Category: Weekly Theme Reflection

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Reaching and Lifting Hearts Through Song- by Carla Nilsen

Have you ever had your teenager rush to the piano to open your hymnal and excitedly show their friends a new hymn?  Well, with this new, wonderful new hymnal, that has happened at my house.  More than once, Ryan has enthusiastically showed more than one of his friends his new favorite hymn lyrics.  It’s Community of Christ Sings number #340, “We are Children of Creation”.  His favorite line is

“We are children of creation, star flung bits of living fire, creatures with imagination, framed with passion and desire…”

As you can imagine, this gives my mamma heart joy!  I too love the new hymnal and many of the hymns in it!

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Last fall, during a Hymn Sing service, we all chose songs from the new hymnal that were meaningful to us.  Many of us chose our favorite hymns that we’ve loved for a long time, some chose new songs that we’ve come to love, and some chose songs that they don’t know yet, but they like the lyrics and would love to learn.   So here is that list that TCC made.  Use it to enhance your devotional time-read the lyrics, or use some of these songs if you are planning a worship service for TCC.  If you ever need help teaching a new hymn, please let me know.  I love helping us sing from our new hymnal.

Favorite Hymns

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Guided By the Spirit- Lyle Anderson

Read Lyle Anderson’s reflection on his experience planning and presiding for worship at Tuality Community of Christ:

‘Early on in my graduate theology and ministry studies I was blessed by the opportunity to have as an adviser a professor and Presbyterian minister who hailed from Brazil, the Rev. Dr. Gláucia Vasconcelos Wilkey. She was fond of saying “Out of duty we do things well. Out of Love, we do things beautifully.” She helped me become more sensitive to the “little things,” helped me to try and live the liturgy when I plan and preside, and to do so out of love and thus “beautifully”, even when I stumble and fumble…
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I hope that others who were present [during the worship experience] were able to engage in sacramental encounter with the Holy and the sacred gathered community as I was, and be blessed, filled, renewed and empowered for mission though our time together and went forth open to be Guided by the Spirit in all places where they find themselves and live out their discipleship.’ -excerpt from Lyle’s Full Blog Post

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Advent Greetings from Tuality Community of Christ

During this advent season, Tuality Community of Christ congregation joined together in the telling of the sacred story.  Through our fellowship and worship this advent season, we focused on telling the sacred story with themes of Joy, Hope, Love and Peace.  Our song, prayer and storytelling during our time together were examples of these themes.  As a prelude to worship each Sunday during this Advent, a ‘greeting card video’ was presented.  The links to those videos are below*.  May you find Joy, Hope, Love and Peace as you dwell in the visions and sounds of the coming of Christmas. *To enjoy the video in sequence: When you link to the video, set the ‘autoplay’ stopwatch icon in the right hand corner to 4 seconds

To Tuality Community of Christ Hope Is…

To Tuality Community of Christ Love Is...

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To Tuality Community of Christ Peace Is…

 

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God’s Beautiful and Familiar Music- Reflections on TCC’s Hymn Sing by Roberta LaHue Brown and Carla Nilsen

Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of the church’s unveiling of our new hymnal: Community of Christ Sings.  In celebration of that anniversary, we gathered together for worship.  Erik and Carla Nilsen led us in a variation on the traditional ‘song and testimony’ service, a style of worship very familiar to our faith tradition.  For the testimony sharing portion of the service, Erik guided the congregation in a time of introspection and guided reflection.  Asking the congregation to leaf through our ‘new’ hymnal, he asked us to find a hymn that spoke particularly to us or carried with it a memory or testimony of God in our lives.

As I leafed through the hymnal, looking for a hymn that might spark a testimony, I found myself remembering the first time I ever leafed through a hymnal.  It was just before I was baptized during the summer that I was eight years old.  I was sitting at a family church camp, being asked by my mom to help plan my baptismal service by selecting my favorite hymns.  These hymns would be sung by those participating with me, through their singing, as I stepped into the waters of baptism.

There were three hymns that I chose that day, each of them with special meaning to me then, and now.  As I sat in church yesterday, and remembered that first action as a member, the participation of planning a worship and sacrament, I wondered if that first action influenced my passions in the life of my congregation today.  As a member of our congregation’s pastorate team, I am the community’s worship facilitator.  In this role, I often find myself leafing through the hymnal, planning and presiding for worships.  During this time of devotion I am listening and discerning for God’s voice to speak to me from those hymnal pages, guiding me to decision and action, and watching and participating in God’s unveiling story through our time together in worship.  God’s voice always resounds through those familiar and new tunes and guides this Community of Christ to passion and action.

As I leafed through our new blue-covered hymnal on Sunday, I reflected on our congregation’s and church’s life and how many changes there have been over the decades.  Our hymnal is so symbolic of our story.  The book binding on the hymnal has changed over the years, some songs are sung through the decades without change or variation, other songs have lost favor and become obsolete, yet new ones are written and sung for the first time,.  With these changes, the spirit of the hymnal is still the same.  The music continues to enliven us and our awareness of God’s presence and call to mission.  I think of how these same things are true with our church.  The times and the context of our church’s story is also changing.  Our understanding of God’s message takes a different shape, yet the message and the ‘familiar tune’ are the same.  As we move forward in the world and life of our church, I hope we continue to find new and different ways to bring forth God’s message.  I pray that the tune not only be heard by our own hearts, but also by the hearts of others, so that all may hear God’s beautiful and familiar music.    By Roberta LaHue Brown

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“The Kingdom of God Is Near”- By Roberta LaHue Brown

 

In my life, I’ve been enjoying a book entitled ‘An Altar in the World.’  In this book, Barbara Brown Taylor points out the importance of recognizing that it is in the ‘ordinary’ of life that we connect with God.  Also, at Tuality Community of Christ we’ve been exploring the text of Matthew.  Specifically, through July we’ve touched on verses in chapter 13, where Jesus uses parables, a method of teaching that draws parallels between the ‘ordinary’ of everyday life, to bring understanding about God.  On July 27th, I presided and planned a service where we explored the scriptures and parables found in Matthew 13: 31-52.  In these parables, Jesus begins several parables with ‘The kingdom of God is like…’

One of the phrases that stands out to me in this particular section of scripture is Matthew 43, where Jesus says ‘Are you listening to this? Really listening?’ (Matthew 13:43, The Message (MSG)). In response to that question, the congregation was lead in a responsive prayer (based on Matthew : 13: 51-52, MSG)

Leader: In telling of these parables Jesus asked, “Are you starting to get a handle on all this?”

Congregation: Then the people said “Yes.”

Leader: Then Jesus said, “Then you see how every student well-trained in God’s kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it.”

Congregation: We are listening, God.  We are getting a handle on all this.   Thank you for your teaching and bringing an example through Christ.  Amen

Also in response to the teachings found through the scriptures we were dwelling on, the congregation was asked to draw on some of their own experiences and observations.  To draw parallels between the ‘ordinary’ and the kingdom of God.  Some of those responses are shared here:

The kingdom of God is like…

…A family reunion.  Everyone is related to everyone else.

…A Meer cat colony

…Family helping strangers in need.  Support from family and friends.

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…People paying forward the blessings they have received to others

…Peace, love, togetherness

…Children creating and coloring with vibrant and beautiful colors.  Not always staying within the lines, resulting in creations beautiful in their uniqueness. 

…A big hug from family and friends

…A climb to the top of a mountain.  To get there you must trust your guide, keep track and look after everyone.  Be willing to endure hardship and challenges, and keep your eyes focused on reaching the summit

 

These statements were written on slips of paper, that were joined together to form a paper chain, with observations and understandings of the kingdom of God.  One member wrote…’The chain links us together in common cause.  It binds us into meeting common needs and brings us into experiencing the kingdom of God.’

In conclusion, I leave you with this thought written by a member during our community’s worship experience: ‘As Above, so Below.  We can create Heaven on earth by matching our will with God’s will.  When we are awake and aware of the messages of God in all life, we move closer to creating Heaven on earth.’

What a blessing to be a part of a faith community that recognizes the Divine in the everyday interactions with each other, may you be blessed with ‘The Kingdom’ today.

-Roberta LaHue Brown

Co-pastor, Tuality Community of Christ

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“Embody Sacred Community” – by Roberta LaHue Brown

The scripture we utilized for today’s worship, Acts 2:42-47 focuses on community. It clarifies key attributes of the disciples’ fellowship when they gathered. As the early followers of the Way responded to the Holy Spirit they encountered awe and wonder.

The first hallmark of a Christian community, devotion to apostolic teaching, highlights the importance of taking scriptures seriously. It is not just a matter of learning and teaching. Instead, it is also about devotion, immersion in, and living in and through the Word. It is like an old Jewish saying in which a disciple asked his teacher, “Rabbi, I have gone through all of the Torah. What more should I do?” The Rabbi said, “The question is not whether you have gone through all the Torah, the question is, has all of the Torah gone through you?”  I encourage you, as we enter into worship, to let the scriptures enter you through our prayer movements.

The second characteristic is fellowship. The early church would spend “much time together” (v. 46). Key to this activity is hospitality which is an attitude, a practice, and a way of life. This culture of hospitality extends friendship to all, especially the stranger. New relationships develop—a reciprocal mutual sharing between member and guest. Both receive, both give, and both are transformed. Bonhoeffer called this reciprocal arrangement “open” and “mutual” hospitality which stimulated the health of community. He argued that listening to one another (we’ll had opportunity for this today through sharing of testimonies) is the primary practice of mutual hospitality.

The third practice of a Christian community according to this scripture is the breaking of bread. This activity was a profound communal expression of oneness, solidarity, and friendship. All are welcome, Jesus preached, as he invited everyone and gathered around him the least of the society. Verse 46 states that they would eat “their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God.” Eating together was a sacred act.  We partook in the saced act of communion last week, and today had opportunity for communal meal through the ‘Lunch and Learn’ after our worship.

The fourth important trait of this authentic Christian community was its prayer.Early Christians likely participated in set prayers, such as the Lord’s Prayer, particular Psalms, or other types and forms of prayer. Praying is communion with God. To be an authentic community, believers must engage both intentionally and enthusiastically in prayer.  Our Mission Prayer is one such set prayer, that we said together at the end of our worship and that the pastorate encourages every member and friend of TCC to say daily.

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This same scripture is relevant to us, and to all Community of Christ congregations today.  As we carry on our function as the body of Christ in the word through practicing all of these activities—devotion to the teachings, fellowship and generously sharing, eating together, and praying—we are and become authentic, hospitable, loving, generous, and Spirit-filled.  In today’s worship, through our prayer, singing, teaching and fellowship, we experienced what it means to be the embodiment of sacred community.

Reference: World Church Worship Helps, Exploring the Scripture:http://www.cofchrist.org/worship13-14/14-05-11.asp

 

Weekly Theme Reflection by Roberta Brown

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“Let Your Light Shine” – by Nicholas Carroll

When I saw that the theme for the February 9th, 2014 service was “Let Your Light Shine”, I knew that I wanted to plan this service because a decade ago, in 2004, my favorite blues singer Keb’ Mo’ had released a peppy blues song entitled “Let Your Light Shine” and the first time I heard it, I knew that I wanted to use it in a worship service one day. However, as that day drew closer, the Portland metro area was hit with a rare winter storm that made traveling outside a dangerous trek, so the service was cancelled. Since I did not want the theme to “go to waste”, I asked for it to be rescheduled when there was a lull in the calendar.

 

March 23rd was the new day and it turned out to be a great week for the theme. I mentioned the recent news item about the passing of a preacher who was known to picket military funerals with signs that said “God hates…” and how that message contrasted with another famous preacher who had said: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” The preacher of that message was, of course, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. When I think of God, the experience and image that comes to the forefront of my mind is perfectly stated in a popular campfire song that many church members know by heart: “I’ll shout it from the mountaintop, I want the world to know, the Lord of love has come to me and I want to pass it on.”

 

I love the theme of light and of lit candles in a dark room. I also believe that each of us emits a light that others can see or feel. Two examples I’ve shared were Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi. Both individuals have been in dangerous situations where they could have been killed, but even the people who wanted to kill them and had the means to do so admitted that there was something remarkable about them that they actually feared causing them harm. Many who know these individuals have often said the same thing: Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi had a regal presence about them. What is this thing that people recognize? What kind of inner light do these individuals have that causes them to endure the hardships of long imprisonment, torture, seeing their beloved friends killed by the government, and living without contact with their loved ones?

 

When I first started attending Tuality Community of Christ in January 2010, I was in a dark place. The previous month, December 2009, one could say that I had hit rock bottom. I had lost a lady that I wanted a relationship with when she moved away, I was miserable in a job that I absolutely hated and which caused me pain anytime someone asked me about work, and I attended a congregation where I felt like I didn’t belong. I was considering going to the Unitarian Church in downtown Portland since I had started meditating there, but the Weavers told me to give Tuality a try and they generously offered to give me rides to and from church. So, in 2010, I started attending and participated in the hikes with Jeff Cox and other members of the congregation. Slowly, I crawled out of my personal darkness and by the end of 2010, I was in a new job and feeling a lot better about myself. I also found a spiritual home in Tuality and have come to view all of you as my extended family, which makes life easier when my parents and sister live on the other side of the country.

 

During the testimony portion of the service, Harold Lasley shared his impression of how he saw my light grow brighter in the years that I have attended Tuality. He said in the beginning, that I would sit at the back of the sanctuary and I wouldn’t speak much with people and he could see my light slowly beginning to shine, particularly in the last year. I was touched to hear that someone has noticed the change in me since I started attending.

 

During this particular service, the opening music was the praise song “Shine, Jesus, Shine” which always puts me in a happy place. In the middle part of the service, Keb’ Mo’s “Let Your Light Shine” played, with the most relevant part of the lyrics being:

 

“…If you could see you
The way I see you
You’d start flying on your own.
Step aside and . . .
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Refrain:

“Let your light shine.
Let your love show
It’s a short ride
Down the long road.
When the rains come
And the winds blow
Let your light shine
Wherever you go.

“This world is ready and waiting
For you to break on through.
It’s time to recognize,
To realize,
You’re the only one like you.
Step on up,
Step into your greatness.
Don’t be afraid.
There’s a place where you will rise up to;
No one else could do what you do.”

 

The service ended with a YouTube video of the Christian pop song, “Go Light Your World” by Kathy Troccoli. Everyone held a small white candle that was lit by someone else’s candle. The beautiful song is a reminder to keep our light and to bring light to the dark spaces we encounter. While we can’t be responsible for someone else’s lack of light, we can strive to be a guiding light for others and perhaps be that individual spark that relights the inner flame in someone else.
March 23rd Weekly Theme Reflection by Nicholas Carroll

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“The Path Reflections” – by Rob Garwig

Psalm 122: 1 says in part, I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!” The first Sunday in Lent at TCC was just that kind of a glad time for me.

I walked many miles on The Path which formed our worship experience.  The Path is a direct set of meditations to help worshippers meet and experience the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.  The six stations on the Path include The Grove which used imagery of a doorway for reflection on where God is leading; The Return of the Prodigal offered personal space to recall times of being lost and found; The Cup of Life invited us to gather around a table set with different cups which suggested various states of fullness and emptiness; Ikebana illustrated an example of balance and gave invitation to find the same; The Pool splashed with refreshment and observations about Jesus’ living waters; and The Sanctuary which invited us to enter and share about the places(s) where we have felt God’s presence.

Highlights of traveling The Path included for me:

As in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, being filled with wonder at the courage, joy, and faith expressed in the stories told in the circle of travelers;

Saying nothing and being, at times, alone with my thoughts;

Singing new and cool songs of along the Path;
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Being trusted to share another’s grief and hearing also that one renew their hope in the face of a small death;

Feeling the splash of refreshing water and being uplifted by the connections other’s made with the fountain;

Loving the lone daffodil in the Ikebana display and receiving an invitation from that yellow flower balance in life the small field offered.

The breadth of Lenten discipline and renewal is encompassed in Frost’s quiet but arduous couplet, “And miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.”  Walking the Path reminded me of the HOly Spirit’s accompaniment of our difficult and happy journey.  I was so glad to take The Path today.

March 9, 2014 Weekly Theme Reflection by Rob Garwig

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“Love without Boundaries” – by Karen Nilsen

True love has no boundaries.  If you truly love you look for no boundaries, just places to put your love.  At CODA (Tigard Recovery Center nearby that I and a few other TCC members run a devotional at once a week), we look for ways to implement love for each person involved.  For example: hygiene supplies, chocolate (I’m known as the chocolate queen there!)  We mostly just listen to support and encourage.  We try to find ways to support them in what they like to do. In fact cheap sildenafil uk browse around over here during the course of use, you can discover many new things about the formula. Boone, all order viagra online All-Star in 2003, has a career .264 batting average with 126 home runs and 555 RBIs over 11 seasons with five different clubs. It is proven to cure effectively wet dreams and premature ejaculation can enlarge prostate gland. buy cialis http://djpaulkom.tv/crakd-liquor-chugging-dj-khaled-doll-goes-viral/ It is the best ayurvedic oil to treat ED and impotence in the men. online cialis pills  We try to meet their needs, where they are right now.  The service today gave us a chance to educate the congregation about what CODA is.  We tried to alleviate fears of what we are trying to accomplish in our ministry there, and how we are involved in the process.  CODA has helped people to experience possibilities for both serving and recovering;  It’s opened a door, which opens another door, which opens another door of possibilities.  Love does that, too.

– February 23, 2014 Weekly Theme Reflection by Karen Nilsen

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“Be Reconciled” – by Roberta Brown

Today’s theme (or as Erik reminded us not today’s theme but Christianity’s theme) was Be Reconciled.  During the worship, we were lead through the spiritual practice of Lecito Divina, and feasted on the words of one of our new hymns: The Weight of Past and Fruitless Guilt (Community of Christ Sings Hymn #214).   The practice lead me to engage in a much deeper way with the hymn than I would have had we simply sung through it once.  As Erik lead us through the four portions of the Lectica Devina, (Reading, Meditation, Prayer and Contemplation), I was drawn to ponder the words ‘Lift Up’ and ‘Buoyant’ from the hymn text.  As Tore Nilsen spoke about how to live in redemptive community, and Erik explained about the symbolism of eternity through circles, I was ‘lifted up.’

Today I was reminded that God lifts us up to a higher place, where we can see our brother’s and sister’s faces.  That through our experience of growing in relationship with each other, we are able to know God’s redeeming and reconciling grace that makes us whole.  In our wholeness we are brought into balance and able to embrace and recognize our own forgiving and reconciling hearts.  As a reconciling community we are able to move forward in Christ’s mission in the world.

I have faith that God will continue to lift us up, and help us draw the circle ever wider.

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Roberta

– February 16, 2014 Weekly Theme Reflection by Roberta Brown