ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS Thought for the Day: I believe God loves us unconditionally, but it is something very different to suggest God IS love. This passage from 1st John presents love as something more than what God does. The equation would be: God = Love and Love = God. Suddenly love is not some goofy emotion that causes your heart rate to increase and your palms to sweat each time you think of that special person. Instead, it is a power that exists apart from us, while also moving between us and dwelling within us. God is no longer the twin to Father Time, looking grumpy and bored every time he is depicted. God is a force that draws people together while transforming what is not love, not God. This force does not take away an individual’s free will, but it does have people freely surrendering themselves to its influence and rule. Spend a little time disembodying God using your imagination, trying to envision God without some physical form. Scripture does speak of Jesus as the visible sign of the invisible God. Some might believe that to mean Jesus is an artist’s best rendering of God’s likeness in physical form. Maybe, but I wonder if the word ‘sign’ could be understood more in terms of a signpost, a pointer to what God IS. Prayer: Maybe you love us so well, O God, because you are the essence of love, the most perfect expression of love, the source from which all love emanates. Amen. TODAY’S WORSHIP SERVICE via WordPress https://ift.tt/2PbbVOX
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ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS Thought for the Day: These are familiar words for many Christians, yet our familiarity can breed assumptions that may not necessarily be entirely accurate – three specific ones in this verse. The word ‘world,’ in the original Greek, is Kosmos. This word did not simply describe earth, but everything. God loved everything on earth and everywhere else in the universe – people, creatures, air, rocks, plants, stars, water, etc. The word ‘believes’ is another word that is so much more than what we have made it. I have often replaced believe with belove, for it is not simply an intellectual statement one makes, but a relationship based in mutual love. And ‘eternal life’ in John’s Gospel is what happens, not when we die, but the moment we begin to live as one of God’s beloved. So often the passage has been interpreted to a simple method – punch your ticket with the right words so that when you die you go to heaven. That does not make sense as John’s Gospel is the poetic Gospel, and the last thing the author wanted was to make things mechanical. It is a divine dance into which we are invited, a dance that never has to end. Prayer: Lord God, you love us and all of creation, calling us into a relationship of life-giving love. May the fullness of life, your eternal life, be our experience this day and always. Amen. via WordPress https://ift.tt/3tD26In ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS Thought for the Day: A few weeks back during the Wednesday Studies, I focused on these words spoken by Jesus during his crucifixion. Jesus was offering a Lament, specifically quoting the first verse of Psalm 22. As I explained to the class, a Lament, in my opinion, is a tool that God provides humanity to help navigate pain and suffering. It is an attempt to give words to the emotions and experiences people have, specifically the emotions and experiences that too often are hushed by those who would rather not hear about them. Though the Lament is a specific genre, it doesn’t necessarily need to be poetic or even fit all the rules of grammar. A Lament can be a string of words, laced with an emotional sentiment that we have yet to fully articulate. I think this is where I have found myself these last few days as I have tried to craft a response to the eight murders in Atlanta. Yesterday’s attempt did not make it past the rough draft stage, and calling it a “rough draft” is probably an undeserved accolade. In moments like this, when we have seen hate and anger erupt in devastating violence, it seems appropriate for a minister of the Gospel to speak a word. Yet as of late, offering some spiritual platitude or hopeful inspiration seems more and more challenging. There is currently a debate over whether this will be deemed a hate crime or not. I don’t know all the technicalities in making such a determination, yet what I do know is that hate, mixed with unhealthy understandings of sexuality and toxic masculinity provide a sought after permission for those wanting a license to act upon their insecurities and fears. It is happening way too often in our society, and we have to acknowledge and confess our culture’s participation in the permission-giving. A Lament might appear to some as an meaningless gesture at this time, but I find it to be more than an empty self-serving offering. A Lament is what our spiritual-selves seek to do in moments like this so we might find a healthier mindset from which one can actually respond in a productive way. Prayer: I’m angry – I’m heartbroken – I’m tired, yet I know nothing of what it is like to live a life where there are no breaks from the threats of violence, misogyny, bigotry. Holy God, allow for my laments, my prayerful grieving and frustration, to give rise to the hope of change, and then the willingness to be a participant in that change. Amen. via WordPress https://ift.tt/3lt2xCi ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS Thought for the Day: I always like coming to these verses in chapter three of Lamentations. The opening verses are sad and full of despair as the author knows only trouble. Often people never get through those tough words, never finding their way into these words of hope. Thank goodness Thomas Chisholm found his way. He is the author of the hymn, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” and in the first verse of that hymn we read the words, “thy compassions, they fail not; as thou hast been thou forever wilt be. Great is thy faithfulness…” May each of us find the song of hope coming to our lips even when the circumstances of life appear to be void of hope. Prayer: Lord God, make your faithfulness my hope. Amen. via WordPress https://ift.tt/3qY53Bm ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS Listen To Today’s Etching Thought for the Day: These words are found in a chapter with what might be described as a mixed bag of emotions. There are “woes” (woe to you…) that are always frightening to hear, but in this verse the prophet is full of hope, especially the language of being our arm every morning. I remember the days following my knee surgeries and the early morning walk to the bathroom. I imagine some of you know that experience well. It was good to have an arm to lean on. In my case, it was Donna. Overnight, the joint had stiffened up and making a quick run to the bathroom was not an option. She was there, whether I tried it with both crutches or only one. Now having God at our side doesn’t put an end to all stumbles and falls, but there are times when we need that Holy Presence to lean on spiritually and emotionally. God is faithful, ever present in our moments of weakness. In Donna’s case, I often had to wake her if I was going to get some assistance, but God needs no wake-up call. What God asks of us is to trust and to put some of the weight on the divine arm. God can handle it. Prayer: Allow for my relationship with you, Gracious God, to grow in such a way that I feel comfortable reaching out for you and trusting you’ll be there. Thank you for giving me the time to get my balance, to feel a bit more steady in my life’s journey… always knowing that you’ll be there no matter the circumstance. Amen. via WordPress https://ift.tt/30RN2ug ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS Thought for the Day: For a week now, I have been intrigued by the phrase: gentleness born of wisdom. During this Season of Lent, I have taken a sentence or phrase from scripture and allowed it to roll around in my head for a week or so. I’ve asked questions like: Is there gentleness born of foolishness? Maybe, but wisdom in the Book of James is described as coming down from above/heaven as a gift given generously. To have a gentleness born of wisdom is to have a gentleness born of God, a gentleness that seeks to make you and I better people. In your own life, what does gentleness look like physically? Emotionally? Spiritually? Is there one specific area where you need a rebirth of that gentleness? How might God be helping you make it come alive? Prayer: Help me, Lord, as I want my life to show others the gentleness born of you. It is so needed in every corner of our society, and I pray that I might be a means by which it is brought into more and more places. Amen. via WordPress https://ift.tt/2Q9BYGF ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS via WordPress https://ift.tt/38I7bXX ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS Thought for the Day: You read a passage like this, and it makes you wonder if human beings have free will. Yet if folks can chase after idols, and cause injustice for orphans and do not defend the rights of those in need (some of the concerns of the Prophet Jeremiah), it sounds as if they have chosen to turn away from God. In fact, there would be no need for a prophet if there was no free will. It almost sound as if the prophet in this passage is chastising with a hint of sarcasm, as if to say, “You can’t control yourself, can you? You don’t seem to have any self control, any willpower to say, NO!” Technically, we all have the power, but we are constantly fighting a multitude of demons and principalities, including our egos and insecurities. There are a lot of voices that appear to seize and overtake our free will, but in most cases, we have chosen to surrender it. Today in worship, we will focus on discipleship, specifically choosing to follow Jesus. It is a choice, a daily choice. It might begin with a few words spoken with great sincerity in a time of desperation, but it must move beyond that moment. For all of us, no matter how long we claim to have been a Christian, there is never a moment when we’ve got this whole Jesus-thing figured out. It is an ongoing journey, whereby we stretch and struggle, regroup in prayer, take a few steps, even take a risk, maybe fall flat on our face. Some of the great witnesses in the ways of Jesus were also those who were never satisfied with faith as a status quo. If I want to follow, there will be constant movement because Jesus was and is always on the move. Prayer: May I find peace in your amazing and unconditional love, O Lord, but in that peace I do not wish to find a negligent placidness. For the gift of peace I have received is what provides me the courage to stretch myself, acting boldly and fearlessly for the sake of your love. Amen. TODAY’S WORSHIP SERVICE via WordPress https://ift.tt/2Q5Ezl3 ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS Thought for the Day: One year ago today, I was kicking into high gear trying to figure out how we would do worship online after making the decision to cancel our in-person worship. I could have lived a very happy life never learning the things I’ve had to learn these past twelve months, but in light of what we have faced, I am thankful for the ways we were able to connect with one another. God remained good, though that was no surprise. And though our paths did not always feel straight or all that easy, it was quite amazing how the path always seemed passable. I know for many these past twelve months have brought extraordinary pain. Not only grief and loss, but often an inability to process the grief or find closure as one would want. Through these immense challenges, I still believe God is helping make a path forward for all of us. But let us remember how we are often part of the road crew helping God to clear the path for those who are having more difficulty moving forward. Prayer: We trust you and your love, Lord God, though there have been times when it has become difficult to hold tight to our faith. In those moments, provide us some hint of your Good News, the news of how you will never let us go. Amen. via WordPress https://ift.tt/3vvoEwy ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS Thought for the Day: Today we celebrate 49 years of being Cypress Creek Christian Church. On this day in 1972, at the home of Bill and Betty Ayers, a group of folks gathered and began to dream with God. Rev. Earl Bissex was a driving force in the organization of the new church in the Spring area. Some people couldn’t imagine why a church so far north was needed, but God tends to be a few steps ahead of us. Today begins our journey toward the congregation’s Golden Jubilee, what needs to be a big joyous hoopla. Not all of us have a long history with Cypress Creek Christian Church, yet when it comes to church, the full history becomes our history. We are able to collectively own for ourselves all the jubilant story-worthy moments in the life of our community. Let us begin to feel a little of that celebration as we look ahead. Prayer: We continue to rejoice with you and because of all you have done, O Lord. Let the church always remember where it started, celebrate all that has been done and look forward to all you will accomplish through us. We ask this in the name of Christ, the Head of the Church. Amen. via WordPress https://ift.tt/3crp1iH |
AuthorRev. Bruce Frogge Archives
May 2024
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