Texts: Psalms 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 14, 100
Seattle-based guest songwriter Brian Moss joins us to talk about the Psalms and share a number of his 'Psalms songs'. Brian has embarked on something he calls the Prayerbook Project, in which he is hoping to set each of the 150 biblical Psalms to music. He's got 30 done so far. This was a fun, interesting and inspiring evening -- captured here on our podcast for your listening pleasure.
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]]>Texts: Psalms 148 & 150
Those who composed the psalms got pretty excited about praising God, particularly near the end of the book, where we find most of the "praise psalms". In fact, in Hebrew, that's what the title Psalms means: "Book of Praises". But is that really appropriate, since most of the psalms are actually complaints? How might we come to terms with this, and what do the psalms themselves teach us about becoming people of praise? Join us as we conclude our summer series in the Psalms.
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]]>Text: Psalm 137
Eugene Peterson referred to Psalm 137 as "The Scandal Psalm". What might this troubling text teach us about bringing our own darkness before God in prayer?
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]]>Text: Psalm 23
In an effort to gain a fresh hearing of this beloved, (too?)-well-known Psalm, we decided to approach it communally, from a variety of angles. A few of us who gathered on an early morning mid-week to pray the psalm together were asked to share out of their experience with God in that psalm. After Nelson's introduction, these 'vignettes' are what follow.
And then our special guest, Steve Imbach, offered an extended reflection on the psalm, and invited us into a visual participatory art installation based on Psalm 23:5 ("you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies"). And then Carter read the prayer that he wrote in response to the psalm.
[NOTE: Nelson's vignette was a blog post written by Ron Reed. In the middle of it we watched a movie clip, still shots from which can be seen here in Ron's original post. Taking a look at those will make that part of the podcast make a lot more sense!]
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]]>Text: Psalm 27
Soren Kierkegaard referred to trouble as 'the common denominator of living." We all experience trouble in varying degrees throughout our lives. Is it possible for us as people of faith marred by humanity to live with confidence despite the troubles we face on a daily basis? This beautiful prayer gives us some profound insights in response to that question.
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]]>Texts: Psalm 98, Psalm 148, Revelation 5
In this exploration of Psalm 98, we notice that all creatures are summoned to the work of praising God. We see that praise has as much (or perhaps more) to do with paying attention than paying compliments. Stories by Elli and Shari-Anne also help us to realize this in a fuller sense.
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]]>Text: Psalm 13
For our second week in the Psalms, we decided to look at one of the most well-known 'personal lament' psalms. Through this honest prayer, we are given permission to ask questions and bring our petitions before God, and to renew our trust in his unfailing love. Our gathering was structured, like the psalm itself, in three sections: Questioning God, Petitioning God, Trusting God. The sermon was delivered in three parts as well.
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]]>Text: Psalm 5
Throughout most of scripture, God speaks to us. In the Psalms, we respond to God. As an introduction to our series entitled INHALE/EXHALE: Learning to Breathe the Psalms, we take a look at Psalm 5 and the ways it teaches us to answer God in prayer.
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