09/25/2019
As I sit today on my back porch working on my upcoming sermon, I find myself thinking a bit differently about the back porch, which I love. This last year I was able to replace the screens with windows. I always loved my screened porch but the windows allow me to spend more time there. It is easily my favorite room in my house.
The thing about windows is I see the outdoors all around me and they keep the bugs away from me, but the glass seems to be more of a barrier than the screens were---if that makes sense. Although I see all around me, I have more of a feeling of being in a building than out-of-doors. So there are advantages and disadvantages either way.
And now, this series has me thinking more about how often I spend time out-of-doors in the front of my house which makes me feel a bit guilty about wanting to retreat to my back porch for times of solitude. If you have followed the current sermon series at all on neighboring, I wonder if you feel challenged as I do.
Very possibly I am thinking about this too much!!! Do you ever do that??? But I do believe that as we continue to strive to live faithful to God’s calling and to grow in the ways we live out that calling, we do enter into times of challenge in our lives.
I have decided that I need to establish a healthy balance. Yes, I need to make connections with my neighbors. Yes, I need to have times of quiet and solitude to rest my soul and my mind. ( I do--I am assuming most folks look for this time too!). I believe at this point in my life I need to shift the balance a bit more to front yard neighboring. As I pay attention to the culture of today and as I drive around and rarely see anyone in their front yards, this may be the case for many. I have said in one of my messages that we are living with too much isolation, fear and misunderstanding today. I know that one of the ways that each of us can become a part of the solution to resolve these issues is to be a better neighbor.
So hope to see you out front some time!!! Blessings, Patti
Archived Posts
Power Without Conscience?
I ran out of room for this vignette in Sunday’s sermon. Remember the quote that could be the headline for Ahab and Naboth: “All that’s needed for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.” The following reinforces that truth.
The Cars Are Looking for A King
I don’t have a thing to add to Pastor Jessica’s excellent sermon this last Sunday. The fable/parable she shared has been one of my favorites for all the lessons she pulled from it in her message. I was playing around with my friend Chat GPT and after several abortive attempts, we came up with the following modernized version of Judges 9:7-15.
The Lost Benediction
Depending on the length of the sermon, I try to add a little something extra in my benedictions. This week I wrote up a benediction but then realized we’d be singing and waving our umbrellas to some New Orleans jazz.
Change of Focus This Week
Instead of sharing with you about yesterday’s sermon I’d like to invite you to do some background reading for next Sunday’s “Only Murders in the Bible.” Seeing that it is All Saints Day this Sunday, we are going to look at the very first Christian martyr, Stephen.
You Might Be Thinking It’s All About You If…
In working on Sunday’s sermon I asked my computer’s AI if she/he could come up with a few suggestions in answer to the above: "You Might be thinking it’s all about you, if…."
Prayer Changes Things
Here is a transcript of the prayer I prayed at the end of yesterday’s sermon.
Optimism, Faith, and Hope:
Practical Steps For Increasing All Three
Here are some practical, spiritual, and relational ways to grow faith, hope and optimism: