“Order”
This summer, starting the first Sunday in June, we have been examining the question “What is Church?” from a variety of angles. We’ve seen that we are a community called by Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit, and that our thoughts and actions are meant to be rooted in Scripture. We’ve heard Christ’s call to be witnesses to his resurrection. We have noticed the relationship our particular Church tradition has with the Table, with Communion being central in our worship and our life together, and that our history as Disciples has included gradually expanding the welcome to that Table. We have considered the place of prayer, faith, hope, love, and grace in Church life, and we have been encouraged to be people and a church characterized by compassion, kindness, and generosity.
“A Community in the World”
This summer, starting the first Sunday in June, we have been examining the question “What is Church?” from a variety of angles. We’ve seen that we are a community called by Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit, and that our thoughts and actions are meant to be rooted in Scripture. We’ve heard Christ’s call to be witnesses to his resurrection. We have noticed the relationship our particular Church tradition has with the Table, with Communion being central in our worship and our life together, and that our history as Disciples has included gradually expanding the welcome to that Table. We have considered the place of prayer, faith, hope, love, and grace in Church life, and we have been encouraged to be people and a church characterized by compassion, kindness, and generosity.
“A Community of Generosity and Service”
They arrived at 10 on Saturday morning, as expected. The sanctuary needed to be cleaned and set for worship. Bonnie and Sharon had been appointed to take care of this duty during the month of August. They had worked together like this before and were comfortable with one another. They did their job without too much fuss, which gave them lots of time to chat.
“A Community of Kindness”
They arrived at 10 on Saturday morning, as expected. The sanctuary needed to be cleaned and set for worship. Bonnie and Sharon had been appointed to take care of this duty during the month of August. They had worked together like this before and were comfortable with one another. They did their job without too much fuss, which gave them lots of time to chat.
“A Community of Compassion and Healing”
Did you know that the Ten Commandments are in the Bible twice?
“A Community of Grace”
I had to do some serious cleaning on my grill this weekend, due to circumstances entirely within my control. Let’s not go into what those circumstances were. It was a mess, and that’s all I have to say about that.
At my house I’m the Queen of the Grill. It’s my grill, and nobody else uses it. (Mike did clean it for me this past spring, but I wasn’t about to ask him to do it this time, because I was raised to clean up my own messes.)
“A Community of Love”
My mom and dad went up to Iowa to visit us from time to time. One time when they were visiting, on Sunday after church we went to the little town south of us, where there is a really nice lake, for lunch and then for a drive around the lake.
At one point we saw a bunch of weird-looking birds on the shore. They weren’t ducks, or geese, or herons, or even pelicans, which were known to frequent that lake. They were grey birds with long legs and short tails, and they had white bills. So I went home and consulted my bird book, and lo and behold, there they were, on page 100: American Coots.
“A Community of Hope”
One of the best parts, in my opinion, about ministry in a small community is the opportunity to work with other pastors on joint worship services. (Hopefully our Lenten services will be able to happen next year, if enough people get vaccinated to let covid burn itself out.)
“A Community of Faith”
This Scripture was my text for a couple funerals I did several years ago. Both were for women who had lived through the Depression, and then some lean times as they raised their families.
“A Community of Prayer”
There’s a little story in one of the Anne of Green Gables books; I don’t remember which one, might have been Anne of Windy Poplars. In this story a certain pillar of the church, by the name of Miss Cornelia, was talking with a friend about another woman’s health.
“A Community at the Table”
1 Corinthians 11:17-34a Awhile back, Mike and I were driving through Topeka on our way back to Iowa from Coffeyville. We liked to stop at Steak ’n Shake there, so we got off the highway. I haven’t been through there in some time now, so I don’t know if they’ve […]
“A Witnessing Community”
In 1997, the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), meeting in Denver, voted to begin a “process of discernment” on the authority of Scripture. This discernment model was intended to replace straight up-or-down voting on controversial matters, which tended to be, quite divisive.