This past Sunday I had the opportunity to preach as my poor senior pastor got a bad case of the flu on Saturday night. The phone rang at 6:30 Sunday morning and so I had to scramble! The manuscript below is what I preached from on Sunday. I figured the John text was an acceptable bridge piece coming out of Epiphany as we head towards Lent.
Well, back to my new U2 station on Pandora.com
Have a great day!
Melody and Countermelody: John 1:1-18
Let us pray: Gracious God, Lord of all Creation and author of all good things, open our hearts, our ears, and our minds to your Word this morning. I ask that your Spirit might run amongst your people, that we might be able to see your love for us in new ways and so that we might be about taking your Light into a dark world, as we leave this church a changed people. God, may the words of my mouth and the mediations of my heart be pleasing to you. If they be your words, let them be long remembered, if they are not, please let them be quickly forgotten. Let all of God’s children say: Amen!
This morning I want to share with you the most famous of all Christian poems, the prologue to the Gospel of John. Normally, I would ask you to open your Bibles and read along with me but our passage for this morning was originally a hymn! It’s meant to be sung first and read second. So I pray that you will open your ears, your hearts, and your minds to hear what God has to say to you this morning, because, make no mistake about it, God has a word in this passage of Scripture for you!
Read John 1:1-18
I love those words, don’t you? Parts of the passage are really stunning poetry. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Beautiful, hopeful words. These words are poetic and confessional, but more than that, they draw me, and I hope you, into mystery, awe, contemplation, and worship. The light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not overcome it.
The great preacher and author, Fredrick Buechner, along with many Johannine scholars (that is, those who study The Gospel of John for a living) have pointed out that, in essence, there are two voices speaking in this passage. I hope you’ll forgive the musician in me but to put it in musical terms; there is a melody and a counter-melody here. One voice speaks with beautiful poetry, singing for us lines of stunning theological beauty, while the other voices tends to interrupt that poetry with commentary. This morning we are going to look at these two voices and what they might be singing to us today.
At the very beginning of the Gospel, the voice of the poet is asking his community to sing some amazing claims! John the Evangelist, the one for whom the Gospel of John is named, is telling us who Jesus is and asking us to sing it! He asks us to affirm with our voices that the Word, before the universe was formed, was with God. More than that, he asks us to proclaim that Jesus is the incarnation of God and that not one thing came into being without the Word! He asks us to sing that Jesus brought not only light into the world in his human form but that he also brought true life, eternal life, with him, for all of the people of the world. Jesus is God’s Word! John is telling us something about Jesus that is very significant: Jesus is more than just a good guy, more than just an excellent moralist, more than just a person who was born, lived his beliefs to the fullest and was killed because of them, Jesus is the incarnation of God! Jesus is Lord, Jesus is King! Without the Word none of us comes into being, according to John. I find this to be beautiful, amazing, and, in my darker hours, a hard thing to sing! But sing them I do, because I believe them and I have experienced it. Have you?
In the original Greek, the term used for the Word is Logos. The poetic voice from John claims that Jesus was the Logos. In Greek thought, the Logos was the divine principle of reason that gives order to the universe and links the human mind to the mind of God. So this claim, that Jesus was the Logos, would be an incredible, almost incomprehensible statement in the fluid Hellenistic worldview of the time. Many of you may struggle to believe this as well.
For many of us, this is where wrestling with faith, tradition, Scripture, and reason come in. I can tell you that I believe this because I have had a great many experiences in my life where I have known God is a personal, vibrant way. I grew up in and have studied the traditions of the church, that is the incarnated body of Christ, that show me that, throughout the course of human history, I am not alone in my experience of God. The Scriptures tell me many stories of God and of what God is like. I reason that all of this together has allowed me to accept and proclaim what John is asking of us here.
The amazing piece of all of this is that God chose to condescend, that is to say God chose to take on human form so that God could be in relationship with us, so that God could love us in a more complete way, and so that God could show us how to live so that the Reign of God could come about on earth. Jesus is the bringer of LIFE, something more than just life. He is our shining example of God, because he is God. Jesus shows us what God is like, what God is about, how God loves us, and what God desires for us and of us. Can you imagine it? Have you experienced the state of knowing that God loves you so much, that God would take human form out of love for you and for God’s creation?
Because God desires us to be in relationship with God, and to be reconciled with our Creator, God became human so that God could reveal Godself fully to us. It is amazing, isn’t it?
The second voice jumps in next, the voice of one who seeks to clarify. Here, in verse 6, we hear a voice that is far less poetic and much more practical. This voice tells us that John the Baptist came “as a witness to testify to the light.” Clearly, there must have been some controversy in the latter part of the first century between those who followed John and those who followed Jesus. The controversy must have been such that John the Evangelist needed to address who was who and what was what. The author is telling us that John the Baptist was not the light, that Jesus was and is the light, and there should be no mistaking the two!
Certainly, in our lives we experience similar challenges, don’t we? There are so many good things in life to believe in, so many wonderful places to put our faith, our trust, our lives, and the lives of others. The most immediate example I can think of for me is The ONE Campaign. I’ve even got my ONE Campaign wristband on. I contribute to their work and try to participate however I can. They are advocates for what I believe are the two biggest challenges facing humanity today: extreme global poverty and HIV/AIDS. The ONE Campaign is trying to unite Americans with one voice against global poverty and AIDS with the hope of eradicating both in our lifetimes. The campaign brings together people from across barriers that are usually insurmountable. Both George Clooney and Pat Robertson are members, if you can believe that! The General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church is on-board with The ONE Campaign. I love not only what they are doing but also how they are doing it, and it would be easy for me to pour my life, my faith, and my resources into it, because it is a good thing!
The ONE Campaign is not, however, the greatest thing. It is merely good. It is an organization that is trying to improve life for the least of these and to spread a little light into the world. Jesus, on the other hand, the Logos, the Word of God, is the greatest! Jesus is not just trying to spread the light, Jesus is the LIGHT!!!!
I have to be honest with you, on my best days; I do what I do because I love Jesus. I live in this Christian Community because I love Jesus. My wife Sarah and I give money to the church because we love Jesus and the Scripture that Jesus commands us loved to do that. I know many of you get up on Sunday mornings and head to church for that exact reason. I know many of you go on mission trips, or teach Sunday School, or sing in the choir because you love Jesus. I know many of you do what you do out of love for Jesus.
On my worst days, however, I try to do the right things for the wrong reasons. On my worst days I try to do the right things out of a sense of duty, or out of a sense of, “it’s just the right thing to do.” As followers of Christ we are called to be a transforming and reconciling force in our world. So here’s the problem with acting with the wrong motivation: people are not transformed when you do something because it’s just the right thing to do. People are transformed because of an encounter with the living God! People are transformed because of the experience of the love of God given to them through others, so intentions matter! It’s important to do the right things for the right reasons! We must be vigilant and prayerful for it is easy to lose the Logos in the everyday things of the world.
In verse twelve the poetic voice jumps back in here with the pronouncement that to all who receive Jesus, to all who believe in his name, than they are granted the power to become children of God, who are born of God. In essence, all who believe in Jesus Christ are given the gift of eternal life. This eternal life, though, doesn’t begin when you die, it begins now, in this life! It is the difference between life and LIFE!!!!
The passage concludes with our melody and countermelody bouncing off of one another. The poetic voice tells us that the Word became flesh and lived among us and that we have seen the glory of God’s only Son, full of grace and truth while the pragmatic voice reminds us that the Word is Jesus and not John. The poetic voice ends by telling us that, from Jesus, we have received grace upon grace. The earthy voice reminds us that the law came through Moses while grace and truth came through Jesus Christ and that no one has seen God but that it is through Jesus that God is fully revealed.
John gives us the basic essence of Jesus’ life and mission on earth in these 18 verses. Do you see what this mission is predicated upon? All of this, all that we have remembered in the Advent and Christmas Seasons, and what we will remember in Lent and Holy Week and finally Easter, as we trace the life of Jesus Christ, all of this came about because of love!
Only love would make a deity do this! Only the desire to be in relationship with us would make a deity come to earth! Instead of wiping us out and starting over (something God had been known to do in the past) God chose to sacrifice, to come to us, to love us, to teach us a better way to live, and to begin to reclaim God’s creation through Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, and through us, one person, one system, one creature at a time. Jesus, God, did all of this out of love!!!!
Can you fathom that kind of love, that you would give up everything for a relationship?
I pray that we all can recognize the light, that we can be with the light, and that we will not let the darkness overcome us! With Jesus, we can fight back the darkness!
Many of you have lived through darkness, you’ve walked through the shadow of the valley of death, and many of you have dwelled in that valley for years. But Jesus, Jesus has been there to! Jesus cannot be overcome by the darkness, for Jesus is the light of the world! The Light of the Universe cannot be overcome by darkness!!!!!!! See the light, love the light, work with the light, and do not let the darkness overcome you!!!!!
I have prayers for you and I pray for you! I pray that you will look for the light in your life and in the lives of others. I pray that you will merge your life with the LIFE that only Jesus can offer you. I pray that you, with the help of God, will fight back the darkness in your light and that together, you and I can fight the darkness in this world and seek to spread the light of Christ to a world that desperately needs to see the light of Jesus made visible in us! Friends, we have light to offer the world! We have grace to extend to God’s creation. It is our responsibility to do this! Moreover, it is our honor and pleasure to send grace and love out into the world. People of Argyle United Methodist Church, children of God, please don’t hide your light under a bushel basket this year! Let us join together to bring more light, more peace, and more of God’s grace to the world! Let us be the hands and feet of Christ, restored and redeemed and ever seeking to be partners in helping bring about the Reign of God in the world!
Let all of God’s children say, Amen!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
What a weekend!
I can't believe it's been almost a week since I last posted, oh wait, yes I can! Seriously, you would think as a musician I would be much more disciplined!
I intended to post several times over the weekend about some of the worship things I've been doing but the last few weekends were so full that I decided to spend more time with the family.
Two weekends ago I had the pleasure of leading two contemplative worship experiences at the Perkins School of Youth Ministry. I lead a Taize service that lasted a little less than an hour and then set-up our worship environment with prayer stations for a forty minute session. I've been told it was well-received but I look forward to getting the evaluation sheets back. Following those experiences we had a very informal "mini-lecture" about the afternoon's worship (I took a mystagogical approach, for those of you keeping score at home) and then we closed with communion, celebrated wonderfully by the Rev. Marti Soper.
One of the most interesting moments for me in that entire experience involved the music during the prayer stations. I got to be a dj! I created two different loops for the event and then interspersed them with the music of Aaron Parks, Brad Mehldau, and, when nearly everyone had left, I mixed in some Lauridsen and Branford Marsalis. What a blast! I look forward to our April Soul Cafe at AUMC when we will offer an alt worship experience.
At 6:30 a.m., Sunday morning, I got a call from my senior pastor saying that he had the flu, so I had the opportunity to preach four times yesterday, in addition to being a music minister, and also mixed in a children's choir rehearsal, some acolyte training, a brief praise band rehearsal, and I had the chance to play in the modern service!
Today I've had the great fortune to work on this weekend's worship, both the Sunday morning experience and the evening's Soul Cafe, where we will be offering a Choral Evensong led by our adult choir.
Tomorrow, is, well, of course, the inauguration! I also will be playing at the Denton Wesley Foundation's weekly worship service and giving a brief devotion.
What a great week!
I hope all is well in your world!
Until then, may we breathe peace and life into the world!
I intended to post several times over the weekend about some of the worship things I've been doing but the last few weekends were so full that I decided to spend more time with the family.
Two weekends ago I had the pleasure of leading two contemplative worship experiences at the Perkins School of Youth Ministry. I lead a Taize service that lasted a little less than an hour and then set-up our worship environment with prayer stations for a forty minute session. I've been told it was well-received but I look forward to getting the evaluation sheets back. Following those experiences we had a very informal "mini-lecture" about the afternoon's worship (I took a mystagogical approach, for those of you keeping score at home) and then we closed with communion, celebrated wonderfully by the Rev. Marti Soper.
One of the most interesting moments for me in that entire experience involved the music during the prayer stations. I got to be a dj! I created two different loops for the event and then interspersed them with the music of Aaron Parks, Brad Mehldau, and, when nearly everyone had left, I mixed in some Lauridsen and Branford Marsalis. What a blast! I look forward to our April Soul Cafe at AUMC when we will offer an alt worship experience.
At 6:30 a.m., Sunday morning, I got a call from my senior pastor saying that he had the flu, so I had the opportunity to preach four times yesterday, in addition to being a music minister, and also mixed in a children's choir rehearsal, some acolyte training, a brief praise band rehearsal, and I had the chance to play in the modern service!
Today I've had the great fortune to work on this weekend's worship, both the Sunday morning experience and the evening's Soul Cafe, where we will be offering a Choral Evensong led by our adult choir.
Tomorrow, is, well, of course, the inauguration! I also will be playing at the Denton Wesley Foundation's weekly worship service and giving a brief devotion.
What a great week!
I hope all is well in your world!
Until then, may we breathe peace and life into the world!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Seeds DO sprout
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the annual Dallas Chapter of the Choristers Guild Mid-Winter Conference and the greater pleasure of hearing Sid Davis, the minister of music at St. Luke's UMC in Houston, talk about youth choir. Much of what he said resonated with me but I have been pondering on this particular thought quite a bit: seeds do sprout.
In my experience, it's true. Seeds DO sprout.
As I keep in touch with folks from my previous churches I see seeds sprouting quite a bit! We all have those moments, don't we? We look back in our lives and see that some of the seeds we have sowed have sprouted.
My preoccupation of late has been with the seeds that will sprout that we will never see. As I currently serve in a growing church that is just starting to build an entire new campus and is in a thriving and growing area, as much as any area can grow in our current economy. I am aware that, if God deems it, we are in the process of building a church that could possibly be a light in this community for hundreds of years to come. I wonder, what seeds are we sowing now, what will they eventually become, and, more importantly, are they good seeds?
As of late a few of the works of van Gogh have been at work on me even more than usual. As I reflect on his life (especially when contrasting his works "The Sower" and "Wheat Field with Crows") I am so struck by the power of the idea that seeds DO sprout. We often won't be able to see the end result, however.
It is important to hold on and to trust in God's good grace.
In my experience, it's true. Seeds DO sprout.
As I keep in touch with folks from my previous churches I see seeds sprouting quite a bit! We all have those moments, don't we? We look back in our lives and see that some of the seeds we have sowed have sprouted.
My preoccupation of late has been with the seeds that will sprout that we will never see. As I currently serve in a growing church that is just starting to build an entire new campus and is in a thriving and growing area, as much as any area can grow in our current economy. I am aware that, if God deems it, we are in the process of building a church that could possibly be a light in this community for hundreds of years to come. I wonder, what seeds are we sowing now, what will they eventually become, and, more importantly, are they good seeds?
As of late a few of the works of van Gogh have been at work on me even more than usual. As I reflect on his life (especially when contrasting his works "The Sower" and "Wheat Field with Crows") I am so struck by the power of the idea that seeds DO sprout. We often won't be able to see the end result, however.
It is important to hold on and to trust in God's good grace.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Epiphany Sermon
I had a wonderful opportunity to preach three times this Sunday at Argyle UMC! It was a blast! I preached on the Wedding at Cana and Epiphany. In the early church Epiphany was the second most celebrated feast day (after Easter, of course) and the Wedding at Cana was one of the most frequently read stories in worship on Epiphany. Below you will find my outline for this past Sunday's sermon. Following the sermon we had an offertory and then we celebrated Holy Communion. I set-up two stations of votive candles with tapers and invited the congregation to light a candle of thanksgiving for where God's glory had broken into their lives in 2008.
Epiphany Sunday 2009
The Wedding at Cana
John 2:1-12
I. Explain Epiphany
• Christmas Decorations are still up and it’s January!
• Epiphany Sunday: the Last Sunday of the Christmas Cycle and the first Sunday of the Epiphany season
• In the early church this was the second most important feast day (the first being Easter)
• It’s important to not skip Epiphany because during the Epiphany, we celebrate more than just the birth of a baby.
• We celebrate the fact that the light of God, Jesus Christ, has made God’s love and God’s gift of salvation available to everyone and to all nations! No one, for any reason, is excluded from the opportunity to experience God’s incredible love and amazing grace.
• The early church loved, during the celebrations of Epiphany, to read in worship the story of the Wedding at Cana because in the story Jesus revealed his glory in the Gospel of John for the first time, his inaugural act, as it were!
• I’d like to share that story with you this morning. Before you hear this story, let us pray:
II. Read the Story
• What an incredibly rich story!
• We find Jesus and his disciples, along with his mother out at a big community event: a wedding!
• Jesus decides, after telling his mom he wouldn’t, for some reason unknown to us, decides to manifest his glory through making wine.
• And the wine: wow! We are not talking about two bottles of wine off the lowest shelf here! I did the math and, assuming 30 gallons, Jesus’ created 151.4 bottles of the best wine, that’s 12.5 cases in our time.
• The amount and quality of the wine is significant because, in the words of Gail O’Day, “in a culture of scarcity it represents the shattering of the boundaries of the conventional world, and the disciples become willing to entertain the possibility that this boundary breaking marks the inbreaking of God!”
• This miracle of turning water into wine, and into incredible wine in great abundance at that, shows us how deep and wide the grace of God is!
• And it also foreshadows for us how the world will be transformed though God’s amazing love and grace through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus!
• The miracle reveals God’s glory!
• It is also fascinating that, outside of the disciples, the only people who see the miracle and understand it for what it is are the servants, not the wedding party, not the host, but the servants.
• It reminds me of the Nativity Story: the first people to see the baby Jesus were the shepherds and not the wise men.
• Throughout the Bible, God chooses to be revealed in the most unexpected people and places. God most often chooses to reveal God’s glory to those on the margins of our societies.
• I wonder, if God continually chooses to be revealed on the margins of society, where would we be most likely to encounter the living God today?
• This question is worth considering, for it has significant implications.
III. Irenaeus
• But before you do that, I’d like to introduce you to a hero of our faith: Irenaeus.
• A pretty important guy: he was theologian/bishop that was born somewhere in the second century (between 115-142) in what is now Turkey, he was the second Bishop of Lyons France, and his teacher, Polycarp, was a student of John the Evangelist (the beloved Disciple), which means, Irenaeus was two generations removed from Jesus.
• Irenaeus is also important because he was one of the earliest champion’s of including what we now call the canonical Gospels in the Bible (which had not yet been formed in the way we have it now)
• “The glory of God is a human being fully alive!” Write it down in your notes.
• This is something to think about on this Epiphany Sunday, as we celebrate God’s glory being revealed through Jesus Christ, and then, through us!
IV. Becoming “fully alive”
• As followers of Christ, we are called to be fully alive, fully human, in order that we might become vessel’s for Christ’s glory to be made more and more manifest in us.
• So what does it look like, to be fully alive?
• Obviously, because God made us as beautiful and diverse creatures, we all look different when we are fully alive.
• But, I think we can see three areas that come of out the story of the Wedding at Cana that can point us in the right direction to becoming more fully alive.
1. Community (we are not meant to be alone)
• We are made for community! God does not want us to be alone
• It is not possible for us to become who God made us to be by ourselves. We have to do it together.
• There is an important concept that comes from Africa that can teach us in this matter.
• Ubuntu it is not really a translatable concept in English but it basically means, “I am because you are.”
• In other words: a person is a person through other persons (identity through community) the only way I can be all I am made to be is if you can be all you can be. If you are not fully you, than I cannot fully be me.
• We see this concept at work throughout Jesus’ entire ministry.
• Jesus calls each of us to work for the dignity and humanity of all people
• We must fight against the things that dehumanize others. We must fight against extreme poverty, torture, abuse, terror, and pandemics.
• In essence, by applying ubuntu to our lives we seek to follow the words of Jesus’ inaugural act of ministry in the gospel of Luke, where Jesus stood in the temple and preached the following words: Luke 4:18-19
• We are more fully alive when we are in community and when we are serving others.
o How can you be more engaged in this community in 2009? Join the choir, get in a Bible study, work with the children, go with the youth to the Martin Luther King Center in Denton. Get involved!
• Where is God calling you to serve this year? Maybe it’s working with AIDS Service of North Texas, or Spirit Horse, perhaps it’s working at Argyle food bank, maybe you are being called to advocate for peace and justice with your elected officials.
• How is God calling you to embrace your life by serving others?
2. Faith
• We see in the Gospel story that the disciples “believed.” The root for the word “believe” in Greek in this passage is pisteuo (pist yoo’ o) which means, “to place confidence in.”
• The disciples were placing their confidence in Jesus. These men, with the exception of John, the beloved disciple, would go on to eventually give their lives for Jesus, the one in whom they had placed confidence and trust.
• When we place our trust in something larger than ourselves it dictates how we live, and how we act.
• What are you placing your confidence in this year?
• In many respects that’s challenging question!
• How can we become more fully alive by contemplating what we place our confidence in?
3. Creative Practices (these give life)
• We need to embrace practices that give us life.
• For each of us these practices are different!
• Jesus made wine because it was necessary but also because wine can be a symbol of the celebration of life! Psalm 104 tells us that God gave us wine to gladden the human heart.
• Life-giving practices for some of us include cooking for others, or baking, or making music, some of you probably quilt; I think of our awesome banner team that is making beautiful new banners for our new sanctuary that will point us towards God.
• For some of us life-giving practices include working on your short game, or writing poetry.
• What do you do in your life on a weekly basis that is creative and enriches your life?
• The very first thing we learn about God in the Bible is that God is creative. We are made in God’s image and therefore we are inherently creative beings.
• I challenge you to find something in your life that you can do on a weekly basis to help you become more fully alive, because, the glory of God is a human being fully alive!
Community, Faith that leads to Action, and Creative Practices are just a few of the things that help us become all that God has made us to be.
These things help us to claim the rich abundance that God has provided for us in the midst of times that are filled with talk of scarcity.
One of the practices that we have as a faith community is that of Holy Communion. As we celebrate it, we experience community, for we do it together! We experience faith, in that we put our trust in Jesus. And even if we can’t, we can still come up and receive God’s grace and our neighbor can proclaim our trust for us until we can claim for ourselves. And, we experience creativity in the music being played, the juice that was made for this meal, the liturgy, and the bread that was baked for this moment, we taste, we touch, we smell, we hear and we experience creativity.
Friends, we are called to celebrate a God who has intervened on our behalf! We are called to celebrate a God who continues to show light in the darkness. A God who has saved all that he created and a God who desires each and every one of us!
During the offertory time I would invite you to consider where God’s light has shown in your life this previous year. And, if you feel so moved, I would invite you to take a taper, and light a candle of thanksgiving to God for how God has been at work in your life.
Sisters and brothers, we are blessed: though we are broken, God will make us whole. Though the world can be filled with darkness, God’s light cannot be overcome. Though we may struggle with one another, God has given us the ministry and the power to be reconciled. God love us! Friends, God is good: all the time, all the time, God is good. Amen!
Epiphany Sunday 2009
The Wedding at Cana
John 2:1-12
I. Explain Epiphany
• Christmas Decorations are still up and it’s January!
• Epiphany Sunday: the Last Sunday of the Christmas Cycle and the first Sunday of the Epiphany season
• In the early church this was the second most important feast day (the first being Easter)
• It’s important to not skip Epiphany because during the Epiphany, we celebrate more than just the birth of a baby.
• We celebrate the fact that the light of God, Jesus Christ, has made God’s love and God’s gift of salvation available to everyone and to all nations! No one, for any reason, is excluded from the opportunity to experience God’s incredible love and amazing grace.
• The early church loved, during the celebrations of Epiphany, to read in worship the story of the Wedding at Cana because in the story Jesus revealed his glory in the Gospel of John for the first time, his inaugural act, as it were!
• I’d like to share that story with you this morning. Before you hear this story, let us pray:
II. Read the Story
• What an incredibly rich story!
• We find Jesus and his disciples, along with his mother out at a big community event: a wedding!
• Jesus decides, after telling his mom he wouldn’t, for some reason unknown to us, decides to manifest his glory through making wine.
• And the wine: wow! We are not talking about two bottles of wine off the lowest shelf here! I did the math and, assuming 30 gallons, Jesus’ created 151.4 bottles of the best wine, that’s 12.5 cases in our time.
• The amount and quality of the wine is significant because, in the words of Gail O’Day, “in a culture of scarcity it represents the shattering of the boundaries of the conventional world, and the disciples become willing to entertain the possibility that this boundary breaking marks the inbreaking of God!”
• This miracle of turning water into wine, and into incredible wine in great abundance at that, shows us how deep and wide the grace of God is!
• And it also foreshadows for us how the world will be transformed though God’s amazing love and grace through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus!
• The miracle reveals God’s glory!
• It is also fascinating that, outside of the disciples, the only people who see the miracle and understand it for what it is are the servants, not the wedding party, not the host, but the servants.
• It reminds me of the Nativity Story: the first people to see the baby Jesus were the shepherds and not the wise men.
• Throughout the Bible, God chooses to be revealed in the most unexpected people and places. God most often chooses to reveal God’s glory to those on the margins of our societies.
• I wonder, if God continually chooses to be revealed on the margins of society, where would we be most likely to encounter the living God today?
• This question is worth considering, for it has significant implications.
III. Irenaeus
• But before you do that, I’d like to introduce you to a hero of our faith: Irenaeus.
• A pretty important guy: he was theologian/bishop that was born somewhere in the second century (between 115-142) in what is now Turkey, he was the second Bishop of Lyons France, and his teacher, Polycarp, was a student of John the Evangelist (the beloved Disciple), which means, Irenaeus was two generations removed from Jesus.
• Irenaeus is also important because he was one of the earliest champion’s of including what we now call the canonical Gospels in the Bible (which had not yet been formed in the way we have it now)
• “The glory of God is a human being fully alive!” Write it down in your notes.
• This is something to think about on this Epiphany Sunday, as we celebrate God’s glory being revealed through Jesus Christ, and then, through us!
IV. Becoming “fully alive”
• As followers of Christ, we are called to be fully alive, fully human, in order that we might become vessel’s for Christ’s glory to be made more and more manifest in us.
• So what does it look like, to be fully alive?
• Obviously, because God made us as beautiful and diverse creatures, we all look different when we are fully alive.
• But, I think we can see three areas that come of out the story of the Wedding at Cana that can point us in the right direction to becoming more fully alive.
1. Community (we are not meant to be alone)
• We are made for community! God does not want us to be alone
• It is not possible for us to become who God made us to be by ourselves. We have to do it together.
• There is an important concept that comes from Africa that can teach us in this matter.
• Ubuntu it is not really a translatable concept in English but it basically means, “I am because you are.”
• In other words: a person is a person through other persons (identity through community) the only way I can be all I am made to be is if you can be all you can be. If you are not fully you, than I cannot fully be me.
• We see this concept at work throughout Jesus’ entire ministry.
• Jesus calls each of us to work for the dignity and humanity of all people
• We must fight against the things that dehumanize others. We must fight against extreme poverty, torture, abuse, terror, and pandemics.
• In essence, by applying ubuntu to our lives we seek to follow the words of Jesus’ inaugural act of ministry in the gospel of Luke, where Jesus stood in the temple and preached the following words: Luke 4:18-19
• We are more fully alive when we are in community and when we are serving others.
o How can you be more engaged in this community in 2009? Join the choir, get in a Bible study, work with the children, go with the youth to the Martin Luther King Center in Denton. Get involved!
• Where is God calling you to serve this year? Maybe it’s working with AIDS Service of North Texas, or Spirit Horse, perhaps it’s working at Argyle food bank, maybe you are being called to advocate for peace and justice with your elected officials.
• How is God calling you to embrace your life by serving others?
2. Faith
• We see in the Gospel story that the disciples “believed.” The root for the word “believe” in Greek in this passage is pisteuo (pist yoo’ o) which means, “to place confidence in.”
• The disciples were placing their confidence in Jesus. These men, with the exception of John, the beloved disciple, would go on to eventually give their lives for Jesus, the one in whom they had placed confidence and trust.
• When we place our trust in something larger than ourselves it dictates how we live, and how we act.
• What are you placing your confidence in this year?
• In many respects that’s challenging question!
• How can we become more fully alive by contemplating what we place our confidence in?
3. Creative Practices (these give life)
• We need to embrace practices that give us life.
• For each of us these practices are different!
• Jesus made wine because it was necessary but also because wine can be a symbol of the celebration of life! Psalm 104 tells us that God gave us wine to gladden the human heart.
• Life-giving practices for some of us include cooking for others, or baking, or making music, some of you probably quilt; I think of our awesome banner team that is making beautiful new banners for our new sanctuary that will point us towards God.
• For some of us life-giving practices include working on your short game, or writing poetry.
• What do you do in your life on a weekly basis that is creative and enriches your life?
• The very first thing we learn about God in the Bible is that God is creative. We are made in God’s image and therefore we are inherently creative beings.
• I challenge you to find something in your life that you can do on a weekly basis to help you become more fully alive, because, the glory of God is a human being fully alive!
Community, Faith that leads to Action, and Creative Practices are just a few of the things that help us become all that God has made us to be.
These things help us to claim the rich abundance that God has provided for us in the midst of times that are filled with talk of scarcity.
One of the practices that we have as a faith community is that of Holy Communion. As we celebrate it, we experience community, for we do it together! We experience faith, in that we put our trust in Jesus. And even if we can’t, we can still come up and receive God’s grace and our neighbor can proclaim our trust for us until we can claim for ourselves. And, we experience creativity in the music being played, the juice that was made for this meal, the liturgy, and the bread that was baked for this moment, we taste, we touch, we smell, we hear and we experience creativity.
Friends, we are called to celebrate a God who has intervened on our behalf! We are called to celebrate a God who continues to show light in the darkness. A God who has saved all that he created and a God who desires each and every one of us!
During the offertory time I would invite you to consider where God’s light has shown in your life this previous year. And, if you feel so moved, I would invite you to take a taper, and light a candle of thanksgiving to God for how God has been at work in your life.
Sisters and brothers, we are blessed: though we are broken, God will make us whole. Though the world can be filled with darkness, God’s light cannot be overcome. Though we may struggle with one another, God has given us the ministry and the power to be reconciled. God love us! Friends, God is good: all the time, all the time, God is good. Amen!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
One other awesome Christmas Album!!!
I am a firm believer in celebrating the Christmas season to it's fullest, so if you roll by my neighborhood at night, I'll probably be the only guy with the Christmas lights going on January 6th! So, in that spirit, here's one more Christmas album recommendation. I don't know how this one escaped me: Bela Fleck and the Flecktones "Jingle All the Way." The album has plenty of excellent banjo, saxophone, bass, and drums, as you might imagine. But one of the real treats for me is hearing a Tuvan throat singer performing "Jingle Bells." I mean...wow!!!! Check out the "Jingle Bells (Reprise)" on iTunes and the Flecktones arrangement of the "Christmas Oratorio" by Bach. Incredible!
Christmas, Blogging Failures, and other thoughts
Christmas with a three year old is pure, unbridled joy! I saw pure joy on Christmas Day this year (Christmas Day is also my daughter's birthday and she turned three this year). Watching Ellie interact with all of the Christmas traditions that we are blending in our house was simply wonderful. Pure, pure joy!
Sorry about being so behind on posting during the Christmas season, it was very full this year with our worship services being at the high school! (On the whole, they went very well, btw.)
I am preaching this week on Epiphany and will be preaching on the Wedding at Cana. In the earliest church lectionaries the Wedding at Cana was one of the gospel readings for Epiphany. The Eastern Church has retained this reading while the Western Church has not. My contrarian nature rears it's ugly head again! :)
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours!!!
Sorry about being so behind on posting during the Christmas season, it was very full this year with our worship services being at the high school! (On the whole, they went very well, btw.)
I am preaching this week on Epiphany and will be preaching on the Wedding at Cana. In the earliest church lectionaries the Wedding at Cana was one of the gospel readings for Epiphany. The Eastern Church has retained this reading while the Western Church has not. My contrarian nature rears it's ugly head again! :)
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours!!!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
O Antiphon's 2-4
Thursday's Antiphon: O WISDOM, who came forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end, and ordering all things mightily and sweetly: Come, and teach us the way of prudence.
O come, thou Wisdom from on high, and order all things far and nigh; to us the path of knowledge show and cause us in her ways to go. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Friday's Antiphon: O ADONAI and Leader of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the flames of the bush and gave him the law on Sinai: Come, and with your outstretched arm redeem us.
O come, O come, great Lord of might, who to thy tribes on Sinai's height in ancient times once gave the law in cloud and majesty and awe. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Saturday's Antiphon: O ROOT OF JESSE, who stands for an ensign of the people, before whom kings shall keep silence and to whom the Gentiles shall make their supplication: Come, and deliver us and tarry not.
O come, thou Root of Jesse's tree, an ensign of thy people be; before thee rulers silent fall; all peoples on thy mercy call. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, thou Wisdom from on high, and order all things far and nigh; to us the path of knowledge show and cause us in her ways to go. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Friday's Antiphon: O ADONAI and Leader of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the flames of the bush and gave him the law on Sinai: Come, and with your outstretched arm redeem us.
O come, O come, great Lord of might, who to thy tribes on Sinai's height in ancient times once gave the law in cloud and majesty and awe. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Saturday's Antiphon: O ROOT OF JESSE, who stands for an ensign of the people, before whom kings shall keep silence and to whom the Gentiles shall make their supplication: Come, and deliver us and tarry not.
O come, thou Root of Jesse's tree, an ensign of thy people be; before thee rulers silent fall; all peoples on thy mercy call. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
"O Antiphon" 1
Since we are now seven days away from Christmas Eve, I hope you will consider joining me in praying the "O Antiphons"!
O Antiphon 1: O EMMANUEL, our King and Lawgiver, the Expected on the nations and their Savior: Come and save us, O Lord, our God.
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
O Antiphon 1: O EMMANUEL, our King and Lawgiver, the Expected on the nations and their Savior: Come and save us, O Lord, our God.
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
A Christmas Thought from Bonhoeffer
A thought on universal redemption from Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
"in the birth of Jesus Christ, God took on the form of all humanity, not just that of a single human being."
"in the birth of Jesus Christ, God took on the form of all humanity, not just that of a single human being."
Monday, December 15, 2008
Truth from Parker Palmer and Henri Nouwen about community
Parker Palmer and Henri Nouwen are purveyors of truth: check out this quote from a speech Nouwen made to members of Fadica in 1994, the speech is called "Discovering Our Gift Through Service to Others":
"Parker Palmer, a spiritual writer of the Quaker tradition, says community is the place where the person you least want to live with always lives. So community is not like a place where you love each other sort of freely and warmly and affectionately. Community is in fact the place where you are purified, where your love is tested, where your childhood of God is constantly put through the mill of human relationships. That is what community is. Community is a place where Judas always is and sometimes it is just you."
I came across this quote from an excellent Advent devotional book called "Advent and Christmas Wisdom from Henri J.M. Nouwen" published by Redemptorist Pastoral Publications.
"Parker Palmer, a spiritual writer of the Quaker tradition, says community is the place where the person you least want to live with always lives. So community is not like a place where you love each other sort of freely and warmly and affectionately. Community is in fact the place where you are purified, where your love is tested, where your childhood of God is constantly put through the mill of human relationships. That is what community is. Community is a place where Judas always is and sometimes it is just you."
I came across this quote from an excellent Advent devotional book called "Advent and Christmas Wisdom from Henri J.M. Nouwen" published by Redemptorist Pastoral Publications.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
My new favorite quote (for today, anyway!)
This quote popped off the page at me several weeks ago as I was finishing a book called "A Heretic's Guide to Eternity" by Spencer Burke and Barry Taylor. I think it jumped out at me because it is profoundly true.
"The greatest tragedy of theology in the past three hundred years ahas been the divorce of the theologian from the poet, the dancer, the musician, the painter, the dramatist, the actress, the movie-maker..."
--MD. Chenu (a French Dominican Theologian who was very present at Vatican II)
"The greatest tragedy of theology in the past three hundred years ahas been the divorce of the theologian from the poet, the dancer, the musician, the painter, the dramatist, the actress, the movie-maker..."
--MD. Chenu (a French Dominican Theologian who was very present at Vatican II)
My sad little Apple...
Wonders never cease! I thought my Mac was indestructible! As it turns out, it's not. The cd/dvd player/burner is no longer working. I can't believe it! This is terribly troubling to me, as the Mac is one of my closest collaborators and I don't know what I will do with out it for a few weeks if it has to go away to be serviced. single...tear...rolling...down...my...cheek...
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
A Beautiful Advent Poem
One of my favorite poet's is a very fine gentleman (who also happens to be a United Methodist Minister) named John Thornburg. He has written many wonderful poems, hymns, and anthem texts that can be found in all of the mainline hymnals. He recently sent out a poem for Advent this year and I asked him if I could post it on my blog. He graciously agreed! I found this poem to be a powerful reminder of my all-too-often complicity with the powers and principalities of this world. Thankfully, God's grace can help us turn from these things and embrace the life God wishes for us. What does it mean to you?
We want the rules to bend our way;
to fight a war but hear no cry,
to overeat and never die,
to burn the fuel but clean the sky.
Dominion is our favorite sport;
to claim whatever we can see,
to dictate our idea of 'free',
to do our business by decree.
We share this attitude with Rome,
with Herod, so emmeshed in lies
he could not fashion how the skies
were filled with wonder and surprise.
The time is ripe to claim the news;
that all is level in God's sight,
that greed is wrong and love is right,
that Christ can put all fear to flight.
Be instant, O Eternal God,
to turn our minds from selfish gain,
to still our hands from causing pain,
to set our minds upon your reign.
--used by permission given from John Thornburg
We want the rules to bend our way;
to fight a war but hear no cry,
to overeat and never die,
to burn the fuel but clean the sky.
Dominion is our favorite sport;
to claim whatever we can see,
to dictate our idea of 'free',
to do our business by decree.
We share this attitude with Rome,
with Herod, so emmeshed in lies
he could not fashion how the skies
were filled with wonder and surprise.
The time is ripe to claim the news;
that all is level in God's sight,
that greed is wrong and love is right,
that Christ can put all fear to flight.
Be instant, O Eternal God,
to turn our minds from selfish gain,
to still our hands from causing pain,
to set our minds upon your reign.
--used by permission given from John Thornburg
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
An Advent Devotional
It is gloriously chilly at the moment! My office has not heat and is not very well sealed, so when the wind blows, I feel it at my desk. Currently, it is 34 degrees outside with a wind chill of 24 and "wintry mix" is beginning! Below you will find an Advent devotional that I wrote for the congregation I serve. The collect at the end is original.
"Celebrating Advent means being able to wait. Waiting, however is a art that our impatient age has forgotten...We must wait for the greatest, most profound, most gentle things in the world; nothing happens in a rush, but only according to the divine laws of germination and growth and becoming." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer
These words, from one of the greatest 20th century theologians, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, are a great reminder to us during this season of Advent that we are called to wait upon the Lord. Wait for the Lord, be strong, take heart!
Prayer: Most gracious and loving God: to you a day is but an instant, you created all things and have remained steadfast with your creation since its beginning. Teach us to wait for you, to watch for you, so that we may not miss your the coming of your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
"Celebrating Advent means being able to wait. Waiting, however is a art that our impatient age has forgotten...We must wait for the greatest, most profound, most gentle things in the world; nothing happens in a rush, but only according to the divine laws of germination and growth and becoming." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer
These words, from one of the greatest 20th century theologians, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, are a great reminder to us during this season of Advent that we are called to wait upon the Lord. Wait for the Lord, be strong, take heart!
Prayer: Most gracious and loving God: to you a day is but an instant, you created all things and have remained steadfast with your creation since its beginning. Teach us to wait for you, to watch for you, so that we may not miss your the coming of your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Christmas Albums (CD's, mp3, records, whatever you like)
We all have our holiday rituals, don't we? Today I am enjoying one of my favorite rituals! Every year around this time I pick up a few "holiday" albums to check them out and to try to stay fully engaged in the season. This year, I've picked up three very different albums and have enjoyed them all. Below you will find a super brief review of each one:
1. "What a Night" by Harry Connick, Jr. If you've ever heard any of his other Christmas albums you will recognize the formula immediately. Interesting big-band arrangements, good vocals, fairly sentimental and one or two surprising tracks that provide good theology along with funky music! My two favorites off of this particular offering are "O Come, All Ye Faithful" and "Song for the Hopeful." Both are available on iTunes.
2. "The Dawn of Grace" by Sixpence None the Richer. One of my favorite guilty pleasures: Leigh Nash's voice! It has such character and purity. She doesn't oversing (and could be accused of not using enough breath support but I don't care because I love it). :) Honestly, I can't give too much of a review as I'm only four songs into it but so far, it's delightful! Very sparse and light arrangements, beautiful repertoire choices. Good stuff!
3. "Songs of Joy and Peace" by Yo-Yo Ma. Yo-Yo Ma, along with Branford Marsalis are two of the musicians who inspire me the most! Their ability to collaborate with artists in every style is simply stunning to me. This glorious album features Yo-Yo Ma, Diana Krall, Chris Theile, James Taylor, Joshua Redman, Renee Fleming, Dave Bruebeck, the Assad Family, Alison Krauss, Paquito d'Rivera, Chris Botti, the Silk Roads Ensemble, and several others. What a line-up! I can't recommend this album highly enough! I've about worn it out already!
1. "What a Night" by Harry Connick, Jr. If you've ever heard any of his other Christmas albums you will recognize the formula immediately. Interesting big-band arrangements, good vocals, fairly sentimental and one or two surprising tracks that provide good theology along with funky music! My two favorites off of this particular offering are "O Come, All Ye Faithful" and "Song for the Hopeful." Both are available on iTunes.
2. "The Dawn of Grace" by Sixpence None the Richer. One of my favorite guilty pleasures: Leigh Nash's voice! It has such character and purity. She doesn't oversing (and could be accused of not using enough breath support but I don't care because I love it). :) Honestly, I can't give too much of a review as I'm only four songs into it but so far, it's delightful! Very sparse and light arrangements, beautiful repertoire choices. Good stuff!
3. "Songs of Joy and Peace" by Yo-Yo Ma. Yo-Yo Ma, along with Branford Marsalis are two of the musicians who inspire me the most! Their ability to collaborate with artists in every style is simply stunning to me. This glorious album features Yo-Yo Ma, Diana Krall, Chris Theile, James Taylor, Joshua Redman, Renee Fleming, Dave Bruebeck, the Assad Family, Alison Krauss, Paquito d'Rivera, Chris Botti, the Silk Roads Ensemble, and several others. What a line-up! I can't recommend this album highly enough! I've about worn it out already!
Monday, December 8, 2008
The Rev. Kathleen Baskin-Ball
The Church lost one of it's most faithful and gifted leaders this week. The Rev. Kathleen Baskin-Ball, a United Methodist minister who was an inspiration to me and thousands of others, lost her two-year battle with cancer on Tuesday. So many others have been able to articulate her loss with such grace and art in their words! Perhaps the best thing I can say is this: St. Irenaeus once said, "the glory of God is a human being fully alive." That, for me, is the perfect description of Kathleen. She was fully alive when she lived and as she died. Christ lived through Kathleen, and continues to do so in the lives of all that she touched. Every time I had the blessing to being around her, she radiated God's love and grace to all she encountered.
I once read a story (I can't remember where) where a Catholic priest told a parishioner, "I don't think God has favorites, but I do think God has special friends." Undoubtedly, Kathleen was a "special friend" of God's!
Rev. Baskin-Ball was an incredibly gifted leader and mentor. I, along with all who knew her, have no doubt she would have been elected bishop and would have excelled in the office. Kathleen is the kind of leader The United Methodist Church needs! The loss of Kathleen's voice and vision leaves a great hole in her local church appointment, Suncreek UMC, the North Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church and the church as a whole.
As I told my congregation on Sunday, there is no replacing someone like Kathleen. We pray and give thanks for the inspiration she gave us in the way she lived her life and the way she so graciously modeled for us how to die with grace and dignity. And we mourn, together. And we hold her family, especially her husband Bill and son Skyler in prayer. And then, we keep going. We keep working on becoming who God made us to be. We keep serving, we keep loving, we keep laughing, we keep trying to bring good news of liberation to those who are oppressed, we keep feeding the hungry, we keep working for justice, we keep introducing people to our Brother and Lord Jesus, we keeping shining light into the dark. It's what we do. It is who we are. It is being faithful.
I am so thankful for the life and witness of Kathleen Baskin-Ball!
Glory be!
If you follow the link below, you will find a very brief video from her memorial service:
http://www.dallasnews.com/video/dallasnews/dmnphoto/index.html?nvid=310992
I once read a story (I can't remember where) where a Catholic priest told a parishioner, "I don't think God has favorites, but I do think God has special friends." Undoubtedly, Kathleen was a "special friend" of God's!
Rev. Baskin-Ball was an incredibly gifted leader and mentor. I, along with all who knew her, have no doubt she would have been elected bishop and would have excelled in the office. Kathleen is the kind of leader The United Methodist Church needs! The loss of Kathleen's voice and vision leaves a great hole in her local church appointment, Suncreek UMC, the North Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church and the church as a whole.
As I told my congregation on Sunday, there is no replacing someone like Kathleen. We pray and give thanks for the inspiration she gave us in the way she lived her life and the way she so graciously modeled for us how to die with grace and dignity. And we mourn, together. And we hold her family, especially her husband Bill and son Skyler in prayer. And then, we keep going. We keep working on becoming who God made us to be. We keep serving, we keep loving, we keep laughing, we keep trying to bring good news of liberation to those who are oppressed, we keep feeding the hungry, we keep working for justice, we keep introducing people to our Brother and Lord Jesus, we keeping shining light into the dark. It's what we do. It is who we are. It is being faithful.
I am so thankful for the life and witness of Kathleen Baskin-Ball!
Glory be!
If you follow the link below, you will find a very brief video from her memorial service:
http://www.dallasnews.com/video/dallasnews/dmnphoto/index.html?nvid=310992
An Amazing Sunday with Dr. Michael Hawn!
There are really five major weeks in the life of the average church musician. The first is "lessons and carols" week before Christmas. The second is the week of Christmas Eve. The third Holy Week and Easter. The fourth is choir tour week and the fifth is vbs. Of course, there are lots of other big events that occur outside of the afore-mentioned weeks but really, for most of us, those are the big ones.
Yesterday we wrapped up our lessons and carols week at Argyle UMC. I should say that I am using "lessons and carols" as a catch-all phrase for special Advent/Christmas worship events. At our service yesterday we had a truly amazing worship experience with Dr. C. Michael Hawn, chair of the sacred music department at the Perkins School of Theology. I could write many paragraphs on how incredible he is but let me just say that he is truly one of the greats! He is a legend in the field of sacred music, so to have the opportunity to have him lead us in an Advent service was really a gift and a blessing.
He is an incredible song leader and had the congregation singing songs from all over the world quickly and easily. I was especially enthralled with the way he lead the liturgy in the Eucharist! He brought out the inherent drama in the liturgy: it really felt like it mattered! He is such an effective presider that you can just feel the grace, the love, and the "realness" of the sacramental mystery.
Below you will find the order of worship with rubrics:
Thy Kingdom Come:
The World Celebrates the Coming of the Savior
Argyle UMC
December 7, 2008
Welcome, Gathering Songs and Community News
Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
[Choir hums “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” over a organ pedal point as the following litany is spoken:]
“A Litany of Darkness and Light” (New Zealand)
Voice 1: We wait in the darkness, expectantly, longingly, anxiously,
thoughtfully.
Voice 2: The darkness is our friend. In the darkness of the womb, we have
all been nurtured and protected. In the darkness of the womb, the
Christ-child was made ready for the journey into light.
Voice 1: It is only in the darkness that we can see the splendor of the
universe—blankets of stars of the night, desert peoples find relief
from the cruel relentless heat of the sun.
Voice 2: In the blessed darkness, Mary and Joseph were able to flee with
the infant Jesus to safety in Egypt.
Voice 1: Sometimes, in the solitude of darkness, our fears and concerns, our hopes and our visions rise to the surface. We come face to face with ourselves and with eh road that lies ahead of us.
Voice 2: In that same darkness, we sometimes allow ourselves to wonder
and worry whether the human race is going to make it at all.
[Choir comes to a rest on final note “e” and sustains it.]
Congregation:
We know you are with us, O God, yet we still await your
coming. In the darkness that contains both our hopelessness and our expectancy, we watch for a sign of God’s Hope.
[Organ intro picks up on Stanza 1 of “O come, O come Emmanuel”]
Congregation (Singing):
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns on lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!
Lighting of the Advent Candle
Reader 1: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
Reader 2: The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Reader 1: I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Reader 2: Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let hour heart take courage.
All: Wait for the Lord!
Born to Set Thy People Free
[Drum establishes a steady beat. Voices continue over the drum.]
Prayer of Praise (Iona Community, Scotland)
Voice 1: We have heard about you, God of all power.
You made the world our of kindness, creating order out of confusion; you made each one of us in your own image; your fingerprint is on every soul.
Voice 2: We have hear about you, Jesus Christ: the carpenter who left his tools and trade; the poor man who made others rich; the healer who let himself be wounded; the criminal on whom the soldiers spat not knowing they were fouling the face of God; the savior who died and rose again.
Voices in alternation:
We have heard about you, Holy Spirit. You broke the bonds of every race and nation, to let God speak in every tongue: you made disciples drunk with grace; you converted souls and emptied pockets; you showed how love made all things new and opened the doors to change and freedom.
[Drum continues and song segues]
“Freedom is Coming” South African Freedom Song
From Our Fears and Sings Release Us,
Let Us Find Our Rest in Thee.
Preparation for Prayer “Lord, Have Mercy” Lim Swee Hong
Prayer of Confession A prayer from an ecumenical group (Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Orthodox, Pentecostal) in the former Yugoslavia
Let us seek the forgiveness of God and of each other
for the divisions that have hindered Christian witness:
Lord, we have sinned against you and against each other.
All( Singing): Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy on us.
O Christ, our divisions are contrary to your will,
and have impeded our common witness to you.
All( Singing): Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy on us.
Lord, we have not loved you enough in our sisters and brothers,
created in your image, but different from us.
All( Singing): Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy on us.
Creator God,
stop us wandering in alienation from one another.
Satisfy the longings of our hearts,
grant our rightful requests,
and unite us soon in one holy church
through your Son Jesus Christ
who with you in the communion of the Holy Spirit
lives and reigns eternally.
Amen.
Silent Prayer of Confession
Assurance of Pardon
The Savior of the world, the Refuge of the repentant,
forgives and strengthens all who truly seek his grace.
He accepts you as his sons and daughters,
and sets you free from the bondage of your past.
For Christ died and rose to new life that we might all share his wholeness and abundant life. (Church of South India)
Hear the Good News:
God has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.
(Col. 1:13-14)
[Recorder that I will play introduces the next song.]
(I can't put the printed music here for copyright reasons.)
Response (Choir and Congregation) “Gloria” (Taizé Community, France)
©GIA Publishing. Reprinted by permission under copyright license OneLicense.net#A-714998
Israel’s Strength and Consolation
Psalm 22
Leader: I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
People: Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.
Leader: To Jerusalem the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
People: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers.
Leader: For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you.”
Hymn 2091 (FWS) “The King of Glory Comes” (Israeli Melody) KING OF GLORY
Hope of All the Earth Thou Art
Narration
Hymn 241 “That Boy-Child of Mary” (Malawi) BLANTYRE
Offertory Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel arr. Timothy Bandy
Doxology Tune: Siyahamba
Praise to God from whom all miracles flow.
Praise to God from all creation below.
Praise to God you heavenly hosts from above,
Praise to Father, Son and Spirit of love.
We are praising, praising, praising, praising,
Praise to Father, Son and Spirit of love.
Dear Desire of Every Nation, Joy of Every Longing Heart
An African Affirmation of Faith From the Masai of Kenya
We believe in the one High God,
who out of love created the beautiful world and everything good in it.
God created people and wanted them to be happy in the world.
God loves the world and every nation and tribe on the earth.
We have known this High God in the darkness,
and now we know God in the light.
God promised in the book called the Bible, the word of God,
that all nations and tribes of the world would be saved.
We believe that God made good this promise by sending Jesus Christ, the Son of God, a Jew by tribe,
born poor in a little village,
who left his home and was always on safari doing good,
curing people by the power of God,
teaching about God and people,
showing that the meaning of religion is love.
He was rejected by his people,
tortured and nailed—hands and feet—to a cross and died.
He lay buried, but the hyenas did not find his body,
and on the third day, he rose from the grave.
He ascended to the skies. He is the Lord!
We believe that all our sins are forgiven through him.
All who have faith in him must be sorry for their sins,
be baptized in the Holy Spirit of God,
live the rules of love, and share the bread together in love,
to announce the good news to others until Jesus comes again.
We are waiting for him.
He is alive! He lives! This we believe. Amen!
(Vincent J. Donovan, Christianity Revisited, Orbis Books, 1978, p. 200)
Response Amen Siakudumisa FWS# 2067 South Africa
Amen siakudumisa Amen, we praise your name O Lord
Amen siakudumisa Amen, we praise your name O Lord
Amen bawo; amen bawo Amen, Amen; Amen, Amen!
Amen siakudumisa Amen, we praise your name O Lord.
(C.F. Molefe; as taught by George Mxadana)
EUCHARIST
Hymn 196 Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus HYFRYDOL
Blessing of Peace From a litany based on a traditional Kikuyu form (Kenya)
Let us pray to the God of our forbearers, through Jesus Christ his Son,
in the power of the Holy Spirit.
May the leaders of our churches have wisdom and speak with one voice.
Praise the Lord: peace be with us.
May the leaders of our country rule with maturity and justice.
Praise the Lord: peace be with us.
May the country have tranquility and the people be blessed.
Praise the Lord: peace be with us.
May the people and the flocks and the herds prosper
and be free from illness.
Praise the Lord: peace be with us.
May the fields bear much fruit and the land be fertile.
Praise the Lord: peace be with us.
May the face of our enemies be turned towards peace.
Praise the Lord: peace be with us.
May the path of the world be swept of all danger.
Hallelujah! The Prince of Peace is with us.
(from With All God's People: The New Ecumenical Prayer Cycle, WCC Publications, pp. 112-113)
Congregational Response (Singing):
O come, Desire of nations, bind
All peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife, and quarrels cease;
Fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!
Postlude
Yesterday we wrapped up our lessons and carols week at Argyle UMC. I should say that I am using "lessons and carols" as a catch-all phrase for special Advent/Christmas worship events. At our service yesterday we had a truly amazing worship experience with Dr. C. Michael Hawn, chair of the sacred music department at the Perkins School of Theology. I could write many paragraphs on how incredible he is but let me just say that he is truly one of the greats! He is a legend in the field of sacred music, so to have the opportunity to have him lead us in an Advent service was really a gift and a blessing.
He is an incredible song leader and had the congregation singing songs from all over the world quickly and easily. I was especially enthralled with the way he lead the liturgy in the Eucharist! He brought out the inherent drama in the liturgy: it really felt like it mattered! He is such an effective presider that you can just feel the grace, the love, and the "realness" of the sacramental mystery.
Below you will find the order of worship with rubrics:
Thy Kingdom Come:
The World Celebrates the Coming of the Savior
Argyle UMC
December 7, 2008
Welcome, Gathering Songs and Community News
Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
[Choir hums “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” over a organ pedal point as the following litany is spoken:]
“A Litany of Darkness and Light” (New Zealand)
Voice 1: We wait in the darkness, expectantly, longingly, anxiously,
thoughtfully.
Voice 2: The darkness is our friend. In the darkness of the womb, we have
all been nurtured and protected. In the darkness of the womb, the
Christ-child was made ready for the journey into light.
Voice 1: It is only in the darkness that we can see the splendor of the
universe—blankets of stars of the night, desert peoples find relief
from the cruel relentless heat of the sun.
Voice 2: In the blessed darkness, Mary and Joseph were able to flee with
the infant Jesus to safety in Egypt.
Voice 1: Sometimes, in the solitude of darkness, our fears and concerns, our hopes and our visions rise to the surface. We come face to face with ourselves and with eh road that lies ahead of us.
Voice 2: In that same darkness, we sometimes allow ourselves to wonder
and worry whether the human race is going to make it at all.
[Choir comes to a rest on final note “e” and sustains it.]
Congregation:
We know you are with us, O God, yet we still await your
coming. In the darkness that contains both our hopelessness and our expectancy, we watch for a sign of God’s Hope.
[Organ intro picks up on Stanza 1 of “O come, O come Emmanuel”]
Congregation (Singing):
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns on lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!
Lighting of the Advent Candle
Reader 1: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
Reader 2: The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Reader 1: I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Reader 2: Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let hour heart take courage.
All: Wait for the Lord!
Born to Set Thy People Free
[Drum establishes a steady beat. Voices continue over the drum.]
Prayer of Praise (Iona Community, Scotland)
Voice 1: We have heard about you, God of all power.
You made the world our of kindness, creating order out of confusion; you made each one of us in your own image; your fingerprint is on every soul.
Voice 2: We have hear about you, Jesus Christ: the carpenter who left his tools and trade; the poor man who made others rich; the healer who let himself be wounded; the criminal on whom the soldiers spat not knowing they were fouling the face of God; the savior who died and rose again.
Voices in alternation:
We have heard about you, Holy Spirit. You broke the bonds of every race and nation, to let God speak in every tongue: you made disciples drunk with grace; you converted souls and emptied pockets; you showed how love made all things new and opened the doors to change and freedom.
[Drum continues and song segues]
“Freedom is Coming” South African Freedom Song
From Our Fears and Sings Release Us,
Let Us Find Our Rest in Thee.
Preparation for Prayer “Lord, Have Mercy” Lim Swee Hong
Prayer of Confession A prayer from an ecumenical group (Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Orthodox, Pentecostal) in the former Yugoslavia
Let us seek the forgiveness of God and of each other
for the divisions that have hindered Christian witness:
Lord, we have sinned against you and against each other.
All( Singing): Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy on us.
O Christ, our divisions are contrary to your will,
and have impeded our common witness to you.
All( Singing): Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy on us.
Lord, we have not loved you enough in our sisters and brothers,
created in your image, but different from us.
All( Singing): Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy on us.
Creator God,
stop us wandering in alienation from one another.
Satisfy the longings of our hearts,
grant our rightful requests,
and unite us soon in one holy church
through your Son Jesus Christ
who with you in the communion of the Holy Spirit
lives and reigns eternally.
Amen.
Silent Prayer of Confession
Assurance of Pardon
The Savior of the world, the Refuge of the repentant,
forgives and strengthens all who truly seek his grace.
He accepts you as his sons and daughters,
and sets you free from the bondage of your past.
For Christ died and rose to new life that we might all share his wholeness and abundant life. (Church of South India)
Hear the Good News:
God has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.
(Col. 1:13-14)
[Recorder that I will play introduces the next song.]
(I can't put the printed music here for copyright reasons.)
Response (Choir and Congregation) “Gloria” (Taizé Community, France)
©GIA Publishing. Reprinted by permission under copyright license OneLicense.net#A-714998
Israel’s Strength and Consolation
Psalm 22
Leader: I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
People: Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.
Leader: To Jerusalem the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
People: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers.
Leader: For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you.”
Hymn 2091 (FWS) “The King of Glory Comes” (Israeli Melody) KING OF GLORY
Hope of All the Earth Thou Art
Narration
Hymn 241 “That Boy-Child of Mary” (Malawi) BLANTYRE
Offertory Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel arr. Timothy Bandy
Doxology Tune: Siyahamba
Praise to God from whom all miracles flow.
Praise to God from all creation below.
Praise to God you heavenly hosts from above,
Praise to Father, Son and Spirit of love.
We are praising, praising, praising, praising,
Praise to Father, Son and Spirit of love.
Dear Desire of Every Nation, Joy of Every Longing Heart
An African Affirmation of Faith From the Masai of Kenya
We believe in the one High God,
who out of love created the beautiful world and everything good in it.
God created people and wanted them to be happy in the world.
God loves the world and every nation and tribe on the earth.
We have known this High God in the darkness,
and now we know God in the light.
God promised in the book called the Bible, the word of God,
that all nations and tribes of the world would be saved.
We believe that God made good this promise by sending Jesus Christ, the Son of God, a Jew by tribe,
born poor in a little village,
who left his home and was always on safari doing good,
curing people by the power of God,
teaching about God and people,
showing that the meaning of religion is love.
He was rejected by his people,
tortured and nailed—hands and feet—to a cross and died.
He lay buried, but the hyenas did not find his body,
and on the third day, he rose from the grave.
He ascended to the skies. He is the Lord!
We believe that all our sins are forgiven through him.
All who have faith in him must be sorry for their sins,
be baptized in the Holy Spirit of God,
live the rules of love, and share the bread together in love,
to announce the good news to others until Jesus comes again.
We are waiting for him.
He is alive! He lives! This we believe. Amen!
(Vincent J. Donovan, Christianity Revisited, Orbis Books, 1978, p. 200)
Response Amen Siakudumisa FWS# 2067 South Africa
Amen siakudumisa Amen, we praise your name O Lord
Amen siakudumisa Amen, we praise your name O Lord
Amen bawo; amen bawo Amen, Amen; Amen, Amen!
Amen siakudumisa Amen, we praise your name O Lord.
(C.F. Molefe; as taught by George Mxadana)
EUCHARIST
Hymn 196 Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus HYFRYDOL
Blessing of Peace From a litany based on a traditional Kikuyu form (Kenya)
Let us pray to the God of our forbearers, through Jesus Christ his Son,
in the power of the Holy Spirit.
May the leaders of our churches have wisdom and speak with one voice.
Praise the Lord: peace be with us.
May the leaders of our country rule with maturity and justice.
Praise the Lord: peace be with us.
May the country have tranquility and the people be blessed.
Praise the Lord: peace be with us.
May the people and the flocks and the herds prosper
and be free from illness.
Praise the Lord: peace be with us.
May the fields bear much fruit and the land be fertile.
Praise the Lord: peace be with us.
May the face of our enemies be turned towards peace.
Praise the Lord: peace be with us.
May the path of the world be swept of all danger.
Hallelujah! The Prince of Peace is with us.
(from With All God's People: The New Ecumenical Prayer Cycle, WCC Publications, pp. 112-113)
Congregational Response (Singing):
O come, Desire of nations, bind
All peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife, and quarrels cease;
Fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!
Postlude
Monday, December 1, 2008
Draft 6.8 for Christmas Eve
Since it is the first full week of Advent, I've decided to post the most recent draft of this year's Christmas Eve service at Argyle UMC. Well, I wish it was going to be at Argyle UMC! We were supposed to be in our new building but that's not going to happen in time for Christmas Eve, so now we are graciously being allowed to use the auditorium at Argyle High School. (We'd love to host it in our sanctuary but we are expecting over 1,000 folks and our sanctuary seats 175 people.)
For obvious reasons the high school is not real keen on the possibility that we might burn down their facility, we are not going to give everyone a candle to raise during the singing of "Silent Night" and since they don't want their carpet stained, we will not be serving communion. So, the trick has been to create a meaningful Christmas Eve service that forgoes those two traditional components.
Since we do not really celebrate Epiphany (which is quite a drag, since Epiphany is the older and, arguably, richer festival) we are mixing in a bit of the "follow the star" kind of motif.
I look forward to any comments that you might have!
Argyle UMC-Christmas Eve Worship
Wednesday, December 24th, 2008
Christmas Eve
5:00 & 7:00 p.m.
PRELUDE: Anastasia Markina or the band
*CALL TO WORSHIP Rev. Joe Stobaugh
Leader: When the time was right, God sent the Son;
Women: sent him and nourished him,
Men: reared him and risked him,
Women: filled him with laughter and tears and compassion,
Men: filled him with anger and love and devotion.
Leader: Unwelcomed child, refugee and runaway,
ALL: CHRIST IS GOD’S OWN SON
Leader: Feeder and teacher, healer and antagonist,
ALL: CHRIST IS GOD’S OWN SON
Leader: Lover of th unlovable,
Toucher of the untouchable,
Forgiver of the unforgivable,
ALL: CHRIST IS GOD’S OWN SON.
Leader: Loved by women, feared by men,
Befriended by the weak, despised by the strong,
Deserted by his listeners, betrayed by his friends;
Bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh,
Writing heven’s pardon over earth’s mistakes
ALL: CHRIST IS GOD’S OWN SON
LeaderL The Word became flesh:
ALL: HE CAME AMONG US, HE WAS ONE OF US . LET US WORSHIP HIM AND PROCLAIM
HIS COMING!
--Iona Community, 20th century, Scotland
*SONG OF GATHERING No. 234 O Come, All Ye Faithful st.1-4 THE PEOPLE
LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT AND CHRIST CANDLES
GREETING/REGISTRATION/THE LORD’S PRAYER Todd Mead
PREPARING TO HEAR THE WORD: evensong band (band stays seated during sermon)
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 2:1-11
MESSAGE Follow the Star Rev. Kory Knott
MUSICAL RESPONSE: Light is Shining by Daniel Doss evensong band & Chancel Choir
PRAYERS FOR THE WORLD Rev. Joe Stobaugh
CONFESSION (from Grace Community in England)
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
(Sing the Last stanza and refraind FROM WE THREE KINGS)
TITHES AND OFFERINGS: Follow the Star by Theorn Kirk Chancel Choir
DOXOLOGY: Something from a Carol
THE CHRISTMAS STORY: Luke 2:8-20 PRE-RECORD IT WITH A CHILD READING THE CHRISTMAS STORY: EMILY YOUNG
(Silent Night underneath it) light’s come down with the focus on the star
*No. 239 Silent Night THE PEOPLE
*SONG OF CELEBRATION No. 246 Joy to the World THE PEOPLE
BENEDICTION Rev. Kory Knott
POSTLUDE Anastasia Markina
For obvious reasons the high school is not real keen on the possibility that we might burn down their facility, we are not going to give everyone a candle to raise during the singing of "Silent Night" and since they don't want their carpet stained, we will not be serving communion. So, the trick has been to create a meaningful Christmas Eve service that forgoes those two traditional components.
Since we do not really celebrate Epiphany (which is quite a drag, since Epiphany is the older and, arguably, richer festival) we are mixing in a bit of the "follow the star" kind of motif.
I look forward to any comments that you might have!
Argyle UMC-Christmas Eve Worship
Wednesday, December 24th, 2008
Christmas Eve
5:00 & 7:00 p.m.
PRELUDE: Anastasia Markina or the band
*CALL TO WORSHIP Rev. Joe Stobaugh
Leader: When the time was right, God sent the Son;
Women: sent him and nourished him,
Men: reared him and risked him,
Women: filled him with laughter and tears and compassion,
Men: filled him with anger and love and devotion.
Leader: Unwelcomed child, refugee and runaway,
ALL: CHRIST IS GOD’S OWN SON
Leader: Feeder and teacher, healer and antagonist,
ALL: CHRIST IS GOD’S OWN SON
Leader: Lover of th unlovable,
Toucher of the untouchable,
Forgiver of the unforgivable,
ALL: CHRIST IS GOD’S OWN SON.
Leader: Loved by women, feared by men,
Befriended by the weak, despised by the strong,
Deserted by his listeners, betrayed by his friends;
Bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh,
Writing heven’s pardon over earth’s mistakes
ALL: CHRIST IS GOD’S OWN SON
LeaderL The Word became flesh:
ALL: HE CAME AMONG US, HE WAS ONE OF US . LET US WORSHIP HIM AND PROCLAIM
HIS COMING!
--Iona Community, 20th century, Scotland
*SONG OF GATHERING No. 234 O Come, All Ye Faithful st.1-4 THE PEOPLE
LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT AND CHRIST CANDLES
GREETING/REGISTRATION/THE LORD’S PRAYER Todd Mead
PREPARING TO HEAR THE WORD: evensong band (band stays seated during sermon)
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 2:1-11
MESSAGE Follow the Star Rev. Kory Knott
MUSICAL RESPONSE: Light is Shining by Daniel Doss evensong band & Chancel Choir
PRAYERS FOR THE WORLD Rev. Joe Stobaugh
CONFESSION (from Grace Community in England)
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
(Sing the Last stanza and refraind FROM WE THREE KINGS)
TITHES AND OFFERINGS: Follow the Star by Theorn Kirk Chancel Choir
DOXOLOGY: Something from a Carol
THE CHRISTMAS STORY: Luke 2:8-20 PRE-RECORD IT WITH A CHILD READING THE CHRISTMAS STORY: EMILY YOUNG
(Silent Night underneath it) light’s come down with the focus on the star
*No. 239 Silent Night THE PEOPLE
*SONG OF CELEBRATION No. 246 Joy to the World THE PEOPLE
BENEDICTION Rev. Kory Knott
POSTLUDE Anastasia Markina
Quantum of Solace
This weekend I had the chance to see the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, and wow, I loved it! And I struggle with the fact that I enjoyed it so much. Here's why: I do not buy into the myth of redemptive violence at all. In fact, I am sure it's the main cycle that Jesus broke with his death. There is something compelling, however, about cheering for the good guys and for being glad when the bad guys "get there's." The violence is well shot and impressive, from a film making standpoint, and the character development is much better with the Daniel Craig James Bond, but still, I wish I wasn't so taken by the violence of it.
Friday, November 28, 2008
A quick update
Happy Day after Thanksgiving!
I hope this post finds you well! It's been so long since I last posted it wouldn't surprise me if no one ever reads this!
Life has been crazy full the last few weeks. We've been preparing for Advent at church, I am working on a book, preparing to play at the big lessons and carols service at Perkins, working on the lessons and carols service at Argyle, (not to mention Christmas Eve!), trying to raise two awesome kids and, frankly, just attempting to suck the marrow out of life, if you will.
Last week I was blessed to have the opportunity to say goodbye to a pastor who has been an inspiration to me since I entered the process of becoming (and have since become) a United Methodist Clergy person. Rev. Kathleen Baskin-Ball is an example of what it is to be a faithful person of God and of how powerful and wide-ranging one person's ministry can be. Please take a moment to check out this link:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/112708dnmetbaskinball.4a72148.html
I would invite you to be in prayer for Kathleen, Bill, Skyler, Suncreek UMC, and The United Methodist Church during these days.
God is faithful and God is good.
I hope this post finds you well! It's been so long since I last posted it wouldn't surprise me if no one ever reads this!
Life has been crazy full the last few weeks. We've been preparing for Advent at church, I am working on a book, preparing to play at the big lessons and carols service at Perkins, working on the lessons and carols service at Argyle, (not to mention Christmas Eve!), trying to raise two awesome kids and, frankly, just attempting to suck the marrow out of life, if you will.
Last week I was blessed to have the opportunity to say goodbye to a pastor who has been an inspiration to me since I entered the process of becoming (and have since become) a United Methodist Clergy person. Rev. Kathleen Baskin-Ball is an example of what it is to be a faithful person of God and of how powerful and wide-ranging one person's ministry can be. Please take a moment to check out this link:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/112708dnmetbaskinball.4a72148.html
I would invite you to be in prayer for Kathleen, Bill, Skyler, Suncreek UMC, and The United Methodist Church during these days.
God is faithful and God is good.
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