Exploring Intentionality in 2009!

One of the things we hope to do in 2009 is to explore ways to become more intentional about our individual and communal spiritual lives. We want to engage the desire and the goal of growing closer to God and growing our faith. Towards that goal we have started discussing "weekly graces" on Sunday mornings, that are a special focus for our prayers and activities for the coming week.

October Weekly Graces:

Week of October 25th... we are just focusing on a strong finish for our commitment to keep The Children's Inn in our prayers thru October!

Week of October 18th... Talking about presuppositions (notes on #'s 1-4)! What do I presuppose about God? What about the people around me? What stands in the way of my presupposing the best of both?

Week of October 11th... Stop and listen. We saw in John 6:1-13 that Jesus often has something in mind, a goal, a good thing to accomplish, and then he invites us to be a part of forming it and making it happen... hear anything?

Week of October 4th... Ever noticed how something like "...and be thankful" get thrown in so many places, especially in Paul's letters? My favorite is in Colossians 2:6-7. Well, as we are celebrating "Pastor Appreciation Day" at CiB, it seemed natural to remind us all to stop and be thankful... we are thankful for such a God, such a love and a grace for life, and for a wonderful faith community to share!

September Weekly Graces:

Week of September 29th... are there "wrong" kinds of people around us that we need to engage and love? Being willing to be in the wrong place at the wrong time with the "wrong" people is a large part of the task of incarnation. Who do you ignore?
Here are Sunday's note: Being a Redemptive Community, Part 2

Week of September 20th... If you missed our gathering on Sunday, you might want to check out the notes from our discussion: The Paradox of Being a Redemptive Community. Our intention for the week is to do some reflection and see if the roots of animosity for either the church or for those outside the church have taken hold in our hearts. Ways to do that might center on study, prayer or a practice of greater presence with God and our neighbors.

Week of September 13th... We explored three important  methods for engaging scripture in worship yesterday: 1) context (or scriptural meta-narrative),
2) "Commander's Intent" (asking the "what" instead of the "how to" question), and
3) taking the time to pray scripture vs. just reading it. The weekly intention is to explore one of these methods, or all three if you want, in your own life this week. Need more info? Email me!

Week of September 06th... We are following the kid's classes cue and talking about
scripture in worship. Has the scripture been able to impact you and be a lively partner
in your daily and spiritual journeys? What do we need to do to help invigorate your interaction with scripture? New translation? New study helps? New prayer/reading habits? Let's do this together! Unbind scripture to run free and wild in your life!

Previous Weekly Graces:

July & August 2009

May & June 2009

March & April 2009

January & February 2009