May the following "words of wisdom" be a source of meditation . . .
CONFESSING CHRIST – DAILY LECTIONARY AND PRAYERS
Advent/Christmas/Epiphany 2011-2012
Frederick R. Trost and Colleen Darling, Editors
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“Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in.”
(Psalm 24:7)
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First Sunday in Advent, 11/27 Isaiah 2:1-5 Charles Mackley
Clear Spring, MD
Monday, 11/28 Psalm 80:1-7 Robert J. MacLeod
Millbury, MA
Tuesday, 11/29 Romans 10:5-13 Alan Macy
*1925, Frederick Herzog Great Barrington, MA
Wednesday, 11/30 Isaiah 26:1-4 James Martin & Jennifer Dawson
Fond du Lac, WI
Thursday, 12/01 Isaiah 30:19-21 George C. Martz New Bloomfield, PA
Friday, 12/02 Isaiah 32:1-4 James McCutcheon
+1980, Maura Clarke Brewster, MA
+1980, Jean Donovan
+1980, Ita Ford
+1980, Dorothy Kazel
Saturday, 12/03 Isaiah 33:20-22 Maureen McDonnell
Madison, WI
Second Sunday in Advent, 12/04 Mark 1:1-8 Duane McDonough
+306, St. Barbara Cedarville, IL
Monday, 12/05 Isaiah 40:1-11 Robert Meyer
1955, Montgomery Bus Boycott Fontana, WI
+1791, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Tuesday, 12/06 Isaiah 11:1-3a David Michael
+343, St. Nicholas Madison, WI
Wednesday, 12/07 Isaiah 11:3b-5 Carl Miehlke
1965, Gaudium et Spes Arlington Heights, IL
Thursday, 12/08 Isaiah 11:6-10 Larry Mitchell
+1691, Richard Baxter Chico, CA
+1977, Sr. Alice Domon (Disappeared Argentina,
Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo)
Friday, 12/09 Isaiah 35:1-2 John C. Modschiedler
Chicago, IL
Saturday, 12/10 Isaiah 35:3-7 Henry A. Mol
1948, Universal Declaration of Whitewater, WI
Human Rights
+1968, Karl Barth
+1968, Thomas Merton
+1977, Sr. Léonie Duquet (Disappeared Argentina,
Mothers of the Plaza De Mayo)
Third Sunday in Advent, 12/11 John 1:6-9 Donald & Grace Morgan
Rocky Hill, CT
Monday, 12/12 Luke 1:26-38 Ray Morris, Jr.
Gowanda, NY
Tuesday, 12/13 Luke 1:39-56 David Moyer
*1910, Louis Gunnemann DeForest, WI
Wednesday, 12/14 Luke 1:57-66 Calvin F. Mutti
Brewster, MA
Thursday, 12/15 Luke 1:67-80 Edwin M. Neff
1791, Bill of Rights Newland, NC
Friday, 12/16 Matthew 11:11-15 David C. Norling
White River Jct., VT
Saturday, 12/17 John 1:19-23 Robert O’Donnell
Newmarket, NH
Fourth Sunday in Advent, 12/18 Romans 16:25-27 Ruth Olsen
1865, Abolition of Slavery (U.S.) Mequon, WI
*1946, Steve Biko
Monday, 12/19 Psalm 89:1-4 Julie Overton
+220, Clement of Alexandria Norton, MA
Tuesday, 12/20 Isaiah 65:17-25 Doris Paine
Wernersville, PA
Wednesday, 12/21 Hebrews 1:1-6 Nancy Panzer
Kewaskum, WI
Thursday, 12/22 Romans 16:25-27 John Payne
Lancaster, PA
Friday, 12/23 Isaiah 62:6-12 Roger D. Perl
Tiffin, OH
Christmas Eve, 12/24 Luke 2:1-20 Thomas Perl
Las Vegas, NV
Christmas Day, 12/25 John 1:1-5 Mark Pirazzini
Eau Claire, WI
Monday, 12/26 Psalm 98 Dietmar Plajer
Day of St. Stephen, Martyr Selinsgrove, PA
Tuesday, 12/27 Galatians 4:4-7 Richard Pleva
Day of St. John, the Evangelist Ankenny, IA
Wednesday, 12/28 Isaiah 40:1-5 Carmen & May Porco
Day of Holy Innocents, Martyrs Madison, WI
Thursday, 12/29 Psalm 100 Richard H. Price
Langhorne, PA
Friday, 12/30 Psalm 103:1-5 William & Clara Rader
+1868, Hans Asmussen Dauphin, PA
New Year’s Eve, 12/31 Psalm 86:1-5 Philip Ramstad
1915, Fellowship of Reconcilliation Eden Prairie, MN
First Sunday after Christmas, 1/01/2012
New Year’s Day Matthew 2:1-12 Thomas Ressler
*1484, Huldrich Zwinglie St. Louis, MO
1863, Emancipation Proclamation
Day of Prayer for Peace
Monday, 1/02 Psalm 148 Franz Rigert
*1918, Willi Graf, White Rose Society Cedarburg, WI
Tuesday, 1/03 Ephesians 3:14-21 Edzard Rohland
Bonn, Germany
Wednesday, 1/04 Psalm 72:1-7 Homer Royer
East Greenville, PA
Thursday, 1/05 Philippians 2:1-11 St. Matthews UCC
Hamburg, NY
Epiphany, 1/06 Isaiah 60:1-6 Paul Sangree
Foxboro, MA
Saturday, 1/07 Psalm 67:1-3 Rudy Schade
La Grange, IL
First Sunday after Epiphany, 1/08 Mark 1:4-11 Gerhard W. Schmidt
*1894, Maximilian Kolbe West Lafayette, IN
+1996, Sadao Watanabe
Monday, 1/09 Genesis 1:1-5 Nikolaus Schneider
Dusseldorf, Germany
Tuesday, 1/10 Psalm 29 Gerald Schrankler
Fond du Lac, WI
Wednesday, 1/11 Acts 19:1-7 Lothar Schreiner
*1907, Abraham Joshua Heschel Wuppertal, Germany
Thursday, 1/12 Isaiah 55:1-5 Daniel Ray Schroeder
1957, Southern Christian Leadership North Granby, Ct
Conference
Friday, 1/13 Isaiah 55:6-9 Ralph Schultz
+1691, George Fox Waukesha, WI
*1931, Maura Clarke
Saturday, 1/14 Isaiah 55:10-13 Carl F. Schultz, Jr.
+368, Hilary of Poitiers Glastonbury, CT
*1875, Albert Schweitzer
Second Sunday after Epiphany, 1/15 John 1:43-51 Catherine Marie Shetler
*1929, Martin Luther King, Jr. Quarryville, PA
Monday, 1/16 Amos 5:23-24 John Silliman
1992, El Salvado Peace Accords Shamokin, PA
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Tuesday, 1/17 Amos 5:14-15 James Silver
Middletown, CT
Wednesday, 1/18 Isaiah 1:12-17 Harold P. Simonson
(Week of Prayer for Christian Unity) Tacoma, WA
Thursday, 1/19 Isaiah 5:15-16 Betsy Skinner
1563, Heidelberg Catechism Newberry, FL
Friday, 1/20 Psalm 106:1-5 David & Connie Slater
1529, Luther’s “Small Catechism” Dover, NH
1993, Guatemalan refugees return from
southern Mexico
*1825, Ernesto cardinal
Saturday, 1/21 Psalm 33:1-9 Samuel Slie
West Haven, CT
Third Sunday after Epiphany, 1/22 Mark 1:14-20 Norman R. Small
Gilmanton, NH
Monday, 1/23 Psalm 62:5-8 Stephen A. Small
West Boylston, MA
Tuesday, 1/24 Jonah 3:1-10 David Charles Smith
Allentown, PA
Wednesday, 1/25 Psalm 44:23-26 Sally S. Smith
+1586, Lucas Cranach the Younger Sonora, CA
Thursday, 1/26 Romans 12:1-8 Toni T. Smith
+155, Polycarp Chester, CT
1945, Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau
Friday, 1/27 Romans 12:9-13 Jeannette Solimine
1967, Outer Space Weapon Treaty Colfax, WAs
Saturday, 1/28 Romans 12:14-21 Scott Spencer
+1972, Mahalia Jackson Rehoboth, MA
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, 1/29 Mark 1:16-28 Mr. & Mrs. Elroy F. Stauss
Manitowoc, WI
Monday, 1/30 Mark 1:29-34 Gary Stillwell
+1948, Mahatma Gandhi Janesville, WI
+1987, Gerhard W. Grauer
Tuesday, 1/31 Mark 1: 35-39 James Tilbe
*1915, Thomas Merton Raynham, MA
+1955, John R. Mott
Wednesday, 2/01 Mark 1:40-45 Gary Titusdahl
+110, Ignatius of Antioch Cannon Falls, MN
Thursday, 2/02 Psalm 111 Harley C. W. Tretow
+1945, Alfred Delp Berlin, WI
Friday, 2/03 Proverbs 27:1-2 Ann Trost
*1909, Simone Weil Grand Rapids, MI
Saturday, 2/04 Proverbs 30:32-33 Frederick & Louise Trost
*1906, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Elkhart Lake, WI
*1913, Rosa Parks
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, 2/05 Isaiah 40:21-24 Jonathan H. Trost
(Septuagesima) Rochester, NY
Monday, 2/06 Isaiah 40:25-31 Marianne Trost
Fountain Hills, AZ
Tuesday, 2/07 Psalm 147:1-6 Sarah E. Trost
*1909, Dom Hélder Camara Milwaukee, WI
Wednesday, 2/08 Psalm 147:7-11 John Van Epps
*1878, Martin Buber Guilford, CT
Thursday, 2/09 Psalm 147:12-20 Edward A. Walker
Dennis, MA
Friday, 2/10 Psalm 146 Rev. & Mrs. John R. Weiler
Bethlehem, PA
Saturday, 2/11 Philippians 3:1-11 Timothy Wepner
1531, Reformation in England Newton, NC
1889, Freedom of Religion in Japan
1990, Nelson Mandela freed
Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, 2/12 Luke 8:4-9 John A. Werley
(Sexagesima) *1809, Abraham Lincoln Malone, NY
*1817, Frederick Douglass
1909, NAACP founded
Monday, 2/13 Luke 8:11-15 Glenn W. Wernecke
+1984, Roland H. Bainton Sun City, AZ
Tuesday, 2/14 Luke 8:16-21 Fritz West
1967, Latin America Nuclear Free Marine on St. Croix, MN
ZoneTreaty
Wednesday, 2/15 Luke 8:22-25 Rudolf Weth
*1564, Galileo Neukirchen-Vluyn, Germany
*1820, Susan B. Anthony
Thursday, 2/16 Luke 8:26-33 Jean T. Whitcomb
+1977,Janani Luwum, Uganda Paxton, MA
Friday, 2/17 Luke 8:34-39 Cody Williams
New York, NY
Saturday, 2/18 Luke 8:40-40-56 David Yochum
+1546 Martin Luther Whitewater, WI
Last Sunday after Epiphany, 2/19 Psalm 50:1-6 Nathaniel Yordon
(Estomihi) 1942 Japanese-American relocation Norwalk, CT
camps established in the United States
Monday, 2/20 Psalm 51:1-4 Elga Zachau
+1965 Malcolm X Bochum, Germany
Tuesday, 2/21 Psalm 57:1-3 Leonard Zecchini
+1943 Sophie Scholl, Hans School, Lyndeborough, NY
Christoph Probst, White Rose Society
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PRAYERS AND OTHER RESOURCES FOR THE ADVENT/CHRISTMAS/EPIPHANY SEASONS, 2011-2012
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A Latin Morning Collect:
We give You thanks, Almighty God, that You have delivered us from the darkness of the night, and that You now shine on us with the light of day: Pour into our hearts the pure and serene light of Your truth, that we may avoid the darkness of sin and ever know and follow You, the eternal light; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
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An Evening Prayer from the Swedish Liturgy:
Watch over us, O Lord,… and grant us grace to take our rest this night in safety beneath Your protection. Guard and bless Your Church and this, Your congregation. Graciously remember, in Your mercy, those who are in sickness, in need or in peril. Have mercy upon all humankind and, when at length our last evening comes, grant us then to fall asleep in Your peace, that we may awake in Your glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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A Prayer in Advent of Viet Dietrich (1506-1549):
O most gracious God,… who has revealed to us through Your Son how heaven and earth shall pass away: We ask You to keep us steadfast in Your Word and in true faith; to graciously guard us from all sin, and preserve us amid all temptations, so that our hearts may not be overcharged with the cares of this life, but at all times in watchfulness and prayer may await the return of Your Son and the expectation of our eternal salvation with you; through… Jesus Christ our Lord. (adapt.)
{Viet Dietrich was a student of Luther and Melanchthon at Wittenberg. His original intention was to study medicine, but Luther convinced him to pursue theology instead. Living with Luther and his family, he became secretary
to the Reformer, accompanying him to Marburg and the debate with Zwingli in 1529. In 1533, he became dean of the faculty of arts at Wittenberg. His closest friend and colleague at Wittenberg was Philip Melanchthon. He wrote
numerous essays and articles including his “Summary of the Old Testament” which was published in 1541 and, with the aid of Melanchthon, a “Summary of the New Testament, published in 1544.]
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A Prayer at Christmas from the Parish School Hymnal:
Gracious and merciful God, of whose love the angels sang when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and through whom we have learned the song of praise: Glory be to You in the highest. Accept our worship and our hymns of joy and, as we celebrate the birth of Your Son, and grant that in Him we may learn to know Your love, to follow Him in obedience and to offer ourselves to You in all things, that our lives may show us, too, to be Your children in all of our thoughts, words and deeds; through Jesus Christ our Lord. (adapt.)
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A Prayer on New Year’s Day of Johannes Mathesius (1504-1565):
O Lord God, Almighty Creator, from whom comes every good and perfect gift; who has blessed us so bountifully during the past year in preserving to us Your Word, keeping us in Your care and in peace, providing for our bodily needs, and protecting our country, our schools, our church, and those near and dear to us: We thank and praise You for all Your goodness to us, and we ask you, in Your mercy, to grant us a blessed new year. Graciously maintain and prosper Your Word and all good discipline, keeping us and our government in peace and aiding us to grow in faith, love and patience… Let Your gracious protection be over our dear one and us, and of Your mercy speedily bring the coming of the new and eternal year of jubilee, through Jesus Christ the new-born Child, our eternal King and Lord. (adapt.)
[Johannes Mathesius was one of the most powerful and eloquent preachers during the time of the Reformation. In 1540, he moved to Wittenberg where he sat with Martin Luther at table and took notes for the famous “Table Talk.” He was ordained by Luther in 1542. He became known as “the angel of the church” in Bohemia where he labored on behalf of the reforms introduced by Luther and others. His sermons were widely circulated and were even translated for study abroad. They were read not only for their faithfulness to the gospel and their eloquence, but for the humor which Mathesius often introduced into them.]
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A Prayer at Epiphany from the Parish School Hymnal:
O God, most merciful and gracious, whose guiding star led the wise men to our Lord’s manger through a long, perilous and unknown way: We ask You, who has made Your Son our way through life, to keep us steadfast in following Him, to guide us and ever teach us by His example, to protect and counsel us by His Spirit, so that we may come safely to our heavenly home where all Your children will ever adore You,… through Jesus Christ our Lord. (adapt.)
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Let There Be Light:
Let there be light
Let all the nations gather
Let there be understanding
Let them be face to face
Open our lips
Open our minds to ponder
Open the door of concord
Opening into grace
Perish the sword
Perish the angry judgment
Perish the bombs and hunger
Perish the fight for grain
Sacred is our love
Sacred is the deaths of martyrs
Sacred is their holy freedom
Sacred is your name
Your kingdom come
Your spirit turn to language
Your people speak together
Your spirit never fade
Let there be light
Open our hearts to wonder
Perish the way of terror
Sacred is the world God made
(Frances W. Davis in “Grant Us Peace,” Archdiocese of Chicago, 1991)
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The Annunciation in Art:
From the sixth century the feast of the Annunciation has been kept on 25 March. However in some places before then, the festival was celebrated on the first or second Sunday before Christmas as part of the Nativity celebrations. So, understandably, we still read this story at Christmas time and associate it with the birth of Christ… The angel Gabriel appeared to his mother, Mary, and she was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit.
First depicted in the third century, this lovely scene soon appeared everywhere, on jewelry, doors, illustrating St. Luke’s Gospel and on icons. Mary was shown standing or sitting on a throne. In a fifth-century mosaic on the triumphant arch of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, Gabriel is shown flying overhead… Once the great iconoclastic controversy was over (the dispute about whether or not there should be a Christian representative art) in the ninth century, many beautiful features associated with this scene appeared—spring-time elements, flowers and a closed garden. From earlier than this and right through to our own time Gabriel is usually shown carrying a lily, a sign of purity. The lily as the sign of purity was taken over from ancient Greece, where it was said to have sprung from the milk of Hera, the wife of Zeus. In order to indicate that Jesus was miraculously conceived, from the sixth century the Annunciation scene showed a ray of light and a dove coming down from heaven. From the ninth century the same affirmation was made in a more startling manner. A child was shown in Mary’s breast, sometimes in a circle or mandorla (pointed oval). Later versions show Mary reading or at prayer with the angel poised or kneeling before her. It was a scene loved and painted by all the great artists of the Renaissance.
(Richard Harries in “A Gallery of Reflections on The Nativity of Christ,” Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995)
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Light and Darkness:
For modern Christianity, faith is light. In reality, it is religion’s word for what other modern men (and women) meant by reason. Even Schleiermacher, whose Christian Romanticism represented a staunch criticism of the Enlightenment’s view of reason, assumes this. He simply redefined reason in more Platonic-Augustinian terms. Almost alone, Kierkegaard challenges this modern equation of faith and light. For him faith belongs to the dark: it can only be given in the dark; it is only useful in the dark. The darkness is faith’s habitat. On a Christmas Day, Kierkegaard wrote in his journal:
“Unto you is born this day a Saviour—and yet it was night when he was born.
That is an eternal illustration: it must be night—and becomes day in the
middle of the night when the Saviour is born.”
A faith that is accessible only in the night is not the religion that the world wants. But if the darkness is indeed (our) real situation, then a religion that leads (us) away from it into realms of light is nothing but a deception. The only light worth having is one that sometimes illuminates the darkness.
(Douglas John Hall in “Lighten Our Darkness: Toward an Indigenous Theology of the Cross,” Philadelphia, The Westminster Press, 1976)
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We Fear the Darkness:
We fear darkness and we avoid it. Nothing chills the soul more than lightlessness. It threatens our confidence. It jeopardizes our sense of self-sufficiency. To be in new space, to be where we do not know the contours of the place, cannot see the exit sign, cannot control the environment shakes us to our roots. We become pawns in the hands of the great unknown. And then, just then, we begin to believe in God in a whole new way. Darkness is the call to faith.
(Joan Chittister in “Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope,” Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003)
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Light in Our Darkness:
Christ, because of the benefit that follows for humankind, took our darkness on himself that by his power he might destroy our death and completely destroy the darkness in our soul so that what Isaiah said might be fulfilled: “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.” This light, indeed, that was made in the Word, which also is life, “shines in the darkness” of our souls. It has come to stay where the world rulers of this darkness live. They by wrestling with the human race struggle to subject those who do not stand firm in every manner to darkness. He comes that, when they have been enlightened, they may be called children of light. And this light shines in the darkness and is pursued by it, but it is not overcome… Now there are two ways that the darkness did not overcome the light. The darkness is either left very far behind it and, because it is slow, cannot keep up with the swiftness of the flight of light even to a limited extent, or, perhaps the light wanted to set an ambush for the darkness and awaited its approach and when the darkness drew near the light it was destroyed.
(Origen in “Commentary on the Gospel of John,” 2. 166-79. See “Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture,” New Testament InterVarsity Press, edited by Joel C. Flowsky, Downers Grove, Illinois, 2006)
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Prologue to the Gospel of John:
The old saint Simplicianus, afterwards bishop of Milan, used to tell me that a certain Platonist was in the habit of saying that this opening passage of the holy Gospel, entitled “According to John,” should be written in letters of gold and hung up in all churches in the most conspicuous place.
(Augustine in “The City of God,” 10.29)
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A Child Placed at the Center of History:
As if to shame human efforts and achievements, a child is placed at the center of history.
A child, born of humans: a son, given by God. That is the mystery of the world redemption. Everything past and everything future is encompassed here. The infinite mercy of almighty God comes to us, condescends to us in the form of a child, his son. That this child has been born for us, that this son has been given, that this human child, this son of God, belongs to me; that I know him, have him, love him, that I am his and he is mine—my very life now depends entirely on all these things. A child has our life in his hand.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer in “The Mystery of Holy Night,” edited by Manfred Weber, New York, the Crossroad Publishing Company)
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Born in a Manger:
He found humanity reduced to the level of the beasts. Therefore he is placed like feed in a manger, that we, having left behind our carnal desires, might rise up to that degree of intelligence which befits human nature. Whereas we were brutish in soul, by now approaching the manger, yes, his table, we find no longer feed, but the bread from heaven, which is the body of life.
(Cyril of Alexandria, “Commentary on Luke,” Homily 1)
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He Was a Baby and a Child:
He was a baby and a child, so that you may be a perfect human. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, so that you may be freed from the snares of death. He was in a manger, so that you may be in the altar. He was on earth that you may be in the stars. He had no other place in the inn, so that you may have many mansions in the heavens. “He, being rich, became poor for your sakes, that through his poverty you might be rich.” Therefore his poverty is our inheritance, and the Lord’s weakness our virtue. He chose to lack for himself, that he may abound for all. The sobs of that appalling infancy cleanse me, those tears wash away my sins. Therefore, Lord Jesus, I owe more to your sufferings because I was redeemed than I do to works for which I was created. You see that he is in swaddling clothes. You do not see that he is in heaven. You hear the cries of an infant, but you do not hear the lowing of an ox recognizing its Master, for the ox knows his Owner and the donkey his Master’s crib.”
(Ambrose, “Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 2:41-42)
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Light, Darkness… and the War Game:
One day a vigil light exploded in our hands
and glass ran in our veins
like fire
traveling up the capillaries
in rivers of pain.
And we lay down to die
deliberately like petals
falling from magnolias after rain
floating in our minds a green space
that remembered trees, grass, supper at twilight, kind hands
and bells.
But for the children
nothing explained the blackness: square on square of cinder
blocking a fortress in the precious air.
The children never connected this time
to a quiet life when water lay
like a pool under a shining tap
or first fruit unfolded its peel
as we sat on the porch with open eyes
at dusk.
The children only had this
broken place
in a fire storm
that rumbled on and on
for years.
(Sr. Antonia Lewandowski)
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We Hear the Cry of Our Children:
“We, a group of Christian Palestinians, after prayer, reflection and
an exchange of opinion, cry out from within the suffering of our
country, under the Israeli occupation, with a cry of hope in the
absence of all hope, a cry full of prayer and faith in a God ever
vigilant, in God’s divine providence for all the inhabitants of
this land. Inspired by the mystery of God’s love for all, the
mystery of God’s divine presence in the history of all peoples
and, in a particular way, in the history of our country, we proclaim
our word based on our Christian faith and our sense of Palestinian
belonging—a word of faith, hope and love. Why now? Because
today we have reached a dead end in the tragedy of the Palestinian
people. The decision-makers content themselves with managing
the crisis rather than committing themselves to the serious task of
finding a way to resolve it. The hearts of the faithful are filled with
pain and with questioning: what is the international community
doing? What are the political leaders in Palestine, in Israel and in
the Arab world doing? What is the Church doing? The problem is
not just a political one. It is a policy in which human beings are
destroyed, and this must be of concern to the Church…”
We, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, hear the cry of hope that our children have launched in these difficult times that we still experience in the Holy Land.
We support them and stand by them in their faith, their hope, their love and their vision for the future. We also support the call to all our faithful as well as to the Israeli and Palestinian Leaders, to the International Community and to the World Churches, in order to accelerate the achievement of justice, peace and reconciliation in this Holy Land. We ask God to bless all our children by giving them more power in order to contribute effectively in establishing and developing their community, while making it a community of love, trust, justice and peace.
(Patriarchs and Heads of Churches Jerusalem, December, 2009)
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Proclaiming the Good News:
To speak that we know and testify that we have seen, to speak it lovingly, to testify it boldly,… ever aiming to kindle faith and hope; to be receptive in the study, an empty vessel sanctified and waiting to be filled from the ever-open fountain, then in the pulpit to aim to take of this fullness and show it unto others; not primarily to proclaim a doctrine but rather to tell a story,… never to be trifling or self-advertising, ever to be tremendously in earnest and when possible at all, self-effacing; to bathe in the Book till it enters into the very texture of our speech. To love others,… to see not merely a sea of faces, but rather a company of spirits,… to avoid technicalities and trivial things, to magnify the certainties and things of vital moment; to lift up Jesus to the eyes of all, to proclaim his love, his forgiveness, his cleansing power, his joy, his hope, his glory, thus to create in our listeners a hunger for holy living…
(Malcolm James McLeod, *1867)
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You are invited to refer to the Confessing Christ website at the following address: http://confessingchrist.net
Confessing Christ materials are being prepared at the Mission House Center, Lakeland College. Those no longer wishing to receive materials or those with address changes should contact Colleen Darling, Lakeland College, PO Box 359, Sheboygan, WI 53082-0359 by e-mail darlingca@lakeland.edu or by calling 920-565-1538.
“For no one can lay foundation other than the one that has been laid: that foundation is Jesus Christ.”
(1 Cor. 3:11, NRSV)
S.A.M.U.E.L (Scripture and Memory UCC Electronic Library)
