tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75635381976369785122024-03-05T04:07:48.515-08:00Give Me a (Left) HandPamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.comBlogger237125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-57796036403963301542017-06-05T08:47:00.001-07:002017-06-05T08:50:47.241-07:00"Taking the First Step"<div style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2028:16-20" target="_blank">2 Corinthians 13:11-13; Matthew 28:16-20</a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Finally, brothers and sisters,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.25px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">farewell.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Put things in order, listen to my appeal,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. - 2 Cor 13: 11</span></div>
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<span class="text Matt-28-19" id="en-NRSV-24212" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"></span><span class="text Matt-28-20" id="en-NRSV-24213" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">20 </span>and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matt. 28: 19-20</span></div>
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<span class="text Matt-28-20" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The biblical narrative is full of goodbyes. From the exit from the Garden of Eden onward, people are saying goodbye and prophets are encouraging the people onward. But all the while, the narrative focuses on the way that, in the midst of goodbyes, God does not forsake them. God is always there. </span></div>
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<span class="text Matt-28-20" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">And in the New Testament account, Jesus, post-resurrection, encourages the disciples to go everywhere and share the good news with everyone while remembering that he will always be with them. </span></div>
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<span class="text Matt-28-20" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">What this tells me is that leave taking is not an end, but a beginning. God urging us to move to another journey, another path, another place. Taking the first step in a new journey is never easy. Standing on the crossroad of an unknown tomorrow is a challenge. But we are not alone. The Spirit guides us, the grace of Christ sustains us, and the never ending love of God enfolds us. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">So the image is not disciples stark and alone on a weary road. Not at all. the image in the texts this week is disciples standing encouraged and excited and eager to follow God on the way. Very encouraging news. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">God is here. Despite all the unknowns that make up our daily lives. The bad news cycles. The threats. The uncertainty. Paul says it best, "Put things in order and the God of love and peace will be with you." </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">And Jesus reminds us. "Lo, I am with you always. Even to the end of the age."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">No matter what lies ahead. God has got this. And so do we.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">Hymns this week:</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">“For the Beauty of the Earth” UMH 92</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">“Down to the River to Pray” W&S 3164</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">“Go, Make of All Disciples” UMH 571</span></div>
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Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-70250703902767152292017-05-15T14:45:00.000-07:002017-05-31T13:01:40.851-07:00Crossroad Transformations: "The Gift of Understanding"<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>Sermon Series: June 4-18<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>Crossroad Transformations<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<o:p><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202:1-21" target="_blank"> Acts 2:1-21</a></o:p></div>
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June 4 is the next Sunday I will be in the pulpit. It's Pentecost Sunday, the perfect Sunday to begin talking about the crossroad at which we find ourselves. One month from Pentecost Sunday, you will begin your journey with a new pastor and I will begin mine with a new congregation. We are indeed at a crossroad. We have several possible ways we can all move to the next phase. So it's time we consulted our inner GPS. Our God Positioning System.</div>
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The Pentecost scripture is familiar to us... the followers of Jesus all gathered together in one place. Common ground. Community. </div>
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And suddenly like the rush of a violent wind, the Spirit enters the room. Flames of fire seem to rest on everyone's heads and suddenly everyone can speak in languages that all of the diverse populations that exist among them can understand.</div>
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Sounds like a message to spread the good news to everyone. Sounds like the same message of diversity and extension of love Jesus always preached. But how do we do it?</div>
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First we need to allow ourselves to be blown away by the workings of the Spirit. Those of us in the highly-intellectual world of Christianity sometimes shy away from the Holy Spirit in our faith lives. But this moment of Pentecost clearly shows that the Spirit is not just for those who are more emotional about their faith.</div>
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This moment of the Spirit entering the room happens simultaneously with the very learned and intellectual moment of understanding another language and interpreting another language. Which is the second thing we need to think about as we live into this Pentecostal crossroad. What do we need to engage our brains in, what do we need to learn that we haven't before that will connect us to someone else who doesn't think the way we do?</div>
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The crossroad this week is understanding... At what point do we allow the Spirit to guide our understanding and our learning so that we can better reach someone who would love to have God's love in the ways we do here. </div>
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What do you need to learn? What do you need to let go of to allow the Spirit to work in you?</div>
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God be with you in the days ahead. I will see you on June 4 and we can let the Spirit blow us away with God's plans for us. We will head different directions, but God will guide us all.</div>
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Peace,<br />
Pam</div>
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Future sermons and hymns:</div>
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June 11: “Taking the First Step”<o:p></o:p></div>
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2 Corinthians 13:11-13; Matthew 28:16-20<o:p></o:p></div>
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“For the Beauty of the Earth” UMH 92<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Down to the River to Pray” W&S 3164<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Go, Make of All Disciples” UMH 571<o:p></o:p></div>
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June 18: “Welcome Mats in Every Direction”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Psalm 89:1-4; Matthew
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‘How Firm a Foundation” UMH 529<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Pass It On” UMH 572<o:p></o:p></div>
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“In the Midst of New Dimensions” TFWS 2238<o:p></o:p></div>
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June 25 Susan Warren preaching<o:p></o:p></div>
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Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-50520902437005178702017-05-08T13:18:00.000-07:002017-05-08T13:18:11.710-07:00“Tomorrowland”<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Peter%202:2-10" target="_blank">1 Peter 2:2-10</a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><i>Once you weren’t a people, but now you are God’s people. . . . Once you hadn’t received mercy, but now you have received mercy.</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">This is quite a Sunday we have coming up. It is going to be a wonderful day. We are celebrating the young people of our congregation through the confirmation of Erica and Olivia and the presentation of third-grade bibles to Dash and Elliot. We could not be prouder of our young people. They are fun to be around, dedicated, helpful, kind and generous. They love to help out and they love to be part of things. And we love that they are part of our church family. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">With so much celebrating of our youth, it's a good time to reflect on the journey of faith we are on, directed by God's grace and mercy. 1 Peter says like a newborn baby, we desire the pure milk of the word... and with it we will be nourished and grow into salvation.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The Methodists call this journey sanctifying grace. We are first surrounded by prevenient grace, and then in our acknowledgement of what God is doing in our lives, we are recipients of justifying grace. The rest of our days we are headed toward what Wesley called "going on to perfection," heading toward wholeness and full salvation in God's grace... sanctification.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Big words, maybe, but the sentiment is straightforward. God loves you when you don't even know God is God. And God walks with you in ways that make you finally realize God is God. And God continues to walk with you all the days of your life as you journey ever closer to being one with God.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">We come to worship this week knowing to whom we belong. And giving thanks for those whom we are privileged to share our own faith stories with so that they, too, can grow in the faith.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">And it is in this continuing nurture of the next generation that we will all receive our sanctification. Helping a young person to grow their faith creates a legacy... and also a future. It gives us the ability to walk boldly into tomorrow hand-in-hand with the God who loves us all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Now you are God's people. Now you have received mercy. Thanks be to God.</span></span></div>
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Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-63143927294698141022017-05-01T12:56:00.003-07:002017-05-01T12:56:47.775-07:00"Commune-ity"<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202:42-47" target="_blank">Acts 2:42-47</a><br />
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<span class="passage-display-version" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline;">New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) from biblegateway.com</span></h1>
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<i><span class="text Acts-2-42" id="en-NRSV-26981" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. </span><span class="text Acts-2-43" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">43 </span>Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. </span><span class="text Acts-2-44" id="en-NRSV-26983" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">44 </span>All who believed were together and had all things in common; </span><span class="text Acts-2-45" id="en-NRSV-26984" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">45 </span>they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds<span class="footnote" data-fn="#fen-NRSV-26984a" data-link="[<a href="#fen-NRSV-26984a" title="See footnote a">a</a>]" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">[<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202:42-47#fen-NRSV-26984a" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b34b2c; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: top;" title="See footnote a">a</a>]</span> to all, as any had need. </span><span class="text Acts-2-46" id="en-NRSV-26985" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">46 </span>Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home<span class="footnote" data-fn="#fen-NRSV-26985b" data-link="[<a href="#fen-NRSV-26985b" title="See footnote b">b</a>]" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">[<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202:42-47#fen-NRSV-26985b" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b34b2c; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: top;" title="See footnote b">b</a>]</span>and ate their food with glad and generous<span class="footnote" data-fn="#fen-NRSV-26985c" data-link="[<a href="#fen-NRSV-26985c" title="See footnote c">c</a>]" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">[<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202:42-47#fen-NRSV-26985c" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b34b2c; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: top;" title="See footnote c">c</a>]</span> hearts, </span><span class="text Acts-2-47" id="en-NRSV-26986" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">47 </span>praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.</span></i></div>
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<span class="text Acts-2-47" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">As I stated a few weeks ago, when this came up in the Lenten series on <i>Grounded </i> this is one of my favorite scriptures. People so completely devoted to one another in the community and their shared mission to do good to one another that all who were touched by them wanted to join them. The message of the Good News spreading to all who heard it.</span></div>
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<span class="text Acts-2-47" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">That warm and fuzzy feeling of a congregation sharing all they have with one another. That is what we celebrate on this day. The many ways large and small we have made a positive difference and will continue to make a positive difference in the world in the days ahead as the little church with a big heart. From Outreach funds and projects, to UMCOR trips, to refurbishing our building and sharing it with others, we have and are making a difference in people's lives.</span></div>
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<span class="text Acts-2-47" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">Come join us as we give thanks, praise God, and share the good news and the table of God's grace with one another. </span></div>
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Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-86821446720393307622017-04-24T13:58:00.000-07:002017-04-27T10:38:46.599-07:00“Dinner Table Extension”<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=41#gospel_reading" target="_blank">Luke 24:13-35</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: "calibri" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, </span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: "calibri" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. --Luke 24:15-16</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: "calibri" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. </span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: "calibri" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him... Luke 24:30-31</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 14.6667px;">This famous scripture called the Road to Emmaus is full of wonder and mystery. Jesus, the Risen Christ, walks along the road with two of his followers and they don't recognize him. Later, after they invite him in to their table, and he breaks bread with them, they suddenly realize who he is.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 14.6667px;">What a scripture this is! How often do we not recognize the face of Christ among us. How often do we allow the Christ in our midst to walk on by without a greeting, a word of comfort, a touch? Fortunately for these followers, they did invite Jesus in for dinner. And it is in the sharing of a meal together that they finally see who he is.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 14.6667px;">In this time of threatening church schism and unrest in our society in general, what might it be like to start recognizing that Christ is with us on the road? You know he's there. So you'd better expect to see him. In an unexpected form. Waiting for us to invite him in.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 14.6667px;">Perhaps it's time to extend the dinner table in our own church, in our lives, in our neighborhood, in our society. Perhaps it's time we started sitting down together with strangers more often and breaking bread until we become friends. Perhaps i</span></span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: calibri, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">t's time to really see instead of pretending to see.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 14.6667px;">Please pray for our UMC, the Judicial Council, our bishop, our jurisdiction, and our conference during this week when the validity of Bishop Karen's election is brought before the Judicial Council. Who are we not recognizing as the face of Christ in the midst of division?</span></span></div>
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Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-17208336154050924192017-04-10T14:23:00.000-07:002017-04-10T14:44:19.464-07:00Revolution: With Women in the Sequel<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">What do we really focus on in the empty tomb and resurrection story every year? Is it the fact that Jesus defied all odds and rose again? Is it the terror turned to amazement and joy that the disciples feel when they realize he is resurrected? Is it the fact that he appears first to the women and allows them to be the messenger of this amazing news? It is a complex tale of disciples trying to wade through grief and mourning and determine next steps once their leader has been crucified. And when they witness resurrection in the midst of the sorrow, it changes everything about how they feel empowered to move forward.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Let's focus on these RE phrases this Easter: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">REsurrection</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">REcognition</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">REvelation</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">REvolution</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">It's important to remember what the REsurrection of Jesus points to in the distance. It points to a time when the systems that have oppressed the message will no longer be able to do so. It points to a day when the peaceable kingdom is actually achieved. That is what the true REvelation of Christ is. The knowledge that the story ends in peace. It is important to note that the Bible itself does not end in heaven. It ends here. With the angel of God saying (in Revelation 21) "the home of God is among the mortals" and that "all things will be made new." Here. In this place. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">And for God to be at home among us, God must be seen in all of us. The women see the Risen Christ standing before them in the garden and run to tell the others that they, too, can see him if they but look. In her book </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Grounded</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">, Diana Butler Bass speaks of the word cosmopolitanism. She writes,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> "Cosmopolitanism is an inner awareness that our individual lives and national identities are playing out on a vast global stage. This implies recognition and a shift of perspective--of seeing and experiencing the web in which we live. Recognition, in turn, gives birth to empathy and the profound realization that we really, truly are in this together." </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">When we have that REcognition that God is in our neighbor, when we see ourselves in each other, we grow in communion together. No matter what backgrounds we come from. And we should be very clear of how this message is first spread in this Resurrection story. Christ comes to those with no voice, no power, no authority FIRST. The women first receive the news. And Christ insists that THEY are the ones to GO and tell others what they saw. That begins a whole new REvolution.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">What Christ points to in the REsurrection REvelation to the women is that God will be revealed in the days to come through all people. In diverse ways. By unexpected means. Even in stark contrast to what anyone might have heard or believed before. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">That seems to be, after all, one of the key themes of the biblical narrative. As Bass puts it,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">"God's diversity in who is called to share God's message. She writes,"Even the book of Revelation describes a vision of diversity, of people from every tongue, tribe, and nation who gather in the New Jerusalem. In the holy city, we maintain our uniqueness while God dwells in our midst. Unity is experienced in love and friendship, not doctrine or dogma. There is no coercion of faith. "</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">I'm pretty sure this is what Jesus was promising when he goes to his death on the cross. God will not let love die. Instead, Love wins. It always has. That is the real REvolution that takes place on that morning long ago when some women see a REsurrection that changes everything.</span></div>
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Anyone who has a spiritual awakening or encounter, a sense of awe or wonder, leaves that experience wanting to share more goodness in the world. That encounter with awe, or GOD, always leaves us breathless but eager to tell others what we experienced and looking for ways to draw others in. It's like when we see God as all around us, instead of up above us or otherwise apart from us, we understand our common purpose together. </div>
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Thoughts? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment by clicking the comments tab below.</div>
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Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-26057512958495651082017-04-03T15:30:00.001-07:002017-04-03T15:51:35.705-07:00"Commons"<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+21%3A1-11&version=NRSV" target="_blank">Matthew 21:1-11</a><br />
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians%202:5-11" target="_blank">Philippians 2:5-11</a><br />
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In the triumphant march into Jerusalem, we see the story of Jesus entering the city... neighbors waving palm branches out in the streets and people everywhere seemingly joined in unison celebration. But not really. Right? Because if that were actually the case then the loud Hosannas would have kept on ringing rather than the ever so quick call from the street crowd to "Crucify" him just a short time later. What was lacking there, beyond a lack of desire to hear Jesus' revolutionary message, was a lack of concern for the commons... what is good for all, collectively.<br />
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You see we think we know who we are collectively as a society, but we don't often really act that way. We don't understand that there is a 'commons' that can hold us together. We don't rally around what is good for all of our society, and choose to act in ways that only benefit part of our society.<br />
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In <i>Grounded</i>, Diana Butler Bass explains the difference in a neighborhood and a commons. A neighborhood, she says is "whom we live <i>with</i>, those next door, whether 'next door' is literal or virtual geography. . . At their best, neighborhoods are open tribes that practice hospitality and the Golden Rule." She then says "The commons is not that. The commons, sometimes referred to in the singular as the common, is what we live <i>for, </i>the public world tribes make together--that serves the good <i>for </i>all." <br />
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Neighborhoods are made of people and the ways they interact with each other. The commons is the sense of morality and purpose, the sense of doing good for all people. Neighborhoods, then, can choose to have a sense of the commons, or they can choose to be inward focused instead. Same with people. And churches. Especially churches.<br />
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In the walk to the cross, Jesus feels ever so gradually alone. Shunned. Disregarded by first acquaintances, then neighbors, then loved ones. He quotes portions of Psalm 22 when he's hanging on the cross, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me." But is it God who is forsaking in this scripture, or is it the commons?<br />
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from Psalm 22:<br />
<i><span class="text Ps-22-7" id="en-NRSV-14212" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; position: relative;">All who see me mock at me;</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="indent-1" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Ps-22-7" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;</span></span></i><br />
<span class="indent-1" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="text Ps-22-7" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><i><span class="text Ps-22-11" id="en-NRSV-14216" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">Do not be far from me, (O God)</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="indent-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Ps-22-11" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">for trouble is near</span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="indent-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Ps-22-11" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">and there is no one to help.</span></span></i></span></span><br />
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The commons is gone. There is no sense of doing good for all. People have scattered and run trying to save themselves. What do we do when we lose our sense of common humanity and being on the journey together?<br />
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Perhaps we should really consider the moral and salvation-inducing effects of believing in the commons. Of knowing that if one suffers, we all suffer. Of believing in the good of the whole, not in the winner takes all. How do we do that?<br />
<br />Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-14794748177302053842017-03-27T14:21:00.001-07:002017-03-27T14:22:05.215-07:00"Neighborhood"<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+32%3A16-20&version=NRSV" target="_blank">Isaiah 32:16-20</a>; <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A25-37&version=NRSV" target="_blank">Luke 10:25-37</a></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(I took this photo at the recent Open House at the Islamic Center of Boulder) </span></i></span></div>
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I don't know why it often takes tragic events to make us feel like we need our neighbors, but often it does. Over the weekend, many neighbors from all faith traditions gathered outside the Islamic Center in Fort Collins after news reports of its being vandalized. They were all there to show their Muslim neighbors their support. "It's what neighbors do," I heard someone say on a news report.</div>
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Many of us can recall stories about how in the days after tragic events like wars or mass shootings or 9/11, people found ways to connect with their neighbors to 'do good' in ways they hadn't before. </div>
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Many of you can recall such experiences, perhaps in more distant years,like the JFK assassination or the war years of the 1940s. Times of intense public unity are often times of intense public trial. We realize that we are not in it alone and that someone else is going through the struggle with us.</div>
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It's why people in communities tie yellow ribbons on trees to remember those gone to war, or when a child goes missing from the neighborhood, etc. It's a way to show the tie that binds a neighborhood. A common purpose.</div>
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But what constitutes a neighborhood? Is there an actual borderline on who is a neighbor?</div>
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In <i>Grounded</i> by Diana Butler Bass, she says, "People create neighborhoods when they gather together beyond family ties, live close to others, and choose to share certain resources (in the contemporary world, those resources include, for example, electricity, schools, roads, places of worship, stores and often a park or some other commons)."</blockquote>
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And what of the idea that God is a part of the neighbor and the neighborhood around us?<br />
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"If we understand that neighborly relations are woven into divine love, then we can grasp that God is, essentially, a near-dwelling God." --Diana Butler Bass</blockquote>
It is worth noting that we say that God abides with us and that abide and abode are essentially the same word. Our home has God in it and God is also in the neighborhood. It is important in a world that feels ever more isolating that we see the command to love our neighbors as probably the most important part of being faithful to God. Many religious leaders agree. In fact, Pope Francis has made the command to love God and love neighbor a centerpiece of his papacy.<br />
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And in this day and age of isolating lives and garage door openers and social media neighbors, the question "Who is my neighbor?" is more complex and difficult to answer than ever. Because of technological advances in who we connect to, our neighborhood is no longer tied to simple geographical proximity. And ironically, perhaps, it is that vast global neighborhood that has led us to retreat to our homes. We are intimidated by the vastness of our neighborhood in today's terms.<br />
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The word neighbor comes from Old English roots and it means "near dweller" Someone dwelling nearby, But in today's world, does that mean physically near? How has technology changed what a near dweller might be? Neighborhoods are made up of real people who already are, in one way or another, intersecting our lives. Whether they live near or far away.<br />
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"All of the world's religions make neighbors the central concern of spirituality and ethics. Love of God and neighbor are absolutely intertwined."--Diana Butler Bass</blockquote>
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all have passages in their sacred texts that point to an expanded definition of who we think our neighbor is. In the Good Samaritan story, Jesus expands the idea of neighbor to include someone who is shunned by his own group. An outsider. He presses the point of neighborliness being tied to kindness and mercy, rather than what we have in common or what group we belong to. In the Qur'an, there is a scripture that says "Worship God and join none with HIM in worship, and do good to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, the poor, the neighbor who is near of kin, the neighbor who is a stranger, the companion by your side, the wayfarer that you meet. (Qur'an 4:36).<br />
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Who is my neighbor is an age-old question that people struggle with in each generation, despite the commandments of their faith traditions to love neighbor as self.Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-19566503575219537782017-03-20T12:01:00.000-07:002017-03-20T12:01:26.357-07:00"Home"<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%206:1-8&version=NRSV" target="_blank">Exodus 6:1-8</a> <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202:38-47&version=CEB" target="_blank">Acts 2: 38-47</a></span><br />
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"To transform home is to transform the world. Domestic revolts are spiritual and political ones as well," --Diana Butler Bass<br />
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The transformation of what a home is and who lives in a home is changing. In some ways, it is a return to the past... people are starting urban farms, learning to butcher meat, raising chickens, etc. And in some ways it is a leap into the future. Skyping or FaceTiming so that you can join one another for dinner though miles away, creating economic alternatives like multi-family households, etc.<br />
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But what does "home" mean, really? Home is not really a place. It is more of a feeling. A sense of belonging and purpose and identity that grounds you to who you are. That is why the old adage "you can't go home again" often rings true. When we move away from our childhood homes we often change in ways that alter our sense of belonging and identity and purpose and so 'home' can never feel the way it did when we were younger. And yet, rootedness in that way of life will continue. Meaning your roots will never leave, but your sense of what 'home' is will forever be landing somewhere else.<br />
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The Exodus story is filled with painful and longing images of home. Home that was ripped away from the Hebrews when they were forced into slavery by the Egyptians. Home as a promised land as they were led away by the pillar of cloud toward Canaan. Home as an unsettled place during the diaspora. And yet in Acts 2, we have such a beautiful sense of what Peter sees as the image of home for the earliest of Christians. Home is people who devote themselves to a common purpose. Home is people who believe in sharing what they have with one another. Home is giving to everyone who needs it. Home is meeting together around the dinner table and discussing the ordinary with one another. Home is a place that all are grateful to find.<br />
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The old hymn says it best... Home is not a place, home is God.<br />
"O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal home."<br />
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No matter how much life changes, our sense of home in the presence of God and God's people remains constant.<br />
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What are your favorite stories of 'home?" Would you come and share one with us on Sunday?<br />
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Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment by clicking on the comments tab below.<br />
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<br />Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-44447209357314773882017-03-13T13:35:00.000-07:002017-03-13T13:35:43.538-07:00"Roots"<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">There's a great story in the book <a href="https://dianabutlerbass.com/books/grounded-finding-god-in-the-world-a-spiritual-revolution/" target="_blank">Grounded </a>by Diana Butler Bass of feeling connected to a place you've never been before. She tells of taking a vacation with her husband up the eastern shore of Maryland to visit historical sites, on of them being the <a href="http://www.thirdhaven.org/" target="_blank">Third Haven (Quaker) Meeting House</a> outside of Easton. She describes her experience there and says she wanted to stay there forever. She later learns, during some genealogical research, that she has ancestors connected to that church. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">from the website: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">http://www.thirdhaven.org/index.php</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Our roots form us. Our ancestors breathe our lives into future existence. They create who we are, even if we don't know who they are. When I read this chapter last year, I knew instantly that I wanted to have an experience like that. I was writing a grant proposal at the time to take a sabbatical leave and added to it some travel to Northern Ireland and England to explore my ancestral villages. Unfortunately, I wasn't awarded the grant and therefore, my travel plans were halted, but I do hope one day to be able to explore those villages and see if I, too, can have a connection like Bass does in that meeting house in Maryland. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Some of you have told me that you have felt connections like that upon finding a great grandparent's house or visiting a European city that once was home to your ancestors. I am anxious to know that feeling, too. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">There are reasons why the book by Alex Haley and later TV mini series Roots became so popular in the 1970s. And why sites like Ancestry.com has become so popular. There are reasons why the Mormon Church has one of the world's largest genealogy collections. There are reasons why the lineage of the Kings and Queens of England is steadfastly protected and why the line of Catholic popes traces itself all the way back to Peter. Human beings wish to be connected to who we were and who we are. Of course, there are other less-than-appealing reasons also, like maintaining patriarchy or racial or tribal purity. But there is something profound about the way a story of our ancestral heritage affects us that is undeniable. We DO feel grounded in that knowledge.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Paul writes in his letter to the Romans in chapter 11</span></div>
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<i><span class="gmail-text" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px;">If a root is holy, the branches will be holy too.</span></span><span class="gmail-apple-converted-space" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px;"> </span></span><span class="gmail-text" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><sup style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 12.84px;"><span id="en-CEB-28210" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </span></span></sup></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px;">If some of the branches were broken off, and you were a wild olive branch, and you were grafted in among the other branches and shared the root that produces the rich oil of the olive tree,</span></span><span class="gmail-apple-converted-space" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px;"> </span></span></i><span class="gmail-text" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px;"><i>then don’t brag like you’re better than the other branches. If you do brag, be careful: it’s not you that sustains the root, but it’s the root that sustains you.</i> --Romans 11:16b-18</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">It's not you that sustains the root, but it's the root that sustains you. We are not the sum total of who we have created ourselves to be, rather we are part of a larger equation that began being computed long before we found ourselves in it and will continue to be added to long after we are gone. And all of what comes after is held to the same roots that have always held us to one another. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">That is true not only of our biological genealogy, but of our chosen families like the church and our neighborhoods. What roots of church and neighborhood are holding us together now? What roots are influencing what we do and don't do in our locations even now?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Thoughts? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment here by clicking the comments link below.</span></div>
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Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-41444556302265592462017-03-06T12:31:00.001-08:002017-03-06T12:31:12.105-08:00"Sky"<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+115%3A1-3%2C+16&version=NRSV" target="_blank">Psalm 115:1-3, 16</a><br />
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%204:12-17&version=MSG" target="_blank">Matthew 4:12-17</a><br />
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The conventional thought on God is in the heavens and man is on the earth is that God is somehow separate from man, living somehow above the world. In the chapter entitled Sky in the Diana Butler Bass book Grounded, she describes her encounter with the deep dark night at Ring Lake Ranch in Wyoming and how the dark sky and its millions of stars affects her thoughts on sky. I think this suggests we think of sky not as something separate from us, but as something that is enveloping us, all around us, part of all we are, but also much more infinite than we can ever imagine.<br />
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She writes of sky also being water in the clouds and light from the sun. Sky encompasses all of life. So why wouldn't the psalmist describe God as being in the heavens? <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN8OsSTWqB5SIYHqoAObXtrd37Xj52ksxueGcxyLY8X5v3lEJG8ME9qS-SwSxyeR7BFvgsqW4C4znMZ2iH3z_lPWApka6msJdvTTX93wNywi6V-guFwp8twyAhLJt_kjg_e4toV74TWjg/s1600/17155160_1221734764575485_7211312238962820136_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN8OsSTWqB5SIYHqoAObXtrd37Xj52ksxueGcxyLY8X5v3lEJG8ME9qS-SwSxyeR7BFvgsqW4C4znMZ2iH3z_lPWApka6msJdvTTX93wNywi6V-guFwp8twyAhLJt_kjg_e4toV74TWjg/s320/17155160_1221734764575485_7211312238962820136_n.jpg" width="240" /></a>The words of Jesus also remind us of this God both infinite and right in our faces. He often talks of the kingdom of heaven as something we create here and now, not something we aspire to. In the Lord's Prayer it says, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" which means the 'heaven' we speak of is something we are to aspire to create right here on earth. In this scripture above, Matthew 4, we read of Jesus' relocation from Nazareth to Caperneum as fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah, which also says that those who have been sitting around in darkness need not do that any longer because now the sun has come up. We have here the belief that a new day has come through the message and witness of Jesus. Jesus says, "Change your life. God's kingdom is here."<br />
The heavenly perfection you desire to reach.... just look around you, it's right here.<br />
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I have a children's book called ""I've Never Seen the Wind." <br />
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"I've never seen the wiind, but I know it's there.<br />I know it's there because it lifts my kite into the sky. the wind blows my hair and chases off the dark clouds when the rain is over."</blockquote>
Sky is both a concrete concept that can be explained by science and an abstract one that encompasses much of our very being. What if we stopped thinking vertically about our faith... thinking of God (and sky) as something way up there above us and started thinking more horizontally about our faith... God (and sky) are all around me, a part of all that is and all that has been and all that will be.<br />
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Thoughts? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment at the comments link below.<br />
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<br />Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-8126611295496423352017-02-27T17:01:00.002-08:002017-02-27T17:01:41.272-08:00"Water"<br />
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+4%3A5-15&version=NRSV" target="_blank">John 4:5-15</a><br />
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This famous scripture about the woman at the well has a lot to offer us. We see an example shown by Jesus of how to treat a fellow human being. He treats her kindly although based on the scenario, most men would not have spoken to her at all. For one, women who were good and decent drew water in the morning, so she was an outcast if she's there at noon. For another, men didn't talk directly to women in such a way. For a third, she is a Samaritan and he is a Jew. But he shows her kindness.<br />
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Another thing this scripture offers us is a description of what Jesus is saying can happen if we follow him. What Jesus offers is living water. Water that will be so quenching of our thirst that we will never be thirsty again.<br />
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In her book, Grounded, Diana Butler Bass uses this scripture and a lot of other descriptions of water to show us the deep connection we have to water in our lives. Of course, our bodies are to a large degree made up of water, so there's that. There is also the deep connection we make to the natural bodies of water in our world. She tells the story of diving for a conch shell and the connection she has with the sea.<br />
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Of course we all know that water is essential to our survival. No possibility of our lives continuing if we don't have water to drink. But there are so many other ways that water is essential to our existence. And so many ways that the water around us is actually not only essential, but sacramental, in our lives. Water is holy and powerful and able to connect us both to the earth and to the Divine.<br />
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Here are some stories about water that you might find meaning in reading: http://www.takepart.com/feature/2015/03/22/charity-water-world-water-day<br />
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We are fortunate in the Western World to not have to work to get our water. Many do not have that luxury, so while they need water to survive, they have to work very hard to get it. And so they don't take it for granted.<br />
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I admit, water for me usually equates to fun and happiness. I know I have a memory full of stories from my childhood trips to Myrtle Beach. My brother and I loved to swim and ride rafts in the ocean. And I loved (still do) walking down the shoreline with my feet in the tide. What memories and stories can you share about water in your lives? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment by clicking the comment link below.<br />
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<br />Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-73997748452892642872017-02-20T16:01:00.004-08:002017-02-20T16:01:41.350-08:00"Trail Mix"<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=22#gospel_reading" target="_blank"><br /></a></span>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.96px;"><i>Tran</i></span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.96px;">sfiguracion del Divino Salvador del Mundo at </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #0000ee; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.96px; text-decoration: underline;">Catedral Metropolitana del Divino Salvador del Mundo</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9;">The transfiguration scripture is a strange one indeed. Jesus takes Peter and James on a hike up a mountain by themselves. On the hike, he suddenly starts shining, like glowing from the inside out... and his clothes became dazzling white. And then Peter and James saw Moses and Elijah standing with him there. Peter, overcome, says they should build three shines to the three prophets. And then God speaks, saying, just as he did when Jesus was baptized by John, "This is my Son... with him I am well pleased." and "Listen to him."</span><!--[endif]--></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This whole weird surreal encounter certainly scares the heck out of Peter and James and they fall to the ground.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Jesus encourages them not to be afraid. As soon as he says that, and they look up, they see no one except Jesus.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Then they go down the mountain.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Crazy set of circumstances. What exactly happened here? We don't really know. But we do know that as they are alone with Jesus on the hike they are introduced in a profound way to the lineage of the faith tradition. They see the connection between Moses and Elijah and Jesus and they understand, though frightened, that this is a lineage that is powerful and filled with strength and light.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And this mountain hike happens just after Jesus has told them in Chapter 16 that whoever wants to be his disciple must "Take up their cross and follow him." He tells them in 16 that they will need to embrace suffering because being his disciple is not an easy path.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This is some kind of 'diet' to feed his fellow trail mates. A trail mix of epic proportions. Hard to swallow, in fact. Tell them that following him is akin to suffering. Then taking them up the mountain and giving them this crazy weird experience where he glows and Moses and Elijah appeared.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">What does this experience mean to Peter and James? Why are they exposed to a glow from Jesus and the vision of Moses and Elijah? Is it to show them that they aren't just following anybody? To convince them that he is worth 'taking up their crosses' for because he is part of a greater lineage of prophets who have a path worth following? Is it to share with them the echoes of walking in the way of justice that both Moses and Elijah followed? No one really knows for sure, but we do know how Jesus told them to handle their fear of what is unfolding in front of their eyes. He told them to not be afraid.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Jesus leads them into the mountains. There they experience strange and frightful things. But Jesus says get up and fear not. From the beginning of his life to the end, Jesus always seemed to lead those around him into unpredictable circumstances out of their control and sometimes fraught with danger. But echoing all throughout this story is "Fear not." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The message for us, then, may be as simple as allowing the journey to unfold with courage and without fear. Follow the way of Christ, even to the top of the highest unexplored mountain, although you might feel more comfortable in the safety zone. And get up when anxiety and fear knocks you down. Feed yourself on the words "do not be afraid" and keep on walking the trail.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">What does this bizarre story say to you? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or click Comments below and leave a message there.</span><br />
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Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-4100831185003112502017-02-13T13:38:00.001-08:002017-02-13T13:38:14.783-08:00 "Salt on Display"<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205:13-20" target="_blank">Matthew 5:13-20</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Salt is used here as a metaphor for bringing God to life in our daily journey. Salt is a seasoning. By itself it isn't very good, but add it to foods and other flavors and it enhances the taste. In this scripture, Jesus is telling those gathered for what we call the Sermon on the Mount that they are to be salt for the world. That they will be the salt that brings out God's realm. That because they will add their own unique flavor to the New Heaven on Earth that they are creating, God will be magnified in many different ways.</div>
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Jesus goes on to say, "don't hide your light." And Jesus also says that he has come to fulfill the law, to complete it. He never once suggests that the law as given by God to the Hebrew people isn't valid. He says that his message, his purpose in being here, will fulfill that law.</div>
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But what does that mean? I think it means that God's sending Jesus to us is a way to connect the dots for us to what it means to be fully human.... what it means to live into our own special seasoning, our own special light, our own special piece of the creation. We are all created in God's image and yet we are all very different.</div>
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Jesus says in this passage that diversity is good. That diversity is the key to the Peaceable Kingdom. That diversity is life. Jesus asks us from the very beginning of his preaching ministry to embrace all people and to also embrace exactly who we are. To allow our true selves to be fully displayed as we seek to share God's love with the world. And that when we do that, we will fulfill the law, which upholds love of neighbor above all else. </div>
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Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-35824630608311550272017-02-06T12:41:00.001-08:002017-02-06T12:41:27.706-08:00"Baby Food Beginnings"<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=18#epistle_reading" target="_blank">1 Corinthians 3:1-9</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Paul is talking about maturing in the faith here. He's making a point of saying that being a Christian is a lifelong learning venture. That we don't graduate from Sunday School one day and know everything there is to know about Jesus' message to us. That we don't go to seminary for three or four years and graduate with a Master of Divinity degree and know everything there is to know about Jesus' message to us. That it takes a lifetime to walk the way of Christ. That our struggles will be ongoing and relentless. We will learn a little here and learn a little more there, but there will always be something that we don't know. </div>
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We come to our faith like babies being fed milk and no solid food. And gradually we are able to eat more solid food and different types of food and, all the while, we are experimenting and growing and changing and challenging ourselves in what it means to be Christian.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #213356; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.34px; font-weight: bold;">Photograph: WFP / Edward Parsons</span></div>
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Another thing that is challenging about faith development is it's cyclical, spiral nature, sometimes. It's important to know how little we know. We can be 9 or 90 and both be at the same level of understanding about God. In fact, sometimes the youngest among us have the most profound sense of awareness of the Divine. We start to get hardened and more cynical as we age, and sometimes faith is about suspension of what we think we know with our heads and recognizing instead what we know we feel with our hearts. </div>
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We also learn in this scripture that we can't seem to erase quarreling from our faith walks with one another. One group of people believes X to be true about their church, their mission, their purpose... and the other group believes Y to be true. And so, rather than continuing to grow their faith and the community around them, they just shoot darts at one another. But Paul reminds us that neither of us has the answers without God being in the center. In verse 7 of this text, he says</div>
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<i>"<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth."</span></i></div>
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A reminder to us that the most important first step in our faith voyage is fully relying on God and not on our own understanding. Allowing God to lead the way in this faith walk and not think that our way is the way it is supposed to be. But also not allowing someone else to stray us from what we feel is a right path to take, Allowing ourselves to stop, look within and listen deeply for the path God and God alone wants us to take.</div>
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Faith walking, then, is a complicated journey. One of my favorite responses to questions when I was in seminary, from just about any of the Bible professors, was "Well, we really don't know." That's a tough pill for some of us to swallow. We really don't know all the answers about why we are loved by a God who created a world of magnificence. Oh yes, we can explain the science of the universe and its ongoing created order, and thanks be to God for our scientists who continue to teach us so much. But we can't really explain the majesty and heart of it. Except we all know that when we see a brand new little baby with sparkling eyes that a sense of wonder overcomes us all. We know that somehow, someway, somewhere there is a miracle at work. A soul growing. A life building. One baby food faith meal at a time.</div>
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What are your challenges in the Christian walk? Who do you want to become? What do you still want to learn? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or click the comment link below to leave a comment here. </div>
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Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-72074355647093330922017-01-30T12:36:00.000-08:002017-01-30T12:36:44.645-08:00"Grapes for the Food Bank"<div class="MsoNormal">
February 5: Grapes for the Food Bank<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+19%3A1-2%2CLeviticus+19%3A9-18&version=MSG" target="_blank">Leviticus 19:1-2. 9-18</a> (MSG)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Wow. This list is hard core. I don't even know where to begin. Now granted this is Leviticus, a book that often gets verses ripped out of context for political and social debate, but you can hear echos of Jesus' message here, can't you? In this passage it is the LORD speaking to Moses, offering a very clear message of saving something for your neighbor, not taking everything for yourself when you harvest... and being kind and not slanderous or manipulative of your neighbor in all the transactions of community life. And it ends with "love your neighbor as yourself," which, of course, was Jesus repeated mantra over and over and over again. </div>
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I love how this starts though... the very lovely way it reminds us to care for others more than self. the LORD suggest to Moses that when the fields and vineyards are harvested it is important to not taking every single bit of harvest for yourself. Leave some for people in need to harvest for themselves, as well. Share with your neighbor the bounty of your harvest. It's beautiful. A clear reminder in poetic, pastoral terms, that it is not all about us and what we want and need, but ultimately about building a sharing and loving community.</div>
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And on Sunday when we share in Holy Communion, I would like us to think about what it means to not only share the "grapes of our harvest" in terms of sharing our resources with others, but also what it might mean to share the "grape harvest" of our Holy Meal with others. How do we take the grace and peace Christ offers in the sacrament and truly change our lives, our perspective, our witness in the world? How do we actually embody Christ so that when we walk away from the table and into the world we consider every action we make as a reflection of Christ? Such a challenge. So important,</div>
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Thoughts? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment by clicking the comment link below.</div>
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Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-78341436920826666802017-01-23T13:00:00.001-08:002017-01-23T13:00:20.753-08:00"Turn and Bless"<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I recommend a full reading of all of Matthew 5, to be honest. We will only look at the first 15 verses of this chapter, but all of it is a clear indication of what kind of world Jesus is trying to build. One that respects and values neighbors of all walks of life. One that encourages people to tell each other the truth and to uphold commitments to one another. One that encourages people to work for peaceful relationships as much as is humanly possible. One that suggests that we never hide who we are, but climb to the top of the highest hill and let the world see and hear about who God is calling us to be.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We focus mostly this week on the Beatitudes portion of this text. Blessed are the.... fill in the blank, but not with who the world thinks is blessed... instead, most people who are struggling in this world get an honored place in this blessed list. The poor in Spirit, the meek, the grieving, the persecuted. </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Oh and also, blessed are the peacemakers. Sadly, peacemakers, too often get reviled by the world-at-large.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Jesus tells all those who feel discouraged to rejoice for their reward is great in heaven. He is dogged in his concern for the downtrodden as he shares with all who are gathered on that hillside to hear him deliver an instructional sermon about how to create a more perfect society.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Matthew 5 encourages us to look for a new view of God's blessings in this world. It is a view that is 180 degrees from any prosperity gospel you will hear. It is a view that elevates those the world chooses to trample or ignore. It is a view that offers those who feel discouraged a path forward to let their light shine, rather than their darkness permeate.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It should speak to all of us in some way. We should hear warnings to us about the struggles we have in our society today. We should hear encouragement about the ways we love one another. There's something special about this sermon by Jesus. He's shifting our vision from one perspective to another. Being righteous and faithful is not like being successful in the ways of the world. Look to see who needs a lift up, Jesus says, and then do everything in your power to provide the lift. Shine your own light of goodness in a way that brings everyone to the table together.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What beatitude do you struggle with the most? Which do you think our society could best pay attention to? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment below on the comments link.</span></div>
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Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-92222796860436967902017-01-09T14:25:00.000-08:002017-01-09T14:25:16.647-08:00“Turn and See Something New”<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
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<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: black; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">And John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.</span><br style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: black; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: black; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' </span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: black; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God." </span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: black; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, </span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: black; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, "Look, here is the Lamb of God!"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: black; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">John baptizes Jesus and then he says he sees the Spirit descend like a dove and remain on Jesus. Why does John use the language of water and dove to connect Jesus to being anointed to be the Lamb of God? It might be as a way to connect the Spirit that Jesus draws us toward with the very real and earthy components of nature. The infusion of the Spirit into not only this singular man Jesus, but into all the earth. That is what I think of in the Pentecost story too, when it says "there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind" and it entered the whole room where the disciples were. The scriptures are good at using the elements of water, air, earth and fire to connect us to the Divine with us. That partly relates to the real connection ancient people made to their environment. But it is helpful even now to guide us to the reality that God is in and among all of life.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: black; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">In this story, though, John shares with us that Jesus is the key to our life ahead. He shares the baptism story and the miraculous way the Spirit alights particularly on</span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: black; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> Jesus like a dove. And then the next day he shares with two disciples that Jesus is the Lamb of God. Emphasizing the real and important role Jesus takes as a connector... bridging any divide between humankind and God. Perhaps we can connect the two. Jesus as one who guides us to the Spirit and the Spirit's infusion in all of our life and natural world enveloping us in God's love.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: black; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">What parts of our natural world connects you most to the Spirit? When have you been in the natural world and felt for sure, without a doubt, that God is in that moment with you? Have you ever been driving down the road and just had to pull over and catch your breath because the scenery around you was so breathtaking? Or maybe the scenery wasn't breathtaking, but you felt God with you in nature in some way?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: black; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">I remember a time I felt like that with some of you. The day we had vespers at Rocky Mountain National Park two summers ago was not a good weather day. We had hail and pouring rain some of the day. There were puddles all around us at the amphitheater as we gathered for the service. But the service itself felt holy. And just before we finished, the sun peaked out from behind the clouds and trees. And I swear you could feel the Spirit descend like a dove and sit there among us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 14.6667px;">Thoughts? Stories to share? Email me or comment below. </span></span></div>
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Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-35398199885241375992017-01-04T19:23:00.000-08:002017-01-04T19:23:26.683-08:00"Turn and Follow the Light"<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>(Due to a scheduling change because of the weather and choir director 'auditions', the worship plan for Jan 8 and Jan 22 are now switched.)</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "times new roman";">In this passage we find Jesus studying the prophet Isaiah and seeing that his call is to bring light to the darkness. John has been arrested and things are bleak. So Jesus begins preaching and telling people, "Repent, for the kingdom of God is near." Repent would have meant both "change your mind," and "change your inner self," Perfect words for us to consider as we think about the New Year and all it brings. </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">Also, Jesus asked people directly to follow him. He tells him he will show them how to gather others into the fold.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We could use some help with this, Jesus. How do we change our ways here at Niwot UMC and how do we learn to share the good news?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The heart of this story lies not in Jesus' calling, but in the fact that those whom he called FOLLOWED. They followed his message, they proclaimed the gospel per his instruction, they cared for the sick, reached out to those on the margins. They didn't say no. They didn't say "let me check my calendar," they didn't say "I can't commit to that right now, Jesus," they just followed him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">I think this passage says several things to us. You may think of more than these, but these are the instructions I see and hear in this passage:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1) Change our 'inner selves' so that we are more focused on God and what God wants from us. If we don't change ourselves, we can't follow what Jesus wants us to learn and do and be. But how? Perhaps through prayer or meditation or singing hymns or reading the Bible. Perhaps through feeding the hungry, or caring for those in need.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">2) Follow the light of Christ out the door and into our community. The fishermen by the seashore did not stay by the seashore and their nets. They returned to them from time to time, I'm sure, but they ventured out on a new path with Jesus and found a new way to 'fish.' Our instruction: Find ways to bring Niwot UMC to Gunbarrel and Niwot area folks, instead of hoping they will walk in the door here.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">3) Listen to what Jesus says, watch what he does, and follow him. Without delay. Without figuring out how it fits into our lives. Just do it. The fishermen did not look around to see if someone was more qualified than they were. They didn't say, "let me think about it." We can't either. We don't wait for someone else who is more qualified or more available to do it. We spread the good news now. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Thoughts? Comments? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment by clicking the comments link below. </span></span><br />
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Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-45532419912993592112017-01-03T13:27:00.001-08:002017-01-03T13:35:56.526-08:00"Turn, Turn, Turn"<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; height: auto; line-height: 1.7; margin-bottom: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: auto;">
<a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=10#hebrew_reading" target="_blank">Ecclesiastes 3:1-13</a><br />
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For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven, says the writer of Ecclesiastes. Sounds like a time for reflection as we turn the page to a near year. Reflect on what you would say to "fill in the blanks" on each of these lines...</div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.1em;"><i>A time to be born..</i>.. who was born to your family or friends last year, will be born to you this year? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (I had two babies born in my extended family last year, a cousin and a great-nephew. This year a college graduate will be born into my immediate family) </span></div>
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<i>And a time to die.</i>... who passed from this life to the next last year in your family? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________((In our church family, Chuck Sorenson, Jim Anderson, Sue Schoonover and Ed Freymiller. In my own family my granddaddy-in-law Bill Justis and his sister, my great-aunt-in-law Katherine, and our sweet cat of 15 years Moses)</div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.1em;"><i>A time to plant.</i>.. what have you planted this past year? (actual or metaphorically)_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________What has our congregation planted this past year in the way of ideas, programs, projects? Is a community garden on the way? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.1em;">(We planted a NUMC family mission trip to UMCOR West Depot, we planted an Outreach Fund, ...)</span></div>
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<i>And a time to pluck up what is planted</i>.... what have we decided to let go of this year ? We should name and grieve them. ______________________________</div>
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(We applied for and were not selected to receive a Lilly Grant for Clergy Renewal. Disappointing on many levels for me, personally. We lost Karen Driver as our admin assistant... though we did gain Anna back. We lost Susan Warren as choir director... though we did gain some good applicants. What else? )</div>
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A time to kill ... (what in the life of the congregation has been “killed?”) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (We have lost some of our vitality and have not been able to fund wider mission in full most of the year. We have lost members to moves and death. We have lost needed income. What else? )</div>
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And a time to heal... what healing have you experienced in the last year? _______</div>
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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (I have gained a personal healing, of sorts, of the pain I feel as the denomination continues to fight over LGBTQ equality in the denomination... through the election of our new Bishop Karen Oliveto. Her election made me take a foot I had put out the door and place it back in the door for now.)</div>
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Let's take some time this week to both weep and laugh together. Speaking our truths in love and embracing one another as we turn, turn, turn and head to a new page... a new chapter that is, necessarily, imprinted with our struggles and disappointments of the past, and also our joys and celebrations. Keep in mind, though, that the 'rest of the story' in this book we call Niwot UMC has yet to be written and let us resolve to make this the best chapter yet.</div>
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I invite you to print out and fill out the blanks on this blog post and bring it with you to worship this week. 10:20 on Sunday, 7405 Lookout Road. Bring someone new with you this week, too. There's plenty of room to spare in this new chapter we are writing.</div>
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Comments? Email at peverhart@niwotumc.org of click the comment link below.</div>
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From Bob Seger's song "Turn the Page," you might reflect on these lyrics:</div>
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<span style="background-color: #ccccdd; color: black; font-family: "verdana" , "arial"; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: center;">Most times you can't hear 'em talk, other times you can</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #ccccdd; color: black; font-family: "verdana" , "arial"; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: center;">All the same old clichés: "Is it woman? Is it man?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #ccccdd; color: black; font-family: "verdana" , "arial"; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: center;">And you always seem outnumbered, so you don't dare make a stand</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #ccccdd; color: black; font-family: "verdana" , "arial"; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: center;">Here I am, on a road again</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #ccccdd; color: black; font-family: "verdana" , "arial"; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: center;">There I am, on the stage</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #ccccdd; color: black; font-family: "verdana" , "arial"; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: center;">Here I go, playing star again</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #ccccdd; color: black; font-family: "verdana" , "arial"; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: center;">There I go, turn the page</span></div>
Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-37537716161190759712016-12-19T14:35:00.001-08:002016-12-19T14:35:24.098-08:00Shining a Light in the Darkness <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A1-20" target="_blank">Luke 2:1-20 </a><br />
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+2%3A1-8&version=MSG" target="_blank">Matthew 2:1-8</a><br />
<i><br />In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.</i><br />
What do you do when you realize that you've sanitized Christmas so much that you don't even know what it means? Did it hit you at all that Syria is part of this story? Did that jolt you? And what are you thinking now that you see it? Do the people of Aleppo seem so distant from you that you can't see that Mary and Joseph were being directed to go to a new place and enter a 'registry' by a leader in Syria?<br />
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That same sort of jolt is what happens to the narrator of the story in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. She realizes that the Christmas Pageant her church puts on every year has left out the dark side of Christmas. And even though they may have had a moment in the service when they read John 1: "A light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it" they have moved too quickly from Silent Night to Joy to the World. And well, the pause is important. And believe it or not, it is the Herdmans who honor the pause.<br />
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The Herdmans come from nothing. And they live lives that are on the edge. And they don't know sometimes where their next meal is coming from. So when they hear of King Herod's plan to rid the world of the Baby Jesus in the Christmas story, they don't gloss over it and throw it out of the story, the way we tend to do... they laser-focus in on it and get to the bottom of it. They find out all the bad stuff that Herod did to try to keep a Messiah from interfering with his power.<br />
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The side of this story that the Herdmans focused in on is the story is about the
Herod and his plan of destruction. The pageant barely mentions it other than to say the Wise Men were instructed by Herod to come to him and tell him where the child is.<br />
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Easy for us who are comfortable to forget Jesus was born a refugee in a world of danger. Easy to forget there are still Herods in the world continuing to seek to extinguish the
light of joy and goodness in our world. It was true at the time of Jesus’ birth, and it’s true
now. The dark side of this story is one of power, the power of love and light versus the dark power of
political enterprise. You see, Herod really shouldn't be left out of this story because the Herods of this world
continue to stay with us.<br />
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The song, “Star Child,” mentions all kinds of children who
need the light of Christmas. “The street child, the beat child, the child with no place left to go. The
hurt child, the used child, the unwanted child. The grown and old child, the sad and lost child, .” And yes, even the spared and spoiled child All children deserve our protection.<br />
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In the story, Gladys the angel runs down the aisle shouting, "Hey unto you a child is born!" and we get the point. Angels are elbowing each other out of the way to make sure that people know to see and protect this holy child. So should we. Are we, in this new year, willing to become angel
protectors to all of our children? Or are we complacent to remain with Herod, filled with
fear and willing to use whatever means necessary to maintain the status quo? Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-3995596082353210152016-12-12T13:15:00.004-08:002016-12-12T13:15:50.222-08:00Every Family Has Insiders and Outsiders, (The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, week 3)<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+2%3A1-5&version=CEB" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Isaiah 2:1-5</span></a><br />
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1%3A+47-55&version=CEB" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Luke 1: 47-55</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Herdmans in <i>The Best Christmas Pageant Ever</i> are really getting to the bottom of this whole Christmas story. They are understanding in a way that the other children don't exactly how perilous this whole time was for Mary and Joseph and the newborn baby whose life is in danger. They understand the threat of Herod. They go to the library to learn all they can about him since the sanitized version of the Christmas pageant at church doesn't seem to offer them the information they want.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">You've heard the phrase "It takes one to know one." In the case of the Herdmans, it takes an outsider living on the edge to know an outsider living on the edge. They GET the grittiness of the real Jesus nativity. And they are horrified and transfixed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In Isaiah we read: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span class="text Isa-2-4" id="en-CEB-17690" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">God will judge between the nations,</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="indent-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Isa-2-4" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">and settle disputes of mighty nations.</span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="text Isa-2-4" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">Then they will beat their swords into iron plows</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="indent-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Isa-2-4" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">and their spears into pruning tools.</span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="text Isa-2-4" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">Nation will not take up sword against nation;</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="indent-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Isa-2-4" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">they will no longer learn how to make war.</span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span class="text Isa-2-5" id="en-CEB-17691" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; left: -4.4em; line-height: 22px; position: absolute; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">5 </span>Come, house of Jacob,</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="indent-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Isa-2-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">let’s walk by the <span class="small-caps" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: normal;">Lord</span>’s light.</span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">This suggests to us that it is God who can create peace and settle disputes, but that we are called to walk in that light. God relies on us to listen to God's story and call... and in that message we will no longer make war, but peace. I am sure that the Herdmans, who are filled with chaos and rabble-rousing, would have a few words to say about this passage, but perhaps it is because they haven't yet seen or experienced God's light that they live in warfare mode instead. But they are seeing God bit by bit.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I read this the other day and it certainly applies here: "If we want to encounter God, we must walk with those who suffer. God is not found in the American dream, but in its shadow." The Herdmans are shadows in our society. People who are outsiders, shunned, turned away. God is found in the shadows of our society, thus it makes perfect sense that it is the Herdmans who ACTUALLY understand the real story of Mary, Joseph and Jesus.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Mary's magnificat takes on more powerful meaning when you think, for example, of Imogene Herdman reciting the words. In her context of poverty and abandonment and neglect, these words are amazingly powerful: </span><br />
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<span class="indent-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="text Isa-2-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span class="indent-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="text Luke-1-47" id="en-CEB-24932" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span>In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.</span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="text Luke-1-48" id="en-CEB-24933" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; left: -4.4em; line-height: 22px; position: absolute; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">48 </span>He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.</span></i></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="indent-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="text Isa-2-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><span class="text Luke-1-48" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span class="indent-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="text Luke-1-52" id="en-CEB-24937" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones</span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="indent-2" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="indent-2-breaks" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"> </span><span class="text Luke-1-52" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">and lifted up the lowly.</span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="text Luke-1-53" id="en-CEB-24938" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; left: -4.4em; line-height: 22px; position: absolute; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">53 </span>He has filled the hungry with good things</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="indent-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Luke-1-53" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;">and sent the rich away empty-handed.</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></div>
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Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-28403961902437089762016-12-06T12:50:00.001-08:002016-12-06T12:53:24.074-08:00Family Secrets (The Best Christmas Pageant Ever week 2)<div style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;">
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<i><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=4#hebrew_reading" target="_blank">Isaiah 7:10-16 </a></i></div>
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<i><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=4#gospel_reading" target="_blank">Matthew 1:18-25 </a></i><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Special Service Note: This week, as a part of the service, we will have our annual Impromptu Christmas Pageant. Come and participate in the nativity. Choose your costume as you head into worship. We have a lot of choices for everyone, no matter how young or old you are. We are so thrilled this year to have TWINS as "Babies Jesus." It is going to be a blast!</span></b><br />
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The passage in Isaiah points to a child who will offer a sign. He will be able to refuse the evil and choose the good. It is a word of hope to people who have lived in a land of exile, a time of darkness and oppression. Perhaps after all, there will be some way forward.<br />
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The Matthew passage points to the complexity of issues surrounding Jesus' birth. Joseph is shocked to find out Mary is expecting a baby when they are not yet married. This was disgraceful and he is going to try to end things quietly. He doesn't want to cause her any more shame, but is afraid to move forward with the marriage, also.<br />
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Families have burdens. Families have secrets. Families have shame. It is a simple fact of life. Period. We are given examples of how grace can intercede in the midst of burdens, secrets and shame and offer a way forward.<br />
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The exiles Isaiah speaks are offered grace in the resolve to move forward, one trudge at a time, with heads up instead of down, as they seek their better way forward, as they head toward their release, as they dream of a Messiah.<br />
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The grace that surrounds Joseph comes in the form of an angelic dream. In that dream he hears a way forward. Mary's child is of the Holy Spirit. Stay with her. Be part of the miracle. <br />
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And in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever? How about those Herdmans? And the pageant? It turns out there's some secrets and shame there, too. The Herdmans have child-like innocence about the Nativity story. They have never heard it. They know of their own shame of being poor and having no father. And even though they act like they don't care, they most certainly do. So they connect in a visceral way with the story of Mary being pregnant and being shut out of the inn with no place to go. <br />
Our word this week is JOY. What struggles and problematic places have you encountered that have allowed you, even so, to find a sense of joy? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or click on the comment button below. </div>
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Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-87482764775245523412016-11-30T13:24:00.001-08:002016-11-30T13:24:30.051-08:00"Every Family Has Conflict" (Best Christmas Pageant Ever, part 1)<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2011:1-10" target="_blank">Isaiah 11:1-10</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%203:1-12" target="_blank">Matthew 3:1-12</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Perhaps you’ve read the book, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/239810.The_Best_Christmas_Pageant_Ever">The
Best Christmas Pageant Ever</a> by Barbara Robinson, or seen the film or the
play adaptation. It’s the best story I
know to share the struggles that people go through in trying to be family to
one another. Immediate family, church
family, community family… all with their own unique conflicts and problems, and
joys and goodness.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This month we will look at what it means to create the
family of God in and through our family struggles, using the prophets and the
gospel readings from Advent as our foundation, and also wisdom from the Best
Christmas Pageant Ever. By the way, the
Longmont Theatre Company is producing the play this month, see this <a href="https://longmonttheatre.org/">LINK</a> for more details. Our church will
go together to see in on Friday, Dec 9 at 7 so sign up at the church to join
us. Our own Rachelle Bridgestock is in
the cast.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So this week, we have Isaiah offering a prophetic word about
what peace means. Peace means that opponents sit down together, that enemies
get along, and that a child is the one with the true wisdom to show the
way. And we also have a quite different reading
from the gospels, John the Baptist lashing out and calling the religious ones
among him a “brood of vipers” and
calling for repentance and justice and punishment for those who have oppressed
others.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What is the happy medium here? Between a vision of peace
that happens if we all agree to sit at the same table together and a vision of
struggle and conflict that shows rough edges that seem far from peaceful? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Advent is a time of longing. Of hoping for what is to come.
It is not a season of peace. It is a season of digging through the rough stuff,
doing the hard work of justice, to reach the place of peace. So it’s both/and… these scriptures this week,
both beckoning us toward peace and showing us that it doesn’t come easy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Like all our families…. They all have conflict. So much so that some of us struggle just to
be in communication with our loved ones.
And the recent political climate has in fact broken some family ties,
severed some relationships, though hopefully they can one day be repaired.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Just like in <i>The Best
Christmas Pageant Ever</i>, there is a lot of rough and tumble, tough and
dramatic conflict when the Herdmans enter the church family to participate in
the annual pageant. No one wants the
Herdmans there… and they create anything but peace as the wreak havoc on the
reheasrals and their interpretation of the events… and yet, in the end, no one
has ever experienced the Christ Child’s birth in such a meaningful way.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The advent word for this week is Peace…. But it isn’t a word
that should stand alone. And it isn’t a
noun for us in this context. Peace is a
verb for us this year, an action…. And it requires clear minds, open hearts and
arms, and a lot of struggle and, yes, even conflict, to be achieved. But we can do it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thoughts? Email me at <a href="mailto:peverhart@niwotumc.org">peverhart@niwotumc.org</a>
or click on the link below to comment here. <o:p></o:p></div>
Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563538197636978512.post-73016622125221318832016-11-14T13:09:00.002-08:002016-11-14T13:09:40.823-08:00"Super(she)roes"<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=290#hebrew_reading" target="_blank">Jeremiah 23:1-6;</a> <a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=290#gospel_reading" target="_blank">Luke 23:33-43<o:p></o:p></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Jeremiah is prophetically offering condemnation to
those who have oppressed their people and saying a time is coming when God will
send “a righteous branch” to execute justice and righteousness in the land.<span style="background: white;"> The branch that is coming is Jesus, a
leader who will be unlike any leader before because he will understand all
people, not just a few. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Therefore thus says the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span class="small-caps"><span style="font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">Lord</span></span></span>, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who
shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them
away, and you have not attended to them… The days are surely coming, says the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="small-caps"><span style="font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">Lord</span></span></span>, when I will raise up for David a righteous
Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice
and righteousness in the land.</i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span>–Jeremiah 23:2, 5-6<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Luke begins with Jesus being crucified at the hands
of the rulers, begging God to forgive them for their acts, and ends with him
beckoning a criminal into paradise with him.
Jesus dealing with what was happening to him and extending a hand of
grace to those who oppressed him. <span class="apple-converted-space"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Since the scriptures this week seem to point to God
always being on the side of the oppressed and God always seeking ways to offer
righteousness and justice, it seemed like a good time to discuss the super”she”roes
of our faith, women who have stood strong for their faith and for justice,
despite the deck stacked against them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Joan of Arc was a young peasant girl in France who
claimed to hear the voices of saints charging her with a mission to save France
by helping to restore the French leader to power and driving out English rule.
She became a soldier and wore male clothing and although she inspired soldiers
to courageous and successful battles, she was accused of witchcraft, imprisoned
and convicted, and eventually burned at the stake. She was 19. Part of what
convicted her was her adamant belief in the voices she heard and her refusal to
give up wearing male clothing. St Joan
has the distinction of being both a saint of the church and someone who lived life
condemned by the church.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Georgia Harkness was one of the first high-profile
female theologians and was a strong supporter of the movement to gain ordination
for women in the Methodist church. She was the first woman to achieve full
professorship in a US seminary and was a leading figure in the ecumenical
church, believing all should know and understand the Christian faith. She had to stand up to plenty of angry men and
women in her fight for women’s ordination. But she stood strong. Her witness
paved the way for all of us who are ordained clergy in the Methodist church,
though she herself never became ordained.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There are countless women of the faith, both from
the biblical account… people like Mother Mary, Esther, Ruth, and all the way
through to modern day. But often, the history of the church gets told without
them. We remember the male disciples, but not the female ones. We remember
fathers in our faith like Bishops Coke and Asbury, and forget the witness of all
those women who led class meetings and kept the church doors open. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It is important to remember the very real
contributions of women to the faith and how we would not have made it to this
point without them. Sunday school teachers, our grandmas, and all the rest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It is the end of the church year, this week. This is
the day we remember Jesus dying on the cross as a Crucified King, remembering
his message of love and inclusion that leads to his crucifixion. Let us also remember the witness of all those
women of the faith who also helped pave the path of our Way of the Cross and
are still paving it today. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What women in your faith journey have made an impact
on your life? Email me at <a href="mailto:peverhart@niwotumc.org">peverhart@niwotumc.org</a> or comment by clicking
the link below.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Pamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00519000028413247793noreply@blogger.com0