Here is one of the first versions of the lockerbie litany. i think it is a great first stab at of defining our church in terms of a litany to read each week during service. please discuss, critique, try to improve upon, etc.
We are emerging: not submerged, nor hidden. We are Christian: loving and serving God first; loving and serving others because of our relationship to God. We are community: not seeking our individual will, but our collective will, led by God's Holy Spirit. We are following the path of Jesus in the twenty-first century. Learning from the sinners and saints of the previous twenty centuries, re-imagining what it means to chase God’s heart. Together we seek to be in conversation, not lecture or soliloquy, engaged in actions towards building god's dreams of justice, mercy and discipleship. Let us continue the conversation to the glory of God! Amen.
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7 comments:
Becky and I were discussing the phrase to chase God’s heart. While we understand what it means, it could have misleading implications - to chase because God is elusive, running away, etc - is not what we mean. In fact, He chases and pursues us.
What I understand in the phrase is: to chase, as in, seeking the deepest truth, embracing God's heart to the fullest degree that we possibly can, but knowing there is more to His heart than we can possibly embrace; therefore, we chase the knowing of that remaining mystery.
So, other possibly phrases could be:
· To chase the fullness of God’s heart
· To embrace ….
· To pursue …
· To be engaged in the mission of God’s heart
Just some thoughts.
Jordan---where does the phrase "chasing God's heart" come from?
in one way i really like it... it is exciting to be chasing and running and pursuing....
but it also kinda feels that God is playing hide and seek with us.
Read Psalm 42:1 "As a deer longs for a stream of cool water, So I long for you, O God. I thirst for you, the living God. When can I go and worship in your presence?"
Agreed that protestant reformers, John Wesley included, argued against works righteousness by pointing out that in salvation, God is the actor, not us. Granted. However, "chasing the heart of God" does not spring from our need to be saved, but rather, our longing to be where God is and to do what God is doing. God is in a sense out there where we are not yet. Maybe it is a playful game of hide and seek, teasing us toward something new and unknown.
Therefore, I'm a fan of chasing God's heart. I love the poetry of it.
Something went wrong. My posting came off anonymous. I wrote the above post.
Bob Walters
One other thing: I might change "relationship to God" to relationship with God."
Bob W.
I do like chasing after God's heart--but totally get what papa joe is saying. maybe we can add something to it without killing the poetry of it.
maybe something like this:
Line 1:
We are an emerging community seeking to follow and live the way (or path) of Jesus.
Line 2:
We are sojourners chasing after
God's heart as God chases after ours.
Line 3:
We are learning to love and serve others, we are learning that God's love is even more mighty than empire, more mighty than hatred. We are learning to live life together as community.
Line 4: We are aiming to be led by the Holy Spirit and to know and live the difference between cheap and costly grace.
Line 5
We are seeking wisdom and guidance from the prophetic voices, poetry and parables of the bible, learning from the saints and sinners of the last two millenia.
Line 6: We are re-imagining what it means to follow Jesus in the 21st century.
line 7: together we seek to be in loving conversation and action toward's building God's dream of justice, mercy, and discipleship.
Line 8: Let all be to the glory of God! Amen.
I'm not opposed to the wording of "chasing," but was just participating in the discussion and critique. I like the poetry too.
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