A People on the Move: An Easter Devotional

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A People on the Move-Easter 201116

www.fccminneapolis.orgA People on the Move-Easter 20111

First Christian ChurchMinneapolis, MN

A People onThe Move: Easter

A 2011 Devotional




GOD told Abram: "Leave your country,your family, and your father's home for

a land that I will show you.-Genesis 12:1 (The Message)


June 12, 2011-Pentecost SundayActs 2:1-21 Psalm 104:24-

34, 35b

1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

John 7:37-39

Holy Spirit, making life alive, moving in all things, root of all

created being, cleansing the cosmos of every impurity, effacing guilt, anointing wounds.You are lustrous and praisewor-

thy life, you waken and re- awaken everything that is.Hildegard of Bingen - 12th cen- tury

Pentecost grew from the Jewish heritageof the Festival of

Weeks, a harvest festival of seven weeksbeginningimmediately after Passover and endingon the 50th day Pentecost.

It became the birthday of the church asthe Spirit came in the wind and fire.Peter boldly quoted the prophet Joeland David, convincing 3,000 to be bap-tized and follow Jesus' teachings.

Our church has made the bold decisionto move to the Ministry Center. MayGod's Spirit lead us, renew eachmember, revitalize our witness, and

move us to a vibrant active faith.

o God, the Holy Spirit, comeus and among us: come as thwind and cleanse us; come athe fire and burn; come as t

dew and refresh; convict, convert and consecrate many hearts and lives to our great good and your greater glory.— Anonymous

The Birthday of th

ChurcBy Ann Wolvert

Therefore, since we are sur-rounded by such a great cloud

witnesses, let us throw off everthing that hinders and the sinthat so easily entangles, and leus run with perseverance the rmarked out for us.-Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)




June 5, 2011-Ascension Sunday―But you will receive

power when the Holy Spirit has

come upon you; and you will be

my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all

Judea and Samaria, and to the

ends of the earth.‖ When he had

said this, as they were watching,

he was lifted up, and a cloud

took him out of their sight. (Acts

1: 8-9)

There they stand, mouths agape,stunned, staring up into the sky. What

an empti-ness the

apostlesmust havefelt asthey low-ered their

gaze and looked blankly at each other.Now what?

I‘ve had ―now what?‖ feeling at leasttwice in my life. Once was when I droveaway with my mother and sister from

the cemetery where we had j ust buriedmy father, overwhelmed with the reali-

zation that we were leaving him behind,forever. The second was when mydaughter and her brand new husband

walked through the gate to the planethat would take them half a world

away for a year. The house I wenthome to had never before seemed soempty, so drained of life. How could I

go on without my father, or with mydaughter so far away?

But I did go on. I learned to live with

my father's memory instead of his physi-cal presence. Through letters and phonecalls, my daughter and I realized wecould still be close even with great dis-tance between us.

The Ascension story is not a story of loss and emptiness. When the disciples

returned to an upper room in Jerusalem,the presence of Jesus was alive withthem, just as he had promised. Indeed,the spirit of the living Christ was so pow-erful that the fervent prayers and fel-

lowship of these first disciples soon ig-nited a movement that would literallychange the world.

When our com-munity of Disci-ples locks thedoor and walks

away from 2201First Avenue, we

will be venturing into a future full of promise and new life. We will have an

opportunity, in partnership with otherbelievers, to be witnesses for Jesus‘ mes-sage in ways we can‘t even yet imagine.

So instead of dreading the ―now

what‖ feeling when we say goodbye,let‘s instead trust in and look forward to

living the next chapter of our story.

―And now I am no longer in

the world, but they are in the world. . . Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.‖ (John 17: 11)

Now What?By Martha Harris


IntroductionAs I’m typing this intro, I can see that Spring has yet to really arrive in Minnesota.

barely 50 degrees and only the day before, we had snow on the ground.

The winter of 2010-11

has been a rough one. It

looks like it will be one of

the snowiest winters in

decades. So much snow

for so long.

The thing is, that as the

days get longer, the cold

tends to lose its grip. The

earth draws in closer to

the sun and the weather

gets warmer. Before

long, Spring has finally

arrived.

In this second in a series

of devotionals called A People on the Move, we move from Lent into Easter, the tim

in the life of the church where we celebrate Jesus Christ’s defeat of the powers of

and death. Easter is a time of hope, of knowing that death doesn’t have the last

word.

As we prepare for our historic move away from 2201 First Avenue South to Garfieand 28th, we will be closing the door on a stage in the life of First Christian Church

Minneapolis. In many ways it will feel like a death.

But because we belong to God, a God that is with all the time, we can move in hop

of what God has yet do with and through us.

Easter is here. In good times and bad, let us say with confidence and hope that Ch

is Risen! Christ is Risen indeed!

Dennis Sanders

Associate Pastor

Easter 2011




April 24, 2011-Easter SundayText; John 9:1-41

The first Sunday of April was the 4th

Sunday in Lent. The Gospel lesson inJohn reports Jesus saying :―As long as I

am in the world, I am the light of theworld‖. Then it was complemented by

Paul‘s telling the Ephesians: ―For onceyou were darkness, but now in the Lord

you are light. Live as children of light…‖

So, what might this mean tous at First Christian in ourtimes of transition? As oftenis the case, Martha Harrisprovided me with a windowinto these texts and our jour-

ney together. We had lunchat the African Deli in Cedar Riverside aweek ago. The Deli is across the streetfrom the now closed St. Martin‘s Tablewhere she, Fred Smith and I met weekly

for over a decade. Every Wednesdayafternoon we met for coffee and lection-ary reflection. I am fairly certain that

we would have had a good conversationabout these texts relate to the new and

changing realities we face, both person-ally and at F irst Christian.

Just what does it mean to you and methat Jesus ―was the Light of the World‖

and that because we confess Jesus asLord, ―we are [now] the light‖ and are

called to live as children of that light?Surely our decision to join two other de-nominations in an ecumenical , sharedministry is a ―light to the world‖ and awitness to Jesus‘ call for his f ollowers to

―be one as my Father and I are one‖.After all, ―Unity‖ was Alexander Camp-

bell‘s North Star and a fundamental

part of our Disciples of Christ heritageand mission.

As we sat down for lunch, Martha gaveme a new book that she had found very

meaningful, entitled When Faith Meets Reason. It included a Post-It note iden-

tifying two essays she thought I would

find valuable. One was by Hal Taussig,and his reflections have given me a new

way to make additional sense of how I,

and we, might live in the Light of Jesusand have the audacity and courage toaccept our call to be a manifestation of

that light in our time and place. Mymorning meditations have already been

re-shaped by Taussig‘s own contempla-

tive practices. Thanks to him, I haverediscovered the music and poetry of John Bell of the Iona Community where Ispent time off the coast of Scotland a

few years ago.

Every morning, Taussig meditates byrepeating over and over the words of Bell‘s hymn: ―Take, oh, take me as I am.

Summon out what I shall be. Set yourseal upon my heart. And live in me.‖Ever since Martha gave me this gift, Ihave made these words a morningmantra as I meditate.

Children of LightBy Garry Hesser


May 29, 2011Gospel Text: Joh n 14: 15-21

―I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.‖ --John 14:18

Although I do not have the experience of being orphaned, in some small way, thverse reminds me of a time when I was about 5 years old. I had gone to the Co

lumbia Mall in Grand Forks with my Dad, and as was often the case, I seemed twander off and not be able to find him.

At first, I was scared because Ididn‘t know where he was or

how I would get back home,and I didn‘t know what to

do. Perhaps someone sawme in distress, brought me toan office where there werepeople who seemed to know what to do.

I must have told them we were going to be eating at the John Barleycorn restaurant, because they took me there and waited with me and served me a delicioucheeseburger. I was reunited with my Dad and had no idea how scary that muhave been for him. But I was not left behind; others stepped in to help me in timof fright and I was not left alone.

Jesus knew his fate was soon to come. But he also cared that his disciples knowthat they would not be left behind once he went to his better home. So, too, withe congregation of First Christian Church not be ―orphaned‖ once we leave all

that has been familiar at 2201 1st

Ave. South for our new dwelling place. We arwatching out for ourselves through committees and opportunities for conversatiGod is watching out for us as well.

Although we cannot see it now, God will have been with us each step of the wainto our new church home. We will not be left orphaned, and what‘s more, we

be able to give a church home to new generations of Christians who will come thear the Gospel preached, to live into Christ‘s realm on earth through communiand help through service and dedication to God and God‘s people.

Stay with us, O God, when we feel uncertain of the steps to come. Give us a strosense of your presence when our hearts wander far afield, and bring us togethethe home you have set for us. In your Son‘s strong name, Jesus, we pray. Amen.

(Not) Left BehinBy Chris Wogam




May 22, 2011

Psalm 31 v. 1-5; 15-16

I think that we can learn how to pray

well from David. David begins Psalm 31,which is a prayer and praise for deliver-

ance from enemies, by saying in verse 1,"in you, O Lord, I seek refuge..." In verse

5, he says, "[i]nto your hand, I commitmy spirit." In verse 15, he says, "[m]ytimes are in your hand." This is someonewho knows who he is in relation to God.He knows that God is in control of his

life, and that God will answer prayer.He surrenders himself to God's care inprayer. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God says toSolomon, David's son, "if my peo-ple...humble themselves, pray, seek my

face, and turn from their wicked ways,then I will hear from heaven..." God

hears and answers a humble person'sprayers.

While our prayers should often bethankful prayers, it seems more often inour prayers, we ask God for something.Here, David makes a request that Godprotect him from his foes: "deliver me

from the hand of my enemies and per-secutors." So often when we pray weare asking God for help. David thenrequests God's favor when he says, "[l]etyour face shine upon your servant."

David also knows that God's love canrescue him, so he then says, "save me in

your steadfast love." In verse 3, he rec-

ognizes that God is the reason for his

strength when he says that,

"[y]ou are indeed my rockand my fortress; for yourname's sake, lead and guideme." David asks God toguide him in the same way

he later told God that he was commit-ting his spirit to God, surrendering and

trusting that God would faithfully de-

liver him.

The next time you pray, be mindful of the Psalms and manner in which the

psalmists bring themselves to God tooffer up prayer.

A Humble PrayerBy Arlene Jorgensen Hillestad

All that is gold does not glitter,Not all those who wander are lost;The old that is strong does notwither,Deep roots are not reached by thefrost.From the ashes a fire shall bewoken,A light from the shadows shallspring;Renewed shall be blade that wasbroken,The crownless again shall be king.-J.R.R. Tolkien


April 24, 2011-Easter SundayI invite you to join me in this prayer, both as individuals and as members of our

community on a journey:

―Take, oh, take us as we are. Summon out what we shall be. Set your seal upo

our hearts. And live in us.‖ (John Bell, Iona Community)

―For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as childre

light…‖

Grace and peace. Amen.

Well, son, I'll tell you:

Life for me ain't been no cry

tal stair.

It's had tacks in it,And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet o

the floor --

Bare.

But all the time

I'se been a-climbin' on,And reachin' landin's,

And turnin' corners,

And sometimes goin' in the dark

Where there ain't been no light.

So boy, don't you turn back.

Don't you set down on the steps

'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.

Don't you fall now --

For I'se still goin', honey,

I'se still climbin',

And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

Mother to SonBy LangstonHughes




May 1, 2011

John 20: 19 – 31

―Jesus said to him, ‗Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed

are those who have not seen and yet believe.‘‖ (John 20:29)

Before I came to FCC Minneapolis, I was in the restaurant business – food and bev-erage sales. I had a set of specific commodities I was supposed to push, and some-

thing more intangible I was

supposed to help createcalled ―The Dining Experi-ence.‖ The money I made

depended on both factors;I‘d get tips based on a per-centage of the volume of

food and drink I provided, but I would also get tips based on the quality of the

dining experience. Great tips would come if there was good chemistry betweenmyself and the diners, if I provided good service without being too intrusive, and if I

could talk them into the extra appetizer or dessert or beverage.

The ministry of the Church is to believe and ―sell‖ a ―product‖ that we have not

seen, but yet believe in, the love of God experienced in grace. (And if you are un-comfortable with the idea of faith life being a sales job, sorry, but it happens to bea fact, a fact called evangelism.) It is one both more intangible than the ―diningexperience‖ but in some ways is more necessary to our life than food. Just as in res-

taurant work, you have to believe in your product to sell, in evangelism work youhave to show others just how important Jesus is to you. The ―religious experience‖

or ―faith experience‖ has to be real, authentic, and sincere, for it to reach a cross thedivide of human souls and touch human lives.

FCC is a church on the move physically, but we are called by God to be a churchon the move spiritually. Our job is to provide ―faith experiences‖ for all souls whowalk through our doors, a faith community that is purposeful and meaningful, anda life context that helps others get on down the road of living in purposeful and

meaningful ways.

So, what sort of ―sales‖ job are you prepared to do?

Sales JobBy Bob Brite


May 15, 2011 John 10: 1-10

― The gatekeeper opens the gate for the shepherd, and the sheep hear his voice.

He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.‖ – John 10: 3

This detail has always fasci-nated me: ―He calls his ownsheep by name.‖ How many

sheep, that aren‘t kept as

pets, do you suppose havenames? Clearly, Jesus was

telling a story for his disciples to under-line for them the proper way intoheaven. This story comes with its ownprickly details and thorny theologicalissues, as to who is a ―legitimate‖ disciple,

who will be saved, and who will inheritthe kingdom of heaven.

Bracket these questions for now, and

hear only the voice of the shepherd call-ing his sheep by name. Think of name,after name, after name, that this shep-herd is calling out, knowing a little bitabout what the names are referring to,

a little about the personalities of theseindividual sheep. It is somewhat inti-mate, as you can‘t have any kind of relationship with anyone or anythingunless you know what he, she, or it is

called.

What do you do when someone callsyou by name? How do you feel? Do

you feel included, startled, scared, joyful,burdened, ready? What if your name isdifferent now than when you were akid? Or if has changed for professionalreasons?

A name is very personal, but it is not only way we can ever be known.

The Great Shepherd will call you by yname to let you know He is looking fyou. And the call will come when yo

least expect it. The call will come to church as well. We might be going inanother place, but our name will remthe same. Hear the Shepherd call yoname as he passes by, and above all

else, be ready to go; my hope and codence is with First Christian Church thit will similarly respond to the holy ca

Gracious, good Shepherd, tender of osouls, leader of our flock, remember u

always by our names, the names whi

we call ourselves, and the names whi

you call us. Lead us on by the hand

from here, to our new home, and into

the Promised Land. Calm our souls

when they worry, and rescue us when

we‘re astray. Let us lay on you the tr

bles we carry; nourish us into a new d

Amen.

“He calls his own sheep by nam

By Chris Wogam




"I think joy and sweetness and affection are a spiritual

path. We're here to know God, to love and serve God,and to be blown away by the beauty and miracle of na-

ture. You just have to get rid of so much baggage to be

light enough to dance, to sing, to play. You don't have

time to carry grudges; you don't have time to cling to the

need to be right.

- author Anne Lamott.


Walk together childrenDon' you getwearyWalk togetherchildrenDon't you getwearyOh, talk together childrenDon't you get wearyThere's a great camp meeting in the

promised land.

-An African-American Spiritual




May 8, 2011Luke 9:1-6

When Jesus sent his disciples out to ex-

pand his ministry, he gave his disciplesspecific instructions about what to take

with them. ―Take nothing for your jour-

ney, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor

money —not even an extra tunic.‖

What do you pack for a trip? Do youtake a light bag or everything but thekitchen sink? I learned from packing fora twelve day trip to Haiti and Domini-

can Republic to pack lightly, to make dowith what you packed, and to sharewith others on the trip.

But have you moved lately? I haven‘tmoved for over 30 years. I fondly re-

member the days when I could put allmy possessions in a car to move or therewas the time I moved by shipping a boxof my possessions and took the bus withone suitcase to my new location. Well,

then, I got married to a man whose Fa-ther worked for a furniture store andthe possessions not only increased butgot bigger. However, we could stillmove in a Ryder truck with one car

packed in the truck with the furnitureand other stuff. Now it is time for us to

downsize, to have a simpler lifestyle and

to fit into a smaller space. There arehard decisions to be made if you dreamof fitting into an RV.

First Christian Church (our church fam-

ily) has been located in its present spacefor over 50 years. When Portland Ave-

nue Christian Church moved to this loca-

tion, what did they bring with them? Iwould guess that they brought very few

possessions into this newspace from the old Portland

except the most importantthing – the people who hadworshiped God together (thechurch family). As we pre-

pare to move to another new space we

need to downsize the possessions, buttake this family of people who are wor-shiping God together. We need to takeour good news about the Ministry andMission of Jesus Christ everywhere.

Gracious and Compassionate God,

Thank you for the blessings you havebestowed on the family of First ChristianChurch of Minneapolis. Guide us and

instruct us as we move to a new spacewhere as always everyone will be wel-come at your table. Help us to remem-ber that the people are the church; notthe stuff. We ask these things in the

name of your Son and our Savior, JesusChrist. Amen

Packing for a Trip or a MoveBy Mary Hurlocker


Well I can't tell you where I'm going, I'm not sure of where I've

been

But I know I must keep travelin' till my road comes to an end

I'm out here on my journey, trying to make the most of it

I'm a puzzle, I must figure out where all my pieces fit

Like a poor wayfaring stranger that they speak about in song

I'm just a weary pilgrim trying to find what feels like homeWhere that is no one can tell me, am I doomed to ever roam

I'm just travelin', travelin', travelin', I'm just travelin' on

Questions I have many, answers but a few

But we're here to learn, the spirit burns, to know the greater trut

We've all been crucified and they nailed Jesus to the tree

And when I'm born again, you're gonna see a change in me

God made me for a reason and nothing is in vain

Redemption comes in many shapes with many kinds of pain

Oh sweet Jesus if you're listening, keep me ever close to you

As I'm stumblin', tumblin', wonderin', as I'm travelin' thru

I'm just travelin', travelin', travelin', I'm just travelin' thru

I'm just travelin', travelin', travelin', I'm just travelin' thru

-Dolly Parton

A People on the Move: An Easter Devotional

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