Claimed, gathered and sent

This devotion by Henri Nouwen certainly helps us put things in perspective. A Ministry of Healing and Reconciliation How does the Church witness to Christ in the world? First and foremost by giving visibility to Jesus' love for the poor and the weak. In a world so hungry for healing, forgiveness, reconciliation, and most of all unconditional love, the Church must alleviate that hunger through its ministry. Wherever we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the lonely, listen to those who are rejected, and bring unity and peace to those who are divided, we proclaim the living Christ, whether we speak about him or not. It is important that whatever we do and wherever we go, we remain in the Name of Jesus, who sent us. Outside his Name our ministry will lose its divine energy. Share your thoughts on this reflection. These reflections are taken from Henri J.M. Nouwen's Bread for the Journey. Visit HenriNouwen.org for more inspirati...

The text for this sermon is Luke 20:27-38a . This is my initial draft.             The Gospel of Luke continues to challenge us. Wed. morning as the pastors’ group gathered for text study, we discussed what we thought it might be like in the afterlife. What are we expecting? It was certainly different from what Jesus’ challengers anticipated. One member’s response was, “I just want some answers. I want to ask questions.” Maybe you feel the same way. The Sadducees had questions as well. Though their example seems extreme, it appears innocent enough, but we need to understand a bit of the cultural and religious dynamics of the groups Jesus encountered. The Sadducees and the Pharisees were generally at odds with each other. The Sadducees only believed in the written law in the first 5 books of the Old Testament. They did not accept the oral traditions that went along with it. Nor did they believe in the resurrection from the dead...

Being in the Church, Not of It Often we hear the remark that we have to live in the world without being of the world. But it may be more difficult to be in the Church without being of the Church. Being of the Church means being so preoccupied by and involved in the many ecclesial affairs and clerical "ins and outs" that we are no longer focused on Jesus. The Church then blinds us from what we came to see and deafens us to what we came to hear. Still, it is in the Church that Christ dwells, invites us to his table, and speaks to us words of eternal love. Being in the Church without being of it is a great spiritual challenge. These reflections are taken from Henri J.M. Nouwen's Bread for the Journey. Visit HenriNouwen.org for more inspiration!

It is my privilege to be the house chaplain this week at Grant Memorial Hospital here in Petersburg. Although I have previously covered for others, this is my first official week as chaplain. And to make it even more interesting, Mon. and Tues. I was away for continuing education with my supervisor and others. Now that I've been back a few days, I feel like I'm really hitting my stride. Several of the patients recognize me now as I've visited with them a few times. A couple of them waved when they saw me coming while others smiled. There were a couple of outstanding incidents today in my visits, however. In the first instance, when I glanced into one of the rooms, I only saw one patient. The second bed in the room was stripped, so I thought her roommate must have gone home. I looked again and there she was sitting in the corner. She is a woman of great faith. In today's conversation especially, it was evident that this lady has been walking with God for many years. She...

I don't know how many of you are followers of the show "Glee." We got hooked on it during the summer after reading our friends' Facebook posts about it. It's about a group of kids in a high school glee club. In many ways, some would be misfits, but in glee club, they've found a family of sorts. Tuesday night's episode was theologically profound--exploring issues of unanswered prayer, feelings of exclusion from the church community because of sexual orientation, and the possible death of a loved one. Where was God in all of this? This episode will even be viewed and then discussed at my seminary. Here is the link to the show. It will make you think. I suspect that from this one episode, a number of pastors have found plenty of sermon illustrations. Grilled Cheesus

We may have our plans and schedules, but then there are God's. Internship continues to be simultaneously a delight and challenge. My supervisor has been called upon by the bishop to be involved on a part time basis helping out a nearby church. This increases my preaching responsibilities. I imagine there will be other additional duties as well. This is exciting and at the same time makes me cry out to God for wisdom and ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church. My husband, Ray, and I are football fans. The analogy that immediately came to mind was that of  a backup quarterback in football. My supervisor would be the starting quarterback. Only he needs to spend some time leading a different team. I am being called upon to step up and lead the Grace Lutheran team in a greater measure. Of course, this is what daily ministry consists of. We have one idea of how the line up will look, but God has another. God's will and plans for Grace and this other church are good....

Sometimes, it's just like God keeps hitting us over the head to get a message through. Well, today's lesson is the same one I've been hearing over and over and over--look for God in the places you don't expect to find God. Last night it was Pizza Hut. Ray's hair was getting a little longer than he likes it, so we decided to go to the barber shop today. We went in and sat down. There were 3 people ahead of Ray, so we were there a while before it was Ray's turn. I noticed that the music playing in the background was Christian music (Southern Gospel), which I thought was interesting. When it was Ray's turn to get into the chair, he introduced himself and then me as the intern at Grace Lutheran Church. The barber, Duke, brightened right up and said he was a retired Methodist preacher! He added that we would have an interesting conversation. That we did. Duke told us the story of his call at age 30 and the difference Christ has made in his life. He rela...