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Don't you think that turning our loneliness into the abundant life we were created for might be why Jesus risked stepping into that line of complicated humans at the Jordan River to strike up a friendship that has now extended even to us?
You and I and every child who's ever been filled with anticipation for what delight might await them in the morning have known a form of unconditional love. Jesus would just expand radically what and whom in this world we might come to love in just that unabashed way, as we come to trust that God loved each one of us in just that unabashed way first.
Most Rev. Scott Rassbach takes a look at Gnosticism and the Gnostic message through the lens and work of Marshall McLuhan and media theory.
Prophecy and the Promise of God: A King Who Lives Forever – Rev. Scott Simpson 12/3/23 by First Presbyterian Church San Antonio
When we begin with the conviction that God is the one who calls to us in the garden, or the good shepherd who takes off after us when we stray, and if we believe the kingdom of God is a realm of gift and grace, not scarcity and fear, we might pause before assigning every characteristic of the master in the parable to God. And in that pause we may notice that fear of the master is what caused the man to bury his talent in the ground. Fear is the problem here, not the point.
Obedience in Giving
If we truly let our hearts and minds absorb how Jesus says blessedness can actually manifest in a life, well maybe we'd be present enough to our neighbor to help lift her poor spirit and satisfy her hunger and thirst in deeper ways than the ones that just reinforce our own virtuousness. Maybe we'd also receive the next unfolding moment of our lives for the unmerited gift that it is.
I think Jesus still calls us to drop the illusion that the things that matter most in this life are scarce and that our true worth is not a gift and a given but something that each of us must earn for ourselves. These are the illusions the empire of money depends on. Jesus calls us away from that realm because it's a realm that's just too small for the abundant life the human heart was created for.
The question Jesus keeps pressing upon me and upon all of us is What does it look like for us, here and now, to set aside our confident, violent visions of what we think would set things straight and ask what love requires? Ask perhaps what these strangers to us might actually need in their lives to make them a little more whole.
“But here's the question the parable poses to us. What do you need to forget? And what do you need to remember? Do you ever find yourself remembering and ruminating on some hurt you know you need to be set free from somehow and forgetting the many gifts and graces that have arrived in your life since the first breath you drew this morning? I sure do.”
Justice:When God Shows Up- Rev. Scott Williams (9.17.23) by Sermons
If we let ourselves be drawn toward the mystery of the God who has no adequate name, we might also let ourselves be drawn toward the mystery of each other. Because your name is inadequate to who you are in the depths of yourself as well, as is the name of the person you think you know best in this world and the name of your oldest and archest enemy.
First Presbyterian Church - Rev. Scott Simpson - 9/3/23 by First Presbyterian Church San Antonio
Sunday Morning Service Rev Scott Graham July 30, 2023 The Anchor Church of Zanesville, Ohio. http://theanchor.church/ https://www.facebook.com/TheAnchorChurch God's House Pledge Card: http://bit.ly/2w8cCiH God's House Offering: https://theanchor.churchcenter.com/giving
Part 5 in a series: Accidentally Agnostic Sunday Morning First Word Special Guest Speaker Rev Scott Graham July 30, 2023 The Anchor Church of Zanesville, Ohio. http://theanchor.church/ https://www.facebook.com/TheAnchorChurch God's House Pledge Card: http://bit.ly/2w8cCiH God's House Offering: https://theanchor.churchcenter.com/giving
In the end, faith looks like a kind of clear attention. A truthful way of seeing the world as it is or the person in front of us for who they are really can change everything, beginning with ourselves.
“If we, like the people on the mountain that day, make a space where our beautiful, flawed, complicated history can actually be what asks us not to rush to act until we have listened to Jesus with curiosity and wonder, transfigurations are still possible.”
First Presbyterian Church - Rev. Scott Simpson 7/30/23 by First Presbyterian Church San Antonio
God blesses Jacob because God is love, not fear. And love — perfect, unconditional, redeeming love — is the most powerful form of encouragement of them all.
7-13-23
Rev. Angela Daubon, Rev. Scott Williams
First Presbyterian Church - Rev. Scott Simpson 7/9/23 by First Presbyterian Church San Antonio
I truly believe coming to know our true selves, our given and forgiven selves, not the ones we've struggled to construct and earn and prove, is the newness of life Paul wants us to walk in.
A Song Of Restoration - Rev. Scott Simpson - 6/11/23 by First Presbyterian Church San Antonio
Mercy is always a gift, and it is always about the restoration of community, whether that's a community of two or twenty or ten million.
When Jesus found fearful people huddled in locked upper rooms or on hillsides staring at the sky, he sent them right back down into the city. Right back into the liturgy of life in this world that he so loves. The incarnate liturgy in which his holy and life-giving Spirit is still to be found.
Learning to let go and trust God with the details of the future can be a way of opening our eyes and our trust to the presence of God in the moment at hand. It truly can be a way, a truth, and a life for us right now. And this way is not just any way. It is the way of Jesus. The way of love. Maybe trust is just the space we need to meet this world with the kind of love Jesus taught and lived to the end.
This week proved to be to tough to get a full show put together so Bill has created the Illusion of a new episode with reviews of El Topo and The Time Guardian, plus a revist of one of the greatest Rev Scott segments of all time.
HAPPY EASTER!!!! Hallelujah, Christ is Risen!!! Matthew 28:1-10 Mustard Seed: Take the plunge. WITH LOVE AND GRATITUDE, SCOTT
Christ is risen, my friends! Christ is risen! The only work that's left for us to do is walk away from the stories of the empire, and commit together to being the people of Abel's God, the community of Jesus, and to giving our fears over to his resurrection to be raised as joy.
Perhaps a challenge at the heart of the Maundy Thursday story to all of us is whether we might be humbler about the sources of evil and clearer about the commandment to love in all our relationships and dealings in this world.
Matthew 21:1-11 Palm Sunday Mustard Seed: Identify someone that needs hope, and give them what hope you have in the form you have. It could be a note, a song, art, a hug, or anything that will encourage them. Have a great and hope-fueled Holy Week!
A message from Pastor Benjy Simmons of Gathering Community Church in Surfside Beach, SC.Guest Speaker Rev. Scott Gabrielson Message "Preparing For Easter"March 26th, 2023______________________________________If you wish to Support our Ministry , your Contributions can be mailed to :Gathering Community ChurchPO Box 1813Murrells Inlet, SC. 29576-------------------------------------------------------------Gathering Community Church1504 Hwy 17 NorthSurfside Beach, SC. 29575843.828.3333--------------------------------------------------------------EMAIL: gatheringcc1210@gmail.comWEBSITE: https://www.gatheringcommunitychurch.comCCLI LICENSE #20066032
John 9:1-41 Mustard Seed: in a safe place where it is very dark, take 3 steps and ask, "God, guide me." Have a great week!
This episode we are chatting with the Rev Scott Lee from St. Barnabas Warwick and the bumper Sticker is "COEXIST". We talk about what does this concept mean and how can we live it out in our lives? Connect with Scott on Facebook through the St. Barnabas Warwick page and their instgram @stbarnabaschurchwarwick
Could we learn to look at the stranger, the sinner, the heretic, the outsider we've been conditioned to ignore or worse … could we learn to pay attention to the likes of these just as Jesus and this woman paid attention to each other in spite of everything? I think we can.
John 4:5-42 Exodus 17:1-7 Mustard Seed: identify someone that you know and trust and who knows and trusts you. Share with them the thing into which you hope to plunge. Have a great week!
Bulletin 3 5 23 Lent 2 Mustard Seed: Last week, you identified something into which you have been resistant or reluctant to dive. Maybe that is a memory or maybe it's an opportunity or transition. This week, bring compassion to wherever there is resistance--be that in a person who poses a tension or in yourself. Bring your compassion to the person of resistance this week. Have a great week!
The First Sunday in Lent Mustard Seed: Throughout Lent, our theme will be "Plunge." The first step in exploring this theme and our Mustard Seed this week is to identify something you have been reluctant to face or for which you have been resisting taking the plunge. This week, just notice that thing; bring your awareness to it. Have a great week!
Matthew 5:21-37 Deuteronomy 30:15-20
I also believe to my core that, for all the horrific bugs in our operating system over the centuries, the Church still bears something sacred and relevant and as desperately needed as ever to this lonely, hurting world of ours. We don't have to be a perfect community. Just one that's humbly faithful to the way of Jesus in our relationships with friend, sinner, and stranger alike. And when we are, our life together here at Calvary can still be a source of miraculous cures.
Hello everyone! Welcome to the UpperRoom Podcast. We are so happy you're here! This Sunday, we heard from Rev. Scott Sistrunk, as he preached a message called, "The Pillar and Ground of Truth." This service cultivated a deeper love for the church and the people around us. We hope you are encouraged! God Bless!
Hersh, we did something different than we've ever done... we recorded in two locations. When our guest and I sat down to record at another location (Gilbertown, AL), we had some technical issues and couldn't finish the episode. So, we recorded the intro and the final part in studio 4 with our virtual Songleader and Virtual Deacon being present... well, you'll see. There have been a few times over the history of this podcast that I could feel the presence of the Lord during the recording process. Today was definitely one of those days. We have on Pod'N Me Rev. Scott Sumner of Christ Cares Ministries. His family has been missionaries for many years to the country of Honduras. You can hear the true passion in his voice as he shares some very special experiences that have taken place in their ministry. The greatest take away for me was when Rev. Sumner shared how one particular verse in the Word of God has ministered to their family for many years. That verse is Isaiah 41:10. If you would like to contact the Sumners or send support to their ministry, you can do so at: Christ Cares World MinistriesP. O. Box 307Dewey, OK 74029PayPal and Online contact information is: ChristCaresHonduras@protonmail.com God bless & enjoy the episode!