Sermon notes from yesterday.

1. Spiritual Reflection
• How does it happen for you?
• Looking for how Scripture ties into our lives & with itself.
  
  
2. Praying for Peace
• Disunity is the natural state for humanity.
• The way to heal disunity is in God's purpose.
• God knows us and yearns to bring us into his purpose.
• Our signs are all different because we are all unique.
• God involves self in the world & in us; Jesus is our rallying point.
  
  
3. Ephesians Reading (Ephesians 2.11-22)

So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called "the uncircumcision" by those who are called "the circumcision"—a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands— remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

• Lots of imagery taken from Jewish ritual.
• v 13 (But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.) recalls the sacrifices of old; there's a sacrifice involved.
• v 14 (For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,) outer court/inner court dividing wall.
• v 18 (For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.) this is about the Trinity; introduction of somebody to royalty.
  
  
4. Prayer
• We have to be a praying community.
• Prayer is passion, from the heart, intentional.
• Prayer is what we do; our life in Christ is who we are.
  
  
5. The Taizé Community
• A community of prayer.
• Oray for unity among all Christians, and in the world.
• People go and pray for hours.
• The one place in the world where Catholics & non-Catholics can all partake of the Sacrament of the Eucharist together.
• For more information, click here.

I wonder how others follow this? The man who was taking the service yesterday is always interesting, but his sermons don't always seem to follow a logical course. That's okay by me, since my mind is somewhat tangential, but it's a bit disorienting sometimes.

Regardless... it got me to thinking about how doing my daily devotional blog has really opened up that first point to me. It "clicked" for me. I quite like writing those devotionals, and it's wonderful to be spending time in the Word every day.

And the emphasis on prayer is so important, so good! Prayer really needs to be emphasized more in the church, I think. God wants us to pray, to spend time with him, to talk to him. We need to do that daily!

And my thoughts are, I think, more disorganized than the sermon was, so I'll stop now...