John 12: 12-19 Jesus enters JerusalemJohn 19: 16a-22 Crucifixion of Jesus The great poet Rumi wrote, “The grief you cry out from draws you toward union.” This service begins with the cries of Hosanna, and ends with the cries of Crucifixion. Barbara Brown Taylor, a theologian, has come to realize
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Lent 5 John 19: 1-16a One of the most challenging aspects of grief is the anger that arises. Where are you God? How can people be so mean? Why are our structures so unfair? The crowds turned on Jesus to express their anger against injustice. Jesus turned to the Psalms.
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Lent FourJohn 18: 28-40 Today we continue to ponder the grief and suffering that are central parts of Jesus’ ministry, his disciples’ lives and our lives as his followers. Grief often begins with numbness and shock. They can be either gifts or thieves. Why do we need time in shock?
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Taken by Rev. Karen Bridges John 18: 12-27 The trial for Jesus Denial and bargaining are defense mechanisms that help us to deal with our feelings of shock, fear, loss, helplessness and vulnerability. Every human will react differently in a crisis situation. For Peter, a disciple of Jesus, he is
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Lent 1 John 11: 1-44 Jesus Weeps Anthropologists ponder when in the social development of the human being did we become truly “human” – different from other mammals. Many point to the early rituals and rites of passage humans used to mark our journey in relationship to age, community, birth
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John 9:1-41 A man born blind receives sight They say that seeing is believing, yet for many of us, we have never seen Jesus, or God and still believe. As we hear the story of Jesus healing the blind man, we need to resist the urge to base our faith
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Picture taken by Rev. Karen Bridges in Sept 2017 Botswana John 3: 1-21 Nicodemus Visits Jesus Sometimes it is just as important to recognize that which is not said as well as that which is said. Sometimes it is hard to accept our failures and frailties, the truth is that
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Nicodemus is a leader, he is spiritually open and curious and at the same time very rational. Nicodemus is not ready to come out of the proverbial closet, he is not ready to declare his faith in public, nor is he ready to let it transform his life. What secret
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John 2: 13-25 We have been challenging ourselves this new year to be honest about our intentions and faith. This can be especially hard when we are feeling deep emotions, such as anger. Anger is a natural and important emotion that can lead us to uncover the truth and seek
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What will you post? John 2: 1–11 Wine at a Wedding Look what they did! They must have meant it as a slight? Right? We often watch others do things and ascribe to those things – both the good and the ugly – intentions. We want the world to fit
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