A team of people at the Branch have created a guide for Lent.  Each week has a personal reflection, questions to help process the passage, suggested Scripture for the week and a prayer.

You can download the whole guide here: 2016LentGuide

Or, if you’d prefer to read it right here, we’ll post each week’s reflection and resources below:

Reflection 6: the week of 3/21

Read Luke 15:1-10

We live in a culture that likes to celebrate. We get together with family and friends during holidays, and if you’re at all like my family, sometimes several times. We plan elaborate birthday parties for our kids, of which I am definitely one. We celebrate important people and events through marches or parades. We enjoy the celebration.

The thing I’ve been celebrating most in my house is potty-training success. We rejoice when our two-year-old uses the bathroom. We praise her and clap and cheer and give her all the affirming words we can. Sometimes we dance or even offer a special treat. We celebrate.

In Luke 15:4-6, the shepherd searches for his lost sheep and when he finds it he goes back home and celebrates with his friends and neighbors. He rejoices over his lost sheep. In Luke 15:8-10, the woman who loses her coin delights with her community over finding it once again.

At first glance the message behind the parables seem obvious. We know we are the “lost sheep” or “lost coin” and that we are lucky enough to have a God that will search for us when we wander off course. And while I think this is an important message, I think the other piece to consider is whether we celebrate when we, or someone we know, has found their way home.

In order to celebrate, we need to know who was lost in the first place, and that takes vulnerability. Are we vulnerable enough to step forward to say, “I’m lost”? Some people are lost in their relationships, whether it be with a sibling, parent, or a spouse. Some are wondering in faith, asking questions and feeling ignored. Some of us are wandering back from being lost not too long ago. But do we let people into these places with us? If we don’t, then we are missing out on the something we do best, celebrating.

And even though we are excellent at celebrating–who doesn’t love balloon animals, confetti, and a good bounce house?–our celebration cannot compare to the rejoicing that takes place in heaven when a lost child of God finds their way home (see Luke 15:7).

It’s clear that we need to celebrate with one another, and we need to let each other have access to our lives in order to do that. But just as we celebrate, our Father is celebrating even more, delighted and joyful that the “lost sheep” is found.

Questions for reflections:

1. Where do you feel lost today? Find some time and space to dwell with God in those lost spaces. Listen.
2. When have you felt like the 1? When have you felt like the 99?
3. Celebrating our return or another person being found requires that we are close enough to be vulnerable. Where do you see this kind of vulnerability in your life? If you don’t, what is keeping you from vulnerability?
4. Is there an area in your life that requires repentance? Take a moment to write down what specifically you need to turn from.

Prayer: God of patient love,

you await the return of the wayward and wandering

and eagerly embrace them in pardon.

Through baptism you have clothed us with the glory of Christ

and restored our inheritance:

give us generous hearts

to welcome all who seek a place

at the table of your unconditional love.

We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Holy Week – March 21

Luke 22:14-23:56

Prayer:

In this holy time,

as we remember the sacrifice of the cross,

we offer the prayers of our hearts,

that through them we may be transformed

to be servants of justice, love and peace.

Make us steadfast witnesses of our Savior’s reign,

that we may live in the pattern of Christ,

who was faithful in all things,

even death,

and whose darkest hour gives light and hope. Amen.

We’re taking time each week to write in more detail about our 2016 Strategic Plan (i.e. where we are going to focus our energy and resources in the next year).  If you didn’t catch the first post in this series, we encourage you to do so here.

Action 2: Offering lavish hospitality and care

In the last six months, we’ve taken good steps to be more hospitable, but we believe there’s more to do. Why is hospitality so important to us?  There are two reasons.  One has to do with our theology.  The other has to do with the gift of family.

First, some theology.  Hospitality matters to us because it matters to God.  We believe that it is a central part of God’s character.  The Scriptures reveal to us in Jesus a God that welcomes sinners, pursues those who are lost, strikes up a conversation with the untouchable and invites the denier and deserter to his table.  God is lavishly hospitable.  We are to be as well.

Second, let’s consider family.  We know that the first step in belonging to a community is experiencing hospitality.  Before deep relationships can form, we must know that we are welcome — that there’s room for us — that there’s a desire among those who already belong to include us.

In this next year we will continue to grow in our ability to extend lavish hospitality and care by:

• Creating a more welcoming environment on Sunday morning
  • We want to build on the growth we’ve experienced in the last six months by making Sunday morning even more friendly to those who are new.  This will mean things like better signage, reworking our information table and training our hospitality volunteers.  But in the end, this action unquestionably hinges on the people of the Branch extending hospitality in ways big and small: simply saying ‘hi’ to someone they don’t recognize, extending an invitation to a Branch event, having someone new over for lunch, etc.
• Developing clear steps anyone can take to become more connected.
  • We want to make sure we have clear ways for anyone who is new-ish to the Branch to build relationships and start to sense the gift of community that the Branch has to offer.  This will mean — among other things — regularly scheduled lunches for those new to the Branch and developing a process for following up with those who are visiting.
• Creating a process that helps us respond wisely to the needs of those at the Branch and in the community.
  • Identifying clear steps to take when those from inside and outside of the Branch community — especially when those needs have a financial element to them — approach us for help.  The Stewards will take the lead in creating this.

If you are at the Branch today it is almost certainly because you experienced hospitality and care along the way.  May we all extend that gift to those that join us in the next year.

Faith isn’t just about the future.  It’s not something we have in order to punch a ticket to heaven.  In fact, Jesus is clear: faith is about the here and now – a gift meant to impact every aspect of today.

With that in mind, we turn to James — an ancient and relevant book with deep insight about how faith gets practiced in the ordinary stuff of life. Join us as we explore this book together.

January 3 – Trial and Joy

January 10 – Blessings and Curses

January 17 – Word and Deed

January 24 – False and True Wisdom

January 31 – Judgement and Mercy

February 7 – Self-Reliance and Prayer