Along the Way pt.2

October 19th, 2018 by Carl Buffington

Along the Way
 
"All the way to heaven is heaven, because He said I am the Way" St. Catharine
 

Barbara and I plan to hike the last part of the Camino de Santiago next September. It's a pilgrimage beginning in the Pyrenees and concluding in Spain following the way of St. James the apostle.

There's a fun movie about it, The Way, with Martin Sheen. As the story goes, his son is killed at the outset of the Camino. Martin decides to make the hike himself, dispersing his son's ashes along the way.

Along the Way

October 12th, 2018 by Carl Buffington

Along the Way
 

(Referencing Mark 10:17-31**)

"As he was setting out..." someone, who perhaps grasps and then gasps -- 'He's leaving, this is my last chance to ask him' -- approaches him, respectfully, honestly, humbly, sincerely.
 
"What must I do to inherit eternal life?"
 
Please.
 
Tell me.

Wrestling with God

September 28th, 2018 by Dr. Larry Selig

Have you ever complained to God, asking why bad things happen to good people?
 

Have you ever questioned God's concern for you, your family, or friends who were facing crises which seemed out of control?

Have you found it difficult to trust God when your prayers seem to go unanswered?

COME AND DIE - COME AND SEE

September 14th, 2018 by Carl Buffington

"When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from The Cost of Discipleship.

What if that is not bad news, but in fact really good news? What if our soul's destiny depends on it?

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"

Joel Marcus in his commentary on the gospel passage for Sunday provocatively asks,

"But why should one accept the dreadful burden of the cross? Why should one want to follow Jesus, (cf.8:34b) if discipleship means entry into a living death?"

Even

September 7th, 2018 by Christopher Caudle

Hanging pictures is best done by a team of two.  One person shifts the wire on the back of the picture to the left or right until it finds a magical (mythical) midpoint where the picture will hang evenly.

Come My Beloved

August 31st, 2018 by Carl Buffington

Scripture opens with an invitation (Mk 1.17), "Come, follow me," Jesus said...

Scripture closes with the same invitation (Rev 22.17) "The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!"

But the invitation doesn't stop there.

How do we respond to this his invitation?

I want to share a story.  It's one I have told before, but one worthy of a second telling and hearing.

It's told by a friend who has now checked into the heavenly Jerusalem as he would say (Brennan Manning, author, preacher and teacher.)

As he shares - He was giving last rites to a woman named Yolanda in LA.  She had been abandoned by her family and was dying alone, severely disfigured from the ravages of leprosy.  As Brennan turned from her bedside to put away the communion kit, a bright light came into the room.  He said it was like light just falling in through the window.

As he turned, she said, "Oh Father, my Abba just spoke to me."  And he said, "Oh?  What did he say to you Yolanda?"

He said to me, "Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me.  See!  The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me."

As he was leaving, the nurse asked how she was doing.  And he said, "Well, she was quoting scripture, Songs 2.10-13, so I'm not sure."  The nurse said, "She's illiterate! She's never read a word of the Bible!"

When they returned to Yolanda's room, her Abba had indeed come in and scooped her up.  Come my beloved!

Can you imagine just how beautiful Yolanda became in that instant?  I'm sure you could have compared her to the most breathtaking sunset you ever saw your Abba paint.

Responding to his invitation is virtually transformative, life and soul changing!  We need to respond, any and every way possible.

And we respond in many ways, e.g. our obedience to his word (listen to the epistle from James), our reaching out to others in serving (listen and look to those being honored today), and as the gospel makes clear, with our hearts!

"These people honor me with their lips,

But their hearts are far from me."

Where is your heart in terms of this invitation?  How will you draw near?  Come my beloved!

Sunday, I plan to share how I responded a couple weeks ago.

 

See you then, come,                                                                         

What must we do to do the works God requires?

August 24th, 2018 by Sheryl Shaw

A couple of weeks ago, when preaching from John this was the phrase that rang in my ears. And the answer:

What is your favorite Soundtrack?

August 17th, 2018 by Christopher Caudle

"While fantastic acting and direction can help evoke emotion in an audience, nothing sets the tone in a film quite like its soundtrack. But while scores and songs are usually carefully chosen to match the dramatic arc in a film, there are times when a scene and accompanying song seem entirely mismatched. This dissonance between song and action has the power to make the scene even more poignant, emotional, or in many cases, more terrifying."

It's good to be Home

August 10th, 2018 by Carl Buffington

Today, Friday the 10th of August, a parishioner had surgery early in the morning, and a deacon is getting married in the afternoon, or has already been wed depending on when you read this. We can sing, "Ruan and Dennis are Going to the chapel and..." well, you know the lyric, and we all say, "Alleluia."

Where's the Power?

July 27th, 2018 by Kris Taff

Living in Florida in the summer and in Orlando in particular (the lightning capital of the world), we know a little something about losing power. Then add in the hurricanes, I am sure you all remember that little gal named Irma. Many of you spent days without power. Sometimes when we look at the church as a whole or at our individual Christian lives, we and the world looking at us might ask, "Where's the power?" In the lessons this week God wants to remind us that there is no shortage of power with him.

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