Blogging toward Sunday

Sunday we gather to celebrate Pentecost. Kathleen Long Bostrom offers the following: 

Before there was Christmas and Easter, there was Pentecost--at least as far as the liturgical calendar is concerned. While Easter celebrations may have happened in the years immediately following the first Easter, Christmas and Easter were not designated as official Christian holidays until the fourth century. Evidence suggests that churches observed Pentecost as early as the first century. 

Pentecost is the day we celebrate the birth of the church. In preparation for worship, read Acts 2:1-21 and consider the following:

1. In regard to the senses (sight, sound, etc.) what do you imagine this experience was like?
2. How do people respond to the coming of the Spirit?
3. What image of the Holy Spirit do you relate to? Counselor? Dove? Friend? Advocate?
4. What Spirit-given gifts do you bring to the body of Christ?

May the following prayer written by Bostrom aid us on our journey toward Sunday's celebration.

Creator of branches, rivers, 

and stones,

of fiery flames and startling stars;

kindle the spark of your spirit

within us;

set our hearts on fire.

Knit us together--

the hands, feet, ears, and eyes

and voices and yes, even the elbows

and knees,

until we become one body in Christ.

Your will be done,

in earth and in heaven;

world without end.

Amen.

Shalom,

Glenda

Blogging toward Sunday

Bowed and plucked lutes from the Cantigas de Santa Maria manuscript

This Sunday, April 13, 2014, the CHPC Choir will present our annual Easter Cantata. In preparation, reflect on the importance of music to your own life and faith. Consider the words of the psalmist found in Psalm 98.  

River Image via Creative Commons

Sing to the Lord a new song,

                for he has done marvelous things.

With his right hand and his holy arm

                has he won for himself the victory.

The LORD has made known his victory;

                his righteousness has he openly shown in

                                                the sight of the nations.

He remembers his mercy and faithfulness to

                                                the house of Israel,

                and all the ends of the earth have seen the

                                                victory of our God.

Shout with joy to the LORD, all you lands;

                lift up your voice, rejoice, and sing.

Sing to the LORD with the harp,

                with the harp and the voice of song.

With trumpets and the sound of the horn

                shout with joy before the King, the LORD.

Let the sea make a noise and all that is in it,

                the lands and those who dwell therein.

Let the rivers clap their hands,

                and let the hills ring out with joy before the LORD,

                when he comes to judge the earth.

In righteousness shall he judge the world

                and the peoples with equity.

How do these words speak to you about the intertwining of worship and music? Might the following prayer written by Walter C. Sutton be your prayer for today?

Today, I delight in your works, great Maker of Music. Music is one of your greatest gifts. Thank you, God, for melody, harmony, conterpoint, and syncopation. Music makes me laugh, or cry. It gets me up to dance, or compels me to sit quietly before its majestic passage. Music touches me in ways that words cannot. Thank you, God, for music. Amen.

Blessings on your week. As always, I look forward to worshiping with you this Sunday.

Shalom,
Glenda

 

Blogging toward Sunday

"Healing of the Blind Man" by Buoninsegna via Wikimedia Commons

In preparation for worship this Sunday read John 9:1-41. Afterward reflect on the following:

1. How does Jesus go about healing the blind man?
2. What conflict does the healing cause?
3. Who celebrates the healing of the man who has been blind from birth?

May the following reading from John O'Donohue and prayer by Rosemary C. Mitchell assist you as you continue to ponder the meaning of this passage of Scripture for your own spiritual life.

What did I really see?

Many of us have made our world so familiar that we do not see it any more. It is an interesting question to ask yourself at night: what did I really see this day? You could be surprised at what you did not see. Maybe your eyes were unconditioned reflexes operating automatically all day without any real mindfulness or recognition; while you looked out from yourself, you never gazed or really attended to anything...The human eye is always selecting what it wants to see and also evading what it does not want to see. The crucial question then is, what criteria do we use to decide what we like to see and to avoid seeing what we do not want to see? Many limited and negative lives issue directly from this narrowness of vision.

via Google Images

Prayer

O God, we do not always know why we are here. We are often unsure of our purpose on earth. Sometimes we hope to catch a glimpse of who you are through the eyes of your startling vision, which images us as your caring, compassionate people. Amen.

As always, I look forward to our time of worship. Continued blessings on your lenten journey.

Shalom,
Glenda

Blogging toward Sunday

"Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well" by Guercino

In preparation for worship Sunday, March 23, 2014 read John 4:5-42 and reflect on the following:

1. Why is Jesus in Samaria?
2. How is Jesus' humanity revealed in this passage?
3. How is his divinity revealed?
4. What is the woman's initial response to Jesus?
5. What does she do as a result of her encounter with him?

The following prayer, "Sinking wells" was written by Janet Morley. Take time to read it a couple of times and consider its meaning for your life.

Sinking wells
Come to the waters
all you who are thirsty;
children who need water
free from diseases,
women who need respite
from labor and searching,
plants that need moisture
rooted near the bedrock,
find here a living spring.
O God, may we thirst
for your waters of justice,
and learn to deny no one
the water of life.

May the Lord continue to bless you on your Lenten journey.

Shalom,
Glenda

Blogging toward Sunday

"The Temptation of Christ on the Mountain" via Wikimedia Commons

In preparation for worship the First Sunday in Lent, prayerfully read and meditate on Matthew 4:1-11. Afterward, take a few moments to closely examine the art provided above. Then consider the following:

1. What strikes you as most important from the gospel reading?
2. Who are the participants in the story, other than Jesus?
3. What do you learn from the image above?

Finally, may you be blessed by the following Lenten prayer written by Ann Weems:

Holy is the time and holy is this place,

and there are holy things that must be said.

Let us say to one another what our souls whisper...

O Holy One, cast your tent among us;

come into our ordinary lives and bless the living!

Forty days stretch before us,

forty days of hungering after faithfulness,

forty days of trying to understand the story,

and then, Holy Week...

O God, if every week were holy...

These forty days stretch before us,

and those of us who believe,

yearn to feel Your presence,

yearn to be Your people;

and yet the days fill with ordinary things

with no time left

for seeking the holy.

Spiritual contemplation is all right

for those who have the time,

but most of us have to make a living.

Most of us have to live in the real world

where profanity splashes and blots out

anything holy.

Where, O Holy One, can we find you in this unholy mess?

How, O God, can we find the holy in the ordinary? 

I look forward to worshiping with you this Saturday, at the Celtic Service, as well as Sunday morning.
May the Lord bless you on your Lenten journey.

Shalom,
Glenda

Blogging toward Sunday

"Transfiguration" by Giovanni Gerolamo Savoldo; via Wikimedia Commons

Sunday we celebrate the Transfiguration of Christ. In preparation, read Exodus 24:12-18 and Matthew 17:1-9. Then consider the following:

1. Throughout the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is portrayed as the "New Moses." How is this theme evident when you compare the two readings? 
2. Regarding Jesus' transfiguration, what other elements of the story stand out for you?
3. Why does Jesus instruct the disciples to keep quiet about what they have seen?
4. What does the word "transfiguration" really mean?

May the following prayer, written by Bruce Prewer, bless you as you journey forth this week.

Baptized by the morning
Risen Lord Jesus,
as the rising sun
baptizes trees and shrubs
in rippling light,
let me be baptized
by your resurrection light.

May I
trust in you above all else,
hope in you above all other goals,
seek you in all things,
find you in every situation,
meet you among all people,
know you over everything---

And love you with adoration
beyond
beyond
beyond all telling.


Shalom,
Glenda

Blogging toward Sunday

Google Image used by permission via Rev. Lil Smith, M.Div., DASD

In preparation for worship read Isaiah 9:1-4 and reflect on the following:

1. What promises do you find in this text?
2. How is light used as a metaphor?
3. What nations/lands are named?

Now turn to our gospel reading found in Matthew 4:12-23. Using the spiritual practice of lectio divina, read through the passage at least 3 times. After each reading, sit prayerfully, considering what word or phrase God might be speaking directly to you today. Afterward, spend a few moments considering the following:

1. What does Jesus mean when he calls his followers to be "fishers of people"?
2. What must I leave behind to be a faithful disciple of Jesus?

Finally, I offer you this prayer from Feasting on the Word: Worship Companion, edited by Kimberly Bracken Long:

God, our light and our salvation,

Jesus announced the nearness of your kingdom

and called his disciples to be fishers of women and men.

Give us courage to follow in the way of Jesus,

that our lives may bear witness to the good news of the 

kingdom at hand

and our vocation serve to draw people to your salvation;

through your Son, Jesus Christ, in the power of

the Holy Spirit. Amen.

May the Lord bless you and those you love this week. I look forward to seeing you face to face on Sunday and joining you in worship of our Gracious and Holy God.

Shalom,

Glenda

Blogging toward Sunday

via Google Images

This Sunday we continue our journey through Advent by considering a "Theology of Time." In preparation for worship, take some time to sit quietly for a while with the following Scripture readings: Genesis 1:1-5, Exodus 3:14-15, and Matthew 11:2-11. Then reflect on these questions:

1. What kind of relationship do I have with time?
2. How do I use it?
3. Whose is it?
4. How often do I consult God before planning the hour, the day, the week, the year?

A prayer written by Fiona Bennett entitled "The hope of the Seed" speaks to "time" in a special way. May her words be a blessing for you this week.

The hope of the Seed

            In this waiting time, creating Spirit,

            we give you thanks for the new life,

            the new world which rose up

            from the Seed which died.

            We thank you for the hope of the Seed.

We take encouragement that over many years

the life of the Seed has spread,

wending its way across the earth;

flourishing where it finds welcomed space;

greening;

bringing new life wherever it finds root.

Help us to be good gardeners;

to recognize Christ’s Seed wherever it grows;

to learn how best to care for the Seed;

to work hard with patience, endurance and faith

throughout the seasons;

to experience the pleasure, challenge and delight

of the gardener

as we nurture Christ’s greening of the whole earth. 

As always, I look forward to worshiping with you this Sunday.

Shalom, 

Glenda.