Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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Pastor’s Prayer for 8/23/15
“Without you, O Christ, my heart will die of hunger. Grant that in this daily bread I may taste also the supernatural bread of your Father’s house. Let me find you in my daily life. Fashion my studies into the search for your truth which lies mysteriously hidden in all human knowledge. Let me find you in all the substances of your creation, you, who are both natural and supernatural. You, the eternal Word of the Father, ever at work in all the stars and atoms, in all human truth, in all human words, in human justice and in human sorrow, you, the heart of the whole universe.”
Hugo Rahner, Karl Rahner, Prayers for Meditation (1962), 55-56.
Faithful
We all forget. We get tied up in worries. We fret.
When those days come, the scriptures call us to remember.
Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.
Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.
Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord.
Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him.
Remember the wonders he has performed, his miracles, and the rulings he has given,
you children of his servant Abraham, you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones. Psalm 105:1-6 read more…
Today’s Culture
In 1999, an unnamed Columbine High School in student in Colorado, USA, accurately summed up today’s culture when he/she communicated with the Internet Community during the fall of 1999. The article stresses the urgent need for a spiritual awakening: The paradox of our time in history is that we have…
Fanny Crosby
Hymn-writer Fanny Crosby had a contract with a publisher to write three hymns a week. That explains the 9000 hymns. That also explains some of her hymns. But she became a different person after an experience at a prayer-meeting in the 1860s. Fanny Crosby confessed how “I sprang to my…
Sunnyside Up
When we come to God and complain about each other, how many of us are like the man who went to a psychiatrist. He was wearing two strips of bacon attached to each ear and two fried eggs, sunnyside up, on top of his head. “Doctor,” he said, “I want…
Who Jesus Is
Jesus’ different titles elicit different kinds of responses As King, we crown Him As Brother, we carry and cover Him. As Baby, we adore Him. As Son of God, we reverence Him As Son of Man, we preference Him As Son of David, we deference Him As Shepherd, we…
The Peace and Mercy of God
When asked by a colleague how he had liked his sermon, Dr. Mahaffy, former Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, replied that it was like the peace and mercy of God. The clergy was deeply flattered by this kind of response from the Provost of Trinity College. Basking in his glory,…
Roosevelt’s Heaven
Teddy Roosevelt was as colorful a President as we’ve had. He won the Nobel Peace Prize, even though he was quite a hunter and fighter. He was never known for his humility or his reticence. He would offer opinions on almost any subject, even those he knew nothing about. One…
The Proms
On August 10th, The Proms (or more formally, the Henry Woods Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC) will celebrate their 120th season of music making. Held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England, with the BBC Orchestra, The Proms are an annual celebration of music of all genres. They’re called the proms because they were originally concerts where the audience could “promenade” through the park as they listened to the music! Today, in Royal Albert Hall, there is a large standing-only section on the floor of the hall where the audience gets up to some enjoyable shenanigans, if not actual “promenading.” Conductor Jiri Behlolavek has described The Proms as “the world’s largest and most democratic musical festival.” read more…
Lord of the Sabbath
Lord of the Sabbath Story Lectionary 16 August 2015 Genesis 1:1-2:3: God’s Creative Power and Rest; all things in relationship Exodus 16:22-20; 20:8-11; 31:13-14: Keeping the Sabbath Deuteronomy 5:12-15: Keeping the Sabbath Becomes an Observance Psalm 92: The Song of the Sabbath Psalm 23: God’s Rest Psalm 104: God’s Creation…