This Saturday night James Bryan Smith, author of The Good and Beautiful God, will speak at Wheatland. Jim will share with us some of his ideas about spiritual formation and what motivated him to write the book.
Starting the week of October 23rd our congregation will slowly and deliberately make our way through material of The Good and Beautiful God. It is both my hope and my prayer that we will find this an experience of great learning and even greater growth.
Here is a paragraph from the book. It comes from a chapter about the trustworthiness of God. Many of us (dare I say all?) struggle with trusting God. It’s easy in the good times but it feels impossible in the tough times. This quote summarizes the heart of the book:
“All of us have to face pain and difficulty, sometimes even tragedy. As we come to know and draw close to the God Jesus knows, we find a new kind of strength to deal with our struggles. If we do not know God as our Abba Father, then we will never have the courage to face our problems. But as we come to know the good and beautiful God that Jesus knows, our struggles take on a whole new meaning. If God is truly good and is looking out for our good, then we can come to him with complete honesty. We can practice honesty when we pray—baring our soul and confronting those hurts that make us doubt God’s goodness by handing them over to him for healing.” (pg. 64)
Here are this week’s Lectionary readings. We’ll be using some of these during our worship time and I trust that they all bring nourishment to your souls this week as you pray and read, read and pray.
Psalm • Psalm 121
Old Testament • Genesis 32:3-30
Gospel • Luke 18:1-8
New Testament • 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
This past weekend I was able to hear Donald Miller speak on the subject of story. He discussed how stories work, why we live by story, and how there is a larger, more meaningful story that we are all called to live into.
We should read Scripture regularly, not for the sake of study, but for the sake of story. Study is important and we should read the Bible for that purpose too. But, what if we begin to read the Bible not to learn something new but to enter in, and become a part of, the story that God is telling. It’s true that Scripture was written to someone else first. However, the fact that the story comes to us second hand doesn’t mean that it’s not our story too. In fact, this story of recorded in the Bible lays claim to our lives. We belong to it.
Psalm • Psalm 137
Old Testament • Ruth 1:1-14; 2:1-4
Gospel • Luke 17:11-19
New Testament • 2 Timothy 2:3-15
For more info go to: Donald Miller in Wichita or go to amillionmiles.com. You won’t want to miss it!
At sunset tonight Yom Kippur will come to a conclusion. Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement, one of the two Jewish high holy days. The purpose behind Yom Kippur is reconciliation between God and humanity, between persons, and with oneself. It is a good day for as Christians to remind ourselves that we our ancestors are the Jews.
Here’s how Paul looks at this concept of peace between Jews and Christians in the early days of the church: For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. - Ephesians 2:14-18
Here are the passages for this week:
Psalm • Psalm 37
Old Testament • Habakkuk 1:1-2:4
Gospel • Luke 17:1-10
There are a lot of great events coming up. There will be special speakers (Tracey Lawrence, Jim Smith), special events (the Donald Miller night of conversation, our Fall retreat) along with our regular rhythms of weekly worship and learning. In the midst of exciting experiences let’s remember to take time to meditate on Scripture slowly, deliberately.
the Psalm • Psalm 146
Old Testament • Amos 6:1-7
the Gospel • Luke 16:19-31
New Testament • I Timothy 6:11-19
