Uniform Lesson for August 23, 2020 Scripture passage and lesson focus: James 3:1-12 The writer of the letter of James has already wisely warned us to be “quick to listen” and “slow to speak” (1:19). What a difference, we observed, that would make: in sidewalk banter, boardroom discussions and presbytery deliberations! Now we are warned about the potential for both harm and help once we begin to form words with our tongues. This is not abstract wisdom but wisdom as tangible as the tongues and palates and vocal cords in our bodies. Just think about the power of words in the human community down through the centuries, especially words bearing false testimony surrounding gender, race or God. James 3:1-5 — A warning to teachers James leads off with a particular warning to teachers. In Scripture, spoken words can create and destroy not only people but worlds. God said, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). Moses (through Aaron) said, “Let my people go” (Exodus 5:1). Jesus said, “Lazarus, … [Read more...]
-
Worship Resources 12 hours ago
July 12: God’s Word — Family faith formation at home
Welcome Invite various persons to bring a designated item and use this liturgy to begin your time of learning together. One: Come, let us gather around and see how the Spirit will nurture our faith today. All: Who is with us? One: Christ, the light of the world. (Place a candle on a table in your gathering place and light it.) All: Who is with us? One: The Love of God, who came to meet us in the world. (Place a cross on a table in… continue reading... -
Book Reviews 17 hours ago
The Collected Sermons of David Bartlett
David Bartlett (foreword by Leonora Tubbs Tisdale) Westminster John Knox, 256 pages At a commencement ceremony in Richmond, Virginia, I introduced myself to Jonah, David Bartlett’s son, adding, “I’ll bet I’m the only one here who heard your grandfather [Gene Bartlett] give the Beecher Lectures at Yale Divinity School.” Of course, David Bartlett also delivered the Beecher Lectures some four decades after his father, but he and I never met. However, I had used some of his writing in my own teaching, and knew that his voice was one to… continue reading... -
Worship Resources 1 day ago
Keep on keeping on… with God’s help — Christian education at home
Last week, out of curiosity, I flipped back through my calendar to count the number of weeks since our congregation last gathered together in person. I turned 17 pages before reaching the date. It had been 17 weeks since I’d last seen the children of the church in person! In those weeks, Holy Week and Easter passed, the children finished up a school year and many had birthdays. While 17 weeks is not a terribly long time in the grand scheme of things, in “child time” it’s an eternity. As… continue reading...
Parties in Stamford case had tried to expedite process in order to get a ruling on the merits of the case January 1, 1995 Uncategorized114 views The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission -- in sidestepping the question of exactly how deeply a session should be required to probe into the private life of a gay elder who has acknowledged being in a committed, life-long relationship but has declined to say whether he is sexually active -- has put the question off but has not put it to rest.- Ministering with the Earth January 1, 1998 Book Reviews125 views By Mary Elizabeth MooreChalice. 1998. 226 pp. Pb. $19.99. ISBN 0-8272-2323-4 Ministering with the Earth is a quiltwork, both the on-the-ground activity and Moore's book about so ministering. Moore, professor of theology and Christian education at Claremont School of Theology, is fond of the metaphor, suitably pastoral and feminist.
- Remembered Voice: Reclaiming the Legacy of 'Neo-Orthodoxy' January 1, 1998 Book Reviews104 views By Douglas John HallWJKP. 1998. 145 pp. Pb. $18. ISBN 0-664-25772-0 It was in this order. I first read Tillich's Dynamics of Faith. Riveting. Next came The Courage to Be. Gripping. Then I went back and read the first volume of the Systematic Theology. Things began to make sense. Next came Biblical Religion and the Search for Ultimate Reality. Positive.
Debate over relationship between San Francisco Theological Seminary and the PC(USA) may rise at General Assembly June 9, 2020 Outlook Reporting5 comments When is a historically Presbyterian seminary no longer a "Presbyterian seminary”?
That question is on the docket for the 224th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), although not in that clear of form.
The question at hand is the relationship of the San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS) to the General Assembly of the PC(USA) — an institutional relationship that goes back to the seminary’s founding in 1871 by local Presbyterians, in association with the synod. In the past few years, the seminary had been looking for ways to remain sustainable and to expand its programs. That culminated wit...
New recommendation headed to GA: “On Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic” June 14, 2020 Outlook Reporting5 comments A recommendation responding to the COVID-19 pandemic is being presented to the 2020 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as a matter of new business – asking for the church to be a gospel witness for the healing of the world in these difficult times.
When it meets June 18 – the night before the assembly convenes – the assembly Committee on Business Referrals will consider whether to send the recommendation “On Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic” to the assembly for its consideration.
It’s not cle...
Assembly debates business to be considered, postpones moderator election June 20, 2020 Outlook Reporting4 comments The 2020 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) got off to a somewhat turbulent start June 19 — with the first plenary of this first-ever virtual assembly going so long that the election of co-moderators didn’t happen, delayed until June 20 and slated now for a newly-scheduled evening session that wasn’t supposed to be.
That added plenary session – with the election of co-moderators as the only item of business – now is set for 7 p.m. EDT on June 20.
The assembly made the decision to convene the assembly for an extra night, on Saturday, after roughly three hours of debate and considera...
The power of our words (Aug. 23, 2020)
In every story, our life
A pandemic changed things. It changed the way we worship, work, move about in our cities and sometimes even within our homes. It took our calendars and “to do” lists and wrung them out until only those things deemed most important were left. At the eye of the pandemic, in those early hollow days, reading emerged as one of my essentials. I found myself in good company alongside our Icelandic kindred who, according to the webpage All Good Tales, hold that reading is “a spiritual experience … a way of living, a necessity without which everyday life would be inconceivable.” Storytelling is where common memory is held and the sum of human experience finds refuge. By reading, we come to know something of the stranger, outcast, enemy, friend and even ourselves. A book invites us into relationship in a particular time and place, and by reading those first words, we become part of the story. We complete the narrative in our internalization and interpretation of the story as it intersects our … [Read more...]
Faith in action (Aug. 16, 2020)
Uniform Lesson for August 16, 2020 Scripture passage and lesson focus: James 2:14-26 James poses this question: “Can faith [alone] save you?” “Certainly!” all us Presbyterians shout back immediately — already having violated James’ admonition to be “quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger [or aggression]” (1:19)! Aren’t we the people of “grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone” (Book of Order, F-2.04)? But now, let us circle back, think of our journey from Proverbs through the Gospels and on to James. Proverbs reminded us that “the fear of the Lord [and only the Lord] is the beginning of knowledge” (1:7). Jesus, in the Gospels, reminded us that “wisdom is vindicated by her deeds [works]” (Matthew 11:19). James calls us to be single-minded, versus “double-minded” (1:8), in our trust and/or allegiance to the Lord. Faith, then, can never simply mean intellectual assent or doctrinal purity. Faith is a matter of orientation and loyalty. A person can’t eat the bread and drink the … [Read more...]
Diane Moffett
“It is the person of Jesus, unjustly tried and murdered by the state, that makes me understand we are not alone. It is the knowledge of the cross and the glory of the resurrection, it is the power of the Spirit, the presence of God, the hope of the church — not just in the sweet by and by. It is the hope of the church in the nasty here and now that causes us, you and I, to keep working.” – Diane Moffett, president of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, preaching in a service of lament on June 1 … [Read more...]
Presbyterian churches in Cuba
The Presbyterian Mission Agency and the Presbyterian Outreach both report that Presbyterian churches in Cuba continue to grow and the Evangelical Theological Seminary at Matanzas continues to be strong. … [Read more...]
A 5-year-old student ….
A 5-year-old in Oklahoma got impatient with his Sunday school teacher when she was typing. The lad said: “Let me type it. I type on Daddy’s typewriter all the time.” The teacher reluctantly sat him at the table and he typed away. The teacher said: “Good for you. Read that back to me please.” And he quickly answered, “I can’t, because I can’t read yet.” … [Read more...]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 2892
- Next Page »
Tweet With Us
Be A Facebook Fan
Our World in Photos
Pin With Us