Sunday @ Central
August 4, 2019 | Eighth Sunday After Pentecost
11:00 a.m. Service for the Lord's Day
This is Central: Hospitality is Central
Isaiah 56.1-8 | Acts 8.26-40
Jessica Patchett, preaching
Dear Friends,
This Sunday, we’ll begin a new sermon series called “This is Central.”
I know some of you have been around for a while, and you likely have clear ideas about who Central is, what’s core to Central’s life together, and how Central expresses the Christian faith in a unique way.
But as a newcomer, I – and many others – are still learning, still trying to put words to what makes Central such a special place. So, throughout the month of August, I’d like to invite you to join me on this journey of exploration. I’ll need your help to see what I haven’t seen, meet who I haven’t met, hear stories I haven’t heard, and refine the words I’m using to describe and understand all of it.
To give us a starting point, I’ve chosen four dimensions of the Christian faith that I’ve found central to who Central is: hospitality, humility, liberation, and grace.
As the month unfolds, I’d love to hear from you:
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When have you experienced these with the Central community?
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Who has embodied these things? Helped make them real for you?
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When have you had the privilege of seeing someone else come alive because of them?
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What am I missing? What else is central to how Central lives the Christian faith in a unique way in this time and place?
Your stories and insights will be invaluable to me and other members of the Central community as we continue to grow together into a new season of life, ministry, and mission together.
There are two ways you can send me your reflections:
2.
Use your phone to record a short video of you or someone else and share it with me through a Facebook message. You can find me on Facebook by searching Jessica Renee Patchett.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you!
Jessica
P.S. If you follow a lectionary for personal devotion and reflection, you’ll notice this month that the scripture passages I’ve chosen for us to read and reflect on in worship are my unique selections and do not follow a lectionary. In the Presbyterian Church, pastors are given the responsibilities of choosing scriptures to be read in public worship and providing for a proclamation that invites the hearers into active communication with the living God. I’m grateful for the gift of the Revised Common Lectionary and the unique way it invites people to read and discover scripture.
And, I find kinship with pastors of many times and places throughout history who have heard the Spirit of God prompting them to attend to the witness of scripture in other rhythms and routines. You’ll find that there are times when I lean on the lectionary and other times when matters of congregational life, events in our city and world, and the movement of the Spirit guide me to choose other scriptures for weekly worship.
If you’re interested in what’s coming up and would like to read Sunday’s scripture ahead of coming to worship, please stay tuned to the Central Wednesday e-mail newsletter each week!
