For the Beauty of the Earth

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.

     Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
     This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light.

     Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
     This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind's delight,
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight.

     Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
     This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild.

     Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
     This our hymn of grateful praise.

For Thy Church, that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love.

     Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
     This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the martyrs' crown of light,
For Thy prophets' eagle eye,
For Thy bold confessors' might,
For the lips of infancy.

     Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
     This our hymn of grateful praise.

For Thy virgins' robes of snow,
For Thy maiden mother mild,
For Thyself, with hearts aglow,
Jesu, Victim undefiled.

     Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
     This our hymn of grateful praise.

For each perfect gift of Thine,
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of Heaven.

     Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
     This our hymn of grateful praise.

Devotion

It is read by over 800 million people
     75% of whom are outside of the United States.

 It is available in over 70 languages 

      thanks to the translation work of over 300,000 people. 

One might think these references are to the Bible,

     except for the fact that
          over half of the 800 million people actually read it every day.

What is it?

Facebook, of course.

Lizzie took her first steps!

                 Congratulations!
                 Aww…so cute
                 Looks just like her mama.  Lol

 Brandon and four others “like” The Family Guy.

 OMG.  The Chiefs won another game!

                 Clearly proof that miracles still happen.
                 Hey, that’s my team you’re talking about!
                 Come on…it’s not like they’re the Wildcats or anything.

Every day, more than 400 million people, including myself, spend time posting, liking and commenting on posts, uploading photos and playing games with friends.  Certainly, Facebook can be a vehicle for outreach and ministry.  But how might our world be different if such devotion was focused on our Lord rather than on a piece of software?

Lord, we desire to focus our lives on You.  In the midst of day-to-day activity, however, it is easy to allow the mundane to overshadow the eternal.  We pray that You will bring this truth to our minds in the moments of choice and encourage us to turn off, unplug, and log off in exchange for precious encounters with You.  Amen.

Prayer for Autumn Days

God of the seasons,
there is a time for everything;
there is a time for dying and a time for rising.
We need courage to enter into
the transformation process.

God of autumn,
the trees are saying goodbye to their green,
letting go of what has been.
We, too, have our moments of surrender,
with all their insecurity and risk.
Help us to let go when we need to do so.

God of fallen leaves
lying in colored patterns on the ground,
our lives have their own patterns.
As we see the patterns of our own growth,
may we learn from them.

God of misty days and harvest moon nights,
there is always the dimension of mystery
and wonder in our lives.
We always need to recognize your power-filled presence.
May we gain strength from this.

God of harvest wagons and fields of ripened grain,
many gifts of growth lie within the season of our surrender.
We must wait for harvest in faith and hope.
Grant us patience when we do not see the blessings.

God of geese going south
for another season, your wisdom enables us
to know what needs to be left behind
and what needs to be carried into the future.
We yearn for insight and vision.

God of flowers
touched with frost and windows wearing white designs,
may your love keep our hearts
from growing cold in the empty seasons.

God of life,
you believe in us, you enrich us,
you entrust us with the freedom to choose life.
For all this, we are grateful.

Amen.

Autumn is a time for Prayer.

by: Sr. Joyce Rupp OSM

A Day of Remembrance

Almighty God:

September 11 is a day of remembrance.  A day when we reflect on the tragedy experienced by our nation ten years ago. On that day, we lost many of our fellow citizens, our first responder heroes, and our illusions of domestic safety.  It was a day of great sorrow and confusion, as we questioned the realities of our world.

From this tragedy has come, among other things, stories of courage, perseverance and triumph over adversity.  Unfortunately, stories have also arisen of prejudice, bias, and hate.  The events of that day rekindled in many the unspoken, but long held belief, that enemies of our country are also enemies of You, and therefore need not be treated with the same love, compassion and respect as those we consider “our own.”

Lord God, we ask for the courage to live our lives in ways that honor You.  We live in a global world.  I pray that we would each commit ourselves to being deliberate in building neighborhoods, states, and countries that foster understanding, respect, and reconciliation.  Peace does not happen because nations declare it.  Peace happens because individuals choose it. 

May we choose to live as instruments of Your peace.  Amen.

Out of the Same Mouth

In this world there is great chaos.

Lord, how your heart must weep

     As you witness
     Time and time and time again
     The ability of Your created ones
     To hurt each other.

 We are all created in Your image.

     In Your likeness
     Designed for the worship and honor
     Of You.

 Yet we neither worship nor honor You.

 We choose to worship another.

     Ourselves.
     Our desires.  Our opinions.
     Our world views.  Our prejudices.

And from our self-worship springs

     Selfishness.
     Disdain.
     Cruelty.
     War.

 We limit Your influence

     To the parts of life we choose.

     Worshipping You when convenient

     Judging others as we please.

We live as lord of our life

     And refuse You this rightful place

Forgive us, Father,

      For we have
      We have

      I have         

      sinned.

With the tongue, we praise our Lord and Father. And with it, we curse human beings who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing.  My brothers and sisters, this should not be!  Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?  My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives or a grape vine bear figs?  Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.  James 3:9-12      

Postures of Confession

 

Did you know that your posture changes the way you think?

It’s true that your body shows the rest of us what’s really going through your head at any given moment, but the reverse is true as well: the way that you carry your body will change the way you think, the way you feel. A quick example: on a day you’re not feeling so great, take a pencil and hold it in your mouth, forcing the corners upwards in an approximation of a smile. See how long it takes before you start feeling better.

The simple fact is that we behave because of what we believe, but we also believe because of how we behave. The two are a cycle, influencing one another in our lives, egging the other onward. This is the reason why actors often become uncomfortably close to a character they work on particularly closely; Heath Ledger became chronically depressed after he spent so much time on his character the Joker, and the world is now lesser because his exceptional talent is gone, lost to a drug reaction.

We think and feel how we behave. We behave how we think and feel.

Think about this the next time you’re in church. I was leading one of our services a few weeks ago and, as I sang “Jesus Paid it All,” I couldn’t help but notice several people standing with scowls on their faces and their arms crossed. I didn’t know any of these people and so I can’t speak to their hearts, but I really wanted them to grab a pencil. Such a posture speaks very loudly, to me as a worship leader, to those around them, and to their inner dialogue – their posture tells THEM something too. What I saw were people not engaged, people unhappy with something, people closed off to the movement of the Spirit in their lives. But In the same service, with the same song, I saw people smiling, their hands open and heads bowed; engaged, singing, worshipping, people who were also speaking to themselves, and people around them, and to me on stage.

In our contemporary service.

In our traditional service.

In every church I’ve ever been in, both kinds of people are there.

Side by side.

What all of this tells me is that we can, if we want, intentionally change things. If we are closed off to God, perhaps changing our physical posture towards Him will help us change our mental and emotional postures. I have to wonder if the difference between those two groups of people was their posture, if making an intentional change could have helped them engage with God and those around them. They could have worshipped if they had purposefully changed the way they stood, held their hands, arms, and heads. It’s a question of attitude; why am I here at church?

It’s about choice.



I find that on those very rough days when I travel all the way to church tired, worn-out, discouraged, it simply takes picking up my guitar and playing to remind me who I am, why I’m here, and put me back into my place. Not in a bad way, in a good way. They say that to confess is to agree with God about who we are; as I play, yes, I agree with God that I am a sinner, but THEN, then I agree with God that I am His child.

Forgiven. Given grace.

Deeply Loved.

The next time you’re in church – traditional, contemporary, emerging, wherever – try changing your body language; open your hands instead of holding the pew or chair in front of you, or maybe raise them over your head. Sing. Move. Dance. Worship.

Confess.

By Chris Logan, Worship Pastor at Community Covenant Church in Lenexa, KS.  Originally posted on blogs.covchurch.org on Friday, August 26th.

May I Reflect Your Inward Light

As a chalice cast of gold,
Burnished, bright and brimmed with wine,
Make me, Lord, as fit to hold
Grace & truth & love divine.
Let my praise & worship start
With the cleansing of my heart.

Save me from the soothing sin
Of the empty cultic deed
And the pious, babbling din
Of the claimed but unlived creed.
Let my actions, Lord, express
What my tongue & lips profess.

When I bend upon my knees,
Clasp my hands or bow my head,
Let my spoken, public pleas
Be direct, simply said,
Free of tangled words that mask
What my soul would plainly ask.

When I dance or chant your praise,
When I sing a psalm or hymn,
When I preach your loving ways,
Let my heart add its Amen.
Let each cherished, outward rite
Thus reflect your inward light.

 by Tom Troeger

Memories of VBS

When I was a child I had no opportunity to attend VBS, read books with stories about Jesus growing up in Nazareth, or sing Jesus Loves Me. My family attended church weekly, every Sat. night. We were Catholic and although I do not remember a time when God was not present in my life I was not afforded these age appropriate experiences.

My first encounter with VBS was with my own children. I loved it! What an incredible experience. I remember when I taught 1st grade and did not think the kids got anything I was saying, especially this one very busy boy. But, when question time came he knew every answer. It was a wonderful, yet exhausting week when nap time was needed and new babies wondered where their mommies went. We always looked back and had fond memories and junky crafts.

This year I have had the privilege of being Mary during VBS. I have been given far too much honor and too many accolades. If they knew what I was really like. I mean last night I made a boy cry! I love hearing all of their comments as I share the stories of Jesus. One night I asked if they were going to come back and Will Nelson said, “After my nap and swimming I will.” Grace Hendry gave me a look, “I don’t know about that…” But after everyone else said they were she decided maybe it was a good idea.

What I really love is how Jesus touches their little hearts. The kids have been so concerned about Eunice who does not believe that Jesus is God’s son. They have had lots of comments about Jesus, his boyhood, and him being the son of God as well as Mary’s son. The one that really tripped me up was Jaedon Roberts who asked, “Is Jesus his own son?” If you answer that one right you get to be the storyteller for VBS next year!

Patty Thompson

Joy, Joy, Joy

Joy, Joy, Joy

The lyrics of this song from my VBS days of old remind me of an eternal truth that God has shared with us.  That is that He is the creator of JOY and the sustainer of it even today.

I've got the joy, joy, joy down in my heart,
Where?
Down in my heart.
Where?
Down in my heart.
I've got the joy, joy, joy down in my heart
Where?
Down in my heart to stay.
And I'm so happy, so very happy, I have the love of Jesus in my heart.

Even though the words of the songs have changed, VBS is the same. This week VBS at The Journey has shown kids that joy comes from a relationship with the very Jesus that grew up in Hometown Nazareth.

The words to the song that they will remember will be something like:

Great things happen when we come together, great things happen when we praise our Savior. 

I think that the message is the same: Great things happen when we are in relationship with Jesus, the source of Joy.


Contributed by Kim Snare

Teach Me

"Teach me, O Spirit,

   to love Thee

     as whole-heartedly as the miser loves his money.

Make me

   as attached to Thee

     as the drunkard is addicted to wine.

Teach me

   to cling to Thee

     as erring ones do to their bad habits.

Teach me

   to be as attentive to Thee

     as a mother is to her child.

Teach me

   to perform my duties diligently,

     with my attention fully riveted on Thee.

Teach me

   to love Thee

     as the worldly man loves his possession.

With the first love of true lovers,

   teach me to love Thee."

Yogananda (Whispers of Eternity, pp 82-83.)--