christianity – Page 3 – katyandtheword

Narrative Lectionary, Year 2, Lent 2

February 25, Lent 2
Mark 10:32-52 Son of Man to Serve, Heal Blind Bartimaeus
Psalm 34:11-14

Disciples want to get close to Jesus, Jesus continually points the disciples to look outward
Kneeling with Christ :When Jesus Comes Every Knee will bow,
Because Christ will return as he came, Kneeling to Serve
And we will Kneel to be Beside him
The Promise of a New Kin-dom
A World Beyond Capitalism, Breaking Capitalism

Call to Worship
I will bless the Lord at all times
Praise shall continually be in my mouth
Let my soul make its boast in the Lord
Let the humble hear and be glad
Let us hear the good news, and be warmed by it
Let us taste and see that God is good together
Come, magnify the Lord with me, for God is humble to be with us
Let us exalt the name of God together

Lent 2: Serving God: Whole Person/Confession & Serving God

Breath Prayer Option
God is with us
God Knows us

Call to Confession: Let us confess ourselves to Jesus Christ, the one who is human with us and for us, and so he accepts us as we are.

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that we are sometimes ashamed, we are afraid to come with our full selves. Afraid that we are incomplete, or not enough. We are afraid, and so we find it hard to serve. But you reassure us, that fear is part of the process, and that you will always answer and take care of us. Help us when we are afraid we pray. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Hear this, God answers and delivers us, forgiving us so that we are radiant with the good news: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Prayer of The Day/Dedication: God who sees us as complete and calls us by name in the midst of our struggles, lead us towards a faith that helps us to serve in a way that is not about ability* but about faith we pray. Amen.

Hymn Suggestions: What Does the Lord Require of You, Taste and See, Lift High the Cross

Taize Option: Lord Remember Me

Children’s Activity: Self Portraits–talk about how everyone is different and how God knows us and loves us exactly how we are, and how each of us have imperfections like most handmade work

Children’s Book: God Gave Us You by Lisa Tawn Bergren https://www.amazon.com/God-Gave-You-Lisa-Bergren/dp/0307729915

*Healing stories have a potential to turn ableist really quickly. Though it is amazing that Bartimaeus is healed, it is the fact that Jesus saw him as a full and complete person (notice how he is even named!), and took his faith as a priority that might be the most important aspect of this story.

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Let’s Write Liturgy

If you want an experiential, small group writing experience, here it is

Let’s Write Liturgy Workshop

Now Offered at Two Times, in the Eastern Time Zone

please email with your preferred date

Cost is $50

Do you want to learn how to write prayers and liturgy? Psalms and Calls to Worship? Confessions and Personal Prayers? This Zoom Workshop is designed for all levels and experiences for people to engage in prayer writing–using the scripture as your guide.

Led by Katy Stenta, Pastor, Writer and Educator

Who is ready for the next Liturgy Workshop?

Come and let’s have a writing experience together!

For more information to sign up, email Katyandtheword at gmail.com. Titled “Liturgy” indicate which date you want

Katy Stenta is a regular contributor to Sermonsuite, RevGalBlogPals, and is published in Enfleshed, Presbyterian’s Today and Outlook. She received her undergraduate in English and History and Minor on Philosophy at Oberlin, her M. Div. and MA in Christian Formation at Princeton Theological Seminary. She is all but dissertation for her Doctorate in Creative Writing as a Public Theologian at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. She also writes personal prayers regularly at katyandtheword.com.

Advent Day 6 Sitting in the Dark of Advent

Dr. Wil Gaffney “I have come to appreciate Advent so much more without the light/dark binary. Rather, I see darkness as the generative space in which the light is conceived and form which it is born. Both holy, both life-giving.”

Out of the Deep
the dark
the womb
…….

Out of the Silence
the non-speaking
the I-don’t know what to say

~~I have so many things to say~~
~~but I know nothing will fix this~~
………………
………………
………………

~~When I sit in the Dark…..~~
………………
………………

~~When I have no words….~~
………………
………………

~~When I cannot generate anything else…~~
………………
………………

(the Nothingness)

………………

I remember…

Jesus came from this

Light,
Word,
Hope

Created from the Holy Rest,
Sabbath

………………

………………
~~In the midst of like circumstances~~
………………

………………

This is how God Conceives
a Savior for us

Holy
able to sit
in the dark
silence
nothingness
war….chaos….loneliness

And be unproductive

With us…..

holy, holy, holy
Amen

Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Dr. Wil Gaffney and Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”

April 23 Peter’s Vision

Acts 10:1-17, 34-48
Matthew 9:36-37

Call to Worship
God we are the sheep and you are the Shepherd
Come Risen Christ
In Christ there is neither male nor female, slave nor free
Come Risen Christ
We are ready to greet Jesus Christ
Come Risen Christ

Call to Confess: We are truly all made clean in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, come let us confess ourselves to Christ.

Prayer of Confession: Dear God, we confess that we would like to pick and choose our Christians. We often would like to say, we are not like those Christians, or we would like to tell people who is included in our congregation and who is not. Forgive us. Teach us how to be both inclusive, and still to tell be brave enough to denounce wrong when we see it. Help us to continue to act in love we pray.

Assurance of Pardon: Remember that Christ came returned saying “Peace be with you” and so we can be assured of the Good News: In Jesus Christ we are Forgiven. Amen

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God may we go into the world blessed that any may be given the gifts of the Holy Spirit, may we recognize these gifts when we see them we pray. Amen.

Grading and Grace

God, I confess that sometimes I treat Christianity like a graded activity.

And it is all to my loss, because inevitably there is a typo in the bulletin, or a phone call I’ve forgotten to make or an email with the wrong attachment two or three times.

And sometimes, then I feel bad that I can’t do all of the things or help in all the ways I want to help.

And Lord you know, that my subconscious is telling me that points in my Christianity grade are being taken away.

But that’s not how it ever works God. You never ever take points away from us, but are always ready to give us points and credit.

T-Shirt (Recovering Perfectionist) | RamonaCreel.com - RamonaCreel.com

You fill our hearts with joy when we can help out! You create in us a celebratory spirit so that we can wish one another happy birthday, congratulate people on joyous life moments: like graduations, jobs, moves, babies, becoming heatlhier in any way.

God, you built us to encourage one another. To sit with one another when we are grieving and to cheer one another on, whenever we need it.

You give us all of the credit when we notice kindness, or build one another up, or remember to practice gratitude.

Christianity is the place where it should always be safe to ask for help.

And through your love, I am reminded that Christianiy has never been a graded activity. It is, after all, a place for the least of these to thrive.

Christianity is a place where sitting at the right hand of Jesus is not the goal, and washing the feet of those who need it the most is.

It is a place where perfection is admitted, up front, to be impossible, and trying our best is all that is required.

God, we know that your have designed the world, so there is no such thing as perfect faith, You will not give us a hundred on our Christian works.

Instead, you send the Holy Spirit to change our faith even as we change, and somehow still count it as valid.

Teach us again God that as faith changes us, we change our faith. We pray the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit prays us. Tomato, Tomato–God’s grace allows us to get all the credit.

Help us to practice the grace of Christianity, we pray. Suspend our judging nature, help us to let go of perfectionism and checklists and to instead be relational and growing in how and why we do this Christian thing.

Melt us, mold us, heal us, use us for your grace–whether we call it Christianity or not–let this be the way we live closer to you.

And when we fumble–remind us that Jesus Christ fully believes in the practice of extra credit.

In the name of Jesus Christ we pray.

Amen.

Feel Free to Use/Share/Adapt with Credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

About Me, My Journey and My Writing

Favorite-est things from #2015

The good stuff from this year…

Oprah Chai Teabags from Teavana, which taste like lattes only healthier

Books:

Accidental Saints Nadia Bolz-Weber: Confessional Pastoral Tales of mishaps & ministry–>seeing the holy in the messiness of humanity

Grounded by Diana Butler Bass: Mysticism, Spiritual but not Religious

Rook by Sharon Cameron: Fantasy YA version of The Scarlet Pimpernal

Six of Crows by Leigh Burdugo: Get together a crew to steal a prize, fantasy YA style

Prudence by Gail Carriger: Cyberpunk-ish tea drinking lady defies Victorian odds in werewolf and vampire politics

Court of Fives by Kate Elliot: Young woman in a Romanesque style class system competes in Olympic-like trials and uncovers the deep seated plots, classicism and intrigue (did I mention plots?)

Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas: Post Apocalyptic Sleeping Beauty Fiary Tale, where the world turns by story magic

Fairest by Marissa Meyer: Heart-rending portrayal of the villain of the Lunar Chronicles.

Movies

Star Wars A Force Awakens: Awakening a new (better represented diversity of) Star Wars fan with the now arch-typical stories of friendship and redemption

Martian nerdy science-ness and survival without a bad guy! No angst, just a collaborative game of survival

Inside Out what if feelings had feelings? Portraying the complex emotional development of children

Best Moments

Announcing Marriage ratification in the PCUSA

Love Wins: marriage equality Jun 29th 2015

My sister graduating from Oberlin May 2015, senior show, getting engaged…

Water on Mars!

Church Kids doing Charlie Brown Christmas Performance

Westley potty training!!!

Ashburn talking more

Franklin being creative and kind to everyone

http://www.transmography.net/brainery/ Fairy Tale Writing Class

Church: Kids day at the farmer’s market, 1st ever craft fair, 1st Breakfast with Santa, Doing Christmas all in Advent, NextChurch, 2nd Credo

Media

#blackharrypotter

#morallycomplicatedYA

#folkloreThursday

http://thiseverydayholy.com/ podcast about holiness in the daily

YAY BLOG

My Post on #Christianity I don’t think it means what you think it is

Theological Breakthru about my belief about Jesus coming

Things to work on

Gun Violence, Syrian Crises, Ebola, Floods, Climate, Poverty, Economy, other big things….

Do the #refugees make you feel uncomfortable?

That might just be God tapping you on the shoulder.

Do the refugees make you uncomfortable? Do they shake you from your feeling a safety and make you rethink life? Perhaps they make you hug your children tighter at night.

Today my husband and I discussed the possibility of WWIII calmly trying to assess whether that is a reasonable concern.

Friends, my faith does not solve these problems, but it assures me that the risks are worth taking.

Another name for the Holy Spirit is “the one who stirs up.” The Holy Spirit both stirs us up and comforts us at the same time (I don’t know how, but its true).

Christianity isn’t supposed to be sitting on our laurels of blessings, feeling at one with the world.

It is a call to action to serve and love one another, to be open to other human being

And lets be honest, that’s dangerous. Its dangerous to open yourself to being in relationship with others. But that is our call as Christian.

We are called to preach and embody Christ and the Good News Even at the risk of our own lives. Does that include refugees who might be terrorists?

As a Christian you are called to be in some kind of relationship with every other human being on the earth.

Because they too are creations of God.
Do the refugees make you uncomfortable?

That might just be God tapping you on the shoulder.

#hopewins #notafraid #diwali Practicing Humanity & Defeating #Terrorism

Because those are hope building practices, and this is how to defeat evil. This is how #hopewins, this is how we defeat #terrorism, not with weapons or policies, but with the refusal to live a life of fear.

Today is diwali the celebration of light winning over darkness, how fitting a reminder, for me a Christian when mercy and justice are hard to find today.

Fear Not!

Every time an angle appeared, every time God speaks, fear is cast out. God doesn’t want us to live in fear, God wants us to live into hope.

But that’s hard, its hard when attacks occur all over the world on one day–Beruit, Paris, Baghdad. Its difficult when gun violence continues to cause school shooter drills and institutional racism is unveiled again and again and again.

So what I do is, I cry. I pray. I look at the stars. I light candles.

(until we find the right words, we’ll light candles–Martha Spong)

I live in hope.

This expression is one I use when things are uncertain. I toss it off in casual conversation as though it is easy, but it is so, so difficult.

Worrying is a human past time. Its a way to cope with the reality that evil is in the world. It is a tool that can be overused to the point where we worry too much and forget to live.

Fear also, is interesting. As Christians a tenant of our faith is the fear God. We are not supposed to base our decisions on what could happen, we are not supposed to live our life based in fears, we aren’t supposed to live into the worry and the guilt, because the truth is, we humans do not function well in those state.

When we are anxious and afraid, when we are guilty or judgmental, we make bad decisions.

No doubt, this is why over and over again we are urged only to fear God. “Those who fear God” is an expression in the Old Testament to describe all those who are trying to follow God instead of giving in to other things. But then God tells us over and over again to fear not. And counsels us to hope and trust in what is going on….

Its hard not to fear, not to worry that I’m not secure enough in money or friendships. Its hard when my body does not function the way I want it to, or when my children get hurt from the bad things that go on in the world. Its hard when the news talks a lot about the problems of the world and little about the solutions. Its hard when refugees and children are dying from violence and rejection. Its hard when people proclaim “its not like it used to be” with authority as if evil is new and spreading instead of being old and already defeated by Jesus.

But I live into hope.

I practice not being afraid.

Building trust, assuming people are trustworthy, treating everyone with respect and kindness.

#Christianity, you keep saying that word, I don’t think it means what you think it means

1. Christianity to me isn’t about finding all the answers, but asking the essential questions (look at the Gospel its people asking Christ ?s and Christ asking people ?s) gathering together and acknowledging that God is bigger and greater than our understanding of things, and we’d rather see thing more God’s way than our own way, because our way is too small

2. Church is a the practice of community and worship so that when moments of extreme trouble come, you have a healthy way to bring them to God and process them. (Like fire drills). Every week isn’t revolutionary but every week is important.

3. Church is about community, there are few places where we commit to practice community with whoever comes thru the door Church is a practicum in faith just as its a place to explore spirituality.

4. Prayer is the ongoing conversation between you and God. As it is an ongoing, unique and individual conversation, my job as pastor is to act as mentor, guide and/or teacher. Where you are with God is based upon who you are, that’s why relationships with God can change a person because the two are so intertwined. This is why mature Christianity is (w)holistic Christianity. The kind where the Bible doesn’t necessarily tell you how to vote, but you have an evolved understanding of learning what God’s purpose is for the world and you apply that purpose wherever you are and as much as possible.

5. Faith is about seeking out relationships with God, people and the world. Loving things into a more real, truthful and essential existence than what they have before that love. Its not about controlling another person, quite the opposite, its freeing them to be who they are.

Grading & Grace: Prayer about how to be Christian

#fairytales #theology #valentinesday

“The great lesson of ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ – a thing must be loved before it is lovable.” ― G.K. Chesterton | #Valentine

This is why Beauty and the Beast is my theological fairy tale of choice

Cupid & Psyche–the basis for Beauty and the Beast– is simulataneously the last myth and the first fairy tale ever written…why? Because the transformational power of love and the possibility of “happily ever after” only come into being with the advent of Christianity and a new understanding of what theological hope is, telling a whole different story of good news