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| Sunday February 28, 2010 "Stand Firm" Philippians 3:17-41 | Brad's Blog Brad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on3/1/2010 9:37 AM | |
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Lent can be very confusing.
Especially if you were brought up in the protestant church in America in the mid to late 20th century. And yes, that means that I am saying, Lent can be very confusing to me.
So, let’s take just a few minutes to see if we can’t resolve some of the confusion.
First, when is Lent? Lent is a period of 40 days that runs from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. But of course, if you count the days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday you get 46 days. The 6 extra days are the Sundays in that time period and Sundays are not counted as official parts of Lent. Hopefully, you will understand why that is in a few minutes.
Second, what is Lent? Lent is a time of introspection and preparation. We are called to look hard at who we are and at where we are in our faith walk. We do this in preparation for two things: first, so that we might be a stronger witness for God’s love and grace in the ... |  | |
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| | Spring Training | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on2/25/2010 9:41 AM | |
| Greetings on this chilly, sunny day,
Yesterday afternoon I heard a familiar sound. A sound that made my heart leap just a little bit. A sound that told me without equivocation that spring is coming. A sound that I heard over and over again. The sound was that of a baseball against a bat at the Oglethorpe University baseball stadium. When I sit at my computer and look out my office window this time of year, I have an almost unobstructed view of the infield of the Oglethorpe diamond. Yesterday they were having batting practice and I could sit and watch ball after ball being hit. After a long winter, it is one of the most wonderful sounds ever. (I know that some of you don’t understand, but that’s okay, because I know Judy Mowrey does, and that’s good enough for me.)
This morning when I got into the office I saw on the calendar that yesterday was the start of spring training. I read a story about the manager of the Detroit Tigers, Jim Leyland, and his excitem ... | | |
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| | Sunday February 21, 2010 "God Given Bounty" Deuteronomy 26:1-11 | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on2/22/2010 9:26 AM | |
| I never really understood why this passage was considered a Lenten passage, but every third year, it shows up as one of the suggested passages to be used during our Lenten observance. I never really understood that, until this year.
The Israelites wandered the wilderness for 40 years, waiting for the day when they would inhabit the “promised land.” They have seen their parents and grandparents generation die before the promise was made real. They must have had some reservations about this God that let them roam in circles for all those years. They must have wondered if they too would die before they saw this land.
This scripture passage is one of great importance for our Jewish brothers and sisters. It is one of the essential “identity” stories of their faith. It is the story of the Isrealite’s inheritance; they are heirs to God’s enduring promise, now spread out before them. It is the climax of the exodus story. Think about this: if my math is right, the ... | | |
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| | Going it alone in Lent | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on2/17/2010 11:42 AM | |
| Greetings on this cold morning,
Today is the beginning of Lent. Over the years, I have seen Lent observed in many different ways, and I have heard many explanations of what Lent it supposed to mean. The thing that has dawned on me recently is that those two issues – how to observe Lent and what Lent means are inextricably connected. Well, duh. But let me explain.
First, last and always, Lent is the most personal of all seasons of the Christian year. The fact that it ends with the most public of all Christian celebrations makes the internal disciplines of Lent all the more important. The fact is that the important thing about Lent is how it works for us, on us, to us. We can read lots of books expounding on what Lent is and how we are to observe it, but all those books are at best, loose guides from someone else’s experience, and at worse, something that sidetracks us from really looking at our experience and our own needs.
For me, Le ... | | |
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| | Service, continued | | Brad's Blog
| By Brad Miller on2/10/2010 1:40 PM | |
| Greetings on this blustery day – it may be cold, but it could be worse: we could be in Washington D.C.!
This past Sunday’s “Praise on Peachtree” struck a chord with me and with many other people who have commented to me and to the participants of the service. As one person said, “When you hear that the theme is going to be “service” you sort of cringe and say, “I know, I know, I don’t do enough.” But that wasn’t how I left at all. I left uplifted, refreshed and so thankful for how so many have served me over the years.” To hear the witness of members and friends of our congregation who have been served and are inspired to serve was humbling and powerful. And add to that the beautiful words and sounds of the special music, “Here I Am, Lord” – which was sung at my ordination – well, let’s just say I wasn’t the only one in the place who had to compose themselves just a bit before moving on!
There was one particular, very brief, very subtle moment in the servic ... | | |
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| | Sunday January 31, 2010 "Celebrating Renewal" Nehemiah 8: 1-3, 5-6, 8-10 | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on2/1/2010 3:30 PM | |
| I’m tired.
I know that many of you are tired, too.
Tired of the negativity that seems to permeate so much of our world. Tired of preparing for the next piece of bad news that is coming. Tired of seeing people who are at best are nervous about what the future holds and at worst, absolutely paralyzed with fear. Tired of trying to make sense of a political process that seems intent on finding someone to blame rather than on finding solutions to problems. Tired of so called entertainment that seeks to tear down others and reality shows that are anything but reality. Tired of living in a world where many seem to decry what we do not have, rather than celebrating what it is we do have. Tired of being tired.
I’m just tired.
From talking with many of you, I know that you are tired, too. And here’s the first word of the day: it’s okay. It’s okay to be tired. It’s just not okay to simply accept it.
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| | Ministry | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on1/27/2010 2:17 PM | |
| The process of transforming the sanctuary continues, and trust me, it is an amazing process! While the physical transformation of the sanctuary will be impressive, there are other things that connect to that renovation that continue to amaze me.
I have already shared with you my conversation with the electrician who said he enjoyed working on churches more than most jobs because he felt like he was doing something special in helping to beautify the Lord’s House. Since that time, I have had 3 other conversations with folks from Choate Construction and some other sub-contractors. They have had questions about the church, who we are and what we believe. These are guys who have seen me every day that they have been working here, guys who have greeted me and asked what I thought about the work they were doing. But after a couple of weeks, the conversation got away from the work on the sanctuary to the work of the church. In my experience, this is not that unusual. Folks have to get a ... | | |
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| | Good Stewards | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on1/26/2010 2:12 PM | |
| One of the great things about working at the church these days is that I get to watch as the changes in the sanctuary take place. First, the stripping away of everything not needed, or that will be renewed or replaced. Then, the slow buildup of new things, the replacement of worn things, the renewal of things that still have much life in them. And it is very hard for me not to understand that what is happening in the sanctuary at BCC is also what happens in our lives when we set our minds and our hearts on renewal. It is the great gift that we can do that whenever we choose.
I was chatting with one of the electricians the other day about the work he does and he said at one point, “I really like it when we get to work in churches – it makes me feel good to know that I am helping to beautify God’s house. I like that.”
And he’s right: the sanctuary and the rest of the church building may only be bricks and mortar like every other building in town, but it is some ... | | |
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| | Overcoming Fear | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on1/26/2010 2:11 PM | |
| Well, it seems as if Carol and I got out of town at the right time! We missed all the snow and ice – although the bitter cold did find us everywhere we went! While it was nice to miss all that, the trip itself was without a doubt one of the most moving experiences of my life – cold or not. I am still sorting through all the experiences packed into those four days: the people, the places, the sharing, the learning, and most of all, the incredible feelings of our Civil Rights Tour.
Over the course of the four days, we traveled to sites important to the Civil Rights movement in Charleston, S.C., Johns Island, S.C., Savannah, GA, Albany, GA, Montgomery, AL, and of course, Atlanta. Being at those places – the churches, the meeting houses, the homes that were bombed, the gathering places – was incredible, but what was even more incredible were the people who talked to us at every stop. The leaders of the movement, the ones who did the hard work and put their lives on the line. And here ... | | |
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| | Adjusting | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on1/26/2010 2:06 PM | |
| Well, things are picking up steam as far as the renovation to our sanctuary goes. Choate Construction has been on-site all week, taking down old lights, getting ready to put up new ones, working on the outside coverings for the stain glass windows on the outside walls, pulling out the pews, getting ready to work on the front wall and the expansion of the chancel area. The new stain glass will be made shortly, and the new front wall cross will arrive in the next week or so….whew, there is a lot of activity going on! Not sure how long it will actually take, but it is exciting to watch what is already going on.
Of course, this activity is what is making it necessary for us to worship in the fellowship hall. We have had 3 services and a Christmas Eve service in the fellowship hall and there is definitely a different feeling when we worship there as opposed to the sanctuary. Not worse, not better, just different. We are doing our best to adapt to our situation, which means changing som ... | | |
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