TagPrayer

One Love

Traditional Sermon Easter 7 “One love, one heart. Let’s get together and feel all right” Bob Marley friends. Bob Marley. Didn’t think I would ever be singing a reggae tune in worship, but God works in mysterious ways! Bob Marley’s song about unity was written in the midst of great turmoil in his homeland of…

Faith Rituals in a Secular World

Everyone is decked out in their uniforms for their morning responsibilities.  They gather in a circle and create a bit of sanctuary amid the chaos that surrounds them … laughter, movement, local urchins running around, and beverages being consumed.  Their leader offers up ritual words for the task before them, invoking God’s blessing on their…

Disciplined Prayer

The needed change within us is God’s work, not ours.  The demand is for an inside job, and only God can work from the inside.  We cannot attain or earn this righteousness of the kingdom of God: it is a grace that is given…. In this regard it would be proper to speak of “the…

Spiritual Road Kill … Rescued

There is a great difference between the skill and the grace of prayer.  The skill is but the outside, the shape, the carcass of our responsibility.  The grace is the soul and spirit that gives it life, vigor and efficacy, that renders it acceptable to God and of real advantage to ourselves.  The skill consists…

So Many Reminders ….

I’m leaving the Intensive Care Unit yesterday afternoon after having spent some time with one of our church families that has a loved one in the ICU.  As I walk down the hall I pass a window that offers a lovely view of the southeast corner of Lancaster city, from the relatively high 6th floor…

Our Father ….

     EMAIL DEVOTION week of LENT 2 ‘Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  (Matthew 6:9-10) The end of the month often finds me finishing my home communion visits.  They are one of the blessings I enjoy in parish…

Generosity Grows from Gratitude

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances! –1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Would you like to be a more generous person, possessing a generous heart? Then try embracing gratitude as a spiritual practice. Since Thanksgiving is on the 23rd of this month, November is a great time to give it a try. Gratitude and…

Out of the Depths

EMAIL DEVOTIONAL WEEK OF Pentecost 17 Out of the depths I cry to you; O Lord God, hear me calling.  Incline your ear to my distress in spite of my rebelling.  Do not regard my sinful deeds.  Send me the grace my spirit needs; without it I am nothing.  (ELW Hymn 600) Like you, I find myself conflicted.  I am admittedly…