnation, do you get it!!! No, I repeat, No condemnation.  O Lord how we have messed that one up!  We have no condemnation; except for gays, democrats, illegal immigrants, people on welfare, those who have lost their jobs but not those who have given those same jobs away in the name of higher profits .  We have no condemnation; except those who favor a woman’s right to choose or a woman’s right for almost anything these days.  We have no condemnation; except those who lose at whatever they have tried in life even if it be the right thing. 

We have no condemnation for those with guns

and the death penalty for those who kill nuns. 

Every man for himself,

I repeat every man for himself

is the way we live

but damned be the one who tries to forgive. 

The gospel is shamed by our death giving laws

and we go on and on and grace seems to crawl. 

But the Lord will prevail,

the gospel will win,

and with it will come the demise of our sin. 

There is no condemnation,

do you get it not one,

what the law has demanded

has already been done. Amen….!!

all we do

Wednesday July 16^th, Romans 8:  5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. A friend of mine once said, everything we think, do, and say is a prayer.  We just have to ask ourselves, is this a prayer I want to be praying right now?  What are you praying right now?  5 minutes ago?  Last night at 10pm?  Your life is a prayer. Keep your mind in Christ Jesus, life may not be perfect, but it will be more prayerful and peaceful.