Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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Walking in Jesus Shoes
Walking in Jesus Shoes Lectionary 17 March 2019 Second Sunday in Lent Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 Psalm 27 Philippians 3:17-4:1 Luke 13:31-35 Text to Life One of the most notable fixtures of big cities is the presence on the streets of vendors selling “discounted” designer goods. Handbags, scarves, shoes, sunglasses, clothing,…
The Alabaster Jar
The Alabaster Jar Story Lectionary 17 March 2019 The Second Sunday in Jesus’ Lenten Journey Jacob’s Strange Prophecies for the Stubborn 12 Tribes of Israel (Genesis 49) Celebrate the Passover, Clean or Unclean (Numbers 9) Hezekiah Celebrates Passover and Prays for All of the People, Clean and Unclean (2 Chronicles…
Preach Faith –Preaching Tip for 17 March 2019
In a time of turmoil for the UMC, it’s time to preach faith. Preach Jesus. Bottom line. Jesus saves. We don’t. Sometimes, we need to get out of the way and let the Holy Spirit move. If we truly believe that Jesus is alive and powerful in the world, then…
Pastor’s Prayer for 17 March 2019
O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk.
But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.
Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for blessed art Thou, unto ages of ages. Amen.
–St. Ephraim
Letters to the Chuch
Letters to the Church
Francis Chan, 2018
–Review by Landrum P. Leavell III, ThD.
Backstory: I have a dear friend who has been on staff at two mega-churches, one in Seattle and one in Texas. He is currently between churches, evaluating his past experiences, and looking at the future church-wise. He read this book, and he told me I needed to read it. Therefore, I had to read it. We are going to talk about it soon.
Most people in the evangelical eco-system know about Francis Chan and some of his experience. He planted Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California in 1994 at the age of twenty-six (and as a newlywed). It grew to be a mega-church. At some point, most pastors have asked themselves, “Is this what God had in mind?” For Chan, questions like this led to his eventual resignation in 2010. He subsequently took his large family overseas, living in India, Thailand, and China, prior to returning to the San Francisco area to start a house church planting network called We Are Church. This book is the rest of the story to date. read more…
Lent 1
It’s that season again. Like clockwork.
You know this chapter of the story. It calls to you. It draws you.
The Story echoes into our own stories and shatters our complacency. We are shaken from the rhythms of ordinary time and swept into the tempos of Lent.
A slower pace; not plodding, but not spritely either. Attentive and aware that the scenery has changed and that we will, in time – if we choose to – be changed, too. The landscape I inhabit in these days will be different from yours. But the unfolding story invites each of us along the Lenten path. Jungle or desert, mountain or valley, ocean or ice pack, all lead to the cross. Whichever path is yours in this season, Jesus is your companion. Let his story be yours.
There are two very different journeying songs in this first playlist for Lent: Sound Theology #180 – Lent 1
Your Life is a Steinway
Your Life is a Steinway Lectionary 10 March 2019 First Sunday in Lent Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 Romans 10:8b-13 Luke 4:1-13 Text to Life Music lessons fall into two categories. Either they enter our lives as a gift from God, or they enter our lives as the wrath of…
Signal to Noise (The Semiotics of Caves) –Guest Story Sermon by Len Wilson
Signal to Noise (The Semiotics of Caves) Guest Story Sermon by Len Wilson Photo Credit: Used via Created Commons. Source: https://wikimapia.org/18655213 Story Lectionary 10 March 2019 The First Sunday in Jesus’ “Lenten” Journey to Jerusalem and the Cross God Restores the Women After All Wombs Have Been Closed Due…
Preach Jesus! –Preaching Tip for 10 March 2019
Today, some preachers preach everything but Jesus and His saving grace. If there is anything to say today about what is needed in preaching, it is more Jesus. More scripture. More repentance. More grace.
Pastor’s Prayer for 10 March 2019
To You, O God, Fountain of Mercy,
I come, a sinner.
May You wash away my impurity.
O Sun of Justice,
give sight to the blind.
O Eternal Healer,
cure the wounded.
O King of Kings,
restore the despoiled.
O Mediator of God and man,
reconcile the sinful.
O Good Shepherd,
lead back the straying.
O God,
have pity on the wretched,
show leniency to the guilty,
bestow life on the dead,
reform the impious,
and give the balm of grace
to the hard of heart.
O most merciful God,
call back the one who flees,
draw back the one who resists,
lift up the one who falls,
support the one who stands,
and accompany the one who walks.
Do not forget those who forget You.
Do not desert those who desert You.
Do not despise those who sin against You.
For in sinning,
I have offended You, my God;
I have harmed my neighbor;
I have not even spared myself injury.
I have sinned, O my God,
against You, almighty Father,
because of my weakness;
against You, all-knowing Son,
because of my ignorance;
against You, merciful Holy Spirit,
because of my malice.
Thus have I offended You,
most high Trinity.
Woe to me, a pitiful soul!
How many,
how great,
and how diverse
are the sins I have committed.
I abandoned You, Lord
I question Your goodness,
by yielding to evil cravings
and weakening myself with harmful fears.
By such things, I preferred
to lose You
rather than abandon what I desired,
to offend You
rather than face what ought not to be feared.
O my God,
how much harm have I done
by word and deed,
and by sinning
secretly, openly, and defiantly.
Therefore,
out of my weakness I beg You
not to pay heed to my iniquity,
but rather to Your immense goodness.
And I beg you mercifully to pardon
what I have done,
granting me
sorrow for my past actions
and precaution in the future.
Amen.
-St. Thomas Aquinas