ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJanuary 4, 2021Based on Sunday’s Sermon: Staying Off the 2021 Naughty ListPrayer for the Week: What would it mean, Gracious God, if we decided to not use your forgiveness as our easy way out? Instead, what would it look like to demonstrate your grace through acts of kindness and goodness with every breath? What would it mean for us to make a commitment to be about the
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJanuary 3, 2021Scripture: Matthew 2:10-11When the Magi saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Thought for the Day: For centuries, people have tried to determine what these gifts represented.
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJanuary 2, 2021Scripture: Matthew 2:8Then Herod sent the Magi to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” Thought for the Day: Even though Herod had an ulterior motive, I still read it as someone who wants others to do the hard work of faith. Can we
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJanuary 1, 2021Scripture: Number 6:24-26The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. Thought for the Day: When I was a kid, the minister at First Christian Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, offered this as the closing Benediction at every Sunday morning service. It
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 31, 2020Scripture: 2 Chronicles 3:7So Solomon lined the house with gold—its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls. Thought for the Day: This scripture describes the building of the Temple in Jerusalem, and it sure sounds as if it was gold from floor to ceiling and everywhere else. One of the words that catches my attention is the
CLICK HERE FOR THE VIMEO LINK ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 30, 2020Scripture: Proverbs 17:22A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones. Thought for the Day: I remember a minister years ago saying, “Protect the fun!” I do not remember the context, and have no idea why that phrase has stuck with me after 35+ years. Yet right now, it is a good mantra
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 29, 2020Scripture: Matthew 2:1In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem… Thought for the Day: There are moments in life when the contrast between options could not be clearer. This verse depicts such a moment as King Herod represents the Roman Empire and its vision for the world, Jesus represents God’s vision
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 28, 2020Prayer for the Week:Holy Light, you were born in a stable and placed in a feeding trough. Your first visitors brought with them a flock of sheep to your makeshift nursery, while rambling on about angels and heavenly choirs. Your story is wonderfully quirky, disturbingly mysterious. Some have suggested the placement of your nativity was to reveal your humble temperament, yet too often such discussions
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 27, 2020Scripture: 1st Thessalonians 3:16But Timothy has just now come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love. He has told us also that you always remember us kindly and long to see us—just as we long to see you. Thought for the Day: This may seem like a strange passage of scripture just a few days after
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 26, 2020Scripture: Luke 2:6While they were there, the time came for Mary to deliver her child. Thought for the Day: Earlier in December, I was reading one of Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditations and there Rohr paraphrased the medieval mystic Meister Eckhart (1260–1327): “We are all meant to give birth to God.” As a man who has taken a vow of celibacy, I will never know what