Thin places, preaching sermons and juggling
Thin places: preaching sermons, serving sodas and juggling way too many commitments… and learning a lot along the way. In other words… LIFE!
I have not written much recently… It has been a very long two weeks… on top of our swinging summer door (which I love, because it means alot of kids at our house), and the general frenzy in getting ready for Kate to go back to college (she is renting her first apartment), juggling clients due to various vacation schedules, and writing.
I also preached for the first two Sundays in August. Quite honestly, it was a blast to preach… we have an amazing worship director, whose creativity and excellence made the whole process a learning experience for me. I am astounded at all the details that she handles in order to orchestrate the morning services every Sunday… the graphics, the music, the timing, the volunteers who make the whole worship experience rich and meaningful…she has a huge job and she does it so well.
The first Sunday, I preached a sermon entitled: Thin Places, based on John 5:4-42, the story of the Samaritan woman and Jesus at Jacob’s well. Thin Places is a Celtic term for the places that the veil between heaven and eath is lifted and we have encounters with the Divine. Jacob’s well was such a place.
I approached the text focusing on all of the things that Jesus does in relationship with her, and thus exemplifying God’s desire for relationship with us.
He pursues, initiates, engages and more! One of the fun parts of preparing was searching the web and various art archives for portrayals of Jesus and the woman at the well in different ethnicities.
I found some beautiful artwork of Jesus and the woman at the well from Africa, China, Japan, Malaysia and India. Hopefully, this variety of cultural and ethic art visually communicated that Jesus is not white man’s god, made in our image… Additionally, I got to write the daily devotional that our church puts out each week, which corresponds to the sermon. It has been a while since I have spent time writing simple commentary and questions to ponder, so that we might go deeper into the passage, the message and their application to our lives. (listen to the sermon).
since I have spent time writing simple commentary and questions to ponder, so that we might go deeper into the passage, the message and their application to our lives. (listen to the sermon).
