Reflections Archive for 2001
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Songs of Love
Both the gift and the burden of the Christian vocation is to love,
to love others into wholeness....
-- From the sermon "The Gift and the Burden of Love"
by The Rev. Margaret Gunness

The Greatest Gift of All
God chose to come into the world as a baby child, not as a prophet's
message, not as a spirit, not even as words, but as a human being....
-- From the sermon "Hay and Stars, Part 2"
by The Rev. William A. Kolb

Listening to Our Lives
Think about this: That you and I are created in the very image of
God....
-- From the essay "Literature as an Invitation to Spiritual Growth:
Parker Palmer's 'Let Your Life Speak'"
by The Rev. Margaret Gunness

When We Are Afraid…God is There
Martin Luther King, Jr., once recalled a day in Philadelphia,
Mississippi, at the height of the civil rights movement, when he
just gave up....
-- From the sermon "Nobody Lives Without Fear"
by The Rev. Dr. Bill Leonard

The Real You
Remember your roots. That's not referring to what family you were born into. Remember your roots. You are a child of God....
-- From the sermon "Remember Who You Are"
by The Rev. Dr. Douglass M. Bailey

The Gift of Grace
How do we understand, how do we experience grace today?
-- From the question "What is meant by the grace of God?"
by the Rev. Margaret Gunness

The Treasure Within
No matter what anyone else does to us, one of the major purposes
of our lives as Christians is to be steadfast in our belief in
good, in gentleness, in loving our neighbor....
-- From the sermon "Who Are Your Heroes?"
by the Rev. William A. Kolb

An Unfailing Love
Very possibly, God's love is even greater for us at the point where
we fail to follow God's Word and way....
--From the question "How can God love us when we consistently fail to follow His word?"
by the Rev. Dr. Douglass M. Bailey

Surviving Life's Crises
No one can escape the storms of life. Our goodness or our faith
cannot insulate us from the common experiences of life....
--From the sermon "Surviving the Storms of Life"
by the Rev. Dr. Brooks Ramsey

A Community of Love
We all carry a yearning for God in our hearts. We all live on earth
with the Holy Spirit within us and among us....
-- From the sermon "Community: Where the Holy Spirit Hangs Out"
by the Rev. William A. Kolb

The Promise of Perfection
It is so important to realize that those famous words at the last part of the fifth
chapter of Matthew, "Be you therefore perfect even as your father in heaven is
perfect," are a promise and not an imperative....
--From the sermon " Never Never Never Give Up"
by the Rev. Dr. John R. Claypool

Walk the Walk
In the New Testament alone, the word "follow" is used 87 times.
"Follow Me, follow Me," says Jesus....
--From the sermon "Opening Yourself to an Encounter
With God" by the Rev. Dr. Douglass M. Bailey

A New Itinerary
What does it mean today for a 21st century Christian to take the
road less traveled?
--From the sermon "A Different Way"
by the Rev. Gina Stewart

Where is God When Things Fall Apart?
It is easy to sense God's presence when things are going right.
But where is God when things fall apart?
--From the question "Where do I look to find God in this world of tragedy and pain?"
by the Rev. Dr. Brooks Ramsey

Life Is God's Will
A story I heard was about a little boy who won the most caring
child award in his school....
--From the sermon "Life Is God's Will"
by the Rev. William A. Kolb

The National Crisis of September 11, 2001
During this time of national crisis, we are deeply aware of our utter dependence on God for our ultimate security....

The Reality of Faith
When we enter a search for religious reality, we need to sit down
before a fact like a little child, exactly as the faithful scientist
does....
--From the sermon "Faith: Another Avenue to Knowledge"
by the Rev. Dr. John R. Claypool

The Size of Our Lens...The Size of Our God
In the 13th century, there was a marvelous giant of a man, who was
for Germany much of what Patrick was for Ireland. His name was
Meister Eckhart. Meister Eckhart was a great preacher and teacher,
a fascinating individual, but the reason he was so gifted was that
he had an enormous inner spiritual life....
--From the sermon "What is Your Concept of God?"
by the Rev. Dr. Daniel P. Matthews

Answering God's Call
You are called. I am called. God calls us. God's call is like a telephone that rings all the time....
--From the sermon "You are Called"
by the Rev. William A. Kolb

Thoughts on Prayer
Several one-liner reflections on "my" prayers and God's answers....
--From the question "What if God Doesn't Answer My Prayers?"
by The Rev. Dr. Douglass M. Bailey

A Big, Big God
J. B. Phillips wrote a book many years ago, when I was a young
minister, called "Your God is Too Small." I think for many people
their God is too small, and that controls the way they approach
life....
--From the sermon "When Religion Becomes Real"
by The Rev. Dr. Brooks Ramsey

The Seeds of Our Souls
As it is with the daffodil bulbs, so it is with our souls. Our
inner destiny has already been implanted in our souls....
--From the sermon "Lessons Learned in a Garden"
by The Rev. Dr. Renita J. Weems

Witnessing the Power of Love
God sends us out to share the good news of love that requires no
quid pro quo....
--From the sermon "Who Are Your Heroes?"
by The Rev. William A. Kolb

Opening Yourself to God
I don't know about you, but when I go through difficult times,
often that's when I am most cautious and closed to God....
--From the sermon "Preparing the Soil of Your Soul"
by the Rev. Dr. Douglass M. Bailey

A Story Told to Me by
an Old Woman in a Nursing Home
The first thing I noticed about her is that she was so completely
at peace. So I asked her about it, and this is the story she told:
-- The Rev. Margaret Gunness

The God of Becoming
Carl Jung, the psychoanalyst, said, "The goal of therapy is to move
persons from the nothing buts of life to the more thans of life."...
--From the sermon " Beyond Nothing But to More Than"
by the Rev. Dr. Brooks Ramsey

Your Undiminished Value
Listen to this story: A well-known speaker started off his seminar
by holding up a $20 bill....
--From the sermon "God's Light and Love Pours Into Our Souls"
by the Rev. William A. Kolb

Our Waiting God
There's a great Hasid story about the teacher Rabbi Zolman....
--From the sermon "God Hidden in the Shadows"
by the Rev. Dr. Douglass M. Bailey

The Liberation of Forgiveness
So what does such forgiveness really mean, we may wonder, and what does it
accomplish?...
--From the sermon "The Gifts of Doubt and Forgiving"
by the Rev. Margaret B. Gunness

A Safe Harbor
Where are the security, safety and predictability for which our
hearts long?...
--From the essay ". . .a world of safety, security and predictability . . ."
by The Rev. William A. Kolb

Prayer and Suffering
Human suffering is a communal struggle. We must share in each
other's suffering through the gift of prayer....
--From the sermon "Suffering Knows No Bounds"
by The Rev. Allen F. Robinson

Moments of Transfiguration
Think about all of the God spots in your life-- books you've
read, stories you have heard, moments in prayer,...
--From the sermon "God-Spots"
by The Rev. Dr. Douglass M. Bailey

Troubled by Doubt
Doubt is not something to hide or to be ashamed of or to run away from, but rather it is something to be honored, something to take notice of and to enter into fully....
--From the sermon "The Gifts of Doubt and Forgiving"
by The Rev. Margaret B. Gunness

What Is Your Calling?
How do we know we are called? How do we know to what we are called?...
--from the sermon "You Are Called"
by The Rev. William A. Kolb

Finding Your Voice
It is the title of Parker J. Palmer's latest and very compelling
book: "Let Your Life Speak."...
--From the essay "Let Your Life Speak"
by the Rev. Dr. Douglass M. Bailey

When You're Unable to Turn to God...
Have you ever found yourself so angry, or so scared, or so discouraged
that you could not have faith in God's being able to help you?...
--From the sermon ""My Sins are Forgiven? What Sins?"
By the Rev. William A. Kolb

A deep belief in the power of love means that we must
make a commitment to keep on giving even when we cannot see
any immediate results....
-- From the essay "Staying in the Process of Love"
By the Rev. Dr. Brooks Ramsey

Life's Warning Sign
Life without pain is a perpetually dangerous life....
-- From the essay "Blessed Pain, Blessed Healing"
By the Rev. Dr. Douglass M. Bailey

It is all too easy for us to say, "That's his problem" or "That's her issue." The truth is that for the Christian, the cares and concerns of one become community property....
--From the sermon "Suffering Knows No Bounds"
by the Rev. Allen F. Robinson

The Power of Humility
God finds us easier to use for God's purposes if we are humble....
--From the article "Lenten Thoughts" by The Rev. William A. Kolb

Living the Language of Faith
We need so desperately to model for our children the language of faith--a language of deep trust, a language of an authentic relationship with the Holy One....
-- from the sermon " Living the Language of Faith"
by The Rev. Dr. Douglass M. Bailey

Living and Loving Fully
The Dalai Lama, currently living in exile from his beautiful,
beloved land of Tibet, is reported to have given this instruction
to his people on the occasion of the new millennium:
-- From the sermon "Who Do People Say That I Am?"
by The Rev. Margaret B. Gunness.

Growing Through Love
Isn't it true that we bring many of the storms into our lives
because we are trying to do something worthwhile in the world?...
-- From the sermon "Surviving the Storms of Life "
by The Rev. Dr. Brooks Ramsey.

Prayer for a Busy Day
-- From the sermon " In Praise of Poverty"
by The Rev. Margaret B. Gunness.

Come As You Are
There's a quote I want to share with you from a book called
The Testing of Faith by Ray Stedman....
-- From the sermon " Reflections on the Feeding of God's People"
by The Rev. William A. Kolb.

Walking in Faith
Our lives are a combination of uncanny twists and turns....
-- From the essay "Take a Walk" by The Rev. Dr. Douglass M. Bailey

God calls each of us. But the response each of us gives will be
different....
--From the sermon "God's Good News" by The Rev. Mimsy Jones

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