Faith For All

Thanksgiving Interfaith Service

Leader: We give thanks for the world’s religions and the richness they bring to our lives.
Congregation: We give thanks.
Reader: We give thanks for our Christian brothers and sisters, for their message of love and ethic of compassion.
Congregation: We give thanks.
Reader: We give thanks for our Hindu sisters and brothers, for their open-hearted acceptance of others and kindly disposition toward those of other faiths.
Congregation: We give thanks.
Reader: We give thanks for our Humanist brothers and sisters, for their emphasis on the dignity and worth of all persons.
Congregation: We give thanks.
Reader: We give thanks for our Jewish sisters and brothers, for their enriching symbols of worship and cherishing of tradition.
Congregation: We give thanks.
Reader: We give thanks for our Muslim sisters and brothers, for their commitment in prayer and faithfulness in worship.
Congregation: We give thanks.
Reader: We give thanks for our Native brothers and sisters, for their reverence of nature and their ancient and still-living culture.
Congregation: We give thanks.
eader: We give thanks for every faith tradition, named and unnamed, for the variety and richness of their spiritualities, for their united quest for truth, for their common dedication to the pursuit of peace, reconciliation and healing of the spirit.
Congregation: We give thanks.Ever unite us as one community of joy ,hope, love and peace.Ever inspire us to live more genuinely and authentically,Celebrating diversity,Affirming unity,Pursuing peace,Not just for better relations among philosophies,But for a new and more just world.Amen.
 
Participants
Ahmed Abouhaiba, Furqaan Islamic Foundation
Rabbi Jenny Steinberg-Martinez, Joliet Jewish Congregation
Joseph Standing Bear Schranz, Midwest Soarring Foundation
Rev. Jon Pedersen, Shepherd of the Hill Lutheran Church
Rev. GaHyung Kim, First United Methodist Church of Lockport
Cean Magosky, Lockport Resource Center
Pat and Larry McCure, Pastoral Assistants, First Congregational Church of Lockport UCC
Deacon Ann Gaston, St John the Evangelist Episcopal Church
Deacon Kevin Ryan, St. Bernard Parish
Dana O’Brien, Cross of Glory Lutheran Church

Discussion: Christian Nationalism

This week members of Cross of Glory discuss the movement known as Christian Nationalism.

Christian Nationalism

 
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 
Galatians 3:28.  New International Version
 
Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:13. New Living Translation
 
Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Colossians 3:11. New International Version
 
As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them. Then he and his disciples went to another village.
Luke 9:51-56  New International Version
 
A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.
Luke 22:24-26. New International Version
 
 
 
 

Living our Christian faith during an election

With what shall I come before the Lord    and bow down before the exalted God?Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,    with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,    with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.    And what does the Lord require of you?To act justly and to love mercy    and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:6-8 New International Version
 
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus
Galatians 3 New International Version

Proverbs and the Grateful Dead

A happy heart makes the face cheerful,    but heartache crushes the spirit.
Proverbs 15:13 NIV
 
Light in a messenger’s eyes brings joy to the heart,    and good news gives health to the bones.
Proverbs 15:30 NIV
 
Better a little with righteousness    than much gain with injustice.
Proverbs 16:8 NIV
 
Gray hair is a crown of splendor;    it is attained in the way of righteousness.
Proverbs 16:31 NIV
 
Whoever would foster love covers over an offense,    but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.
Proverbs 17:9 NIV
 
A friend loves at all times,    and a brother is born for a time of adversity.
Proverbs 17:17 NIV
 
The name of the Lord is a fortified tower;    the righteous run to it and are safe.
Proverbs 18:10 NIV
 
A person’s wisdom yields patience;    it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.
Proverbs 19:11  NIV

Dealing with Doubt

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord! But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 20:19-29 NIV

Discussion: Dungeons and Dragons and God Oh My! part2

The D&D group from Cross of Glory discuss various wide ranging topics surrounding the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game. 
The Kids D&D group shares stories from their play, and we talk more about playing D&D from a Christian perspective 

Discussion: Dungeons and Dragons and God Oh My! part 1

The D&D group from Cross of Glory discuss various wide ranging topics surrounding the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game. 
Defining D&D, Fellowship, the satanic panic, raising children in a modern world, and what it's like to play a character in a fictional world are all discussed in this episode.

Caring for our planet, part 7:What God wants us to do

I am the Lord, and there is no other;    apart from me there is no God.I will strengthen you,    though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun    to the place of its settingpeople may know there is none besides me.    I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness,    I bring prosperity and create disaster;    I, the Lord, do all these things.
 “You heavens above, rain down my righteousness;    let the clouds shower it down.Let the earth open wide,    let salvation spring up,let righteousness flourish with it;    I, the Lord, have created it.
 
Isaiah 45:5-8 NIV

Caring for our planet, part 6: The time is now

The time is now to act on Climate Change
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.    And what does the Lord require of you?To act justly and to love mercy    and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8 NIV
 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10 NIV
 
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:31-40 NIV