EPC Resources
When We’re Running Low On Love
“Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him,
they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them.”
Thus opens the gospel selection in this Sunday’s lectionary reading.
Haven’t we all looked at someone else’s behavior or language or dress and thought of them as somehow defiled in comparison the traditions or values we believe to be good and right?
Just this week, Annie served a customer who made a snarky comment about what Jesus might think about her unconventional look. Annie thought it was kind of funny, but when she told me, I responded in my own heart with just as much snark about what Jesus would say concerning that lady’s stingy narrowmindedness.
Does hypocrisy ever end? According to Jesus, no, as long as we teach human precepts as divine doctrine, hypocrisy of heart cannot end. One human doctrine bumps up against another, judging, competing, contradicting.
Jesus does, however, offer us a path out of hypocrisy by telling us where the problem begins: in the human heart. We may not be accustomed to thinking of the danger in our own hearts, certainly not in these times when there seems to be such danger coming from outside our hearts. And yet, this is where Jesus tells us to begin with our obedience to God’s law of love: in our own human heart.
Questions that might help us think on these things this week:
*What are the signs that you might need to spend time in the loving presence of the Lord? Do you get judgmental, easily perturbed, overly self-critical, moody, despairing?
*To what thought or activity do your turn when you find yourself running low on love?
Click here to see all the readings for Sunday, August 29th, 2021:
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=217
See you Sunday, Friends.
Love,
Jane
Concluding John
Friends, we made it. We made it through the five weeks of semi-continuous readings from the Gospel of John in which Jesus teaches about who he is as bread of life, the bread come down from heaven. We have seen his teachings go from poetically metaphorical to downright difficult.
We are not alone in finding his teachings difficult. This week, we see that his disciples also found his teachings difficult. We see some of the disciples go away, and others stay. Even the ones who stay admit that his teachings are hard, but they have tasted life in those teachings, and therefore, there is nowhere else for them to go.
Life is hard. Feeling lost is hard. Being spiritually hungry is hard. Jesus’ teachings are hard.
Which one brings life and healing and community and a lifetime of growing in grace and mercy and love? Jesus’ teachings do all this.
All options are hard: we can pick our hard.
May we remember the lifegiving fruits of this faith path when we choose.
The times we live in today are hard. You are in my daily prayers. I pray our fellowship and communion at EPC goes with you all throughout the week and you feel the presence of Jesus very near to you each day, opening doors, keeping you safe, and watching over those you love.
I will be so glad to see you Sunday,
Jane
Take a look at all the revised common lectionary selections for this coming Sunday here:
An Effective Use of Shock
When the writer Flannery O’Connor was first published and reviewed, she was categorized by some critiques as belonging to a “cult of the Gratuitous Grotesque.” In her writing, she often creates fictional narratives that lead to a moment of shocking violence. Her characters are often exaggerated, unappealing figures, all to recognizable to many of us.
What does Flannery O’Connor have to do with this week’s gospel passage?
As a Christian writer, Miss O’Connor used shocking plot developments and violence to convey her vision in a belief that people were too accustomed to living with corrupt ideas, that, in fact, modern humans actually embraced some very distorted ideas as “good.”
In another installment of the “bread of life” semi-continuous readings from the Gospel of John, we will hear Jesus say some shocking words. Perhaps it is from Christ himself that Miss O’Connor learned that grace and mercy can sometimes come as a shock.
We will ponder these things together; thanks be to God.
Take a look at the full lectionary selection here:
*https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=215
<https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=215>*
See you Sunday!
Jane
A Grim Conclusion for King David’s Family
Take a look at all the readings for this week here:
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=214
This week, we hear more of the life and times and trials of King David. A tragic season in David’s family comes to a grim conclusion. Accordingly, the selection from Psalms mirrors the lament of hard times.
For the service on Sunday, we will continue reading in the gospel of John, will hear our liturgist read from Ephesians on how to imitate Christ who feeds us. John tells us who Jesus is and Ephesians describes how we would look and behave if we accept Jesus for who he is.
Grab your masks and come on out for time together.
Where Is The Good News In Hard Passages?
Read all lectionary passages here -
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=210
We have some very difficult texts this week. The psalm listed is enough like the songs of praise we sing each week, looking up to God who delivers, but the passages from 2 Samuel and Mark deal with heartbreak, jealously, and even death. In our Old Testament passage, we see King David dancing before the Ark of the Covenant. A lesser-known player in this drama is Michal: she watches her husband David with hate and heartbreak from a nearby view. In Mark 6:14-29 we read the terrible story of John the Baptist being imprisoned and beheaded by King Herod.
Where is the good news in these hard passages? It can be hard to find this good news, unless we are able to see in ourselves some of the same behaviors or motivations we see in King David and King Herod. Let us open the word together this Sunday and see what God may be saying to us in our lives now.
See you Sunday!
Who Is God Using?
In our gospel reading this week, Jesus arrives in his hometown. He has been traveling throughout the region teaching, healing, and gathering a group of twelve devoted followers, in addition to attracting growing crowds. We might imagine this homecoming as a great celebration, the joyous reception of a local son who has done well. The gospel of Mark tells us otherwise.
The NRSV says the locals who greeted him were “astounded” at Jesus’ teachings. Yes, astounded is one translation of the Greek word “exelpessanto,” but there are others that reveal their underlying attitudes. “Where did this man get all this?” they ask each other. “What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands!” It is not long before someone asks the question on everyone’s mind: “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and John and Judas and Simon? Are not his sisters here among us?"
We wonder, from this end of history, how anyone could have questioned Jesus, how anyone could have been in the presence of our Lord and rejected him and the gift of grace he brought. We cannot fathom how the people of his hometown could have been blind to Jesus in their very midst. Our wondering takes on new life when we wonder about our own lives and ask of ourselves “who or what is in our midst that God is using spread lifegiving grace to us?”
Take a look at all the lectionary selections for this week here:
Everyone Is Not Well All The Time
In the lectionary readings this week we are asked, yet again, to sit in that place of mystery where God is good, God is sovereign, God loves us, and yet all is not well all the time. More importantly, everyone is not well all the time.
The reading from the Gospel of Mark gives us the story of two women who have suffered for years, one a synagogue leader’s daughter and one an anonymous woman on the street. All turns out well. And yet, from 2nd Samuel, we also hear of the death of Saul and his son Jonathan. David is torn by these losses. Saul would have seen David killed, and yet David grieves, for Saul was his king and the father of his beloved friend Jonathan. Losing Jonathan is depicted as David’s greatest loss, as he loved no one more than he loved Jonathan. How can all be well?
The verses from Lamentations 3 and Psalm 130 leads us along this narrow path, leading us gently through hope and grief, through faith and pain: the very act of seeking God, of waiting, brings us life.
Take a look at all the lectionary readings here, including lines from the Wisdom of Solomon and 2 Corinthians:
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=208
As you let these words, beautiful and difficult, speak to your soul, I offer this prayer, one of my very favorites, from Julian of Norwich: “God loved us before he made us; and his love has never diminished and never shall. All shall be well. And all shall be well. And all manner of things shall be exceeding well.”
See you Sunday!
Jane
In the Chaos and In the Calm
We continue into the long season of ordinary time with the third Sunday of Pentecost. From the lectionary offerings for this Sunday, we will hear 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 and Mark 4:26-34.
1 Samuel tells of Samuel’s deep grief over Saul and God’s movement to choose another king to replace Saul. In short, God leads us on a journey in which looks can be deceiving. Physical appearances may mislead us, and social presentability may cause us to miss people with deep commitment to living life with God.
In the reading from Mark, we hear the familiar metaphor of the kingdom of God as the scattering of seed. Jesus tells the parable of the mustard seed, how such a tiny seed turns into a huge shrub that attracts birds and critters of all kinds. What a great image of a kingdom that grows and cannot be stopped, but a strange image too, as the shrub Jesus describes is one that would take over a garden and would not be desirable for planting.
Again, we will meditate on God’s word and approach the holy mystery that is this life and the kingdom of God being brought out in our very midst.
See you Sunday!
Jane
This Life and the Kingdom of God
We continue into the long season of ordinary time with the third Sunday of Pentecost. From the lectionary offerings for this Sunday, we will hear 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 and Mark 4:26-34.
1 Samuel tells of Samuel’s deep grief over Saul and God’s movement to choose another king to replace Saul. In short, God leads us on a journey in which looks can be deceiving. Physical appearances may mislead us, and social presentability may cause us to miss people with deep commitment to living life with God.
In the reading from Mark, we hear the familiar metaphor of the kingdom of God as the scattering of seed. Jesus tells the parable of the mustard seed, how such a tiny seed turns into a huge shrub that attracts birds and critters of all kinds. What a great image of a kingdom that grows and cannot be stopped, but a strange image too, as the shrub Jesus describes is one that would take over a garden and would not be desirable for planting.
Again, we will meditate on God’s word and approach the holy mystery that is this life and the kingdom of God being brought out in our very midst
Who Are My Mother & My Brothers?
In the verses from 1 Samuel, Samuel explains to the people of Israel that having a king will not be the great thing they believe it will be. Still, they want what other nations have and do not understand that their own relationship to God is far better than the monarchies that run the nations of the world around them. In the Genesis account, we read again that age-old story of who did what and who is to blame. Adam and Eve set out into the world of cause and effect, action and consequence – knowledge of good and evil, indeed. In the Gospel of Mark, no one seems to know what to do with Jesus. He seems crazy. When his family appear, those gathered seem relieved, as if the family might be able to “do something” with him. His words astound “Who are my mother and my brothers?”
What do all these passages have in common? The words of 2 Corinthians 4: 13-5:1 give guidance. We live in an upside-down world with a backwards way of perceiving. We look at what is visible and therefore cannot see what is eternal, and real. We think our lives are wasting away because our bodies are diminishing with age, but it is our spirits for which we live, and which are being renewed day by day.
Take a look at these passages in the lectionary from which our Sunday service will be drawn:
Let us pray together that as we go into the season of ordinary time we grow deep roots in the extraordinary love of God, the eternal in our midst, and that we too will be counted among those of whom Jesus declares: “Here are my mother and siblings!”
See you Sunday –
Jane
Trinity Sunday
On Sunday May 30th, 2021 we will have our yearly celebration of Trinity Sunday. Here is where you can see all the lectionary readings for this day of worship: https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php
You will notice the theme of the Trinity in the liturgy we use and mention of it in the sermon, but do not be surprised if you go home with as little (or less) of an understanding as you came. There are many metaphors and similes useful in grasping the Trinity, though not all of them bear the weight that comes with the term Trinity. Some even contribute to various notions of the Trinity that have been deemed heretical over the centuries: https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/Trinitarian%20Heresies.html
While these theological concerns are compelling and important, we must not allow them to become stumbling blocks in our faith or anyone else’s. The action of the Holy Spirit, after all, is far greater than our own human understanding. To this end, we will hear the story of Nicodemus and read about Isaiah’s vision of the Lord and his encounter with seraphs. When a mystery like the Trinity comes before us, we walk by faith, not by reason. We rely on the Lord to purify what we say, and we seek that inexplicable outcome of being born from above.
See you Sunday!
Jane
Pentecost
May 23rd is the day we celebrate Pentecost, marking the coming of the Holy Spirit to the people who were gathering in Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks.
Pentecost is from the Greek, meaning “fiftieth.” This referred to the fiftieth day after the Feast of First Fruits when all gave a portion of the first fruits to support the functioning of the priests and synagogues in order to maintain the communities’ religious services and spiritual centers of care of its people. This practice is linked to Passover, to God’s protection of the people and God’s guidance on the building of a strong community. Fifty days after the Feast of First Fruits comes the Feast of Weeks (or Pentecost) celebrating the harvest.
It was for this purpose of celebrating the harvest that Jewish people from all over gathered in Jerusalem and experienced the descent of the Holy Spirit, a day that would come to be meaningful to us today as the birth of the Christian church.
We will gather to hear the story of the Holy Spirit, the birth of what we have come to know as the church, and to be ready anew for the Spirit to continue working in us. How humbling it is to know the roots of our faith go deep into history and have grown to include us. Thanks be to God!
See you Sunday!
We Are Not Alone
This week the lectionary gives us more history from the early church. By the second chapter of the Book of Acts, Jesus has left, but does not leave us alone. The Holy Spirit begins to take the active role of leading and guiding.
Jesus taught of a world that is upside down from the one we customarily perceive, an economy in which all things are turned upside down – to become rich, be poor; to gain, lose; to be first, be last; to rule, become the servant. The Holy Spirit is no less disruptive.
At the provocation of the Holy Spirit there are prophesies, visions, dreams, and the broadening of the table of the Lord. Through the action of the Holy Spirit, we begin to see a world in which everyone who calls out to Jesus is embraced. Jesus’ teaching on Love, its binding and identifying action in our lives, goes hand in hand with the disruptive work of the Holy Spirit. How else are we to get through upheaval and changes, even when they are for the good God plans, unless we stay connected in love?
Check out all lectionary passages for this Sunday here:
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=91
See you Sunday!
Jane
Christ’s Identity in Our Lives
Dear EPC,
For the Fifth Sunday of Eastertide, the Lectionary continues to give us passages that tell us more about Christ’s identity in our lives, His function for us throughout our lives, and how we can experience our connection to Him. The entire Bible gives us a multiplicity of metaphors and similes that help broaden and deepen our concept of God. When words and ideas are all we have to grasp the deep and mysterious reality of God, the rich tapestry of symbols and images the Bible offers are lifegiving and lifesaving.
This Sunday, in the account from the Gospel of John 15:1-8, Jesus tells us he is the vine, the source of life. We stay connected to him, and our souls find renewal over and over in life, through all the seasons of rest and growth and harvest, even brought back to life after bad weather or pestilence.
The passages offered from the Book of Acts and 1st John give us more clues as to what that lifegiving vine looks like and feels like: in short, love and acceptance.
In 1 John 4: 7-21, we are told that love is the hallmark of God’s presence in our lives, and Acts 8:26-40 tells us that even our most unacceptable “selves” are invited into the heart of God for healing and renewal, and to play a part in the work of God.
For a complete listing of the Lectionary passages for Sunday, May 2, here is a link to the Revised Common Lectionary:
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=90
See you Sunday!
Jane
The Road to Emmaus
Dear EPC,
Today is the third Sunday of Eastertide. The process of living in the resurrected Christ is a daily walk, and today we walk the road to Emmaus.
Your EPC worship committee is delighted to bring to you our very own John Sevier and Claire Cope, leading a service of worship in music, song, readings,
prayers and scripture. The theme of the service is walking with God, and comes from that beautiful story of the road to Emmaus, drawn from the account in Luke, chapter 24, verses 13-49.
A note to children and families: There is no children's message today, but as always, Ms. Faith has provided lessons and activities related to the lectionary passages for the day. Please find them attached to the newsletter if you did not receive them in the mail.
Let us worship our Lord and Savior with word, song, and praise. And let us remember once again that Christ is with us on every road we travel.
Blessed Sabbath to All,
Jane
Easter Sunday 2021
Easter Sunday 2021
First Jesus was born as an infant in the lowliest of settings, the King of kings in a borrowed bed of straw.
Then he taught and healed and walked the path of life with “friends” and “enemies,” going to parties, seeking solitude, praying, and feeding the hungry, bringing cool, fresh water to the thirsty.
In all he did, Jesus showed us Good News. Jesus taught us we belong to a loving God, that we are loved and that as lost as we may become, as terrible as life may treat us, there is nothing we can do about God’s love for us. God’s love is the fact Jesus showed us and taught us and commended us to live and learn as our own, as God’s own, men, women, and children of God.
If this was not enough, God had something else to show us through his beloved son Jesus.
Not even death can touch the life we live in God. Not even hate and ignorance, not the deepest sorrow can stop the love and life God gives us. When it looked like all was lost, Jesus rose to speak the truth that echoes in our lives still, today. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
This Sunday we celebrate this ancient glory, still so necessary and life-giving to us today.
The weather report says we will have a glorious, sunny Easter worship under at the pavilion. I can’t wait to see you and celebrate our risen Lord together again!
Holy Week Blessings to you –
Jane
Maundy Thursday At Home
*A Maundy Thursday Litany for a Meal at Home*
*Thursday, April 1, 2021*
*This is a litany for one or more people prepared for the people of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church. Please use this litany alone or with others, and please feel free to share it with anyone who might want to use it for their Maundy Thursday meal devotion.*
*The lines in regular text can be read by one person and the lines in bold read by another person or persons.*
*This litany can also be used in its entirety by one person.*
*There are two movements to this litany: a short reading for washing hands, and a prayer before the meal.*
*The Maundy Thursday Meal is a meal of remembrance and love, a time of giving thanks and renewing our hearts for the acts of serving and being served in the name of Christ Jesus.*
Part I: Washing
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Part II: Blessing before the Meal.
*Just as Jesus’ disciples gathered in a room for a meal with him, this meal is also a meal of gathering: gathering*
*our hearts. This meal is a meal of remembering, a meal of thanksgiving, a meal of love in honor of the one who loves us all, the one who loved us first.*
*Let us Pray…*
*God, we receive the love of Christ.We receive his great example,We receive the power and work he demonstrated by your spirit;And we receive the commands he has given.This is Christ’s command:That we love one another (John 13:34)Just as Christ loved his disciples and others he met.As Christ has done so must we do.This is Christ’s example:Washing the feet of his friends; (John 13:14-15)Humbly doing the work of a servantBecoming vulnerable, laying down his life.*
*This is Christ’s legacyWhich we receive as the gift of heaven:Where once there was sacrifice,Now there is mercy. (Hosea 6:6)Where once there was flesh and blood,Now there are bread and wine. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)*
*The mercy of God has been made known in the body of Christ.The character of God has been made known in the work of Christ.He has shown us a way forward,And we will follow the path of peace.*
*We ask your blessing, Lord, on this simple meal prepared for this night.*
*We ask blessing on the hands that prepared it and the earth from which it came.*
*We ask that we be blessed in eating this meal, that we be strengthened for acts of service, for acts of love in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.*
*Blessings to you this night, the night we pause, each in our own homes, to remember God’s love and to remember that simple meal shared in an upper room so long ago.*
That meal and the love that inspired it connects us all this night.
________________________
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday
You can find a listing of all the scripture passages for Palm Sunday at the Revised Common Lectionary site:
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=76
This Sunday, we will read Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 and Mark 11:1-11 for the Liturgy of the Palms, the Sunday we remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This is the day of an all-time high marking the start of Holy Week, a journey that will take us through an all-time low.
From Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, we observe the full range of the human experience: triumph, joy, betrayal, courage, confusion, defeat, faith, loss, loyalty, hope, and tragedy. Holy Week shows us Christ and his followers living out the same sublime and devastating experiences we encounter in our lives. Jesus promises more to the highs and lows of life, though: he takes our unbearable heartbreak and promises us a light and life brighter than we can imagine.
As Jesus rides to Jerusalem amid the waving of palm branches, the people shout “Hosanna!” We use this as a word of praise, but it also means “Help Us!” in Hebrew. Seven days after Palm Sunday, we arrive on Easter Sunday awash in the grace and glory of the Risen Christ. Still, our exclamation is “Hosanna!” We praise you Lord, Help Us! And he does. Over and over.
Hosanna! Blessed is the one who came to conquer death that we might live. Hosanna indeed!