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Friday, May 17, 2013

11th Hour Preacher Party: When you pray, move your feet!



 Recently I listened to an interview by Krista Tippett, "On Being," with Congressman John Lewis (originally broadcast the end of March 2013). The interview was so moving that I immediately bought Lewis' book, Across That Bridge, Life Lessons and a Vision for Change

Both the interview and the book conveyed Lewis' DEEP faith and his profound belief that the kingdom of God is already here, we just need to live into it. Every act of social justice is a step toward making real - within us and the world -  the reality of God's kingdom which is ALREADY present!
"Faith is being so sure of what the spirit has whispered in your heart that your belief in its eventuality is unshakable..."
Pentecost Sunday strikes me as the perfect day to celebrate this reality - that God's dream that all people have the means to live fully and equally because we are all made in God's image, made good to do good IS already a reality, all we have to do is live into it.

For me, this is what the Book of Acts ultimately conveys to us: in the giving of the Holy Spirit and the formation of the Church, God's desire that all creation love one another as God love's us is already a reality.

Lewis makes note of the training that Rosa Park's received prior to that fateful day when she refused to give up her bus seat:

"The new theology (Miles Horton) studied posited that faith should respond not only to the ethereal needs of humanity, but it should have a holistic impact on the lives of believers and on the communities in which they lived. If faith had power, he declared, then its ability should be challenged to answer even our physical and material concerns and not be reserved for religious services and activities. If faith had meaning, its benefits should accrue not only after death, but it should have the capacity to answer the cries of humanity here and now..."
 But of all the phrases I could quote in this very moving book perhaps my favorite is this African saying:

"When you pray, move your feet!"






On this day when we celebrate the birth of the Church, what aspect of the Holy Spirit is tugging at you? Where are you feeling called to move your feet? What text is the Holy Spirit whispering in and through your heart?

This is the 11th Hour Preacher Party. Let's dance together through this day as we seek the words to speak into the cries of humanity and remind our people, as we make a wish and blow out the birthday candles, that


"Life is like a drama, and any person who is truly committed to an ideal must believe in the authority of a divine plan. Not a rigid, micromanagement of human behavior that predicts every step of every individual, but a set of divine boundaries that governs the present, the past, and the future—a set of principles humankind does not have the capacity to override, no matter how far we attempt to stray from its dictates."

Pull up a chair, here's a mug...would you like coffee or tea? And, thank you ALL for the gifts of your presence that you bring and share with this party.

84 comments:

  1. OK, had to get that FIRST comment posted quick! Now for the real one:

    My son Matt is graduating from law school tomorrow afternoon, and then we're going our for a family dinner, and then I'll have to drive the 1.5 hours to church town, so you'd think I'd have a sermon, but I don't.

    I am preaching at another church Sunday so that its pastor can come to ours and tell about his trip to Liberia as part of our May for Mission series. I am probably going to leave the red up and preach Pentecost for my own people next week.

    As far as this Sunday goes, I do sort of have most of an interactive Pentecost sermon -- asking people to think and talk about their own experiences with waiting, natural drama (the wind), the power of fire, and the movement of the Spirit. But I am told I'll be lucky if there are 20 people there, and I'm guessing they don't have a lot of experience with a pastor interrupting her sermon to ask them to talk to each other. I guess I'll go ahead and do it anyway-- the interruption of the Spirit kind of being the point of the day.

    Mostly I'm just excited about the law school graduation, which is bringing back memories of my own 34 years ago, and making me incredibly proud of my son and what he had to overcome to get to this point.

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    1. Oh Robin, congratulations on your son's graduation! Have a great time celebrating.

      Also, in my experience, if you walk down to where those twenty people are sitting and ask the questions right there with them, they just may be willing to speak up...

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    2. Thanks, Terri! That's exactly what I'm going to do. I just have to make sure that I have some stories of my own to share, in case they are as reticent as I fear.

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    3. Congratulations Robin. I'm sure you heart feels like bursting with pride!

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    4. Hope the graduation is a joyful celebration of all Matt's work, and of your family's support and care for each other as he's studied.

      Also hope the Spirit surprises you all with sermon conversation in the congregation you're visiting!

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  2. Congratulations, Robin!

    I'm here about 24 hours before I'm usually finishing up. I have about 2/3 of a sermon contrasting the Tower of Babel and Pentecost. If only I knew where that conclusion was...

    Trying to get finished tonight, as there isn't much kid-free time tomorrow. Daddy has a confirmation retreat all morning, then we all are going to a graduation party in the evening.

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  3. Esperanza, Feasting on the Word has some good insight into comparing Pentecost and Babel....I hope you have it? Here are my notes:

    " In a breathtaking reversal of the story of the tower of Babel, when proud humanity was divided by the plurality of languages (Gen. 11:1–9), Pentecost represents the inbreaking of God’s purposes for all humanity, bringing humanity together in understanding, despite their differences.

    Babel—Pentecost tells us the good news that our humanity, ruined and distorted in our distrust, has been restored in Jesus Christ. The Spirit that animated his life, that united him to God the Father and empowered him to be fully the human image of God, is now shared with us. Thus the cacophony of voices becomes a chorus of praise, babble becomes communication, and community is fashioned out of potential adversaries..."

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    1. Thank you! I don't have Feasting on the Word. Someday, when I have a continuing ed/book budget again...

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  4. I've decided to leave the Babel side and focus on the bubbling of the Spirit (as opposed to babbling?) I have a bottle of red champagne (well, sparkling wine) which I will present as a symbol. Closed up it does nothing but go stale. I will gradually unpeel the wrappings (unpeeling our own blocks to the Spirit), loosen the bindings and then -- having shaken it a little! -- pop the cork. (Or rather get someone more expert to do so, and over the font where there are no carpets!) With any luck it will froth up just as the Holy Spirit does in our lives. On then to a discussion as to what we do with the froth -- especially in our area where there are weekly drug-related and gangster shootings. We will then use the wine left for communion.

    The parish have also been invited to bring gifts to the church -- essentials such as cleaning items, stationery and vestry necessities -- which we did last year and it was a great success. Also have a cake for the children to sing happy birthday. I am a bit stumped for ideas for the candles as we used re-lighting ones last year and I don't want to do it again. May just surround it with T-lights. Then also liturgical dancers. So quite a lot going on. Have to decorate the church today.

    In the meantime it's breakfast time here and, as I'm gluten-free for a month, I have banana muffins made with ground almonds and egg. Very nice if anyone would like to join me.

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    1. Oh Pat! I love what you are planning - it all sounds delightfully Pentecosty...(is Pentecosty a word, I don't think so, but tho I may babble, you know what I mean)...

      and, yes please - I am not going gluten free, no gluten issues here, but those muffins still sound delicious as I am increasing almonds in my diet!

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    2. What fun! Sounds like a wonderful Pentecost worship!

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    3. This sounds like a really fun day! Also, re gluten free - my son has been doing that for a year and half and it's made a big difference for him. And for our whole family. I hope you have success with it! The muffins sound yummy...

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    4. omg, I love this wine idea!!! I wonder if I can make that happen before tomorrow morning.... :-)

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    5. Love the wine idea and love the idea of having folks bring gifts for the church. I may use that next year....but wait first I need to remember that! And I have been GF for almost 3 years - so I'm grateful for your offering delicious muffins!

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  5. I am using the clip form Working Preacher called it is Pentecost, and then ???. it is also our annual congregation meeting tomorrow. I had wondered about weaving it through the service, but the people I spoke to about that didn’t like the idea. So I am thinking maybe before the service, still not sure. The clip ends up talking about ‘telling our story’ and I think I will encourage some people to think about what story do we have to tell, and how do we tell that story. then see if anyone wants to share some thoughts.
    4.00pm Saturday, so need to decide soon which way to go

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    1. Pearl - using that clip and encouraging the people to tell their story is a thoughtful and hopefully thought-provoking idea for Pentecost and an annual meeting time - I hope I remember this idea when our annual meeting time rolls around in January! I hope all goes well for you!

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    2. we weave the annual meeting through the service and it works beautifully. Though you can't do it this year, I'd be happy to send you the outline for ours....

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  6. Just back from the market where I have been buying pretty boxes for the 4.5kg of aquarium glass we bought at a different market on Thursday! We have had a big white and gold cloth cascading off the Communion Table for the 50 days of Easter, with coloured ribbons streaming over it - and tomorrow there will be a coloured box filled with coloured glass pebbles (9 different colours, one per box) tied to the end of the ribbons. We'll do birthday of the church/gifts of the Spirit/fruit of the Spirit - with people invited to take glass beads out of whichever boxes they might connect to. They could be seeds for the fruit of the Spirit we long to see come to more maturity in us, or like a pebble in our shoe - the Holy Spirit comforting the disturbed and disturbing the comfortable. May need to refine my metaphors before the morning!

    We are a multi-lingual congregation, though we usually use English for worship, so tomorrow we'll hear a lot more languages in worship (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Fijian, Spanish, Russian, Ukranian, French and more when it comes to praying the Lord's Prayer in the language we first learnt it). Hoping the creative Spirit is at work in the midst of what might be chaos!

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    1. Jemma, that cloth with the ribbons sounds absolutely beautiful! And, now with the boxes filled with colored pebbles..wow! Gives me an idea to buy seeds so people can take seeds home, seeds of the spirit?...my sermon is well on it's way to being complete but I still may add seeds to some portion of the day...lovely idea for the Lord's Prayer, too - a wonderful way to blend the languages into the service.

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    2. Terri - I think seeds are a great take on the day and the season. We're frantically planting around here, trying to get the crops in before the rain (hopefully it will rain) and in time for them to mature for the harvest. Seeds grow, flourish, mature and give their fruit of the Spirit.

      I may have to work with that image myself - a Pentecost connection for my congregation. Thanks! I love this party!

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    3. I'd love to see a picture!

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  7. Jemma that sounds beautiful !

    Just of the phone from tomorrow's worship leader. I'm preaching Ephesians 5:18-21 "Be [continually] filled with the Spirit" but might read Acts 2:1-4 just for the pleasure of it. Idea is that the sending of the Spirit isn't just a one-off historical event but an ongoing reality, and one that we are invited to experience through mutual encouragement, corporate worship, thanksgiving and mutual submission. (yup, I'm going "there" gonna present the "haustafel" as case studies for what MUTUAL submission looked like in that culture rather than as the institution of a hierarchy for all time - this is the bit of the sermon I'm scared of, as I could get flack - but I'm sure someone sensible - maybe here - once said you should always preach the bit that scares you most....)

    Going with bullet points rather than a full manuscript (thanks to all who gave me good pointers on this on FB) so about to diconnect from the internet and make myself practice practice practice. After the benediction we will have cake and re-lighting candles.

    Our 3 to 5 year old group leaders are all busy elsewhere on Sunday, so I'm going to keep them in the service with us and my 15 year old is going to sit with them on a rug and help them make and decorate windmills - so one of this afternoon's activities is an outing to a craft shop for glitter, and then we have to make a trial version ! Then I will get them down the front to show their windmills and blow on them to make them turn.

    Some rather nice peruvian fair trade coffee to share.

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    1. windmills? Lovely idea. Perhaps you want to consider getting glitter glue? Unless you want glitter all over the place? Some do - it would be another sign of the Holy Spirit, that tenacious glittery effect...but if not, glitter glue will do the trick?

      and yes, please Peruvian fair trade coffee - yum!

      also, on the occasions when I have preached what scares me it has usually turned out just fine - usually more scary to me than to them. And, I have received flack for some of it but many others liked what needed to be said. So...I too think you just have to be prepared to go for it...

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  8. GOOD MORNING preacher pals in the western hemisphere! And blessings on our preacher pals in other parts of the world that are closer to Sunday than we are!

    I have a basic draft of a sermon, which I FORCED myself to write last night because I will be off leading a small group discussion on "Holy Conversations" with a parish beginning their search process. (Me and eight other leaders in this diocese, each taking a table and guiding the discussion to stay on point as they discuss five questions meant to get at some of their dreams and strengths).

    So, now I am going to read that sermon draft, do a tiny bit of yoga, and get ready to head out. I will try to check in from phone as I am able - may not be able to comment, however...

    Thus, keep the party going! I'll be back just as soon as I am able. Peace, all y'all.

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  9. short sermon this week, well not many words from me hopefully.
    Telling our story



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  10. I am about to leave to run in my first 5K and feeling more nervous about it that I would have expected! And then I am serving as a spiritual director at a youth retreat until late tonight; I'll probably be joining the party then to rework a sustainable sermon.

    It's been a crazy week; come Holy Spirit!

    Back later!

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    1. Breath well, run well! See you later! And in the meantime, holding you in prayer.

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    2. Good luck on the run! And enjoy the youth retreat!

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  11. Come Holy Spirit fill the hearts of your people and kindle in us the fire of your love. Blessed Pentecost to one and all!
    http://theshepherdesswrites.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/caution/

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    1. Thank you for this prayer! Amen!

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    2. Love love love your sermon. Thanks for sharing!

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  12. Good morning, fellow preachers! Pentecost is my favorite day of the church year, so I am ready for the coming of the Spirit (as ready as one can be) and the wearing of the red. I may be called a heretic tomorrow because I am making a comparison of the Holy Spirit to Jeanne Cooper...the actress who played Katherine Chancellor on the Young and the Restless. But, I couldn't resist. One of her co-workers described her as, a "loving mother and grandmother. She was part warrior, part rabble rouser, part truck driver and part Diva, all wrapped up in one Great Lady. Most of all, to me, she was my friend and I loved her." Those are all terms one could use for the many appearances the Holy Spirit makes in Acts. We'll see if it works - I may end up not young and restless but middle-aged and unemployed! Ha!

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    1. Very cool idea! Nothing heretical in that comparison...

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  13. Good morning! I have hot cocoa and apples for any one who would like some. I'm trying so very hard to get this sermon written this morning, since my Love and I have a (much needed!) date night tonight. However, this sermon seems to have other plans, I've been thinking about it all week, and all week, just when I feel I have a half decent thought, it seems to wriggle out of my grasp. It's so nice to know I'm not the only one writing today. I love the ideas you have all come up with so far. :)

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    1. HEre's hoping your sermon comes together and you have good night out!

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  14. I love the Preacher Party!

    Got here and the line about 'when you pray, move your feet' immediately got "Stomp" (Kirk Franklin and God's Property) playing in my brain. Great background music for Pentecost sermonating!

    So far I had nothing that I thought would work for connecting Pentecost with my congregation. But now, I'm pondering those seeds of the spirit (thanks Jemma and Terri!) And meditating on David Lose's "it's Pentecost" and a follow up piece on Peter Rollin's take on the God-shaped hole. Maybe there's a sermon to be found here yet!

    Links to the David Lose stuff:
    http://www.davidlose.net/2013/05/the-story-behind-its-pentecost/

    http://www.davidlose.net/2013/05/peter-rollins-and-the-god-shaped-hole/

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    1. Welcome, Ramona! SOunds like seeds of the SPirit taking root in you!

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  15. Terri - I love the picture of hands at the top of the page. Can I "borrow" it if I decide to do a slideshow tomorrow ?

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    1. I found it online....a google search for diversity I think? I think it was a public image...

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  16. Hi there,

    A friend invited me to hot box yoga (does anyone else do this? quite incredible!) this morning at 7 am. Cant believe how many people are actually AWAKE at that time of day! Then, took kiddo to play practice. So, I"ve been up for a while, but just now starting.

    Love all these very creative and visual ideas. I'm planning to keep it really short and sweet tomorrow as we have a lot of Extras happening in worship.

    I linked to this poem on Tuesday, but in case you didnt see it, here is a poem by a 9 year old that I think describes pentecost story in a beautiful, simple and yet deep way. I'm planning to read the poem in between describing instances where I see the congregation "blowing toward love." Would like to be done by the time I meet with my wedding prep couple in a few hours, which seems do-able right now.

    Just cut into a really juicy watermelon and there's plenty to share so dig in.

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    1. Ok, I have a little bit of a draft and the dogs are pleading for some play time so I'm taking a break. How are you all doing?

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    2. Jennifer, I take an early morning yoga class (7am Wed/Fri) and 8am Sat. Love it! Not hot box exactly, but the room is usually too hot for me :-)

      Enjoy your break!

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  17. I'm eating a spoonful (or two) right out of the jar of Nutella. Anyone?

    Hosting an end-of-year (potluck, whew!) dinner tonight for a study group and am tired from the extra cleaning.

    Tomorrow's a big fellowship day, with a BBQ lunch and group photo after the service. There is plenty to celebrate (a 90th birthday, dedicated Sunday school teachers, a sunflower garden), but also some fallout from an unpopular pastoral decision and anxiety that our leadership is even TALKING about the possibility of a study/discernment process about blessing same-gender unions.

    Wanting to acknowledge the joyful bits but also ask for courage as the Spirit blows us where she will. I like the child's poem linked above (thanks!) as a simple prayer for confidence that when we are blowing/being blown in a loving direction, there is assurance of rightness. Maybe given the anxiety, I need to highlight the comfort/presence aspect of the Spirit. Perhaps that en-courages more than shouting, "be brave already!"

    Thanks for the company.

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    1. Yes, indded! You do have a lot going on. (oh, iPad, making it difficult to see what I type and even more difficult to correct it without the page freezing)...sigh...sounds like a great way to celebrate Pentecost!

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  18. Fixed the sprinkler this morning (yay me!) with two small helpers. (the kind of helpers that refill your hole with dirt while your head is turned).

    Baths and lunch and now I'm struggling to stay awake. I have half a sermon and I need to get done in time for a graduation party tonight.

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    1. Lovely little helpers, they are...sigh. Hope you were able to get both a little nap AND that sermon!

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  19. Well, I kind of boxed myself into a bit of a corner earlier in the week having decided to do something involving lyrics of the post-sermon hymn within the actual sermon [Gather us in].
    In the end I have tried to use riff and rhythm on a theme of gathering and scattering, which y'all can find here. Not one of my better efforts, but it's thankfully a shorter one this week, as the call to worship and some other components have been lengthened [lots of candles, and later, lots of bubbles - we're going to try and fill the whole space with bubbles, lol!!]

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    1. Sounds fun anyway! Love the bubbles idea!

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    2. Nik, just read your sermon, I think it is amazing.

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  20. So I think I'm crazy, but I'm kind of planning to go into worship tomorrow with nothing written.

    The overarching theme of the service is wind/breath/spirit...so I think I'm going to ask people to reconstruct other stories of the Spirit or of God's breath/wind (creation, dry bones, that part of Isaiah that Jesus quotes about the Spirit of the Lord being upon him, baptism, etc), and talk about how when the wind of God blows in, the breath is for every voice, not just one voice (aka the preacher). then I'm going to ask people to think of times they have felt the Spirit moving, and to share those with someone sitting near them. And then times they have felt that they've been a part of something God is doing, and share...maybe if there's time, to think about a time they felt that following God's call was a little bit crazy (drunk at 9am????), and share....then end with the Korean hymn "As the Wind Song."

    Am I insane? maybe. but it kinda feels right, so unless the Spirit appears (either in a fully-formed sermon that's full of better ideas or through your voices of reason!) in the next 4 hours or so, I'm going with it.

    what do you think??

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    1. Not insane at all Teri - but it does take a certain amount of confidence that they people will speak...I have found it helps if I am right there with them, like in the aisle and near by, and even engaging in the conversation myself...I suspect you already plan to do something like that, knowing your preaching style a bit...So I say go for it!!! I hope it really is a spirit filled time for all of you!

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  21. My daughter pointed out that for us this makes graduations in 2003, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013. I guess we're done till we have grandchildren!

    A very happy and pride-filled day. Now a long drive -- plenty of time to come up with a sermon ending.

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    1. oh my goodness - that is a lot of graduating..fun! Glad you had a happy day filled with all the best of pride.

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  22. I give up. My sermon refuses to come together. Time to pull out my infamous "The Holy Spirit is like a grill" sermon. It's from my internship, for a Pentecost confirmation that happened to fall on Memorial Day weekend. It's 700 words longer than I preach now, so I'm sure I can edit it into something preachable.

    Desperate preacher...desperate measures...

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  23. Stupid blogger keeps eating my -- dare I say it? -- BRILLIANT comments.

    Bottom line: I'm whining over stuff that's probably not worth whining about. One blog-able thing: Got voted down on bubbles for tomorrow. We do a "surprise" red balloon drop over the balcony at the end of the worship service. Not sure why that rules out bubbles to go with.

    This desperate preacher is going to find something edible in hopes of them coming up with something preachable. Unfortunately (for me), "the Holy Spirit is like a grill" is taken. And it will be great, Ramona!

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    1. ... "in hopes of then coming up with something ..." Although I would love it if there was a them who did that kind of thing.

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    2. Sharon, I do hope you found something satisfyingly edible...and the sermon comes to you likewise.

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  24. I haven't posted a sermon on my blog in a long while, but here is mine for tomorrow Move Your Feet in Love

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  25. Just got home in time to navigate some pretty severe weather...hoping for just rain and no tornadoes/destructive wind.

    Sermon for tomorrow is here

    On a side note...had a terrific time in much larger city this weekend...cultural arts type fun.

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    1. Oh you are in the path of that storm headed our way...won't get here for a day or so...ack. I hope and pray for no more destruction...

      glad you had a good day, however!

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  26. With apologies to God, and many laughs from my husband and son, How is the Holy Spirit like a Grill?

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  27. Laugh for the day - I grabbed the box of graduation cards I bought last year when our women's circle was phasing out their greeting card sales. When I opened the box, there was FUDGE! - yes, very old, very hard fudge - in place of the cards.

    I'm not sure how the box of fudge got placed back on the sale rack, but my family sure got a laugh out of it!

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  28. Checking in for the night shift! After a long day of Confirmation class, then visiting a dying man and his family, I would much rather just watch some mindless TV, then curl up and go to sleep early for the night.

    But there is still a sermon to write. I'm seriously pondering the Pentecost/Babel connection (not that Pentecost reversed Babel--but that it was the fulfillment/redemption of what began at Babel).

    Chuckling at ramona's fudge story!

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    1. Feasting on the Word had some good stuff on Babel/Pentecost...I shared a bit of it further up...I do so understand the need to just veg out after a day like that! Hoping you find rest and inspiration and, of course, a sermon that comes easily.

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    2. Yes, it was a conversation about it at text study this week, followed up by reading FOTW that convinced me to go that route!

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  29. OK, back from worship and Congregation meeting. all went well, and people did speak in answer to questions about the story we have to tell.
    I have red hair for Pentecost, some red streaks, and someone asked today 'it will wash out, won't it?' the answer is yes it will, in about 3 months is my guess. I think he is a bit disappointed. others commented on liking it. It is not the colour I planned, but the fire engine red streaks turned out hot pink, so to remedy that, the hairdresser put in some dark red to balance, and it is much darker than planned.
    Pentecost, the spirit, crazy ideas, you just don't know what will happen next.
    hopefully a sermon for those still writing.

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    1. I have crazy short red Pentecost hair too - more red than I wanted...but this happens to me from time to time since my hair takes to red really easily....I bet yours looks great!

      Glad your day went well.

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  30. I am wondering what the equivalent language piece would be in today's church. what language do we not use to meet people these days?

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  31. Home from the graduation party, where I wanted to stay later, but...kid bedtimes, and I'm still not done with this sermon. Ugh. That's what I get for starting on Thursday, it just takes for.ev.er.

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  32. Well, it's been a pleasure to host this party with all! Calling it a night. May the Spirit breath in and through your words tomorrow! Peace out!

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  33. I'm baaack!

    LONG day. As some of you have seen on FB, I rocked the 5k--2nd in clergy women, and 2nd in my age group. Now on to next week when I am part of a 5 person marathon relay and I have to run 5.5 miles.

    Now on to a sermon .... got to make one of the three old Pentecost sermons I currently have open work.... and quickly. Tomorrow will be another long day. Church, conclusion of youth retreat, and then pack and drive across the state for clergy conference.

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  34. Just coming down from the high of a day and a half spent with Bishop Barbara Harris--the first woman bishop in the world-wide Anglican Communion. Her challenge to the church on the eve of Pentecost was to fall on the side of the movement and off the side of the institution. Am still wondering what Pentecost looks like in the lives of people who live on the street. Thanks, Terri, for the John Lewis book reference and quotes.

    Thinking of that Holy Wind blowing folks out of closed in places and remembering Psalm 18, v. 20: God brought me out into an open place. God rescued me because she delighted in me. Remembering the closed and open places I've encountered this week in the lives of those with whom I serve.

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    1. How cool to hear Barbara Harris! What a great message for Pentecost.

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  35. Is it a sin to have a boring Pentecost sermon?

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  36. Dinner party fine, sermon finished, Mama tired.

    Sorry I don't have means of posting, but I went with something on how the Spirit both provokes and comforts, calls and equips.

    'Night, all, and blessings on your preaching!

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  37. Just showing up. I am reworking my sermon from a few years ago. I need to shorten it up and add a confirmation twist to it. I don't think it will take too much work. Ha ha. Famous last words. Our whole family was out pretty late tonight, but I'm still sitting down at the computer earlier than I have in a while, so I guess that's a good thing. I'll get a good bit done before midnight then get to sleep and finish in the morning.

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    1. We should have switched - I had to delete the confirmation twist from mine!

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  38. Sermon is pretty much in my head. ANd I just wrote Prayers of the People for the morrow. Not sure how much I like them but you can read them here

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  39. I'll take a second look at it in the morning, but here is my contribution: http://ayamihawina.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/sharing-the-story/ (sorry, don't know how to create a link)

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