Love wins.  This bumper sticker phrase really does say it all.  Love wins.  This is the central affirmation of the Christian celebration of Easter.  Love wins; death does not have the last word.  Love wins; God’s love overcomes the power of sin and death.  Love wins; just as Jesus rose from death so may we rise to new life in this life and in the life to come!
 
Come to the joyful celebration of Easter worship on March 23.  The day begins with sunrise worship at 7 a.m., followed by breakfast and worship at 8:45 and 10:15.  To prepare for Easter we begin with Palm Sunday and a dramatic reading of the gospel story of Jesus’ last week.  On Maundy Thursday, March 20, we will sit around tables in Fellowship Hall to worship and remember Jesus’ last supper with the disciples.  On March 21, Good Friday, we will worship in the sanctuary with beautiful music and the Word from John’s gospel.
 
Come, be part of Holy Week and Easter and join in the celebration of faith!
 
Love Wins!  Christ is Risen!  Alleluia!
 

The following are some worship notes for the February 17, 2008 service. These are the reading materials on which the sermons will be based, and some questions we hope to explore together during Sunday's sermon. Join us at 8:45am or 10:15am and explore with us! You are invited to meet with Paster Lynn for a half hour beginning at 11:30am in the conference room across from the nursery to discuss the message.

Read: Mark 1:35
         Luke 11:1-4
         Mark 14:32-36
 
Jesus leads in living a prayer-filled life.  At each important step of his ministry, in the midst of busy demands, and especially as he faces his own death, Jesus prays.

• Note how Jesus managed to find space and places for solitude and prayer.  How might you find spaces and places for prayer in your busy life?
  

Prayer in the contemplative tradition is not merely “talking to God.”  It is developing an intimate relationship of devotion to God and communication with God.  Early church contemplatives went out to the desert to leave behind distractions, wrestle with their own sins and focus on God.  They served God with their prayers.

• Can you imagine prayer as services, as action?
• Are you able to sit in silence and simply be with God?
  

Strengths of the Contemplative Tradition:

• It calls us to our first love, the love for God.
• It focuses us beyond religion as an intellectual pursuit.
• It calls for prayer to be central in faith; prayer which knows solitude and is unceasing.
• It emphasizes the solitary walk with God.
  

Dangers of the Contemplative Tradition:

• The tendency to be separated from daily life.
• That this sole focus can keep people away from social action.
• It can become self-focused and extreme.
• It neglects the community of faith.
  

Reflect on the strengths and dangers.

Pray that God will bless you with an enlivened life of prayer.

The following are some worship notes for the February 10, 2008 service. These are the reading materials on which the sermons will be based, and some questions we hope to explore together during Sunday's sermon. Join us at 8:45am or 10:15am and explore with us! You are invited to meet with Paster Lynn for a half hour beginning at 11:30am in the conference room across from the nursery to discuss the message.

Read: Isaiah 44:1-2a,3-4 and John 7:37-39

Water is often a powerful symbol of God's presence in Christian tradition; water which is living, flowing, enlivening, refreshing, and cleansing suggests God's impact on our lives.

• Do you find yourself thirsty for God's presence in your life?
• What are the desert places which need flowing water?

Richard Foster, in his book Streams of Living Water, suggests that there are six great movements or traditions of Christian spiritual life:

• Contemplative
• Holiness
• Charismatic
• Social Justice
• Evangelical
• Incarnational

We will explore each of these in the weeks of Lent and beyond.

• Which tradition is easiest for you to connect with?
• Which tradition is very different from your spiritual expression
• Who is one hero or heroine in faith to you?
• What was his or her spiritual tradition?

Foster suggests that the Christian faith is strongest if we are balanced in our spiritual lives.

• Which tradition would you need to learn and grow in to be a stronger and better Christian?

  The wonderful and challenging reality of human diversity has an expression in relationship to the Christian faith.  Each of us embraces our faith in Christ and expresses that faith differently.  For me, living my faith day to day in all the small and large parts of life is central.  For another Christian, the call to work for peace and justice may be his or her compelling expression of faith.  For yet another, the central work of Christian life is prayer with all of life bathed and soaked in prayer.
 
Richard Foster helps us to look at six diverse expressions of spirituality in his book Streams of Living Water.  These ‘streams’ are not only individual expressions of faith, but they also represent dimensions of spirit lived out by Jesus, and traditions in the history of Christianity.  Foster names the six streams this way:
 
1. The Contemplative Tradition: Discovering the Prayer-Filled Life
2.  The Holiness Tradition: Discovering the Virtuous Life
3.  The Charismatic Tradition: Discovering the Spirit-Empowered Life
4.  The Social Justice Tradition: Discovering the Compassionate Life
5.  The Evangelical Tradition: Discovering the Word-Centered Life
6.  The Incarnational Tradition: Discovering the Sacramental Life
 
Beginning in Lent on February 10, our spring sermon series will explore these traditions of faith and practice.  It will be an opportunity to identify your stream of spirituality and to learn about that of others.  The goal is greater mutual understanding and growth toward a more balanced life of faith.
 
Join in worship each Sunday as we worship God and experience each ‘stream’ of faith and practice.  May it be a season of growing and learning together as God’s people.
 
Grace and peace,