A People on

The Move: Lent

A 2011 Lenten Devotional
First Christian Church
Minneapolis, MN
 1955– 2011

2011– ???

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Introduction
The year 2011 may well be a year of last worship service here will conclude
“lasts” at First Christian, Minneapolis. with the hymn, “We Are Marching in
In January of this year, the congrega- the Light of God” as people wipe away
tion voted to join the ongoing ecu- the tears and remember the memories
menical partnership between Salem that took place in this building. We
English Lutheran Church and Lyndale will march out of this building as this
United Church of Christ. If all goes as part of our journey as a faith commu-
planned, sometime in the next 12 nity concludes.
months or so, we will leave this build-
ing at 2201 First Avenue South and Lent is usually envisioned as a journey
move to the Ministry Center at 28th St. to the cross, so it’s fitting we start this
and Garfield Avenue in Minneapolis. 40-week devotional called “A People
on the Move.” As we busy ourselves
That means the next few months will with the upcoming move, may this
be filled with preparation for the move series of devotionals guide us during
and for our new home. Some of you this time. God is moving within and
are already part of committees dealing around us during this chaotic time;
with design, worship and Christian may God give us eyes to see and ears
Education. In the coming months, oth- to hear.
ers will join in planning this massive
move. Godspeed during this “last” Lent.

It also means we will deal with a lot of

“lasts;” the last Maundy Thursday Dennis Sanders
service at 2201, the last Easter service Associate Pastor
at 2201, the last time the choir sings at Ash Wednesday 2011
2201 and so on. I’m half expecting the

A People on the Move: Lent

A PeopleA Peopleon
on the Move :Eastertide
The
A People on the Move: Pentecost 1 Move
A People on the Move: Pentecost 2

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March 13, 2011
Forget the former things; So now I know I would have been one
do not dwell on the past. of those Israelites craning back for just
See, I am doing a new thing! one more glimpse of the miserable life
Now it springs up; do you not per- from which I had been delivered! I
ceive it? would have longed for the known, the
comfortable—even though it was not
I am making a way in the desert comfortable! (This does not mean we
and streams in the wasteland. have to obliterate our past memories.
Isaiah 43: 18 – 19 We have wonderful memories that
bring a smile. We just cannot get tied
I remember thinking as a little boy in down by them—or try to go back.
Sunday school class that I
would never be one of Moving On
those silly Israelites wander- By James Baumgartner
ing in the wilderness. I
wanted adventure! I would
gladly rush to follow where God would
lead me. Then life happened. In the reading of that wilderness story,
we are given the big picture and see
The summer after I graduated from the lessons and blessings to come.
high school my Mom was diagnosed When we are living our story we can-
with cancer. It was terminal. Sharing not see beyond the next curve of the
the journey with her was brutal. I road—or sand dune! We don’t know
longed for the time when Mom took how the story will turn out and we are
care of us. afraid.

When Mom passed away our family That fear has us looking back. The
splintered. Everyone retreated to their opposite of fear is love. In fact, 1 John
own corner to lick their wounds and 4: 18 says, “perfect love drives out
heal. My father quickly remarried. I fear.” God, with perfect love, has said
longed for the time when I had a fam- that we will never be given tests that
ily. are beyond our capability. There is
comfort in that. Hasn’t God prepared
After my divorce I ached for the days us for the next step?
when, at the end of the day, I was able
to tuck in my children, say prayers & I have also learned that God is always
kiss their foreheads. I longed for the faithful. I can rest in the knowledge
normal, daily routine of being a dad. that I will have what I need when I
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March 13, 2011
need it. My mind wants to fret and worry and argue with that knowledge;
however, I have to remind myself of God’s grace, let go and rest in that fact.
(My fear does NOT want to let go!)

As we look down the stretch of road before us—be it the relocation of First
Christian, an illness, job loss or aging—ask “what can I do to surrender my fear
to God’s perfect love in this situation?” Think back to the Isaiah passage: it says
God is making a way. Let’s look for God’s way with excitement! The passage
also says that God is making streams in the wasteland. These streams will nour-
ish us on the journey and give us the strength to do what we are called to do.

Don’t be afraid to keep

moving on,
For what was before, now
has gone,
God wants to accomplish
so much more,
But we need to move for-
ward in the Lord.
- M. S. Lowndes

Questions

1. What are you afraid of in life? How has that fear held you back?
2. Think of a past event. Does it bring happiness of sadness? What reasons
would people have to hold on to a memory?
3. How do you see God working in your past? How do you see God working
in your future?

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March 20, 2011
John 3: 1-17 would know which choice we would
have made. As the passage points out
in verse 17, Jesus didn’t come to judge,
As I first read this passage, my he came to save us.
thoughts were on our traditions of
baptism. How great it is that we are FCC is going through a rebirth, similar
able to make a conscious choice to be to our own individual baptisms. We’ve
baptized, and not just have someone been given the chance to say “I trust in
sprinkle us with water as a baby. But as God.” As we move forward into a new
I read, I realize that Jesus is saying wespace and new ways of worship we
have to have faith that God
will guide us, and that we’ll
Rebirth come through the process a
By Becki Whitaker better group, as well as better
individuals.

can’t know the spirit unless we’re bap-

tized. I think about my cousin, whose Lord, as we move into new church experiences,
premature baby was baptized in the help me to recall the newness in life I experi-
hospital “just in case”. Personally, I enced through my own baptism. Amen.
believe that God is giving us the op-
portunity to make that choice, to be
born again in the spirit. If we were to
die before having that chance, God

Questions
1. How is baptism related to trust in God? How hard is it for you to trust
God? How can a community like First Christian trust in God at this point
in our communal history?
2. How were you baptized? Was it as a baby or at an older age? What does
baptism mean to you?
3. What does it mean to be “born again?” How is First Christian being born
again?

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March 20, 2011
Scribbles
Use this space to write and/or draw your thoughts and inspirations:

Movement Blood moves desire

When our bones which God will raise
at the last day
gleam clean and streak
like a fork on chalkboard,
we will move,
with the movement of the earth
snails
squirrels Movement
and thousands of bugs.
When our names are “but dust,”
fragments of pages
transmitted to an uncertain future
by uncertain means
through uncertain people
we will move,
whether we will it or not.
Now is the time to want.
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desire moves emotion
not a token slice of life, but
the whole loaf lights
the path that will take flight.
Just enough light, just enough
breath for the next set of lungs,
hearts, hands, and sweat,
the desires of those who brought us
to this point,
through disappointment,
on one eternal movement
through nameless
fearless
generations forward
and back home to Mother God.
--Chris Wogaman
Ash Wednesday, 2011
March 27, 2011
John 4:1-42 to get from one city to the other.
That said, there's something to be said
Jesus and the Woman at the Well is about getting off the main highway
one my favorite stories in the Bible. In and taking the side roads. As a kid,
my office at church, I have a weaving my Dad would sometimes not take
of Chinese artist He Qi's interpretation Interstate 75, the main highway con-
of this story. I've always been fasci- necting my hometown of Flint, Michi-
nated by the fact that Jesus was on a gan, with Detroit. Instead, he would
journey, by the fact that he was so take Woodward Avenue, the main ave-
willing to cross the various social barri- nue in the Motor City which, if you
ers of that time (religion, gender, eth- traveled far enough, would go all the
nicity) and by the unnamed woman. way to Flint. On the way, I would see
interesting buildings, the Michigan
One of the interesting things
about this story is where the
text says Jesus "had to go Woodward Avenue
through Samaria." It's fasci- By Dennis Sanders
nating because most Jews
took the long way around to
avoid Samaria. Jews and Samaritans State Fairgrounds and the Detroit Zoo.
didn't really get along, so most people Yes, there were traffic lights to con-
who were traveling took the long way tend with and all the things you have
around so as to not meet any Samari- to deal with when on city streets, but
tans on the way. there's a lot of things I would have
missed had we not taken Woodward.
But Jesus went through Samaria and
decided to stop at Jacob's Well...the As First Christian starts this new jour-
one place where he was going to meet ney with Salem Lutheran and Lyndale
someone, quite possibly a Samaritan. United Church of Christ, we are going
down our own Woodward Avenue into
Jesus could have taken the bypass, but our Samaria. Taking this route is not
instead he chose to go through Samaria easy; it will surprise us and at times
and ended up making a big difference. frustrate us. It can be an uncomfort-
able road, but God will also show us
I've always loved traveling on freeways. things we might have missed had we
There's always been something about not taken this road.
the efficiency of the Interstate Highway
System and the ease that you are able Jesus "had to go through Samaria" be-
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March 27, 2011
cause he was empowered by the Spirit to do so. The Spirit was leading Jesus to
an unfamiliar place to share water with a stranger and an enemy. That unfamil-
iar journey led a woman and her community to wholeness and healing.

May we as community make this our prayer as we travel down our side roads,
as we prepare to leave this building and start down this new adventure. Thanks
be to God.

Scribbles
Use this space to write and/or draw your thoughts and inspirations:

Questions

1. Think of a time you met someone of a different race, ethnicity or religion from
your own for the first time. How did you feel? What did you learn from the
experience?
2. Jesus and the woman talked about faith. How easy is it for you to discuss your
faith?
3. How is First Christian going through its own Samaria? How do we feel empow-
ered by the Spirit?

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April 3, 2011
John 9:1-41 on the matter, I say we look to Jesus.
It is Jesus who heals and makes us
Almost everybody fails the man born whole. It is Jesus who transforms us. It
blind. His family is not there for him. is Jesus, in John 9 who reaches out to
The religious authorities fail to reach the blind man in his isolation. And He
out. The community fails him. And offers the same for you and me – in
along came Jesus. Then everything our blindness – in our isolation.
changed for this man. His testimony
becomes a witness to the saving grace Deborah J. Kapp writes in Feasting on the
he experienced in Jesus Christ, not Word (Year A. Vol. 2, p. 120): “Sometimes
only for his eyes, but even more, for when the sun is really bright, or when
his soul: an artificial light
“I once is intense, we
was Blindness need to squint or
blind, By Jay Hillestad shut our eyes.
but now The brightness
I see.” seems dangerous
to us, and the
reflex is automatic. . . . [Yet] the Light
If we look around, we see blind people, of the World is in our midst, and we
people in the dark, don’t we? And need not shut our eyes [to His light].
what is our response? It is easy to be- In fact, counterintuitively, the best
come anxious about a lack of resources thing to do is open our eyes, wide. We
or people power, isn’t it? Buildings and will not be blinded by Jesus’ light. We
budgets do not limit hearts inclined to will be saved.”
proactively embody the love of Jesus
to our neighbors in need. As we transi- Saved from our blindness and dim vi-
tion, many of us wonder, “what will sion of who we are and who we can
our ministries look like now?” What become.
would Jesus have us do now? For light

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April 3, 2011

Drawing of Jesus by Kevin Berkey.

Questions
1. Think about the future. What does it look like to you? Does it fill you
with joy or with dread?
2. What are those moments in our lives when we need to keep our eyes open
in the Light from God?
3. How have you felt “blinded?” What has kept you from seeing Jesus’ light?

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April 10, 2011
“The hand of the
Lord was upon
me, and he brought me out by
the Spirit of the Lord, and set me
down in the midst of the valley; it
was full of bones. And he led me
round among them; and behold,
there were very many upon the val-
ley, and lo, they were very dry. And
he said to me, ‘Son of man, can
these bones live?’ And I answered,
‘O Lord, thou knowest.’”
(Ezekiel 37: 1 – 3, Old RSV)
Cycles
By Bob Brite
The life cycle of a human being, or a
society, or a church, is a cycle of living
and dying. Sometimes death is the
most natural thing that can occur;
sometimes a resurrection can happen.
Gracious God,
You have called your servants to ven-
tures
Of which we cannot see the ending,
By paths yet untrodden,
Through perils unknown.
Give us faith to go out with good cour-
age,
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In the movement between life and
death that is the community of First
Christian Church, we’ve been a com-
munity that sometimes over the years
has had a lot of life in it, and some-
times a lot of death. The death that
can exist in a community comes when
we stay the same as the rest of the
world moves past us.
The only way that a faith community
can move beyond its dying tendencies
and back into the world of the living is
to allow God to breathe new life into
it. Only God really knows if such is
supposed to happen, but
only in letting God’s Spirit
breathe new life into us can
we truly come alive and
have that resurrection ex-
perience.
Will a move into ecumenical partner-
ship breathe new life into us? Or will
we continue to move in the old, dying
ways? Again, only God knows. But
WE can know by opening ourselves up
to that life-giving spirit.
Not knowing where we go,
But only that your hand is leading us
And your love supporting us.
Through Jesus Christ,
Amen.
This prayer is used at the close of
every meeting of the 3-church Ministry
Center Board.
April 10, 2011
Scribbles
Use this space to write and/or draw your thoughts and inspirations:

Questions

1. Where have you seen life within this faith community? Where is death tak-
ing place?
2. How do we allow God to breathe new life into us? What ways do we not
allow that to happen?
3. Will the move breathe new life into our community? Why or why not?

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April 17, 2011
Matthew 21:1-11 ter is our version of reaching the Jor-
dan River. Crossing the river does not
Jesus and the disciples enter Jerusalem mean that we have it all figured out as
for Passover, commemorating the Exo- to God's plan for FCC and the Minis-
dus of the Jewish people out of Israel. try Center partners. It does mean that
Talk about people on a journey - forty there are more of God's children about
years in the wilderness before ever to roll up their sleeves and work to-
reaching the Promised Land. Now gether to make God's love and peace
that's faith and endurance - not to known on earth here and now.
mention a heck of a lot of manna.

O God of infinite love and understanding,

It's been suggested (and you may or
may not have heard this), that we at We are getting closer and closer to leaving our
FCC are starting our own wilderness comfort zone and realize that we need You
journey and it will take faith and en- more and more to lead us through the up-
durance to move into the Ministry coming changes in the life of the Body at First
Center with new partners. I'd like to Christian. Strengthen our faith and trust in
make a different suggestion for you to You, allowing us to move forward, not with
consider. fear and trepidation but with anticipation and
joy at the prospect of serving You in new
ways. Instill in us the enthusiasm
Wilderness of those people who so long ago
By Deb Murphy greeted Jesus as he entered Jeru-
salem. It is in his name that we
pray, Amen.
We have already been on a wilderness
journey for quite awhile now - decreas-
ing membership, financial difficulties,
programs that just didn't work - and
being church shifted somewhere along
the way. I believe that entering into
new partnerships in the Ministry Cen-
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April 17, 2011
Scribbles
Use this space to write and/or draw your thoughts and inspirations:

Questions
1. Describe a time when you were in the wilderness. How did God speak to
you during that time?
2. Does change make you feel fear or anticipation? Why?
3. How does our faith in God change when we “cross the river?” Is the jour-
ney over or just beginning?

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