Thursday, October 16, 2008
Sunday October 19
This Sunday I will be camping at Picacho Peak State Park with the Catalina youth group. Pastor Ed will be preaching. We will also have great music, including a solo by Amy Tober (freshman at Empire High School) and Kendra McLean will be our percussionist. (Tyler is also going camping!) The worship bulletin is here.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Sunday October 12
This will be our last study in our series on the Psalms. I have really liked doing this. Looking at the Psalms gives you a ready-made portion of Scripture to study--you already have your boundaries set for you. And the Psalms were written to be used in worship (most) in ancient Israel, so they are naturals to include in our worship. And the Psalms cover real-life stuff and the gamut of human emotions. So it is with great sadness that I will leave the Psalms after this Sunday.
But we won't be leaving the Old Testament! We are going to spend 3-4 weeks looking at a very important Scripture: Micah 6.8.
Anyway, we finish this week with Psalm 139; a great song of God's love, care, and power.
The worship bulletin for this Sunday is here.
Here is a excerpt from this Sunday's study:
Psalm 139 is a seduction. It is a love story. God knows you the way a lover knows the beloved. God will never leave you. God knows all your secrets and still he is the truest lover of all.
This poem, "Let Your God Love You", by Edwina Gately will be used as a closing meditation this Sunday.
Be silent.
Be still.
Alone.
Empty.
Before your God.
Say nothing.
Ask nothing.
Be silent.
Be still.
Let your God
Look upon you.
That is all.
God knows.
God understands.
God loves you
with an enormous love,
And only wants
to look upon you
with that love.
Quiet.
Still.
Be.
Let your God--
Love you.
But we won't be leaving the Old Testament! We are going to spend 3-4 weeks looking at a very important Scripture: Micah 6.8.
Anyway, we finish this week with Psalm 139; a great song of God's love, care, and power.
The worship bulletin for this Sunday is here.
Here is a excerpt from this Sunday's study:
Psalm 139 is a seduction. It is a love story. God knows you the way a lover knows the beloved. God will never leave you. God knows all your secrets and still he is the truest lover of all.
This poem, "Let Your God Love You", by Edwina Gately will be used as a closing meditation this Sunday.
Be silent.
Be still.
Alone.
Empty.
Before your God.
Say nothing.
Ask nothing.
Be silent.
Be still.
Let your God
Look upon you.
That is all.
God knows.
God understands.
God loves you
with an enormous love,
And only wants
to look upon you
with that love.
Quiet.
Still.
Be.
Let your God--
Love you.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
World Communion Sunday October 5
Can you believe it is OCTOBER?? I can't. Where did September go?
The first Sunday in October is World Communion Sunday. You can read a little history of the event here. Of course, the biggest point of World Communion Sunday is the WORLD part: the unity of all believers all around the world sharing in the same observance--the same body of Christ. But I also like to emphasize the COMMUNION part. I believe that Holy Communion is not understood and is generally under-appreciated. That is why I take World Communion Sunday to talk about the importance and meaning of communion. Just as Christians have different views on baptism, so there are many different views on communion. Our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters celebrate the Mass, and believe that the bread and wine become the actual body and blood of Christ. Our non-sacramental, evangelical brothers and sisters believe it is an ordinance--simply something we are commanded to do--so we do it. Some also believe it is a memorial to Jesus. But most evangelicals believe that communion is completely symbolic. If it has an spiritual significance, it is all due to your attitude, your receptivity to God.
The United Methodist understanding of communion is officially stated in This Holy Mystery, a document adopted at the 2004 General Conference. Although there is a lot to say about communion, I will stop with saying that in the UMC, communion is a sacrament (see Article 16 here). That is to say that communion is a means of grace. God does something during communion, not just us. It is not just us taking the bread and the cup--that is a minor part--but God is with us and is working his grace in us in communion. That is what it means to have a sacramental view of communion. In other words, if one person comes to communion not interested and zoned out like a zombie, and another person comes to communion spiritually alert and with a heart of prayer, God's grace comes to both of them. Obviously the latter person will feel a more meaningful experience than the church zombie.
I think communion is VERY IMPORTANT. You will hear 6 things that I think communion means to us as Christians on Sunday. The worship bulletin is here.
And remember, Jesus instituted communion or the Lord's Supper during the observance of the Jewish Passover meal. How does the significance of the Passover to the Jewish disciples inform what Jesus was presenting with communion?
Interesting stuff to think about !
The first Sunday in October is World Communion Sunday. You can read a little history of the event here. Of course, the biggest point of World Communion Sunday is the WORLD part: the unity of all believers all around the world sharing in the same observance--the same body of Christ. But I also like to emphasize the COMMUNION part. I believe that Holy Communion is not understood and is generally under-appreciated. That is why I take World Communion Sunday to talk about the importance and meaning of communion. Just as Christians have different views on baptism, so there are many different views on communion. Our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters celebrate the Mass, and believe that the bread and wine become the actual body and blood of Christ. Our non-sacramental, evangelical brothers and sisters believe it is an ordinance--simply something we are commanded to do--so we do it. Some also believe it is a memorial to Jesus. But most evangelicals believe that communion is completely symbolic. If it has an spiritual significance, it is all due to your attitude, your receptivity to God.
The United Methodist understanding of communion is officially stated in This Holy Mystery, a document adopted at the 2004 General Conference. Although there is a lot to say about communion, I will stop with saying that in the UMC, communion is a sacrament (see Article 16 here). That is to say that communion is a means of grace. God does something during communion, not just us. It is not just us taking the bread and the cup--that is a minor part--but God is with us and is working his grace in us in communion. That is what it means to have a sacramental view of communion. In other words, if one person comes to communion not interested and zoned out like a zombie, and another person comes to communion spiritually alert and with a heart of prayer, God's grace comes to both of them. Obviously the latter person will feel a more meaningful experience than the church zombie.
I think communion is VERY IMPORTANT. You will hear 6 things that I think communion means to us as Christians on Sunday. The worship bulletin is here.
And remember, Jesus instituted communion or the Lord's Supper during the observance of the Jewish Passover meal. How does the significance of the Passover to the Jewish disciples inform what Jesus was presenting with communion?
Interesting stuff to think about !
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Check out the photos...
of my cruise last week! We had a great time!
Mobile post sent by richardleejones using Utterli.
Check out the photos...
of my cruise last week! We had a great time!
Mobile post sent by richardleejones using Utterli.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Back from the Cruise!!
Hey, it's great to be home after our cruise! Of course it is hard to get back to reality after 7 days with Mindy on a great ship, having all your meals served to you with no cooking or dishes, doing no cleaning, doing no work, and visiting wonderful ports in Mexico.
When can I go on my next cruise??
Photos are in myspace pics and all of them are at
http://s92.photobucket.com/albums/l1/richardleejones/Cruise%2008/
Last Saturday we drove to Long Beach (Los Angeles area) and spent the night at a great hotel (Long Beach Hyatt).
Sunday we boarded the Carnival Pride and started our cruise! We started with two FUN DAYS AT SEA (really) and then on Wednesday we docked in Puerta Vallarta. Mindy and I went to the beach there. Thursday we docked at Mazatlan and we did a walking tour with some shopping there.
Friday we anchored at Cabo San Lucas and we had a shore excursion to an exclusive beach resort. It was here that Mindy went parasailing. Yes, that's right.
Saturday was another FUN DAY AT SEA and then we docked and got back to US soil on Sunday morning. We drove home to Tucson on Sunday.
We had a great time, and yes, I would go on another cruise anytime!
When can I go on my next cruise??
Photos are in myspace pics and all of them are at
http://s92.photobucket.com/albums/l1/richardleejones/Cruise%2008/
Last Saturday we drove to Long Beach (Los Angeles area) and spent the night at a great hotel (Long Beach Hyatt).
Sunday we boarded the Carnival Pride and started our cruise! We started with two FUN DAYS AT SEA (really) and then on Wednesday we docked in Puerta Vallarta. Mindy and I went to the beach there. Thursday we docked at Mazatlan and we did a walking tour with some shopping there.
Friday we anchored at Cabo San Lucas and we had a shore excursion to an exclusive beach resort. It was here that Mindy went parasailing. Yes, that's right.
Saturday was another FUN DAY AT SEA and then we docked and got back to US soil on Sunday morning. We drove home to Tucson on Sunday.
We had a great time, and yes, I would go on another cruise anytime!
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
TODAY IS...
My first and last day at the office this week! I am officially on vacation and Mindy and I are heading to Long Beach on Saturday to leave on a cruise for our anniversary. You probably won't hear from me again until Tuesday, September 23!
Mobile post sent by richardleejones using Utterz.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Sunday September 7
This is communion Sunday. I always like communion Sunday. In many ways, I would favor having communion every Sunday. And communion is available every Sunday at Catalina. It is served in the chapel following all of the Sunday morning services.
Our study for this week is Psalm 100. The New Interpreter's Bible says this about Psalm 100: "Psalms 100 is perhaps the most familiar of the songs of praise. Mays observes: 'Were the statistics known, Psalms 100 would probably prove to be the song most often chanted from within the history that runs from the Israelite temple on Mount Zion to the synagogues and churches spread across the earth.'"
Psalm 100 tells us about worship (much like Psalm 95). But Psalm 100 emphasizes the transformative nature of worship. We come to God in worship because of God's goodness to us and because of our connection to God. But when we come to God in worship, we can come to "KNOW that the Lord is God." Worship is not just something we do, it is something that happens to us. And when something happens to us, we know that we have worshiped.
Our study for this week is Psalm 100. The New Interpreter's Bible says this about Psalm 100: "Psalms 100 is perhaps the most familiar of the songs of praise. Mays observes: 'Were the statistics known, Psalms 100 would probably prove to be the song most often chanted from within the history that runs from the Israelite temple on Mount Zion to the synagogues and churches spread across the earth.'"
Psalm 100 tells us about worship (much like Psalm 95). But Psalm 100 emphasizes the transformative nature of worship. We come to God in worship because of God's goodness to us and because of our connection to God. But when we come to God in worship, we can come to "KNOW that the Lord is God." Worship is not just something we do, it is something that happens to us. And when something happens to us, we know that we have worshiped.
Trying Ubiquity
Ubiquity is sort of an add-on app for Firefox. The point is to enable "mashups": performing more computer/online/internet functions without having to open up multiple windows, etc. I have found it sort of helpful. It helps if you can remember which commands you have subscribed to, and that is my problem most of the time. I use the email command (I had to create a new gmail account for this), the calendar command, the weather forecast command, the google search command, the map command, and the search Amazon command.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The New Routine Has Begun!
We knew when Mindy took the job at the U of A library that she would be on "extended hours" (the library is open 24 hours during the school year). Her regular hours are 5am to 9am. That's right: 5am to 9am. These hours started TODAY. That means that she got up at 3am to be ready to leave at 3:45am. She rode her bike probably 11-12 miles to work, and then back home! That's impressive!
She asked me if I would modify my schedule a little so that we are at least on a similar schedule. It sounded like a good idea to me, so I got up at 5am this morning. I also rode my bike to work (9 miles) and will ride it home.
She asked me if I would modify my schedule a little so that we are at least on a similar schedule. It sounded like a good idea to me, so I got up at 5am this morning. I also rode my bike to work (9 miles) and will ride it home.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Sunday, August 24
We continue our study of the Psalms with Psalm 95. This psalm is both a beautiful work of poetry and a slap-in-the-face wake up call. An outline of the passage, some background material, and a list of related Scriptures is in the worship bulletin.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Memorial Service for Alva's Son
We will have a memorial service for David Garcia (Alva Ruiz's son) this Sunday at 3pm in the chapel. I will be officiating and Chris, Carlene, and Seth will be doing music. There is another service in the sanctuary, so don't get mixed up!
Sunday August 17
We continue our study on the Psalms with Psalm 86 this week. The theme is "How Prayer Works". Now, don't expect me to explain everything about prayer. I'll limit my comments to Psalm 86! You may have heard people say that prayer changes things. Other people say whether or not prayer changes things, prayer changes ME. Both are true. The worship bulletin is here. We will be experimenting with some changes in our order of worship this Sunday, so be prepared!
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Sunday August 10
This Sunday we will continue our study of the Psalms with Psalm 42/43, which is considered to be a unit. Some indicators of this are: Psalm 42 has a superscription (title) and Psalm 43 does not. Both psalms share the same theme. Both psalms share the same refrain: "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God." (42.5,11, 43.5).
The title of the study is "How to Talk to Yourself", which is what the psalmist is doing in the refrain. More specifically we will discuss how to talk to yourself in a way that is encouraging and uplifting in times of trouble, and not in a way that allows you to wallow in self-pity. Sounds like fun, huh? The worship bulletin is here and has an outline of the psalm.
The title of the study is "How to Talk to Yourself", which is what the psalmist is doing in the refrain. More specifically we will discuss how to talk to yourself in a way that is encouraging and uplifting in times of trouble, and not in a way that allows you to wallow in self-pity. Sounds like fun, huh? The worship bulletin is here and has an outline of the psalm.
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