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What am I Supposed to Say?

12/6/2014

 
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"One of the titles by which Jesus is known is Prince of Peace, and he used the word himself in what seem at first glance to be two radically contradictory utterances. On one occasion he said to the disciples, 'Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword' (Matthew 10:34). And later on, the last time they ate together, he said to them, 'Peace I leave with you: my peace I give to you' (John 4:27). The contradiction is resolved when you realize that for Jesus peace seems to have meant not the absence of struggle but the presence of love." - Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Seeker's ABC

Scripture: 
3 A voice is crying out:
“Clear the Lord’s way in the desert!
    Make a level highway in the wilderness for our God!
4 Every valley will be raised up,
    and every mountain and hill will be flattened.
    Uneven ground will become level,
    and rough terrain a valley plain.
5 The Lord’s glory will appear,
    and all humanity will see it together;
    the Lord’s mouth has commanded it.”


6 A voice was saying:
    “Call out!”
And another said,
    “What should I call out?” (Isaiah 40:3-6)


Reflection: Sunday is the second Sunday of Advent, and what we typically refer to as "Peace Sunday."  But in this time in the world, I've found it difficult to figure out what to say about peace.  


While on the one hand we know that the Christmas season can bring moments of peace and stillness as we embrace the "reason for the season" and see so many people doing good things for fellow-humankind, we know that is not entirely the truth.  For we also know that there are places like Ferguson, MO and Cleveland, OH where racial tensions tear at the seams of society.  We know there are places right here in Kansas City where hate crimes outside of a mosque bring sickness to the season.  We know there are places in Syria where war rages on, and places in Africa where Ebola continues to take lives.

Isaiah says to "Call out!" and "Clear the Lord's Way!" but what am I to "call out"?  What can we possibly say that would change these tensions and ruptures in society?  What can we say that will bring healing and wholeness, and peace?  What can we say that will remind people we may not be able to determine who is "right" and "wrong," but that God's way is different, and there is another way?  What can we say that will remind ourselves of the peace that Christ brings?

God is erupting in human history – as God has done before through his prophets and people Israel – but now in a new, incarnated way. This is a big message, but it is an unconventional, upside down one, and one that requires us to "clear the way!" As Jesus’ followers seeking peace, we would do well to remind ourselves that God-in-Christ is both among us, and coming, and if we let him deal with us, we can be changed individually and collectively.  If we let God' erupt in our own lives, then we can experience a glimpse of the peace that calls out "LOVE!"

Come, help us learn more, together, on Sunday!  We welcome all who seek the way of Jesus to the table, and to our faith community.  We hope you will join us!

Christ Reigns in Our lIves

11/14/2014

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“If we only had eyes to see and ears to hear and wits to understand, we would know that the Kingdom of God in the sense of holiness, goodness, beauty is as close as breathing and is crying out to born both within ourselves and within the world; we would know that the Kingdom of God is what we all of us hunger for above all other things even when we don’t know its name or realize that it’s what we’re starving to death for. The Kingdom of God is where our best dreams come from and our truest prayers." - Frederick Buechner

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Scripture: Revelation 1:4-8 (CEB)
Grace and peace to you from the one who is and was and is coming, and from the seven spirits that are before God’s throne, and from Jesus Christ—the faithful witness, the firstborn from among the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To the one who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, who made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be glory and power forever and always. Amen.
Look, he is coming with the clouds! Every eye will see him, including those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him. This is so. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is and was and is coming, the Almighty.”

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Reflection:  Can you believe November is half over?  Can you believe we are coming to the close of another year?  Can you believe the end of that year is just a couple weeks away?  

What's that you say?  The end of the year is more than just two weeks away - that can't be right!  Well, no, when we are talking about the calendar, we still have about 6 weeks until we begin a new year, 2015.  However, within the church, we begin the celebration of a new church year during Advent, November 30.  That also means that on our last Sunday of "Ordinary Time" within the church calendar, that we recognize The Reign of Christ Sunday, THIS Sunday, November 16!

Reign of Christ ends our marking of Ordinary Time, worship following Pentecost, and moves us to the threshold of Advent, the season of hope for Christ’s coming, both as a babe, and again at the end of time.

The day centers on the crucified and risen Christ, who God exalted to reign over the whole universe. The celebration of the lordship of Christ takes us back to look at the ways that Christ rules in our lives both in seasons of life, and in seasons of the church year.  

Christ reigns supreme in all parts of our lives.  As the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, Christ is the center of the universe, the ruler of all history. In Christ all things began, and in Christ all things will be fulfilled.  As ruler, Christ calls us to a loyalty that transcends every earthly claim on the human heart. Christ calls us to stand with those who in every age, and in every season, confessed, “Jesus Christ is Lord!”

How does Christ reign supreme in your life?  Join us on Sunday as we ponder the ways that Christ rules in our lives, and the ways that we can more fully seek Christ's sovereignty in our lives.

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Seeking God's Favor

10/10/2014

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If you put your heart against the earth with me, in serving every creature, our Beloved will enter you from our sacred realm and we will be, we will be so happy.
                      - Rumi

READING:
Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been raised. On the Sabbath he went to the synagogue as he normally did and stood up to read. The synagogue assistant gave him the scroll from the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on him. He began to explain to them, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it.”
                                        - Luke 4.16-21 (CEB)

REFLECTION:
Frederick Buechner likes to talk about beyond words; words that open out to things residing beyond their proper meaning and, more importantly, words that suggest images of things that could never be expressed in words at all, partial and limited as they are. They are mysterious words, because they point to mystery; they are strong words, because they have the courage to take on the nigh impossible, they are profound words, because they offer a glimpse of sheer profundity, and they are open words, because they are the gateway by which such profundity becomes present in our world. As stand-alone words they are partial and quite limited. As symbols of holy things, however, they are powerful beyond words (sorry; just couldn’t avoid the pun!).

Take the word favor, as in the year of the Lord’s favor. We understand it most of the time as a stand-alone word, a word we could define in our sleep. Shoot, ever’body knows what it means to receive favor: being looked on kindly, being given the choice piece of meat on the platter, being pampered and spoiled with all kind of good things. And more times than not, this is how we choose to understand God’s favor, as a stand-alone word that means just what we want it to. Many prodigious prosperity preachers (in this instance prodigious is synonymous with abnormal rather than amazing, at least in my humble opinion) take advantage of this habit by expounding on the material “blessings” God has in store for the favored. Hey, you too can be favored; send in a donation of any size and I will send you my latest book that explains how to become favored in God’s eyes!

In the passage from Luke 4 cited above, Jesus is not playing the prosperity preacher. He is using favor as a beyond word, a word that introduces us to a unique favor available only in God. Is it material? Is it money, success, or accomplishment? Don’t bet on it. These things don’t count for much in God’s estimation. You can, however, bet on it being beneficial, a source of healing, wholeness, and joy. Good news is always welcome and beneficial; but it is rarely accompanied by a cash deposit. The very thought of release is exciting to a prisoner; but will it remain so if the prisoner serves the remainder of the sentence? And sight is valuable beyond description to a blind person; but the sight Jesus mentions won’t necessarily provide a sharp image of the KC Royals playing in the ALCS.

Favor, in this instance, is totally new, beyond our day-to-day understanding (especially when that understanding is shallow and selfish!)… and life transforming. Favor, as Jesus uses it, is a thin veil through which we can see God drawing near. Favor, as Jesus presents it, is the gift of God’s presence which, when all is said and done, is all we need, or could ever hope for. Favor, as Jesus incarnates it, is found in God’s service, being the good news, opening cell doors, and touching lives with light. On Sunday we will examine this notion – the year of God’s favor – and explore any elements of the beyond it may offer as gifts. 

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    and CCLI #36152
    and CSPL #143030. 
    All rights reserved.
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= Overland Park Christian 
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​7600 West 75th Street
Overland Park, KS  66204
(913) 677-4646
office@opccdoc.org
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10:30am Sundays In-Person
and Online Live-Stream Worship
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