November 17 - To See or Not to See

If you haven't already, you may want to read this week's newsletter. It contains a brief reflection on the Council of Bishops' statement.

Sermon Notes

Some of the information for today's sermon comes from The New Interpreter's Commentary. It's pricey, but if you want some of the best scholarship it's worth the price. I used several commentaries in my work, but this is the one I use most often.

We also use a variety of Bible translations, but the one we use most often is the Common English Bible. It's a newer translation. One of the most notable differences between it and other translations is the use of the title "The Human One" instead of "Son of Man" for Jesus. Here's a good starting point if you want to read more about the reasons behind the change.

Sometime I'll preach some more sermons just on the story of the Rich Young Ruler. The story appears in Mark and Matthew as well as Luke. Here's a sermon from another pastor that is similar to one of the two or three I would preach.

The Leonard Sweet quote is from his forward to the book Truth is the Word. I found the quote online. I heard him say something similar in person once and got lucky. I haven't read the book so can't comment on it one way or the other, but if Sweet recommends it it's probably a good read.

November 10 - High Hopes

Before we look at this week's message, please consider donating to UMCOR for relief in the Philippines. This is part of how we be the hope that God is calling us to be.

Today's Scripture passage comes during the Babylonian exile. You can learn more about the Babylonian Exile here and here.

Here's a slightly different version of the woman, rowboat, helicopter story from someone who relates it to faith healing.

I mention briefly that we know very little about Jewish life in Babylon during the exile. The little we do know comes from a discovery called the Murashu documents. Honestly, I know nothing more than the Wikipedia entry and a couple other websites I visited. If someone has the time to delve deeper into the subject I'd love to hear the results.

At the end of the sermon I mentioned the book Mere Christianity. It is an absolute must read. Like anything there are statements we will disagree with, but it is an outstanding book.

Presence and Discipleship

This morning is our Commitment Sunday. Thank you for each one of you who makes commitments today to prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. Christ has no hands but ours. The commitments we make help us to make Jesus real to the world.

Sermon Notes:
For more information on the change in Willow Creek's approach to ministry, see this article. You can also read the book they wrote about the study, Reveal.

A little more history on Methodism.

And some on works of piety

And works of mercy

Presence in Fellowship

We're spending two weeks talking about the importance of community. The Greek word that we're thinking about is koinonia. Here's a reference to the various passages in the New Testament where we find the word. (Note: I cite this website only for this purpose. I do not endorse the website as a whole.)

In the sermon today, I made use of Robert Putnam's book Bowling Alone. It is a really good book, but you have to be very patient with it - it's thick with lots of data.

I also mentioned his newer book, American Grace. It's on my want list. If you read it let me know how it is! If you don't have time to read the book, here's a very interesting interview of Putnam where he talks about his findings and predictions.

Presence in Worship

We'll be back next week!

A Place at the Table

With the adoption in January of revised values and a new Mission statement, St. Paul's is entering a new period. Last Saturday St. Paul's leadership accepted the Incubator Team's report and adopted three vision statements to guide us in the near future. Change does not stop, but change need not divide.

8:15

This morning's Call to Worship is based on a litany by Gordon Brown found in the book Shaping Sanctuary. A couple years ago Linda Stoner visited a church that had adapted it as a Call to Worship. She brought it back to St. Paul's, where Marti Johnson further adapted it and add our Welcome Statement to it. We have used it two or three times each year since then. Email us at stpaulsumc@stpaulslenexa.org if you'd like a copy of the whole Call to Worship.

Our second hymn, We Are the Body of Christ, is one we've sung in the past. It is a reminder of our common call with Christians throughout the world. When you read through the letters of Paul in the New Testament, look for how often the language of the Church as the Body of Christ appears.

Take a look at the lyrics to Stefanie's offertory, Do They See in Jesus in Me? Use this as a challenge to yourself when you leave worship today.

9:30

Today's Playlist:
Ho Hey
Your Grace Is Enough
Love the Lord
Home
Do They See Jesus in Me
Right Here

11:00

This morning's Call to Worship is based on a litany by Gordon Brown found in the book Shaping Sanctuary. A couple years ago Linda Stoner visited a church that had adapted it as a Call to Worship. She brought it back to St. Paul's, where Marti Johnson further adapted it and add our Welcome Statement to it. We have used it two or three times each year since then.


Our second hymn, We Are the Body of Christ, is one we've sung in the past. It is a reminder of our common call with Christians throughout the world. When you read through the letters of Paul in the New Testament, look for how often the language of the Church as the Body of Christ appears.

Take a look at the lyrics to Stefanie's offertory, Do They See in Jesus in Me? Use this as a challenge to yourself when you leave worship today.

This week's sermon:

For more on the number of Christian denominations worldwide look here.

Free for the other

Today's Scripture passage is a weird one, but one of my personal favorites. Read it here. This links to the CEB version which is the version we usually use in worship, but feel free to select a different version to compare.

8:15

By Grace We Have Been Saved comes from a "new" United Methodist hymnal called Worship and Song. It was released a couple years ago. Most often when you see a song listed in the bulletin that does not have a hymn number by it, it has been selected from this new hymnal. Because we use it pretty rarely and we use the screen for words we have chosen not to invest in hymnals for the congregation. We can order a few though. If you'd like one leave a comment on the blog. We can purchase a few and leave them in the back of the sanctuary for you to pick up on those days that we do use it.

A note on liturgy and prayers in the bulletin: We use and adapt pieces that have been written by a variety of authors on Sunday mornings. We believe it is good for us to be exposed to a variety of voices. Whenever we use a resource from outside of St. Paul's the author's name is listed in the bulletin. If you do not see an author's name (like this morning's Call to Worship) then the writer is someone from within St. Paul's, usually Jeni Anderson, sometimes David Livingston, occasionally someone else.

9:30

Playlist:
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
I Refuse
Hold Us Together
Free to Be Me
We Shall Be Free
You Are My King (Amazing Love)

11:00

A note on liturgy and prayers in the bulletin: We use and adapt pieces that have been written by a variety of authors on Sunday mornings. We believe it is good for us to be exposed to a variety of voices. Whenever we use a resource from outside of St. Paul's the author's name is listed in the bulletin. If you do not see an author's name (like this morning's Call to Worship) then the writer is someone from within St. Paul's, usually Jeni Anderson, sometimes David Livingston, occasionally someone else.

By Grace We Have Been Saved comes from a "new" United Methodist hymnal called Worship and Song. It was released a couple years ago. Most often when you see a song listed in the bulletin that does not have a hymn number by it, it has been selected from this new hymnal. Because we use it pretty rarely and we use the screen for words we have chosen not to invest in hymnals for the congregation. We can order a few though. If you'd like one leave a comment on the blog. We can purchase a few and leave them in the back of the sanctuary for you to pick up on those days that we do use it.

Rachael Hulse is dancing with the Chancel Choir's anthem this morning. Rachael and her family are members of St. Paul's. She is a senior at UMKC, majoring in dance performance.  She spent a couple of weeks over the summer in Panama City, Panama performing and teaching in conjunction with an organization called YWAM. Her next major performance will be her final Senior Recital on March 1 at White Recital Hall at UMKC.

Sermon notes:

- Jewish food customs weren't just different in the first century. They still are different. Here's an article that explains some of the distinctions. This Wikipedia article goes into a lot more detail.

- Dietary issues were just one of many points of conflict among the Corinthians. Read more about the church here. Paul was not entirely successful in squelching the animosity. The church in Corinth had a reputation as a divided church into the second century, more than fifty years after Paul's letter.