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Advent Prayers of the People

For Gaudete (Joy) Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent: God of light, break into our darkness. You see us all, and you’ve heard everything we’ve been praying here today – make us aware of your presence and your work. Today we’re praying for the people of this church – for their healing, for peace for their lives, for comfort in mourning, for hope when there seems to be no hope. Bless these people with your light, God. On this particular Sunday, God, we ask for joy to be shared in the lives of others. Hear the names of these people…
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Alternative Worship

This entry is a poor exuse for an essay in response to the article “God’s Mission and the Christian Assembly: The Search for an Alternative Practice of Worship” by Thomas H Shattauer, published in “Dialog: A Journal of Theology” on June 1, 2011. This author argues that contemporary worship is not so much about an alternative to tradition, but to conventionality. Conventionality means – especially in Mainline American context – institutional Christianity. In other words, the “alternative” in alternative worship is about an alternative to the Sunday morning sitting in pews sermon/reading focused service augmented with studies and committee-organized efforts. The question posed by alternative worship isn’t “how can we get rid of tradition”, but “how can we continue Christian practice and make new traditions?” In this framework, the question of how to maintain the institutional church becomes less…
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VotD 4/29

Over and over again, the the New Testament talks about how important loving one another is. We aren’t expected to be perfect, we are expected to love. Many times in the Epistles, it seems as if the authors do in fact want the readers to be perfect: to give up earthly pleasures, to believe in Jesus, to follow God, etc. But when I allow the Bible to interpret the Bible, I can see that love and grace always take precedence. Yes, we will sin: but pay attention to how much you can love, not how much you have sinned. Yes,…
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VotD 4/24

The full text of this verse reads, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” More than anything, this shows that Jeremiah was God’s choice for the times: Jeremiah didn’t gain his fame through his own merits, but because of what God did through him. And Jeremiah worked through a very difficult time in Israel’s history – the exile. So this verse also reminds me that God had placed Jeremiah in this place and time to be a voice of hope, even…
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VotD 4/8/19

We’re not as familiar these days with the concepts of “king” and “kingdom” as we used to be. We assume that we, as a nation, will have some sort of say in what kind of government will be in charge. But if that isn’t the case – if government rules by fiat and the people have no control – then we should hope for a good ruler. In this context, it’s helpful, important, and exciting that God claims to be king over our lives. God as King owns the whole world – owns us. But unlike a human king or…
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VotD 4/5/19

I immediately think of Martin Luther King, Jr when I see this verse. It reminds me that he didn’t do his work alone – justice rolled like a river, not like a firehose. It reminds me that justice is worth every effort: let it wash over everything. MLK’s use of the phrase makes me think also of Revelation, and Jesus’ condemnation of the lukewarm church. I am a very lukewarm Christian, and it’s hard for me to get out of that mode. I don’t want to rock the boat. But Amos (along with Jesus and MLK) is reminding us to…
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VotD 3/20/19

Thank goodness we don’t have to make actual animal and plant sacrifices to God anymore. I don’t know if I could handle all of that. In fact, we don’t have to make any sacrifices to make atonement, because to make a sacrifice to God would be to imply that Jesus’ sacrifice wasn’t enough to cover our sins. So what does the author of Hebrews mean here, by saying that God is pleased with the sacrifices of doing good and sharing? Not that doing good and sharing are necessary for salvation, but that they please God – and they are sacrifices….
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VotD 3/19/19

I’ve always thought that washing feet is an unfortunate cultural holdover from Jesus’ life. It’s beautiful and perfectly meaningful, but also super awkward in modern American culture. I never liked Maundy Thursday services for that reason! But it’s a perfect metaphor: feet get dirty really quickly, especially when wearing sandals. They stink. And they’re necessary to get us where we need to go. Washing feet was commonly what servants did for respected guests. It represents welcome. And, at the same time, it’s like a mini foot massage – it feels good, and it makes you feel refreshed and clean. So…
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VotD 3/18/19

When’s the last time God did something so amazing for you that you just had to tell someone? Generally we reserve that kind of excitement for medical miracles which, to be fair, also include the efforts of many, many intelligent professional people through the ages who have developed and then, finally, enacted the care we get excited about. What about the last time you heard and answer to prayer from God, regardless of how happy that answer made you? What about finding a renewed sense of God’s amazing creation? What about remembering how wonderful it is that God is good…
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VotD 3/14/19

God is with us in the struggle. When things go wrong, it doesn’t mean that you’ve sinned and are being punished, and it certainly doesn’t mean God isn’t with you. Even if you are being punished, it’s not because God hates you, but because God loves you. God does everything out of love. But one thing God doesn’t do is tempt people to evil, which is what this verse is talking about. God would never put you through a trial that tempts you to do something wrong; God only tempts us to do what is right, according to James. So…
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