Baptism of Anthony Ambrose Burnette and Mae Byrd Moore

Jeremiah 32:1-6
Psalm 46
Colossians 1:11-20
Luke 23:35-43

One Hand

upon the baptisms of M.B.M and A.A.B

i | Jeremiah 23; Psalm 46
One hand upholds the world and all that is in it.
One hand clasps close the desperate, groaning globe.
One hand overshadows with authority steadfast.
Thanks be to God, we find refuge in his hand.

We’ve hidden and will hide in the shadows
of crooked shepherds crumbling under the weight
of being human. The best of them will fall.
Be still. One will not yield. Now and always
Under one hand, one shepherd, we are held fast.

ii | Colossians 1
Lay bear all heaven and earth to find
one cosmic king, the founding factor
with every right to crush a faithless creation
that reviles their very maker and source of breath.
He doesn’t. He won’t. His mercy renews every sun
if we would but be gathered in his grasp
as a mother hen gathers her chicks at dusk.

iii | Luke 23
Love suffers. More than mere blood
poured out from this one God
made low on our behalf.
How costly is this grace?
Gow painful is true love?
Gow close his hand has come to shatter the dark,
to hold forth true light—with such a light among us,
how dare we love the dark? May it cease to be so.
May true paradise come near.
By gift again renew us, O High King;
by water, bread, and wine make us thine own.
Take up your rightful reign
in this feeble and faltering heart
that longs to be ruled for good.

iv | Repent and Be Baptized
We enter waters beckoning a death,
but not one we should mourn; this death is life
if it be under the one hand, one God, one King.
All other hands will falter. His holds us fast.

Job 19:23-27
Psalm 17
2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:5
Luke 20:27-38

Stand. Firm. | 2 Thessalonians 2

We must flourish in the midst of suffering
for there is work to do.
This hardship shall not last always.
One day it shall be past.
But now we ask, “How long?
for life is hard and we shall die!”
Yet still, we won’t shrink back.
Firm we shall stand, enduring all
For something greater, someone good,
truly great; abundantly good.
We shall hold fast all we are taught.
Whatever comes, stand firm.
Give, though it costs.
Forgive, though it burns.
Love, though it hurts.
For we are not alone, despite the lies.
We are not alone, despite our fractured ways.
We are not alone, through to the end of the age,
and there is work to do. Stand. Firm.

Gratitude Sunday, celebrating one year in the new building. 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
Psalm 107:1-9
Luke 17:11-19

Heed the Hand that Feeds | Luke 17:11-19

Healed but not made whole;
seeds planted without deeper roots;
gratitude lapses, complacent.

Ten men cast out without recourse
to a life of disease on the outskirts of town
take a chance to beg the King’s mercy.
Ten men walk in faith, healed by a breath from God.

One man turns to acknowledge the Resurrection.
Where are the nine?

Behold, the kingdom of God
is in the very midst of you,
and yet you do not see.

Behold, the Way of Life
offers hope unlike before
and yet you do not hear.

Behold, the Giver of Everything
gives again, and again, and again,
and yet your heart grows cold.

Am I secure in God’s blessing?
Does my obedience end at my comfort?
What does devotion cost?

Jeremiah 14:1-10, 19-22
Psalm 84
2 Timothy 4:6-18
Luke 18:9-14

 The Gift of Costly Worship | Psalm 84

The flower in the churchyard loves its corner
With neat brick border, little metal bench,
And hedges always trimmed. He thinks, “The Gardener
Seems to love this corner very much.

Other flowers he trims and prunes each week
And takes inside. But I he leaves to grow
With bloom so full. The others are so weak
And feeble in their offerings. Winds blow

And they are gone into the church to wilt
And die. I hope he leaves me be right here
With all my beauty I have surely built.
If I am honest I do fear the shears...

Perhaps I must one day enter and die?
Must I to give my worship with deep sigh?”

2 Corinthians 9:6-15
Psalm 100
Matthew 5:13-16

Radical Generosity: Grace 

After George Herbert’s “Prayer (I)”

God’s grace an endless flow through all the earth,
A child grown you’ve known from birth, a dad
Who tells you when he’s wrong, the last bite mom had
But she gives it again, a warm brick hearth
In winter, in summer an open brick porch,
Vines dragged by heavy fruit down to the ground,
Rivers unfolding with barely a sound,
Daily choirs of bird-song, clouds on the march,
A table groaning with the weight of the feast,
Brim to brim, endless courses served up for all,
The family gathered, a song deep and full,
The boundless flow bathing the cosmos for us,
Streams flowing clear, a love unblocked by fear,
Life unto life, all gifts so dear and here.

Deuteronomy 14:22-29
Psalm 112
Matthew 6:19-24

The Sacred Portion 

Beware, lest you say in your heart, “my power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.” (Deuteronomy 8:17)

Lord Jesus, as I sit this morning
to calculate a tithe out of my portion,
I ask you gift me once again your grace.
My heart still seizes all I own, my earned,
my little bit of toil to claim as mine.

Unfold my heart again into the joy
of giving back my portion unto you,
First Giver and Only source
of everything to everything.
Be patient with me as I count
again how much I give.

By this act, bend me outward
to be a giver in all things,
that I might gain
your righteousness,
your likeness,
your abundance.

By this act, bend me outward,
to always remember
to fear you more than man,
to trust in your deliverance,
to hope only in your strong hand.

Keep me in this thought, O King
who deserves my everything,
that you give abundance back.
You shape for us a feast
too wonderful to bear,
that all these gifts might be
enjoyed in your love and care.

Genesis 1:26-31
Psalm 36:5-10
1 John 3:16-18
John 6:37-51

Radical Generosity: Hunger for the Bread of Life | Genesis 1 & John 6

O Bread of Life, Hunger of the World,
May every hunger draw us nearer to Thee.
May every passing satiation point to Thee,
Giver of everything to everything,
the founding source of every gift of man.
Grant us, O greatest nourishment, life itself,
Eternity, O Lord, which is but life with Thee.

Amos 6:1-7
Psalm 146
1 Timothy 6:11-19
Luke 16:19-31

Lessons from the Flower: All Praise Unto God | Psalm 146

A flower fails to heed the sun.
Another life the wind blows over
and is gone. Nations rise and fall.
Whence comes the bud from first to last?
Through every tempest, weed, and pest,
one hand gives forth the growth as gift.
One hand pours out the soil, rain, and sun.
Turn to him, little flower, lest death
become your work instead of life.
Turn to the Sun on high and take bloom.

Amos 8:4-12
Psalm 138
1 Timothy 2:1-15
Luke 16:1-13

A Scoundrel’s Guide to Missions | Luke 16

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

In your coming and going,
Your working and resting,
Your buying and spending,
Your doing and telling,
What kind of steward are you?

Do your budgets and banking
bear witness of new birth?

Do your employees and employers
espy your true intents?

Do your kids and kindred
kiss you for your kindness?

Are your motives and missions
magnifying God’s great Mission?

Look close at what is in your hand
and remember who put it there.
Recall who is faithful to the end of the age,
And recount to all peoples
the goodness of God, our one master.