Faith in the Cracks

As we have talked about the creative process, it is important to dream, to hover, to risk, to listen, and to re-integrate. It is also important to rest. Not like sleep or vacation, but stillness. Actually stopping. Which our society is not very good at, at least I know that I am not. What happens when we let go of the need to produce and control and let God be God.  Support the show

This is the 3rd in a series Drawn In. A book by Troy Bronsink and a Sermon Series by Dr. Marcia McFee of Worship Design Studio.  How often do we hear things? How often do we really listen? We can hear lots of things, many that our brain filters out. But what happens when we listen? When we hear all of what someone is saying without formulating a response while they are still talking? What happens...

Continuing on with Drawn In based on a book by Troy Bronsink and a Worship Design Studio series by Dr. Marcia McFee after dreaming comes hover and risk.  Sometimes we are called to wait. To hover. To pay attention. Then once we have stopped for a bit we do need to move, to risk even if we don't know the whole picture.  Support the show

Dreaming of a world that hasn't come about is very much part of the creation story. God saw possibility and created out of the void. How might we imagine how things could be different than they are and work toward them. It is not unlike MLK Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" Speech. King never saw his dream come to its fullness, but he took faithful steps toward it and the work cont...

Say the word church and many people think of worship spaces, preaching, and music. If you are Presbyterian like me - potlucks and casseroles too. But the church has a side rarely talked about or seen. Budgets, Building, staff, committees and even coffee hour. All of them tell the story of a gathering of people who are forming into a community, Support the show

Culture says be an individual. And many people say "I'm spiritual but not religious" or "I can be a Christian on my own." However, being a Christian has always meant being in community. Being together.  Support the show

Creativity is not limited to painting, music or poetry. It is what happens when we wonder and when we create space and time for God to be at work within us. What happens when we slow down? How can we look at creativity in a broader light and continue to wonder what God is up to with in us and around us? Support the show

On a recent trip to Florida, I took dissolvable paper and wrote things that i wanted to let go of. Old patterns and understandings of myself that no longer worked. As I stood in the waves on the shore, I let the waves hit my ankles and I put the paper in after reading it. The paper dissolved as it was taken back out on the waves. I also welcomed what God was bringing in on the waves - hope, courag...

We may ask "Where is God?" But what if sometimes we just aren't paying attention? God can show up in unexpected ways, but God also shows up in the ordinary, everyday things of our lives as well. Be on the lookout for God at work this week.  Support the show

We all carry things, both physical and within us. We carry emotional loads and mental to do lists. Some are heavy and some are not even ours. Scripture reminds us that we are not asked to carry things alone.  Support the show

Sometimes life brings a season of waiting. Which I certainly am not good at doing. Waiting is hard in a culture that values getting things done and continually moving forward. But what if the time of waiting is a time when God is working behind the scenes? What if the time of waiting is a chance for us to grow?  Support the show

At the ascension we were told to wait and pray. At Pentecost the Spirit came to empower. Now we are sent. Matthew 28 and the Great Commission to go and make disciples, Luke 10 and the sending of the 72. We too are sent into the world to make a difference and share the light and love of Christ. Support the show

Summer brings a change in temperature and also a change in the rhythms of life. Let's pause to remember the differences and the joys of summer and remember that the pace of life sometimes means to slow down and enjoy the world around you.  Support the show

Sometimes I struggle to let God handle things. I pray and I try to surrender worries or problems that are beyond my control, but I find that often, way too often, I pick them back up...repeatedly. Why is it so hard to let God handle life's big problems? Support the show

The story of the Ascension of Jesus in Acts 1 is one of my favorite. There is a line where the angels have appeared alongside the disciples who have watched Jesus ascend and they ask "Why are you standing looking toward heaven?" Basically, it is a reminder to the disciples they have been given a new mission and need to allow the Holy Spirit to work within them to transform them into what...

In Acts 17, Paul encounters an altar to an unknown god in Athens. He then goes on to talk about the God he knows. The God Paul speaks of cannot be confined to temples or altars, his God is bigger and more mysterious and unknown, yet at the same time, God is closer than our breath.  Support the show

Psalm 23 is a familiar passage for many. It is a reminder that we are tended by the Great Shepherd. What does it look like to allow ourselves to be tended? To be led and restored. To know we do not walk through darkness alone, but that God is always with us? Let yourself be tended this week so that you may tend to others as well.  Support the show

Happy Easter! He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! And pastors everywhere are tired. Many services but a good tired. The joy of Easter is that love triumphs. The women found the empty tomb and in their fear they were also overjoyed. May we go tell others that Jesus has risen and may we let love win! Support the show

As we enter Holy Week, many churches were filled with shouts of Hosanna! and people waved palm branches. Some churches also read the passion story of Jesus before Pilot. And while some churches will observe Holy Week and hold services on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday to remember the upper room and washing of feet as well as the crucifixion and the denial of Peter, some will not. Some churches wi...

In her book "The Soul's Slow Ripening" Christine Valters Paintner talks about the practice of Three Essential Things. Finding those values that speak to who we are called to be in a particular season of life. Those things may change as we move from season to season or period of time in our life. What is essential for us in our 20's may change in our 60's and it is ours to...

Do you remember memorizing things when you were growing up? Poems, Bible verses, songs? There is a difference when we memorize things and when we learn them by heart. To learn something by heart, we let it become a part of who we are, we know it deeply and it shapes how we respond in the world  What are verses, phrases, or stories that you know by heart? How does that help in your daily life? Supp...

Sorry about last week. But honestly, it felt garbled and haywire. This week has not been much better. The war, the rising cost of things, the human lives lost. We are not yet in the Kingdom of God. We are not yet to the fulfillment of the promises of God, but we are called to keep working for justice and mercy. To do the small everyday acts to bring about goodness in a world where there is lots of...

The beginning of Lent starts with Jesus fasting in the wilderness for 40 days before being met by the adversary. Hungry and tired, Jesus is met with tests that begin with If you are the Son of God...prove it. Yet Jesus knows that his identity is in God and therefore relies on God and not on self sufficiency.   Eleanor Hamilton, a pastor in Scotland has a Facebook page called "Whispers of Grac...

On Transfiguration Sunday, we stand on the mountaintop — glimpsing the radiant glory of Christ before turning toward the ashes of Lent. In this episode, we explore the movement from light to dust, from revelation to repentance, and from spiritual highs to faithful presence in ordinary days. Transfiguration reveals who Jesus is: radiant, beloved, holy.  Ash Wednesday reminds us who we are: fragile,...

In Matthew 5 as Jesus continues his sermon on the mount, he tells those listening "You are the salt of the earth;...you are the light of the world." Not you will develop into these things, but you are. You already have what it takes to flavor the world, preserve the good and heal the hurts. You already have the ability to shine forth and banish the darkness. What does it mean for us to b...