Aug 25, 2019 |
What If I . . . ?
| The Rev. Mitchell Bojarski![The Rev. Mitchell Bojarski](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/mitch_359_small.jpg)
What If I . . . ?
"We like to think of The Episcopal Church as being on the vanguard of progressive, forward-thinking kind of movements. But a time not so long ago some leaders of The Episcopal Church were opposing things like desegregation and civil rights. After the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested for civil disobedience and while he sat in a Birmingham, Alabama jail, a bunch of religious leaders wrote him a letter. They said, 'Listen, we’re on your side. We get it. We’re hip to the cause, but we don’t think now is the right time. You’re stirring up more trouble than you’re solving.' And the Episcopal Bishops of Alabama, along with Episcopal priests in Alabama signed that letter. Dr. King wrote back to say that 'Now is always the right time for the truth.'"
Aug 18, 2019 |
Belief Is Not an Escape
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul![The Rev. Philip DeVaul](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/philip-devaul_215_small.jpg)
Belief Is Not an Escape
"Belief in God and belief in the power of love is not for us an escape from suffering and is not for us an exit from real life. Belief in the power of love and the presence of God and belief in the transformative reality of Jesus Christ, his life and death and resurrection, does not get us a chance to opt out of reality. For the Christian, that’s our beginning, our genesis."
Aug 11, 2019 |
Treasure in Your Heart
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin![The Rev. Joyce Keeshin](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/joyce-keeshin_250_small.jpg)
Treasure in Your Heart
"I think the real message here is to not let our stuff, or our concern about accumulating stuff, get in the way of our relationship with God. Those words come where Jesus says, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. If we let our stuff be our treasure, if we let our accumulation, if we let our success, if we let all of those worldly things be our treasure, then that gets in the way of our relationship with God."
Aug 11, 2019 |
Ready for Action
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul![The Rev. Philip DeVaul](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/philip-devaul_215_small.jpg)
Ready for Action
"When Jesus talks about being ready for action, he’s talking about being able to see God at work in the world at any given moment. He’s talking about us acknowledging our own belovedness and belongingness to God so fundamentally, so clearly, so powerfully that we can’t help but acknowledge other people’s belovedness and belongingness. And we can’t help but act for change in this world."
Aug 04, 2019 |
What Will You Do?
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul![The Rev. Philip DeVaul](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/philip-devaul_215_small.jpg)
What Will You Do?
"You are the body of Christ. And you can pray with your feet. And you can pray with your hands. You, right now. And so, I ask you, as we acknowledge the sorrow and the pain and our own fear of violence in this country, what are you going to do about the violence in your country, in your community? You. What are you going to do to end white supremacy? What’s your part in it? How will you work for reconciliation and love? How will you be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in this world?"
Aug 04, 2019 |
I'm Angry and I'm Scared
| The Rev. Mitchell Bojarski![The Rev. Mitchell Bojarski](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/mitch_359_small.jpg)
I'm Angry and I'm Scared
"When I get this angry, when I feel this kind of wrath against people who are perpetrating these kinds of crimes and threatening our safety, I get in a position where I’m creating an us and a them. There’s me; peace-loving and fair-minded. And there’s all of them; who are just angry and scared and doing all these terrible things. Paul reminds us that there is no more us and them. It’s just us. We’re all in this together. […] And I know that together we can do something to change all this."
Jul 28, 2019 |
Inscribed in Our Hearts
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin![The Rev. Joyce Keeshin](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/joyce-keeshin_250_small.jpg)
Inscribed in Our Hearts
"The Lord’s Prayer is inscribed in our hearts. And, yes, we may wrestle with the language, we may even wrestle with the word “father.” Sometimes the word “father” doesn’t conjure up loving feelings for us. We may wrestle with a lot of different aspects and yet there is an underlying relationship with God revealed in that prayer, an underlying invitation to connect, to relate to God, to be present with God."
Jul 28, 2019 |
Attitude of Prayer
| The Rev. Mitchell Bojarski![The Rev. Mitchell Bojarski](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/mitch_359_small.jpg)
Attitude of Prayer
"So often these people, who do not remember their own children, they have no idea who I am or what I’m doing there, and they hear the words of the Lord’s Prayer, will join right in. [This comes] from a life of shaping themselves by this way of prayer. The words that Jesus taught them will come because they’ve lived this attitude that Jesus taught them. They’ve prayed these words over and over and over and over again. To the point where they’re second nature. They have this prayer written on their hearts, because they have used not just the words, but the attitude of prayer that Jesus was trying to teach."
Jul 21, 2019 |
To Be Fully Present
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin![The Rev. Joyce Keeshin](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/joyce-keeshin_250_small.jpg)
To Be Fully Present
"If we find we find we always default to one, maybe we put our
toe a little bit in the water of the other. Maybe if where always the doer, maybe
we step back for just a minute and let someone else do. Maybe if we’re always
seeking to be on the listening side, maybe we step forward a little bit. Maybe
we look to find the grace in both paths because there not opposite paths, they
all lead us to God."
Jul 21, 2019 |
Both And
| The Rev. Mitchell Bojarski![The Rev. Mitchell Bojarski](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/mitch_359_small.jpg)
Both And
"There’s a place for Marys and there is a place for Marthas. I
don’t just mean in this church or in this room, that we need some Marys, we need
some Marthas. There’s a place for Mary and Martha in each one of us. None of us
should be just like Mary here in this story and none of should be just like Martha.
You shouldn’t be doing all the work. You shouldn’t just be studying your Bible
and doing no work."
Jul 14, 2019 |
The Image of the Invisible God
| The Rev. Melanie W. J. Slane![The Rev. Melanie W. J. Slane](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/melanie-slane_755_small.jpg)
The Image of the Invisible God
"[This is] What the church is hoping you will do in your everyday
life. That you will hear these stories of Jesus, the image of the invisible God
who drew near to us so that we would see him and be seen by him and give
compassion and love to the world, a world that is hungry for all of that, for
that connection, for that communion, for that love, that is available in Jesus
and in God."
Jul 07, 2019 |
The Harvest is Plentiful
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul![The Rev. Philip DeVaul](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/philip-devaul_215_small.jpg)
The Harvest is Plentiful
‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.’ It’s very possible for us to hear that there are a bunch of people out there who need our help and we’d better get out there and help and fix them and make the world right. But that’s not how harvesting works. Jesus doesn’t say, the harvest is a disaster and the crops are right on the edge of failing. […] He says, the harvest is abundant. Which means it’s ready, let’s go! The harvest, the people, are ready for God. You’re going to go out into a world of people whose hearts, their love and their yearning for joy, for connection and relationship with God and with one another is ripe and ready to be harvested and all you’ve got to do is do the harvesting. Jesus isn’t sending you out to fix. Jesus isn’t sending you out to make the world right. He is sending you out into the harvest to reap the harvest of God’s belonging. To recognize the beauty and the belonging of the people right in front of you.
Jun 30, 2019 |
Cranky Jesus
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul![The Rev. Philip DeVaul](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/philip-devaul_215_small.jpg)
Cranky Jesus
Cranky Jesus, today, is the Jesus who because he loves us, is saying you don’t just get to live into this thing and not give anything up. You don’t get to the place of being part of the mission of God’s love and changing this world on your terms, exactly as you’d like, in your time frame, and in your way. And you certainly don’t get to stay comfortable while doing it.
Jun 23, 2019 |
This is the Healing of God
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul![The Rev. Philip DeVaul](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/philip-devaul_215_small.jpg)
This is the Healing of God
What we have to understand is that us being sent back into the world as lovers of this world is part of our healing. One of the great gifts this man receives is being sent back into the world in love to serve God. This is a healing act. And when he does this work he is not alone because God is with him in it. Maybe we’re scared that if we are being sent out into the world to love the way that we have been loved, that we are going to get it wrong and we are going to screw it up. […] This isn’t about being flawless. And it’s not about conjuring up love out of nowhere and just trying to be the right, kind of loving, good, perfect person in the world. Forget it! Your healing happens when you continue to remind yourself and connect yourself to the God who continues to love you and reconcile you and heal you in Jesus Christ. And in Jesus’ name to go out into the world, not making love happen but being a bringer of the love that already is within you. This is the healing of God.
Jun 16, 2019 |
Searching for Unity
| Guest Speaker![Guest Speaker](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/img-4212_935_small.jpg)
Searching for Unity
“Becoming Beloved Community is at its heart calling us to dwell in the Trinitarian oneness of God. We are called to look for God, to find God, and then to love God as we love one another and embrace the whole creation. Becoming Beloved Community is not easy, in fact, it is the hardest work imaginable, because it is our search for God. It’s our search for a God who creates and parents our creation. It’s our search for Jesus, for God’s concrete share in our community. And a search for the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, who breathes in and through us. It’s our search for unity, unity with God and with each other, unity with all creation: beloved community." ~ The Rev. Canon Lee Anne Reat
Jun 16, 2019 |
We are so blessed.
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin![The Rev. Joyce Keeshin](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/joyce-keeshin_250_small.jpg)
We are so blessed.
“We are very blessed to be in a community that is so committed to living into Christ’s love. We are so blessed to be in a community that does listen for the Holy Spirit to guide us. We are so blessed to be constantly challenged by how we might live more deeply into that, by becoming beloved community, by living into our vision more fully of welcoming all people. We need to not take that love for granted because it does not happen everywhere."
Jun 03, 2019 |
The Alphabet of our Lives
| The Rt. Rev. Thomas Breidenthal![The Rt. Rev. Thomas Breidenthal](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/breidenthal---southern-ohio_849_small.jpg)
The Alphabet of our Lives
"Jesus says, I am the Alpha and the Omega. I’m everything between A and Z. I’m the whole works. I’m the manifestation of everything that God has in store. Before all time, God’s intention was that I should bring all things to be. I am manifesting God’s intention to bring all things to their perfection and to fix all things that are wrong, because there’s a lot that can go wrong between A and Z."