Posts by Tara Limbaugh (Page 2)

This week our church will celebrate two special Sundays in one: Trinity Sunday, as celebrated by all mainline churches, and Peace with Justice Sunday, a special event the United Methodist Church. On Trinity Sunday we recognize the triune nature of God. On Peace with Justice Sunday we emphasize our “social holiness,” the practice of loving God and our neighbor through peacemaking efforts and justice-seeking activities. United Methodists relate to this special Sunday by seeking peaceful solutions, creating and supporting peace-related…

We continue the series “1/2 Truths” where every week we will explore and analyze a common Christian phrase. Last week we considered the phrase “God Won’t Give You More Than You Can Handle” and this week we move on to the phrase “God Said It, I Believe It, That Settles It.” How many times have you heard this statement? This exclamation is typically employed at the end of a discussion or argument. I have rarely heard this phrase used any…

We continue the series “1/2 Truths” where every week we will explore and analyze a common Christian phrase. Last week we considered the phrase “Everything Happens for a Reason” and this week we move on to the phrase “God Won’t give You More Than You Can Handle.” This week we explore a phrase that seems so comforting at first! When we are at the depths of misery and pain, this might suggest that there are limits and that God is…

We continue the series “1/2 Truths” where every week we will explore and analyze a common Christian phrase. Last week we considered the phrase “Everything Happens for a Reason” and this week we move on to the phrase “God Helps Those Who Help Themselves.” On one hand, this makes sense. A similar expression I’ve heard of this idea is: “You can’t pray to win the lottery without buying a ticket.” This fits with common sense. It doesn’t make sense to…

This week we will begin a series called “1/2 Truths.” Every week we will explore and analyze a common Christian phrase. We’ll ask ourselves what we really mean when we repeat these phrases, and why they are both comforting and uncomfortable. Most of our common phrases are only half true. Together we will pray, learn, and examine our hearts in order to find the whole truth through God’s love and grace. Deuteronomy 30: 15-20 (CEB) 15 “Look here! Today I’ve set…

The season of Lent is essential in Christian tradition, and is made up of the forty days (not including Sundays) that lead up to Easter Sunday. This Lent, we focus on the Gospel of Luke, and are guided by the book Luke: Jesus and the Outsiders, Outcasts, and Outlaws by Rev. Adam Hamilton. This Sunday we will read a familiar story by Jesus traditionally called “The Prodigal Son.” This is one of a few parables in the Gospel of Luke…

In the weeks after Christmas, we are in the season of Epiphany. This begins with the arrival of the Magi which we consider the first glimpse of God’s incarnation to the world. Matthew 5:13-20 (NRSVue) 13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city built…

This Advent season, we prepare our hearts for Christmas with a series guided by Dr. Amy-Jill Levine’s Light of the World: A Beginner’s Guide to Advent. In Light of the World, Amy-Jill Levine says about this scripture, “From Mary’s visit with Elizabeth, we see not only the importance of solidarity, across generations, between women, but also the importance of the human body, which provides its own signs of new beginnings. We see how revolutionary ideas can be given voice not…

Each year, we consider the overarching stewardship–the ways we are spiritually inspired caretakers–of this church and this faith community. We are guided in this conversation over the month of October by the United Methodist membership vows: to support the ministries of the Church with our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness. In this week’s texts we see a parallel between the prophet Elisha in 2 Kings and Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. Both men healed…

This week we transition from our series on the Apostles’ Creed to our new worship series “Inspired” based on the book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans. In this book, Rachel draws on the best in recent scholarship and uses her well-honed literary expertise to examine some of her favorite Bible stories and possible interpretations, retelling them through memoir, original poetry, short stories, soliloquies, and even a short screenplay. Undaunted by…

This week we near the end of our Worship series on the Apostle’s Creed called “We Believe.” During this time, we have been exploring one of the most common affirmations of faith, originating from some of the earliest Christians. This week we focus on a short and powerful statement in the Apostle’s Creed: the forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins is a fundamental belief in the Christian faith. When we declare that we believe “in the forgiveness of sins”…