Wisdom from above is . . . full of mercy and good fruits

April 2011 Blog Posts (4)

Crossing the Line - SERMON

Picture a giant roll of Ace Hardware masking tape. Imagine the sound of it ripping loudly off the roll, one yard at a time, and being placed across the center aisle of the church. Then, read my Easter Sermon, Crossing the Line. A Happy Easter to all!

Added by Becky on April 24, 2011 at 2:12pm — No Comments

Broken Wide Open - SERMON

"One, two, skip a few, ninety-nine, a hundred." That's how I feel about "Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday." Several years ago, I rebelled. Palm Sunday is about the beginning of the end of Christ's earthly life. The day has its own message. Good Friday is about the end of it, and that day, of course, has ITS own message. Let's not give in to the temptation to compress life, either by listening to the story at double speed, or by skipping over the bad parts and going straight from "Hosanna" to "He… Continue

Added by Becky on April 17, 2011 at 8:00pm — No Comments

Instructed Eucharist

We did an "instructed Eucharist" this week. That means that, at many points along the way, we stop everything and explain why we do what we do, whether it's for reasons of theology, scripture, tradition, piety, preference, etc. In my usual OCD manner, I researched what I already "know" to make sure I was remembering correctly all that stuff I learned in seminary about ceremonials, actions, options and attitudes for a Eucharist service from the Book of Common Prayer. You know what? The…

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Added by Becky on April 10, 2011 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Blaming, Complaining, and Undeserved Grace - SERMON

I've heard a lot of casual references to "karma" lately - the notion that we get what we deserve, especially when we've messed up somehow. I surely understand that "what goes around, comes around," but I also get very, very jumpy when people start talking like God put this gigundous quid pro quo mechanism in place to rule our lives. Not only does that have us looking over our own shoulders when things go badly for us, but it can make us awfully smug when things are going well.… Continue

Added by Becky on April 3, 2011 at 9:21pm — No Comments