Local Art Sculpture at Village Square Las Vegas
Lord Jesus, thank You for this life. This journey that started at the foot of the cross: the place where darkness lost to the light of God’s amazing love. You gave us more than just words on a page, You gave us a new life. You gave us hope. You gave us love. And because You live, we will live in the Love of God forever and ever.
“Nothing is permanent in this world, not even our troubles” (Charlie Chaplin), so we need to stop looking at our problems and start looking at our God because in Christ there are no good byes and in Christ there is no end. Because of His sacrifice on the cross, we are free from sin and death. The battle is won. God is with us…always. Christ is risen, He is risen indeed. Hallelujah!!
Tags: Charlie Chaplin, Church, Easter, ELCA, Jesus, lutheran, Prayer
I saw this picture at an office complex. You can see my reflection behind Jesus. I kinda like that.
We welcome You Messiah and we also walk in the shadow of Your cross. We pray for wisdom to see beyond the cheers of the crowd demanding an instant miracle. If we build our faith on the crowd, then we build on a sinking foundation. So instead of empty words, let’s build on the solid rock of Christ and live out our faith in the One who paid the price so that we would know that God is always with us.
“We’re not saved because we’re good. We’re good because we are saved” (Rich Mullins). So when the Hosanna’s fade, let us not be moved but instead let us hold on to the truth. The truth that “Love is always going to be far more dangerous than power” (Jeff Hood). The truth that Jesus died for us so that there would be no emptiness between us, and the love of God. Lead us to the cross Lord, where Your love is and will always be…one scarred hand to the other.
Tags: Christ, Christian, Church, ELCA, Jeff Hood, Jesus, lutheran, Palm Sunday, Prayer, Rich Mullins
St. James Lutheran Church in Crystal Minnesota
Lord God, we come here today so that You can pour Your Spirit into the deserts of our lives. Teach us how Your love knows no limitations. It walks on water, it raises the dead and it connects us with our Creator. When all else fails, the love of God never fails. So release the gospel into our story so that we can step into our function as children of God and messengers of truth.
“Authenticity takes courage (Bishop Yvette Flunder).” Faith in Jesus, goes beyond words, it calls us to action. Yes, we may take up our cross but it is Jesus who carries it. “He has a purpose in even the things we cannot understand (Romans 8:28).” So Lord, give us courage, give us strength and give us the vision to pursue Your dream of a healed world. And when doubt creeps in, give us the wisdom to know that “God doesn’t call the qualified. God qualifies the called (Mark Batterson).”
Tags: Bishop Yvette Flunder, Christian, Church, ELCA, Jesus, Mark Batterson, Prayer, Romans 8:28
Lord God, “thank You so much for Your love for us. Thank you that, despite the way the world and other people treat us, we are loved by the One who matters the most (Vince Antonucci, VerveLV).” We come to You today with our whole truth because You know our life story.
You spoke us into being and You know every moment of sin, shame and inconsistency. Yet, Your love for us never fails. We’re forever struggling to know You more, so please give us the wisdom to understand that You already know us. You see us, You hear us and you still love and forgive us no matter what. You take all of our messes and create the most beautiful work of art, called life, for You are with us always.
The way of the cross is not forced its given. The Lord isn’t asking us to walk across a continent; He’s asking us to walk across the street” (M. Russell Ballard) or towards the broken souls in this very room and love our neighbors as ourselves with the same love that God gives to us. So let us begin.
Tags: Christian, Church, ELCA, Jesus, M. Russell Ballard, Prayer, VerveLV, Vince Antonucci
Original Painting by Jason Manlapaz
Lord, “because You bend down to listen, as long as we have breath, we will pray (Psalm 116:2).” “Guard our speech from evil and our lips from deception (by) open(ing) our hearts to Your word (Episcopal Church).” Guide us through these questions and doubts that are rooted in the gravity of our human brokenness.
As sinners we all have a past, but as saints we also have a future to fully live in the experience that is Jesus Christ who is the truest expression of God’s love for all of us. It is Jesus, and Jesus alone, who goes before us and takes our place on the cross so that we can know that God is always for us, no matter what.
We are here today because “our conscience is captive to the Word of God (Martin Luther)” and it shocks us and it frees us each time we confront the cross. Lord, we look for You, we reach for You but most of all we simply seek to know You, to really know You.
Tags: Christian, Church, ELCA, Episcopal Church, Jesus, lutheran, Martin Luther, psalm 116, Word of God
Poster at VerveLV
“Because You turn Your ear to us, we will call on You for as long as we live.” (Psalms 116:2) You alone can see into the window of our minds and understand the snapshots of our life. You see the joys and the fears, along with all of the victories and the losses. “Though our feelings come and go. God’s love for us does not.” (CS Lewis) So when everything we know falls down to the ground, let us remember the hand that will pull us back into the possibilities that God has planned for all of us.
In a world gridlocked with fear and confusion “we need to be brave with our stories so that other people can be brave with theirs.” (Katherine Center) Reveal to us just how much of an impact our lives are to others. Because “now is the chance to choose the right side. (For You, Lord,) give us that chance…(but) we must take it.” (C.S. Lewis)
Tags: bible, C.S. Lewis, Christ, Christian, Church, ELCA, Jesus, Katherine Center, lutheran, Prayer, Psalms, Son of God
It is hard to believe that a year has gone by since my church’s 10th anniversary concert last year. This year’s production will focus on reaching out to people beyond the walls of our church building and the confines of our community.
I have been a part-time adjunct faculty member for the Musical Theater department at the local high school for the performing arts for the past 3 years. I work with the most talented students and staff in the district. Two years ago, I was shocked to find out that one of the students that I worked with was homeless. This news forced me to face the reality that this issue affects all of us.
It is easy to say words of faith but it is harder to live by them and to follow the greatest commandment that Jesus gave us “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:36-40)
This year our church is joining forces with a local non profit that supports homeless youth because we stand united as one community to eradicate this problem that plagues our city. As the body of Christ, we have to make a difference in the lives of our children and community because no one else will. This life isn’t meant to be routine, and in the blink of an eye everything can change. But the Son of God reveals to us who we are and whose we are because He makes everything new.
It is through our faith in God, God’s word and God’s grace that we know that God so loved us all that God redefined what love is in the life, death and resurrection of His only Son. Love is sacrifice, messy and painful. But in the end love wins.
So as another year passes, I pray that we will all understand that the way in which we live our lives could be the only bible or church that the people around us will ever experience. So I pray that we will all live a life full of the joy and the hope that comes only from an authentic relationship with the Savior who gives us the gifts of His grace, mercy, forgiveness and love. Through Him all things are possible.
Tags: Christian, Christmas Makes Everything New, ELCA, Faith, God, grace, Homeless Youth, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Love wins, lutheran, Matthew 22: 36-40, Savior, Son of God
Hear us now O Great Redeemer, and “clothe us in your compassion, kindness, humility and patience.” (Collossians 3:12), “Turn away our eyes from our own vanity and revive us in your ways” (Psalm 119:37).
We’re just ordinary people, flawed and prone to sin, but You see us as no one else does. You understand our potential. So as these battles rage on in all of us, we pray that You would reign in us and remind us that “nothing can separate us from God’s love” (Romans 8:38), that “You have been with us since the beginning” (John 1:1) and that You will always be, Emmanuel, God with us.
When words fail “hope will not be silent” (Harvey Milk). For it is “By faith (that) we began, by hope (that) we continue, and by revelation (in which) we shall obtain the whole (truth of God)” (Martin Luther). For “if there is anything in us, it is not our own; it is a gift of God…that it is entirely a debt (that we) owe to love…and must serve others with it, not ourselves” (Martin Luther).
Tags: Christ, Christian, Collossians 3:12, ELCA, Harvey Milk, Jesus, John 1:1, lutheran, Martin Luther, Prayer, Psalm 119:37, Redeemer, Romans 8:38
Church hallway that I did in charcoal
Jehovah Jireh, our provider, let the walls around our hearts come tumbling down so that we won’t be afraid to love as radically and inclusively as You do. Remove the things that don’t deserve time and space in our lives for “life is too short to argue and fight with the past.” (Steve Aitchison).
Send a message to us and to the world that “love is not what we say; love is what we do” (John Hagee) and how we treat others is how we treat the Lord. So let us be united in one voice and one body for “it is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.” (Ephesians 1:11)
“You alone know the plans that You have for us” (Jeremiah 29:11) so write your truth into our lives and remove anything that would darken the light within us. We only get this one life to be kind, compassionate and merciful. Let’s not waste it.
Tags: bible, Christ, Church, Ephesians 1:11, Jehovah Jireh, Jeremiah 29:11, Jesus, John Hagee, Prayer, Steve Aitchison, the story
All Saints Episcopal, Las Vegas, NV
Lord of all, calm our hearts and minds. Don’t let us doubt You, and don’t let fear rule or feed our thoughts. Interrupt our lives, when we forget the miracle of each breath that You give us, so that we can face these obstacles and not cower or retreat back into the false security of what once was.
Let us let go of our egos and move forward, by faith, into the promise of God so that we can feed the hungry, heal the sick, and be as one body united by the unwavering love of our Creator.
Because of You, our story has been rewritten. So let us dare to know You, to be more like You, to be quick to forgive and slow to anger. Don’t let our own insecurities inhibit ourselves from ministering God’s grace and doing what is right in the eyes of God. We may not “understand the mystery of grace…but grace meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us.” (Anne Lamott).
Tags: Anne Lamott, bible, Christ, Christian, Church, ELCA, forgiveness, God, grace, Jesus, Prayer
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