What heavy burdens life seems to lay on me, Lord! Is it because the burdens are heavy or because my shoulders are weak? Is it because I needlessly toss burdens on my back that you haven't given me? Is it because I am prone to name as burdens things that you name as gifts and … Continue reading Prayer Note #17 — Heavy Burdens
Tag: Elmira
Prayer Note #16 — A Pastor’s Sunday Morning Prayer
Lord, I know less than usual what to expect during worship today. Help me to trust you more than usual. Pour your Spirit out in fullness on our worship. Quiet the fears the people may have at your Spirit's coming upon us, and instead open us to receive him in all power, grace, … Continue reading Prayer Note #16 — A Pastor’s Sunday Morning Prayer
Prayer Note #15 — A Pastor’s Prayer before Worship
I look to you, my Lord and my God. I look to you. The worship of your people and my part in it all hangs on the working of your Spirit. Be gracious and patient with us, because we do come here full of sin and self-centeredness. We are idolatrous people, because much of our … Continue reading Prayer Note #15 — A Pastor’s Prayer before Worship
Prayer Note #14 — Potted Plants and Perching Birds
A PRAYER OF THANKS FOR GIFTS THAT LIVE AND BREATHE Thanks you, Lord, for my plants. They pour life and earthiness and calm into my study. Even the fierce crown of thorn plants, which scratch me and puncture me, add an untamed elegance to this space where I spend so much time. There is an … Continue reading Prayer Note #14 — Potted Plants and Perching Birds
Pastor Note #22 –Life, Death, Meaning, and Love
I’m sitting in Wegman’s café drinking a cup of their dark roast coffee. It's a little to much for me, actually. I am a consumer of very large quantities of coffee. But I have to admit that that strong, dark roast coffee is sometimes just a little too much for my mouth. I want very … Continue reading Pastor Note #22 –Life, Death, Meaning, and Love
Bible Note #6 — The Bible and Worship
The Bible is a very obliging book in at least one particular respect, and that is that the Bible explains in fairly straightforward terms what it is. That fact hasn’t caused scholars and others to refrain from arguing about the matter. That argument has been going on for centuries, off and on. But especially in … Continue reading Bible Note #6 — The Bible and Worship
Prayer Notes #13 — Casting Burdens
Dear Jesus, I am awake now more than an hour before I need to be. My fears woke me up. Or did you wake me up in order to deal with me about my fears? I feel as if I am living very randomly, driven by my impulses and whims. And these impulses and whims, … Continue reading Prayer Notes #13 — Casting Burdens
Pastor Note #21 — The Meaning of Money, the Power of Giving
I do not think I exaggerate when I say that some of us put our offering in the plate with a kind of triumphant bounce as much as to say, "There--now God will feel better!" . . . I am obliged to tell you that God does not need anything you have. He does … Continue reading Pastor Note #21 — The Meaning of Money, the Power of Giving
Pastor Note #20 — The Spiritual Exercise of Giving
So, my exercise regimen tends to change from time to time. I am easily bored. By switching from one thing to another – health club to high school pool to brisk walks in the neighborhood to strenuous biking. I am currently in-between exercise programs. I sort of like going to the gym. Well, actually, I … Continue reading Pastor Note #20 — The Spiritual Exercise of Giving
Bible Note #5 — Deuteronomy 13:1-5
Deuteronomy 13 1 If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship … Continue reading Bible Note #5 — Deuteronomy 13:1-5
Gary Chorpenning's Notebooks 