Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
Here, you can comment on any post to participate in the discussion.
Keep awake! –preaching tip for 20 December 2015
The last thing you want is for people to drift off during your sermon. In fact, you can see some people “settle in” when the sermon starts….predicting that it will be something they want to “coast through.” Make the sermon dynamic, interesting, creative. You want people to look forward to the…
Jesus: A Theography
Jesus: A Theography
by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola
I think it is only right to warn you not to read this book before going to bed – here’s why:
I was very happy to receive my copy of Jesus A Theography (2012 — Thomas Nelson) via the mail. I had pre-ordered it months before and was glad that it had finally arrived. One reason for my happiness was that I had read a previous collaboration by Sweet and Viola called Jesus Manifesto, an important book about restoring Christ to supremacy and sovereignty in the church, and I wanted to compare the two books. So, as is my habit, I set aside a fair amount of time to read before going to bed, and Jesus a Theography was the book of choice. Mistake. Before I read to page 50 my heart was pounding so hard that I had to get up, go for a walk, pray, think and try to settle down. It was as though the book were digitalis, a medicine used to stimulate the heart. I was wide awake as a result reading Jesus A Theography and knew that sleep was not going to be possible for quite a while. read more…
Listening to Silence
How is your Advent season going? Have you been able to stop and take a breath from the service planning, party going, and present planning (not to mention shopping)?
At the beginning of the season, I challenged us to spend time listening. To hear the minor key of the season and rest in the sounds that subtly, but persistently, challenge the merry-making frenzy all around us. How is that going?
I am finding it very difficult! Maybe you are as well. read more…
Power Shift
Power Shift Lectionary 13 December 2015 Third Sunday in Advent Zephaniah 3:14-20 Isaiah 12:2-6 Philippians 4:4-7 Luke 3:7-18 Text to Life There are (as always) two types of people. There are power outage people and there are power surge people. Power-outage people spend time and treasure preparing for power outages.…
Trust in Me
Trust in Me Story Lectionary 13 December 2015 Third Sunday in Advent Joseph’s Dreams (Genesis 37) Daniel’s Dreams (Daniel 2 and 7) The Lord’s Prophecy According to Joel (Joel 2) Psalm 2: God’s Praise to His Anointed Psalm 24: The Lord’s Blessing Psalm 80: The Lord’s Restoration Psalm 16: Like…
Telling Stories –preaching tip for 13 December 2015
Advent is a time when we stop and remember the story of Jesus and the birth of God’s promise realized in the world. What better time than to hear the stories of your people whose lives have been touched by that promise. Give people time to tell their stories, to…
Where Jesus Prayed
Where Jesus Prayed
Illuminating the Lord’s Prayer In The Holy Land
by Danielle Shroyer
“Being there matters.” By that I mean, there is a vast difference between reading or hearing about a person, place or thing and actually being on location to experience them. Most people have lived out this truth to some degree. Perhaps it is finally hearing a favorite musical group in a live performance, or seeing the mountains “up close and personal” that brings home the startling difference between virtual and experiential reality. For some, traveling to the country of their national origin “matters” enough to allow them to make their family story real and bring the history and richness of their cultural traditions to life. For others, being able to set foot in the land of their spiritual heritage “matters”. For Danielle Shroyer, the author of Where Jesus Prayed, published in 2015 by Paraclete Press, making a trip to the Holy Land mattered. To be in the places where Jesus lived, taught and healed became a life enriching spiritual pilgrimage for her. read more…
Pastor’s Prayer for 13 December 2015
O Come let us worship and lift our hearts . . .
Not because the world is good and last week was awesome,
But because the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the God of the whole Earth.
O Come let us worship and raise our hands . . .
Not because our lives are all sweetness and light,
But because even those who walk in darkness can see a great light, the Bright and Morning Star
O Come let us worship and bow down . . .
Not because God gives us what we want,
But because God gives us what we need–the holy child Jesus, God’s Unspeakable Gift
Longing for Lament
So many things in our world at the moment require lament. So many current circumstances conspire to crush our hearts and leave us wondering when our hope will arise. Lament: the passionate expression of grief or sorrow. Lament: not a failure of faith, but an act of deep, purposeful faithfulness.
As communities we need to learn again the embodiment and language of lament. One significant way we engage in this embodiment and language is through shared song. Music has tremendous power to validate sorrow and set it free. Music in community has the power to join us together in shared hope. Lament teaches us that there are things that are difficult and painful. There are many things that we do not understand, and even some things that we cannot change. read more…
Mary’s Song / Here I Am
Mary’s Song / Here Am I Story Lectionary 6 December 2015 The Second Sunday of the Advent of Our Lord Genesis: Adam is Hiding (3) Genesis: Abraham and Isaac (22) Exodus: Moses and the Burning Bush (3) Exodus: Songs of Moses and Miriam (15) Habakkuk: Prayer Song (3) The Song…