Sunday, September 17, 2006

Coffee Time begins at 9:15 a.m.
Sunday School begins at 9:30 a.m.
Worship begins at 10:30 a.m.
All are welcome!

Adult Forum
Risky Wisdom
Focus Scripture: Mark 8:27-38
Additional Scripture: Proverbs 1:20-33; Psalm 19; James 3:1-12
Turning points come when we encounter God's unconventional wisdom inviting us to risk for the gospel's sake. Jesus' disciples discover the Messiah who risks suffering for the well being of all people. Wisdom calls us to turn and follow unexpected paths. Will we venture to live by such a ricky wisdom, trusting and hoping in God's presence?
Discussion Leader: Jodie Tooley

Sunday's Worship
15th Sunday after Pentecost
Scriptures: Proverbs 1:20-33 and James 3:1-12
A prayer for the weekend in preparation for worship:
Grant us wisdom, O God -- wisdom to know that faithfulness invites, not avoids risk; wisdom to see where your path leads, when the path we prefer leads elsewhere; wisdom to know your love for us, and to recognize our call in so loving others.
Preaching: Greg Ledbetter; Worship Leader: Warren Holmes; Lead Usher: Brian Kearins; Choir: Many Gifts

Words for Meditation

Letting Go of Fear and Taking Up Risk

It is your cross to bear,” some people are told. “If you suffer, it is because you are bearing a cross like Jesus did. Deny your desire for wholeness and accept the suffering as your burden to bear. Jesus said that we had to lose our lives in order to find them. That’s why you’ve lost yours. Don’t worry. You’ll receive your reward in the life to come.” Too many suffering people in the world have heard this terrible distortion of what Jesus said – people living in poverty, violence, illness, or loss. The gospels do tell us that Jesus said, “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.” But this is not a morbid, masochistic acceptance of suffering. Rather, Jesus was inviting his disciples – and note that the address here is to community, not to individuals – to take a risk by joining him in a radical choosing of God’s way of life over a more conventional and safe but life-denying way. Another way of putting it might be, “Come on people. Let go of your fear. Take a risk on God. Put your lives on the line. What good will it be if any of us preserve our lives but lose our very reasons for living? Safety won’t do us much good then. So come on. Take a risk. Follow me as I walk in God’s way of wisdom that leads to abundant life. --Seasons of the Spirit

"Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. . . For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” 1 Corinthians 1:21 & 25