Privileged to Worship the God of Love
Photo by Ian Schneider @ unpslash.com Acts 16:9-15 Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5 John 14:23-29 Psalm 67 One of Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry’s ‘Way of Love’ practices for a Jesus-Centered Life is “Worship.” We at St. Benedict’s, myself included, are very privileged to have this time together each week to worship God in the beauty of Holiness and to be nourished by God’s Holy Spirit. And speaking of privilege, I must say, it is a privilege to be privileged. As a white-male,…
The Way of Love – Worship
By Jim Arnold May 26, 2019
The Way of Love – Prayer
Acts 11:1-18 John 13:31-35 Millions of people were inspired by the sermon our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, preached at the royal wedding last year. So much so that this week he received an award for it. In his sermon, Bishop Curry quoted Martin Luther King jr who said, “We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will make of this old world a new world, for love is the only…
The Way of Love: Learn
Photo by Aaron Burden on unsplash.com John 10:22-30 I’d like you to take a moment to identify someone in the church that you don’t know very well. It may be that you know their name but not much else, or perhaps you don’t even know their name yet. And I’d like you to take just a moment to imagine a conversation with them. You would probably ask them a few questions about themselves – what might you ask? … so…
The Way of Love – Turn
Photo by Dewang Gupta@unsplash.com Acts 9:1-6, (7-20) John 21:1-19 I wonder who was the most astonished; Saul – soon to be known as Paul – when the light flashed from heaven and the voice said “Saul, “Saul, why do you persecute me?”; Ananias when he had a vision telling him to go minister to Saul; or the disciples when they saw Jesus and pulled in an overflowing netfull of fish. God broke through into all their lives in unexpected and…
Being Apostles
Photo by Jared Erondu @unsplash.com
Jesus Christ is the Tree of Life
Photo by Kristina Rogers on unsplash.com 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 John 20:1-18 Alleluia! The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed, alleluia! Happy Easter! and Happy Earth Day! Tomorrow is the 49th celebration of Earth Day and today is approximately the one thousand, nine hundred and ninetieth celebration of the resurrection. It’s unusual for Easter and Earth Day to coincide since Earth Day is always remembered on April 22, but the date of Easter changes depending on the first full moon…
We are the Light of the World – Easter Vigil
Photo by Noah Silliman on unsplash.com I love this service. I love the excitement of bringing light into the dark church and the telling of stories and singing of songs gathered around the ritual flame. Tonight we remind ourselves that we are the people of God, as we recount our salvation history, renew our vows and then celebrate the first Eucharist of Easter, the foretaste of the heavenly banquet when we will all be gathered together and all will be…
Blessed are we…
Photo by Xavier Coiffic @unsplash.com Blessed are we who come in the name of the Lord! Blessed are we who have a King whose idea of a triumphant entry into His Kingdom is on the foal of a donkey. Blessed are we who have a King who allows Himself to be condemned for our sins. Blessed are we who have the Good News of the Light and Life of the Resurrection which the darkness of the cross could not subdue.…
Intimacy with Jesus
Photo by Isaac Taylor on Pexels.com John 12:1-8 This mornings’ gospel reading poses a false dichotomy – should we give money to the poor or give it to God? That’s like saying should I love my neighbor or God and the answer is Yes – both! There is actually no distinction between the two but my relationship with God as God and neighbor as human neighbor are quite different. But this reading raises many other questions which are more perplexing…