Prayer of Dedication Loving Divine, you invite us to partner with you in the work of enacting the realm of God on earth. Accept and bless our tithes and offerings; use them and use us to challenge the status quo here in southwest Florida and throughout your global neighborhood. Stretching toward wholeness may the way of loneliness meet community the way of hatred be overcome by love the way of poverty encounter the possibility of enough. This we ask in your many names. Read More …
New Testament Reading for Sunday, February 20 (#0275)
Most of us have heard hundreds of sermons, yet would have a hard time constructing a list of even a dozen sermon titles. However, if we compared lists I suspect three would rise to the top as the most frequently cited: “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” – Jonathan Edwards “I Have a Dream” – Martin Luther King, Jr. “Sermon on the Mount” – Jesus More than centuries and geography separate the two American sermons from that of the Galilean sermon. The American preachers wrote Read More …
Invocation for Sunday, February 20 (#0274)
Unison Prayer of Invocation We are gathered here to join in the song of faith. In a world that offers goods and services to fulfill even the most demanding and discerning appetites, Jesus invites us to be consumed by an ultimate hunger and thirst for righteousness. Even as our instantaneous access to information and constant awareness of global events overwhelm and desensitize us, Jesus invites us to be difference makers by extending love to all. Empowered by the Spirit, may Read More …
Call to Worship for Sunday, February 20 (#0273)
Call to Worship We have come - from our homes and hotels, from a few blocks and from many miles - intent on entering this beautiful building built by human hands Settling into our seats we realize our task isn’t admiring the architecture, but rather experiencing and reflecting on the holy Aware of God’s presence, we begin to make meaning of words from Holy Scripture: From the first testament: Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy (Lev. 19:1) From the second testament: Be perfect as Read More …
Review of The Unlikely Disciple (#0272)
Kevin Roose. The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University. Grand Central Publishing, 2009. ISBN: 9780446178426. Meet the Author Kevin Roose is a senior at Brown University. His first book, The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University (2009), was chosen for Barnes & Noble’s “Discover Great New Writers” series and an excerpt from it received Brown University’s 2009 Casey Shearer Memorial award for best Read More …
Are You an Antiquated Leader? (#0271)
Ron Edmondson is the co-pastor of Grace Community Church. He describes himself as "passionate about planting churches, helping established churches thrive, and assisting pastors and those in ministry think through leadership, strategy and life." To learn more or to connect with Edmondson, read his blog, friend him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter. Recently, he blogged about the characteristics of antiquated leaders: Keeps people in a box…People won’t stick around in a box Read More …
Previously Unheard of Church Jobs (#0270)
Earlier this week, Jim Sheppard shared excerpts of a conversation he had with two members of the Vanderbloemen Search Group, which seeks to help "churches and large parachurch ministries find the right senior leaders." William Vanderbloemen (pictured at right), founder and CEO, has fifteen years experience as a Senior Pastor as well as human resources experience with a Fortune 200 company. Justin Lathrop, Executive Search Consultant, has ten years of local church ministry Read More …
Evolution Weekend: Worth Celebrating? (#0269)
You may be surprised to learn that this weekend, February 11-13, is the sixth annual Evolution Weekend. While not found on any liturgical calendars, it affords congregations of all faiths a focused opportunity to consider the compatibility of religion and science. Meet the Founder Michael Zimmerman (pictured at right) is the founder and director of The Clergy Letter Project , which is the international organization of more than 14,000 religious leaders and scientists that sponsors the Read More …
Avoiding Common Ministry Mistakes (#0268)
Scott Williams is the Campus Pastor of the Northwest Oklahoma City Campus of LifeChurch.tv, which launched three years ago and already has an average weekly worship attendance of over 3,500. To connect with Williams, read his blog, watch him on YouTube, follow him on Twitter, or friend him on Facebook. Previously, I have written posts based on or inspired by Williams on the topics of effective leadership and tweeting in worship (here and Read More …
The Presbyterian (PCUSA) Church is Deathly Ill (#0267)
"Where Have All The Presbyterians Gone?" could be the title of a denominational funeral hymn for the 2.3 millionmember PCUSA, but is actually the title of a recent Wall Street Journal article by Russell Moore. Moore (pictured at left) is a Southern Baptist minister who currently serves as the Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice-President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and as a preaching pastor at Highview Baptist Read More …