Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Love songs and full hearts

Moses says, “What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees?” In one breath he is extolling the precious intimacy of God and in the next exhorting the people not to let the righteous decrees slip from tender hearts. Listen, watch, keep.

The Psalmist says those who may dwell in the bosom of God are those who live rightly. James gives his famous and much debated treatment of Faith and Works, this week calling us to be doers of the word and not hearers only. As Tozer says, Faith is the adoring gaze of a soul on her God.

Works of righteousness are then the overflow of a full heart. The Sons of Korah sing a wedding song for the king with sweet fragrance and beauty. Solomon sings of his lover’s full heart as he comes to her saying “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one and come with me.”

Jesus called his disciples to him, giving them a new way. “It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life; it’s what you vomit – that is the real pollution.”

What is our heart full of? Will it overflow with love, beauty and fragrance, or vomit lust, hypocrisy and hate?

The season

I'm thinking I will start with James and then Jump back to Mark. If I don't preach James now, I'll have to wait another three years, and I think the road to Jerusalem will make excellent material for stewardship. To better connect with the children, I am thinking of building a set on the stage representing the dusty road to Jerusalem and put places for puppets to come up too. I think I'll try to put all the visuals I'll use durring the series out as part of the set.

I think I'll concentrate on the Epistles for Advent, focusing on Paul's prayers for the churches as the await Christ's coming.

Click here to see a chart of themes.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Looking ahead

This week I find myself at a crossroads. The lectionary offers two lectio continua choices. I could do a five week series in James possibly followed up by a seven week series in Hebrews (probably my favorite NT book). Or I am offered a 12 week course back in Mark taking us to the end of the season, chapters 7-13.

This fall I want to cover themes of stewardship and also mobilize gift oriented ministry from the laity. I have a feeling one of these options will cover these themes nicely. The lectionary has yet to let me down. I'll have to do some reading ahead tomorrow.