Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Practicing Resurrection

Due to a variety of circumstances, this little column never made it into our church's newsletter. There is a great line in here from the poet Wendell Berry that I would encourage us all to live by!

Grace Notes

Greetings!

Grace and peace to you in the name of our resurrected Lord Jesus Christ! I hope this column finds you well, living as a resurrection people. Currently, we are in the middle of the Great Fifty Days, the time from Easter Sunday that leads up to Pentecost Sunday, which falls this year on May 31st. During this time you will notice in worship that the music, liturgy, images, etc. are celebratory, because these Great Fifty Days are the biggest celebration days of the church year.

The last Sunday of May this year is Pentecost Sunday, where we will celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit as well as the birthday of the church. Please don’t miss this important Sunday! In between that, we will observe Mother’s Day on May 10th, and the Ascension of Christ on May 24th.

The observation of these days and the telling of these stories are vital to God’s work in shaping us into who God wants us to be. Attendance to the means of grace (including taking Holy Communion, being a people of prayer, searching the scripture, and attending corporate worship) is, frankly, mandatory to growing in our walk with God. I hope you will be able to join us every Sunday in May!

As we are in the middle of the Great Fifty Days I have been thinking about a phrase from one of my favorite poets, the great Wendell Berry. The phrase is this: “practice resurrection.” How are you practicing resurrection these days? Where do you see new life in your midst? What are you doing to renew and restore and rebuild relationships in your life? What practices are you engaged in that bring you life?

Whatever it is, I hope that you are finding new life during this season of resurrection! I look forward to worshiping with you this month and growing with you into the Body of Christ that God has called us to be!

In Christ,

Rev. Joe Stobaugh

Sunday, May 24, 2009

A Prayer for this weekend!

Two years ago from yesterday I had the great privelage of serving as "Minister of the Day" for the Texas House of Representatives. As I am reflecting upon their work during this season I thought I would check back in and see if I am still onboard with what I wrote back then. Turns out, I mostly am, but with a few years of hindsight I would change a few things. As I'm in-between services this morning I thought I'd post the last half of the speech with the prayer for this weekend. May God bless you as you seek to bless others through love and service!

Representatives of the people of Texas you have been called! You are called to work for the common good. You are called to help make the great state of Texas a blessing of a state that seeks to bless all of its inhabitants. This blessing looks like healthcare that is available to all, regardless of their economic background. This blessing looks like a healthy and sustainable environment where humanity works in partnership with the earth and not as its adversary. This blessing looks like quality education for every child in this state, regardless of where they live. This blessing looks like affordable higher education for all who desire it, not just for the wealthy and middle class. This blessing looks like the eradication of extreme poverty and of the HIV/AIDS virus. These things, brothers and sisters are for the first time in human history actual possibilities within not only my very young lifetime but yours as well! You have the possibility to change the world in ways the rest of human history has never known! Imagine the world that you can leave for our children, for my sixteen month old daughter Eleanor Grace, imagine what that world could look like. May she never know the trials and struggles that so many in this generation have known. So much of this is up to you.
Please remember this day and always the words of the prophet Micah: “God has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
As you go about your important work today, know that these words can serve to guide you. Know that as you finish this busy season that the people of Texas have great hope for you, we are praying for you to be wise, to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly.

Let us pray:
Eternally gracious and loving God, we come before you this morning seeking your presence in this place and striving to do the work that you have called us to do. Lord, as this body struggles with issues that affect all of us, we ask that you send your Spirit to be run amongst this House so that it’s inhabitants would be ever seeking to work for justice for all, towards dignity and respect for all of your Creation, from the smallest insects to the beasts of the fields, from the shallowest ponds to the deepest seas, from the plains to the mountaintops, guide these servants in taking care of your Creation. Yahweh, bring the concerns of your littlest ones to this body. Bring the dreams and hopes and visions of all who reside in this great state to the attention of these women and men. Inspire the hearts of all who legislate in this place to realize that we indeed are responsible for one another: we are our brother’s keeper. Open our eyes to the greatness of this responsibility. As we search for security in this world, teach us the important truth that the fastest way to security is to have justice for all peoples. God, you called these your children to a great work: grant them your wisdom as they deliberate so that your Spirit of unconditional love and justice for all of your people might be made a greater reality, for it is we who are your hands and feet in this world. Be with these people today, God; give them an extra dose of your grace, your love, and your unrelenting passion for justice.
Let all of God’s children say: Amen.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

For Direction

Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings,
with your most gracious favor,
and further us with your continual help,
that in all our works,
begun, continued, and ended in you,
we may glorify your holy name,
and finally, by your mercy, obtain everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Another rainy Monday!

It's raining, again! To be honest, I love it! We just purchased a rain barrel for our house so I'm hopeful that I can get it working in time to take advantage of this recent round of weather.
A few pieces of news, one good, two terrible:

1. It has just been announced that Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American journalist is going to be freed tomorrow!

2. Over the weekend it appears that 125-130 civilians were killed in the western Farah province in Afghanistan during a battle with the Taliban that involved U.S. air strikes. No knows yet who is responsible for this large loss of civilian life: all the parties involve blame the other parties.

3. In Sri Lanka at least 378 civilian died from artillery shelling, over 100 of the dead are children.

As it turns out, you don't have to live by the sword to die by it, you just have to be around people who wield them.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Tuesday's Endorsements

Several issues ago, Esquire magazine came out with a great issues of things that they endorse and it got me to thinking, what would I list as things I endorse. One has to be careful with these things!

Here are the things I'm endorsing today:

1. Haircuts for men at actual barbershops. I went to one yesterday for the first time since I've been out of college and it was great! The hot lather shave piece is completely worth the price! (The haircut was pretty strong as well.)

2. Speaking of Esquire, I endorse the book "The Year of Living Biblically" by A.J. Jacobs, who is an editor-at-large for Esquire. If you haven't read this book yet, stop reading this post, go to Amazon, and order a copy for yourself and one for a friend.

3. The movie "Slumdog Millionaire." I saw it last night for the first time and it is truly amazing! Difficult, challenging, uplifting, and overall incredible.

So, if you are looking for something to do tonight, first of all, tivo Jamie Cullum's appearance on "Dancing with the Stars" (I can't believe I just wrote that) then, hit the redbox or blockbuster or netflix, check out "Slumdog Millionaire" and then get to reading!