Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Deer Pants
This text is from an email we received in the CtK office today - a mom in the congregation shared this conversation with her son (names removed to protect the innocent...) I just have to share my son's question he asked me on the way home from worship last Sunday: We were in the car, almost home, and he asked, "What are deer pants?" I looked out the window, saw nothing (I'm not sure what I expected to see), and said, "WHAT?" "Deer pants. What are they?" "I have no idea. Where did you hear about them?" "In church today." "Ok. WHAT????" He grabbed the bulletin and read directly from the final communion hymn... "As the deer pants..." Isn't that great! He was picturing some sort of outerwear for deer! I wonder what other nuggets of humor and wisdom the children of the congregation could share with us?
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Sermon reflection for March 27, 2011
Connecting
Last Sunday I said in my sermon that Jesus connected with the Samaritan woman at the well by asking for a drink of water. He also connects by talking to her, even though she is considered an outsider to his faith. Remember, she is a Samaritan and he is a Jew. Jesus took a considerable risk by interacting with an “outsider to his faith.”
How might you connect with someone “outside the Christian faith?”
If you’ve had the opportunity to connect, what was it like? What was the outcome of your conversation? Did you learn anything from the encounter?
Friday, March 25, 2011
So, how's it going?
Are you keeping Lent this year? If you are, how's it going? Did you give something up for Lent - or add something? How's your new practice/discipline treating you?
I'm finding that making a point of putting a dollar a day in my little cardboard offering box is making me more aware of how I spend all my money. It's providing me with another opportunity to be mindful of the ways my life is more comfortable than I deserve, and to think of those who are more uncomfortable than they deserve - especially the survivors of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. I've also learned just how little sacrifice it is to set aside a dollar a day - at least for now. I've emptied my wallet of one dollar bills, but have also been emptying out that jar of spare change, 6 dimes, a quarter and 3 nickels at a time, and that has been pretty painless.
I know I could have just waited until right before Easter and gone to the ATM for two crisp twenties, and that the recipient of my offering would never know the difference, after all $40 is $40. Except it isn't - the daily practice of setting aside $1 is making me more grateful, more aware, and more prayerful. This discipline stuff might be good for me after all.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Thoughts on the Genesis reading from the first Sunday in Lent
This past Sunday was the first Sunday in Lent. When you walk into the worship space, you can tell something us up: the pews are rearranged into the shape of a cross - with the baptismal font and processional cross in the center, there are purple paraments hanging around the space, and there are many crosses hanging on the walls around the room. Those crosses are on loan from members of the congregation. I hope they serve as additional visual focus during this season of repentance and renewal.
On Sunday I preached mostly on the assigned passage from Gospel of Matthew, with brief references to Romans and a passing comment on the text from Genesis.
In case the Genesis passage left you wondering, or provided some food for thought, here's some more, from the Working Preacher website of Luther Seminary. (The commentary was written by Dennis Olson, Charles T. Haley Professor of Old Testament Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary.)
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Wrongheaded Assumptions about Genesis 2-3
This Sunday's Old Testament text from Genesis 2-3 highlights what is traditionally known as the "fall," the Bible's first temptation and act of disobedience by the human man and woman in the garden of Eden. The popular conception of the garden of Eden story often includes elements of the following assumptions:
* God created an absolutely perfect and static world
* humans lived in a luxurious paradise with no responsibilities
* the evil serpent is a Satan figure who brings evil into God's perfect creation the woman alone succumbed to temptation and so she alone is responsible for bringing sin into the world (see the questionable exegesis of Genesis 3 in 1 Timothy 2:11-14)
* the central aim of Genesis 3 is to explain how evil came into God's perfect creation.
Offering a More Faithful Reading of Genesis 2-3
A careful reading of Genesis 2-3, however, would undermine or nuance each of these assumptions. Let's examine each assumption in turn.
1) God does indeed create a "good" world but not a "perfect" world in the sense of a closed, static, and totally divinely-controlled universe
In the Genesis 1 creation story, God repeatedly calls creation "good" (Genesis 1:4, 12, 21, 25, 31). But the primeval "deep" or "waters" which were understood as the source of evil and chaos in the world in ancient times did not disappear with God's creation. God's ruach ("wind, breath, spirit") swept over them and pushed the waters of chaos back behind the "dome" that formed the sky and also under the earth (Genesis 1:1-6). Evil and chaos thus continue to lurk at the margins of creation and can come rushing back as in the story of Noah and the flood, if God allows it (Genesis 7:11; 8:2).
Moreover, God invites humans and other elements in the creation to exercise responsibility and stewardship over creation (Genesis 1:26-28). In the creation story in Genesis 2, God's process of creating is open and dynamic. After creating the human and the garden, God discovers a problem: "it is not good that the man should be alone" (Genesis 2:18). So God creates the wide variety of animals and invites the man to name them. The animals may help with the loneliness problem, but something is still missing (Genesis 2:20). Thus, God tries another strategy and creates a woman from man, and that solution does seem to work (Genesis 2:23). But the impression is that God's creating activity is a work in process from the beginning, not a "perfect" world in the sense of a fully-formed, static and pristine universe.
2) In the Genesis 2 creation story, the human has work and responsibility from the very beginning
God places the man in the garden "to till it and to keep it." This is no Caribbean vacation in paradise! From the beginning, humans are made for a regular rhythm of doing work that has meaning and purpose for the good of creation along with regular periods of sabbath rest and enjoyment (Genesis 2:2-3). While there is great freedom for the human ("you may freely eat from any tree"), the garden also contains one boundary that restricts the human. God decrees the first biblical law (eating fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil [or bad/pain) and the consequence of breaking the law (immediate and certain death "in the day...you shall die [the Hebrew is emphatic--you shall surely die!]" (Genesis 2:17).
3) In its original OT context, the serpent in Genesis 3 is not Satan who invades God's creation from the outside
The serpent is a very clever and talkative (!) animal "that the LORD God had made" (Genesis 3:1). The serpent is one of God's own creatures who simply poses some questions and alternative explanations concerning God's motivations in creation for the humans to consider. At any point in the conversation, the humans could have told the serpent that he was full of it and to please go and bother someone else. But there was something already in the human that resonated to the hermeneutics of suspicion that the serpent offered as one option for interpreting the words and actions of God.
4) Often the scene of the temptation in Eden is portrayed as the woman standing alone with the serpent, but a careful reading suggests that the man was likely present all along
The scene is of one piece: the serpent and the woman engage in conversation, she takes and eats the fruit, and she gives the fruit to "her husband, who was with her" all along! God had earlier observed that "it was not good that the man should be alone" (Genesis 2:18). Likewise, in Genesis 3, it was not good that the woman should be alone in fending off the serpent's temptations and suspicions about God's motivation for restricting the humans' access to the forbidden fruit. The man failed to speak up, to speak out, and to join the woman in an alliance against the serpent's attempt to appeal to the suspicions and yearnings that somehow were already within the humans' heart. This is a story of human disobedience and rebellion against God, not a story of the woman who alone was tempted and who alone was responsible for sin entering into the world (contra 1 Timothy 2 :11-14).
5) The central aim of Genesis 3 is to describe the mystery of sin, not to explain its origin
Sin is a mysterious force that arises from within God's "good" creation. The serpent is simply one of God's creatures. And the yearnings and suspicions of the humans about God's motivations are somehow already embedded within the human heart from the beginning and simply needed the encouragement of the serpent to bring them out and convert them into action. Thus, Genesis 3 is less about "explaining" the origin of sin and more about describing the reality of what it is to be human and our mysterious human tendencies continually to rebel against God, to resist the gracious boundaries and limitations that God places around us for our own good, and to desire to be like God rather than thankful creatures of God.
On Sunday I preached mostly on the assigned passage from Gospel of Matthew, with brief references to Romans and a passing comment on the text from Genesis.
In case the Genesis passage left you wondering, or provided some food for thought, here's some more, from the Working Preacher website of Luther Seminary. (The commentary was written by Dennis Olson, Charles T. Haley Professor of Old Testament Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary.)
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Wrongheaded Assumptions about Genesis 2-3
This Sunday's Old Testament text from Genesis 2-3 highlights what is traditionally known as the "fall," the Bible's first temptation and act of disobedience by the human man and woman in the garden of Eden. The popular conception of the garden of Eden story often includes elements of the following assumptions:
* God created an absolutely perfect and static world
* humans lived in a luxurious paradise with no responsibilities
* the evil serpent is a Satan figure who brings evil into God's perfect creation the woman alone succumbed to temptation and so she alone is responsible for bringing sin into the world (see the questionable exegesis of Genesis 3 in 1 Timothy 2:11-14)
* the central aim of Genesis 3 is to explain how evil came into God's perfect creation.
Offering a More Faithful Reading of Genesis 2-3
A careful reading of Genesis 2-3, however, would undermine or nuance each of these assumptions. Let's examine each assumption in turn.
1) God does indeed create a "good" world but not a "perfect" world in the sense of a closed, static, and totally divinely-controlled universe
In the Genesis 1 creation story, God repeatedly calls creation "good" (Genesis 1:4, 12, 21, 25, 31). But the primeval "deep" or "waters" which were understood as the source of evil and chaos in the world in ancient times did not disappear with God's creation. God's ruach ("wind, breath, spirit") swept over them and pushed the waters of chaos back behind the "dome" that formed the sky and also under the earth (Genesis 1:1-6). Evil and chaos thus continue to lurk at the margins of creation and can come rushing back as in the story of Noah and the flood, if God allows it (Genesis 7:11; 8:2).
Moreover, God invites humans and other elements in the creation to exercise responsibility and stewardship over creation (Genesis 1:26-28). In the creation story in Genesis 2, God's process of creating is open and dynamic. After creating the human and the garden, God discovers a problem: "it is not good that the man should be alone" (Genesis 2:18). So God creates the wide variety of animals and invites the man to name them. The animals may help with the loneliness problem, but something is still missing (Genesis 2:20). Thus, God tries another strategy and creates a woman from man, and that solution does seem to work (Genesis 2:23). But the impression is that God's creating activity is a work in process from the beginning, not a "perfect" world in the sense of a fully-formed, static and pristine universe.
2) In the Genesis 2 creation story, the human has work and responsibility from the very beginning
God places the man in the garden "to till it and to keep it." This is no Caribbean vacation in paradise! From the beginning, humans are made for a regular rhythm of doing work that has meaning and purpose for the good of creation along with regular periods of sabbath rest and enjoyment (Genesis 2:2-3). While there is great freedom for the human ("you may freely eat from any tree"), the garden also contains one boundary that restricts the human. God decrees the first biblical law (eating fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil [or bad/pain) and the consequence of breaking the law (immediate and certain death "in the day...you shall die [the Hebrew is emphatic--you shall surely die!]" (Genesis 2:17).
3) In its original OT context, the serpent in Genesis 3 is not Satan who invades God's creation from the outside
The serpent is a very clever and talkative (!) animal "that the LORD God had made" (Genesis 3:1). The serpent is one of God's own creatures who simply poses some questions and alternative explanations concerning God's motivations in creation for the humans to consider. At any point in the conversation, the humans could have told the serpent that he was full of it and to please go and bother someone else. But there was something already in the human that resonated to the hermeneutics of suspicion that the serpent offered as one option for interpreting the words and actions of God.
4) Often the scene of the temptation in Eden is portrayed as the woman standing alone with the serpent, but a careful reading suggests that the man was likely present all along
The scene is of one piece: the serpent and the woman engage in conversation, she takes and eats the fruit, and she gives the fruit to "her husband, who was with her" all along! God had earlier observed that "it was not good that the man should be alone" (Genesis 2:18). Likewise, in Genesis 3, it was not good that the woman should be alone in fending off the serpent's temptations and suspicions about God's motivation for restricting the humans' access to the forbidden fruit. The man failed to speak up, to speak out, and to join the woman in an alliance against the serpent's attempt to appeal to the suspicions and yearnings that somehow were already within the humans' heart. This is a story of human disobedience and rebellion against God, not a story of the woman who alone was tempted and who alone was responsible for sin entering into the world (contra 1 Timothy 2 :11-14).
5) The central aim of Genesis 3 is to describe the mystery of sin, not to explain its origin
Sin is a mysterious force that arises from within God's "good" creation. The serpent is simply one of God's creatures. And the yearnings and suspicions of the humans about God's motivations are somehow already embedded within the human heart from the beginning and simply needed the encouragement of the serpent to bring them out and convert them into action. Thus, Genesis 3 is less about "explaining" the origin of sin and more about describing the reality of what it is to be human and our mysterious human tendencies continually to rebel against God, to resist the gracious boundaries and limitations that God places around us for our own good, and to desire to be like God rather than thankful creatures of God.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Post from ELCA Blog re: Earthquake in Japan
Japan: Earthquake and Tsunami Ravage Country, ELCA Missionaries Okay
Just before 2:45pm local time in Japan (early morning in the US) one of the largest earthquake ever to hit Japan, with a magnitude of 8.9, struck around the town of Sendai causing massive damage and creating a tsunami with waves up to 30 feet. As of this morning the situation is being assessed by ELCA with its companion on the ground, the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC). In looking at the situation Pastor Eric Anspach-Hansen of Tokyo Lutheran stated, “Hopefully our church [the ELCA] will be able to get involved in the relief work in the coming months.” Through its predecessor bodies the ELCA has had a relationship extending back to 1892 with the local Lutheran community in Japan. As more is learned about the impact of this disaster, we will continue to build on this long-standing relationship.
As of date it has been learned that the 22 ELCA Missionaries (and 3 dependents), sent by ELCA Global Mission, working in the area are all safe and accounted for. We are still awaiting reports on how the local JELC churches have been affected, particularly in and around the area of Sendai. As the news was reported at a Lutheran World Federation leadership conference in Malaysia, attended by leadership of the JELC and ELCA, a representative from the Australian Lutheran Church, which has recently been dealing with massive flooding and an earthquake in New Zealand, stated that of all the outpouring of help from the international community “prayer was the most important gift.” This sentiment was echoed by ELCA Missionary in Japan, Ally Streed, “Please keep the people of Japan (and just Japan in general) in your thoughts and prayers. This is the biggest earthquake they’ve seen since the Kobe earthquake of 1995.”
As we await more information and determine how best to respond please share the gift of prayer, for those who have lost their lives, those that deal with the devastation left behind and those who come to their aid. May God grant strength and peace where they can be found.
Just before 2:45pm local time in Japan (early morning in the US) one of the largest earthquake ever to hit Japan, with a magnitude of 8.9, struck around the town of Sendai causing massive damage and creating a tsunami with waves up to 30 feet. As of this morning the situation is being assessed by ELCA with its companion on the ground, the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC). In looking at the situation Pastor Eric Anspach-Hansen of Tokyo Lutheran stated, “Hopefully our church [the ELCA] will be able to get involved in the relief work in the coming months.” Through its predecessor bodies the ELCA has had a relationship extending back to 1892 with the local Lutheran community in Japan. As more is learned about the impact of this disaster, we will continue to build on this long-standing relationship.
As of date it has been learned that the 22 ELCA Missionaries (and 3 dependents), sent by ELCA Global Mission, working in the area are all safe and accounted for. We are still awaiting reports on how the local JELC churches have been affected, particularly in and around the area of Sendai. As the news was reported at a Lutheran World Federation leadership conference in Malaysia, attended by leadership of the JELC and ELCA, a representative from the Australian Lutheran Church, which has recently been dealing with massive flooding and an earthquake in New Zealand, stated that of all the outpouring of help from the international community “prayer was the most important gift.” This sentiment was echoed by ELCA Missionary in Japan, Ally Streed, “Please keep the people of Japan (and just Japan in general) in your thoughts and prayers. This is the biggest earthquake they’ve seen since the Kobe earthquake of 1995.”
As we await more information and determine how best to respond please share the gift of prayer, for those who have lost their lives, those that deal with the devastation left behind and those who come to their aid. May God grant strength and peace where they can be found.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
I've Seen That Movie, Too
In my sermon last night I mentioned a new blog all about movies being written by a couple of colleagues, called I've Seen That Movie, Too.
Here's how Steve and Bill describe their new undertaking:
We started this blog because we love movies. We love that moment when you mention a movie that you feel strongly about and you hear the reply, “I’ve seen that movie” and the conversation takes flight from there. We’ve enjoyed many of those conversations together and decided to share the experience with others.
The title of the blog reflects that sense of shared experience. You may recognize it also as the title of an Elton John song. The song isn’t really about movies. It is about a relationship and that is appropriate for our blog.
What makes a movie great? Certainly directing and acting are important, as is cinematography and (sometimes) special effects, but what truly makes a movie great is its ability to tell a story and relationships are at the heart of every good story. We’ll discuss all aspects of the movie experience, but the heart of the discussion will focus on relationships. We are both pastors in Montana, so we’ll ponder not simply the human relationships, but also what the movies reveal about our relationship with God.
Along the way, we’ll offer both Recommendations and Reflections. The Recommendations will offer our encouragement for you to see a movie that you may not have seen and will therefore not include any spoilers. The Reflections will be a fuller discussion for those who have already seen a movie and will thus include many spoilers, so take that into account before reading a Reflection if you haven’t yet seen a movie and don’t want any surprises ruined for you.
As often as possible we will both offer our reflections on a movie, so that our give and take can fuel the conversation, but there are times when our tastes in movies don’t coincide, so, in those cases only one of us will offer the reflection. We then invite you to join in the conversation.
Here's how Steve and Bill describe their new undertaking:
We started this blog because we love movies. We love that moment when you mention a movie that you feel strongly about and you hear the reply, “I’ve seen that movie” and the conversation takes flight from there. We’ve enjoyed many of those conversations together and decided to share the experience with others.
The title of the blog reflects that sense of shared experience. You may recognize it also as the title of an Elton John song. The song isn’t really about movies. It is about a relationship and that is appropriate for our blog.
What makes a movie great? Certainly directing and acting are important, as is cinematography and (sometimes) special effects, but what truly makes a movie great is its ability to tell a story and relationships are at the heart of every good story. We’ll discuss all aspects of the movie experience, but the heart of the discussion will focus on relationships. We are both pastors in Montana, so we’ll ponder not simply the human relationships, but also what the movies reveal about our relationship with God.
Along the way, we’ll offer both Recommendations and Reflections. The Recommendations will offer our encouragement for you to see a movie that you may not have seen and will therefore not include any spoilers. The Reflections will be a fuller discussion for those who have already seen a movie and will thus include many spoilers, so take that into account before reading a Reflection if you haven’t yet seen a movie and don’t want any surprises ruined for you.
As often as possible we will both offer our reflections on a movie, so that our give and take can fuel the conversation, but there are times when our tastes in movies don’t coincide, so, in those cases only one of us will offer the reflection. We then invite you to join in the conversation.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Ash Wednesday
We will gather for worship tonight at 7pm to begin the season of Lent with worship on this Ash Wednesday. Worship will be preceded by a simple supper of soup and bread at 6pm. (If you participated in all the Shrove Tuesday festivities last night, I really hope to see you here tonight!) Ash Wednesday services include the imposition of ashes, in the shape of a cross, on our foreheads, and the words "remember you are dust and to dust you shall return." It's a reminder of our mortality, and of our complete dependence on the steadfast love and mercy of the God who created us. We do well to remember.
Merciful God,
you called us forth from the dust of the earth;
you claimed us for Christ in the waters of baptism.
Look upon us as we enter these Forty Days
bearing the mark of ashes,
and bless our journey through the desert of Lent
to the font of rebirth.
May our fasting be hunger for justice;
our alms, a making of peace;
our prayer, the chant of humble and grateful hearts.
you called us forth from the dust of the earth;
you claimed us for Christ in the waters of baptism.
Look upon us as we enter these Forty Days
bearing the mark of ashes,
and bless our journey through the desert of Lent
to the font of rebirth.
May our fasting be hunger for justice;
our alms, a making of peace;
our prayer, the chant of humble and grateful hearts.
All that we do and pray is in the name of Jesus,
for in his cross you proclaim your love
for ever and ever.
Amen
for in his cross you proclaim your love
for ever and ever.
Amen
Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers
Where will you direct your love offering?
You will be challenged during the season of Lent to save forty dollars for forty days (seven weeks minus seven Sundays). This additional love offering will be received Easter Sunday 24 April.
You will be encouraged to give those forty dollars towards Christ the King, or towards a specific ministry. For example, we have a vibrant Youth and Family ministry here at Christ the King. We host Family Promise of Gallatin Valley here in June. We plan to send a number of youth to Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp this July. Every first Sunday of the month we take up a special offering to support Gallatin Valley Food Bank. We partner with Love in the Name of Christ here in Bozeman.
A new ministry here in Montana is Freedom in Christ Prison Congregation Project. Their goal is to call a pastor to serve the prison congregation at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge in the Fall of 2011. In the meantime, they are trying to meet the spiritual needs of the inmates by offering Bible studies and Sunday afternoon worship services.
I learned about prison ministry in Arizona when I was serving Mt. View Lutheran Church in Phoenix. Seven members of Mt. View volunteered to lead Bible study and worship services at two prisons. I know from their testimonies that their lives were changed by the opportunity to serve.
I learned recently that a friend’s relative is an inmate at Deer Lodge. The prospect of life imprisonment for a family member has changed my friend’s heart towards the prison population. He/She wants to become more involved. In conversation, my heart has been changed, too.
Pastor Lindean informed me the other day she is planning to give her forty dollars towards Freedom in Christ Prison Congregation Project. I have decided to join her.
To learn more about Freedom in Christ Prison Congregation Project go to their website at www. ficprisonminstry.com.
In Christ,
Pastor Grant
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
A Comic Commentary on Last Sunday's Gospel
I subscribe to this lectionary comic, Agnus Day, and get an email from them every week. Sometimes they're pretty funny.
This is the one sent last week, for Transfigureation Sunday, which was this past Sunday. Enjoy!
That’s just so like Jesus. He always has to be the last word. – Comment on this comic
Agnus Day
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead." --Matthew 17:1-9
Agnus Day
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead." --Matthew 17:1-9
Cafe: Stirring the Spirit Within, March 2011
This month's edition of Cafe, the zine of Women of the ELCA is now available.
Adding a little balance for Lent by Megan Torgerson
The foundation of our faith involves loving our neighbor—but what happens when we give love without balance? How will you add balance to your life and relationships this Lent? More
Faith reflections + study
We learn from the Bible that we are called not only to love people we like, but people we don't like. But how do we love our neighbor in a healthy way? More
Listen to this month's podcast More
Friday, March 4, 2011
God's Faithfulness and Ours
This post comes from yesterday's daily meditation from the Henri Nouwen Society.
When God makes a covenant with us, God says: "I will love you with an everlasting love. I will be faithful to you, even when you run away from me, reject me, or betray me." In our society we don't speak much about covenants; we speak about contracts. When we make a contract with a person, we say: "I will fulfill my part as long as you fulfill yours. When you don't live up to your promises, I no longer have to live up to mine." Contracts are often broken because the partners are unwilling or unable to be faithful to their terms.
But God didn't make a contract with us; God made a covenant with us, and God wants our relationships with one another to reflect that covenant. That's why marriage, friendship, life in community are all ways to give visibility to God's faithfulness in our lives together.
What do you think? Post in the comments to share your thoughts.
When God makes a covenant with us, God says: "I will love you with an everlasting love. I will be faithful to you, even when you run away from me, reject me, or betray me." In our society we don't speak much about covenants; we speak about contracts. When we make a contract with a person, we say: "I will fulfill my part as long as you fulfill yours. When you don't live up to your promises, I no longer have to live up to mine." Contracts are often broken because the partners are unwilling or unable to be faithful to their terms.
But God didn't make a contract with us; God made a covenant with us, and God wants our relationships with one another to reflect that covenant. That's why marriage, friendship, life in community are all ways to give visibility to God's faithfulness in our lives together.
What do you think? Post in the comments to share your thoughts.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The Faith 5
This post, from the picture on down, comes from http://www.faithink.com/inkubators/faith5.asp
As I prepare for the Family & Youth Ministry Team meeting tonight, I'm hoping we can spend some time moving beyond the usual agenda of events and fundraising, as good and important as they are, and have a conversation about encouraging faith conversations at home. FAITH - Faith Acts In The Home. Not bad, huh?
The FAITH 5 (Faith Acts In The Home)
Care to have some fun, keep your family communicating every night, and grow in your understanding of yourself and God? Try this simple five-step process for the next six weeks and see if it doesn’t help!
Here’s how you do it: Whoever is going to bed first in your home calls “FAITH 5” or “Huddle Up!” Everyone must drop what they’re doing, turn off the television, put down the newspaper or their homework, set the cell phone on silence and gather in a room of the convener’s choice.
Then take turns going through these five simple steps:
1. SHARE highs & lows of the day
2. READ and highlight a verse of Scripture in your Bible
3. TALK about how the verse relates to your highs & lows
4. PRAY for your highs & lows, for your family, and for the world
5. BLESS one another
You want a great relationship with your kids? You want openness, honesty, caring and sharing in your family? You want to raise a child to be a strong, thoughtful, empathetic, positive, healthy adult out in the world some day? You can’t buy that. You have to invest in it. And the investment is the most expensive currency you own – your TIME – aimed at that most precious young person in your life.
Kids spell love TIME. Be intentional. Be consistent. Be caring. Be the parent. Every night. Every home.
No one else can do that for you.
Four Questions
1. For Parents of Young Children: What would it be worth to you to have a teenager some day who won’t go to sleep without talking to you about their day? Praying with you? Blessing you? Would it be worth five minutes? Tonight? Every night?
2. For Parents of Pre-Teens: What would happen to your family over time if you were able to keep this open, caring communication going every night throughout adolescence?
3. For Parents of Teenagers: Once the teen years begin and drivers’ licences come into play, communication between parents and teens can become a challenge. How might this type of five-minute conversation change a family if they were intentional and consistent about it? Would the benefits outweigh the hassle of trying to invest this time of care, listening, and prayer each night in your home? Why or why not?
4. For Church Leaders: What would happen to a family over time if they made an intentional point of doing the Faith 5 most every night? What would happen to your church five years from today if the majority of your households were doing active listening, scripture, faith talk, prayer, and blessings every night?
As I prepare for the Family & Youth Ministry Team meeting tonight, I'm hoping we can spend some time moving beyond the usual agenda of events and fundraising, as good and important as they are, and have a conversation about encouraging faith conversations at home. FAITH - Faith Acts In The Home. Not bad, huh?
The FAITH 5 (Faith Acts In The Home)
Care to have some fun, keep your family communicating every night, and grow in your understanding of yourself and God? Try this simple five-step process for the next six weeks and see if it doesn’t help!
Here’s how you do it: Whoever is going to bed first in your home calls “FAITH 5” or “Huddle Up!” Everyone must drop what they’re doing, turn off the television, put down the newspaper or their homework, set the cell phone on silence and gather in a room of the convener’s choice.
Then take turns going through these five simple steps:
1. SHARE highs & lows of the day
2. READ and highlight a verse of Scripture in your Bible
3. TALK about how the verse relates to your highs & lows
4. PRAY for your highs & lows, for your family, and for the world
5. BLESS one another
You want a great relationship with your kids? You want openness, honesty, caring and sharing in your family? You want to raise a child to be a strong, thoughtful, empathetic, positive, healthy adult out in the world some day? You can’t buy that. You have to invest in it. And the investment is the most expensive currency you own – your TIME – aimed at that most precious young person in your life.
Kids spell love TIME. Be intentional. Be consistent. Be caring. Be the parent. Every night. Every home.
No one else can do that for you.
Four Questions
1. For Parents of Young Children: What would it be worth to you to have a teenager some day who won’t go to sleep without talking to you about their day? Praying with you? Blessing you? Would it be worth five minutes? Tonight? Every night?
2. For Parents of Pre-Teens: What would happen to your family over time if you were able to keep this open, caring communication going every night throughout adolescence?
3. For Parents of Teenagers: Once the teen years begin and drivers’ licences come into play, communication between parents and teens can become a challenge. How might this type of five-minute conversation change a family if they were intentional and consistent about it? Would the benefits outweigh the hassle of trying to invest this time of care, listening, and prayer each night in your home? Why or why not?
4. For Church Leaders: What would happen to a family over time if they made an intentional point of doing the Faith 5 most every night? What would happen to your church five years from today if the majority of your households were doing active listening, scripture, faith talk, prayer, and blessings every night?
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