NULL
Illustration
Object:
Genesis 1:1--2:4a
Evening and morning: the most bewitching times of day. Early morning dew makes the world look like it is encrusted with gems, gilded with diamonds and silver, fresh with new, quivering life. Evening twilight paints the sky in brilliant saffron, purple, azure, gold. The colors of richly dyed cloth drape the heavens, and fireflies hang in the stillness like tiny, twinkling lanterns. Evening and morning: when the light of the day shows us the dazzling, beautiful fire of the world, when the advent of dark shows us shadows that comfort us when the world is too bright. It was evening, and it was morning. The world turned modestly away; then opened itself again to the splendor of God's gifts.
Leah T.
Genesis 1:1--2:4a
Before each game, Texas A&M women's basketball coach Gary Blair will scrawl a plus sign on his hand. This is to remind him to be as positive with his players as he is with the public.
After each day of creation God looked over what he had accomplished and said, "It was good." It was a remark of affirmation. It was a remark of being pleased. It was a positive statement that creation was good and He had an integral part in it. It would be good for us all to place, either figuratively or literally, a plus mark on the palm of our hand as a reminder to have a positive and affirming attitude toward others and toward life.
Ron L.
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Emily Price was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1872. Her family was quite wealthy and she led a privileged life. In 1892, she married a prominent banker named Edwin Main Post. After divorcing him in 1905, she began to take up a career in writing. In 1922, she wrote the book that would make her a household name. Etiquette was considered the quintessential manual for public decorum and has since been updated to the point where the seventeenth edition was published in 2004. There is even an institute that bears her name dedicated to the preservation of manners and etiquette.
We Christians have our own manual -- the Bible -- and in it, Paul offers his own take on etiquette within the church, and thankfully, it's not as complex as Emily Post's work: "Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you" (v. 11).
Craig K.
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Although the word "Trinity" is not mentioned in the Bible, yet 2 Corinthians 13:13 is a Trinitarian benediction. Theologians through the centuries have sought to explain the Trinity, and no one seems to have developed a perfect explanation. Robert McAfee Brown's understanding of the Trinity has been helpful to me.
Brown writes of the life of the apostle Peter. As a boy Peter grew up in a Jewish home. God became real to him as he worshiped in the synagogue and as he studied the Law of Moses. Then one day he met a man who seemed more than a man. He lives in a close relationship with Jesus. When Jesus confronts Peter he cannot escape the conclusion that God is confronting him. The time eventually arrives when Jesus is no longer physically present with the disciples; nonetheless, Peter and other disciples are certain that God is with them through the promised Holy Spirit.
The New Testament writers talk about God in three ways simply describing how the one true living God works in their lives.
Richard H.
Matthew 28:16-20
The Broadway musical Ragtime is about racial injustice in the United States. The play follows a white American family, a white immigrant family, and an African-American family. When the African-American man's wife is unfairly killed, he goes on a rampage against injustice, using violence to respond to the death of his wife. At the end of the play, as officials prepare to arrest him, he realizes the error of using violence to fight prejudice. The song he sings to his men before he is arrested uses the words that are in the hearts of every leader who must leave: "Go out and tell our story, let it echo far and wide; make them hear you... When they hear you, I'll be near you again." His song is a new version of Jesus' great commission: tell the story. And when you tell it, I will be there.
Leah T.
Matthew 28:16-20
The people of Minamisom, Japan, were desperate. The walls of their city crumbled from an 8.9 earthquake on April 7, 2011. Their community was devastated by the sixty-foot tsunami that followed. Then, to make matters even worse, they were within fifteen miles of the nuclear plant disaster. As the city was contaminated by radiation, supply trucks could not enter. In a plea for help Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai made an eleven-minute video that was posted on YouTube. "We are left isolated," the mayor urgently said into the camera. He then went on to describe the plight his city was in and most seriously that the residents were starving. The video was viewed across the globe, and immediately assistance began to arrive. The mayor said, "Suddenly, the world was extending its hand to us. We learned we're not alone."
One of the worst feelings possible is the feeling of being alone. Forsaken. Forgotten. This is why Jesus encouraged his followers by saying, "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." As Christians we are the presence of Jesus to the people of Minamisom, and not just Minamisom, but any individual or community anywhere across the globe that is in need of friendship and assistance.
Ron L.
Evening and morning: the most bewitching times of day. Early morning dew makes the world look like it is encrusted with gems, gilded with diamonds and silver, fresh with new, quivering life. Evening twilight paints the sky in brilliant saffron, purple, azure, gold. The colors of richly dyed cloth drape the heavens, and fireflies hang in the stillness like tiny, twinkling lanterns. Evening and morning: when the light of the day shows us the dazzling, beautiful fire of the world, when the advent of dark shows us shadows that comfort us when the world is too bright. It was evening, and it was morning. The world turned modestly away; then opened itself again to the splendor of God's gifts.
Leah T.
Genesis 1:1--2:4a
Before each game, Texas A&M women's basketball coach Gary Blair will scrawl a plus sign on his hand. This is to remind him to be as positive with his players as he is with the public.
After each day of creation God looked over what he had accomplished and said, "It was good." It was a remark of affirmation. It was a remark of being pleased. It was a positive statement that creation was good and He had an integral part in it. It would be good for us all to place, either figuratively or literally, a plus mark on the palm of our hand as a reminder to have a positive and affirming attitude toward others and toward life.
Ron L.
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Emily Price was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1872. Her family was quite wealthy and she led a privileged life. In 1892, she married a prominent banker named Edwin Main Post. After divorcing him in 1905, she began to take up a career in writing. In 1922, she wrote the book that would make her a household name. Etiquette was considered the quintessential manual for public decorum and has since been updated to the point where the seventeenth edition was published in 2004. There is even an institute that bears her name dedicated to the preservation of manners and etiquette.
We Christians have our own manual -- the Bible -- and in it, Paul offers his own take on etiquette within the church, and thankfully, it's not as complex as Emily Post's work: "Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you" (v. 11).
Craig K.
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Although the word "Trinity" is not mentioned in the Bible, yet 2 Corinthians 13:13 is a Trinitarian benediction. Theologians through the centuries have sought to explain the Trinity, and no one seems to have developed a perfect explanation. Robert McAfee Brown's understanding of the Trinity has been helpful to me.
Brown writes of the life of the apostle Peter. As a boy Peter grew up in a Jewish home. God became real to him as he worshiped in the synagogue and as he studied the Law of Moses. Then one day he met a man who seemed more than a man. He lives in a close relationship with Jesus. When Jesus confronts Peter he cannot escape the conclusion that God is confronting him. The time eventually arrives when Jesus is no longer physically present with the disciples; nonetheless, Peter and other disciples are certain that God is with them through the promised Holy Spirit.
The New Testament writers talk about God in three ways simply describing how the one true living God works in their lives.
Richard H.
Matthew 28:16-20
The Broadway musical Ragtime is about racial injustice in the United States. The play follows a white American family, a white immigrant family, and an African-American family. When the African-American man's wife is unfairly killed, he goes on a rampage against injustice, using violence to respond to the death of his wife. At the end of the play, as officials prepare to arrest him, he realizes the error of using violence to fight prejudice. The song he sings to his men before he is arrested uses the words that are in the hearts of every leader who must leave: "Go out and tell our story, let it echo far and wide; make them hear you... When they hear you, I'll be near you again." His song is a new version of Jesus' great commission: tell the story. And when you tell it, I will be there.
Leah T.
Matthew 28:16-20
The people of Minamisom, Japan, were desperate. The walls of their city crumbled from an 8.9 earthquake on April 7, 2011. Their community was devastated by the sixty-foot tsunami that followed. Then, to make matters even worse, they were within fifteen miles of the nuclear plant disaster. As the city was contaminated by radiation, supply trucks could not enter. In a plea for help Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai made an eleven-minute video that was posted on YouTube. "We are left isolated," the mayor urgently said into the camera. He then went on to describe the plight his city was in and most seriously that the residents were starving. The video was viewed across the globe, and immediately assistance began to arrive. The mayor said, "Suddenly, the world was extending its hand to us. We learned we're not alone."
One of the worst feelings possible is the feeling of being alone. Forsaken. Forgotten. This is why Jesus encouraged his followers by saying, "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." As Christians we are the presence of Jesus to the people of Minamisom, and not just Minamisom, but any individual or community anywhere across the globe that is in need of friendship and assistance.
Ron L.
