ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 18, 2024 Prayer for the Week: O Merciful God, as we enter a new week, we acknowledge those moments when we feel as if we have come to a dead end and it appears as if there is no way forward. In this Season of Lent, when we are slowing down to become more aware of our own breathing and your presence found within each breath, we desire to know both the hope and peace revealed in your sacred presence. As we pause for prayer this day, may we notice our breath and the divine breath by which we have life and have it abundantly. With that gift, we enter this day believing in the possibilities that might not yet be perceived by us, but possibilities that have us stretching beyond what too many have described as being impossible. We offer our prayer in the name of Christ Jesus. Amen.
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ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 17, 2024 Years ago, I was running at 10k in a small town. The energy and hospitality were wonderful, and it was a fun race to run. But I laughed when I realized where the finish line was. As I stood there waiting to hear the person with the bullhorn yell, “Go,” I looked up and noticed that the banner ahead of me said, FINISH. It was a loop course, and the finish line was about 15 yards behind the start line. And because of the size of the running group, I was standing far enough back that the finish line was a short distance ahead of me. I had to cross the finish line before I crossed the starting line. Rereading what I just wrote sounds incredibly confusing, but I find that life rarely gives us exact start-and-stop, beginning-and-ending points. If you’re like me, it feels as if I wake up and immediately step into the fast-moving current of life, and I get dumped out at the end of the day long enough to sleep before doing it all over again. As we talk more about Pressing the Reset Button, I want to encourage you to find moments where you can at least pause and breathe for a few moments, especially if you feel as if you’re constantly being swept up in the current. Too often, the next start line is immediately after the finish line, and it doesn’t feel as if we have even a moment to breathe. Even if I can’t find a reset in my daily life or even much of a break, I seek your assistance, O God of the Sabbath, as I do my best to find a few moments to breathe and be reminded of who I am and whose I am. Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 16, 2024 In tomorrow’s sermon, I will be quoting a character from the limited series Lessons in Chemistry. Like Ted Lasso, I really did not want to see Lessons in Chemistry come to an end. It was powerful and profound, funny and heartwarming. The main character, Elizabeth Zott, was played brilliantly by Brie Larson. In the last episode, she says (and I rewatched it numerous times to make sure I got it right), “If your life is anything like mine, your dreams will not come to you in a linear fashion.” That is such a scientific way to say it, but that’s who this character was. But you don’t have to be a scientist to see how your life, the steps toward fulfilling a dream, are sporadic, with numerous detours, bumps you never imagined, and a whole lot of head scratching. Oh sure, there are probably a handful of folks whose road to the fulfillment of their life dreams was well paved, a little like what Isaiah suggested as the way of God—every hill made low, every valley lifted high, and all the rough places smoothed out. But for the rest of us, it is a journey. Yet when I pause long enough, I am able to name the unexpected and rough moments, or even the unyielding obstructions, as the times and places where I learned some character and tenacity. It was during what I might have called a detour that I met amazing people. And it was when one dream appeared to come to a crushing end that another one came to life. To be clear, I do not believe God is throwing obstacles in our way or making the road rougher than it needs to be. Instead, I believe life just does that, and though I am a bit surprised that I will say this out loud, I am sort of thankful for the life dreams that do not come to us in a linear fashion. Whether the journey is smooth or rougher than I ever could have imagined, I claim you to be present alongside me every step of the way. Thank you, O Living God, for your faithfulness to me and to all creation. Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 15, 2024 A number of years ago, I was asked the question, “How old were you when you first really understood the Jesus message?” My answer then would be my answer now: “I am still trying to determine the Jesus message.” It’s not that I have no experience of its beauty and transformative power, but it’s as if the depth of this message is growing exponentially as I am taking minuscule steps in my exploration. Sometimes people seek peace in their claim of absolute understanding, but for me, the immeasurable breadth and depth of divine love brings peace simply because I cannot fathom an end or conclusion to it. If I thought I could measure it and explain it, then peace would slip further and further away. As absurd as it may sound, I find peace in my inability to grasp the fullness of God’s love because the moment I think I really understand it will be the moment I really don't understand it. All I can say is, “Wow!” as I experience your love, O Lord, and I’m ok with a ‘wow’ for now. Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 14, 2024 Have you ever found yourself in an embarrassing moment and wished you had access to a reset button? Southwest Airlines has a great series of commercials where someone is horribly embarrassed. The voice on the commercial asks, “Do you want to get away?” Since most of us don’t have the reset button that erases the memories of everyone who witnessed our stupidity, simply jumping on an airplane for a week reprieve will only delay the inevitable. I’m wondering what might be helpful in such a moment. Could it be that a God-inspired reset might be found in our own attitude toward such moments? You may have noticed in my preaching style that I enjoy some self-deprecating humor. I find that such public honesty helps to reduce people’s fears of being outed as being imperfect. After worship, people have approached me and said, “You think your moment was embarrassing? Well, let me tell you what I did…” 1 Peter 4:8 says, “…love covers over a multitude of sins.” Maybe I would have added that humor covers many cringeworthy moments in life, as I believe humor and grace go hand-in-hand. Give me a reset in my own mindset that frees me from a deeply set fear of looking stupid. This is my request, O Gracious God. Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 13, 2024 Last Sunday, I talked about Pressing the Reset Button in regard to our understanding of atonement. It was one of those sermons that deserved another 12-15 minutes of explanation, as it is a complicated subject and has a lot of history that is sort of lost in most churches today. So often, a certain aspect of our faith, or even a go-to line common among good Christian folk, is assumed to have been handed down from God to Moses and then to us. Of course, with much of the Christian faith, it is a bit more involved, and the pathway to our doorstep is a bit more convoluted. My ultimate hope in the sermon was to present how the church, for 2000 years, has had multiple explanations for why Jesus died and whether his death was a necessity from God’s standpoint. There were those who emphasized the payment of a debt that could only be paid by someone of equal stature to God. Jesus, as the incarnation of God, was the answer. There were those who spoke of God wanting to forgive humanity, but forgiveness without some penalty would not be just. For those making this argument, Jesus became the one who paid the penalty for all, which allowed God to remain just. Others went down the road of appeasing an angry and wrathful God. In a sense, Jesus took all of God’s anger and rage upon himself in his suffering on the cross. These and many other theories, along with strange combinations of some, are woven into the fabric of Christianity. If anything, my hope on Sunday was to point out three things: First, the different theories of atonement were often a product of the social and political settings in which they were developed. Second, there were many such theories, including some that were pushed aside for no other reason than that they did not help the church’s agenda at that moment in time. And third, for those who are troubled by the notion of an angry and vengeful God, there are other ideas that are, in fact, as old as some of the better-known theories. Christian theology is wonderfully perplexing and beautifully confusing, but I’m pretty sure that is a reflection of human beings trying to make sense of God’s immeasurable love that found its way into the world. In whatever way people have tried to describe you, Lord God, I give thanks for the glimpses of your unconditional and relentless love. Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 12, 2024 If my math is correct, today is the 52nd anniversary of Cypress Creek Christian Church. On this day in 1972, a group of folks gathered at the home of Bill and Betty Ayers to join God in dreaming into existence this place that would be known as Cypress Creek Christian Church. I have never been a direct participant in a new church start, though I have been an outside encourager, cheerleader, and on one occasion, I served as a sounding board to the pastor. It takes a unique person and a very specific calling from God to start a new church. Sadly, about 70% of new churches don’t make it to their third anniversary. It is hard work for everyone involved. But because you are usually starting with a small group of people and very limited resources, the young, fledgling church needs to be ultra-focused on who it is and what it believes God has called it to do. If it is sort of scattered or too broad, it will stumble, as the core team will have a difficult time articulating the vision. Early on, Cypress Creek begin using the language of God’s unconditional love. Today, a lot of churches toss those words around, though sadly, many of them share unconditionally with a select few (which does not fit my definition of unconditional). It was sort of radical stuff in the late 70’s and early 80’s, and though there were some who visited and could not be a part of a church that loved so extravagantly, there were others who caught the vision very clearly. 52 years later, we continue to strive toward an even greater understanding and expression of the love of God made real by a first-century teacher named Jesus. We celebrate past, present, and even a future we have yet to imagine. Glorious God, for all you have done and continue to do through this faith community, we are thankful. May our faithfulness to the vision you cast before us never get stuck in an overly syrupy nostalgia, but feel the tug toward to even greater things. Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 11, 2024 Prayer for the Week: Teach me, encourage me, and train me in the ways of self-restraint wherever I need a bit more discipline. Lord God, I do not wish to step off the path of faithfulness, though I know I will on more than one occasion. When I do, I trust your grace to be a gentle guide, your mercy to take me by the hand. Beckon me with the light of love. It is my hope in moments of both faithfulness and failure. Thank you for being the God you are. Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 10, 2024 In Psalm 27 (the Message), we read: When besieged, I'm calm as a baby. When all hell breaks loose, I'm collected and cool. I'm asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I'll contemplate his beauty; I'll study at his feet. That's the only quiet, secure place in a noisy world, The perfect getaway, far from the buzz of traffic. Too often, we approach a certain word with a preconceived idea of its meaning, yet Jesus spun old ideas back on themselves for the purpose of reinvigorating or reinventing them. Maybe it was because a spiritual practice had become too rote or empty, or maybe it had been co-opted by someone who had an agenda contrary to that of God. Whatever the case, it appears that Jesus wanted ancient spiritual ideas and practices to be understood as life-giving, not life-draining. I sort of wonder what ideas and practices we have allowed to become life-draining. Call to us, O Holy One of the Silence. Engage us and reveal to us your healing presence—a gift made available as we quiet ourselves. Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 9, 2024 In James 1:22, we read: “…be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” I believe the church has experienced many moments of self-deception, talking itself into a belief that what it thinks or what it says is the doing of the Gospel, when in fact it is not. Today, I am thankful for all the good “DOING” of the word at Cypress Creek Christian Church. Some people are serving specifically through a ministry at the church, while so many others have their own way of being a doer of the word. I just heard someone talking about helping a neighbor after surgery, not only with food but with some other small tasks around the house. Those are the kinds of things that may not appear to be a big deal, but they are. And a lot of those "DOINGS" woven together can have a dramatic impact on a neighborhood, a community, and even have positive implications for the world. O God of the faithful, I pray this day for the capacity to model my life after the many who knew what it meant to be doers of the word and not merely hearers. This is my hope-filled request. Amen. |
AuthorRev. Bruce Frogge Archives
March 2024
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