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Friday, February 08, 2013

11th Hour Preacher Party - T-fig already?

Goat Fell on the Isle of Arran, Scotland

I know many of us have been asking this week: "How can it be T-fig already?" Not just because we don't want to preach on those texts one more time but because observing Transfiguration means we must be close to Lent and all the liturgical manouverings that that entails.
What happened to that space we usually have to plan Lenten worship and study?
I know I'd love to spend just a little time up in those mountain mists, getting my thoughts together for a marathon season.
Maybe that's why, when I preach T-fig, I spend more time focussing on what happened after Jesus and his favoured disciples come down off the mountain than what happened at the top.
So, which camp are you in? Nestled with the Moses and Elijah lookalikes on the mountain? Or down at the bottom, with those feckless disciples who couldn't command healing for someone in need?
Perhaps, rather than T-fig, you are on Epiphany 5 or even the Narrative Lectionary.
Whatever, because Wednesday IS Ash Wednesday, you'll be wanting to use up all that rich food you have around so that you can practice austerity in Lent. So bring it to this table where we shall feast together and assist one another in a smooth transition from Epiphany to Lent.
And, for giggles, here is a video that seems to me to illustrate Transfiguration. I may use this in children's time.

104 comments:

  1. Living in flat land TX, I can't quite get up much feeling for the mountain tops. Besides, I don't preach this week anyway. Emotionally I am not anywhere near a mountain top so I may go to the Baptist church and finesse the whole durned thing!

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    1. Muthah, hope you find some lifting of Spirits - even a wee slope if not a full blown mountain!

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  2. I was all prepped to sit down and screeve my T-fig sermon--using stories from the Hasidic tradition about the divine light that resides in all creatures and a general theme of taking time to notice God's light shining, even as we have to hike back down...when one of my darling deacons called to say that church is cancelled!

    She was talking with the sexton and they decided that--even though the blizzard ends Saturday evening--everyone would still be digging out on Sunday. This news leaves me feeling positively... transfigured!

    So, my dear preachers, here is my last Dundee cake for you all to share, full of butter and whisky and ginger and other decidedly non-Lenten things. Hopefully it will help fuel you all as you type! (Now I'm going to go tackle my Ash Wednesday service instead of working on my sermon.)

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    1. MaineCelt - that sounds like a gift - but maybe this early in your call, not one that you welcome. Glad you are able to use the space to prepare Ash Wednesday.
      And that Dundee cake sounds perfect for my bedtime cuppa that i'm about to have!
      Thanks

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  3. I've decided - probably as an avoidance tactic - that we will review epiphany this Sunday - taking a quick tour back through the gospel readings so far this year.
    Hoping that we can take hold of the moments of Epiphany we've had and perhaps carry them forward into Lent.

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  4. Is anyone else doing Luke 5, Into the Deep? Talking about going deep into yourself and your life of faith -- via The Life of Pi. So far.

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    1. Robin, that sounds like a good lace to begin Lent - from deep within ourselves and our life of faith.

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  5. I'm going with the transfiguration because it's the first time I've preached on it--one of the plusses of being a first call pastor. :) What especially struck me is the prominence of prayer in that passage. I have a few musings, questions etc. posted already at http://claimedgatheredandsent.blogspot.com/2013/02/god-sightings-and-hearings.html.

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    1. Ivy mind if I borrow your questions? I'm thinking about the prayer focus in Luke too, and those questions may just give me a sermon outline.

      And welcome to the wonderful world of first call ministry!

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    2. Feel free to borrow the questions Ramona. Thank you for the welcome. I get some wonderful questions/ideas from the members that come to Bible study where we talk about the gospel lesson for the coming Sunday.

      Blessings!

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    3. We used to do that at my internship site - it's way to see what the congregation is thinking when they hear a text and the ladies of the group took such ownership in the sermon! I miss doing that and just haven't been able to get it started here.

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  6. I'm going with descending to the plain after the mountaintop. Struggling a bit but I have a quiet day today with the lay ministers (someone else leading) so hope to get up a metaphorical mountain at least a little way! I'm very much in the plain, so it's hard. Luke 5 is tempting too, but I think the transfiguration will fit as a good introduction to my Lenten them of journey to Easter.
    On offer -- Chocolate wafer sticks and a slab of lovely chocolate a well-meaning parishioner gave me. Such a shame I have to eat it quickly before Wednesday!!!!

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    1. Thanks for sharing the chocolate, Pat. I hope you do get a start up that mountain, especially with Lent coming.

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  7. I'm going with the conversation & bemused musings of PJ & J
    title: Listen, Look... ACT!
    there's a wee poetic reflection of that conversation on my blog (http://julie-acountrygirl.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/brilliant.html)

    Thinking about how good we all are at running around, looking busy, responding without really doing anything...
    time to act on it!

    but signing out to go put my banana bread in the oven...

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    1. Yum - is that banana bread ready yet? Thanks for posting your reflection

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  8. Heading up that mountain again - and boy has it been a struggle. Thinking about how worship can be our mountain top time with Jesus. Also setting a Lenten challenge to head now with Jesus into the desert. And to take a piece of the Isaiah passage Jesus read in the synagogue with them (provided on a card in the Sunday Supplement)and to focus their prayers on that each day. I Meanwhile will be writing a prayer each day in my new fab wee pretty book and with my new pen. Let Lent begin...

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    1. Shuna - great to have the Isaiah words accompanying folk through Lent.
      Will you publish your prayers on the blog?

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  9. Does anyone else have difficulty posting on here using ipad? Two comments posted earlier today have been swallowed up!
    I've had a busy morning, waxed, nails done, soup and bread made.
    Now I have to polish up the sermon I've written in snatches this week to see if it hangs together OK - then I'd like to get on to prepare Ash Wednesday service.
    But, first, some of that spicy winter soup and hot baked bread for lunch. Plenty of room at the table.

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  10. Liz, what serendipity! I am using my Christmas gift iPad, and have been curious about glitches. Also, how do I (or do I need to) adjust my blog for others with mobile apps?
    I am going with T-fig tomorrow, and have about a third of it done. I have had a bruising week and am mentally exhausted. This is a rough time of year for me anyway (February and March) plus we are coming down from a "high" of a fantastic 25th anniversary celebration. Of our congregation. It was a wonderful weekend, with no glitches, everyone working together, lots of positivity...and now we are this rough patch again. Two things spring to mind-one, how well it all fits with the T-Fig, and two, what are we doing/not doing that gets us into the annual downer sometime from late January to early March? The second will take some thought, but the first is something I can work with.
    I have some lovely chocolate to share, and well as some granola. Yes I am just now havi breakfast.
    PS one of my New Year's resolutions was to blog more regularly. You can see that hasn't happened! But will work on it...

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    1. Oh yes, RP, fitting right in with T-fig! From mountain top to Holy guddle.
      And, as for New Year's resolutions - its early days yet!
      Praying that you recover some energy and momentum.

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  11. I'm up, I swear. I have to keep reminding myself that the funeral is next weekend, not today, so I'm having a bit of a hard time not feeling like I'm supposed to be somewhere.

    Of course, I don't have any new thoughts since the ones I posted on Tuesday. Something about holy ground and serving our neighbors etc etc etc. We're inviting people to take off their shoes, or to wear sandals, to experience a tiny bit of what our homeless friends are going through this winter, and to bring socks for a special collection we'll be giving away at our shelter this week. Hence all the holy ground stuff--it's "barefoot sunday." I'm reading the Burning Bush and the Footwashing stories, trying to tie together all the holy ground we stand on when we meet god and/in serve one another. Or something.

    But first: tea. maybe that will help. I have some fresh brewed chai with honey...

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  12. I'm preaching "Mardi Gras on the Mountaintop." Since it's Black History Month (and Mardi Gras Sunday - Jazz Mass) I start with MLK on the mountaintop and talk about everything at the foot of the mountain we'd rather avoid: death, the cross, sniper's bullet, injustice, the sanitation workers' contract dispute, city workers and union disputes across the country, the hungry desperate poor, those who want to horn in on our Jesus time, Lent... And I talk about the holiness of that mountain having been purchased in blood by Deborah, because the texts are too male. Hopefully the streets will be clearer in the a.m. Not much snow but ice. And I get to preach it again on Monday in the Sem chapel. Peace to you all.

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  13. About 2/3 done. Not preaching Luke but it will get a reference in setting the stage for the Exodus reading and the 2 Corinthians reading. Title: Three Stories so one story will be Moses, one story Paul, and the third story can't be told because it is each persons/churches story to tell of how they live into the change that happens in their lives because of God. Or something like that.

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  14. Good morning preachers from the heart of the snowpocalypse (I refuse to call it Nemo). We have about 2.5 feet of snow on the ground (see my pix on FB); it has stopped snowing but it is still very windy and all the roads in my town are deemed impassable. I don't mind a bit. In fact, I loved yesterday with the snow falling all day long.

    So we cancelled our annual meeting which was supposed to be tomorrow; I will be there for church at 10:00 b/c I only have to go across the lawn (that is of course, if the snow removal people get here so I can get out my back door and in the church door) but I dont expect a crowd. Which does not motivate the sermon writing. I was taking one tack for the meeting that I may still pursue--we are all called and changed by encounters with God--or not.

    Not ready for Lent. Not at all. But in one brilliant move, I have a seminarian preaching on Ash Wednesday which removes that piece of pressure :)

    And I have hot oatmeal to share...the real thing, not instant, with golden raisins.

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  15. I'm wondering why scheduling both children's mini-retreats in the same week sounded like a good idea. Oh yeah...because Lent is so early this year. One down on Thursday night, one to go today.

    Pizza with the Pastor is in a couple of hours. I'm enjoying the irony of our planned snack - dipping pretzels in chocolate while talking about how pretzels were created as a Lenten snack to remind children to pray. After I'm done with that I have a baptismal meeting at the other congregation.

    Maybe I'll get some sermon inspiration out of one or the other? I wasn't able to do my usual prep work, and it seems the roll I was on the last 3 weeks - where the sermons just poured out of me - has dried up. Maybe it's because I haven't had a day off in 2 weeks and the days I took off before that were spent on our recent family emergency. Maybe I needed that vacation that I postponed till April so my spouse could go too. I don't know.

    I'm feeling less than inspired about T-fig.

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    1. Ramona, hoping the chocolate covered pretzels - and the pizza- will give you some much needed energy.

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  16. I'm a regular lurker on the Preacher Party - as a lay person I don't usually preach - but am with you all in spirit today as tomorrow (if we can get out of our driveways) is our Stewardship Sunday and I have been asked for a few words and to keep it brief. It does not want to. I should be lucky I have this problem, right?

    When I get "Why I pledge" stuffed into three minutes or less, I can go back to working on my seminary application.

    About 18" (45cm?) of snow and still falling here in central Maine. Good thing I need to not be going anywhere today...

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    1. Welcome sandhilldiary. Thanks for joining in. Good luck with getting that Why I Pledge into 3 minutes - I'm sure we'd love to hear it!

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    2. I had it down to 365 words - just over 3 min - when I got an email asking those of us speaking to include a totally different angle than what I'd done with it.

      It's chainsaw and crowbar time. We'll see what happens.

      I have hot chocolate and lots of snow for whoever wants it.

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  17. The three stories idea sounds like a great stepping off point for me, Purple. I have been wanting to do a conversational sermon for some time, inviting others to speak. I'm a little afraid of it, but it intrigues me to hear other voices in the sermon time. I'm wondering about the three stories being Moses, Jesus and each person's to tell - and then asking for reflection on their Lenten time on the first weekend after Easter when I preach then - April 13-14. What epiphanies will we/they have during Lent? (thanks Liz)

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  18. Here's mine for this week: http://theshepherdesswrites.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/light-for-the-journey/
    We snowed out last week, so while the northeast is covered in snow this week, I'll get to preach again! My best to you all :)

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  19. Shepherdess - I love your enthusiasm to preach again. And I love your sermon. Blessings on you and your hearers.

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  20. Not preaching this week, so I am working ahead on bulletins for the next couple of Sundays. My supply preaching calendar is filling up quickly! On Monday, I'm meeting with a woman from one of the churches where I preach to discuss her upcoming sermon. Things are hopping!

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    1. Esperanza, thanks for stopping by when you obviously have a lot on your plate. Glad there is the feeling of getting organised ahead!

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  21. It took a lot of polishing but here it is.
    Off now to enjoy moroccan fish stew for dinner.

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  22. I am really struggling to get on top of the Jet Lag so decided to go with last week's 1 Corinthians reading and use a sustainable sermon. We had a "Big Sing Service" last week (as there was some uncertainty about my ability to be there as the transatlantic flight was due to arrive at 7:30am - The flight was early, I was at worship)
    We have a baptism tomorrow so sermon is short and challenges the congregation to insert their name into the passage in place of the word love. It was very powerful for me when I first did it - I hope it will be for others too.
    Making chicken and rice soup. should be ready in 10 minutes if anyone wants any.

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    1. Tanya - I love that idea of inserting names where it says love - must try that! Glad you can be short and sustainable!
      Hope the soup perks you up.

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  23. okay people...I'm going to need you all to be a lot more interesting, because so far I have 0 words written but the internet is failing me with procrastination options. Pretty soon I'm going to be reduced to cleaning, and no one wants that. So...let's pick up the fun over here, shall we? ;-)

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    1. Hey hey, I have no fun to offer, but I can at least commiserate! I, too, am at zero words. Yeehaw! And UGH. I fear that I have also run out of internet procrastination options.

      So basically, I am totally failing you but also joining you in the desperate search for diversion.

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    2. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one out here with creative juices that must be frozen outside. :)

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  24. Am I the only one preaching 2 Cor. around here? It's a beautiful passage, and I was quite drawn to it earlier in the week, even though I preached it three years ago (planning to go in a different direction this time). It seems such a practical text for a day that is grounded in mystery. Even so, I am finding words elusive.

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  25. OK. Here's what I got: Mardi Gras + Black History Month + Science Fiction + Feminist and Womanist Biblical Scholarship = A Transfiguration Sermon.

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  26. Wil, can't wait to read that one :)

    I am off the hook; we are still under a state wide driving ban and it is not clear when it will be lifted + I cannot currently get out of my house nor into the church because of snow drifts, + no sign of the plow guy so far, so the wardens and I have decided to cancel services for tomorrow. Given the age of most of my parishioners I hope they wouldn't try to come out tomorrow any way.

    If I can get over to the office I will work on stuff for Lent. Otherwise I will read a novel or watch a movie. Yesterday I took a walk in the snow and watched junkie TV and it was a lovely day :)

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    1. RDM - Hoping for another movie and novel day for you - I'm sure you need it. Stay warm and safe.

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    2. Rest well. (And Baron Samedi just showed up in my sermon...)

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  27. Finally found my way to the end. A bit shorter than my normal sermon but we have a few extra things going on tomorrow so I should be OK.

    Three Stories

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  28. Thanks to Purple and Liz for the ideas - mine is done - will post it after the first preaching tonite. I have learned that what I put on paper changes in the verbalization and I usually always like the verbalization better. When I post the words first, I am too lazy to go back and change the sermon into what it has become. Hmmm - another transfiguration...

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  29. Mine's up - and Purple commented before I could even get over here. That girl is either really speedy or really procrastinating something!

    http://metanoia-mrc.blogspot.com/2013/02/into-deep-sermon-luke-and-i-cor.html

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  30. Regular lurker deciding to procrastinate a bit more intently.

    I'm having to supply preach on Moses' and Jesus' shining faces. Starting out with Shel Silverstein's gem "The baby bat cried out in fright, Turn on the dark, I'm afraid of the light!"
    Somewhere along the way I reference Moses's veil having the same impact as that person who wears their sunglasses indoors needlessly: cuts off eye contact and meaningful communication. God's face shining on us is a blessing, and we put on those dark glasses and don't see, out of habit or fashion of the times, or whatever.
    Somehow I'm getting around to saying that our faces light up when we experience blessing. if we don't look away from God in all of God's glory, but toward, then God's glory will be reflected on our faces and as blessing in our lives as well.
    Trying also to incorporate an image I have in my mind of Jesus stopping to heal someone and smiling with compassion, and that being the light that blessed the one in need of healing.
    Too many thoughts, not enough time!

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    1. Katja - so glad you decided to "procrastinate more intently". And what a lot of helpful thoughts and images you have there. I hope they come together in time.

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    2. Katja, thank you for the Shel Silverstein poem!!

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  31. Back from Pizza with the Pastor. Those kids really wear me out, but it's the only chance I have to interact with the elementary age kids. Just taking a breather before heading over to congregation #2 for baptismal prep. Then, maybe, just maybe, I can write something that resembles a sermon. Hopefully the brilliant idea I had just before I walked out the door for PwP comes back when I sit down to write!

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    1. I love Pizza with the Pastor. Filing it away for someday...

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  32. Me too, Robin - making a start on Ash Wednesday Liturgy. But the idea of Ashes to Go happening in Tx courtesy of Amy has given me an idea for homily.

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    1. Yay! Glad to be of service - and I love the cross-pollenization of ideas on here.

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  33. Whew, it's a busy day at the party. I'm trying to focus on getting T-fig done (plus elaborate children's sermon with putting the Alleluias away in plastic Easter eggs) so I can maybe take a whack at Ash Wednesday's sermon OR a sermon for the wedding I am doing on Friday. Yikes, what was I thinking when I agreed to do that?

    For a change, I actually have some (very rough) ideas for T-fig, but for now I think I am going to procrastinate in a productive way by going to start some split pea soup.

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    1. SemFem - thanks so much for reminding me about Alleluias. somehow I thought that was next week (even though I knew Ash Wednesday is this week) So - planning to attach sheets of paper with individual letters of ALLELUIA on them to helium balloons and let them soar. Could all go horribly wrong - but that's half the fun!

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  34. Preaching on call/where are you called to serve, annual meeting in 2 weeks, several committees that are there in name at most (including the worship committee that has just imploded and the PAstoral Care committee that only exists in the structure document). Do I make discussion of how we "church" together a focus of the sermon???

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  35. do one of you have my opening sentences? Because if so, I'd like them, please. ASAP. Will trade you some Sparkling French Berry Lemonade and some raspberry chocolate sticks. And/Or dinner. pretty please.

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    1. Four score and seven years ago....
      Once upon a time....
      It was a dark and stormy night...

      No?

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    2. I love those words Katja supplied (above) "The baby bat cried out in fright turn out the dark I'm afraid of the light" Wouldnt those be great words to begin Tfig sermon? :)

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    3. A funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit...

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    4. "Laissez les bon temps rouler!" That's where I'm starting. It's Mardi Gras Sunday and we're having a Jazz Mass with our super spiffy flour-de-lis super-frontal.

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    5. Will - you have too much fun! So un-Presbyterian!! LOL

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  36. Still working on my sermon. I'm focusing on how we respond to Jesus, how we are changed/transfigured by the experience.

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  37. OK! This lightweight Scottish RevGal is calling it a night. For once, going to bed with the service prepared - even the Alleluias that I'd forgotten about! Hope the party keeps on rocking. I'll be back early to start the coffee. Blessings

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  38. Liz, thanks for a great party that I am joining late because I had the best procrastination day ever: Two Mardi Gras parades and a crawfish boil!

    I also went to the store and got comfort food: Honey Nut Chex and milk. Help yourselves.

    I was working with a sustainable sermon, but all day I kept having other ideas.

    A factor: One of the people who was in our group -- a church member who has been in my office recently discussing a major life decision -- "will be late to our church tomorrow" because there is a special music thing at another church that "can't be missed." I have some feelings about that, God help me. And I have some burning questions (hopefully not too caustic) that begin with: "What is church anyway, and why should any of these Mardi Gras revelers give a (blankety blank) about it?"

    Going to get some of that cereal now!

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    1. Sharon, love that you're in that rocking place of festivals! But ugh for committment. Preach it sis!

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  39. I seem to have come to an end. I wasn't really expecting it, though, so now I have to go back to the middle and see if I can put in the other things I thought this sermon was going to say. If not...well, there's always next year, I suppose...

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    1. Wha??? Less than two hours you were still searching for a beginning. Gimme some of that mojo, girl!

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    2. yeah...I had an idea about how the rest would go, if I could just get started! Unfortunately, I seem to have gotten to the end without part of the idea! oops. But I'm stopping for dinner, so the mojo's all yours!

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  40. settling down to supper with fresh home made pasta sauce. can I get anyone a bowl?

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  41. Just got "Why I pledge" rewritten and down to 350 words... and got a phone call that due to the snowstorm we are putting off Stewardship Sunday until next week when people will actually be at church instead of digging out of a two-footer.

    Oh well. It's done, at least until the next thing changes. Not sure I am going to post it in its current form, but I will eventually.

    I wonder if the choir is singing tomorrow or if they're putting that off a week, too. It would be nice to know before tomorrow morning.

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    1. At least your hard work is done! But it deserves a good hearing. Stay safe.

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  42. Back from my baptismal prep, with pizza in hand (twice in one day, but that's what happens when you forget to defrost something for dinner)! Our local C-store makes a surprising good pizza, so help yourself.

    The looming storm is distracting me from my sermon. Will it hit us or not? If it does, will it be enough to cancel church or just make the drive dangerous? Knowing it's coming unsettles me...hmmm...that sounds like a sermon starter, but maybe not for T-fig. Then again, esperanza's "It was a dark and stormy night" does have a nice ring to it...

    The only thing I'm sure of at this point is that if I don't write a sermon, the storm will most certainly miss us. Teri, pass me some of that mojo, please!!

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  43. Whoop! Sat down after a wonderful dinner with a friend and an Ash Wednesday homily just poured itself out.

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  44. alright, I've posted a draft. It relies heavily on delivery, so hoping I can bring my A-game to that in the morning, or that something more brilliant appears in the night. Feedback appreciated!

    I'm going to let it percolate while I watch last week's Downton Abbey...back in a bit!

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  45. I got nothing - nada - zip.

    It's going to be a long night.

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  46. Right there with you, Ramona. My split pea soup was awesome...but my sermon is non-existent. Must. Get. Writing. Now.

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    1. BTW there is plenty of soup for anyone who missed dinner, needs dinner now, or needs a midnight snack! Or anyone who just needs some warming up.

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  47. I am so sick of this sermon. I'm weaving together Luke with 2 Cor. and it turns out I'm borrowing copiously from myself from the last time I did this. I was trying to do something totally new but am now doing a blend of old and new. I feel like I am close to ending it, but I don't have an idea yet of how to wrap things up. Blergh.

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  48. I am so stuck. It's a quarter to ten here and I really have nothing at all. No beginning, no ending, a few notes on prayer and no idea of where to go with it. I've never been this bad off this late in the evening before.

    I don't even have a sustainable sermon to fall back on.

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    1. Oh, I'm so sorry, Ramona! What a helpless feeling. I hope the Spirit blows some inspiration your way pronto!

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    2. I second earthchick! Ramona, I hate that feeling when you have absolutely nothing. May the Spirit blow soon! (btw, I'm sure you already did, but just in case, did you check out David Lose at WP? might be helpful for working with prayer and putting something together at the last minute...)

      On the other hand, I could use a little Spirit here to help me come up with a decent ending. I ended up sermonizing on the in-between times in life and how that is so often where clarity and vision are found. But...so what? 864 words and I need to bring it on home.

      earthchick, hope you found an ending too!

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  49. I'm normally a lurker here, I enjoy reading what's going on. I'm preaching tomorrow morning for our 9am service II do every week, we have 3 services I preach one) and usually there are only about 10 people there. It's supposed to be a very laid back service with a band...but, our band won't be there tomorrow, just a guitar and piano...it'll be fine. Plus, my sermon time is only supposed to be 5-7 minutes. But I've got nothing. Doing the T-fig, but tempted to turn my time into more discussion and less of a sermon (luckily I can do that). My 15 month old son has been flirting with a fever all day, so praying it doesn't spike over night. At least I'm associate, and if I need to miss, I can, but I'd much rather worship with 10 beautiful people tomorrow morning than nurse a sick little boy.

    In the mean time, I have some amazing homemade chicken tortilla soup if anyone wants some

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    1. Hi Deb...a discussion-based sermon sounds perfect for that group! Hope your son is feeling better soon, and that the Spirit blows soon as well and you feel ready to go for tomorrow.

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    2. I had thought about doing a verse by verse Bible study of the text. Maybe that would work for you.

      I hear you on the sick child - there's nothing worse than having a sick little one! Hope he is much better in the morning!

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    3. Deb - hope the little one is better and you get to worship with those beautiful folk. what fun to have discussion in worship!

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  50. Anyone still out there? I have something that will have to do: Close Encounters. It's a jumble - the Holy Spirit will have some work cut out for her tomorrow!

    Maybe it'll preach better than it reads.

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    1. Sounds good to me - and thats without your wonderful delivery.
      We all give thanks for the Holy Spirit and, if we didn't struggle, we wouldn't rely on her as much as we should!
      You've also reminded me to be thankful that I can just show videos and don't have to explain them. Sometimes we curse the technology rather than be grateful that we have it!

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  51. I'm here, but not for long. I'm pretty much re-preaching mine from 3 years ago because I think it is still a good word for us. There is also a SLIGHT chance we're end up cancelling in the morning, so I don't want to write a whole new one I won't use. But actually I made the decision to us this old one way earlier in the week before the weather stuff was even on the radar.

    I got my adult ed lesson ready. The sermon is in pretty good shape. I think I'm heading to bed in a few minutes. Trying not to get sucked into any more TV which is the biggest problem at this point.

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    1. I think I need a little TV to decompress before I sleep. On the other hand, I don't want to be up too late - if we do get the snow they are calling for, I'll need to give myself extra travel time.

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    2. Finished up a little later than I thought I would, but everything is done. All of it. Sleeping until 7:00 a.m. if my body will let me! (I always sleep WORSE when my sermon is done.)

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    3. Sounds like a good call She Rev. If it was worth saying once, its worth hearing again!

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  52. OK. Coffee's on - and kettle for hot tea. I slept late but that was good.
    Praying blessings on all of us today as we bring good news, as we challenge OR as we snuggle in out of the snow. Will come back to read and use and file more ideas later.

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    1. Thank you Liz for the wake-up call with coffee and tea.

      I fell asleep with a sermon finished except the ending, then woke up and just pieced together a kids' sermon. Still looking for that elusive ending. Hrmph.

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    2. I could use some of that coffee, Liz. Thanks!

      I woke up at 2:00 with the (silly? dumb? crazy?) idea to re-do the whole thing. I'm glad I did, I think. I'm not sure. Trusting that the H.S. is behind this whole thing!

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  53. Okay, finished! Whew! The ending was right under my nose the whole time.

    Blessings on all pondering, preaching, and proclamation today.

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  54. Good morning, all! Thanks for the coffee, Liz!

    I woke up from horrible anxiety dreams, in which I realized at the last minute that it was Campus Ministry Sunday and I had done nothing to prepare the students to lead in worship, and I was going to have to come up with something on the spot that was totally different from anything printed in the bulletin. So happy to wake up and realize that Campus Ministry Sunday is a good two months away!

    Happy T-Figgity, y'all! May the Holy Spirit blow upon us all, transforming all our words into exactly what they need to be for those who hear.

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