This autumn, our worship follows our Church School curriculum, Seeking God Together. We are learning in worship alongside the youngest members of our community.
Many of us in this congregation lead busy lives. We fill our time with appointments, meetings, to-do lists, commitments, for ourselves and for our families. And too often, it’s how we evaluate if our life has meaning: am I doing enough? Am I busy enough?
One appointment we’re likely to leave off of our calendars is a daily appointment with God.
God is less concerned with how busy we are, than how centered we are. How grounded are we in God, the ground of all our being, the source of our lives? How much time do we spend cultivating that relationship, honoring not only God but also our souls?
Daniel understood the vital importance of making time for God. He was a Jewish prophet living in Persia in the 6th century BCE. Though Daniel was an outsider, the Persian King Cyrus offered him an important and demanding job as the chief administrator over all the country. It was probably like an ancient version of our White House Chief of Staff, but with a broader scope of power. As a royal administrator, he had lots of demands on his time, his focus, his decision-making abilities. And he was excellent at it.
At the core of his excellence was his regular appointments with God. Daniel made time to pray to God three times a day. It was this core of his spiritual life that made him strong. It’s also what saved him more than once — when he was caught in power struggles with his colleagues and thrown into a fire pit and as we’ll review on Sunday, into a lions’ den (Daniel 6:1-23).
On Sunday, we’ll remind ourselves of why it’s imperative that we make time for God and how this can ground and transform our lives and even give us secret powers when faced with hard times.
Interested in cultivating a secret power? Come Sunday and we’ll re-discover it together.
In faith,
Kent
We invite you to join us Sunday night, September 25, 8pm for Erev Rosh Hashanah worship at Temple Shir Tikva, Wayland, with our combined choirs. Reserved tickets required. Learn more.
Autumn Worship Series
October 2 Honoring our Bodies (Psalm 139:13-16; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
Guest Speaker: The Reverend Carrington Moore,
Executive Director, common cathedral, a partner ministry
October 9 theme and scripture TBD, afternoon visit to common cathedral, 1pm
October 16 Making Room (Matthew 6:16-18; Acts 13:1-3; 14:21-28)
Guest Speaker: Lisa Weinstock,
Member and Refugee Host, Wellesley Village Church (UCC) and Temple Beth Elohim
October 23 Marveling (Psalm 104)
October 30 Saying Thanks (Luke 17:11-19; Colossians 3:14-17)
November 6 Crying Out, All Saints (Psalm 130; Book of Job)
Guest Speaker: Gerami Groover-Flores, Executive Director
Hamilton-Garrett Center for Arts & Music
November 13 Confessing (Psalm 21:1-8)
November 20 Celebrating (Psalm 11, 150)
November 27 “There’s room for every story” (Matthew 1:1-17, Isaiah 2:1-5)
