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Submit Your Own! Georgia O'Keeffe By David Howell Enjoy "Circling Around Abstraction" in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The Festival of Homiletics will be held in Minneapolis, May 19-23. Click on the link below. Thanksgiving for and from Dee Dee By David von Schlichten I value your affirming feedback and will certainly give thanks for you and your ministry when celebrating Thanksgiving this week. It is such a blessing that, through the Internet, people of different nations can communicate easily. Yours in Christ, David von Schlichten, Lectionary Blog Moderator Baptized with Water Through the Roof By Dee Dee Haines Thank you, David, for the rich imagery in your Thanksgiving sermon! All who have ears to hear will find great anchoring in the thanksgiving litany that is linked to personal and corporate memory. I especially enjoyed the reference to 'baptized' that followed the story of water coming through the roof! It will be good for your Congregation to hear reminders of their shared story and heritage. As preachers, we are sometimes so focused on challenge that we forget to affirm the people we are fortunate enough to call sisters, and brothers, in Christ's service. At the core of authentic affirmation is an outward response to the world in which we dwell and the One who created and creates, still. I'm living away from the U.S. and we won't be noting Thanksgiving in the American sense. But when we gather together and give thanks for all that "God is" I will remember to thank God for David, and his presence in our midst. Dee Dee Haines, Isle of Man
Thanksgiving Sermon By David von Schlichten God Was, Will Be, Is (Word count: 720) Last Tuesday night, a man with a gun invaded a home in Lawson Heights to rob it, then held up Mekic's store here in Youngstown, and then held up the Tin Lizzy. When we hear about such crime happening close by, it is tempting for us to overreact, to think, “The world's falling apart. You can't trust anyone anymore. Nobody's safe.” It is easy to think that these are the worst of times getting worse still, especially with gas over three dollars a gallon, fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, terrorism, and now robberies occurring just a three-minute walk from here. Of course, it is understandable that we would be nervous, and of course we are wise to take precautions to protect ourselves. It is also the case that we have much for which to be thankful, because God is. God is the God of all times. Back in the 1600s, when the Pilgrims struggled not to die, God was there, comforting them when they grieved, helping them persevere. God made the first Thanksgiving. Back in 1800, when the founding members of St. James met in each other's homes because they had no church building, God was there. Through our 207 years - through arguments over what language to use during worship; through fires; through church splits; through the deaths of pastors and parishioners; through times of running in the red right up until Christmas – through all those years, God was. God grieved with us and helped us beyond bad times to good ones to bad times to good times, on and on, as the cycle of good and bad goes. Life is up and down, but God is constant. Today, 2007, God is. Thanks be to God for all the ways he blesses us today, now. Last Wednesday, at Bible study, we came up with a list of some of the blessings of St. James for which to give thanks. For one thing, St. James, we said, has generous volunteers. For instance, this past Friday night, when water started pouring down through the ceiling, I called some of you, and you came to help. St. James is full of that kind of dedication. The Holy Spirit has empowered and compelled you, the baptized, to step forward to help out over and over, without payment or praise. God have given us numerous other blessings for which to give thanks. Our finances are strong. We have been successful in helping many people in need. We have a handsome, serene building. We have friendly, caring, supportive members, eager to spend time together for the glory of God and the good of others. On and on we could go, because, every day, God is. The Bible is still the great source of truth, because God is. No matter how noisy and scary the world becomes, prayer still works, because God is. Holy Communion still feeds us the real presence of Jesus Christ, the body and blood, no matter what. Baptism still joins people to Christ. Never does Baptism not work. Never does Holy Communion malfunction. Prayer always works. The Bible always works, regardless of the time or place. Why? Because God always is. In the years, decades, centuries, and milliennia to come, God will continue. People we love will die. Criminals will continue to rob stores. We will cry. Life will be full of injustice. All the time, God will be, and one day, because of Christ's death and resurrection, death, crying and pain will be no more. Thanks be to God for giving us the talent, intelligence, and determination to keep helping one another. We express our thanks by placing money in the Salvation Army's red kettles. We express our thanks by writing in protest against the slaughter in the Darfur. We express our thanks by replacing bulbs and turning down thermostats to help preserve the planet and its resources. Praise God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for inspiring, teaching, and directing us to proclaim our thanksgiving by loving others as Christ has loved us, by emptying himself so that we could be full. The night of the robberies, our church council met. Evil skulks, shoots, and runs away. We are afraid, but we keep going, keep meeting, keep praying and helping, because God keeps being God. Yours in Christ, David von Schlichten, Lectionary Blog Moderator Thanks, Tom By David von Schlichten I'll probably do something along the lines of your suggestion. I am thank-full for your input. Yours in Christ, David von Schlichten, Lectionary Blog Moderator [First Page] [Prev] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 [Next] [Last Page] Return |
