Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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Three Wise Women
Three Wise Women Story Lectionary 4 December 2016 Second Sunday in Advent The Lord Blesses Abraham With Children (Genesis 15) I Will Raise Up a Prophet from Among You (Deuteronomy 18:14-22) Hannah’s Prayer (1 Samuel 2:1-10) Psalm 33: We Put Our Hope in You Psalm 47: God Reigns Over the…
The Final Four: Hope
The Final Four: Hope Lectionary 4 December 2016 Second Sunday of Advent Isaiah 11:1-10 Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19 Romans 15:4-13 Matthew 3:1-12 Text to Life This second Sunday of Advent we are focusing on the second of the “final four” words of this preparatory season—“hope.” Both this week’s text from Isaiah…
Look at Familiar People in New Ways –Preaching Tip for 4 December 2016
In reading the scriptures, we often “read over” important insights, because those scriptures are so familiar to us –especially those of Christmas and Easter. This season, take a closer look at the people in those scripture stories as people with the same kinds of feelings, motivations, fears, hopes as you…
Loving Without Giving In
Loving Without Giving In: Christian Responses to Terrorism and Tyranny
By Ron Mock
Cascadia Publishing House, 2004
ISBN: 978-1931038249
Review by Douglas Balzer
Some books address critical issues. Loving Without Giving In addresses the problem of terrorism that has cast a long dark shadow for Christians worldwide, as well as broad sections of the world’s societies and governments. This shadow has caused some important questions to come forward, pressing issues, urgent inquires, especially for American Christians. How do Christians live out the mandates of Jesus of loving their neighbors and enemies simultaneously? Is the Golden Rule applicable in the context of nations? How complex is the task of identifying terrorists and their sponsors? Ron Mock contemplates tough questions and endeavors to answer these in addition to more complex problems facing the world in the all too familiar environment of global terrorism. read more…
God With Us
When prisoner in a Nazi internment camp in December 1940, Jean-Paul Sartre wrote a nativity play for a group of fellow internees, who were trying to make Christmas come alive for the prisoners. The least known of all Sartre’s works, “Bariona” includes this projection from a blind artist of what…
An Ancient Future World
“Derek data mines the internet for articles hoping to help others gaze at the world through the lens of Christ Jesus.”
Modern Malta: Old and New Collide on This Island Nation
Summary: Angling for its turn on the world stage, this tiny island nation is embracing a reboot while holding fast to a formidable heritage. read more…
A Winter Rose
Metaphors abound for the miracle of incarnation, and early hymn writers frequently rely on imagery that might seem unusual to our modern ears, to convey the message. Lo, How A Rose ‘ere Blooming is one of these texts. The poem relies on the image in Isaiah 11:1 – a branch shall grow from the root of Jesse – but draws our attention to the beauty and surprise of new life in unexpected places. This hymn’s first appearance in print is found in the 1599 German Speyer Hymnal. The tune is attributed to Michael Praetorius, one of the most important hymn writers of the early-reformation Lutheran church. Praetorius (1571?-1621), the son of a Lutheran pastor, held prominent musical roles in the courts in Germany. He was influenced by the emerging Italian choral school and produced a significant number of choral works, often utilizing the multi-phonic practice of placing small choral groups in different parts of the concert hall. read more…
Pastor’s Prayer –for 4 December 2016
“A Christmas Prayer”
By Dorothy Hsu
It’s Christmas, Lord.
The season to be jolly and all that.
But some of us aren’t so jolly.
It’s time for family to be together,
To sing ‘I’ll be home for Christmas.’
But Lord,
Some of our loved ones wont’ be home
This year,
Or ever.
And some of us find it very difficult
To shop for Aunt Jane
And Grandpa.
Some of us find our minds so
Occupied with a desperately ill child,
Or a tired worn-out body
That we can’t cope with crowds
Or carols.
And some of find that
Happy memories of Christmases past
Make this Christmas seem
Hollow.
Altogether unbearable.
It’s a temptation, Lord,
To just skip it.
To refuse to decorate a tree,
Or send a card.
Or purchase a single present,
For one alone,
Such an approach is possible,
I suppose.
But for little ones in a home,
Lord,
It’s unfair.
It takes tremendous strength
For some of us to say
“Merry Christmas” this year.
More strength than
Some of us even possesses
And that’s exactly why you came,
Isn’t it, Lord?
Christmas Joy, compiled and edited by Joan Winmill Brown (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1982), 48-49.
Mary’s Hallelujah
This week we begin preparing ourselves for Advent – the most counter-cultural season of the Christian Year. Why counter-cultural? Because the readings and themes of the liturgy call us to wonder and wait, while all around us, the culture presses us to celebrate. The days are coming, but are not yet…
So, when all around us are the sounds of Christmas, let’s remember to wait: to ponder the promises, to prepare our hearts for the miracle.
Over the next five weeks I will present one song each week, in a variety of arrangements and settings. This week, we stand in awe with Mary as she receives and accepts the news of the coming Messiah. read more…
The Final Four: Peace
The Final Four: Peace Lectionary 27 November 2016 First Sunday in Advent Isaiah 2:1-5 Psalm 122 Romans 13:11-14 Matthew 24:36-44 Text to Life This Sunday marks the beginning of a new “season” in the liturgical calendar. The twenty-seven Sundays of Pentecost have come to a close. Today we begin the…