ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGOctober 17, 2021Many different people have said it many different ways, but let me say it this way: Do not live vicariously the blessings of others while ignoring your own. Today in worship, we will talk about envy. To have envy is to lose all excitement for what we have as we grow in excitement for what is not yet our own. We can still be happy
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGOctober 16, 2021On this day in 1984, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I had only been involved in the Anti-Apartheid movement for about six months at that point, but I knew the name Desmond Tutu. Six months after he received the award, I protested outside the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C. Less than ten years later, I met Desmond
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGOctober 15, 2021I would visit a friend’s office often, and on his wall was a beautifully framed poster which read: Happiness is experienced when you stop comparing yourself to others. Funny thing is that I envied my friend’s office. It had more square footage than my first apartment, a private bathroom and a door that lead to an outdoor prayer garden. It is one thing to read
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGOctober 14, 2021Though I have read the words from John 15 more times than I can count, I was struck differently in a recent reading. It says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.”
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGOctober 13, 2021Knowing who you are and what you believe is sort of essential if one wishes to live a full and joy-filled life. I’m sure it has been true for every generation, at least to some degree, but today I find a lot of folks claim to know who they are and what they believe based upon who they are not and what they do not
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGOctober 12, 2021No one likes to be judged, yet most of us know what it is like to be judged. Does God judge us? This is a tough question, especially when we speak of God’s unconditional love and ceaseless mercy. If that’s true, how does God judge? In Romans 2, Paul wrote some interesting words to a community he had never met before, yet he clearly understood
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGOctober 11, 2021Prayer for the Week:Where there are deep hurts Let us drink from your reservoir of loveWhere there is loneliness Let us fall into your receptive spiritWhere there is grief Let us be enveloped in your hopeWhere there is betrayal Let us learn of your amazing fidelityWhere there is hate Let us see your image in all peopleWhere there is deceit Let us discern your merciful
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGOctober 10, 2021I was reading an article entitled “The disciplines of disruption” (by Ken Gosnell). In the article, the author writes about how Jesus was a great disruptor, comparing him to those in the business world who are disrupters of the old ways of doing things. Gosnell writes, “There is always a better way if we are bold enough to question the status quo to find a
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGOctober 9, 2021As I was working on my sermon for this coming Sunday, I came across a quote from George Bernard Shaw. He wrote, “People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.” How often have people who are doing good work, offering small acts of kindness on a daily basis, how often are they interrupted to explain or even justify
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGOctober 8, 2021Have you ever been forced to pause? You really didn’t plan to slow down or come to a complete stop, but something halted your forward movement… and it was good. In that moment, all the busyness and that frenzied feeling were lost as you found yourself fully in the moment. In Habakkuk 2:20, we read: “..the LORD is in his holy temple. Let all the