ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS October 21, 2019 Prayer For The Week: Youth – who discover genuine welcome; Children – who receive a loving affirmation; Adults – who find respite from the chaos; People – from every background and opinion and way of thinking – who meet you, God whose Kindness and Mercy are immeasurable. You are building something unique, You are creating something of value for the community around us, You are forming a body, The Body of Christ, In this setting for the work of putting love first as Christ embodied, as Christ exemplified. For the sake of the Youth and Children For the sake of adults of all ages Allow for this church and all churches to move beyond the short-sided survivalist thinking. By your Spirit, move us to that place of abundant living, grace-filled doing, love revealing. This we request with an expectation that you will help us see all this through to fruition. Amen. _ via WordPress https://ift.tt/33PleWO
0 Comments
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS October 20, 2019 Scripture: Jeremiah 31:25 I will strengthen the weary and renew those who are weak. Thought for the Day: This is part of a prophetic promise to those who have been in captivity, those who have been blocked from their place of peace. How many of us know well the frustration of getting stuck in traffic? What happens when a detour is necessary, though we are not absolutely sure where to go? GPS and mapping programs on our phones are so incredibly helpful, but what about the days prior to this technology? I remember getting off a main road and winding my way through a neighborhood, certain I was going to find an alternative route. Instead, I found myself right back to the road where the traffic was stopped. I just wanted to get home! The promise of strength and renewal found in Jeremiah is offered, not to those upon arriving at their desired destination, but along the way. People can become lost in their frustration, impatience and weariness as they move toward home and their place of peace. God recognizes how the journey home for many is tedious and exacting. Strength and renewal should not be viewed as the gifts received upon arriving at our destination, but the divine blessings offered along the way. Prayer: Through a prayerful relationship with you, Merciful God, I seek the necessary tools for the journey. In the journeys of life, from brokenness to wholeness, from lostness to peace, I need your presence and encouragement at every turn. Amen. via WordPress https://ift.tt/2P3BZJr ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS October 19, 2019 Scripture: Luke 4:18-19 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Thought for the Day: I recently shared these words of scripture with someone who is in jail. I’m not talking some figurative jail, but a real jail cell. There is no other place in scripture, at least as I read it, where we have a clearer description of Jesus’ mission statement. If you want to know what Jesus does, look here. Now I think his vision (big picture) was/is to act proactively with love – to put the Love First Life before humanity. A mission, on the other hand, is where the vision meets reality, and for Jesus, he is taking the Good News of God’s unconditional and unrelenting love to the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed. Some will ask whether Jesus was speaking metaphorically – “spiritual captives” or “holy blindness” -or- was he speaking about those who were economically poor and those who were physically oppressed? I think the answer is YES to everyone. Jesus did not sit around and compare people’s brokenness. He did not place a physical ailment above a mental illness. He saw suffering, and the love of God burning within him could not remain quiet. He had to act. And if these words from Luke’s Gospel are the mission statement of Jesus, then they probably are the mission statement of the Body of Christ. Our mission is to Put Love First In All Things, and our mission is to help individuals and families live this Love First Life… which is to act with love, not because people have earned it, but because Jesus showed us how to live such love for those who feel utterly alienated from love because of their woundedness and brokenness. Prayer: I pray this day for all who yearn for the Spirit’s anointing. Come, Holy Spirit, and find the body you need for the proclamation of the Good News – a proclamation in both word and action. Amen. via WordPress https://ift.tt/2N7qgr1 ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS October 18, 2019 Scripture: Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. Thought for the Day: The word “renewing” is only found one other time in the Bible, and that is in Titus 3:5 where it says, “God saved us… through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” Even in the Greek, the root word is “new” as in the passage from Mark’s Gospel when Jesus said to his disciples at the Last Supper, “I assure you that I won’t drink wine again until that day when I drink it in a new way in God’s kingdom.” It is the same language Paul used when he wrote about becoming a new creation. All this is to suggest that renewal and becoming something new requires more than a desire or wish. If we want renewal that leads to becoming something utterly new, then change will be required. It will demand a reorientation of our mindset, a reorganization of our priorities and a redesign of how we perceive the world around us. That sounds a bit more demanding than what is often associated with church membership, but at the end of the day, Jesus didn’t invite us to be members. He invited us to follow. Prayer: Teach me again and again about your love, O God, as it is what inspires and beckons us to follow. Amen. _ via WordPress https://ift.tt/35LWcJK ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS October 17, 2019 Scripture: Isaiah 43:19 Look! I’m doing a new thing; now it sprouts up; don’t you recognize it? I’m making a way in the desert, paths in the wilderness. A Thursday Prayer: Let the lives of those whose names we do not know and whose lives we may not understand continue to receive our full respect. May every human being be treated as having equal value in your eyes, Gracious God. You have made their value known to us, and we shall live our lives honoring and celebrating your opinion of creation. It will not always be easy, but it clearly was not easy for Jesus to announce the beloved nature of those society had tossed aside. In fact, society killed him for it. What shall we offer in the name of your gift, Jesus Christ, who revealed our place as beloved children with the sacrifice of his own life. Amen. PLEASEConsider Bringing Back |
AuthorRev. Bruce Frogge Archives
April 2024
|