Adult Bible Study, Youth Bible Study, Children's Bible Study
God, it takes courage to be the creatures
you made us to be.
Year after year we add to our experiences of the world,
pushing against our limits
to find out what will budge and what will not.
In recent weeks I have begun to wrap my head around the possibility that my approach to church outreach has been backward.
Most of the time, I associate this Psalm with funerals. I don’t like to read this Psalm because it brings to mind sadness and pain. And yet, this Psalm is all about peace.
I have always loved the images describing Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem. It truly is triumphal. Crowds of excited people lined the street.
There are Scriptures we can hear spoken aloud in worship—and sung about in hymns—and acted out in children’s pageants—and taught about in studies and sermons.
The question I get more than any other—more than “What’s the meaning of life?”, or “Why do people suffer?”, or “Why are the New England Patriots so . . . them?”—is “Can I learn to be funny?”