Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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Good Health
An eighty-year-old man went to the doctor’s office for his annual physical checkup. The doctor was hugely impressed with the man’s physical condition. “Sir, you have the body of a man thirty years younger. What is the secret of your extraordinarily good health?” The man replied, “Well, when I was…
Precocious
Precocious Story Lectionary 17 January 2016 Genesis (12): The Call of Abram Exodus (2-3): The Saving and Call of Moses Deuteronomy (32): A Song of Moses Psalms of Praise to the Father: Psalms 68, 95, 100, 103, 104, 145, 149 Song of Solomon (2): The precocious fig tree and the…
Year 30-Chateau Jesus
Year 30-Chateau Jesus Lectionary 17 January 2016 2nd Sunday After the Epiphany Human Relations Day Isaiah 62:1-5 Psalm 36:5-10 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 John 2:1-11 Text to Life It is every host’s nightmare—running out of food and drink before running out of guests. What to do? Do you calculate what you…
Animations! –Preaching Tip for 17 January 2016
Animations make preaching more accessible! The more you preach from metaphors, the easier it will be to use animations in your sermons. Animations can be props, visuals, songs, or any kind of interactive that people can touch, hold, or participate with. The more people can touch your metaphor, the more…
Planet Narnia
Planet Narnia:
The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis
by Michael Ward
Do you like to read about mysteries being solved? Are you a fan of C.S. Lewis? If so, Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis by Michael Ward (Oxford Press 2008) may be just the book for you. British writer C. S. Lewis is undoubtedly one the most recognizable author’s names in America. If sales figures are any indication, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe from The Chronicles of Narnia may be his best loved and most purchased book. And yet, there has been confusion surrounding Narnia from the beginning.
If you have read The Chronicles of Narnia you may have experienced some perplexity yourself. Many readers have had questions about the appearance of characters in the books that do not seem to fit the storyline, such as Father Christmas in The Lion Witch and the Wardrobe, or Bacchus, the Roman mythological god of wine, in Prince Caspian. In reading Narnia my own personal mystery was, “Where is Aslan?” I was bewildered to find that Aslan was not as prominent in the other six books of the Chronicles as he was in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In my thinking it seemed clear that Aslan as Jesus was the ultimate hero of the series. Shouldn’t Aslan/Jesus show up in all of the other books since he was the central figure? The books were still fantastic to read, but where was Aslan? All of these questions and many more are answered in Planet Narnia. read more…
Prayer
“God, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy, grant us a glimpse of your glory; that our eyes may be opened and the world transfigured for us; that we may see your glory in all things, and the entire earth full of your glory.” David Adam
Pastor’s Prayer for 17 January 2016
God, from whom to stray is to fall,
And to whom to return is to rise up,
In whom to remain is to rest on a firm foundation.
To leave you is to die,
To return to you is to come back to life,
To dwell in you is to live.
No one loses you if he does not fall into error,
No one seeks you without being called,
No one finds you without being purified.
To go away from you is to be lost,
To seek you is to love,
To see you is to make you our own.
St. Augustine, Soliloquies, 1.3a, Murray Watts, Praying with St. Augustine (London, SPCK, 1987), 87-8.
Listening to Pictures
Long before there was a Bible in every home, and before words and printed text had irrevocably shaped human learning, there were pictures—art that told stories.
In particular, the great cathedrals of Europe give us glorious examples of how stained glass windows were designed to tell the biblical stories for generations who learned by listening and seeing. Many of these magnificent buildings, with their picture-story windows, still stand for us to admire. They also provide us the opportunity to put aside the paper-text stories for a time, and engage our imaginations. We can practice “reading” the images, searching for mysteries that the text does not reveal, but the image might. read more…
Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh / Bittersweet
Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh / Bittersweet Story Lectionary 10 January 2016 The Visit of the Magi Joseph’s Brothers Bring Gifts to Him Along With His Brother Benjamin (Genesis 43) The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon (I Kings 10) Psalm 45: Gifts for God’s King Psalm 72: Gold from Sheba will…
The Force of God Awakens
The Force of God Awakens Lectionary 10 January 2016 The Baptism of Our Lord Isaiah 43:1-7 Psalm 29 Acts 8:14-17 Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 Text to Life Is there anyone here this morning who hasn’t yet seen Star Wars “The Force Awakens?” How many of you here have seen it more…