Blacksburg Presbyterian Church

Holy Spirit, we approach this moment with hope that you might move in our lives, bringing what is long dead to life, and bringing what is dormant to bloom. We pray this, trusting you. Amen.

“Well-behaved women seldom make history.” —Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

“If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.” ― René Descartes

In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity; in our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity. —Natalie Sleeth

It is holy to gather. It is holy to sing. It is holy to be generous, to throw our coats on the road. It is holy to celebrate justice when we see it. It is holy to shout, “Hosanna!” and in response we say, we are here. It is holy to remember. It is holy to gather. It is holy to sing. Here and now, let us do all of these things.

"Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it." — Mary Oliver

"As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness." — Henry David Thoreau

"As you simplify your life, the laws of the  universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness." — Henry David Thoreau

“God's first language is Silence. Everything else is a translation.”  ― Thomas Keating

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice… to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? —Isaiah 58:6

“Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love. . . .   For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.” -- Psalm 107:8-9 ESV

Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.       – Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.” – Dr. Cornel West

“Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.” --Toni Morrison

“The easy road would have been to stay on the same path, the one that led only to death and decay. Instead, I took the road less travelled; I journeyed towards new life; towards transformation.”    —Alex Clare-Young

Exciting God Glorious God Baptize us with wonder Wise God Righteous God Baptize us with justice Holy God Covenant God Baptize us with love

You are a child of God, holy and beloved.

“I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking.”   — Albert Einstein

"For Christ to become one of us He had to be born like us . . . The bread of life had to learn how to eat The one who holds us, first had to be held The Lover was loved The Way had to learn to walk The Word had to learn to speak The Teacher had to be taught. This is the miracle of God with us. This is Emmanuel." -- James Hawes, Sunday Papers

“Listen to the mustn'ts, child.  Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”  ― Shel Silverstein

Third Sunday of Advent “Hold fast to dreams, For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird, That cannot fly.”  ― Langston Hughes

“Nothing is hopeless; we must hope for everything.” — Madeleine L’Engle

Stewardship Focus 2021 “Everything you can imagine is real.” ― Pablo Picasso

Stewardship Focus 2021 “Our ancestors have a lot to teach us. This is not because they were wiser or more devout than we are or “better” Christians, though we can’t rule out such possibilities. It is because they can point us toward what is essential.”  ― Margaret Bendroth

All Saints; Sunday “We're all ghosts. We all carry, inside us, people who came before us.”  ― Liam Callanan