Neighborhood Hero

Guiding Prayer For Our Season of Fasting: 

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom,the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Myself in Truth

Holy God help me to step outside of my own nature and get to know my neigbor. Amen

Nurtured and Nurturing 

Jesus, Son of God, help us to know and love our neighbors. Amen 

                         The Gathered

Gathering God, in knowing you, you call us to know one another. Help us to live out your love to our neighbors today, and everyday.  Amen  

Challenge 

Pray for your neighbors, whether you know their names or not. Pray for those who live on your street that God might move in their lives and bring hope and healing where needed this week.

Luke 6:6-10

6 On another sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. 7 The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. 8 Even though he knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” He got up and stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 After looking around at all of them, he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was restored.

Neighborhood Hero

Who is my neighbor. Seriously, who?  I live on a culdesac with about ten homes on each side of the street. Technically, they are all my neighbors, but I really only know the neighbors in four of the houses.  I have met the neighbors in about ten of the houses but I don't really know them all.  Most of the neighbors that I have met other than those who are literally next door, I met while looking for my dog. This dog, Mac, takes advantage of little girls who hold the door to the backyard open too long and darts our to run amuck in the neighborhood. In case you're trying to picture that, we have a storm door on the back of our carport that leads to the back yard.  Most neighbors who haven't met me personally, probably think of me as the crazy lady down the road running through yards and yelling the name "Mac"! I hope they don't think that's my husband's name.

When Jozie was a newborn, literally just days old, there was a snowstorm and our heat went out. I couldn't call our church friend Mr. Brown out to fix it because the roads would have been too dangerous. We didn't know who to call so I called my daddy. Dad called his secretary Pat, whose son lives on my street, to find out if there was anyone in Broadway who might be able to travel more safely and fix it. Pat called her son and then called us back and said that one of our neighbors was a maintenance man somewhere and gave us his number.  

Lee came right on by.  While he worked on the system, I sat by the oven trying to keep warm with Jozie and Gavin went to help our hero. While working with him, Gavin found out that Lee was also a local fireman, which explains why he came quickly; he was prepared to move to the scene of emergencies quickly and obviously a newborn in a cold house was an emergency.  He fixed the problem, refused any payment and then drove off into the sunset on his black Dodge Ram. Well, technically he drove off our driveway and about six houses down to his own yard.  Hooray for neighbor Lee!  

At least I think his name was Lee.  We haven't actually spoken to each other since.  We see each other and wave in passing, but that's been it for us in the past three years.  But he is my neighbor and he lived out the gospel to me in a very real way.

In this scripture, Jesus is showing that this man was more important to him than anything or anyone who might object to him healing the hurting.  People were important to Jesus. In fact, we know from his life and death and our own Salvation, that people were more important than anything else to Jesus.  When we make people important, when we help the stranger or initiate friendships, we are living out the relationally driven kind of ministry that Jesus had.  

Lee did not heal my withered hand, but he healed the worried mind of a new mother.  In that minute, he was the hands and feet of Christ to me.  He was our kind Samaritan.

Our challenge today is to simply consider who is our neighbor.  Who do we see everyday and not speak to? Who do we live next to and know nothing about other than their names?  Pray for these people and that Jesus might show you how to have intentionality in our lives and relationships with them.

Buckets of Faith

Guiding Prayer For Our Season of Fasting: 

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom,the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Myself in Truth

Holy God help me to want less and experience you more.  Amen.

Nurtured and Nurturing 

Jesus grant our families peace and patience with one another so that your holy spirit might feel welcomed in our homes and lives. Amen

The Gathered

Holy, Holy, Holy God, may we see the holiness of you in one another today. Amen

Challenge

Today your challenge is to take time to love others as Christ has loved you so that the sacred and the everyday might meet in our lives.

17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” 18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19 See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:17-20

Every night before bedtime, Jozie asks for the bucket book.  It's actually called " Have You Filled a Bucket Today" by Carol Mcloed. Most people have heard of it, and even at Boone Trail School, they have signs in the halls asking children "Have you filled a bucket today?".  

A bucket filler is a person who, through acts of loving kindness, creates positivity and happiness in the lives of others.  By filling other people's invisible buckets with joy, you are also filling your own bucket with goodness and love. But sometimes people try to fill their bucket by dipping from others buckets. They dip by making fun of others, bullying and gossip.  This never works.  It just leaves two people with empty buckets and bad feelings.

As I am reading this to Jozie last night, I asked her "Jozie who would want you to be a bucket filler?"  "Mimi!" (my mother) she said. "Yes, Mimi would! And who else would want you to fill buckets?" I asked.  "Jesus!" Jozie replied. That's right!  Why does Jesus want us to fill buckets? I asked.  "Because God loved us and sent his Son" said Jozie quoting one of her Cubbies verses from Awana.  I thought about that.  Not the answer I was expecting. Did it fit the scenario?  I guess it did.  God loved us and sent his son and we are called to show his love to others out of gratitude for the saving love we have been shown.  Jozie probably wasn't thinking about it that deeply.  Her answer was probably more of a "Hail Mary" so I'd stop asking questions, but the truth remains: God loved us and calls us to love one another. 

Even before the "Hail Mary", what was taking place between Jozie and I was a sacred moment. A time when we were focused on one another and completely still.  There was no rushing, just she and I and this sweet book...and the Holy Spirit showed up.

Sacred moments don't have to revolve around scripture. They happen all the time if we pay attention. They happen in the moments when we live out scripture with one another by slowing down enough to engage positively in one another's lives.  Every bucket filling moment is a sacred one.

When the disciples returned to Jesus after being sent out, they were bubbling with excitement over the miracles that they had performed in the name of Jesus.  They had experienced encounters with people where they had been able to heal and even cast out demons in Jesus' name. They didn't do it to fill an  imaginary bucket, but simply did what Christ had told them to.  If bucket imagery helps you then go for it, but basically, when we recognize the good in others, and attempt good things in God's name we are getting closer to what the Kingdom of God is all about.  

Christ rejoiced with them and he will rejoice with us when we allow room for the Holy Spirit to join us, as together the sacred and everyday life meet.

Miracles Everywhere

Guiding Prayer For Our Season of Fasting: 

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom,the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Myself in Truth

Holy God help me to want less and experience you more.  Amen.

Nurtured and Nurturing 

Jesus, Son of God. As you walked this earth, you had no place to call your own. May our home be your home. May our dwelling place be a place of less haste and a place where your Holy Spirit truly can dwell.

The Gathered

May the peace of God find us when we, as your people, simply abide in you Father. May we slow down enough to recognize your guiding hand as we seek your will in all that we do as your people. Amen

Challenge

Today your challenge is to abide more and rush less.  To truly listen to those whom you encounter and allow God the time to show you the miracles that happen in everyday life.

Luke 10:3-10

³ Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. ⁴ Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road.⁵ Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ ⁶ And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you.⁷ Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. ⁸ Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; ⁹ cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

Miracles Everywhere

Gavin’s mother has a saying something along the lines of  “less rush, more time”.  The first time I heard that saying, I thought that it made absolutely no sense.  I always thought that the quicker you got somewhere, the more time you had to enjoy things once you were there.

But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.  How many times have I been rushing to get somewhere or do something, and in my haste forgot something important and had to turn around and go back for it? I can think of several times when rushing out the door that I forgot my cell phone. I’ve rushed so much to get Jozie to preschool that I forgot her backpack and had to go back to get it; or even hastily trying to get to a birthday party and forgetting the present!  I can remember how frustrating it was to turn back around to get the thing I left behind in haste.

In my rushing my awareness and processing takes a big hit.  I miss things that would have been obvious had I slowed down. 

We live in a society of hurriedness.  We are over-scheduled, over-stressed and over-worked.  How much of life do we miss due to our rushing?  How engaged in the life can we be if we dwell in haste?

I can’t listen well when I’m hurried. I hear things more as sound bites than full conversations and therefore assume much, which is never good.  I read this scripture, along with the whole of Luke chapter 10, and I have to ask myself, what would it have been like to be one of those early apostles?  To simply trust and abide in Christ; to move forward with determination but not hurry; to know that God would supply all their needs if their needs were few. They did nothing out of their own power or wisdom as the learned scribes and rabbis, but rather fully trusted in the power of Christ, as an infant innately trusts its mother. The result was that they experienced miracles everywhere! They were able to do great things in the name of Jesus and they had excitement in their faith!

Christ trusted them with much because they trusted Him with much.  They trusted much and needed little, and therefore truly experience the power of God working in their lives.

Perhaps we rush much because we want much.  If our wants were fewer and our trust greater then our hurriedness might be less... and perhaps we could see all the tiny miracles God is creating in our lives. The simple miracles of people and relationships and God's creation that we are invited to be a part of everyday.  I’m slapping my own hand right now.

My challenge for you today is to fully engage in the task and the people before you.  Slow down to really listen.  Slow down to really pray.  Slow down to really experience the presence of Christ, which may reveal itself in the unexpected person or moment. Take a moment to be still and know that God is God and still in the business of miracles.

Not More Highway!

Guiding Prayer For Our Season of Fasting: 

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom,the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Myself in Truth

Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.  Amen.

Nurtured and Nurturing 

Father, as I seek to find the calm in the midst of my own personal storms, may you guide me to safer harbors that I might be a light to those around me tossed to and fro by the waves of life.

The Gathered

May the peace of our God and Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit, three in one, invade the walls of our community of faith, filling us to overflowing, that we might take peace, healing, wholeness into a lost and broken world.

Challenge

Today you will learn a new type of prayer called The Jesus Prayer.  Your challenge today is to attempt to spend at least 5 consecutive minutes praying this prayer.

Growing up, we would take a big, family vacation about every 3rd summer or so.  This usually consisted of packing up the old family minivan and trucking halfway across this great nation of ours while vainly holding on to the hope that the 5 human beings who first stepped into the car in Waco, TX would all make the return trip from wherever we landed.  Two adults and three kids make for cramped spaces and power kegs of wants and desires ready to explode with the slightest spark. (Yes, we were the family who would use pillows, tape, or any other possible device necessary to mark off the boundaries between kids in the back seats, all with the same disastrous results as the rest of you have experienced)

On one now infamous vacation as we were beginning to make our way home from somewhere near the Eastern seaboard, we began to exit one highway and merge onto another.  My younger sister who could not have been more than about 6 or 7 years old at the time, apparently thought that by exiting the first highway we were somehow miraculously near our home.  Upon seeing the next highway she frustratingly uttered three words that have been etched into Broaddus Family lore, "Not more highway!"

How many of us, at different times in our lives, have felt as if we have finally managed to make it out of one of life's storms only to see the next storm lurking on the horizon?  We, like my sister, want to yell out, "Not more highway!!!!"  Life can sometimes feel like an endless cycle of tasks, frustrations, appointments, chores and responsibilities that will never be finished.  It leaves us feeling empty, used up, and deflated.

How are we to combat the constant strain and stress our schedules and responsibilities place on our lives?  Often times we wish or pray that God would just make them all disappear.  This leaves us disappointed more often than not as this prayer seems to go unanswered.  But, maybe there is a better way to approach our busy lives.  Maybe, instead of asking God to take away the busyness or struggles of our lives, we can ask God to be there with us in the midst of them.

I want to teach you a simple, yet powerful prayer you can pray when you find yourself in the midst of life's storms and are in need of the reassuring presence of God in your life.  It's called The Jesus Prayer.  It's very simple.  You simply prayer: Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. 

You pray this simple phrase over and over, allowing those words to fill your mind, fill your thoughts, and fill your soul as you recognize God's presence is truly with you.  It almost can become like a chant as you speak the words with the rising and the falling of your breath.  But allow the words to sink deep into your mind and take over the busyness that is desiring to overwhelm you and take over your life.

In those moments you want to scream, "Not more highways!!!", take a moment instead to pray to God, inviting his presence onto the highways of your life!