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
What just missed the cut for Sunday’s Sermon
Naaman’s servants may actually become one of the hidden gems of the sermon. They say, essentially: “If the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it.”
One of the Longest Benedictions I Ran Out of Time to Share
Maybe you know the story of how Joseph and Mary accidentally left Jesus at the gas station on their way home from Jerusalem. Well, not the gas station bathroom in Jesus’ case. Joe and Mary are far down the road before they realize Jesus isn’t with them...
So many quips and quotes...
So little time to preach
I wonder what Mary and Martha’s phones might look like:
* Martha = the open browser with 27 tabs
* Mary = the single window that matters
* Psalm 46 = God saying, “Close the tabs.”
Quotable Outtakes That Didn’t Make the Sermon This Week
“When you try to control everything, you don’t just exhaust yourself—you quietly replace trust in God with trust in you.” & more
There is a challenge when it comes to preaching the Word of God.
Preachers are called to open up and interpret the word—inspired and written down thousands of years ago—and make it relevant to a very different world. On top of that there’s a degree of persuasion that goes along with the process.
What Jessica Really Meant to Say in Her Sermon…
When Jessica or Rick or a guest preacher takes the pulpit it’s hard for me to write a One More Thing Blog. I can’t share with you what didn’t make it into the sermon because I have no idea, not having written or delivered it.
Jesus Keeps On Ruining Funerals!
I didn’t have anything this last week that didn’t end up in the sermon. No catchy illustrations that didn’t make the cut. No theological insights that slowed down the main point. No one can ruin a funeral like Jesus. Told as I saw it and that was it. So I did some quick research and I thought I’d share just a reminder of what Easter is all about.