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Sweet Spots

Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.

Here, you can comment on any post to participate in the discussion. 

Julian of Norwich

“Lord God, your goodness enfolds all your creatures and all your marvelous works, and surpasses them forever, for you alone are eternal. You have made us only for yourself and restored us by your precious passion. You keep us in your perfect love. And all this is of your goodness.…

Lenten Listening 5

How should we spend our final week of Lent and prepare for Palm/Passion Sunday? I propose that we get out of our comfort zone, and listen to something completely different. If we are going to be able to engage in the unexpected surprise of resurrection, then we need to practice looking for and listening to other expressions of newness.

The main music selection this week is a concert, from Davos Switzerland, featuring Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble. Krista Tippett calls Yo Yo Ma a “citizen artist and a forensic musicologist” for his relentless pursuit of collaborative and innovative connections between music, musicians and audiences. “Representing a global array of cultures, Silkroad Ensemble musicians co-create art, performance and ideas. … The Silk Road Ensemble’s music is contemporary and ancient, familiar and foreign, traditional and innovative, drawing on traditions from around the world to create a new musical language that reflects our 21st-century global society.” read more…

Egeria

The woman Egeria in 381 set out from Spain on an epic journey to holy places in Palestine and Egypt. Her diary is astonishing. Paulist Press reissued Egeria: Diary of a Pilgrimage  in 1970, and you can buy it on Amazon.  It especially comes alive when she tells of her…

No Fair!

No Fair! Story Lectionary 13 March 2016 Jesus Last Parables – Fifth Week God Plants a Garden (Genesis 2) The Story of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4) Noah Plants a Vineyard (Genesis 9) God’s Laws of Mercy (Exodus 23) Proverbs 24:30-31 (The Unkempt Vineyard) Psalm 115: The Lord Will Bless…

Cross Blind

Cross Blind Lectionary 13 March 2016 Fifth Sunday in Lent Isaiah 43:16-21 Psalm 126 Philippians 3:4b-14 John 12:1-8 Text to Life Nothing brings back more vivid, pungent memories like a remembered scent. Forget auditory or visual playbacks. A familiar smell has the power to snap us back to a long…

Pastor’s Prayer for 13 March 2016

The Breastplate Prayer of St. Patrick

I arise today
Through  a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief  in the threeness,
Through the confession of the oneness
Of the  Creator of Creation.
I arise today
Through  the strength of Christ’s birth with his baptism,
Through the  strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of  his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his  descent for the Judgment Day.
I arise today
Through  the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In  the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with  reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In  preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of  holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I arise today
Through  the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor  of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability  of earth,
Firmness of rock.
I arise today
Through  God’s strength to pilot me:
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s  wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear  me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s  way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to  save me
From snares of demons,
From temptations of vices,
From  everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in  multitude.
I summon today  all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel  merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against  incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against  false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells  of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that  corrupts man’s body and soul.
Christ to shield  me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning,  against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ  with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ  beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ  when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ  in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of  everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ  in every ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through  a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in  the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator  of Creation.

Light a Candle –preaching tip for 13 March 2016

Does your preaching light a candle of hope in another person’s heart?  That’s the question for this week in Lent. Some preaching can merely inform, instruct, or serve as moral guidance.  But does your preaching bring light into another person’s life, where formerly there had been none or little?  Preaching…

Three Books for Lent

Three Books for Lent

We are well into Lent, the season in the church year which focuses our attention on Jesus’ final earthly days, especially his Passion, which Wikipedia describes this way: “In Christianity, the Passion (from Late Latin: passionem “suffering, enduring”) is the short final period in the life of Jesus covering his entrance visit to Jerusalem and leading to his crucifixion on Mount Calvary, defining the climactic event central to Christian doctrine of Salvation History.” Lent is forty days long, not counting Sundays, and begins with Ash Wednesday. Many Christians choose to start reading special Lenten devotions on that day, but if you missed Ash Wednesday, today is a good day to start Lenten devotions as well. read more…

Lenten Listening 4

If you’ve ever had a conversation about scripture and worship, you’ve heard or used the phrase “the Psalms are the hymn book of the Bible.” Although we all know this phrase, the reality is that most churches never sing the Psalms . . . well, except for maybe Ps 46 (Be Still and Know), Ps 42 (As the Deer Panteth (which has bad grammar)) and variations of Ps 150 (any hymn or song that repeats “Praise the Lord!”).  read more…

Patton

In early December 1944 General George S. Patton’s 3rd Army was stalled in its advance to the Siegfried Line along the French – German border. Patton was a master of combined arms operations and he knew he needed tactical air support from the Army Air Forces before he could breach…

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