How and When Does a Church Grow?

 Scripture: Acts 8:26-40  • Psalm 22:25-31  • 1 John 4:7-21  • John 15:1-8

How and When does a church  grow? Both John's gospel account of Jesus and the vineyard and the branches, and the reading in Acts teach us about growth - personal and as a church.

Read Debie Thomas's "When All Are Welcome," and Melissa Earley's "The vine branch doesn’t put “make grapes” on its to-do list. It just makes them."

Who do you trust?

 Scripture: Acts 4:5-12  • Psalm 23  • 1 John 3:16-24  • John 10:11-18

This is Good Shepherd Sunday. Among our readings are the 23rd Psalm and Jesus telling uss he is the Good Shepherd. What does he mean? Debie Thomas takes a good look at the  context of Jesus' teaching. It is not the soft and fluffy image we have made, but, like the 23rd Psalm, we can take comfort as his rod and staff gently lead us through life's challenges and even through the shadows of death. He loves and cares for us. Read Debie Thomas's "A Shepherd Who is Good."

The LORD Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.

1The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.^a
3He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness^b
for his name’s sake.

4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,^c
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6Surely^d goodness and mercy^e shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell^f in the house of the LORD
forever.^g

Soul Food - Embodied

 Scripture: Acts 3:12-19  • Psalm 4  • 1 John 3:1-7  • Luke 24:36b-48

In Luke's gospel account, the resurrected Jesus appears once again to his disciples who are described as being "startled, terrified, and "while in their joy, disbelieving and wondering." Jesus offers them Peace, and asks them to share a meal of broiled fish with him before commissioning them to spread the good news. Why? What is it about sharing a meal which brings people with many differences, doubts, fears and feelings together? How can sharing a meal help us see and experience the presence of Christ? See The Rev. Sharron Riessinger Blezard's "Potlucks, Comfort Food and Faith." What a joy to celebrate and receive the Holy Eucharist each week in communion with God's children where all are welcome!

How can we experience the earth moving sensation of resurrection as the disciples did? See Sister Kym Harris' "Exposition," and "Reflection "

See why The Rev. Rick Morley loves preaching about the resurrected Christ, who can be anywhere, and is still present as our brother in body and spirit in "not as outcasts - a reflection on Luke 24:36b-48."

Food for the soul? You bet! As Sharron Riessinger Blezard says "Come to Christ’s table. Come as you are. Come hungry, come helpless, come hopeful. Eat and live to go and tell. We are the witnesses. Whether bold or fearful, let us be full and faithful in our going and telling and inviting. There is room for all and plenty of comfort food to share."

And then, commenting on "You are witnesses," and why she believes in the physical Resurrection, read Debie Thomas' "Embodied."

Witness

  Scripture: Acts 4:32-35  • Psalm 133  • 1 John 1:1-2:2  • John 20:19-31

This second Sunday of the Easter season we find the disciples huddled behind closed doors, afraid, Thomas comes late to the Resurrection story. He says he will only believe what the others tell him if he can see, touch the risen Lord.  Empiricists need to verify everything by the five senses in order to recognize it. 

This begs the question. Jesus says "You are witnesses" to the disciples, and to us, thanks to witnesses documenting their experience of the risen Christ. What does it mean to witness? We see and hear a lot about it in high profile and everyday trials these days. See The Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay's "Touch and See." The Greek  word for witness is μάρτυρ, martyr. What does Jesus tell us about witnessing? 

In,"That You May Come To Believe," Debie Thomas says Jesus makes room for the wary and skeptics in a journey, a process of becoming, a dynamic becoming Jesus promises us, and makes way for all of us on the journey toward a fulfilling and purpose filled life, everlasting. 

Take it slow. Look again this Easter.

 

Scripture: Acts 10:34-43 or Isaiah 25:6-9  • Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24  • 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 or Acts 10:34-43  • John 20:1-18 or Mark 16:1-8

I don't know about you, but this Easter, honestly, I need to  take it slow. After all we have been through the last year, I need to let the hope and promise of new life to sink in. I won't be worshipping in person, sharing the cup and the bread with our dear friends, or experiencing the joyful exhilaration of  triumphant exuberance, or even exchanging hugs in the exchange of the Peace. Sure, I will appreciate the online service and music, but it's not the same.

Debie Thomas poignantly shares much of what I feel, and more, in her honest take of Mark's sparce account of the Resurrection in "Slow Easter."  Especially, in these times, we need the hope and resilience Easter brings, and as she says, it always shows up. It always bursts forth with life, despite all the obstacles we throw at it, or are thrown at us.

One of my favorite takes on Mark's gospel account of the Resurrection is The Rev. Frank Logue's Look Again. It's worth a read.

Holy week - Be a part of it

 Scripture: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Mark 14:1-15:47

As we enter Holy Week from the triumphant entry of the Prince of Peace into Jerusalem,  celebrated as a King in humility, to the most horrific of deaths, and the Resurrection ( Ανάσταση) of Easter, read Dan Clendenin's "The Last Week.

This Voice Has Come For Your sake, Not Mine

 Scripture: Jeremiah 31:31-34  • Psalm 51:1-12 or Psalm 119:9-16  •Hebrews 5:5-10  • John 12:20-33

This week we see Jesus come to terms with the cross he must bear, in all of his humanity and divinity. Like the old gospel song "I have decided to follow Jesus... the world behind me, the cross before me, no turning back, no turning back," The Rev. Robert Cornwall, in "The Hour Has Come - Lectionary Reflection for Lent 5b," offers thoughts about what it means to put ego, ambition, pride and selfishness behind us, as we learn to take up our crosses and follow Jesus.

In this week's gospel, Jesus knows a cruel, humiliating death is imminent, on the path he has chosen. We see him in all his humanity, and then he, and we, hear a voice, saying, in response to Jesus' plea, "Father, glorify your name," "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." Jesus says to his disciples, and to us, "This voice has come for your sake, not mine." What does he mean? What voices do we listen to today? Whose voice do we hear? What are the consequences, the blessings?  Read The Rev. Kirk Kubicek's "This Voice Has Come For Your Sake, Not Mine." 

In "Who Are We Looking For," Debie Thomas cuts through chase, "Jesus willingly took the violence, the contempt, and the hatred of this world and absorbed them all into his own body.  He chose to be the victim, the scapegoat, the sacrifice.  He refused to waver in his message of universal love, grace, and liberation, knowing full well that the message would cost him his life.  He declared solidarity for all time with those who are abandoned, colonized, oppressed, accused, imprisoned, beaten, mocked, and murdered.  He burst open like a seed so that new life would grow and replenish the earth.  He took an instrument of torture and turned it into a vehicle of hospitality and communion for all people, everywhere.  He loved and he loved and he loved, all the way to the end.  “When I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself.”

In "The Voice," The Rev. Luz Cabrera Montes tells us,"There will be days when we will not get all of the work done, days when we will not know which voices to listen to – but God will remain with us. We must take our time when listening to the voices around us and decide where we can find God in them. We must decide to love because we know that hate is too much to carry. We must continue to say, “We wish to see Jesus.” Let us continue to boldly claim this for our lives and for our world... and we are not alone.