Faith
About this blog
Thinking the Faith, Praying the Faith, Living the Faith is written by the PC(USA) Office of Theology and Worship.
Thinking, praying, and living the faith is at the core of ministry in the Office of Theology and Worship. In the following videos, learn more about what thinking, praying, and living the faith means to the leadership of the Office of Theology and Worship. Discover why it matters and what difference it makes in our lives, work, and worship.
Charles Wiley
Barry Ensign-George
David Gambrell
Christine Hong
Karen Russell
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- Our Challenging Way: Faithfulness, Sex, Ordination, and Marriage
- Unity, Confessions, and the Book of Order
- Come and See
- Please and Thank You
- Back to Basics on Ash Wednesday
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A Prayer of Confession for March Madness
Moving to Louisville in the middle of college basketball season was fantastic timing for this life-long University of Kentucky Wildcats fan. With both Louisville and Kentucky playing in the Final Four tomorrow, passions in the state are running high. Every day there is an article published more outrageous than the last: if it’s not two retirees getting into a fist-fight over their favorite teams at the local dialysis center, it’s the losing fan in a did-I-really-just-shake-on-this bet who has to get a four-inch tattoo of the winning fan’s team.
In between scouring the internet for new proof of my team’s dominance in the tournament, showing off my Sports Illustrated cover to the Cardinals fans I work alongside, and running to the store to buy a new UK shirt for the pep rally at the Presbyterian Center today, I read this verse last night in my one-year-Bible:
But watch yourselves! Otherwise, your heart might be led astray so you stray away, serving other gods and worshipping them.
Deuteronomy 11:16 (Common English Bible)
It convicted me that I have been investing a lot more time and energy into thinking about college basketball than I have thinking about living out my faith in Christ. I have had many more conversations about basketball than about justice. My consumption of articles about the tournament has far outpaced the chapters I’ve read from scripture. I’ve been far more exuberant in sharing my love for the Wildcats than I have in sharing my love for Jesus. It makes me wonder if (in the words of our verse from Deuteronomy) my heart has been led astray, serving other gods and worshipping them. It seems all the more striking, given that the church worldwide celebrates Jesus’ march into Jerusalem this Sunday, while many American Christians are much more captivated by the march toward victory Monday night in New Orleans.
If any of this rings true to you, you may want to join me in this prayer of confession:
Lord Jesus Christ,
We call you Lord,
Yet it is too easy for us to worship other things.
Other activities, other relationships, other gods.
You tell us we cannot serve two masters,
Yet we spend more time focusing our energies elsewhere,
Diverting our time, our energy, our money, our attention away from you.
Forgive us, gracious Savior,
When our hearts are led astray
When we serve other gods and worship them.
We turn away from our distractions and sin.
Strengthen us to set our faces toward Jerusalem,
To take up our cross and follow you.
We pray this, counting on your grace. Amen.
Hear this good news from Romans 8:34 and 2 Corinthians 5:17:
Who is in a position to condemn?
Only Christ,
And Christ died for us,
Christ rose for us,
Christ reigns in power for us,
Christ prays for us.
Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation.
The old life has gone; a new life has begun.
Know that we are forgiven, and be at peace.
March 19, 2012
The Invisible Church
Isn’t it past time we discovered the important mandate we have to invite people to journey with us under and within the wonder of Christ’s Dominion?- Posted at 1:29 p.m.
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March 15, 2012
What Does It Mean to Be a Denomination?
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is a denomination in the church. What does that mean?- Posted at 12:04 a.m.
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March 7, 2012
Small World
When we are attentive to God’s Word and Spirit, the discipline of daily Scripture reading has the potential to restore our priorities and turn our world upside down. This simple practice can become, by the grace of God, a way of re-immersing ourselves in God’s story.- Posted at 1:43 p.m.
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February 21, 2012
Fasting and Feasting
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Season of Lent.- Posted at 9:00 a.m.
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