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Reflections for the Week Ahead

Palm Sunday, March 24, 2013
Scriptural Reference: Isaiah 40:4-9a; Luke 19: 28-40

We enter Holy Week with a parade on Palm Sunday and end it with joyful celebration the following Sunday.  If we simply move from parade to party, however, we miss some of the essence of Holy Week.  In particular, we miss the suffering of Jesus; his isolation, and his death by crucifixion.  Easter is robbed of its rich meaning if we do not pass by the cross.

For reflection:

Why do you think the crowds were jubilant as Jesus entered Jerusalem? Who wanted to stop Jesus’ ministry, and why?

Why is it important to understand Easter, in light of the cross?

Think of a time you felt a sense of impending doom, or an experience of isolating sorrow.  How can Jesus’ experiences in Holy Week help you through such hard times?

Taking the Sermon Home

--Reflections for the week ahead

Sunday, March 17 ends a five week series on “The Lessons of Lent.”  The first two words invited personal assessment, and the next two explored aspects of God’s nature.  The final word, “devotion,” can express both divine initiative and human response.

Scripture Reference: Isaiah 43:16-21, John 12:1-8

In what ways are you made aware of the tenacity (“devotion”) of God towards you—God’s love, patience, and grace that never let us go?

What acts of extravagant love can you make, in response to God’s extravagant love for you?

What changes do you need to make in your life to make worship more central to your weekly rhythm?

This week, start each day with a short prayer, that dedicates it to God—your thoughts, your actions, your work, your conversations. Devote yourself to being a reflection of God’s love!

The Gospel Prayer

I promised to post "The Gospel Prayer" that I quoted from J.D.Greear's book Gospel:

Father, there is nothing I can do that would make you love me more, and nothing I have done that would make you love me less.  Your presence with me and approval of me through the cross are all I need for daily joy.  Father, as you have so loved me, I will show your love to others today.  Amen.

Pastor Katie

Taking the Sermon Home

March 10, 2013
Scriptural Reference: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Today, the gospel features one of the most beloved parables in all of Scripture, typically known as, The Parable of the Prodigal Son.  While the parable does indeed focus on a son who leaves home and then returns, there are two other key characters in the story: the forgiving father, and the stalwart, unforgiving son. Both brothers become alienated from the father at different points of the parable, due to their own behaviors.  

How do you alienate yourself from God?

What can we learn about God from this parable?

Why is this a story of reconciliation, and how is reconciliation with God connected to reconciliation with each other?

Grace.  It’s amazing—and it leads us home, to the heart of God.

Taking the Sermon Home

Taking the Sermon Home

--Reflections for the week ahead

Scriptural Reference: Luke 13:1-9

March 3, 2013

After two weeks of lessons having to do with our own attitudes and behaviors—humility and reverence—this week, we are thinking about an essence belonging to God: patience.  The gospel lesson includes the familiar but enigmatic parable of the fig tree.  Both stories probe the nature of God.

How would you define patience, when it comes to God? 

What is it about your life that you feel tests God in some way—that calls upon God to be patient with you?  What does the reading compel you to want to do differently?

Taking the Sermon Home

--Reflections for the week ahead

Scriptural Reference:  Genesis 15:1-12; 17-18

Reverence: an expression of respect, veneration, and awe—for something that lies beyond our control.  We can revere aspects of creation—the wonder of Yosemite; the intricacy of a flower—and as people of faith, we are called to revere God.

With a deeper connection to our Lord, comes a more profound expression of reverence.  What is it about God’s nature that stops you dead in your tracks?  What brings you to your knees in gratitude, as you recognize the blessings in your life that you scarcely deserve, yet take for granted?  What are the deep yearnings of your heart, that you recognize only God can fully understand and address?  It takes humility to admit that there are things about our existence that we neither control nor understand; and it takes reverence to honor the God who gives us life and breath and holds creation in being. 

The lessons of Lent: humility, and reverence.  Practice them, and awaken your sense of God.-

Rev. Kathryn Carroll
Christ the King Lutheran Church

Miami, FL

Taking the Sermon Home

Scripture focus:

Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16

Luke 4:1-13

On this First Sunday of Lent, we are challenged to think about what draws us away from God.  Though we might want to believe that only evil things or scandalous behaviors lead into temptation, truly, even good things—food and sustenance; reputation; protection—can divert us from keeping God’s word and will central in our lives.  Indeed, it is often said the biggest temptation from what’s most important, is that which is next in importance.   In a phrase, temptation comes in a variety of ways.

This week, consider: what keeps me from “worshiping the Lord your God and serving only him?”  Is it the pressure of too much activity?  An excessive focus on your job?  Complacency?

Upon being tempted a third time, Jesus utters, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”  During your personal reflection, confess to God those things that cause you to switch places with God, and put God on trial.  Perhaps it is a prayer you offer, that insists upon a specific outcome.  Or, maybe it’s an overdeveloped worry about the future, or growing old.  Humble yourself to trust that the Lord can indeed hold you in the palm of his hand, and that God’s grace, is, truly sufficient.

Pastor Katie

Christ the King Lutheran Church

Miami, FL