I'm Done!!!!

With my class, that is. The last assignments have been mailed out, the final exam completed and sent in, the book has been read and put on the shelf.
And this was the last of my requirements for ordination. I'm glad, actually, that the last class I took happened to be one of the hardest. I feel like a long distance runner who sprinted the last fifty yards to the finish line.
Well, maybe more like a middle-distance runner who really hustled the last couple of yards or so.
Anyway, point is I'm done.

Now I'm really looking forward to ordination this spring.

Readings for February 1st, 2009

Vermont now tops the list of the most unchurched states in the union. New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts are right behind us.
This doesn't come as a surprise to those of us who live here. But what is surprising, I think, is that the quality of life here is marvelous and the neighbors are wonderful. There's no part of me that wishes I was living in Mississippi, even though it is the most religious state in the union.

The thing is that I always know that my convictions make me feel out of place here in Vermont, but I often forget that many of my neighbors are wicked. It's such a strong word. So is "godless." So, for that matter, are most of the words in this list in 2 Timothy.

Call to Repentance

Revelation 3:19 (page 1917)

Call to Worship

Psalm 46 (page 885)

OT Reading

Proverbs 1:20-33 (page 985)

NT Reading

2 Timothy 2:22-26 (page 1854)

Message

Vermontigo

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (page 1854)

Readings for Sunday, January 25th

January 25, 2009

Call to Repentance

James 1:21-22 (page 1881)

Call to Worship

Psalm 111 (page 952)

OT Reading

2 Samuel 12:1-14 (page 487)

NT Reading

James 1:19-27 (page 1881)

Message

The Art of Self-Acquaintance

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (page 1854)

We are so accustomed to our own images that it is difficult to appreciate how unsettling a mirror would have been to someone three thousand years ago. There were few opportunities in a desert environment to get a clear reflection of one's face. We have no fewer than four large mirrors in our house and any number of smaller ones. And then there are all of the cameras and video recorders. I am nearly as accustomed to my own face as I am to the faces of the other members of my family.

But it's one thing to be acquainted with your image, and another to be acquainted with yourself. King David may not ever have had a very accurate idea of what his own face looked like, but compared to me he seemed to have a very intimate knowledge of what his heart looked. He was a very self-acquainted man.

In our culture there is a definite preference for superficiality in relationship. Most of us place more value on having five hundred facebook friends than we do on having one friend to whom we can bare our souls.

We have become so conditioned to pleasant superficiality in our relationships that it has become our default manner of relating to ourselves. How often do we examine our motives or evaluate our preferences. When was the last time we considered what areas of our lives we need to improve on.

If I'm going to embark on a project of self-acquaintance the Bible will be as indispensable a tool as the mirror would be to someone wanting to learn their own appearance. And the Bible offers the same promise to sometimes delight and more frequently dismay us that the mirror offers, and in roughly the same proportion.

This Sunday we are going to consider a portion of 2 Timothy 3, verses 2 and 3 in light of what the mirror of scripture might reveal to us about ourselves.

Readings for Sunday, January 18th

This Sunday we will begin a study of a passage in 2 Timothy in which Paul lists the various tell-tale signs by which you will recognize the wicked men in the last days. He concludes his list with the stern warning to "avoid such people." And we must take that warning to heart, but we don't dare look for those attributes in others before we have asked if they are present, to any degree, in our own lives.

Following are the readings and the words to our closing hymn. It was written by Charles Wesley and is a bracing song.

January 18, 2009

Call to Repentance
1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 (page 1840)

Call to Worship
Psalm 63 (page 899)

OT Reading
Isaiah 5:18-24 (page 1067)

NT Reading
Galatians 5:19-26 (page 1815)

Message
The Blood Will Tell
2 Timothy 3:1-5 (page 1854)


I want a principle within of watchful, godly fear,
A sensibility of sin, a pain to feel it near.
I want the first approach to feel of pride or wrong desire,
To catch the wandering of my will, and quench the kindling fire.

From Thee that I no more may stray, no more Thy goodness grieve,
Grant me the filial awe, I pray, the tender conscience give.
Quick as the apple of an eye, O God, my conscience make;
Awake my soul when sin is nigh, and keep it still awake.

Almighty God of truth and love, to me Thy power impart;
The mountain from my soul remove, the hardness from my heart.
O may the least omission pain my reawakened soul,
And drive me to that blood again, which makes the wounded whole.

Readings for Sunday, January 11th

I've been very busy completing assignments for my last correspondence course. I'm about halfway done and it's going to be a race to see if I can complete it before the final due-date. In the meantime the posting on the church's blog is going to be a little thin. But watch out for February!

Meantime, here are the readings for this Sunday's service during which we will consider the sense in which and the degree to which we as Christians are expected to leave the world. This is a tough one for me. I have an Amish outlook on lots of things . . . except when it comes to food, clothing, technology, literature, and machinery. Like most contemporary Christians I am mostly separate in theory and mostly indistinguishable in practice.


Call to Repentance

2 Corinthians 7:1 (page 1800)

Call to Worship

Psalm 113 (page 953)

Old Testament Reading

Isaiah 52:7-12 (page 1144)

New Testament Reading

Revelation 7:9-17 (page 1921)

Message

Called Out For Something Better

2 Cor. 6:14-18 (page 1800)