Church News (Page 17)
Notes on “Deliver Us”
This week, we move to our penultimate service in our sermon series following The Lord’s Prayer, seeking God’s deliverance from all that tempts us. Just as we spoke last week about how we sometimes don’t realize that we are in need of forgiveness, I suggest it may be possible that we don’t realize when we are tempted. I would further suggest that we don’t always know what it is that tempts us. We might think our temptation lies in one…
Notes on “As We Forgive”
This week, in continuing our sermon series following The Lord’s Prayer, we examine the concept of forgiveness. It may be worth noting that throughout this series, we’ve chosen to read the Matthew text from a different translation each week. This brings us perspective as we read this prayer throughout the series. I hope that it is also illustrative for us as we remember the many ways Christians from different denominations say this prayer! If you are familiar with other traditions,…
Notes on “Our Daily Bread”
When I was in Boot Camp at MCRD Parris Island, there was a food hoarding problem (in retrospect, I imagine this is a perennial thing). Recruits would squirrel away peanut butter packets or granola bars or apples–really, anything we could get our hands on–because even though we were ostensibly eating 2200 calories a day, we were always hungry. Maybe even more than this, though, when someone else (whom you barely know) is in control of your every moment, it can…
Interfaith Shelter Network – 2021 Update
The Interfaith Shelter Network is continuing to serve the people experiencing homelessness even though churches are not hosting the shelters during the pandemic. The guests are being housed in motels, and meals are being delivered. It’s really not the same personal connection that we obtain when we host the guests in Memorial Hall and share wonderfully cooked meals with them. However, they have been provided with a safe and warm place to sleep during cold and rainy nights; and the social service support…
Notes on “On Earth as It Is in Heaven”
This week we continue our series exploring the importance of the central teaching of The Lord’s Prayer. Told primarily in Matthew 6 and Luke 11 (with a very brief and arguable allusion in Mark 11), this prayer is central to the Christian tradition and is prayed countless times each week. Pastor Lea explored the opening verse last week (find her sermon here), and this week we follow seeking God’s kingdom on earth as it is from heaven. It may be…
Migrant Children in San Diego
Almost 1500 children who arrived unaccompanied in the United States are now housed at the San Diego Convention Center. Initially there were more than 900 teenage girls, but now some younger boys and girls with ages of 5 to 12 are sheltered there with siblings being kept together. The goal of the convention center efforts is to find temporary homes for the children with family or sponsors, and then additional children will be brought to San Diego. The operation of…
Notes on “Hallowed Be Thy Name”
This week begins our series on the Lord’s Prayer, also called the “Our Father” or the “Prayer of Jesus”. I began reading Bishop Will Willimon’s book on this prayer this week in preparation for this sermon, and one remark he makes struck me early on: “A Christian is none other than someone who has learned to pray the Lord’s prayer.” While Willimon argues that we should memorize the prayer so as to have access to it when we don’t know…
Notes on “Risking the Salvation of God”
This is the end of Lent and the beginning of our celebration of resurrection! This is a time of looking forward with renewed hope after a period of darkness. This is a time that surely feels surprising, even to the point that we may even doubt what we see and what we feel. Could it be?? If these words—written to describe the feelings of those early followers more than 2000 years ago—feel familiar to you today, it is no wonder.…
New Sermon Series: The Lord’s Prayer
This year, we at LJUMC have been looking at the most core elements of our faith and practices. We have explored how we read our Bibles, the reasons why we celebrate Lent and its importance, and more. Continuing this idea, we turn now to the essential spiritual practice of prayer. People across faith traditions, and even non-faith traditions, practice some form of centering or meditation or prayer. In the Christian tradition, we remember that Jesus taught his followers how to…
Notes on “Risking Temptation”
This is the sixth week of the season of Lent and Palm/Passion Sunday. We conclude our Worship series guided by Amy-Jill Levine’s Entering the Passion of Jesus: A Beginner’s Guide to Holy Week. The Scripture passage this Sunday is John 18:1-11. As we near our Easter celebration, we might be tempted to want over to skip over the bad stuff and jump straight to the celebration and the eggs and the fun! And we would be wrong to do this.…
Notes on “Risking the Loss of Friends”
This week we continue our series on Holy Week as we look at Chapter 5 of Amy-Jill Levine’s book Entering Christ’s Passion: Holy Week for Beginners, “Risking the Loss of Friends.” The Scripture passage this week is from Luke 22:14-27. As we continue through Holy Week and near Easter, we arrive at a profoundly moving gathering of Jesus with his disciples. Gathering for the Passover celebration, Jesus does something extraordinary. Told differently in the Gospels (read Matthew 26, Mark 14,…