Pentecost Prayer Adapted from the Prayer of St. Alphonsus Liguori to the Holy Spirit (1696-1787) by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia (2010)
Most Holy Spirit,
My hope is in your goodness.
I trust Your plan to save my soul and make me holy.
Time and again, I am ungrateful and blind to Your divine inspirations,
I have so often offended You and beg your pardon,
I offer You this cold heart of mine,
and pray You would pierce it with a ray of Your light,
with a spark of Your fire, melt the hard ice of my sin.
You are Divine Spirit:
give me courage against all evil.
You are Fire:
enkindle in me Your love.
You are Light:
brighten my mind with Your wisdom.
You are Dove:
give me innocence of life.
You are Wind:
disperse the storms of my passions.
You are Tongue:
teach me to honor You with my words.
You are Cloud:
shelter me under the shadow of Your protection.
You are Counselor:
walk by my side, guide my steps.
Save me in Your infinite mercy;
so that I may ever bless You, praise You, and love You;
first during this life on earth,
and then in heaven for all eternity. Amen.
The Wedding Vows
I, _________________, give myself to you to be your husband/wife to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, forsaking all others until we are parted by death, recognizing the promise of life everlasting and love everlasting. This is my solemn vow.
The Church as Bride of Christ: Problems with metaphor
Difficult for those who’ve been disappointed by marriage – Never married, divorced, betrayal, abusive marriage
Difficult for men to relate to “bride”
The phrase “Bride of Christ” not found in the scriptures but there are plenty of passages which use the metaphor
All metaphors break down. Bride of Christ remains a powerful reminder of our relationship to one another and to Christ
Read Ephesians 5:21-32 NRSV
21 Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Be subject = Voluntary, free choice, submission, our power under the authority of another, cooperating, collaborating
Ephesians 5-6 describes the mutual submission of husbands and wives, children and parents, slaves and masters
How?
Previous verses discuss being filled with the Holy Spirit by singing Psalms, Hymns, Spiritual Songs & giving thanks to God the Father in name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Trinity, the fullness of God, First Creed)
Out of Reverence to Christ- We submit to Christ as His followers out of reverence for Christ first submitting to us. Jesus made the ultimate submission in his life, death, and resurrection.
Notice verses 22-27
The Love of our Lord Jesus Christ is deep, pure, sacrificial
Look what Jesus gave up to make us his own. Compare with Philippians 2. Poor, homeless, misunderstood, glory to humility, abused and tortured, obedient to the point of death, even on a cross
Jesus making us his own- making us holy, set apart, like in marriage the couple is set apart only for each other
Vs. 26 Cleansing with the washing of water by the word
The powerful presence of Jesus in the sacrament of baptism and in his Holy Word- Cleansing, new birth, water for growth, Jesus’ tears, Jesus washing feet
Vs. 27 Jesus presents the church to himself in splendor radiant
Remember, you are both beloved and the light of the world. Jesus, the Bridegroom, presents us like a Bride unstained, unwrinkled, unblemished, innocent which literally means unwounded. By his stripes, we are healed. He took the wounds that we might be unwounded.
28 In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church.
We leave our earthly labels and tribes to be at one with Christ
This isn’t head knowledge, it’s down to the bone, the blood, skin in the game, an intimate union
This is a relationship of devotion, fidelity, one spouse, one Lord. Jesus first loved us that he may be our first love
Let us, the Church, the Bride, recommit to Christ the Bridegroom, using the Wedding Vows
We give ourselves to you Jesus, to be your Bride, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, forsaking all others, knowing we are not parted by death, recognizing the promise of life everlasting and love everlasting. This is our solemn vow.
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I’m excited to now offer mp3’s of my Sunday messages. A huge thank you to Sean and my brothers and sisters at Trinity United Methodist Church, Sarasota for all their help in making this possible. If you’re ever in Sarasota, please drop by for worship Sundays at 9:00 am or 10:30 am, or join us live on our Facebook page at 9:00 am Sundays or drop by during the week for a chat or small group. You and those you love are always welcome.
Breath in, Breath Out
Which is more important? Inhaling or exhaling?
Which is more important? What we believe or how we behave?
Belief and behavior both matter, just like inhaling and exhaling.
What we believe shapes how we behave.
How we behave demonstrates what we believe.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been walking through the book of James.
It’s a book which focuses on how the followers of Jesus are to behave. Be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.
Faith without works is dead.
From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.
My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.
Much of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) also focuses on behavior. Turn the other cheek
Go the extra mile
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you
Do not judge
Do to others as you would have them do to you
Likewise, Jesus’ parable of the final judgment (Matthew 25), as illustrated by the separating of sheep and goats, focuses on behavior. Those welcomed into the kingdom are those who Feed the hungry
Give the thirsty something to drink
Welcome the stranger
Give clothing to the naked
Care for the sick
Visit those in prison
John 13:35 says, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.” This isn’t a sentimental, candy-coated feeling. This is love made real in our words and actions. In our sacrifices and steadfastness.
And yet, belief is critically important.
Without it, we are merely humanists
Without it, we are unplugged from the eternal
Unplugged from the “why” of our actions
Unplugged from the “how” of our strength to act
Placing our trust in Jesus Christ opens the way for the Holy Spirit to lead us and transform us: our behavior, our motivation, our perspective on what’s important, our love.
Our belief allows the Holy Spirit to shape us into the very likeness of Jesus.
Following Jesus is about the integration of belief and behavior. By cooperating with God’s grace, we become people of integrity. Integrated. We who are broken become whole. We are “re-membered.”
The integration of belief and behavior is so important we set aside time every year to reflect and focus on it.
We face our true selves in the light and love of Jesus.
We face our failures, our shortcomings in the grace of Jesus
We commit to continued growth in the likeness of our Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit
To help us do this, we use a symbol: ashes
The dirty smudge on our foreheads is the tangible reminder that we are all dust. We are all mortal. We are all imperfect people. Our time here is short. Make it count.
The dirty smudge on our foreheads is the tangible reminder of our humility. Humility, human and hummus are all from the same root word meaning “of the earth.” We have a common bond with all people and all living things. We are no better or worse.
The dirty smudge on our foreheads is the tangible reminder of our sorrow, a modern expression of the days’ people displayed their grief by wearing sackcloth and ashes. We grieve the spoiling and wasting of God’s good gift of life. We lament how we’ve hurt God, others, the earth, and ourselves. We mourn our sin.
The dirty smudge on our foreheads is in the shape of a cross. A tangible sign of the infinite grace of Jesus Christ that meets us wherever we are and loves us too much to leave us there.
Psalm 103:13b-14, The Voice
The Eternal shows His love for those who revere Him.
For He knows what we are made of
He knows our frame is frail, and He remembers we came from dust.
Jesus accepts us with all our contradictions between what we believe and the way we behave. Jesus draws us, invites us, and empowers us toward new life: A transformed life, a whole and holy life, where belief and behavior are fully integrated with his good and divine will.
Come, see how the ashes and the grace are good.
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I’m excited to now offer mp3’s of my Sunday messages. A huge thank you to Sean and my brothers and sisters at Trinity United Methodist Church, Sarasota for all their help in making this possible. If you’re ever in Sarasota, please drop by for worship Sundays at 9am or 10:30am, or join us live on our Facebook page at 9am Sundays, or drop by during the week for a chat or small group. You and those you love are always welcome.
Sermon Series – Jacob, Punk to Patriarch Jacob’s journey to faith and accepting his place in God’s plan is full of schemes, betrayal, and family dysfunction. Yet, in the midst of the mess, God remains steadfast- offering relationship, provision, purpose, and new life. In Jacob’s story, we see our own mess and God’s saving grace for us as well.
God desires to do more than “help out” a bit. God wants to completely transform us. God wants to take a timid heart and set it ablaze with strength and courage, so much so that people know something supernatural has taken place. – Francis Chan
In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis reminds us of the divine-human struggle. Susan and Lucy ask Mr. and Mrs. Beaver to describe Aslan (Lewis’s representation of Jesus). They ask if Aslan is a man. Mr. Beaver replies. “Aslan a man? Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion– the Lion, the great Lion.”
“Ooh!” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he–quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and make no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver, “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about being safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
*****************
I’m excited to now offer mp3’s of my Sunday messages. A huge thank you to Leon and my brothers and sisters at Trinity United Methodist Church, Sarasota for all their help in making this possible. If you’re ever in Sarasota, please drop by for worship Sundays at 9am or 10:30am, or drop by during the week for a chat or small group. You and those you love are always welcome.
Pentecost Prayer Adapted from the Prayer of St. Alphonsus Liguori to the Holy Spirit (1696-1787) by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia (2010)
Most Holy Spirit,
My hope is in your goodness.
I trust Your plan to save my soul and make me holy.
Time and again, I am ungrateful and blind to Your divine inspirations,
I have so often offended You and beg your pardon,
I offer You this cold heart of mine,
and pray You would pierce it with a ray of Your light,
with a spark of Your fire, melt the hard ice of my sin.
You are Divine Spirit:
give me courage against all evil.
You are Fire:
enkindle in me Your love.
You are Light:
brighten my mind with Your wisdom.
You are Dove:
give me innocence of life.
You are Wind:
disperse the storms of my passions.
You are Tongue:
teach me to honor You with my words.
You are Cloud:
shelter me under the shadow of Your protection.
You are Counselor:
walk by my side, guide my steps.
Save me in Your infinite mercy;
so that I may ever bless You, praise You, and love You;
first during this life on earth,
and then in heaven for all eternity. Amen.
All metaphors break down. Bride of Christ remains a powerful reminder of our relationship to one another and to Christ
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