Feb. 4 - Feb. 10

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19 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey everyone, (from kevin c)

so i was going to go back through and check how many times i have posted here, but i decided that would take way to much time and i'm just going to take mandy's word for it.

so, i'm going to really try to be more disciplined about getting on here and reading/writing about how i'm doing.

we are reading through the gospel of matthew for our community group right now. last night i spent time reading/reflecting on matt 4, the temptation of Jesus. It was a really good time of reflection and prayer about temptation and the way that Jesus responded to it and how much of what we struggle with isn't just our desires/wants, but a deeply spiritual battle between God's enemy who is trying to literally destroy our souls, and God who is trying to give us life. when i see the battle in this way, it really helps me to fight temptation in my life and makes me want to follow/obey God, who is simply trying to give me life.

i also really enjoyed our time this morning in John 10. i have really loved doing lectio with you all at staff meetings.

Kristen said...

I am planning on spending time today in prayer and studying for my group tonight. We are starting a new study on Spiritual Disciplines. I am very excitited about it I just hope the rest of my group is too.

Mandy said...

So I better have something to say, if I'm going to hold Kevin accountable

I am doing a "Contagious Joy" study with the women in my house group, so I read through the passages that were assigned...Jer. 25:10, Isaiah 55:12 Chronicles 16:31. I really don’t feel anymore joyful! (kidding, I didn’t really expect to) In fact I think our study is kind of a joke, but I'm trying to hang with it so I will have something to say in group.

I am missing my Divine Hours time, I have not done it in a few days...just let it slip. I'm going to try to get back in the swing this week.

Tim Suttle said...

Hey Friends,

I did the BCP hours yesterday before staff mtg. Then the lectio with you guys, which is one of my favorite things. I read last night for awhile in Colossians.

This morning I did the BCP morning office and I'm going to read through Philippians, Colossians & Ephesians. I'm looking for a text that will help frame our time together on Sunday morning. Hope I can find one.

Peace,

Mandy said...

I listened to a Rob Bell pod cast today, he was talking about "straining out a gnat but swallowing a camel" Our own redemption, purity etc is not the ONLY thing that Jesus was concerned about....oooh so good, too much to type.

I realize I'm sort of becoming the quote girl, but here is another good one from Evelyn Underhill who I really admire, if you look at communion like this, how can it NOT form us!!

The Eucharist is the very heart of Christian worship because it is so rich and far-reaching in its significance; because it eludes thought, eludes emotion, relies on simple contact, humble and childlike receptiveness, sense quenching soul. It mixes together the extremes of mystery and homeliness; takes our common earthly experience of suffering, love abandonment, death, and makes them inexpressibly holy and fruitful; takes the food of our natural life and transforms that into a channel of Divine Life.

- Evelyn Underhill
Daily Readings with a Modern Mystic

Tim Suttle said...

Hey Friends!

I did the BCP hours this morning and then spent the morning in Colossians, working on what to say on Sunday. Just now I did the midday prayers from the Divine Hours. It was nice. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to mass today or not.

peace,

-t

Anonymous said...

(Kevin) didn't post yesterday b/c i had a really sh%%&&ty day. i was lazy and undisciplined in the morning and didn't carve out time to be with God, then in the evening i watched a movie and then another hour and a half of tv after that instead of engaging in any spiritual disciplines. just didn't feel like doing them.

this morning, i had a really good time reading through the Sermon on the mount section in matthew (ch. 5-7) i spent alot of time praying thru the lords prayer and it was really good...thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven...forgive us, as we forgive others...deliever us from evil, thine is kingdom power glory...really good stuff. it felt good to get back on track after yesterday.

also i did the math on mandy's numbers from my blogging (not that i'm obsessing about this or anything) and the number of my posts comes to 10% of the total posts, which for 5 of us, my number should be 25% (so come on, that's not that bad...) i'm planning on blogging hundreds of times over the next few weeks to get my percentage up. :)

Kevin

Kristen said...

Tonight I am going to a lent service so I am looking forward to that.

My community groups discussed what it means to wait or be in waiting. We had a great discussion about that so I have been reading in Isaiah 30 especially 15-18...Blessed are those who wait for him.

Also, my brother and I had a great conversation yesterday about God, faith and the church. It comes down to his lack of faith in something he can't see or understand....hmmm...I feel like I just went through all this with Ken, at least I have that expeierence to draw from =0) Please keep Rusty in your prayers and please pray that I can be a guiding light to help him find his path.

kd

Anonymous said...

Sorry I've been MIA this week. Snow day today.....so the kids and I had some cool time reading about Lent. We've been discussing if we are going to give something up and why we would if anyone wants to for Lent. Found some neat readings to do with the kids for the Easter season. I've been working in my study book. I need to get in the bible tonight and plan on it. Jeff has been traveling so much lately, I feel tired. He was gone all last week, two and half days this week and every week....so I need the bible time or I'd lose it.
My work meetings keep getting cancelled this week.....due a lot because of sick kids or adults, so my team could use some health prayers.

Mandy said...

I prayed the hours yesterday. I don’t know if it was connected to that prayer time or not, but I had really interesting moment yesterday, when all of the sudden I was really acutely aware of Gods acceptance of me. Not just that he loves me in spite of my junk, but that he created me the way I am and likes what he created. I find the experience difficult to describe because it was not in the middle of anything we would think of as spiritual, unless making chicken noodle soup counts. It was like this piercing awareness that I was not cooky Mandy that God puts up with, but the one he adores. For a minute it was like I was right there in Gods palm, and he was pleased. It was like this bazaar existential moment that has never happened to me before. Nothing I was doing led me to that, I was not praying or contemplating Gods love or anything. I guess it was just a gift.

Kristen said...

I went to an Ash Wednesday service last night. It was a great time to focus on the lenten season and center myself with God.

Tim Suttle said...

I prayed the BCP hours this morning. I'm hoping to do them again before lunch. Maybe tonight I'll make some soup.

Peace,

-t

Mandy said...

Prayed the hours today, even lit a candle. Still have the evening one to do, and I WILL do it! Not much reading this week, it seems I only have time to read OR pray, not both.

Tim Suttle said...

I got up early today and did the BCP hours. I'll start my confessions early by saying that I felt the readings were exceedingly long and not very worshipful. Oh well!! Hopefully I will stick with the hours today.

Friday Confessional:

I confess to caring too much about trivial matters and letting them have an effect on my mood and motivation.

I confess to eating far too much food this week.

I confess to feeling very ambivalent about Lent so far. I really don’t want to do the Friday fast, but I’m doing it just to fit in. I guess, in the end, that’s part of why I’m in a church.

I confess that I’ve felt exhausted all week. I’m fighting a cold and this has made it very difficult to be productive with my time which is not good considering how much I have to get done. I also confess to milking the fact that I don’t feel good for sympathy at home.

I confess that I have not done a good job of scheduling recovery time (physical, emotional, & spiritual) over the past 9 months. As a result I have no energy reserves and I am easily thrown off my game right now. I confess that I know this won’t get better until I schedule in recovery times, but I don’t have the energy to do it.

I confess to envy, pride, laziness, deceitfulness, lust, anxiety, procrastination, gluttony, concern, worry, and a host of other sins to horrible to write down. I confess that even so – I feel very lucky to be caught up in the grace of God and in our little church.

Glory be to God the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. World without end. Alleluia. Amen.

Kristen said...

I finished reading the story of Tamar last night for my women's group and I really enjoyed it.

I confess that I have been extremely tired this week and have slacked off in several areas.

I confess that giving up dt. dr. pepper for lent is a lot harder then I thought it would be and it shows me the level of my addiction.

I confess that I cannot wait for Saturday b/c my mom is watching the kids overnight and I really need a break.

kd

Anonymous said...

I've had some great prayer time. I read a lot in Luke. I was really struck with the part before the "ask and you shall receive" part, it is so integral to the story, but often seperated. I actually hopped around Leviticus, which I really need to get a commentary for, because parts are confusing to me. I will do confessions later, too early to think of them yet.

kevinc said...

This morning i spent some time in Romans 4-8. it was a beautiful passage, so much depth, i feel like i need to spend more time reading/reflecting on it. it closes with the idea that we are God's beloved children (Mandy i was really excited to hear about your experience this week...and i do think moments like making soup can be the most spiritual moments of our lives.) so anyway, i was reading that passage and then Sam and Ben ran into the room and i realized how much i love my boys, and that God's love is infinately greater than that. Kind of similar to Mandy's experience, just getting a glimpse of how much i am really loved by God. it was cool.

Confessions:

i have been very lazy and lacked discipline in so many ways this week.

i like to talk about how important spiritual disciplines are, but so many times when it comes down to it, i just don't want to do them.

when i disobey God, i have a tendency to hide and try to cover up instead of actually confessing to the offended parties.

i am concerned about what everyone thinks about me as i write these words.


i am out of town this weekend (california) so i won't be online, but i'll see you all monday at staff meeting.

Mandy said...

I had no time of prayer or anything today. We had commitments all day, and I did not get to it. Of course if I had gone to bed at a reasonable hour I would have likely been able to wake up and get into the bible a little bit, or pray the hours or something……

I confess that I forgot about Lent and my Friday fast until I was shoving a Sonic corn dog in my mouth at lunch today. My failure to take Lent seriously disappointed me.

I confess that I tried to look like I had it all together in front of some friends that I had not seen in a long time….when am I going to get over that??

I confess I used the fact that Bill was out of town as an excuse to be lazy and undisciplined this week

I confess I watched an inappropriate TV show the other night

Tim Suttle said...

Hey Guys,

I did the BCP Daily Office this morning, but not without a struggle. I usually do the daily office at www.missionstclare.com - but today when I went there it was down! I've been using this site for years! I'm so bummed because it is simply the best one out there. Anyway, so I had to hunt around and try to find a new one, which of course, uses too much of the old english language and all of the prayers are worded the wrong way. I finally felt what it must have felt like to the old ladies in my church growing up when we all started wanting to sing "praise choruses" instead of hymns! I'm such a creature of habit.

I'm trying to do the daily lent readings within the BCP daily office every day of lent. So far the streak is alive...barely!

Peace,

-t