Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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Pastor’s Prayer for Easter 27 March 2016
When everything was dark
and it seemed that the sun would never shine again,
your love broke through.
Your love was too strong,
too wide,
too deep
for death to hold.
The sparks cast by your love
dance and spread
and burst forth
with resurrection light.
Gracious God,
We praise you for the light of new life
made possible through Jesus.
We praise you for the light of new life
that shone on the first witnesses of resurrection.
We praise you for the light of new life
that continues to shine in our hearts today.
We pray that the Easter light of life, hope and joy,
will live in us each day;
and that we will be bearers of that light
into the lives of others.
Amen.
Prayer by the Rev. Michaela Youngson, Superintendent Minister of the Ealing Trinity Circuit of the Methodist Church of Britain
The Resurrection Threat
The Resurrection Threat Lectionary 27 March 2016 Easter Sunday Isaiah 65:17-25 Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 Acs 10: 34-43 John 20:1-18 Luke 24:1012 Text to Life So, last week was just more politics as usual. More eyes than ever were fixed on Washington D.C. and The President and First…
The Mercy Seat / I Know That My Redeemer Liveth
The Mercy Seat / I Know That My Redeemer Liveth Story Lectionary 27 March 2016 The Day of Resurrection The Mercy Seat –the Closing of Eden and Guarding of the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:24) The Angel with Sword and the Story of Balak and Balaam the Donkey (Numbers 22)…
The Claim to the Kingdom
The Claim to the Kingdom Lectionary Palm Sunday 2016 Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 Luke 19:28-40 Text to Life An “oxymoron” is a figure of speech in which mutually contradictory terms are joined in conjunction. It is an oxymoron to eat “fast food” or receive a “diamond ring” or find yourself “all…
The Lamb
The Lamb Story Lectionary 20 March 2016 The Lamb The Story of Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 21-22) The Blessing of Judah (Genesis 49) The Feast of Passover (Exodus 11-12) David Anoints Solomon King After Bidding He Ride in on His Mule (1 Kings 1) The Song of Deborah (Judges 5)…
Palms –Preaching Tip for 20 March 2016 (Palm Sunday)
Participation makes all the difference when celebrating a yearly event. The Procession of the Lambs was a participatory event in the lives of Jewish people at the time Jesus straddled a donkey and joined the procession, surprising all present, pleasing the crowds. Make this Palm Sunday celebration as participatory as possible. Bring…
Pastor’s Prayer for 20 March 2016 (Palm Sunday)
Agnus Dei
Agnus Dei,
quitollis peccata mundi: miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei,
quitollis peccata mundi: miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei,
quitollis peccata mundi: dona nobis pacem.
My Name is Lucy Barton
My Name Is Lucy Barton
A Novel
by Elizabeth Strout
My Name Is Lucy Barton (Random House 2016) by the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winning author Elizabeth Strout, is a touching and troubling story concerning a young married woman, Lucy Barton, who lives in New York in the 1980’s with her husband and two daughters. While her daughters are still quite young, Lucy is taken ill and spends 9 weeks in the hospital during which time her estranged mother comes to stay with her at the request of Lucy’s husband, William. What the reader learns about Lucy’s family during her mother’s visit develops into a disturbing tale about the elusive and complex nature of family love.
Told in spare and splendid first-person style, My Name Is Lucy Barton has a sinister undertone that was absent from Olive Kitteridge, her Pulitzer Prize winning book. This disquieting undertone, which I believe is created in part by the many short, staccato-like phrases used in the narrative, permeates the story. read more…
Make Room for the Cross
The sculptor Rodin is most famous for his “The Thinker.” One day Rodin noticed a large crucifix that had been discarded in a pile of trash. Although it was terribly marred and defaced, Rodin perceived that it could be restored to its original beauty. When Rodin and some friends carried…
Good Friday
A Good Friday meditation/animation: Benedictine monk and cardinal Basil Hume (1923-1999) tells a story (“Whether it is true or not, I do not know. It happened thus”): They were all lined up, ill clad, some not dressed at all, men, women, and children too. They would walk a few…