Good morning, gals and pals! I was tempted to post a picture of some donuts here this morning, or perhaps sweet rolls, or a piece of cake, but instead I decided to include a piece of art by the Japanese Artist Sadao Watanabe. This one is Christ and the Devil. I found it here. I have been thinking a lot about Japan lately (I spent three years there many years ago), and those thoughts are seeping into my thoughts about Jesus and his temptation in the wilderness. What about you? What thoughts are seeping into your worship preparation today and as we enter the season of Lent? Where is your preaching leading you? What are your temptations? Feel free to ask for ideas on a children’s message, and weigh in on other Lenten issues as well. Also, if you need inspiration, please don’t hesitate to check the conversation here
I am making blueberry pancakes (again). I am a creature of habit, after all. I hope you enjoy them. Please come for breakfast, stay for lunch and take many breaks with us to inspiration, sustenance, bread in the wilderness.
RevGalBlogPals 
I have very little idea what I'm preaching yet–but I couldn't resist the temptation to be first since I am (foolishly) still up!
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Tomorrow the Baptism of two year old twin boys, which is setting the boundaries? of worship. Expecting more than twice our average attendance between the Baptism and a family celebration of a couple in the church.yesterday at 'rehearsal' one boy took ages to settle [he was grizzly when he arrived], later both were running around the church, checking everything out, then splashing water from the font. Tomorrow will be interesting one way or another.Going with the Matthew reading, I was thinking of Identity theft, in that at his Baptism Jesus was affirmed in his role, and here the tempter is trying to have him forget who he is. what tries to take our identity in Christ away from us?Because of the Baptism, the main part of the 'sermon' will be a book called 'A Hat for Ivan' by Max Lucado, then a paragraph to tie it all together.For Lent we usually have a candle extinguishing liturgy, but after an idea from Jennifer at For the Someday Book about fasting is making way for God, I am taking a small bowl with 7 stones in it tomorrow. Each week one stone will be taken out of the bowl and placed around the table cross. This week we give up busyness to give us time to remember.Hopefully another hour or so, and it will all be done!Sorry this ended up so long.
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Good morning all! I've been tossing and turning for an hour or so, awakened with thoughts of a picture (literally) I could draw at next week's Consistory meeting to help them understand their role and place in the church as fiduciary agents. See: Church geek, definition of.I came up with a Lenten sermon series called "Surprising Words of Life" and the first is "Temptation" of course. So far, I've been considering that we are tempted to do good things (get food, ensure security) rather than trust God things. I hope it won't come out quite that tritely. I'm going to try to work in the name of a new (to me) country song I heard this week: "God is Great, Beer is Good, People are Crazy"!I have Newman's Own (Fair Trade) French Roast coffee to share with all the early birds!
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welcome, Rev Dr. Mom, pearl and Sharon! Rev, it's good to be first! pearl, I want to hear how this baptism turns out. Sharon, I like the idea, "surprising words of life." can't wait to hear more.I am not as far on my sermon as I need to be. however, just before i went to bed lat night, I got an idea, so we'll see how it goes.
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11.00pm, the printing is almost finished. the 'sermon' is 150 words, but the story book is longer than I usually preach. time for chamomile tea and fruit cake, plenty to share.I'll check in tomorrow.happy preparing.
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There is always a tune in my head when I wake up. This morning's is the Eagles "Peaceful, easy feeling." Somehow, I don't think that is going to help with the sermon and is about other things.So! I am thinking about how we don't see ha satan so that makes it easier to go wrong. Especially if we can rationalize it as doing good. I may use a story about the temptation to foster a city child when I was much younger. It would have been nice for us but oh so bad for him. Kind of like getting rid of a despot before there is any other form of government in place. Or like flocking to a disaster to help with no idea of what needs to be done.Since I have really just been thinking out loud here, I guess I am being led to preach on evil masquerading as good! I'll let that percolate awhile and get ready to make lunch at the Salvation Army.Y'all have a good morning and I'll be back later with leftover snickerdoodles. (Oh! the word verification is "trite"! Hope that isn't an omen)
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@Pearl, speaking of boundaries. Gee.Hopefully, they will be a little more settled tomorrow. I have found that sometimes with all the people there, kids will settle a bit more.Or maybe you could pop a benadryl in their juice.Margaret, fascinating that always you have a tune in your head as you awaken and hopefully a good omen for you.
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Struggling here, and very lightly toying with our drive for knowledge over obedience/trust. It's a tough dance, because you could easily preach it the other way too.Communion meditation which you would think would make it easier, but it feels very constricting. I don't think anyone could find the Good News in chaos that has been coming across the news wire in 5 minutes or less.
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I, too, love the "Surprising Words of Life" series idea. I've never preached a sermon series, but I think I might enjoy it…something to ponder. I'm preaching temptation tomorrow – the devil in disguise…lent is an exercise in learning to recognize the little evils that chip away at our own faith.
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Good morning,Margaret, 1-4 Grace, Kathrynzj and Chilly Fingers! we're off to a good start this morning.pearl, I'm looking forward to your update after worship. hope they do settle down.Margaret, now you've got me going on the Eagles. Before that, I had an old Japanese folk song, "furusato" in my head.Kathrynzj, I'm perversely a little relieved that someone else is struggling. I'm hoping my last minute inspiration bears fruit.my basic idea, is that under all the other temptations, the greatest temptation is to doubt our identity as children of God…"if you are…."So, I'm watching the news about Japan this morning, too. how about you?
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Hi all,Got an all day workshop so I'll see you all in the late afternoon evening.Thoughts so far, Jesus going into the desert on a retreat, a vision quest. How it is hard for us to go into the desert for our own retreat because when all the distractions, noise are gone, we only have ourselves and then our demons so to speak can come and make us doubt ourselves. Jesus' demon came and he was able to stand up to its temptations with the promises of God.Well that's my initial thoughts. We'll see how it comes out on paper.
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Hi, everyone~I'm trying to figure out whether the idea I had earlier in the week can still work given the Japan situation, which continues to be distressing. And I wonder if it isn't important to talk, in this moment, about how Jesus turns down the opportunity to use his God power, and how much we might wish that power could *be* used to prevent disasters like the one we're watching on TV. Who *wouldn't* want some mighty figure to step in and literally control the movement of the earth? Which is actually not where I was going at all.So maybe it's a good chance to talk about that fully human, fully divine thing, to explore the reasons why he chose to be more one than the other during his time among humans. Really, this is all very high and heavy before a full cup of coffee. I'll get back to you on this.
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By the way, I really wish I could show that little film "40" that has been floating around the ring and on Facebook this week. It perfectly portrays the tempter as a mirror of Jesus, and that's the key to the story for me.
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Martha, thank you – THAT is helpful. I think this is one of those sermons where I just need to write without boundaries and see if from that I can piece together a sermon meditation.And selfishly I ask, how come these major national (Tucson) and global (Japan) events can't happen on a Monday? One was Saturday, one began on Friday… sheesh!Thank you for allowing that ridiculous rant when so many are facing the horror of severe, massive loss.
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God_Guurrlll and Songbird, welcome! and God_Guurrlll, I guess we'll see you later, then.Songbird, I've been pondering these things too. Don't know exactly how it's going to come out, except that I do want to stick with the temptation to doubt our basic identity… and our calling…but your questions are surely out there this weekend. My husband just said, "Isn't it about time for some televangelist to come on TV and say how this is punishment for Japan for Pearl Harbor or something?"I also wish I could use that video during my sermon. We just don't have that capacity where I am…
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Good morning fellow preachers! 1-4 I've been waiting for your new blog to appear and I am glad it is up! And glad to see you are preaching again. @pearl, hope all goes well – hopefully folks can laugh about the kids, and they will add a lot of life to be sure!The people of Japan are on my mind this morning. Seems like Hawaii made it ok, according to friends who are there. But although the disaster is not in my sermon, it will figure in the pastoral prayer. The pastors were told last week by one of our administrators during staff meeting that pastoral prayers are too long. So now I am working on that. Sermon for tonight is done, trying to finish all else to go sledding in a few hours. Horrible title chosen midweek, hopefully sermon leaning heavily on ideas from David Lose @workingpreacher will be ok.Not much food here. The cook (otherwise known as the husband) is supposed to arrive back from 11 days in Argentina tomorrow.Blessings to all in your preparations. Word verification spinesse, sounds like what I am supposed to do!
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Anyone have good denominational resources to share for tomorrow? The UCC has a pastoral prayer (but I'm not bowled over by it). Please link here, if you don't mind. Thanks.
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Mumpastor, Welcome! glad you are here! would you like a cup of coffee?I too am relying a little on David Lose. going to start writing again in a few moments and hope it comes out ok.I have a fresh pot brewing if anyone needs some…
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Good idea, Songbird. I have ELCA Disaster Relief resources, but haven't seen worship resources yet. will post if they appear.
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Diane, that sad attitude is out there, definitely. It didn't need a high-profile person to get started.
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Thanks for the company and inspiration to get me going this morning. I got a rough outline done yesterday and plan to talk about how "there are limits." I suppose it goes along with accepting our humanity. Though we have to be careful which limits we accept and which we challenge.My sermon on this text from a few years ago is here. I'm posting it because it seems to fit the direction Diane is going–may have a helpful example or something.Happy writing everyone. I just put a movie on for the kids, so this is my window.
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thanks, spacious! it's been a chaotic week, for sure, and I can use all the help I can get.love your screen name, by the way.
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Morning everyone! I'm ahead of schedule a bit – I have a fairly complete sermon outline/rough draft – 803 words already and my target is 2000! I wanted to be ahead of the game because I'm preaching an hour and a half drive north of here and there's been some significant flooding in the area. I'll have to check with the local sherrifs today to see to see if my route is affected (most of the trip is non-interstate). I might have to drive up tonight, which I don't want to do. And now I realized that tonight is daylight savings time so if I don't drive up tonight, I'll have to get up at what is really 5:00 in order to be there to preach at 8:15 – the clock will say 6 and 9:15, but my body will not be fooled! BTW – did I say that I am NOT a morning person! Arrrgh!I'm preaching on sin – contrasting the garden with the wilderness and hopefully incorporating some of the Romans. the point is going to be: while sin is real, and the subtle sin (the temptation of the beneficial) is dangerous, but sin doesn't trap or paralyze us because Jesus has conquered it. Or something like that. I do get to use my favorite quote from Luther, "Sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death and the world." And I am still waiting to hear from the synod person about what my new synod has in store for me in way of call. The bishop said she would call by yesterday. I am so tired of waiting and just want a call! So there's a lot on my mind this morning Hopefully the sermonating will go quickly!
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good morning, Ramona! thanks for the Luther quote reminder!praying for a call for you…
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Good morning everyone! Banana nut bread here to share.My preaching these days is extemp/conversation starting so no sermon to write…But I do have the exciting/scary task of proofreading my latest inclusive/expansive language prayer book and writing the back cover/website blurb. *Sophia's Psalter* (all 150 psalms with feminine/neutral God-language will join *Sophia's Rosary* (for Anglican or Catholic rosaries) and *Sophia's Book of Hours* (morning, noon, evening, and night prayer). You can email me at lauraATgrimesDOTws for sample pages and/or learn more and purchase via Paypal, if interested here.PS: word verification is rockerat–rock that preaching, women!
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Still churning here… what about the idea that we are the tempter asking Jesus to show his power? If you are the Son of God, fix Japan!Such hodge-podge in my brain right now.
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I did some work I really needed to do, but it was not my sermon. …More coffee?
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Ramona, I've heard that quote of Luther's before. Can you parse it a little for those of us who have not been steeped in that tradition? Just what does Luther mean by "sin boldly"? Preaching on the Garden of Eden, and the first man and woman– who don't yet have their names. Working title: "The First Ones." Word count: goose eggs!
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ok, someone other than me can flesh this out, but I think that Luther was offering counsel to someone who was so afraid of making a misstep. I think there's a line before this that says, "Christ does not forgive fictitious sinners." And the quoted line begins, "Be a sinner and sin boldly…."
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Good morning from here. I've got a nice hot latte, no goodies yet, but will probably take a break later on and find something to keep me going.For those of you thinking about boundaries, I ran across a quote (can't remember the source right now) that said that boundaries are visible expressions of love. I've been struggling with this sermon for a couple of days now, I've written several drafts, trashed them and started over, only to start to rewirte again. This morning will be my fourth attempt and I've got a deadline. I've got to attend a commissioning service at 2 and then get back home for a family "omnibirthday". We tend to have our birthdays in bunches in the family and so twice a year we all get together to celebrate. Today it is my daughter, 2 grandchildren, my father, and 2 son-in-laws. The house will be full of joy and laughter today.
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Good morning, preachers. After being up very late last night (for no good reason) I slept until 10 am, which is unheard of for me! I am not looking forward to DST, but I need to get myself back on a normal sleeping schedule so maybe because I seem already to have "sprung" myself ahead (up til the wee hours every night lately) I can readjust okay.I'm preaching Matthew, but intrigued by the commentary on Genesis at working preachers…hmmm. For the first Sunday in Lent we will begin the service with the Great Litany which is a wonderful ancient prayer of penitence and supplication, and I will be adding the people of Japan to that–as well as people in our area suffering from flooding. After a week of relatively warm (40s) rainy weather it is possible to look outside and see no snow most places, but the rivers are overflowing their banks as a result. In an area that was once devastated by a big flood (in 1955, so some still remember it) that puts people on edge.
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KZJ, that idea works for me…and that's not how God works, as hard as it is for us to grasp. I will neve forget after Katrina when a guest speaker at our women's gathering stood up and said that if we didn't believe that God was punishing New Orleans for her sins, then we weren't reading the bible right. Oy.
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Good afternoon from a snowy Scotland. Thought we were done with that but know that lots of you have a much longer and more severe snowy season. We're following old testament lectionary readings through lent and tomorrow is all age. I was wondering how to bring in Japan and Songbird, you have helped me in that. If God would intervene, things would be so much better. But that's not the nature of the God we worship. So we have awful things happen and are joined in our grieving by a grieving God. Looking at perfection of Eden and all that mars life in all it's fulness. That"'s as far as I've got so far.Grocery shopping and then I'll be back.
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I am using Ps 32 and the Mt text…going in the direction of dipping our toe into "our" wildernesses…and sometimes we continue to explore that wilderness and sometimes we do not. Yesterday was spent in district court with a parishioner…parishioner wants to come to worship on Sunday…after spending 2 weeks in jail…talk about a wilderness.
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oh the wilderness… where life does not make sense. i'm using portions of an essay folks referenced earlier in the week… from abbey of the arts on lament.lamenting comes before celebrating… this story (Mtw) invites us to enter the silent space and offer up our cries. or something like that.
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Time ticking towards The Boy's arrival home, but I have an outline and a focus/function.How much can I type in 30 minutes and… GO!
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Hi everyone, I am not preaching tomorrow….but there is a possibility that I will have a new call very soon and be back, full time, on the preaching circuit. I'm tentatively excited…I appreciate your prayers, as you are able. Also, I wrote prayers for the disaster in Japan, if you are interested…they are posted here.Blessings for all of you as you wrestle with the text and the deep sorrow of the disaster in Japan.
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thanks for the prayer resources, Terri!!!
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Here is a prayer from the United Church of Canada. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the prayer link. It's okay, but I'll be touching it up a bit.
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Hello everyone! I'm going more creative today–a dramatic monologue as the devil, drawing both from Genesis and Matthew. I know it sounds slightly hokey, but I'm excited to get working on it. Definitely working in the idea KZJ just mentioned that if we are in the Matthew text at all, it's more likely as the tempters, not the tempted (thank you Sermon Brainwave).On another note:Here's what our synod just sent out for prayer resources for Japan.I love the "sin boldly" quote of Luther as well. I know he was writing to Melanchthon when he penned it…apparently about the proper way to handle different questions of sin in the parish…and I always think of it as meaning, "If you really believe and trust in the grace of God to forgive, then live as though it were real."
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Thanks for the prayer resources. I finished a draft of my sermon and am hoping my biblical analysis won't get me into too much trouble. That's what I get for reading Gen 2-3 in the context of news out of Libya and Wisconsin. "God" in this Genesis story seems more like Gaddafi and Governor Walker than the God of the poor and oppressed revealed in Jesus.Pretty open-minded congregation; I think I'll still have a job come Monday.
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Thanks Teri. I'll be printing these in our bulletin for people to take home with them.
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Woot!!! Done, I ended up focusing on the theme of "Boundaries are a visible expression of love" and explored it from both sides, God's side and our side. Amazing what focusing on One Thing can do. Now on to the bulletin.
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Pearl. I like that identity theft idea!Ramona, prayers for you as you wait for news.RevDrMom, I forgot about the Great Litany being tomorrow, which means I don't have the Prayers of the People to include Japan. I'd be interested in knowing how you include that concern in the GL. It is also Episcopal Relief and Development Sunday…I think an appeal for that fine organization's work will meet with a strong response under the circumstances.I'm going with "whose I am" having priority over "who I am." I've started with a list of the various names I'm called (the nice ones!); at the end of the sermon I'll bring it around to all of us being called God's son or daughter, beloved, as the statement of whose we are. The devil keeps trying to get Jesus to take a role–who he is–of ruler or miracle worker or whatever, and Jesus keeps responding with whose he is.Part of my thinking is shaped by a specific circumstance. My dad, who has lymphoma, has just been dx'd with bladder cancer; he is not strong enough to withstand any treatment. His death is not imminent, but it will be sooner rather than later. So as I think about one of the answers to who I am–daughter–I am painfully struck by the transitory nature of that in this world, though I know I will still be a daughter even after he dies. Hanging onto the stability of whose I am gives me some courage. This won't go into the sermon, as it's too fresh for me, but it helps to say it here.Younger son leaves on a 6 day school trip tomorrow at 5 AM…bad day for the time change! He's all packed so no stress there, but I'd like to spend time with him. There's some bacon in the fridge and I'm about to go cook it up; come grab a slice!
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Betsy, prayers ascending for your Dad, you and family.
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The Boy has another 2 hours to be with his Dad and I've bought more time to work on this and then have my full attention on him upon his return.I can tell I've been doing a lot of computer work today, because the sea legs feeling has returned. Whee…………..
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Okay, I've done some pretty high-quality procrastinating, by which I mean all the things I've done needed doing, but weren't necessarily a higher priority than the sermon: RevGals emails (way backed up! sorry!), laundry, exercise, dog-walking, lunch. There are no more good excuses; so I'm going to start writing and see where I get.
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ok, so I have a sermon, but I'm not totallly happy with it, so it may be different tomorrow. but, I need something for 5 this afternoon.I have heard something about radiation from Japan, does anyone know if this is a real story?I like the identity theft idea, too..
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Good day! I love the identity theft idea, Pearl.Songbird, I think you've got something there, I'm interested in how you pursue it. It surely have merit after everyone watches TV today.My best to all as I catch up on comments.
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beginning my run through the 10 commandments for Lent. Doing covet and steal this week. Using some ideas from Craig Barnes' book Yearning — we aren't intended to have it all, even in the garden there was, right in the center, the tree from which we were forbidden to eat. And SOOOOO much of our trouble stems from wanting what we do not/cannot have. When I hit the part about priorities and obsessions I'll mention a quote I heard on the news about the disaster reminding us that the things of the world are not the real priorities!Plenty of Earl Grey tea here to shar, and some GF brownies!
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