This week's reading from Acts has so many points of entry, it's hard to choose. Identity? Inclusivity? God's grace in the world? Go with the last for a moment. Depending on the translation, following his vision, Peter can neither "hinder" or "withstand" God's grace. Those are words almost of struggle, as if God's grace is so integrally woven into our world that we actually have to work hard to overcome it.
Perhaps you'd rather preach on Revelation. I dont know about you, but I find the promises of heavenly city so perfectly beautiful, that there seems nothing more to add. How will you preach on it?
Going with psalm ("hey, it's ALL good!") or the gospel ("all you need is love") instead? Wherever you are heading, you cant escape God's work in the world this week.
Going off lectionary all together? Check in, in the comments.
Pondering Acts and Peter's vision. Thinking about God's expansive love and grace that is difficult for us to understand with our us vs. them mentality.
ReplyDeleteI am going with Acts and John and thinking about new twists on old rules (remembering that the commandment to love is old but Jesus and Christianity give it a new twist). My early thoughts (which were written last week to be auto-posted yesterday as I am on a --successful-- house hunting trip at present) are up on the church blog.
ReplyDeleteI am doing the heavenly city by the river next week.
I'm away with the confirmation class this weekend--their last thing before we come to the end of this leg of our journey. Our guest preacher is using Revelation, and this post reminded me that I still have to make the bulletin! No more vacation-brain for me...
ReplyDelete"Who was I that I could hinder God?" from the Acts passage...keeps tugging at me...so that seems to be my direction this week.
ReplyDeleteGord, just loved the coming together of your house-hunting with the comment 'I am doing the heavenly city by the river next week' - now THAT'S house-hunting in a classy area!
ReplyDeleteI'm focusing on the Revelation passage and asking the questions: Can we imagine a new heaven and a new earth? What would they look like? How can we live the new heaven and the new earth today?
ReplyDeleteThe title of my sermon is "Imaginations Run Wild." Can we get beyond our preconceived notions to imagine something new?
I'm with Revelation, too. I'm thinking I'll start by wondering what John would think if he could time travel from 1st C Palestine to 21st C US. Or I might talk about change: it's our 100th birthday celebration. I'm still mulling.
ReplyDeleteHaving the same struggle as Dancing with Acts text.
ReplyDeleteVery good, Purple.
I hope Gord will invite us all for dinner when he settles in the heavenly city by the river
We have 2 baptisms on Sunday so the church will be full. I love the illustrator 'Quentin Blake'. Especially his quirky drawings. There is a book called 'All join in' I may use it in the childrens talk as it fits nicely with the Acts reading....we all join in because of our baptism.
ReplyDeleteI presented my Monday morning bible study with the three NT texts as options (because I just couldn't pick!) and they voted for Acts... which is funny given that I had a moment in seminary where I didn't believe Peter's vision being read aloud to me by a friend was actually in the Bible.
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo, I think this headline http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_dying_and_ignored is going to inform my sermon about who is in and who is out.
Oh, gosh, Amy, that's a sad story! I would like to tell that one sometime, but I dont think it goes the way I'm heading this week, which is in the direction suggested by the podcast at workingpreacher.org, which is really more about identity than about prejudice. It's worth checking out if you are thinking of heading that way.
ReplyDeleteI am on vacation, returning home on Thursday evening in time to do a service at a retirement home. The lessons for that service are last week's, the ones I didn't preach on. I'm winging that.
ReplyDeleteThis week's Acts lesson is what I will preach on Sunday. I love the line about hindering God and will probably go with it. I so want to talk about inclusivity but am not sure how hard I can hammer my congregation for their "why can't we all just get along?" mentality. So I am doing my best not to hinder God in determining the message.
Hey! If you are preaching on Acts and havent watched Babette's Feast lately, I can recommend it!
ReplyDeleteOh Good thinking Juniper Babette's feast.
ReplyDeleteI am preaching on the John passage. It is an interesting context as my interim time is coming to a close, or closer to a close,
I will only be with you a little longer...love one another.
This is my commandment that you love one another that your joy may be full...sing along....
grace blessing and joy sisters.
I've chimed in my tuppence worth. After this week's events, it's probably as well I'm not preaching this Sunday - the Holy Spirit would have to join the queue! churches - ack!
ReplyDeletePeter's question, "Who am I to hinder God," really speaks to me as well.
ReplyDeleteEven so, I am probably going to go with Jesus' admonishment to "Love one another." The story of Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax is compelling. During this past holiday season as we were preparing the mitten tree and such, one member of the Church Council made the comment that we should only help people living within our small community and nowhere else.