Sunday is coming...

A great Pentecost service at Colonial Heights. We're going to have a Father blessing, Spirit descending, Saints hoping, Jesus glorifying good old time. This Pentecost we will celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples to make the church a reality, and the way the Spirit still blesses and directs the church. In particular we will reconsecrate our sanctuary with the improvements of the past several months: new technology additions in sound, video, recording and lighting, new paint, new floors, new chancel space and Spirit filled folks. Insipired by the scriptures of John 4.23-34; Revelation 21.10-11, 22-25; and Psalms 100 and 122, we will be blessed with the Spirit's presence and fed by Word and Sacrament. A prayer for Sunday:

Holy Spirit of truth, you proceed from the Father and the Son and we glorify you. Fill our worship with your presence, pour out on us the fire of Pentecost in this place, and in our lives, so that we may proclaim the glory and honor of God and of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. All praise to you, our one Almighty God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Recently the Knoxville District secretary sent out a notice that she is in the process of compiling an on line directory for all the UMCs of the district. She requested a current picture of each local church to be sent for this purpose. I took this picture on a mostly cloudy May afternoon. I am not sure when the district directory will be done, but I wanted to share this picture now. Colonial Heights is, and will always be, one of my favorite places in the world. The end of June will see a change in pastoral leadership for the congregation and these past 9 years have been such an important time for me. I hate to leave! But it is a blessing to leave on good terms when we are all wanting more time.

Worship on Easter Sunday Three

Now in the midst of the Easter season we continue to consider scripture where Jesus encounters the disciples and they try to come to terms with the Resurrection. Consider what the Resurrection means to us. It's not just the 'happy ending' to the story, but should have direct implications on how we understand ourselves and our lives today. Jesus tells the disciples, 'you are witnesses of these things.' What do we give witness to? Consider Luke 24.36-48. We will also read Acts 3.13-15, part of Peter's interpretation of a healing in Jesus' name. Here is the prayer for the day:

Almighty God of goodness and grace, you have set us apart to be witnesses to the new life of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Lead us in the ways of righteousness to proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins in his name. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit: One God. Amen.

A Prayer for Easter Sunday

Almighty God our Father, on the first day of the week you raised Jesus Christ from the dead. We praise you that in Christ, the shroud of sin and death has been cast off the world. Fill us by the Spirit to be witnesses throughout the world to the good news of new life and the forgiveness of sins. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns forever in the unity of the Holy Spirit: One God. Amen.

Easter Sunday Worship

Easter Sunday begins the holy season of Easter--not a day, but a season of 50 days, including seven Sundays and the Day of the Ascension, remembering when the Risen Lord gave the Great Comission to the disciples before ascending to God. Every Sunday in this season is an Easter and it is a time for true joy and celebration. Our Easter Sunday schedue includes a Sunrise Service in the Pavilion, led by the youth at 7.30 am; Easter breakfast at 8.30 am; Sunday School at 9.30 am and Easter Worship at 10.30 am. Our Scripture for Sunday includes Acts 10.34-43: Peter addresses Cornelius' household about Jesus. Cornelius is a Roman Centurion and a 'God-fearer,' a term used for a Gentile who is interested in the Jewish God. God directs the gospel to be shared with this man, and by extension, to all Gentiles. The Old Testament reading, which we will use as an Act of Praise is Isaiah 25.1, 8-9: praising God for his plan to 'remove the shroud cast over the nations;' finally, the gospel is John's Resurrection story where Jesus addresses Mary in John 20.1-18.

Christ is Risen!
Christ is Risen, indeed!

A Prayer for Palm-Passion Sunday and Holy Week

Almighty God of steadfast love and salvation, blessed are you and blessed is the One who comes in your name, Jesus Christ our Lord. Accept our thanksgiving for his passion and anoint us with the Holy Spirit so that we may rejoice and proclaim your goodness, Almighty God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Worship this week

Palm-Passion Sunday is one of the most interesting Sundays of the year. We remember Jesus' entry into Jerusalem in the Palm part. Traditionally this is done with our use of palm branches and a processional hymn into the church. Weather permitting, we will do this on Sunday morning. All the gospels record this event, and we will use Mark 11.1-11, which includes a quote of Psalm 118, the often quoted: Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord...

The Passion part of the Sunday recognized the rest of the week, which ends with the Crucifixion of Jesus. It is appropriate to remember all of this together in one worship service lest we simply go from the glory of Palm Sunday alone to the greater glory of Easter Sunday. We need to recall and, in our own way to relive, the Passion of Jesus' Last Supper, betrayal, rejection, trial, humiliation and Crucifixion for it is in these events as well that our salvation comes. To focus on all of this our worship will also include the reading of Jesus' Anointing in Mark 14.1-11.

Of course we will have other opportunities for worship this week: Holy Thursday service remembering the institution of the Lord's Supper and a Good Friday service with a dramatized reading of the Passion Story plus Tenebrae. Both of these services are at 6.30 pm. In addition we welcome the Ballet Gloria to a short performance on Wednesday, also at 6.30.

Worship this week

After vacation in Florida, I am back to update things. Our worship this week will consider the final covenant of the Old Testament, the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31.31-33. Other Scripture includes John 12.20-27, where some Greek speaking people come to see Jesus and Jesus speaks of his suffering. The psalm is Psalm 51: Create in me a clean heart, O God. God's new covenant with us is a covenant of the heart, through Jesus Christ. Here is a prayer for the week:
Almighty God of mercy and grace, create in us a clean heart and prepare us for the new covenant in Jesus Christ our Lord, so that we may see his gospel and follow his ways. We give you all honor and glory, Almighty God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Second Week in Lent

Usually this spot is updated on Friday, but I was out of town last Friday, so it is late. We are now in the Second Week in Lent and our worship last Sunday concerned the covenant of Abraham, that, by the extension of faith, we are all to be a part of: walk before God and be blameless. It is here that God changes Abram's name to Abraham and self-identifies to us as God-Almighty, in Hebrew, El Shaddai. Read Genesis 17.1-7. The gospel for the week is from Mark 8.31-36, a passion prediction, notably known as where Peter rebukes Jesus, and gets his own name change--to Satan! Jesus then goes on to remind all his disciples that to be a disciple is to carry our cross and follow his way. For Christians, to walk blamelessly before God is to carry the cross and go the way of Christ.

A prayer for the week:

God Almighty, from generation to generation you have established your covenant with those who are to walk blamelessly in your sight. Renew the covenant with us today, through our faith in Jesus Christ, who calls us to take our cross and follow for the glory of your Kingdom. Through Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit: One God. Amen.

Worship for Sunday

The Sundays for the next few weeks are the Sundays in Lent. Sundays are in Lent and not of Lent, as other seasons because the tradition of the Church is that Sundays are always a little Easter, no matter when they occur. The 40 days of Lent have never included Sundays. Even in Lent, or especially in Lent, we remember we are people of the Resurrection.

The Old Testament readings for Lent this year focus on Covenants, and this week we look at the Covenant with Noah, in reality, God's covenant with all creation. Our Scripture includes Genesis 9.8-11; the Gospel is Mark 1.12-15, Mark's very brief account of the Temptation and the beginning of Jesus' public ministry; and Psalm 25.

Prayer for the day for the First Sunday in Lent:

Lord God, you have bound yourself to us and to all Creation by eternal covenant. Move us by the Spirit to remember your ways, to resist temptation, and to accept the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit: One God. Amen.

Worship for Sunday

I missed posting last week--at our Conference Ministers' Convocation in beautiful and snowy Lake Junaluska.

This Sunday marks the 6th Sunday after Epiphany. Our readings for this week include 1 Corinthians 9.24-27, where Paul uses the illustration of athletic competetion to discuss the discipline needed in the practice of the Christian faith; Mark 1.40-45, Jesus heals a leper and Psalm 30, to which Eric has attached a response, I Exalt Thee.

Here is a prayer for the day:

Almighty God, in our worship we exalt your name and your faithfulness. Grant that we may run the race of faith with self-control and discipline, in order to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit: One God. Amen.

Worship for Sunday

This Sunday is the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany. In our worship we will hear Paul's discussion with the Corinthian church about some of their eating practices in 1 Corinthians 8.1-6, and also we will remember that Jesus is our authority for eating, listening and everything else; see Mark 1.21-22. Do those things we do, therefore, glorify God and give witness to our acceptance of the Lordship of Christ, or do we pursue our own agendas?

A prayer for this week:

Almighty God, great are your works for you are gracious and merciful, even to providing us food. Grant us wise and thankful hearts for your power and greatness. Guide us by the Spirit to study the ways of him who is our ultimate and final authority: your Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit: One God. Amen.

Worship for Sunday

This week is the Third Sunday after Epiphany. Our scripture for the week includes Jonah 3.15-, 10: Jonah's second call by God to preach to Nineveh, and the Nenevites' response--and God's response to their repentance; Psalm 62; about trusting our God who is for us refuge and salvation; and Mark 1.14-20, the call Jesus issues to James, John, Peter and Andrew: 'follow me,' as he begins the proclamation of the Kingdom of God.

A Prayer for the Day:

Almighty God, to you belong power and steadfast love with you there is refuge and salvation. By the Spirit, help us to hear your call to share the message of Jesus Christ who calls us to follow the way of the Kingdom and proclaim the good news. Through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit: One God. Amen.

Church Web Site

We have a new webmaster and he is at work on our web site. Jeremy has done a great job in rearranging and planning out how the site will look. The link to the church site has been added to the list of links on the side, or, go to it here: http://www.colonialheightsumc.org/

YAM

The Young Adult Ministry (YAM) of Colonial Heights UMC will be attending the annual retreat for young adults (18-35), Divine Rhythm, conducted by Holston Conference annually in Pigeon Forge. Last year the group from Colonial Heights was the largest registered group in the entire conference. A link on this page may be found to YAM's own site. More information about Divine Rhythm may be found at http://holstonconference.org/divinerhythm/

Church Bell Noted

The edition of the Knoxville newspaper that came out today included an article by writer Barbara Asbury featuring our church bell. The Eternity Bell, named by donor Jean Reynolds, was installed in October and we have been enjoying its ringing calling us to worship and dismissing the service. The article may be found at: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/jan/21/good-things-get-done-in-this-neighborhood/

Our youth attend Resurrection 09

A prayer for the Second Sunday after Epiphany

Here is a prayer based on this scripture:

1 Corinthians 6.12-14, John 1.43-48a, Psalm 139

Almighty God, who searches our hearts and thoughts and knows us thoroughly, guide us by the Spirit to know the things that are beneficial for us and our lives in the Kingdom so that we may be raised into the Body of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit: One God. Amen.

This week

This week is the week of the Second Sunday after Epiphany. I didn't take the time to post an entry last week because of getting ready to attend Resurrection '09, the annual youth event that our conference puts on each January. The Resurrection series is celebrating 25 years of ministry, which means that today's youth are the children in some cases of original Resurrection attendees from the mid-80s. This retreat over the years has contributed to Holston Conference having the youngest average age of pastors in the United Methodist Church as well as making our conference youth program one of the most vital in the connection. The over 12,000 youth and leaders who attend are the largest yearly event for youth in the UMC. To read more about the event, follow this link: http://holston.org/events/2009/jan/23/resurrection-09/

Worship for Sunday

Sunday, January 11, 2009 is the First Sunday after Epiphany or 'Baptism of the Lord,' when we recognize the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan River. However, more than the baptism itself, our attention is drawn to the identification of who Jesus is by God and the descent of the Holy Spirit. The account of this is found in Mark 1.9-12. We will also look at Acts 19.1-7, where the baptism of John is contrasted with Christian baptism.

The prayer for the day:
Almighty God, as your voice came over the waters of creation, come over us and fill us with your glory for you are enthroned forever as our King. Overshadow us with the power of your Holy Spirit so that we may follow the way of Christ our Lord and give honor to your name. All honor and glory is yours Almighty God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Our service at 10.45 will include a time of baptsimal renewal. The Lord's Supper will be served at the 9 am service this week. Our youth are leaving later in the week for the Holston Conference Spiritual retreat for youth, Resurrection 09 in Gatlinburg.

A New Year

After taking a bit of a break in posting, now that it is 2009, I am happy to note that my schedule is settled down a bit and things are back to normal.


One of the weekly events at Colonial Heights during normal times is the weekly preparation that takes place for our services. Some of the folk who make that possible are the folks who spend time getting the music ready.














Here are a few folks who form the SpiritLed Band which leads the music for our 9 am service.



Weekly practice takes time and talent! Most of all, it takes a willingness to use the time we have and the talent we are given for the glory of God in worship. It doesn't matter whether the takent is in some sense great or not, it just takes a willingness to use what we have.