Podcast by Madison Street UMC
Questions to Consider: How am I blessed to be a blessing? What does it mean to believe in Jesus? What does it mean to trust Jesus with my life?
Questions to Consider: How hard is it for me to take responsibility for my actions? How hard is it for me to trust that God is with me in the wilderness? Am I more prone to turn away from God or toward God when life is hard? With what temptation am I struggling the most right now? How is God providing for me?
Questions to Consider & Points to Ponder: What leads me (is leading me) to doubt God? Where is there a deep darkness that needs God's light? What light might already be dawning now?
Questions to Consider & Points to Ponder: Did I/we do what we said we were going to do? If not, why? If so, what's next? What is the time lapse between my awareness of the measurements and my course correction? "You are a part of the infinite vastness of the universe, a part of the infinite vastness of God-Who-Is-Love. And yet, in all of it, you are literally unique. None has been, or ever will be, created exactly like you. When God formed you, God designed you uniquely." - Rev. Lisa Cressman
Questions to Consider: What do I need to prune? Is my strategy clear and actionable? Do I know what I need to do each day? What actions do I control?
Points to Ponder & Questions to Consider: Time and energy are finite resources. If we do not establish and keep our priorities, then other people, outside forces, chance, pressure, and happenstance will shape our lives. Do I really know how I spend my time? Are my time, energy, and resources aligned with my priorities? Where are there discrepancies and disconnects between what I value and how I spend my time and energy?
Questions to Consider: What thinking and beliefs do I need to rework or lay aside? Where do I want to go/what do I want to achieve? Why do I want it? When do I want it by?
Points to Ponder and Questions to Consider: "You are a part of this infinite vastness of the universe, a part of the infinite vastness of God-Who-Is-Love. And yet, in all of it, you are literally unique. None has been, or ever will be, created exactly like you. When God formed you, God designed you uniquely. What is unique about your character, your story, your reflection of God? Who are you in God's eyes? In God's heart?" - Rev. Lisa Cressman
Points to Ponder: "It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!" --Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol "It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you." --St. Teresa of Calcutta
Questions to Consider: Where do I hear God calling me to repent? What might God be calling me to give up? To whom and how will I give the gifts of presence and joy this Advent?
Questions to Consider: When have you come face-to-face with your own privilege or position of authority? How did you use it to your advantage? When have you been in the out group or ostracized? What was your response? How have you fallen victim to the sin that power and privilege may bring?
Points to Ponder: A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes – and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent. –Dietrich Bonhoeffer Christ [was born,] died and was raised, not to prevent us from grieving, but so that our brokenness would be redeemed, our faults would not define us, and our sadness would not be the end of the story. —Matthew Rawle
Points to Ponder: "No space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused. Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode? Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me?" —Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol "When we fail to see…the false belief that souls are worth more than others, the chasm that separates us one from another is indeed impossible to cross." –Rev. Matthew Rawle
Points to Ponder: There is no joy without gratitude. -Brené Brown It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. -Dietrich Bonhoeffer Gratitude is acknowledging the goodness in our lives as life exists today, not as we wish it to be. -Jennifer Dukes Lee In a society that has you counting money, pounds, calories and steps; be a rebel and count your blessings instead. -Lisa Heckman
Questions to Consider & Points to Ponder: Scholar N.T. Wright noted a helpful rule of thumb about money in Hebrews 13: “When you love something or someone, you make sacrifices for them. When you find yourself making a sacrifice of something else in your life, simply so that you can follow where money is beckoning you, regard that as a danger signal.” What relationships, activities or values would you never give up, never sacrifice just to be able to pursue more money?
Questions to Consider What are my earliest memories of hearing that God loves me? Who has helped me see and believe in God? Who am I encouraging to deepen and expand their faith? How?
Questions to Consider: 1. In spending this money, am I acting like I own it, or am I acting like the Lord's trustee? 2. What Scripture requires me to spend this money this way? 3. Can I offer up this purchase as a sacrifice to the Lord? 4. Will God reward me for this expenditure at the resurrection of the just? - John Wesley's questions regarding expenditures Dare we care at all about current fashions if that means reducing our ability to help hungry neighbors? How many more luxuries should we buy for ourselves and our children when others are dying for lack of bread? - Ronald J. Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity Howrichami.givingwhatwecan.org www.givewell.org
In his book, How to Be Rich: It's Not What You Have, It's What You Do with What You Have, Andy Stanley describes 3-S Givers and 3-P Givers. 3-S Givers are spontaneous, sporadic, and sparing. 3-P Givers make giving a priority, decide in advance what percentage they will give, give progressively (continue to grow in our willingness and desire to partner with God). Which type of giver am I? Which type of giver do I aspire to be? Are there changes God is calling me to make?
Questions to Consider & Points to Ponder: How much money would you need to secure your future against all imaginable eventualities? When our hope begins to migrate towards our finances, then wealth becomes a substitute for God. We need to make some dramatic, concrete moves to escape the materialism that seeps into our minds via diabolically clever and incessant advertising. We have been brainwashed to believe that bigger houses, more prosperous businesses, and more sophisticated gadgets are the way to joy and fulfillment. As a result, we are caught in an absurd, materialistic spiral. The more we make, the more we think we need in order to live decently and respectably. Somehow we have to break this cycle because it makes us sin against our needy brothers and sisters and, therefore, against our Lord. And it also destroys us. Sharing with others is the way to real joy. - Ronald J. Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger givingwhatwecan.org www.givewell.org
Points to Ponder: Three Side Effects of Wealth: 1. Rich people confuse BEING rich with feeling rich. How much margin do we have? 2. Rich people are plagued by DISCONTENTMENT. The more we have, the more we want. 3. Rich people suffer from a MIGRATION OF HOPE. Over time wealth becomes a substitute for God. - Andy Stanley, How to Be Rich: It's Not What You Have, It's What you Do With What You Have howrichami.givingwhatwecan.org www.givewell.org
Points to Ponder: Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness. – Desmond Tutu Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality. – Jonas Salk Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up. – Anne Lamott
Points to Ponder: The story of Christianity is that God does not throw us away as flawed but reworks us into something more beautiful. - Kenny Enright Often the Lord allows a fall so that the should will be more humble, and when it returns to the right way of acting and grows in self-knowledge, it advances further in the service of our Lord, as we see among many saints. - St. Theresa of Avila Christ has turned all our sunsets into dawns. - Clement of Alexandria God's forgiveness and grace is bigger than anything wrong you've ever done or will do. - Rick Warren
Points to Ponder: You are loved by, and matter to, God. No pains lasts forever. There is always hope. Other can help - just ask. 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment, we can start now, start slowly changing the world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make their contribution toward introducing justice straightaway…And you can always, always give something, even it is only kindness! - Diary of Anne Frank How are we called to be prophets in the paces where we find ourselves? Have I said yes to God's call upon my life? How am I living out my calling?
Points to Ponder: I am loved. Isaiah 43:1-2; John 3:16; Romans 5:8 I am forgiven. Psalm 103:12; Isaiah 43:25; 1 John 2:12 I am free from condemnation. Romans 8:1, 34; 1 John 3:20 I am never alone. Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5 I was created for a purpose. Ephesians 2:10 The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in me. Romans 8:11
How does belonging to Christ influence how we interact with each other? Am I willing to listen? Can I disagree without being disagreeable?
Important Words & Practices in Our Closest Relationships: Regularly say: “I love you. I love you because…” Don't be ruled by anger. (Be quick to listen and slow to speak.: Apologize. Forgive.
The words we use can inspire, encourage, and comfort or they can hurt, harm, and destroy. What is the impact of our words at work, at school, in our neighborhood? Question to Consider & Points to Ponder: The 24-Hour Test Can I go twenty-four hours without saying any unkind words about, or to, anybody? If you can't go for twenty-four hours without saying unkind words about or to others, then you've lost control of your tongue. This week monitor how often you say needlessly critical, hurtful, and even cynical things about and to the people around you. The [good news is that the] way we speak is something we can change. —Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, Words That Hurt, Words That Heal
Let's Start at the Beginning - with The Rev. Randy T. Brown by Madison Street UMC
Teach Us to Pray - with The Rev. Dr. Phil D. Jamieson by Madison Street UMC
It was Us All Along... - with the Rev. Andrew Kjorlaug by Madison Street UMC
4 Cords of our Worldview - with The Rev. Eric Soard by Madison Street UMC
Get Back Down the Mountain - with The Rev. Andrew C. Kjorlaug by Madison Street UMC
Just the Hem of His Cloak - with Dr. David P. Comperry by Madison Street UMC
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