Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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Thanksgiving
Brian Morton is a US writer and professor (Sarah Lawrence College). He conducted a little experiment about thanksgiving: “I examined 20 recent American CDs this morning, pulled at random from the shelf. A remarkable 17 of them offer prominent thanks to the deity in some shape or form, often before…
Kingdom Moments
Kingdom Moments Lectionary 22 November 2015 (26 November 2015) Thanksgiving Joel 2:21-27 Psalm 126 1 Timothy 2:1-7 Matthew 6:25-33 Text to Life Jesus lived a life that straddled the past, the present, and the future. In the time-fulness of the Spirit, the timelessness of God became timely in Jesus the…
Something Unexpected
Everyone is talking about the Country Music Awards that took place this past week. Trust me. This is true. Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapleton (who won both Male Artist and New Artist of the Year) sang a couple of duets. No big deal right? Well, musicians and journalists across the country thought it was a big deal, and so did a lot of people who were watching. (video below).
Timberlake is a great artist, and so is Stapleton. They obviously enjoy the opportunity to collaborate. That is not surprising. Nor is the music itself; it’s a four-chord, verse, chorus, verse standard. At 1:40’ in the song, they incorporate a pretty typical “trading fours” extended call and response section. They rock it up and stretch it out and then at 3:10’ Timberlake does something that made even Keith Urban smile! He gave us something totally unexpected. read more…
Moving In
Moving In Lectionary 15 November 2015 25th Sunday After Pentecost 1 Samuel 1:4-20 1 Samuel 2:1-10 Hebrews 10:11-14, (15-18), 19-25 Mark 13:1-8 Text to Life For some, it would seem, the gospel is “good news” about increasing your living standards, not your loving standards. The gospel as “good news” is…
Revised and Revisioned
Revised and Revisioned Story Lectionary 15 November 2015 Genesis 1,2: Creation By the Hand of God From Dirt and Water and Breath of the Holy Spirit Moses and the Tent of Meeting during the Exodus (33) The Hallel Psalms: 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118 Psalm 40: From out of…
Pastor’s Prayer –a Humorous Prayer for 11-15-15
even though they’re usually not my fault.
–A Humor Prayer taken from Belief.net in honor of Anita Renfroe
The Jesus Cow
The Jesus Cow
A Novel
by Michael Perry
Slip on your barn boots and get ready for a farmland tale that poses heartfelt questions about faith, love, and filial duty. The Jesus Cow (2015) published by HarperCollins, is a comical mash-up of life styles, pitting the laid back pace of by-gone agricultural days against the break-neck social media whirlwind of today. The hero of The Jesus Cow is Harley Jackson, a Swivel, Wisconsin beef farmer whose old cattle barn is the location of a Christmas Eve miracle — of sorts. Thanks to the no-brakes, no-boundaries nature of the internet, news of the miracle instantly flies to all corners of the earth, and life on Harley’s quiet farm is altered forever.
Michael Perry, the Wisconsin native who penned The Jesus Cow, is a bestselling author and in the pattern of Garrison Keillor, also hosts a nationally syndicated musical radio show called Tent Show Radio. Perry has written several non-fiction books and has a website called www.sneezingcow.com. read more…
Connections Are Important –Preaching Tip for 11-15-15
Connections are all important. “You can’t lead someone on a journey of faith to meet Jesus if you don’t first take their hand,” says comedienne Anita Renfroe. If you want people to listen to you, you need to first connect with them, so they trust you enough to take your…
God Gives the Pharisees the Finger!
God Gives the Pharisees the Finger! Story Lectionary 8 November 2015 The Potter’s Hand (Genesis 2) God’s Hand/Finger Strikes Egypt (Exodus 6-8) The Sotah Jealousy Ritual Given to the Israelites by God (Bitter Waters) (Exodus 32) The Ritual of the Sotah and the Law of Jealousy (The Test of Bitter…
Nobodies and Nothings
Nobodies and Nothings Lectionary 8 November 2015 24th Sunday After Pentecost Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17 Psalm 127 Hebrews 9:24-28 Mark 12:38-44 Text to Life Ever wonder where we got the expression “my 2 cents” or its longer version “put my two cents in?” You read it this morning in Mark’s gospel,…