Naming
"To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.
13. I know where you live--where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city--where Satan lives.
14. Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality.
15. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
16. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.
In the Bible, we see that by naming something, we have authority over it. God gave some people (ie. Abram and Jacob) new names which signified a transition or a new status. In Isaiah 62, it says on the day that God returned, His people will be called by a new name.
Even though we deserve a black stone, God will give us a white stone because of His grace. We were invited to write the name that we believe God will give us on a white stone and place it at the base of the sculpture.
Jim VanderMolen's Artist statement: My proposed sculptural installation, Column of the Spirit, draws on my experience as an architect, artist and child of God. Inspired by various liturgical furnishings and towers I have created for church clients, as well as odd bits and pieces from off-the-shelf and discard bins, this work invokes the creative, dynamic power of the Holy Spirit that dignifies the ordinary with joy and grace.
Labels: artprize
Jesus Loves Me This I Know
Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Mark 10:14
Today, Pastor Mary read
Mark 10:13-16 and talked about the upside kingdom we have been learning about in the beatitudes. We have to accept God's kingdom with the trust of a little child!
And Jeremiah gave us some food for thought at the end... it is better to be humbled than to be successful.
Labels: Sermon on the Mount
Blessed are the Pure in Heart
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Matthew 5:8
You're blessed when you get your inside world - your mind and heart - put right. Then you can see God in the outside world. The Message
Today Pastor Mary talked about this beatitude and read the story of the poor widow's offering. Even though her offering wasn't as much as the other's, Jesus saw her heart. She gave all she had out of her poverty. A person who is pure in heart would be innocent and untainted by evil. As creatures of the fall we can never have perfectly pure motivations, but we need to work on making sure Jesus is the grounding part of our life. We heard about the part in David's life when he became more of a king than a child of God and threw his weight around in the wrong way. After he realized where he had gone wrong, he wrote
Psalm 51. Verse 10 says "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." May we should always seek God to make our minds and heart put right.
Labels: Sermon on the Mount
Blessed are the Merciful
Today Pastor Mary talked about this beatitude and read the story of the Good Samaritan in
Luke 10. The parable of the Good Samaritan shows us who our neighbor is. This story is so well known today, but it was radical in Jesus' time. She also read Genesis 1:26-31 emphasizing verse 27 where we are created in God's own image. We can be merciful because God has shown mercy to us.
Mary shared a quote from Dorothy Day who said, "I really only love God as much as the person I love the least." This is a powerful quote to think of when we think about loving our neighbors and showing mercy to them. In the end we learn, as Henry Nouwen did, that when we show mercy, we ourselves receive such amazing mercy - the Holy Spirit goes with us!
Labels: Sermon on the Mount
Blessed are Those who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness
Pastor Mary has been continuing with the series on the Sermon on the Mount, however, I haven't posted for a few weeks with vacation, etc. She covered these: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Last week, we learned that meekness is a trait that Jesus wants us to have. With meekness, our lives will be about Him and not our own agendas.
Today, Pastor Mary talked about the next beatitude: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they will be filled. We read the story of the woman at the well whom Jesus told that the water He gives is living water. Whoever drinks it will not be thirsty.
As we sat on the hillside listening to Pastor Mary, it began to sprinkle. Mary and others made a good call and headed indoors for it soon turned into a downpour. It seemed ironic to be speaking of the water we thirst for as the downpour came from heaven, but as Jeremiah rightly pointed out, the water from Jesus satisfies our spiritual thirst.
Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule." Matthew 5:2 The Message
Today, Pastor Mary talked about the first of the Beatitudes: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." She illustrated how this works with the story of the unclean woman in Matthew 9 who had been bleeding for 12 years. She touched the edge of Jesus' cloak and was healed because of her faith. She was at the end of her rope, realized that she could not be made better on her own, and put her faith in Jesus. We realize we are most blessed when we are in the time of greatest need or when we realize our need and we know we can't save ourselves on our own.
Things to think about:
Read the account of this story in the book of Luke and Mark. How are they the same? How are they different?
How is God working in your life today? How can you reach out - or let yourself be reached?
We can't do it ourselves - we need our Savior!
Labels: Sermon on the Mount
Simplicity
Today, Pastors Henry & Amy talked about the spiritual discipline of simplicity and what it means to practice this. We read Matthew 6:25-34:
25. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
26. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
27. Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ?
28. "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
29. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
30. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31. So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
32. For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
33. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Christian simplicity is more than just living with less. We need to learn to live without worry which distracts our minds from God. Simplicity starts with our hearts where we put our possessions in their proper perspective. Richard Foster in his book on Christian disciplines suggests 3 ways to put our possessions in perspective:
1. Trust God to care for the things He has given you.
2. Receive what you have as a gift from God.
3. Allow the things you own to be available to others.
Outward simplicity starts on the inside. Where is your heart focused today?Labels: journey
