Volume 1 Issue 25

God of grace and God of glory, on thy people pour thy power;
crown thine ancient church’s story; bring her bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the facing of this hour.

Lo! The hosts of evil round us scorn thy Christ, assail his ways!
Fears and doubts too long have bound us; free our hearts to work and praise.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the living of these days.

Cure thy children’s warring madness, bend our pride to thy control;
shame our wanton, selfish gladness, rich in things and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, lest we miss thy kingdom’s goal.

Save us from weak resignation to the evils we deplore;let the search for thy salvation be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, serving thee whom we adore.
--Harry Emerson Fosdick
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I will have a greater appreciation for the observance of President’s Day on Monday for having today attended the peace rally and protest of the impending war against Iraq. It is this freedom to peacefully assemble and express opinion that is the hallmark of America’s true greatness, and we need to all be vigilant in our guard against those who would seek to deprive us of these rights under the guise of patriotism. After all, our nation was founded upon the organized dissent against the administration in power at the time.
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By going to the Bulletin Board: you can read Earl’s concern that we don’t seem to learn the lessons of history; you can still link up with Sally’s Thanksgiving blessing; you can be challenged by Marta’s question of “why go to church?’; you can find out why Rachel is embarrassed to be a Christian; you can agree or disagree with Leon’s contention that President Bush is a monomaniac; you’ll learn how the terms “unholy war” and “perverted patriotism” provoked Kirby; and you can read Selina’s response that was inspired by Margaret Storz’s Daily Guide “The Power of Love”.
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Speaking of the Daily Guides (I’m nothing if not the master of segues), since making this page available at the beginning of the year we have gradually moved to an average of six readers per day (yes, Matt has made it possible for me to find these things out). Given the amount of time that it takes me to manually enter each day’s guide onto the site, it will probably be more cost effective for those who are regularly reading them to just let me know who they are and I’ll order them a gift subscription. We’ll keep the page up through the end of March, but if we aren’t averaging 25 readers a day by then it will be discontinued. HELPFUL HINT: I pull up the Daily Guide page before my work day begins, and then I just keep it up to refer back to (especially the affirmation) during the day.
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If you’re proceeding on to today’s sermon from here, you might find it helpful to first look up the definitions for: polytheism; henotheism; monotheism. This may or may not help you to better understand my message, but it will definitely add sparkle to your conversation at the next party!
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Until next week…….Shalom!