This week's Lenten thought from Sacred Space.
"Then he came to his senses." This deceptively simple statement about the prodigal son poses a profound challenge to us all. None of us can claim to be without sin. "We all fall short of the glory of God." Lent can be that moment in which we come to our senses, face facts about ourselves, and make the appropriate adjustments.
After a brief romantic affair with threatened to destroy his marriage and alienate his family and friends, John came to his senses. Before matters got worse, he had the courage to face his fault, admit his sin, and turn back. He was fortunate to receive his wife's understanding, love and forgiveness.
During Lent we turn back to God and entrust ourselves once again to his immense mercy. We allow the Father to embrace us in our sinfulness and sorrow. In being forgiven much, we discover the depths of God's love.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The Lord's Prayer
Our church is really focusing on the meaning of Lent. Its a time to evaluate our lives and be reminded of our dependence on God for everything.
This past Sunday I preached a sermon about what is commonly known as, The Lord's Prayer. I guess it could also be known as The Disciple's Prayer because it was a prayer that Jesus used to instruct his followers to pray. One of the things that I wanted to stress is that this prayer wasn't given as a formula just to recite over and over, but it was given to influence the content of prayer.
During the latter part of my preaching of this sermon I led the congregation in praying through this prayer. As I was doing this I began to be gripped by the power of what I was praying and I became very emotional. It was very hard to contain myself and I am sure I was quite the spectacle, but it didn't matter to me. In that moment I just wanted the congregation to sense how great our Heavenly Father is and how transformational his love and forgiveness can be in our lives.
Knowing him impacts everything. It impacts our values and decisions. It impacts the way we receive from him and the way we relate to others. I will never read or pray this prayer the same way again.
You can listen if you wanna. Go to PRAYER.
This past Sunday I preached a sermon about what is commonly known as, The Lord's Prayer. I guess it could also be known as The Disciple's Prayer because it was a prayer that Jesus used to instruct his followers to pray. One of the things that I wanted to stress is that this prayer wasn't given as a formula just to recite over and over, but it was given to influence the content of prayer.
During the latter part of my preaching of this sermon I led the congregation in praying through this prayer. As I was doing this I began to be gripped by the power of what I was praying and I became very emotional. It was very hard to contain myself and I am sure I was quite the spectacle, but it didn't matter to me. In that moment I just wanted the congregation to sense how great our Heavenly Father is and how transformational his love and forgiveness can be in our lives.
Knowing him impacts everything. It impacts our values and decisions. It impacts the way we receive from him and the way we relate to others. I will never read or pray this prayer the same way again.
You can listen if you wanna. Go to PRAYER.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Prayer for Essentials RED
For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephens University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt.
Prayer, for me, is wonderfully frustrating. There are times when it seems easy and I feel connected to God while at other times I feel like I am wading through peanut butter. I have been a Christian for a while, so you would think that I have a handle on prayer, right? More than that, I am a pastor, a professional. This should be easy. Wrong. Sometimes prayer is hard work. At least it is for me.
One of the things that I have learned about myself is that I need some sort of structure. Some time ago I looked at how our early church fathers and mothers handled prayer. It seems as if they needed some structure, too. They scheduled prayer into their days. So, I have done this myself. As I schedule my days, I try to schedule a time for prayer. I use a devotional book, The Little Book of Hours, from the Benedictine monks. It has helped me immensely by helping me to become focused. My mind tends to wander.
I am very grateful for this structure. I try not to just go through the motions. I try to keep my focus on God’s presence in my life and envision him listening and watching me. I am seeking his face.
This has got be to thinking about prayer as it relates to our worshiping community. In our services, we are relying a little more on written prayers that we pray out loud together. I love this because it reminds me that I not only have a “personal” prayer life, but I also have a communal pray life, too.
Also related to prayer and our church community, I am tinkering around with the idea of a midweek prayer time during the lunch hour. It would be short (30 min) where some of us could meet up and be led through some readings and prayer. Just a thought. Haven’t talked to anyone, yet. We’ll see.
Below is one of my favorite “written prayers” by St. Patrick. I love it.
“Christ beside me, Christ before me;
Christ behind me, Christ within me;
Christ beneath me, Christ above me;
Christ to right of me, Christ to left of me;
Christ in my lying, my sitting, my rising;
Christ in heart of all who know me,
Christ on tongue of all who meet me,
Christ in eye of all who see me,
Christ in ear of all who hear me.
For to the Lord belongs salvation,
And to the Lord belongs salvation
And to Christ belongs Salvation.
May your salvation, Lord, be with us always.
Prayer, for me, is wonderfully frustrating. There are times when it seems easy and I feel connected to God while at other times I feel like I am wading through peanut butter. I have been a Christian for a while, so you would think that I have a handle on prayer, right? More than that, I am a pastor, a professional. This should be easy. Wrong. Sometimes prayer is hard work. At least it is for me.
One of the things that I have learned about myself is that I need some sort of structure. Some time ago I looked at how our early church fathers and mothers handled prayer. It seems as if they needed some structure, too. They scheduled prayer into their days. So, I have done this myself. As I schedule my days, I try to schedule a time for prayer. I use a devotional book, The Little Book of Hours, from the Benedictine monks. It has helped me immensely by helping me to become focused. My mind tends to wander.
I am very grateful for this structure. I try not to just go through the motions. I try to keep my focus on God’s presence in my life and envision him listening and watching me. I am seeking his face.
This has got be to thinking about prayer as it relates to our worshiping community. In our services, we are relying a little more on written prayers that we pray out loud together. I love this because it reminds me that I not only have a “personal” prayer life, but I also have a communal pray life, too.
Also related to prayer and our church community, I am tinkering around with the idea of a midweek prayer time during the lunch hour. It would be short (30 min) where some of us could meet up and be led through some readings and prayer. Just a thought. Haven’t talked to anyone, yet. We’ll see.
Below is one of my favorite “written prayers” by St. Patrick. I love it.
“Christ beside me, Christ before me;
Christ behind me, Christ within me;
Christ beneath me, Christ above me;
Christ to right of me, Christ to left of me;
Christ in my lying, my sitting, my rising;
Christ in heart of all who know me,
Christ on tongue of all who meet me,
Christ in eye of all who see me,
Christ in ear of all who hear me.
For to the Lord belongs salvation,
And to the Lord belongs salvation
And to Christ belongs Salvation.
May your salvation, Lord, be with us always.
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