Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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Pastor’s Prayer for 31 January 2016
Watch, O Lord, with those who wake,
or watch, or weep tonight,
and give Your Angels and Saints charge over those who sleep.
Tend Your sick ones, O Lord Christ.
Rest Your weary ones,
Bless Your dying ones,
Soothe Your suffering ones,
pity Your afflicted ones,
Shield Your joyous ones,
And all for Your love’s sake.
Amen.
–Evening Prayer by St. Augustine
Let the Children –Preaching Tip for 31 January 2016
Sometimes, we forget that children can be involved in worship as much as anyone else. Let them read the scriptures, even if it means keeping a stepping stool at the lectern. Allow them to help collect the offerings. Let young people join in the music programs. Allow them to speak about…
The Five Favorite Books of 2015
The Five Favorite Books of 2015
Traditionally, January is the month to take inventory of things that are important to us, and as I skimmed through the internet it was obvious that writers of book blogs and various well known book-related websites were featuring the results of their inventories by posting their choices for best books of the year. “Great idea!” I said to myself, “This is a good time to take stock of the books read last year, and make a ‘Best Books’ list, too.” Soon, though, it was evident that picking books to be placed on a “Best Books Roster” is more involved than it first appears.
Forty books have been reviewed here at The Open Table since the first column appeared on April 8, 2015. It ought to be easy to pick the top five books from a list of only forty, but somehow it became more complicated every time I looked at the book titles. The books reviewed at The Open Table represent many genres, ranging from The Jesus Cow by Michael Perry (2015) in the Fiction/Humor category to Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, Robert D. Putnam (2015), which is Nonfiction/Current Affairs. Publication dates of the books are also widespread. The Great Christ Comet by Colin R. Nicholl has the very recent publication date of October 2015 compared to the 1945 publication date of The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. Because of the assortment of books it was a challenge to know how to construct a “Best Of” list. read more…
Athletes in Action
If you turn on ESPN and the commentators are waxing poetic about “athletes,” you can be pretty sure that they are not talking about musicians. But the definition of athlete, according to Merriam-Webster is “someone who is skilled in (activities) that require physical strength, agility, or stamina.” Dr. Gottfried Schlaug, Director of the Music, Neuroimaging and Stroke Recovery Lab at Harvard Medical School calls musicians “auditory motor athletes.” Musicians have highly developed auditory and motor processes and have trained themselves to translate this knowledge through their bodies to their instruments. This requires mental and physical strength, agility, and stamina. read more…
The Good Catch
The Good Catch Story Lectionary 24 January 2016 Jesus’ Final Month Before His Death The Money Given for Atonement by all Jews (Exodus 30) Solomon Collects 666 Talents of Gold Per Year for the Wealth of His Temple (I Kings 10) As Solomon is Crowned King, the People Bring Gifts…
The Joy of the Lord is Our Powerball
The Joy of the Lord is Our Powerball Lectionary 24 January 2016 3rd Sunday After the Epiphany Nehemiah 8:1-3,5-6,8-10 Psalm 19 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a Luke 4:14-21 Text to Life Nehemiah 8:1-3,5-6,8-10 January. Joyless January. January is the month when all the Christmas-crazed credit card bills show up. January is the…
Pastor’s Prayer for 23 January 2016
Lord God Almighty,
I understand that I am unable to do anything without your help,
so I ask you to enable me by your grace to fulfill your will.
Give me grace to do whatever brings most glory and honor to you,
pleasure and profit to me,
and life and love to others.
Help me to number my days,
spending my time wisely,
living my life with all my might while I still have breath.
Humble me in the knowledge that I am chief of sinners;
when I hear of the sins of others,
help me to not look upon them with pride,
but to look upon myself with shame,
confessing my own sins to you.
When I go through difficulties and trials,
remind me of the pains of hell
from which you have already delivered me.
Place people in my path who need my help,
and give me a compassionate and generous spirit.
Fill my heart with such love
that I would never do anything out of a spirit of revenge,
nor lose my temper with those around me.
Hold my tongue when I am tempted to speak evil of others.
Thank you for the gospel and for the hope of glory.
Help me to live in light of these truths every day of my life,
so that when the time of my death arrives,
I will rest assuredly in you,
and you will be most glorified in me.
In Christ’s name…
– Trevin Wax (adapted from the first 21 of Jonathan Edwards’ resolutions)
Involve Your People in Your Sermon –preaching tip for 23 January 2016
Involve your people in your sermon. If you are talking about bells, mention your bell choir, knowing they will understand intimately what you are referring to. If you are talking about basketball, mention that young man or woman in the congregation who plays the game. If you are talking about…
Angle of Repose
Angle of Repose
by
Wallace Stegner
While I was doing some New Year-inspired reorganizing of bookshelves, Angle of Repose (Penguin Books 1971), a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by William Stegner, rose up from among the stacks. Angle of Repose is an enthralling book based on the lives of East coast born Quaker writer and illustrator, Mary Hallock Foote (1847-1938), and her pioneer, mining engineer husband, Arthur De Wint Foote (1849-1933). Stegner knew two members of the Foote family, and with permission from them, he used Mary Hallock Foote’s letters of the time spent in the rugged and unsettled West as the basis of his novel. read more…
There’s a Wedding and a Miracle
The second Sunday after Epiphany reminds us of a wedding in Cana. A wedding—probably unremarkable in most ways—that revealed an unexpected side of Jesus. This wedding tells of the first of Jesus’ miracles. Although incarnation is the grounding of our connection with him, the gospel writers want to highlight the connection Jesus had with his father. The fruit of his relationship with the father produces miracles!
Unexpected miracles in the midst of uncertainty. read more…