Vocation in Action

  Prayer of Invocation Father,  increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and love; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Proclamation   Who’s the most famous person that you’ve ever met or seen in person? Can you remember what you felt like when you saw him or her? The heart racing, the hands clamming up; on the one hand you felt woefully and supremely inadequate, and on the other you felt uniquely privileged to be in the presence of such greatness. I know Campbell will probably say meeting Steph Curry (who by the way, I’ve been informed, I rank above in coolness according to a recent Confirmand poll), or getting a Dude Perfect video sent to him for his birthday.   When I was about 11, I met John Madden. At that time he was the head football coach of the Oakland Raiders. He was a huge man, with huge hands, and he was sitting on t

Why Healthy Churches Engage in Conflict Resolution In his essay “The Pattern of Life in Thriving Communities,”   biblical scholar Kavin Rowe makes the observation that one particular (and perhaps unexpected) characteristic of a healthy church is its willingness to engage in a process of disagreement and reconciliation when conflict arises. He draws this conclusion from a careful reading of the Book of Acts, where time and again we see Spirit-led communities patiently and courageously resolving conflict with one another as a practice that is integral to their calling as faithful disciples of Jesus (for example Acts 6, Acts 10-12, Acts 15, Acts 20).  This may seem counterintuitive at first. One might expect, for example, that Spirit-led communities would avoid conflict altogether. But this is not the case. Instead, what we see in the Book of Acts is also evident in the letters of Paul and Peter, and in the writings of James and John.  Conflict is inevitable, even within the church.

  On The “Great Exchange” and Cutting Our Gains   Prayer of Invocation   Father, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.   Prayer of Illumination   Father, you know who we are; we are content and we are dissatisfied; we are confident and uncertain; clear-minded and confused;  we love and we hate, but not always in the proper order; we are filled with hope; we are filled with anxiety; we are Christians by conviction and Christians by convention; we believe, we half-believe, we disbelieve, we doubt; we are surrounded by friends and family; we are lonely, and despairing; we come from well-ordered famil