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Sweet Spots

Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.

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Advent –Preaching Tip for 1 December 2019

In the season of Advent, the challenge for pastors is to make new what we celebrate each year. This year, look around you to find interesting metaphors that you can use to add a fresh look at advent. Try metaphors such as the wreath, red berries, flame of the candle,…

Pastor’s Prayer for 1 December 2019

May the Strength of God guide us.
May the Power of God preserve us.
May the Wisdom of God instruct us.
May the Hand of God protect us.
May the Way of God direct us.
May the Shield of God defend us.
May the Angels of God guard us.
– Against the snares of the evil one.

May Christ be with us!
May Christ be before us!
May Christ be in us,
Christ be over all!

May Thy Grace, Lord,
Always be ours,
This day, O Lord, and forevermore. Amen.

–St. Patrick

Advent Has Begun

So Advent is upon us. It brings with it the sounds and smells of the coming holiday season. As I wrote about last week, Advent and Christmas are different holiday seasons. In one season we wear Purple (blue for you Lutherans… lol), in the other we wear white. Advent is a time of reflecting inward, Christmas is a time of wonder. God is coming, God with us. Both are needed. The sounds of this season are separate yet culturally mixed. The radio plays “Oh Come, Emmanuel,” “We Three Kings,” and “Silent Night” as if they were to be sung for the same day. (I’m totally fine singing them together). My point is that when we smush all of the songs together, we miss out on the uniqueness and wonder that can be found in each holiday. So what do we do about it? We sing anything we want. But! We do it with the knowledge that each day is unique and that we should celebrate today, then tomorrow we will celebrate again the gift that that day brings. This Sunday, We live in hope for the Savior who is to come. We live in that hope of the One who was, who is, and Is to come.

“This is the Air I Breath” by Michael W. Smith
https://youtu.be/tzOz9oZVrtA

“Hope In Front of Me” by Danny Gokey
https://youtu.be/O5GFiDdGGGM

The First Go’el

The First Go’el Lectionary01 December 2019First Sunday in Advent Isaiah 2: 1-5 If you survived “Black Friday,” you have now made it to the eve of “Cyber Monday.” This is the day that starts at midnight and signifies huge online discounts. Cyber Monday has become the least productive day of…

The Dwelling Place

The Dwelling Place Story Lectionary 24 November 2019 Christ the King Sunday / Reign of Christ Sunday Jesus’ Transfiguration (Story Lectionary) Let There Be Light (Genesis 1) Moses and the Burning Bush on God’s Mountain (Exodus 2) Witnesses to Moses on Sinai and the First Covenant (Exodus 24) Moses in…

Holiday Sermon Blues? –Preaching Tip for 11-24-2019

Searching for new ideas for the holidays? Try looking around you! Look for metaphors that may be right before your eyes. Cornucopia, Fruit, Garden, Harvest, Turkey, Cranberry Sauce, Table, Family, and many more. Explore some of these metaphors through scripture. You’ll be sure to find many hidden gems that may…

Pastor’s Prayer for Thanksgiving Sunday 11-24-2019

We’ve come to the time in the season
When family and friends gather near
To offer a prayer of Thanksgiving
For blessings we’ve known through the year
To join hands and thank the creator
And now when Thanksgiving is due
This year when I count my blessings
I’m thanking the Lord He made you
This year when I count my blessings
I’m thanking the Lord He made you

I’m grateful for the laughter of children
The sun and the wind and the rain
The color of blue in your sweet eyes
The sight of a high “ballin” train
The moon rise over a prairie
Old love that you’ve made new
This year when I count my blessings
I’m thanking the Lord He made you
This year when I count my blessings
I’m thanking the Lord He made you

And when the time comes to be going
It won’t be in sorrow and tear
I’ll kiss you goodbye and I’ll go on my way
Grateful for all of the years
I thank for all that you gave me
For teaching me what love can do
Thanksgiving day for the rest of my life
I’m thanking the Lord He made you
Thanksgiving day for the rest of my life
I’m thanking the Lord He made you.

–Johnny Cash

Advent is Coming

As we soon begin the Advent season, I am humored by so many that think Advent and Christmas are the same thing. They are definitely related, yet distinctly different. Christmas is the celebration of “Christ With us”. Advent is the celebration of the expectancy of the “Coming Christ”. Yes, I know that Christ is already here… I’m talking about the reason for the holiday, the focus of it if you will. The metaphor I will use to display the difference is this: Advent is like waiting for the first pot of coffee to brew. Christmas is like that first sip. Advent is the anticipation of what’s to come. Sometimes there is such pleasure in the anticipation. Christmas is the taste, flavor, energy, and clarity the coffee brings.

Before Christ can be born, He has to gestate. He is eternal, yet for our sakes, he spent 9 months in the womb waiting to be born to us. I wonder if He was as excited to be born to us as we are now for Christmas day?

For me, I associate the time of Advent and Christmas with music… ok I associate everything with music, but ah, the music of this holiday season…

“O Come, O Come Emmanuel” – Traditional Choir
https://youtu.be/7xtpJ4Q_Q-4

“Breath of Heaven” – Amy Grant


Attachments area

Preview YouTube video O Come, O Come Emmanuel – Traditional Choir


O Come, O Come Emmanuel – Traditional Choir

Preview YouTube video Amy Grant – Breath Of Heaven


Amy Grant – Breath Of Heaven

The Courage to Be Disliked

The Courage to Be Disliked: The Japanese Phenomenon That Shows You How to Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness (2018)
By Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
ISBN: 978-1-5011-9727-7
–Review by Douglas Balzer

It wasn’t until recently, 2016, scientists were able to conclusively prove Einstein’s general theory of relativity. What this means is the study of physics operated for over 100 years under the assumption that Einstein’s approach was correct but did not actually know. Think about this for a moment. The scientific world of physics operates for decades with an unproven theory; therefore, decades of work by thousands of people could collapse at any moment if Einstein’s theory were disproved. Contemplating the catastrophic effects this would have on the field of physics is overwhelming. Science, physics has operated in this way that everything is a theory, waiting to be disproved.
We should not be surprised if we see the resurgence of older ideas within the various field of study. The example of psychics is one, but the views of Freud and Jung have been the dominant ideology of psychology for a considerable time now. But, in our time, we see the re-emergence of one of Freud’s and Jung’s contemporaries is becoming part of the conversation. The authors of The Courage to be Disliked, Ichiro Kishimi, and Fumitake Koga have brought back the ideologies of philosopher and psychiatrist Alfred Adler in this book. Adler believed that we all have one basic desire and goal: to belong and to feel significant. Together they have studied Adler’s work for decades and present a modified version of it for our consideration in the present context in the search for happiness.
For pastor’s and semioticians, Adler’s theory provides insightfulness into the human condition of belonging and significance. Observing the dilemma of loneliness experienced by the most connected generations in history is the need to belong, yet we see statistically their experience is anything close to belonging. As far as feeling significant many are seeking the feeling of significance through goals that lead them to brief moments of fame through Twitter, YouTube, and the plethora of social media sites. The overall picture is not one of the healthy human holistic being. Adler developed his theory intimately connected to a humanistic philosophy living that is easily adaptable to spiritual disciplines of Christianity.
Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga use the narrative of an unhappy young man, who engages the help of a philosopher who lives on the periphery of his city. The young man and the philosopher have a series of five conversations through which the philosopher helps him to take control of his own life and happiness. Of course, I do not want to give away to much of the content of this book, so I will just address a few of the lessons brought out by the narrative. Now, here is an overview of Adler’s ideologies that can help us to take charge of our lives, live true to ourselves, and exercise what control we can over our lives!
The first lesson is, according to Adler, your past does not determine your future. The Freudian psychological theory has been our primary orientation that the past does determine our future. Freud’s key term is trauma. It asserts our self-image takes deep root in our psyche at an early age. So, traumatic experiences will lead to determining our future behavior. Freud’s assumption is most of our adult lives are spent trying to fight, unravel, and overcome our limiting beliefs from the past. Adler states this is not true.
While Adler agreed that we form a style of life early on, being optimistic or pessimistic, for example, he did not believe this to be a fixed point in the human character. Adler defended the idea that we can change who we are at any given moment. Even if you could trace all your flaws back to specific traumatic events in your childhood, so what? You can change them now, in the present. Done is done. You have to believe that something different can happen to break old patterns and you can choose a new outlook at any time in your journey.
The second lesson, according to Adler is hating yourself is usually a way of shutting out others rather than necessary. Adler categorizes flaws into two categories: objective and subjective inferiorities. Actual (objective) flaws are ones that are measurable and confirmable, like being shorter than someone else or having less money. Subjective inferiorities, however, are entirely made up and are not measurable or confirmable. One student of the authors admitted he disliked himself because he was too aware of his own flaws.
While talking with the student, Kishimi, too, realized the flaws the young man saw were not real. Primarily, he was coming up with reasons to hate himself to seek isolation from others and, therefore, avoid getting hurt. His loneliness was the cause of his misery, not the effect of the actual shortcomings. According to Adler the only inferiorities we have to actively deal with are the real (objective) ones, and only if they hinder us in reaching our goals. Hence the subjective inferiorities are even there, so be sure to probe them before you deem yourself unworthy.
The third and final lesson I will share from this book is, according to Adler: A competitive mindset destroys your mental health. It is a prominent topic in debates between Western vs. Eastern culture. Eastern countries like Japan and China so have competition, but overall are more focused on cooperation, while Western nations like the US and Germany dramatically focus on the competition of individuals; the winner takes the glory.
Adler stressed that if an individual had to be on top, be the winner in order to be happy, they need to come out at the top of the game, earn more money, get more likes or have more friends, you will be sad and stressed, this is a huge issue. According to Adler, once you let go of a narrow, competitive mindset and embrace abundance, you will never feel like anyone is holding you back. Adler’s central advice is there is enough abundance to go around for everyone, and as long as you begin and continue to work on yourself, you can achieve anything you want!
In the end, I find Adler promotes an empowering, rational, and thoughtful ideology of an embodying a calm, cool-headed lifestyle. Adler’s ideologies are helpful in they bridge the current psychological conversations and are insightful in they provide useful, level-headed approaches to living a happy and fulfilling life.
“The courage to be happy also includes the courage to be disliked. When you have gained that courage, your interpersonal relationships will all at once change into things of lightness.” Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga

The Homing Instinct

The Homing InstinctLectionary24 November 2019Christ the King SundayJeremiah 23:1-6Luke 1:68-79Colossians 1:11-20Luke 23:33-43Text to LifeThanksgiving Day Text: Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Thanksgiving is almost upon us. Got out your stretchy pants yet. Men, how about those sweat- pants that have slide down to the bottom of the drawer? Studies show we gain about…

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