Mass. Conference Minister arrested at White House pipeline protest

Click link to read article below:

Mass. Conference Minister arrested at White House pipeline protest

15 Ways to Keep the Sabbath

Click the link below to find 15 great ideas from the UCC on how to keep my favorite commandment, to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy:

15 Ways to Keep the Sabbath

Sermon Text for this Sunday

Romans 12:9-21

9Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. 14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

FAQs about our New Stephen Ministry Program

What Is Stephen Ministry?
Stephen Ministry is a ministry in our congregation in which highly trained and supervised lay persons, called “Stephen Ministers,” provide one-to-one Christian care to individuals facing life challenges or difficulties.

Who Is Involved?
Stephen Leaders oversee and direct our Stephen Ministry. They recruit, select, train, organize, and supervise our Stephen Ministers, identify people in need of care, and match them with a Stephen Minister. Our Stephen Leaders, Anna Humble and Winston Morris, recently went to a week-long Leadership Training Course where they received extensive training on how to lead our congregation’s new Stephen Ministry program.
Stephen Ministers are the caregivers. They have engaged in 50 hours of training, including general topics such as listening, feelings, boundaries, assertiveness, and using Christian resources in caregiving. In addition, their training covered specialized topics such as ministering to the divorced, hospitalized, bereaved, and aging. We are currently recruiting our first class of Stephen Ministers!
Care receivers are the recipients of Stephen Ministers’ care. They are people from our church or the outside community who are experience divorce, grief, loss of a job, loneliness, hospitalization, terminal illness, or any of a number of other life difficulties.

What Do Stephen Ministers Do?
Stephen Ministers are caring Christian friends who listen, understand, accept, and pray for and with care receivers who are working through a crisis or a tough time. Stephen Ministers’ do a very different kind of care than the care already provided by our pastors or Carenet. Stephen Ministers meet with care receivers for about once a week for about an hour for only as long as the care receiver will benefit by the relationship. Stephen Ministers receive ongoing group supervision, commit to two years of service, and may care for someone from our church or from our wider community.

Are Stephen Ministers Counselors?
Stephen Ministers are not counselors; they are trained lay caregivers. Their role is to listen and care – not to give advice or counsel. Stephen Ministers are also trained to recognized when a care receiver’s need exceeds what they can provide. When that happens, they work with care receivers to help them receive the level of care they really need.

Is Stephen Ministry Confidential?
Trust is essential to a caring relationship, and Stephen Ministers are people you can trust. Confidentiality is one of the most important principles of Stephen Ministry, names of care receivers and what they tell their Stephen Ministers is kept in strictest confidence.

Will Stephen Ministry Replace Pastoral Care?
Stephen Ministry is an extension, not a replacement, of our pastors’ care. Our pastors will always be the primary caregivers, especially in moments of crisis, but there is no way our pastors can meet all the needs for care. God has called all of us, not just pastors, to minister to one another. Stephen Ministry multiplies ministry by turning pastors into equippers so they can enable lay people to provide caring ministry as well.

How Can Someone Receive Care from a Stephen Minister?
Anna Humble is our Stephen Leader coordinates referrals. If you or someone you know could benefit from the care of a Stephen Minister, you can talk to Anna, to Rev. Ng, or to Winston Morris.

How Much Does It Cost?
Stephen Ministry is a caregiving ministry available to our members and community free charge.

How Can I Become a Stephen Minister?
Begin by talking to Anna Humble or Winston Morris and they can tell you more. We are planning to begin training our first class of Stephen Ministers January 2012.

Part of Anna's Sermon -- August 14th

This is only part of my sermon from August 14th. A large part has been omitted to preserve confidentiality:

So let’s do a recap of the Joseph story. Many of you probably already know the Joseph story, either through reading the Genesis or watching Jospeh and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat -- but in any case, it’s such a page-turner, I’m going to tell it to you again if only to pump up the entertainment value of this sermon.

So here’s the cliff notes version of the story of Joseph, minus a few subplots. The full novella is available to you in Genesis, chapters 37 all the way through 50.

First, Jacob had two wives. His first wife was Leah, but his first love was...? Right, Rachel, Leah’s younger sister. And Jacob had 12 sons who became the fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel. And Joseph, Rachel’s firstborn, was Jacob’s favorite son of his favorite wife. And so Jacob gave Joseph a special robe – or a Technicolor Dream-coat if you will.

Now of course Joseph’s older brothers were jealous of this preferential treatment. And to make sibling rivalry worse, Joseph tells his brothers of two dreams he has wherein they all bow down to him. So in order to get rid of the spoiled dreamer and prevent his dreams from coming true, the brothers plot fratricide, but they end up instead selling Joseph into slavery to a band of Ishmaelites headed for Egypt. And to cover their tracks, the brothers bring back Joseph’s coat of many colors covered in animal blood, telling their father Jacob that his favorite son has been killed.

Meanwhile, God was making a way for Joseph where there appeared to be no way. Joseph was sold to a great Egyptian named Potiphar, and Joseph was so good at all that he did that Potiphar eventually put him in charge of his entire estate. But then things turned sour again for Joseph when Mrs. Potiphar started making passes at Joseph. Every time Mrs. Potiphar made a pass, Joseph would snub her. Finally, she got so frustrated that she accused Joseph of attempted rape, and so our dear hero was thrown into prison.

But still, God was making a way where there appeared to be no way. See Joseph had a God-given gift that saved him: he made himself known in the prison as one who was skilled at interpreting dreams. And word of this special talent made its way to the Pharaoh, who had been having some really disturbing dreams involving cows. So Pharaoh pulled Joseph out of the dungeon, and Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams to mean that there would be a great famine, and he should store up as much grain as he could. Pharaoh immediately trusted Joseph, took his advice, and made him ruler of all Egypt.

Nine long years later, the famine was in full fury, and Jacob’s tribe was starving. Jacob heard that the Egypt had stores of grain, so he sent his sons to buy some.

Then finally, the boyhood dreams of Joseph came to fruition. He saw his brothers – now old men – walk through the doors of the palace, and not recognizing him, bow down at his feet. They begged him for grain and Joseph gave it to them generously. And then, after they left, he wept. After all this time, Joseph wept bitterly.

But the grain runs out, so the brothers return to buy more, this time with Benjamin, Joseph’s only full brother born of Rachel. And after Joseph sees his little brother for the first time in years, he again removes himself from view, and he cries his eyes out.

Joseph then collects himself devises a test to see if his brothers are sorry for what they did to him: he plants his silver cup in Benjamin’s bag, and so Benjamin is accused of stealing from the Pharoah’s house. Joseph wants to see if they will betray another favorite son of Rachel, but this time, the brothers have learned their lesson. Judah comes forward and ruefully confesses what happened to Joseph, lamenting that they are now all being punished by God for it, and he begs to take the punishment for Benjamin, so that his father does not have to lose his only surviving son of Rachel. The brothers who once jealously plotted to kill the favorite son will now sacrifice themselves for the favored one.

And then we reach the scene in our reading for today. Joseph can’t just take it anymore. He commands everyone to leave the room except for his brothers. Then Joseph weeps so loudly this time that everyone outside can hear him. The great Joseph, mighty ruler of all Egypt, weeps before his brothers like an abandoned child. All the pain from those years in slavery and prison, all the hurt and betrayal, all the anger and fear and love pours out of him in a torrential wave. The Jewish translation of the text says that Joseph sobs.

Then, Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, and they are utterly terrified. But then the most shocking thing of all happens: Joseph speaks words of forgiveness. He tells his brothers “now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.” And then Joseph throws his arms around Benjamin and weeps, and then he embraces all his other brothers and weeps on them too. He even invites them to move their tribe to nearby Goshen so he can provide for their children and they can all live together.

What an incredible epic. And how amazing, that after the utter betrayal by his own kin, after all the years of pain and suffering Joseph went through because his brothers, how amazing it is that he is able to forgive them and embrace them before they even ask for forgiveness. Joseph had every right to go to his grave furious at his brothers. In ancient Egypt, a culture where an “eye for an eye” was the rule of law, Joseph would have been perfectly justified in, at the very least, enslaving or imprisoning his brothers for life. And as the most powerful man in all Egypt, he had carte-blanche to do whatever he wanted with them. But instead, to the shock of everyone, Joseph weeps… steps down from his throne… hand embraces them.

What enables Joseph to forgive his brothers? What instills in him this Christ-like benevolence? How is it possible that he could forgive such betrayal and embrace his family again?

I have a theory. There are two elements here that fostered Joseph’s amazing ability to let go and forgive something so horrible. First, he sees God at work in his life. He says that God sent him ahead of his brothers to preserve life. Joseph sees how God has picked up the trash in his life and sculpted into something beautiful and good.

But today what I want to focus on is the second reason why Joseph is able to forgive. Joseph is able to forgive and embrace his family again because he weeps. Joseph sobs. He is able to let go because he gives up his pain to God through tears.

In fact, Joseph is a bit of a cry-baby in this story. He weeps four separate times, and in our reading today, he sobs so loudly that people can hear him all the way down the hall. It’s striking portrait to me, the image of the mighty ruler of all Egypt, sitting on a throne in a long robe, wearing the Pharoah’s ring yet sobbing like a child. It’s an image that’s a mixture of great power and great weakness all at the same time. Joseph may be an old man who rules over all of Egypt, but inside, he’s still the teenage boy whose brothers betrayed him and sold him into foreign slavery.

And by re-entering that weakness, by pouring out all of his grief and pain, Joseph is able to do the strongest and most powerful gesture of all… forgive, to let go, and embrace his family anew. The act of crying, of pouring out our tears is an emotional emptying, a way to give our feelings to God and make room to embrace something new. Joseph can let go of the past and embrace his family because he has first poured out his grief to God in tears.

So the question I have for you today is what are you clinging to? What is the story, the fear, the wound that you’ve haven’t let go of? What is the transgression that you were never able to forgive? Like Joseph, were you betrayed? Do you secretly hold grief inside of you? What losses have you just not been able to recover from? What anger do you carry? Pour it out to God. God can handle it. Pour it all out before the cross so that you may embrace new joy.

Text for this Sunday

Genesis 45:1-28
NRSV

45Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. 3Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence. 4Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. 10You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.’ 12And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you. 13You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” 14Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.

16When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” Pharaoh and his servants were pleased. 17Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your animals and go back to the land of Canaan. 18Take your father and your households and come to me, so that I may give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you may enjoy the fat of the land.’ 19You are further charged to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20Give no thought to your possessions, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’“ 21The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons according to the instruction of Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the journey. 22To each one of them he gave a set of garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five sets of garments. 23To his father he sent the following: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. 24Then he sent his brothers on their way, and as they were leaving he said to them, “Do not quarrel along the way.”

25So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. 26And they told him, “Joseph is still alive! He is even ruler over all the land of Egypt.” He was stunned; he could not believe them. 27But when they told him all the words of Joseph that he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28Israel said, “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I must go and see him before I die.”