“and as the new year stretches
I wonder how I’ll meet it
will I let his grace find me
and will I let him charm me
and will I let his truth possess me”
Archive for December, 2010
Fresh Snow, Fresh Year
Posted by Sharon Pearson on December 31st, 2010
Posted in Featured, Ministry, Spirituality |
Tags: discernment, God, meditation, prayer, spirituality 
Comments OffFirst Night, Watch Night
Posted by Sharon Pearson on December 30th, 2010
“The Watch Night celebrations that formed and shaped me renewed covenants and celebrated freedom. We repented of sin and prayed for grace to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in the new year. We praised God that the ‘long night of slavery’ was over and, as Frederick Douglass declared, ‘the glorious morning of liberty’ had dawned.”
| Posted in Community, Featured, Ministry, Spirituality |
Tags: God, Langston Hughes, meditation, New Year's, prayer, resources, social justice, traditions, Watch Night, worship Comments OffAwakening the Creative Spirit
Posted by Sharon Pearson on December 29th, 2010
As they move on to specific art disciplines, they provide suggestions and exercises intended to take advantage of the unique spiritual perspectives of the individual art forms. Each artistic discipline is rich with ideas that can be used in either group or individual settings. And if that isn’t enough to stir your soul, there are chapters devoted to specific spiritual needs such as periods of grieving, transition, or the cycles of life.
| Posted in Community, Featured, Ministry, Spirituality |
Tags: adults, discernment, meditation, multiple intelligences, resources, spirituality Comments OffPlan an Epiphany Party!
Posted by Sharon Pearson on December 28th, 2010
The Feast of the Epiphany, January 6th, is just around the corner. There are many ideas to celebrate this remembrance of the Visitation of the Magi. Every party could use a special cake, room decorations as well as community singing. Here are some ideas to add to your own church’s tradition to mark this feast day on our church calendar.
| Posted in Community, Featured, Ministry |
Tags: children's ministry, Epiphany, family ministry, Kings Cake, music, resources 1 Comment »Massacre of the Innocents
Posted by Sharon Pearson on December 27th, 2010
The Feast of The Holy Innocents is not the warm, fuzzy, and sentimental Christmas scene we are drawn to at Christmas. And it is often ignored as its commemoration day often falls mid-week when most do not hear the Scriptures read in our lectionary. How do we deal with such biblical stories in which the innocent die?
| Posted in Featured, Ministry, Spirituality |
Tags: Christmas, God, Holy Innocents, resources 1 Comment »Passing Faith Along in the Home
Posted by Sharon Pearson on December 26th, 2010
Relationships and devotions are the most important contributors to a sustained faith life for teenagers. Invite your teen to try these devotions, or do them together as a family, during the twelve days of Christmas. The devotions lead to the Day of Epiphany when the magi arrive at the manger to adore the baby Jesus and offer him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
| Posted in Community, Featured, Ministry, Spirituality |
Tags: Christmas, family ministry, meditation, parents, prayer, saints, spirituality, youth ministry Comments OffLet’s go to Bethlehem
Posted by Sharon Pearson on December 25th, 2010
There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master
|So hallowed and gracious is the time
Posted by Sharon Pearson on December 24th, 2010
Frederick Buechner, in The Faces of Jesus, speaks of time as “progression, as moment following moment, day following day, in relentless flow, the kind of time a clock or calendar measures. But we experience time also as depth, as having quality as well as quantity – a good time, a dangerous time, an auspicious time, a time we mark not by its duration but by its content.”
| Posted in Community, Featured, Ministry, Spirituality |
Tags: blessing, Christmas, future, God, meditation, prayer, spirituality Comments OffSleeping through the Holidays
Posted by Sharon Pearson on December 23rd, 2010
An Episcopal priest told me that her bishop once said, “Anyone who doesn’t get a good night’s sleep is a damn fool, because he or she doesn’t know enough to let God run the world for at least 8 hours a day.”
Hmmm, God can help us with sleep. Maybe Jesus has some sleep hygiene tips for us.
Posted in Featured, Spirituality |
Tags: discernment, God, meditation, pastoral care, self care, spirituality Comments OffBeing the Body Together
Posted by Sharon Pearson on December 22nd, 2010
God didn’t think Abraham too old nor Samuel too young. The church functions best as the Body of Christ when we are the body TOGETHER.
| Posted in Community, Featured, Ministry |
Tags: adults, children's ministry, family ministry, intergenerational, worship, youth ministry 1 Comment »Approaching Christmas
Posted by Sharon Pearson on December 21st, 2010
I guess the question I ask myself is, “If I were going to meet God, how would I want to do it?” I think I’d want to be so still that I didn’t miss a single movement, a single shaft of holy presence.
|We are . . . Survivors
Posted by Sharon Pearson on December 20th, 2010
I can’t think of a better place to write about surviving than the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Some of you might remember a little storm (sarcasm intended here) named Katrina.
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