Prayer for Mission in Japan

This week we pray for Jeffrey Mensendiek, our missionary to Japan.  He serves as a chaplain with the Center for Religious Activities at Kwansai Gakuin University in Kobe, Japan.

You can read more about the mission to Japan here, including a reflection on how the church is struggling to offer a path toward healing and wholeness in the aftermath of the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima.

There are Christian missionaries serving on our behalf in many countries around the world.  Each week, Global Missions highlights the work in one of these countries and asks the wider church to pray for its continued vitality in spreading the Gospel.

May 25 Worship: "A Worshiping Community"

We gathered for a special Memorial Day weekend worship service, which included a moment of memory lighting candles in honor of those who have passed away in the last year.  Also, Renee gave a rousing performance of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" during the offering.

We also continued our sermon series on our Christian identity by considering what our worship practices reveal about our identity -- how our values and beliefs are embedded in our worship service.  Drawing on Paul's instructions for worship to the Corinthian church, I explored how those principles are still evident in our worship service, even looking piece by piece at our regular Sunday morning worship.

If you missed Sunday's sermon, if you'd like to listen to it again, or if you'd like to share it with others, you can find an audio recording here.

Prayer for Mission in Israel/Palestine

This week we pray for Loren McGrail, our missionary to Israel and Palestine.  She serves with the YMCA of Palestine.

You can read more about the mission to Israel/Palestine here, including a prayer from Palestinian refugees.

There are Christian missionaries serving on our behalf in many countries around the world.  Each week, Global Missions highlights the work in one of these countries and asks the wider church to pray for its continued vitality in spreading the Gospel.

May 18 Worship: "The Lord's Table, Where God Has Welcomed Us"

Sunday morning was so beautiful that I was tempted to offer a great sermon featured in the Disney movie, Pollyanna.  Rev. Ford, known for preaching hellfire and brimstone, steps into the pulpit, looks over the congregation, closes his Bible, and says: "It's a beautiful day.  Let's go out and enjoy it.  And while you're enjoying it, give a thought to who's sending it down to you."  (Perhaps he says something slightly different, if my memory is off.)  And then he ends the service.

Instead, we gathered in God's name and worshiped as the sun shone through the windows.  We celebrated our ongoing commitment to mission in Haiti, including Eastgate's support of a doctor's salary in a clinic in Carrefour, Haiti.  And before we gathered at the Lord's Table, we considered the meaning of the Lord's Supper for our Christian identity, particularly as part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Perhaps now I can confess that I found it a bit intimidating, the closer we got to Sunday, to try to sum up our central beliefs about communion.  Partially, this is because I very much agree that the nature of a sacrament is it's inexhaustible meaning for our lives -- so anyone who tries to sum the sacrament up is doomed to fail.  Partially, though, I just felt unequal to the task for some reason.  Still, I think we faithfully considered Paul's teaching about the Lord's Supper and its importance for our lives.

If you missed Sunday's sermon, if you'd like to listen to it again, or if you'd like to share it with others, you can find an audio recording here.

Prayer for Mission in Lesotho

This week we pray for Mark Behle, our missionary to Lesotho.  He works in the planning office of the Lesotho Evangelical Church in Southern Africa.

You can read more about the mission to Lesotho here, including a word about our mission dollars providing textbooks for a local seminary.

There are Christian missionaries serving on our behalf in many countries around the world.  Each week, Global Missions highlights the work in one of these countries and asks the wider church to pray for its continued vitality in spreading the Gospel.

Finding Where Jesus Was Baptized

One of the pleasant consequences of the "Pope Francis Effect" is that various actions and statements by the Catholic leader draw increased attention.  In anticipation of the Pope's planned trip to the Holy Lands later this month, Religion and Ethics Newsweekly offered a story about the location thought by many to be the spot where John baptized Jesus.

The five-minute piece offers the historic evidence for this site, as well as the challenges that wars have posed, keeping researchers from conducting archaeological excavations and limiting visits to the location until recently.

Click here to see the report.

May 11 Worship: "As Part of the One Body of Christ, We Welcome All"

We enjoyed a happy Mother's Day worship service, including a special tribute to mothers.  David Rebecchi gave his mom a treat when he sang, "Arise, My Love" during the service.  We also highlighted one of our current outreach projects, to collect baby food to share through local food pantries.

In the sermon, we continued our focus on our Christian identity, considering the issue of welcome: "As Part of the One Body of Christ, We Welcome All."  I suggested that our tendency toward inclusion reflects our roots on the American frontier -- where everyone needed to pitch in -- and ties into Christian teachings, including those of Paul to the church in Ephesus.  As is often the case, later on Sunday, I realized some things that I left out.  Usually, this is not that big of a deal -- you cannot cover everything in any single sermon.

I neglected to share some of the key supporting evidence to my interpretation of Paul's teaching -- the example of Jesus Christ.  Jesus came to change the world.  But how did Jesus go about doing this?  He didn't dictate what people had to believe or how they should live -- aside from saying that they needed to follow him.  Instead, he developed nurturing relationships with everyone he met.  He didn't look for the prime Christian prospects -- he realized that anyone who deepened their relationship with God could help do God's work.  We should be about the developing the same relationships, and living them out, in Christ's church.

If you missed the sermon, if you want to share it with others, of if you want to figure out how the life of Jesus makes Paul's argument stronger, you can listen to an audio recording here.

You can also listen to the related communion meditation and the benediction.

Prayer for Mission in Costa Rica

This week we pray for Rebecca and Scott Hardin-Nieri, our missionaries to Costa Rica.  They serve as volunteers with the Quaker Community in Costa Rica.

You can read more about the mission to Costa Rica here, including a reminder of how children are sometimes the best models for emerging faith.

There are Christian missionaries serving on our behalf in many countries around the world.  Each week, Global Missions highlights the work in one of these countries and asks the wider church to pray for its continued vitality in spreading the Gospel.

May 4 Worship: "Wholeness in a Fragmented World"

Sunday was a beautiful spring day that felt like a summer day.  The weather certainly brightened our worship experience, brightening everyone's mood.  In addition, the Bell Choir finished out their season by ringing three selections during the service, which was wonderful.

We continued our consideration of our Christian identity in our series, "Who We Are."  We looked at the second part of the first sentence in the Disciples of Christ identity statement: We are Disciples of Christ, a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world.  We paid particular attention to the key issues of fragmentation -- and the role sin plays in our brokenness -- and attempts to offer healing and point to wholeness.  I particularly pointed to how our individual efforts can be gathered together to do big things, in the name of wholeness, pointing to a recent study on how Christians are unaware in the per capita decline of extreme poverty in the world in the past 30 years, based on the combination of millions of efforts (including the giving and work of many Christian organizations).

If you missed Sunday's sermon, if you'd like to listen to it again, or if you'd like to share it with others, you can listen to an audio recording here.

You can also listen to Sunday's communion meditation and the benediction.

Prayer for Mission in Germany

This week we pray for Rosalind Gnatt, our missionary to Germany.  She serves in a pastoral position with the Evangelical Church of Hesse-Nassau.

You can read more about the mission to Germany here, including details of how the church is part of an ongoing reconciliation effort.

There are Christian missionaries serving on our behalf in many countries around the world.  Each week, Global Missions highlights the work in one of these countries and asks the wider church to pray for its continued vitality in spreading the Gospel.