Lenten Prayer, Wednesday, February 25

During Lent, we are having special prayer services on Wednesday evenings.  The scriptures and music for these prayer services follows the theme "The Nature of Love," which is also the theme of this year's Holy Week services.  The titles of each service are taken from the phrases of Paul's famous description of love in 1 Corinthians.

This week's focus was "Love Is Kind," which I briefly reflected on in the Communion meditation, drawing on some words of Jesus recorded in Luke.

Click here to listen to the meditation.

February 22 Worship - "Job - Born to Suffer?"

After a pause for Lincoln Sunday, we resumed the journey along Godsway 66 this week.  We also celebrated the ongoing ministry of Week of Compassion through the collection of an annual special offering.

We turned our attention to the wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible, beginning with the challenging book of Job.  In its exploration of suffering, it raises the significant question of whether all human beings are "Born to Suffer?"  Through a dramatic exchange of speeches and questions, it also explores issues of justice.  Surprisingly, it also has deep themes that defend the purity of human faith and share a deep sense in ultimate salvation.  Still, it is a thorny book that offers few definitive or easy answers (unfortunately for those of us who would like answers to the questions about human suffering).

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.

You can also listen to Sunday's Communion meditation.

Lincoln Sunday, February 15 - "To Lay Down One's Life: The Martyrdom of Abraham Lincoln"

This past weekend, we again celebrated Lincoln Sunday at Eastgate.  The service featured music that could have been heard in the era, readings from the King James Version of the Bible, and some prayers taken from prayer books of the time, including some printed for soldiers to carry in the field.

I also preached my annual Lincoln Sermon.  This year is the 150th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.  As such, I considered the meaning of Lincoln's death, especially the almost immediate determination by many that he was a martyr.  I placed this within the context of Jesus' famous statement about martyrdom: "greater love has no one than this -- to lay down one's life for another."

In the sermon, I considered what we should learn, through history and faith, about what is worth dying for -- and what is worth living for.

If you missed the 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 of the sermon here.