Lenten Meditation for the Thursday of Holy Week

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

#Christianity #Religion #Shelley Kuhlmeyer #West End UMC

26:28

Squid Game is back—and this time, the knives are out. In the thrilling Season 3 premiere, Player 456 is spiraling and a brutal round of hide-and-seek forces players to kill or be killed. Hosts Phil Yu and Kiera Please break down Gi-hun’s descent into vengeance, Guard 011’s daring betrayal of the Game, and the shocking moment players are forced to choose between murdering their friends… or dying. Then, Carlos Juico and Gavin Ruta from the Jumpers Jump podcast join us to unpack their wild theories for the season. Plus, Phil and Kiera face off in a high-stakes round of “Hot Sweet Potato.” SPOILER ALERT! Make sure you watch Squid Game Season 3 Episode 1 before listening on. Play one last time. IG - @SquidGameNetflix X (f.k.a. Twitter) - @SquidGame Check out more from Phil Yu @angryasianman , Kiera Please @kieraplease and the Jumpers Jump podcast Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts . Squid Game: The Official Podcast is produced by Netflix and The Mash-Up Americans.…

about a year ago 5:55

MP3•Episode home

Pastor Maggie Jarrell and Andrew Breeden lead us thru a liturgy and prayer for the Thursday of Holy Week.

300 episodes

Lenten Meditation for the Thursday of Holy Week

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

published about a year ago

MP3•Episode home

Pastor Maggie Jarrell and Andrew Breeden lead us thru a liturgy and prayer for the Thursday of Holy Week.

300 episodes

#Christianity #Religion #Shelley Kuhlmeyer #West End UMC

All episodes

1
The One (and Only One) We Worship 27:56

2 days ago27:56

27:56

The One (and Only One) We Worship – In our summer look at psalms, today we are focusing on the very familiar Psalm 100. It is a short psalm that is all about worship. Carol describes Sundays for most of us, parts of our worship, then asks why we go through all the trouble to get ready and come to Sunday worship. It is God who gives us life, who accepts us, who loves us, and our response is that God is worthy of our devotion. There are many people and things we can worship, but only God is worthy of our worship, and the psalmist gives some examples of how we can worship, entering with thanksgiving and praise. But sometimes we come into worship with anger, frustration, confusion from things in our lives such as the deaths of the children in the Texas floods this week. But the psalmist tells us to come into the presence of God with praise and singing, and doing so can be healing. As we worship God, we, ourselves, can become more in God’s fold and behave more in God’s spirit.…

1
On the Road with God 35:21

9 days ago35:21

35:21

On the Road with God – In our summer look at psalms, today we are focusing on Psalm 121. Instead of reading this psalm in the scripture section of our service it is being sung with a sung response from the congregation, reminding us that the psalms were very likely originally sung. This past week was our annual Vacation Bible School for elementary school children, and that is a significant part of the worship service today. The theme for VBS was “Road Trip,” and one of the songs, which they sang today in the Children’s Moment, was “On the Road with God.” The sermon begins by noting that much of scripture reflects that theme of journeying. Psalm 121 is in a section of “Psalms of Ascent” in the midst of the Book of Psalms, highlighting psalms that may well have been sung as part of traveling to Jerusalem. Psalm 121 is a blessing for a traveler. The word, “keep” (or “keeper”) referring to God appears six times in this psalm. God as our keeper does not mean we are protected from illness or job loss or such things, but it does mean that God is with us no matter what happens to us. We are not alone. We can see it not only in our own lives but in the lives of those around us. Going forward, what does it mean for us that God is with us? It means that we can step out on our journey with boldness and without fear, joining the throng as individuals joined the throng traveling to Jerusalem.…

1
The One True Shepherd 38:07

16 days ago38:07

38:07

The One True Shepherd – In our summer look at psalms, today’s scripture is the very familiar 23rd Psalm. Senior Minister, the Rev. Dr. Carol Cavin-Dillon begins by talking about the familiarity of this psalm as it has landed in the midst of a time of great conflict. The psalms run the gamut of emotions with some full of praise and joy and others expressing despair. While she leads us through the psalm in her sermon, she invites us to explore our own feelings as we explore it, too. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,” is a declaration that reminds us that nobody leads us except “the Lord,” and because of that we lack nothing. The next part of the psalm describes what the Lord provides for us. We are charged with working for justice and the furtherance of God’s plan, but we are also invited to re-charge through rest and also through worship together. All are invited to God’s table, including those who might be “enemies.” The psalm ends with the assurance that we are not pursued by enemies but by the goodness and lovingkindness of God and the declaration that we will live with the Lord forever.…

1
Trusting Thirst 34:32

23 days ago34:32

34:32

Trusting Thirst – Today is Trinity Sunday, and, in our summer look at psalms, today’s is Psalm 42. The Rev. Will McLeane, Pastor of Spiritual Formation, delivers the sermon. This psalm is full of emotion, pain, and longing as a thirst for God. Thirst is something that connects us to all living beings, and Psalm 42 is based on the desperate thirst for God. Will begins with an article he recently read on how hydration is critical to the players in the French Open tennis tournament. This particular psalm through the centuries has expressed desperation and longing for God. Even the last words of Jesus express such a situation. We often, in times of desperation, reach out to things like food, drink, drugs, but the psalmist reaches out to God. Psalms often say it like it is, and this one remembers how it once was, how it should be, but says that it is not that way now, and it appeals to God to restore things. The generosity of God is the bedrock of faith. Rev. Will gives several current examples of desperation where those suffering are also exemplifying their faith, and his central example is that of Mother Teresa. Even if we can’t imagine God’s blessing in the midst of our troubles, our courage in faith can bless those around us.…

1
One in the Spirit 27:55

4 weeks ago27:55

27:55

One in the Spirit – Today is Pentecost Sunday, and, in addition to our Summer of Psalms reading from Psalm 133, we hear the Pentecost story from the Book of Acts when, after the crucifixion and resurrection, believers are gathered and, miraculously, see and feel the flames of the Holy Spirit. In her sermon, Carol describes sitting in her office early in the week and hearing an odd sound, then realizing it was a bird at the window, attempting to get in. Not recognizing the type of bird, she consulted her phone app and was struck by the beauty and diversity of the breeds of birds, their features, and their songs. We live in God’s creation where the variety of lands, plants, animals, and people is demonstrative of divine creativity and design. In the Pentecost story, one of the features is that people are gathered from many lands and languages, and yet, in the Spirit, they can hear and understand those other tongues. God’s mercy and love extend to every culture and land, and God’s wish is that we all live together in unity. Psalm 133 is a “Psalm of Ascents,” one of the songs the people sang when going to Jerusalem for festivals, and it emphasizes living together in unity. Today, our world needs to experience the unity of love. (NOTE: The church is in the process of upgrading the lighting and sound systems in the sanctuary, and the quality of the sound for today’s service was affected greatly by the upgrades not yet being completed.)…

1
The Wisdom of Trees 23:52

5 weeks ago23:52

23:52

The Wisdom of Trees – This morning we travel our Summer of Psalms by reading Psalm 1. The Communion Meditation is delivered by our Senior Minister, the Rev. Dr. Carol Cavin-Dillon. She notes that there are references to trees throughout the Bible. The Genesis story of the Garden of Eden has stories involving several trees, and in the last book of the Bible, Revelation, there is also a tree of life. Carol lists some other familiar stories of trees in the Bible, and here, in the first Psalm, is an example of a tree as a very positive image for us. As pointed out in the psalm, she examines the characteristics of righteousness versus wickedness, as we do not often classify ourselves in either extreme, but maybe the images aren’t extreme. The image of a tree whose roots are deep is a clear example for us, keeping practices of justice and righteousness at the forefront of our lives so we cannot be moved. Trees with deep roots at a stream as depicted in Psalm 1 never stop growing, and that, too, is an example for us so that we, too, continue to be challenged and growing, standing our ground in the deep soil of God’s ways. If we are thus grounded, we, too, may bear fruit to feed the world.…

1
Praying in the Dark 30:18

6 weeks ago30:18

30:18

Praying in the Dark – Today we begin our summer series of scriptures from the Psalms, this one from part of Psalm 143. Delivering the sermon today is Dr. Tammy Lewis Wilborn, our pastoral intern in Congregational Care. She points out that the psalmist is crying out in deep despair with a tired, troubled soul and a plea to God not to turn away or the psalmist will die. In some ways this is indicative of a need for suicide assessment of the one crying out. But this psalm is also penitent, confessing that the psalmist has hurt a lot of people but knowing that God still loves the psalmist. Dr. Wilborn points out three possible factors that can send us to this deep despair: (1) choices we make and conditions we are enduring (like illness, loss), (2) interpersonal relationships that are crashing, and (3) institutions, much as the world we may find ourselves in currently. Dark times call for desperate measures, and prayer is an SOS in such times. This psalm teaches us that we can always go to God in prayer, that prayer can be open and honest, and that through prayer we can commit to follow the light of Christ as our GPS, bearing no hate for anyone.…

1
Making All Things New 21:24

7 weeks ago21:24

21:24

Making All Things New – Today’s scripture is from Revelation 21, where John of Patmos, the visionary, sees a new heaven and a new earth, a new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, along with an announcement that God will be dwelling with the people and there will be no more tears, sorrow, crying, or pain. It is appropriate for the Easter season when the agony of Good Friday was tossed away by the resurrection of Jesus. The question for us is whether we believe that God is always doing a new thing. In her sermon, Carol gives several personal examples of times when things appeared dismal, but then they turned around. She also cites several places in Biblical prophecy where those kinds of things were heralded by the likes of Isaiah and Jeremiah. She reminds us of the setting for the Book of Revelation, believers who were suffering because of their beliefs in God as ruler rather than the Roman emperor as ruler. Those believers were sometimes even executed for their beliefs, but this word from God through John of Patmos offered them a new Jerusalem, a new hope. If or when we feel like everything is falling apart, it would be good to remember this vision of the new Jerusalem and God’s promise to live among us and make all things new.…

1
A Vision with Hope 22:08

8 weeks ago22:08

22:08

A Vision with Hope – Often when we need comfort or hope and reach out for a Biblical passage for help, we latch onto things like “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” from Psalm 23, and most of us do not turn to the book of Revelation because of its graphic scenes of destruction. However, this final book of the Bible gives us glimpses of God’s kingdom, and those glimpses, as with today’s scripture from Revelation 7:9-17, are full of hope and comfort. It helps if we realize that Revelation was written to believers in a period when they were being crushed under Rome for their beliefs and rejection of the Roman emperor as the king. Some believers were even killed for that. This passage is one of the visions in Revelation of God on the throne with the lamb, representing Jesus, there, too, and innumerable people from every nation and language dressed in white, carrying palm branches, and praising God. It is a model for our hopes when things are bad and we need comforting. In the end it is the love of God and the beckoning of Jesus that will solve our problems and leave us comforted and rejoicing. It reminds us of who we are, whose we are, and where we belong.…

1
Feasting and Feeding 26:40

9 weeks ago26:40

26:40

Feasting and Feeding – Today is Confirmation Sunday and we are confirming/baptizing seven youth who have been through the confirmation process. Today’s scripture is the familiar story from the Fourth Gospel of the post-resurrection appearance of Jesus to seven of his disciples who are fishing. As part of this story, Jesus fixes them a meal so that when they come ashore he feeds them. After the story of the resurrection in the previous chapter, we might feel like the story of Jesus is over, but this story underscores Jesus’s challenge to the disciples to carry on what Jesus had been doing throughout his ministry. First, they are nourished, and then, most especially with the conversation between Simon Peter and Jesus, they are commissioned to go forth. In many ways, it is a model for our own baptism and commissioning, and it is demonstrative for the confirmands who are being baptized and brought into church membership today. The questions and challenges Jesus has for Simon Peter reflect that the basis of nourishment to him, to the other disciples, and to us is the love Jesus gives. Then the direction to “feed my lambs” gives us the mission with which we, like those disciples, are charged.…

1
Moving Beyond Awareness 18:48

10 weeks ago18:48

18:48

Today’s scripture is a passage from the first chapter of the Letter to the Ephesians, and delivering the sermon is Rea Green, a student at Vanderbilt Divinity School and our Ministry Intern. Rea begins by saying that she recently saw the moon and was struck by its stunning beauty, only to have a friend tell her that it wasn’t the moon at all but a streetlight. In this way she introduces us to the fact that she is very much vision impaired. She gives some background and different viewpoints of the author and setting for Ephesians, but says what is clear is that it is written to a people that need assurance and unity, and the letter describes God’s love for the “we” and “us” referred to in that letter, and it thus calls for unity under the love of God. And unity does not mean “uniform,” but a coming together in the knowledge that all are loved by God, even through our diversity. In that sense, the letter calls for awareness and recognition of our differences, but it then calls us to move beyond awareness to a call to action to embrace our differences and foster a deep love for all.…

1
Recognizing Resurrection 29:26

11 weeks ago29:26

29:26

Recognizing Resurrection – Today is Easter Sunday. Traditionally, the scripture for Easter Sunday is the story of the empty tomb, but our scripture chosen for today is the familiar story in Luke’s gospel of the two men walking to Emmaus and, unknowingly, being joined by the risen Jesus as they walked. One of the reasons to have this story on Easter is that our Lenten theme has been Table Transformations, and this story concerns yet another table, this one hosted by the risen Christ. The two disciples in the story are unknowns to us and not among the twelve, and, having witnessed the crucifixion, they are walking away, paralyzed by their grief. Are we in situations paralyzed by grief and loss? They call him a prophet, but now they have doubts that he was the expected messiah. Their hopes have been dashed. Maybe we, too, have lost hope, and, if so, we are on the road to Emmaus, and, whether we recognize it or not, we are accompanied by Christ. In the story, when they sit down for a meal, the guest becomes the host, lifts the bread, breaks it, and in that act they recognize that this is the risen Christ. Our communion services repeat that – a table with everyone having a seat, and the risen Christ is the host. Let us go forth with our tables open to all, knowing that the risen Christ is our host.…

1
Persevering Love 32:47

12 weeks ago32:47

32:47

Persevering Love – Today is Good Friday, the time of solemn remembrance of Christ’s crucifixion. The Rev. Aimee Baxter is delivering the Good Friday Meditation, and the scripture reading is the Fourth Gospel’s account of the trial, crucifixion, and burial of Jesus. Rev. Baxter first referred to the series from several years ago, “WandaVision,” that built on the grief Wanda experienced in the death of Vision. Rev. Baxter said that many of us sit in loss and sadness, too, and she pointed out how much of that is demonstrated in the narrative of the trial of Jesus, then his crucifixion. Even Judas grieved his betrayal of Jesus and ended his own life. Peter, who denied even knowing Jesus, reacted in grief and rage in cutting off the ear of a soldier. And well beyond that, we can imagine the grief of the closest disciples of Jesus, and certainly of his mother who stood at the foot of the cross. But throughout the narrative, Jesus asserts the presence of the love of God and demonstrates it in his own acceptance of what he deemed must be. Here we are on Good Friday, participating together in a very solemn and disturbing remembrance, and yet we know that through it all there is God’s beckoning love, and Easter is on the horizon. It is persevering love that will support us through our grief.…

1
Lenten Meditation for the Friday of Holy Week 8:38

12 weeks ago8:38

8:38

Rev. Will McLeane and Sheyla Soriano lead us in a liturgy and prayer for Good Friday of Holy Week.

1
A Table Transformed 23:09

12 weeks ago23:09