What are YOU done with? Which feelings of hurt and betrayal do you need healed this Holy Week, on our journey to the cross?
Welcome to Jerusalem. This is where we begin Holy Week. We open with the story of Jesus riding a colt or a donkey depending on the gospel, into the city, attracting crowds, che… http://www.northparkpres.org/blog/welcome-to-jerusalem/
As the ultimate healer and restorer, God loves us so much and cares for us so deeply ‒ setting all things right for his people.
In this week’s blog, I felt it would be beneficial to take a detour from the rituals of healing to discuss The Healer. In Exodus 15, we find that God had led the Israelites acr… http://www.northparkpres.org/blog/god-the-healer/
Our Lenten practice continues with meaningful and curative rituals, as we journey toward Holy Week and Easter Sunday.
Do you find our Lenten ritual of healing and wholeness comforting? I do! The Worship & Music Committee decided this would help our congregation grieve the resignation of our… http://www.northparkpres.org/blog/the-spirit-intercedes/
Goat yoga: just another example of God's diverse world, full of variety and creative people finding joy in creation.
Traditional Christian concepts of “rituals of healing” tend to focus on the spiritual disciplines of prayer, meditation, fasting and the observance of the Sabbath, among others.… http://www.northparkpres.org/blog/pygmy-goats/
We continue our journey through the wilderness, exploring rituals of healing and wholeness in worship and prayer.
I came to the practice of meditation in a time of desperation. It was the fall of 2013, during the hardest period of my doctoral work. I had already been working on my disserta… http://www.northparkpres.org/blog/meditation-restoration/
During Lent, NorthPark Presbyterian Church invites you to join us in our search for healing in the wilderness.
Our theme for Lent this year at NorthPark Presbyterian Church is “healing in the wilderness.”
In the Bible, the Hebrew words for wilderness (midbar, arabah and eremos) appear … http://www.northparkpres.org/blog/healing-wholeness-in-the-wilderness/
When we think about the supreme sacrifice of Christ for us, all we can do is pour contempt on our pride.
When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.
See, from his head, his hands, his … http://www.northparkpres.org/blog/when-i-survey-the-wondrous-cross/
There is no doubt that Palm Sunday becomes the crest of the first hill on the emotional roller coaster that is Holy Week.
All glory, laud, and honor To You, Redeemer, King, To Whom the lips of children Made sweet hosannas ring.
The Palm Sunday celebration of Christ’s “triumphant” entrance into … http://www.northparkpres.org/blog/lenten-hymns-glory-laud-and-honor/
Imagine it sung with voices that stretch back to the 2nd Century and across the whole of the Church.
The simple singing of Kyrie Eleison has become the most powerful piece of music for me during the Lenten Season. We sing the English version, “Lord Have Mercy,” every Sunday … http://www.northparkpres.org/blog/lenten-hymns-kyrie-eleison/
As Jesus prayed in the garden for the strength to endure, so can we turn to God and pray for strength to walk our difficult journeys.
As a lifelong Presbyterian, hymns have always been a part of my faith journey. They float into my mind, and I find myself humming them to either praise a beautiful example of G… http://www.northparkpres.org/blog/lenten-hymns-go-to-dark-gethsemane/
Deep and intense theological questions follow me daily: “Whose truth will I believe? Whose truth is most relevant?”
For the next few weeks, our NorthPark bloggers will make Lenten reflections based on their favorite hymns.
This week, Rev. Kelly Staples has chosen “What Wondrous Love,” whic… http://www.northparkpres.org/blog/lenten-hymns-walking-the-road-bravel/
My faith has its ups and downs like that of everyone. There are ups and downs, doubt and wonder.
Amen.
Amen is a Hebrew word meaning "right on," or "so be it." It is a biblical way of saying "this is true." Jesus frequently says, "Amen I say to you," which gets transl… http://www.northparkpres.org/blog/lenten-devotional-march-19th/
By standing up and claiming we believe in the resurrection of the body, we believe our God has created something amazing in us.
The resurrection of the body
No one likes to talk about death. It makes everyone universally uncomfortable to face one's own mortality. And I think that's how we ended up … http://www.northparkpres.org/blog/lenten-devotional-march-17th/
If order could be created in this crazy world, if what has been destroyed could be restored, wouldn’t that be good news?
And will come again to judge the living and the dead
Every so often I will get a comment like the one I got at the back door of our church a few years ago. It went something… http://www.northparkpres.org/blog/lenten-devotional-march-12th/
We act as Christ's hands and feet in the world, as Christ is in our hearts. May God bless us in our work.
He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the hand of the Father Almighty.
"So when they had come together, they asked him, 'Lord, is this the time when you will restore the k… http://www.northparkpres.org/blog/lenten-devotional-march-11th/
The power of resurrection cannot be captured, contained, boxed in, or domesticated. Victory belongs to Christ!
On the Third Day He Rose Again
I have trouble trying to capture the power of the resurrection in a sermon on Easter, much less in a short devotional. And maybe that's the … http://www.northparkpres.org/blog/lenten-devotional-march-10th/
Our Lord stands with us, and even the people beyond hope, speaking the good news of God's grace.
He descended into hell
We know on Good Friday Jesus was nailed to the cross. We know that on Easter Sunday, God raised him from the tomb. Where was Jesus on Saturday?
H… http://www.northparkpres.org/blog/lenten-devotional-march-9th/
Jesus is there in peaceful and timely deaths and in violence and injustice. For the old and young alike, our Christ holds us close.
Was crucified, dead, and was buried
In the early Church there was a group of Christians called "Gnostic Christians" who disavowed the humanity of Christ. Gnostics believed… http://www.northparkpres.org/blog/lenten-devotional-march-8th/
