Be Present At Our Table Lord
The table is the doorway to grace. When we sit down with someone and share a meal at a table with them, we open ourselves up to experience the very presence of God with us.
The table is the doorway to grace. When we sit down with someone and share a meal at a table with them, we open ourselves up to experience the very presence of God with us. The lesson is: open up your table, and not just to people you are comfortable with, not just to people you are familiar with, not just those in your same social standing—Invite the stranger, invite the outsider, invite the refugee who is passing through, invite the loner, invite those who see things a little differently than you, yes even those who interpret scripture differently than you, invite them to your table and invite Christ to your table.
Trinity Sunday Testimonies
On Sunday, June 16 (Trinity Sunday) we had three testimonies from Kenton Self, Rev. Sungmoon Lee and Aaron Manes. Each of these testimonies begin with a scripture read by Rev. Blair Thompson-White.
On Sunday, June 16 (Trinity Sunday) we had three testimonies from Kenton Self, Rev. Sungmoon Lee and Aaron Manes. Each of these testimonies begin with a scripture read by Rev. Blair Thompson-White.
Eco-Spirituality and Electric Vehicles with Aaron Manes
Pastor Blair sits down with Aaron Manes, Arapaho UMC’s Communications Director to talk Eco-spirituality, life experiments and what it is like to drive an electric car.
Pastor Blair sits down with Aaron Manes, Arapaho UMC’s Communications Director to talk Eco-spirituality, life experiments and what it is like to drive an electric car.
How To Listen:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/arapaho-umc/id1391205091
Google Play: http://bit.ly/AUMC-On-GooglePlay
Spotify: http://bit.ly/AUMC-On-Spotify
Pollution is a Spiritual Problem Too
Our world is so desperate to breathe in the divine presence, we are suffocating here with injustice and hatred and conflict in our world, we so need the spirit to breathe into us and bring us back to life again.
Our world is so desperate to breathe in the divine presence, we are suffocating here with injustice and hatred and conflict in our world, we so need the spirit to breathe into us and bring us back to life again—
To bring our world back to life with this divine energy that brings us together as kin, as divinely connected but no matter how desperate we are for a breath of fresh air, for the breath of God to breathe into us and renew us...
The reality is the air is polluted, and if the air is polluted, if human beings can’t take a breath of fresh air, the spirit is restricted, the spirit cannot work as well in us and through us…
Now is the time for us as followers of Jesus to lead the way in working to end pollution so that all people throughout the world can breathe fresh air, so that all may receive the spirit of God, the breathe of God, deep into their lungs, so all may revived by God’s spirit again and again and again…
So today as we breathe in and breathe out we know what is ours to do: we are the ones to work to end pollution, so that means very plainly we have to take steps to reduce our carbon footprint.
Watch This Video From The Service.
Christ Has No Body But Yours
We are NOT the center of God's creation, we are not at the top to rule and do whatever we want to the earth, our purpose is to serve the earth. I will say it again this way: it is not about what is in our own self-interest...it is about what is in the best interest of the earth. This is driven home by the word "keep" which means "to preserve" or "to protect." We are responsible for the garden now and into the future.
We were not created for ourselves. We are created to till and keep the garden.
The word till is better translated as 'to serve' or ' to be a slave of.' Think about that, does that change things or what?
When I think of 'till' I think work the land, you know, there's that physical image of using a steel hoe to break up the soil which gives you the impression that we are in charge and use and work the land for our purposes...but that is not what we are talking about...the word till means to serve, we are servants of the earth.
We are NOT the center of God's creation, we are not at the top to rule and do whatever we want to the earth, our purpose is to serve the earth. I will say it again this way: it is not about what is in our own self-interest...it is about what is in the best interest of the earth. This is driven home by the word "keep" which means "to preserve" or "to protect." We are responsible for the garden now and into the future.
We are the ones to preserve and protect the earth, that is our purpose--that is what on earth we are here for.
Vineyards and Vegetable Gardens
Dominion and subdue. Those two words are bound to come up when talking about how people of faith should view creation. The words sound almost warlike. What do they mean? How are we to receive and care for gifts from God, especially the gift of creation.
Dominion and subdue. Those two words are bound to come up when talking about how people of faith should view creation. The words sound almost warlike. What do they mean? How are we to receive and care for gifts from God, especially the gift of creation.
Seeing Christ In Everyone and Everything
It is all Christ, Christ is all in all, every material, every physical thing is Christ and that includes you and that includes every person and plant and species on this planet. My favorite definition of a Christian is this: A Christian is one who can recognize Christ in every one and everything.
It is all Christ, Christ is all in all, every material, every physical thing is Christ and that includes you and that includes every person and plant and species on this planet. My favorite definition of a Christian is this:
A Christian is one who can recognize Christ in every one and everything.
I don’t know that I am always a Christian under that definition but I want to be, don’t you, I want to recognize Christ in people with whom I disagree or who are different than me, and I want to recognize Christ in every aspect of creation...
She Poured Out Her Soul To God
You talk to God from right where you are: you pour out your heart like Hannah did, you dump it all on God, the good, the bad, the ugly, because think about the people you are closest with
People ask me how to pray and when I ask them a little more about that what I usually discover is they think they have to get it together before coming to God in prayer...but what do you do when you can’t get it together…
You talk to God from right where you are: you pour out your heart like Hannah did, you dump it all on God, the good, the bad, the ugly, because think about the people you are closest with...
They are the people you talk honestly to. Talk honestly to God and get closer to God, talk honestly with God and discover what the deepest spiritual people will tell you...God hears you and God can handle it...let God handle it.
Women In The Bible with Rabbi Elana Zelony
Go deeper into the Grace and Grit/Women In The Bible series as Pastor Blair Thompson-White sips tea with Rabbi Elana Zelony on a stormy morning and talks about the women of scripture.
Women In The Bible with Rabbi Elana Zelony
Go deeper into the Grace and Grit/Women In The Bible series as Pastor Blair Thompson-White sips tea with Rabbi Elana Zelony on a stormy morning and talks about the women of scripture.
How To Listen:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/arapaho-umc/id1391205091
Google Play: http://bit.ly/AUMC-On-GooglePlay
Spotify: http://bit.ly/AUMC-On-Spotify
About Rabbi Elana Zelony
Rabbi Zelony’s rabbinate emphasizes pluralism, inclusion, interfaith work, spirituality and involvement with the community.
She is a member of the Richardson Interfaith Alliance and an alumna of Leadership Richardson—a program that builds leaders for the city. She is a member of Rabbis Without Borders—a network that emphasizes pluralism, innovation and service in the rabbinate.
She is the first female rabbi in the Conservative Movement to lead a synagogue in the state of Texas. Prior to moving to Richardson, she worked as the Director of Congregational Learning at Congregation Beth Sholom in San Francisco. She also served as an Assistant Rabbi at Shearith Israel in Atlanta where she advocated for ending domestic abuse by working with the Faith Advisory Team of the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Rabbi Zelony received ordination from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in 2009. She also holds a Master’s Degree from American Jewish University’s Graduate Center for Jewish Education.
Rabbi Zelony was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She makes her home with her husband Adiv and their two children, Nesya and Magen. She is an avid reader of poetry and enjoys keeping healthy by running, practicing yoga, and creating healthy meals for her family and friends.
That Time When A Woman Changed Jesus' Mind
The question this passage answers is not just: Can Jesus learn but also: Can we? Can we learn like Jesus to become more embracing, more loving by listening to outsiders?
Because tribalism so easily leads to dehumanization, you start seeing the other as other than human, you start name calling them and excluding them from equal rights and access to resources because they aren’t human to you anymore.
And I have said but it bears repeating again, what we do is we “It” people--we treat them as “It” instead of as children of God, we treat them as “It” instead of as “beloved” we treat them as object instead of as human beings made in the image of God and this is all very human of us…
But so is our ability to be changed by the people we encounter...like Jesus was…so the question this passage answers is not just: Can Jesus learn but also: Can we? Can we learn like Jesus to become more embracing, more loving by listening to outsiders?
That is what Jesus does...Jesus learns by listening.
When She Leads, Everyone Wins
Dr. Sheron Patterson, pastor of Hamilton Park UMC, begins our series “Grace and Grit” - Two characteristics of three women in the Bible who show us how to live and lead faithfully in the midst of difficult situations. Experience the stories of Deborah, the Syrophoenician woman, and Hannah in our worship series Grace and Grit.
Dr. Sheron Patterson, pastor of Hamilton Park UMC, begins our series “Grace and Grit.”
Two characteristics of three women in the Bible who show us how to live and lead faithfully in the midst of difficult situations. Experience the stories of Deborah, the Syrophoenician woman, and Hannah in our worship series Grace and Grit.
Tidying Up The Tomb
Jesus has overcome death, he has overcome the death-dealing things of this world...and so death no longer fills the space of our lives, it no longer clutters our vision or our thinking and being in this world, Jesus has tidied it up, he's made a path through it for us so that we can go from life through death to life again just like he did.
Jesus has tidied up death for us.
He hasn’t discarded it, death is still there, but what he has done is make it possible for us to see it clearly, to know its purpose, to know death is not something to dread, or something to fear.
Because he has overcome death, he has overcome the death-dealing things of this world...and so death no longer fills the space of our lives, it no longer clutters our vision or our thinking and being in this world, Jesus has tidied it up, he's made a path through it for us so that we can go from life through death to life again just like he did.
life – death – life
Jesus shows us this path of life, that in this cycle of life, death, and life all things start in life and all things end in life--and like him we start in God and end in God; death is just part of the journey, death is just part of our aliveness.
So that we don't have to run away from the hard things anymore, we can face the tombs in our lives, the tombs in our world with confidence knowing that like Jesus, will get through it, knowing that here is this path of loss and renewal that we go through throughout our lives that helps us to grow and to heal and to become more and more who we were made to be.
Tidying Up The Theology Of Holy Week
Have you ever asked the question of why did Jesus die on the cross? Maybe this is something that you have let go of in your deconstruction or maybe you haven’t ever given it much thought. Pastor Blair sits down with Dr. Gary Fox to talk through the differing atonement theologies and how they play out in our lives in this episode of “Practicing The Presence.”
Have you ever asked the question of why did Jesus die on the cross? Maybe this is something that you have let go of in your deconstruction or maybe you haven’t ever given it much thought. Pastor Blair sits down with Dr. Gary Fox to talk through the differing atonement theologies and how they play out in our lives in this episode of “Practicing The Presence.”
Things The Spark Joy
Jesus says: focus on loving God and loving others and your joy will be complete. The Greek root of the word joy is the same as grace--joy is a gift from God, joy is a gift of knowing you are connected to the divine and this connection is not something you earn or win…it is always present with you, if you will just see it, in moments of stress, see your connection with God and with others and your joy will be complete. Joy comes in, fear goes out when we see ourselves as connected.
Jesus says: focus on loving God and loving others and your joy will be complete. The Greek root of the word joy is the same as grace--joy is a gift from God, joy is the gift of knowing you are connected to the divine and this connection is not something you earn or win…it is always present with you, if you will just see it, in moments of stress, see your connection with God and with others and your joy will be complete. Joy comes in, fear goes out when we see ourselves as connected.
Tidying Up: Putting Your House In Order
When we carry around the clutter from our past, the past wounds we have inflicted...we cannot move freely, we cannot live freely, and it gets in the way of everything, it gets in the way of our relationships with others and with God, and God doesn’t want that for us.
When we carry around the clutter from our past, the past wounds we have inflicted...we cannot move freely, we cannot live freely, and it gets in the way of everything, it gets in the way of our relationships with others and with God, and God doesn’t want that for us.
Jesus says: there is a way to be released from this burden and it is the way of forgiveness. Don’t wait. Make amends now. Don’t let another day pass, make amends now. Deal with the clutter from your past today so you can free today.
Tidying Up our Tradition
When the teachings of the church are cutting off people from doing the ministry God has clearly gifted and called them to do, we must question those teachings, we must rethink those teachings, we must tidy up those traditions, now is the time for tidying up, church.
Tidying Up Tradition
When the teachings of the church are cutting off people from doing the ministry God has clearly gifted and called them to do, we must question those teachings, we must rethink those teachings, we must tidy up those traditions, now is the time for tidying up, church.
There have been throughout the years groups of people who seek to gain power through excluding others...they have used doctrine and scripture to justify this harm; but take heart....
There have also been every step of the way, people who have stood up and said: no. They have questioned and researched and written and argued and protested and participated in civil disobedience to stand up for the excluded and marginalized and those without voice…and you know what they’ve been called? Well I’m sure they’ve been called a lot of things but here’s one:
They are the people called Methodists.
Tidying Up How We Interpret The Bible
If you do not read the Bible, you place yourself at the mercy of those who do. The discipline of wrestling with scripture frees you from people who want to impose their reading on you.
A prominent pastor here in Dallas thinks we should build a wall at our southern border. He told the news the Bible says heaven has a wall around it. That’s Revelation 21:12. He didn’t mention there are twelve gates in that wall that never close. That’s Revelation 21:25. If we want to build a wall at the border like the one in the Bible, we’ll have to put big holes in it every few miles.
Tidying Up How We Interpret The Bible
If you do not read the Bible, you place yourself at the mercy of those who do. The discipline of wrestling with scripture frees you from people who want to impose their reading on you.
A prominent pastor here in Dallas thinks we should build a wall at our southern border. He told the news the Bible says heaven has a wall around it. That’s Revelation 21:12. He didn’t mention there are twelve gates in that wall that never close. That’s Revelation 21:25. If we want to build a wall at the border like the one in the Bible, we’ll have to put big holes in it every few miles.
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Below are some practical exercises you could use to bring joy into your heart and make the Bible a greater part of your life...
Step 1: Share a verse
Pick a favorite Bible verse and share it on one or more of your social networks. Say a little bit about why it's meaningful to you.
Step 2: Share a verse with someone
Call a friend or relative and share with them a Bible verse you think might make their day brighter. Say a prayer together.
Step 3: Read the Bible together
Make an appointment to meet with a friend and spend some time reading the Bible together. Pick out a chapter, maybe the chapter your favorite verse is in, read it together and talk about how you could apply the lesson of that passage this week.
Tidying Up Our Misconceptions About God
Many of us Christians have collected a lot of beliefs we’ve been taught and told and even repeated…this season of Lent is a time to sort through what we believe or have been told for so long and decide: which ideas about the faith do we need to keep and which do we need to throw out? This week we are tidying up our clothes or the things we put on God.
Tidying Up Our Misconceptions About God
Many of us Christians have collected a lot of beliefs we’ve been taught and told and even repeated…this season of Lent is a time to sort through what we believe or have been told for so long and decide: which ideas about the faith do we need to keep and which do we need to throw out? This week we are tidying up our clothes or the things we put on God.
Our spiritual house is packed full with all kinds of ideas and doctrines and rules about who God is and who we are and it can be suffocating really, all the stuff, it can be overwhelming to even think about sorting through it, so oftentimes we don’t, we just ignore it and even add more stuff to it because why not?
The deeper truth is that if we don’t go through the clutter in our spiritual homes, well it’s the same truth about what happens if we don’t go through the clutter in our physical homes--it gets in the way--it gets in the way of our life and relationships.
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Below are some practical, creative and challenging steps you could take this week toward bringing joy to your heart and creating space in your life:
Step 1: Create A Reminder
Put a Post-it note in your wallet/purse that says 'Do I really need this?' If you don't, put it down and put the money you were going to spend to better use.
Step 2: Make Purchases More Meaningful
If you're buying something new, make the purchase more meaningful. What it's going to replace? What are you going to do with the old item instead? Who could it be of use to?
Step 3: Assess Your Stuff
What do you really need? What can you give away? Are there hoarding habits that need to be changed? You can give to the clothing drive at the church or your local Goodwill. Perhaps considering calling Network of Community Ministries to volunteer at their clothing closet.
The Prophetic Imagination
We are a congregation full of prophets. Together we are a prophetic community—we know what God has done in the past, we know how God has consistently worked through people to end evil, injustice, and oppression—we know now is our time. Now is our time to share God’s dreams for a better world. Thy kingdom come.
The Prophetic Imagination
“We are a congregation full of prophets. Together we are a prophetic community—we know what God has done in the past, we know how God has consistently worked through people to end evil, injustice, and oppression—we know now is our time. Now is our time to share God’s dreams for a better world. Thy kingdom come.”
-Rev. Dr. Blair Thompson-White