Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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Where is the joy?
Often, worship results in drudgery of liturgy and molasses of ritual. Where is the joy? The excitement? This season, make sure that your heart is filled with the joy of the Lord, so that people will also join in the celebration! Fill your worship with songs and with ways for…
Pastor’s Prayer for 25 December 2016
Let the just rejoice,
for their justifier is born.
Let the sick and infirm rejoice,
For their saviour is born.
Let the captives rejoice,
For their Redeemer is born.
Let slaves rejoice,
for their Master is born.
Let free men rejoice,
For their Liberator is born.
Let All Christians rejoice,
For Jesus Christ is born.
St. Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-440)
The Listening Life –Review by Landrum Leavell III
The Listening Life: Embracing Attentiveness in a World of Distraction
By Adam S. McHugh
–Review by Landrum Leavell III
I read The Listening Life on the recommendation of another member of Sweet’s posse, David Wahlstedt. He raved about it, and he was right on. I’d never heard of Adam McHugh, though I do remember somewhere seeing the title of his first book, Introverts In the Church. His background includes Presbyterian Church ministry, hospice chaplain, and campus staff with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
McHugh starts the introduction with this poignant observation: “Listening comes first. In this life, you listen even before you are aware of it.” (9) We are actually listening before we leave the womb. After we get whacked by the doctor, we begin to hear words as they are spoken, whispered, and sung until the day comes when we begin to echo those words. “Listening is foundational to what it means to be human.” (10) read more…
Christmas is (almost) Here!
“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Why Do Christians Get So Many Christmas Story Details Wrong?
Summary: Our Christmas traditions often mash up many of the details in the Gospels as well as add many details which were never present. How many pastors have had to answer the question, when they’re reading the Nativity Story, “Where is the little drummer boy?”
Digitally mined from: www.relevantmagazine.com
Bethlehem Rhapsody: The Nativity story set to a 1970’s rock classic
read more…
How Silently
The Danish theologian, Soren Kierkegaard, is the source of the parable about a man who broke into a department store one night before Christmas. Instead of stealing items, he simply rearranged the price tags on them. When the shopkeeper and the customers came in the next day, they were totally…
The Final Four: Love
The Final Four: Love Lectionary 18 December 2016 Third Sunday in Advent Isaiah 7:10-16 Psalm 80:1-7,17-19 Romans 1:1-7 Matthew 1:18-25 Text to Life The Fourth Sunday of Advent is the “final” in our “Final Four:” Love. If there is one word that brings together Hope, Peace, and Joy, it…
The Joy of Waiting
Charles Wesley was an extraordinary poet and hymn-writer, penning (according to some estimates) over 6,500 poems! The majority of these were set to music, and intended for worship. This week’s focus is his Advent hymn “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.” In “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” we saw the hymn writer’s poetic connection between the theological longings for the incarnation and the second coming. Wesley’s hymn echoes these Advent themes, reminding us of the promises that were given to Israel, the freedom we have in Christ, the miracle of the infant-God, the wonder of Trinitarian life, and hope of eternity! The words hold together our deep longing and our joyful expectation. read more…
Good Stress by Leonard Sweet
Good Stress Lectionary 18 December 2016 Fourth Sunday in Advent Isaiah 7:10-16 Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 Romans 1:1-7 Matthew 1:18-25 Text to Life All this talk about stress being bad for you makes me stressed. This seems to be the time of the year when we stress and fret over our…
Liminal Space
Liminal Space Story Lectionary 18 December 2016 Abraham Journeys from Ur of Chaldees to the Promised Land (Genesis 12) Moses Journeys with God’s People to the Promised Land and Consecrates Firstborn (Exodus 13-15) Elijah Journeys to Horeb (1 Kings 19) Psalm 1: He Who Walks with the Lord Psalm 23:…
Metaphors of Marriage, Pregnancy, and Birth –Preaching Tip for 18 December 2016
The metaphors of marriage, pregnancy, and birth that we encounter in the Christmas story is nothing new. These metaphors permeate the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, beginning with Genesis. The covenant itself is described as a marriage covenant, betrothal, or bridal contract. And Jesus himself is referred to as the Bridegroom.…