First Sunday of Lent – March 13
Mark 12:28-34
One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “God is one, and besides God there is no other”; and “to love God with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength”, and “to love one’s neighbor as oneself”,—this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.’ When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ After that no one dared to ask him any question.
“Dream, Think, Be, Do”
To “Dream” is to Love with the heart. To love with the heart is often to give oneself over. For us as followers of the Way, to love with the heart is to give ourselves over to the journey. Too often we want to map out the whole itinerary, start to finish with no surprises. To give ourselves over to the journey means to dream open-endedly. It means to follow without knowing.
At the beginning of this Lenten journey, though we know its end is ultimately Easter, it means to dream of a journey that we don’t fully know. We are invited to entertain uncertainty. “I don’t know” is also a statement of faith. This is not a case of the blind leading the blind. It is a proclamation of faith that ultimately God will guide us, no matter how confused we seem to be! It is also not that we give ourselves to irrational behavior, but to admit that our best rationality still cannot grasp the depths of God.
We experience the overwhelming awe of God when we admit the limits of our won knowledge.
Yvette Flunder preaches powerfully on the gift of not knowing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXtE7zmN5MM
This is a clip from the DreamThinkBeDo study and I want to run at least part of it on Sunday.
Thank God for a geek pastor!! I have been wanting more people than can attend WT to be able comment or suggest or?KENT I posted last week but didn't have "a profile?"
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young my parents had me memorize a lot of scriptures. If you asked me what my favorite memory verse I would have said Isaiah 41:10 "10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." KJV or
ReplyDelete10 Don’t panic. I’m with you.
There’s no need to fear for I’m your God.
I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you.
I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you." The Message.
"No Fear" and the capacity to trust God helps us be ok with the dreaming of the unkown on our journey.
From our earliest education on, we are taught to know the consequences of our actions; to make a plan taking into account the unforseeables; to know what our outcomes will be. It is terribly hard in this culture, " to accept on faith". That is something that has to be learned.
ReplyDeleteMarch 13, 2011
ReplyDeleteWorship Outline 2.0
Experiential Field: . As we begin our Lenten journey, we experience that giving ourselves over to the journey means to dream open-endedly. It means to follow without knowing.
Worship coordinator(s): Barbara and help
Tech: Glen and Shelli
Mics: assign Sunday Morning
Scripture/Readings: Barbara to ask
Communion servers: Doyle, Doyle to ask 3 people from the congregation who would like to volunteer to serve communion.
Usher: Dean
Rover: Linda
Action Items:
1. Barbara to contact scripture readers.
2. Doyle to write a skit on about going on vacation and whether to create an itinerary or not.
3. Dan to ask Catherine/George or Linda/Ray or Michael/Heather to act out the vacation skit.
4. Get the Video clip from Up in the Air – Dan/Doyle
Logistics:
1. Run through skit before the service
2. Hand out Fortune Cookies and tell them not to open them
3. Let Linda Goodin know about the communion volunteers
Bulletin: Scriptures
Outline
Youth Video – the youth video will be played during the pre-service slides.
Gathering
Jazz/Candlelighting
Song –
Welcome – meet and greet
“Dream, Think, Be, Do” - Intro trailer from “Dream, Think, Be, Do”
DVD’s on uncertainty
Community Time, Joys & Concerns
Prayer
Uncertainty
Mark 12:28-34 – Barbara and to ask Janie / Susan to read
Video Clip: Up in the Air – scene where George Clooney is trying to tell a want to be chef that being hired can end up being a new beginning.
Reflection
Song –
Dream
Fortune Cookies – Doyle to introduce the fortune cookies and dreaming what could be in them.
Vacation – Doyle to write a skit on about going on vacation and whether to create an itinerary or not – we need to tune into God’s itinerary
Reflection
Box, Basket and Connection Card
Song –
Freedom
Isaiah 41:10 – Barbara and to ask Janie / Susan to read
Beyond the Either/Or God - Yvette Flunder – video clip from the “Dream, Think, Be, Do” DVD’s
Communion – continue using the words of institution read by the congregation together. Doyle to also ask for volunteers to serve communion
Song - Holy Now by Peter Mayer – use Holy Now during Lent instead of Our Creator
Benediction
How can we get wt members on the site. How about a couple of us bring computers and set up the WT members who are present?
ReplyDeleteEverybody who has a computer should be on the 40 day Lenten series on church website. Idea project each Sundays lesson on screen and tell them HOW they can get it each day!!!!!
ReplyDelete