Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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Holy Discontent
Holy Discontent Lectionary 16 August 2015 12th Sunday After Pentecost 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14 Psalm 111 Ephesians 5:15-20 John 6:51-58 Text to Life Last week was an official “opening season.” Not the opening season on hunting or fishing or any particular form of wildlife—like deer, elk, salmon, or shellfish.…
Don’t be aloof –preaching tip for 8-16-15
Don’t be aloof! Sometimes pastors seem to swoop in like circus performers…. do their thing (accent on the “their”), and then swoop away again having no real contact with the people in the room. Your “sermon” is not just the 15-20-30 minutes you stand in a pulpit and preach. Your…
The New Normal
The New Normal
A Diagnosis the Church Can Live With
by Tom Ingram
It seems the phrase, “the new normal,” has been popping up in conversations everywhere, especially since the US economy faced its most challenging downward shift since the Great Depression. I think the phrase “new normal” has a negative connotation. It means that what had been considered a robust American way of life has taken a big step backward, and it is not going to return to its previous, presumably healthy, situation anytime soon. A different, less vital, more incapacitated way of life has ensued , and we need to get used to it – this is the new normal. read more…
Pastor’s Prayer for 8/16/15
In bread we bring you Lord, our body’s labour
In wine we offer you our spirit’s grief.
We do not ask you, Lord, who is my neighbor?
But stand united now, in one belief.
For we have gladly heard your Word, your holy Word
And now in answer, Lord, our gifts we bring.
Our selfish hearts make true, our failing faith renew.
Our life belongs to you, our Lord and King.
The bread we offer you is blessed and broken,
And it becomes for us our spirit’s food.
Over the cup we bring, your Word is spoken;
Make it your gift to us, your healing blood.
Take all that daily toil, plants in our heart’s poor soil,
Take all we start and spoil, each hopeful dream.
The chances we have missed, the graces we resist,
Lord, in they Eucharist, take and redeem.
–Kevin Nichols, “In Bread We Bring You Lord”
Sweet Pea
A grandmother raised her granddaughter all by herself. She did everything for her, and wanted to communicate that she was her pride and joy. So she called her either “Sweet Pea” or Bubeleh, which is Yiddish for “darling” or “dearie.” On the first day of school, she gave her granddaughter…
Pearly Gates
A young couple had a fatal car accident on the way to their wedding. When they met St. Peter at the Pearly Gates they asked if it was possible for them to marry in heaven. Peter said he would make some inquires and get back to them. A year later,…
Promised Land
Preachers, if you ever get lost in a convoluted sentence, and don’t know how to get out, stop dead in your tracks, and say this: “Friends, I have long since lost the nominative of this sentence, but I am bound for the Promised Land.”
Wisdom
An angel appears at a faculty meeting and tells the President/Dean that in return for his unselfish and exemplary behavior, the Lord will reward him with his choice of money, wisdom or beauty. Without hesitating, the President/Dean selects wisdom. “Done!” says the angel, and disappears in a cloud of smoke…
Two Halves
A preacher knew the sermon would be a long one. Nothing tried made it shorter. So this is how the sermon was introduced: “Today, the first half of my sermon will be directed toward the sinners in this congregation. The second half will be devoted to the non-sinners among us.”…
Pronouns
A parent was helping her third-grader with homework. “What’s a noun?” “A person, place or thing.” “OK. What’s a pronoun?” After a brief pause, the boy said, “A really good noun.” The world needs some more pronouns.