Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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A Restless Spirit / The Ghost at the Cave of En Dor
A Restless Spirit Story Lectionary 14 May 2017 Jesus Post Resurrection Appearances [Honoring Christian Women] The Song of Moses (Exodus 15) The Ghost of Samuel (1 Samuel 28) Psalm 77: You Are the God Who Performs Miracles Psalm 91: The Lord Will Guard You Psalm 111: Fear (Respect) of the…
Mother Love and Mother Church
Mother Love and Mother Church Lectionary 14 May 2017 5th Sunday of Easter Festival of the Christian Home Mother’s Day Acts 7:55-60 Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 1 Peter 2:2-10 John 14:1-14 Text to Life Life is all about timing. Timing is of the essence. In fact, some have said “Timing is…
Don’t Be Afraid to Laugh –Preaching Tip for 14 May 2017
Sometimes, we take ourselves so seriously! But it can be healthy for your congregation to laugh! Laughing at the scriptures, at life, at stories, at themselves, allows people to make changes in a “safe” environment. Laughter can be a change agent. So look for ways to lighten up, not your…
Pastor’s Prayer for 14 May 2017
Gracious and Holy Father,
give us the wisdom to discover You,
the intelligence to understand You,
the diligence to seek after You,
the patience to wait for You,
eyes to behold You,
a heart to meditate upon You,
and a life to proclaim You,
through the power of the Spirit of Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
-Saint Benedict
The Benedict Option
The Benedict Option
A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation
by Rod Dreher
–Review by Teri Hyrkas
The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation (Penguin Random House, 2017) by Rod Dreher has become a New York Times best seller, and according to New York Times Op-Ed columnist David Brooks, “is already the most discussed and most important religious book of the decade.” Those are some pretty impressive statements considering that The Benedict Option is about why, in 2017, one might develop a Christian lifestyle drawn from the monastic guidelines of the sixth century Catholic monk, St. Benedict.
What is the Benedict Option? Dreher describes it as a way of life based on the Rule of St. Benedict that is meant to help followers of Christ regain and retain a flourishing Christian culture within the current post-Christian, secular culture. In the introduction Dreher says, “This book does not offer a political agenda. Nor is it a spiritual how-to manual, nor a standard decline-and-fall lament. [It] tells the stories of conservative Christians who are pioneering creative ways to live out the faith joyfully and counterculturally in these darkening days.” read more…
What’s in a Name?
What’s in a Name? Lectionary 7 May 2017 4th Sunday of Easter Acts 2:42-47 Psalm 23 1 Peter 2:19-25 John 10:1-10 Text to Life Shakespeare famously insisted that, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” But would it? Really? Or is it a pseudo proverb, a fake…
Easter #3
Easter is a season for good reasons. If your church has already moved on, or back, or around to your “life as usual,” you’re doing it wrong. Everything is changed. Everything is different after the resurrection. The season of Easter reminds us, week by week, that nothing will ever be the same. Don’t move on…dig deep.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!! read more…
The Thorn of Discontent
The Thorn of Discontent Story Lectionary 7 May 2017 Jesus’ Post-Resurrection Appearance on the Road to Emmaus God’s Promise (Exodus 23) Psalm 34: Taste and See Jesus’ Suffering Foretold (Isaiah 52 and 53) The Great Mourning (Zechariah 12) The Promise of the Messiah (Jeremiah 33) I Will Raise You in…
The Preacher, the Sermon, and the Story
Sermon Content Is What Appeals Most to Churchgoers
Summary: For some time, the death of the sermon has been touted from both religious and secular sources. However, this Gallup poll seems shows otherwise. For other interesting poll results….
Read more at: https://goo.gl/vhOjXj
Digitally mined from: www.gallup.com
Inner Preacher vs. Inner Teacher: Ursula K. Le Guin on Meaning Beyond Message and the Primary Responsibility of the Artist
Summary: Renowned author questions whether a story should have any inherit meaning given by the author. However Le Guin says, “Art does change people’s minds and hearts. And an artist is a member of a community: the people who may see, hear, read her work. My first responsibility is to my craft, but if what I write may affect other people, obviously, I have a responsibility to them too. Even if I don’t have a clear idea of what the meaning of my story is and only begin to glimpse it as I write — still, I can’t pretend it isn’t there.”
read more…
What is a metaphor? –Preaching Tip for 7 May 2017
What is a metaphor? This is a question many pastors ask. How can you read the Hebrew scriptures and understand them the way Jesus would have without understanding how to find the metaphors. Yet, most people were never trained to even know what a metaphor is, let alone to find…