Happy Thanksgiving from greateststory

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for:

• My wife
• My son-to-be (though he already is)
• My family
• God’s calling on my life
• Beautiful journeys
• Encouraging and sometimes challenging friends
• Vacation
• This overwhelming desire to dig deeper
• Bailey-my dog
• Valerie, Ian and Meghan for being so kind to our home while we are gone
• Ms. Merrill and co.
• Morrow, Schlegel, and co. (and especially Ali and Jamie)
• Bean, Lesesene and co.
• Muffins
• and many others

A prayer from today’s daily office: 

Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

…on Virgina Tech Campus

Gunman Kills 30 on Virginia Tech Campus.

Sadness. I don’t have words.

Rev. Mommy has some good ones, here. 

jim’s maxims and a prayer

I still believe that a majority of the things that we find wrong with other people really stem from things that are unsatisfying about ourselves.That’s a bitter pill to swallow sometimes. Then again, the treatment isn’t always pleasant, but it gets the job done.

When you wear a lot of hats, sometimes you wish you could wear the other one a little more.

Sometimes it’s better not to talk.

Sometimes it’s better to be graceful than to do what feels satisfying.

God is bigger than you.

To our prayers, O Lord, we join our unfeigned thanks for all your mercies; for our being, for our reason, and all other endowments and faculties of soul and body; for our health, friends, food, and raiment, and all the other comforts and conveniences of life. Above all, we adore your mercy in sending your only Son into the world, to redeem us from sin and eternal death, and in giving us the knowledge and sense of our duty towards you. We bless you for your patience with us, nothwithstanding our many and great provocations; for all the directions, assistances, and comforts of your Holy Spirit; for your continual care and watchful providence over us through the whole course of our lives; and particularly for the mercies and benefits of the past day; beseeching you to continue your blessings to us, and to give us grace to show our thankfulness in a sincere obedience to his laws, through whose merits and intercession we received them all, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

i felt my church strangely warmed…

It’s cold in the south today. We turned on the heat. But that’s not quite it…

I am trying to figure out the church. I’ve been a part of it for the better part of 10 years and I’ve served in it for 8 of those years. What is this organic being that I am a part of? What is it like? What is wonderful about it? What is challenging about it?

I’ve got the text book definitions down and I can show you Biblical examples and descriptions. It’s only a slice of it. In a sweet, unexpected moment today (and it’s Monday), church is redefined in my heart. This organic thing won’t be pinned down.  It seems that I can’t “know” it as much as I can “be in relationship” with it.  What a humbling way to serve!

Read these prayers from todays readings:

Gracious Father, we pray for your holy Catholic* Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son our Savior. Amen.

O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

This is all spoken in a warm way–with a warmed heart.

What about church for you and your community? What is beautiful about it? What about it is the evident body of Christ?

*= universal. as a good methodist, i felt the need to include this…

He Is Risen!

He Is Risen Indeed!

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Give to your Church, O God, a bold vision and a daring charity, a refreshed wisdom and a courteous understanding, that the eternal message of your Son may be proclaimed as the good news of the age; through him who makes all things new, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

More from today’s morning prayer. 

A Prayer for Late Holy Saturday Night

The Lord Almighty grant us a peaceful night and a perfect end. Amen.

Our help is in the Name of the Lord;
The maker of heaven and earth.

O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

Look down, O Lord, from your heavenly throne, and illumine this night with your celestial brightness; that by night as by day your people may glorify your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O God, your unfailing providence sustains the world we live in and the life we live: Watch over those, both night and day, who work while others sleep, and grant that we may never forget that our common life depends upon each other’s toil; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Texts for Holy Saturday

From the daily office lectionary, here is a sample of the texts for today, Holy Saturday:

“The Lord is my light and my salvation–whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life–of whom shall I be afraid?  When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.  Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.”  Psalm 27:1-3

And where, O Lord, does this confidence come from?  Where is your stronghold?  With my enemies rallied against me, how shall I prevail?

Die to self, to live in grace, to resonate Christ.   Do not fight in a battle that is already won.  Clothe yourself in humilty and enter the stronghold of the Lord

“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.  And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes–I, and not another.”  Job 19:25-27a

When God gets under your skin, you must die to yourself in order to see God.  When God challenges your pride, shed your mortal self and gaze upon the redeemer.  Therein lies the beauty–to see Christ within your own self, with your own eyes, rather than rely solely on the testimony of another.

“Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.”  Hebrews 4:1

While the battle rages on, enter his rest–the stronghold of Christ.  To fall short of this promise is to die in battle.  However, to die to yourself and enter the rest is to rise again.