genties & ladlemen of WC,
this is a humble request of you for prayers, hopes, mindful moments, commiserations, yells to the unknown dark, etc for my wife's father who has been admitted to hospice for pulmonary edema and congestive heart failure
I came across this thought provoking article that certainly deserves discussion on this forum.
My story for this Sunday was on the Platinum Rule. Mary loved strawberries, but her friend John was allergic to strawberries. They were bringing snacks for a trip, and strawberries were in season, and were absolutely delicious. Mary decided to bring grapes, because takig something John could eat was more important to her than taking what she loved. The Platinum Rule is loving our neighbour as they need to be loved, not treating someone as we want to be treated. My message was as follows.
Neighbours July 14, 2013; Luke 10:25-37
As the news came in of the Boston bombing, and as I now hear the over-the-top reporting on it, I've wondered...
1. Did any church pray for victims of the bombers?
2. Did any church pray for the hundreds of thousands (millions, really, but I won't argue) that our side has murdered, tortured, orphaned?
3. Did any church pray for the bombers?
I posted the following on our church website for people to consider before next Sunday. I will be carefully reflecting on what would be true answers for me, and evidence I have to offer to myself for those answers. What say you?
I just posted my Christmas Eve message with a focus on God's unconditional love. The message will be followed by a soloist singing "I Wonder as I Wander", accompanied by a violinist, and then communion.
My Message for Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve Message, 2012
A young man had a dream. In his dream he was holding a candle and he was surrounded by darkness. Jesus lit his candle and sent him into the darkness. After a little while, his candle went out and he had to go back to Jesus to light his candle. This happened several times. He started to apologize to Jesus for not keeping his candle lit. Jesus said, "Please see that each time you were able to go a little farther into the darkness before your candle went out."
I have posted my draft of the story and message for Sunday, December 9 in a blog. The message includes two stories: one about Robert Fulgum on appreciating the love directed our way and one whose origin I have lost on our continuous option of making positive choices. Overall, my message considers reasons to hope, making the choice to hope, and making the choice to make our hopes real.
Here are my current drafts of my story and message for December 2, 2012
Seeing Hope
This coming Sunday is Reign of Christ or Christ the King Sunday. I have a short cmment on our church website
st-matthews-uc.org
and I have posted my frst draft of my message in a blog. It bothers me that historically this coming Sunday was associated with Christian triumphalism which was and is contrary to the life and teachings of Jesus. I hope you will enjoy it.
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