God is always present.
And it is in the present moment – no where else – that we experience God (and, each other).
Growing, maturing, deepening our faith requires us, therefore, to be present – a very very difficult challenge for humans to believe and live.
The created world is a gift, teaching us things that are true about God and about ourselves. This week we consider what trees teach us about our growth and maturity.
Week 2: The end of the rope is a beginning.
The story of Jacob and Esau points us to a number of important truths about growth and transformation:
We begin a new series in which we look at important principles related to our spiritual transformation (and transformation in general).
Week 1 considers the truth that in order to grow we must learn to embrace BOTH death AND resurrection.
The six stories we’ve considered so far fall short of their promise. They give us something, but it is not what we really want. We need a seventh story.
We see aspects of the seventh story in the hours before and after Christ’s death and resurrection — and we see it clearly in the resurrection itself. This story is hard to believe, if we’re honest, but it is the story that leads to life.
The Story of Accumulation is everywhere. There isn’t a day that we’re not inundated with the message that we’ll find our happiness and security in more (fill in the blank).
But does this story give us what it promises? What is the alternative?
The Story of Victimization is a challenging one. It tells us that when we’ve been harmed we should let our pain define us. It’s a story that encourages us to get stuck in our pain — sometimes even fueling us to harm others while feeling righteous in doing so.
But getting stuck in our pain — allowing our pain to define who we are — does not move us toward life. Instead, we must courageously face our pain and move toward it — almost certainly with the help and care of others.
Teresa leads us through the Story of Isolation.
Teresa and Chris (from Palestine) share thoughts on the third story in our series — the Story of Purification.
The second story is one of Revolution/Revenge. It is the belief that the only way we’ll be secure and ultimately happy is if we repay pain for pain, harm for harm.
We begin a series for Lent that considers six stories we encounter regularly in our day to day lives — a series that ends on Easter, which is a seventh story of sorts.
These six stories promise us happiness, security and fulfillment but rarely deliver. As we move through Lent we’ll be asking ourselves which of these stories do we believe and might we want to leave them behind for a better story.
Week 1 is the story of Domination.
We are choosing to be bold — to take risks, to purposefully keep a compelling vision close to our heart, and to lean into each other.
Jesus is our example, and at every turn Jesus extends welcome to all. Those on the margins, those society considered ‘last’, those disregarded are all included.
Within the community Jesus creates, we find significant difference (socio-economic, political, gender). This is by choice. Jesus chooses to include those who he knew would disagree — those who would see the world very differently — those who the world would say should be opponents, if not enemies.
What happens when we choose to include? What happens to us? What happens to the world? We consider these questions together.
Who do we want to be?
Who will we choose to be?
These are questions often asked at the beginning of a new year. And while related, they are not the same.
We may want to be many things — or to change much — but without a choice (likely, many, daily choices) those desires will go unrealized.
We must be intentional – purposeful.
Together we consider three choices Jesus invites us to make. This week, that choice is humility.
Luke 18:9-14
From moving trucks to our hope for reconciliation to an inn (or house) in Bethlehem, it often feels like there is no room. No room for repair. No hope of things getting better. No space for this or that group. But the Christmas story reminds us that God is able to make room, to make the last first, to find space for all, to open our often-closed hearts.
For the final Sunday of Advent we consider the power of song – especially the way in which it can help rekindle hope.
As we sing multiple carols, hear poetry and consider what lyrics to our own song of hope might sound like, we work together to find strength and resolve to move toward the lives and world we are invited to by God.
As we considered last week, it is possible for joy to surprise us and show up at any moment, in any circumstance.
This week, Elliott shares the story of the days following John the Baptist’s birth – a story in which Zachariah’s muteness ends and he breaks into a song of sorts — a blessing for the world and for his son.
In this story, awe and wonder are prevalent. In fact, they are prevalent in all of the stories surrounding Jesus’ birth. What do we make of this? Is there a connection between awe and joy? And is it possible to cultivate awe in our everyday lives?
“Choose joy!” This phrase has become an anthem of sorts, but is it true? Is joy something we choose? Can we, therefore, do certain things to create or manufacture joy?
We look at the story of Elizabeth and Zachariah and explore these questions, working to clarify what joy is and how it arrives in our lives.
The good news is that joy can be present in any circumstance, at any time. Even when we are weary and worn.
Our theme this year is “how does a weary world rejoice?”.
We’re borrowing that line from the Christmas carol, O Holy Night. It’s a line that holds tension and hope. Tension because both weariness and joy are present at the same time and hope because…well…weariness and joy are present at the same time.
This morning we consider the ways in which we doubt joy and even resist it. We explore the story of Zachariah and Elizabeth – a story of both weariness and joy — and let it inspire us to consider how we might more and more become people ready to receive joy when it sneaks “into the cracks of our imperfect life”.
Teresa follows up on the conversation we had about Israel/Palestine (on 10/29) by asking the question – what is ours to do? How do we move toward wholeness in the face of so much that is wrong; in the face of constant pressure to perform; in the face of a belief that we should be able to fix all things?
