Prayer, Remembrance and Service! On Martin Luther King, Jr. day, the Crossroads team led a service of prayer and remembrance followed by a day of service. Nearly 90 folks came out to work in the St. Luke's Mission Center (cleaning the homeless shelter, making sandwiches for the hypothermia shelter residents, preparing the hostel for mission groups, etc). It was a great day that began with worship, and with Mary Jean giving her testimony about attending the March on Washington in 1963. Thanks to all who came out as we seek to turn our worship into witness.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Martin Luther King Day of Service
Prayer, Remembrance and Service! On Martin Luther King, Jr. day, the Crossroads team led a service of prayer and remembrance followed by a day of service. Nearly 90 folks came out to work in the St. Luke's Mission Center (cleaning the homeless shelter, making sandwiches for the hypothermia shelter residents, preparing the hostel for mission groups, etc). It was a great day that began with worship, and with Mary Jean giving her testimony about attending the March on Washington in 1963. Thanks to all who came out as we seek to turn our worship into witness.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
New Sermon Series: Found in Lost
Join us as we begin our January sermon series based on the theological ideas found in the popular television show, Lost. The first week, we will explore the great mystery of faith and how we are invited to embrace that mystery in the midst of many questions and doubts. Click below to watch a short video about the series.
This week: Embracing the Mystery
Rev. Jimmy Sherrod, preacher
This week: Embracing the Mystery
Rev. Jimmy Sherrod, preacher
Thursday, December 23, 2010
A Christmas Prayer
Dear Beloved Community,
On this Christmas Eve, it is my prayer that you find yourself in the presence of those with whom you find life, love, happiness, and fulfillment. It is also my prayer that at some point in the coming week, we all reach beyond ourselves to extend radical hospitality and pursuing justice for the common good in hopes of bringing about transformation. Let us all join together in praying for peace where there is war, hope where there is cynicism, and healing where there has been disaster. On this night where we remember the birth of the Christ child and God became like one of us, let us remember the powerful effect that our love and care for one another can have one the people around us. Let us also pray for those who are grieving, and may be experiencing an incredibly difficult time this year.
Remember that there are no Christmas Eve services at Crossroads (St. Luke's), but you are invited to join us at Metropolitan Memorial (3401 Nebraska Ave. NW) four Christmas Eve (5 PM, 7:30 with communion, and 11:00 PM with prelude music beginning at 10:30). Come and join us as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.
December 26: We will NOT gather for worship on December 26. We will meet again on Sunday, January 2 at 5 PM.
Small Group: The Thursday group will NOT meet this week but will resume in early January.
May God grant you peace on this most joyful day.
Merry Christmas,
Jimmy Sherrod
On this Christmas Eve, it is my prayer that you find yourself in the presence of those with whom you find life, love, happiness, and fulfillment. It is also my prayer that at some point in the coming week, we all reach beyond ourselves to extend radical hospitality and pursuing justice for the common good in hopes of bringing about transformation. Let us all join together in praying for peace where there is war, hope where there is cynicism, and healing where there has been disaster. On this night where we remember the birth of the Christ child and God became like one of us, let us remember the powerful effect that our love and care for one another can have one the people around us. Let us also pray for those who are grieving, and may be experiencing an incredibly difficult time this year.
Remember that there are no Christmas Eve services at Crossroads (St. Luke's), but you are invited to join us at Metropolitan Memorial (3401 Nebraska Ave. NW) four Christmas Eve (5 PM, 7:30 with communion, and 11:00 PM with prelude music beginning at 10:30). Come and join us as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.
December 26: We will NOT gather for worship on December 26. We will meet again on Sunday, January 2 at 5 PM.
Small Group: The Thursday group will NOT meet this week but will resume in early January.
May God grant you peace on this most joyful day.
Merry Christmas,
Jimmy Sherrod
Friday, December 17, 2010
This Week - Fourth Sunday in Advent
The Other Side of the Door
New and unseen things reside on the opposite sides of doors. This is both a blessing – offering new life and possibility – and also a source of anxiety, because we really never know what is there. Isaiah’s prophecy to Ahaz came amidst a time of great anxiety, when Jerusalem was being besieged by the apparently invincible armies of Assyria; and the prophet calls on the king to trust that God is still working. Matthew also tells a story of great uncertainty, an unwed mother prepares for the birth of her child; a man betrothed to a pregnant woman wonders how to respond. How to we address the anxieties of our lives and prepare to trust. The sermon will explore where the trust comes from, and how we live into it.
Join us Sunday at 5 PM for worship!
New and unseen things reside on the opposite sides of doors. This is both a blessing – offering new life and possibility – and also a source of anxiety, because we really never know what is there. Isaiah’s prophecy to Ahaz came amidst a time of great anxiety, when Jerusalem was being besieged by the apparently invincible armies of Assyria; and the prophet calls on the king to trust that God is still working. Matthew also tells a story of great uncertainty, an unwed mother prepares for the birth of her child; a man betrothed to a pregnant woman wonders how to respond. How to we address the anxieties of our lives and prepare to trust. The sermon will explore where the trust comes from, and how we live into it.
Join us Sunday at 5 PM for worship!
Friday, December 10, 2010
A 'just' Christmas
alternative way of giving the Christmas
by Rev. Kate Murphey
We are about to celebrate God’s gift of eternal truth and love made tangible in the person of Jesus Christ. As a way of honoring and passing on the hope and joy of such a gift, we, in turn, give one another gifts. It’s a practice meant to ripple out God’s love across our communities and world, drawing all of us closer to one another. Unfortunately, there are some things impeding those ripples. The rampant consumerism coupled with a drive for maximizing profit has led to slave labor, unsafe working conditions, and the depletion of natural resources. We have focused on what we want for ourselves, making sure the right people have our lists. However, Christmas is not about us. It is not our birthday. And in honor of that, I invite all of us to focus on what we want for others, for our communities and for our world.
Give life-giving gifts
So that not only is the gift-receiver blessed, but the gift-maker and the natural resources used to create are as well. Here are names of fair trade organizations to Google where you will find such good gifts:
General Gifts
Global Exchange
Fair Trade Federation
Ten Thousand Villages
Women Thrive Worldwide
Global Stewards
Baby & Kids Gifts
Taraluna
Tiny Birds
Peapods
Food/Drink Gifts
Women’s Bean Project
Garudain
Equal Exchange
Alter Eco
Clothing
Avatar
Market Place India
Maggie’s
Marigold
Global Mamas
Give Empowerment
www.kiva.org is a micro-loan site. Choose an entreprenuer; lend that pesron money; read about how they're doing; receive payment on the loan, and lend the money again to someone else. Give a gift certificate for someone else to do the same.
I saw the transformation such micro-loans can bring first-hand in Nicaragua in 2008: I met a woman, Berta, who received a $300 loan to buy a cow. She went on to establish her own brand and now has eight cows to supply cheese and milk for her family and to sell. Her husband and children have also started helping her with household chores so that she can travel to workshops. She described the experience by saying, “It was like before I was asleep, without courage.” That one $300 micro-loan and one cow changed her world.
As we give this Christmas, I hope that we can look for life-sustaining opportunities that will bless the maker, giver, and receiver.
Peace,
Rev. Kate
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
A Life of Praise
In a conversation with a friend the other day, I was reminded of the phrase "rhythms of life." All sorts of images flooded my mind. The everyday, normal and routine things that we do that define our life. There are certain rhythms that we have individually, with our family, our work, and our faith community. There are rituals that move us throughout the days, weeks and years. In the rituals of our faith community, we are reminded that a central theme to our life as a community together is worship.I'm not talking just about the one hour we gather to sing and hear preaching, but rather worship that is woven throughout the rhythms of our lives. This week, we explore the fourth in our series on rethinking church as we seek to have a "life of praise."It is most appropriate to do this on All Saint's Sunday when we are reminded of those who are now a part of the eternal communion of saints but who remain a part of our rhythms of life in memory and through what we learned from them.
As we are preparing to gather again this Sunday, I wonder what a life of praise really means? How does it become a part of our rhythm of life, and more importantly, how are we transformed through the art of praise?
Jimmy
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Living to tell the story: Rethinking Evangelism
In general, mainline church people shun evangelism. The reason is multi-faceted and complex. For some, it's because of the negative connotations that come with evangelism (think street preachers and tele-evangelists). For others, it's uncomfortable to share something so personal as one's faith. And then even for others, there's vulnerability and risk involved when we share our faith story. We might even add that some of us do not share because we are not even sure what we believe.
Certainly, there are obstacles to sharing our faith. It's increasingly difficult to share in the postmodern world that doesn't buy into any one truth. Yet, we sometimes forget that the Christian faith is about transformation. If our lives are being transformed, then often that is enough to tell the story. We can share about what we DO know. One parishioner recently sent me a note about why she tells people about her church (which she is clear to identify as the Metropolitan Memorial Cooperative Parish). It was a heartfelt, meaningful, and excellent description of evangelism. It was a combination of action and words. In that note, she said, "Talking about my church is something I can do. I talk about what I do for the church, and other things going on in the church. I talk about my pastors and other leaders who are willing to advocate for the marginalized at their own risk. I talk about leading students on a gleaning trip for Bread for the City. I talk about a hope that I have of hosting residents of the Methodist home for Thanksgiving dinner. I talk about my cool, fun pastors. So, maybe it isn't evangelism per se, but hopefully it will improve some people's views of "church" enough to get one of those "I have faith, but I don't like church" people back to church."
How do we tell our story? How do we rethink church and this thing called evangelism? I invite you into a dialogue rich with dramatic storytelling that weaves together our story of faith with the local church in hopes of changing the world.
The gospel story can and should shape our lives. In his book, Live to Tell, Brad Kallenberg writes, "I cannot judge or confess that a story that involves me is true unless the story shapes my life." Really, sharing our faith story is sharing how it has shaped our lives. That shouldn't be too difficult, right?
Below is a video created from the Rethink Church campaign from the United Methodist Church. It is a great way to get us thinking about rethinking evangelism. What if we could share what we are doing with others?
Jimmy
Certainly, there are obstacles to sharing our faith. It's increasingly difficult to share in the postmodern world that doesn't buy into any one truth. Yet, we sometimes forget that the Christian faith is about transformation. If our lives are being transformed, then often that is enough to tell the story. We can share about what we DO know. One parishioner recently sent me a note about why she tells people about her church (which she is clear to identify as the Metropolitan Memorial Cooperative Parish). It was a heartfelt, meaningful, and excellent description of evangelism. It was a combination of action and words. In that note, she said, "Talking about my church is something I can do. I talk about what I do for the church, and other things going on in the church. I talk about my pastors and other leaders who are willing to advocate for the marginalized at their own risk. I talk about leading students on a gleaning trip for Bread for the City. I talk about a hope that I have of hosting residents of the Methodist home for Thanksgiving dinner. I talk about my cool, fun pastors. So, maybe it isn't evangelism per se, but hopefully it will improve some people's views of "church" enough to get one of those "I have faith, but I don't like church" people back to church."
How do we tell our story? How do we rethink church and this thing called evangelism? I invite you into a dialogue rich with dramatic storytelling that weaves together our story of faith with the local church in hopes of changing the world.
The gospel story can and should shape our lives. In his book, Live to Tell, Brad Kallenberg writes, "I cannot judge or confess that a story that involves me is true unless the story shapes my life." Really, sharing our faith story is sharing how it has shaped our lives. That shouldn't be too difficult, right?
Below is a video created from the Rethink Church campaign from the United Methodist Church. It is a great way to get us thinking about rethinking evangelism. What if we could share what we are doing with others?
Jimmy
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