Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2021-03-05
Friday, March 5th, 2021
A weekday e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
To Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
Friends,
Here’s the Lenten Devotional from Presbyterian Outlook. May it be a blessing to/for you and those you love.
Friday, MARCH 5, 2021
ROMANS 8:19-25
At this critical juncture in Paul’s letter to the Romans, the remarkable image of childbirth is used to convey God’s work of restoration and recreation in the world. The whole creation, and we ourselves, says Paul, are groaning with labor pains to realize the fullness of our created nature, to be set free from bondage and be fully known as children of God. These words are especially poignant amid the ecological crisis that we currently face, as we ponder not only the groaning in our own hearts, but in all of creation.
Practice: Pray Romans 8:19-25 several times, with special attention to
the images of creation it projects and our relationship to it.
Journal: Write in your journal of the movements of your spirit while
praying with this Scripture.
Saturday, MARCH 6, 2021
ISAIAH 61:1-4
Isaiah 61 provides an inspiring vision for profoundly disorienting, destabilizing times, such as the one we currently face as a nation. In our here and now, a pandemic surges and racial reckoning and political polarization demand attention and action — realities that have impacted the life and ministries of all congregations. Like those who returned to Judah after Babylonian captivity, we too face harsh circumstances and are
in need of the prophet’s proclamation of God’s renewal of a devastated country.
Practice: Pray Isaiah 61:1-4 several times, dwelling on the images in this
text that speak powerfully to you in this moment of your life.
Journal: Write in your journal of movement you discern toward God or
away from God, with special attention to the times in which we are living.
Week 3
HYMN OF THE WEEK: “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing”
PRAYER FOCUS: Adoration — Consider the praiseworthy
qualities of God. How can I praise God’s majesty and glory in my
words and in my actions?
ACTION: Each day, reach out to someone (by letter, text, phone
or email) and say, “I care about you” or “Let’s have a coffee date
by phone and catch up.”
Sunday, MARCH 7, 2021
PSALM 23
For the next three days, we will pray with Scripture that can help us reflect on our graced histories — that is, on your personal history of light (special
experiences of God’s presence, love and justice), your personal history of shadows (doubts, questions, reflections of brokenness and sin), and your history of light out of shadows (compassion and insight out of pain and disorder, isolation).
Practice: Pray Psalm 23 with special attention to your light history — that is, to experiences of God’s presence in your life (experiences of love, care,
hope, justice). Gently sift through your light history from your childhood
to the present, moment noting varied experiences of God’s presence along
the way.
Journal: Sketch in your journal as much of this personal history of light
as possible.
* * *
I’ll be preaching the text below on Sunday. How would you tackle this text? Consider these questions, observations, and thoughts:
Would you have been a regular in the synagogue where Jesus taught? Or, would that have been a day to worship at the Church of the Coiling Springs?
What has astounded you lately? We live in a world where women are sawn in half by magicians and then, at the end of the routine, jump out from behind a curtain in a sequined dress. Cataracts are cut out and lenses are replaced in ten-minute out-patient surgeries. We can choose entertainment from 900 channels. Are we even capable of being astounded?
Who has authority in your life? When our kids were five we had one kind of authority. When they were fifteen we had another kind. What is authority? Is it something we have or something those around us confer upon us? Is a badge authority? Rank? Gender? The loudest voice? Kindness? How do you have and squander authority? Do you question authority?
Have you ever met somebody with an “unclean spirit”? Ever had one yourself?
Does faith involve convulsion? Conversion? Conversation? When have you last been open to God’s power? When have you last been shaken by God’s grace?
Here are some songs about being amazed:
Maybe I’m Amazed/Paul McCartney and Wings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Amazing Grace, the Kitchen Version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Gimme Shelter:
The LORD is a very present help
In times of trouble…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
* * *
Mark 1:21-28 (NRSV)
21 They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”
25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.
27 They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
* * *
Help me preach on this Sunday.
Much, much love to you all.
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church
A Prayer
A Benediction to Break the Cycle
Gimme Shelter
Mick Jagger
Keith Richards
Ooh, a storm is threatening
My very life today
If I don’t get some shelter
Ooh yeah I’m gonna fade away
War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
Ooh, see the fire is sweepin’
Our streets today
Burns like a red coal carpet
Mad bull lost its way
War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
Rape, murder, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
Rape, murder, yeah, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
Rape, murder, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
Mmm, a flood is threatening
My very life today
Gimme, gimme shelter
Or I’m gonna fade away
War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
I tell you love, sister
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away Kiss away, kiss away
