Advent is coming, and with it a new liturgical year, and for RCL users, a new cycle. If you plan to use Year A at all, you may want to have this on hand:
Meanwhile, if you still have any adult ed courses to plan, imagine 6 or 7 weeks in the study of the Lord's Prayer ...
and 6 to 9 weeks rediscovering an important, but forgotten Reformer.
The seventeen chapters in this piece are very short and could easily be read two or three at a clip. For many an adult ed class or book group, you could well spend a whole semester on these two studies alone.
These are just a few — hopefully helpful — pieces developed over the years in small church ministry, and one (the translation) that has arisen from the nagging sense that we still have a lot to learn about our identity and mission as Christians in the Reformed tradition from the actual Reformers (there are more than just Luther and Calvin) who got the ball rolling. In short and paradoxically, clues to the way forward always seem to demand attending to the past, if we are patient and teachable enough to search out the great treasures of the tradition. Obviously, that applies to scripture above all, especially to those basic, but neglected essentials like the Lord's Prayer.
Spread the Word!
After a long year and an ugly election season, you may also be ready for something lighter this Advent and Christmas. Written to "delight," this story is probably most suited to a family night or fellowship gathering, but perhaps it has been adapted for pageants; you might also think of it as an extended Christmas card for a congregation, a thank you gift for key families, a welcome gift for visitors, etc. However you use it, know that it will remind people of the Christ of Christmas.
Where worship is concerned, if you haven't looked into Year D yet, it is not too soon to plan ahead:
Meanwhile, if you still have any adult ed courses to plan, imagine 6 or 7 weeks in the study of the Lord's Prayer ...
and 6 to 9 weeks rediscovering an important, but forgotten Reformer.
The seventeen chapters in this piece are very short and could easily be read two or three at a clip. For many an adult ed class or book group, you could well spend a whole semester on these two studies alone.
These are just a few — hopefully helpful — pieces developed over the years in small church ministry, and one (the translation) that has arisen from the nagging sense that we still have a lot to learn about our identity and mission as Christians in the Reformed tradition from the actual Reformers (there are more than just Luther and Calvin) who got the ball rolling. In short and paradoxically, clues to the way forward always seem to demand attending to the past, if we are patient and teachable enough to search out the great treasures of the tradition. Obviously, that applies to scripture above all, especially to those basic, but neglected essentials like the Lord's Prayer.
Spread the Word!
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