if you want to destroy my sweater...

tonight we got together for a little christmas fun. ugly sweaters, cotton ball lambs and the single greatest living room re-enactment of the birth of jesus. next week we will get together at our place for readings and carols...lit by candlelight. we will light the fourth and final candle of our advent wreath as we will be less than one week from the birth of our lord and savior...let him be born in us again...
peace to you,
scott

christmas at the upper room

this sunday we will be getting together for christmas at derek and heidi's house. the kids will be dressing up and acting out the christmas story as scott narrates from the scriptures. shepherds and sheep...mary and joseph...a christmas we won't soon forget.
the new year promises some pretty great things...we will be talking and praying about that on sunday night...until then, continue to absorb the goodness of the one who came to bring us life, as you prepare your heart for his advent.
see you sunday...email scott if you need directions.
peace to you,
scott

this sunday brought to you by the letter 'a'

advent
aroma
awe
absorb
we prepare ourselves for the coming messiah. we quiet our hearts with reverence and awe that a child would be born to be the perfect sacrificial lamb...
the sights, the smells, the brutality of levitical worship, brought to an end in a stable manger bed.
what sights, what sounds, what smells accompany this new worship of the perfect sacrifice?
allow your heart to absorb the sweetness of this season...
peace to you,
scott

re:location

as the christmas season tends to lend itself to christmas parties, and the space we currently use at fude is often used for said christmas parties, we have decided for the next two months to meet at scott and brenda's house to keep the confusion of location at a minimum. so come chill in the living room with us at the upper room. email scott for directions.
peace to you,
scott

hurry up and wait

this morning as i was reading lamentations, (i know...not the most encouraging monday morning read) i came across a great line in chapter 3.
"because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. i say to myself, 'the LORD is my portion; therefore i will wait for him.' the LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD." lamentations 3:22-26
seeking and waiting. i'm not sure if you find it easy to just sit and wait, but it is probably one of my least favorite things to do. (especially when that waiting is behind someone in traffic who is not moving as quickly as i would hope.) in the midst of our busy lives, it takes discipline to sit and wait. It take discipline to seek god and stop and listen to what he would say to us. it takes discipline...
funny how the word disciple looks a lot like discipline...
seek and wait.
stop and listen.
stop.
listen.
wait.
this week the upper room will be at our house at 4pm. we will be looking at this passage as well as the idea of waiting on god...on listening to what he has to say to us and committing ourselves to one hour of meditative prayer during the week.
peace to you,
scott

what you believe = what you be/live...

if jesus is the way, the truth and the life, how does that impact the way we live monday to sunday? this is what we discussed last night at upper room.
we are asking ourselves two questions at the end of each day this week.
#1. where did i see god working and join in?
#2. where did i see god working and resist?
it is a great exercise to see where our beliefs match up with our lives...and where we show what we truly believe when there is a discrepancy between what we say and how we live.
believe = be/live.
peace to you,
scott

the one and only?

just what was jesus getting at when he said 'i am the way, the truth and the life...no one comes to the father except by me.'?
is he the only way?
is that not a little exclusive?
is it possible that there is more than one way?
inclusivity vs. exclusivity?
we will dig into some scripture passages and look at the popular idea that jesus is in fact just one way to god...but perhaps not the one and only...
come and discover the truth with us next sunday night at fude...
peace to you,
scott

can these bones can live?

tonight we are looking at ezekiel 37:1-14...the valley of the dry bones. perhaps the pivotal point in this passage is the question god poses to ezekiel. as he surveys the valley, walking back and forth, covering every inch, and seeing 'a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry', god asks ezekiel, 'son of man, can these bones live?'
do you know what his answer was?
what would yours be?
tonight we will dig a little deeper (pun intended) into the valley of the dry bones.
see you at 4 at fude,
peace to you,
scott

no upper room this week

the upper room will not be gathering at fude this week. most of us will be up at family fellowship weekend at manhattan beach camp. scott and brenda will be leading in worship out there. we will be back at fude next sunday. have an awesome long weekend...
peace to you,
scott

run the race

this morning i was standing on the side of the wicklow waiting to see my friend brent sprinting down the street. at 8:16 he shouted 'pineapple' and handed me the bracelet that was around his ankle. that is when i started to run.
along the way i saw a few familiar faces. there was john on the side of the road cheering us on...sheri-lee was running over the overpass...my kids and gorgeous wife sitting at the halfway point giving me high fives.
it was pretty hot...i could feel my muscles in my legs getting tight. but i kept running. the soundtrack blaring in my ears helping me keep pace.
i ran 7.6 kms.
no great feat.
but it felt good.
it felt good to run.
it felt good to do good and run.
sometimes i feel like my faith is a bit like the relay i ran in. i do great for 7 kms but the race is so much longer. others ran 26 miles today.
too often we live life in short spurts. when the real heroes are the ones who go the distance...the ones who finish the race. in the words of the author of the hebrews...
therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. let us fix our eyes on jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of god. consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
let us run the race...throw off everything that hinders...fix our eyes on jesus and run the race.
peace to you,
scott

he is risen!

he is risen indeed!
peace to you,
scott

the day between

there was really nothing good about yesterday. jesus brutally beaten, spit on and hung on a tree. blood spilling all over the ground. whips tearing at the flesh on his back. insults being hurled as he stumbles with the weight of the cross on his back. the death of jesus is the darkest moment in human history. yesterday he said it is finished.
and today he lies in the tomb.
that which was the light and life of the world seems to be snuffed out. hopelessness is setting in.
so many people live there lives in the day between. not really alive...waiting for redemption, waiting for resurrection...waiting to become fully alive. filled with a numbness, a sense of hopelessness, that this really is as good as it gets.
but there are those who understand that there is a dawn coming. easter is less than a day away. that which was dead will be brought to life again.
tomorrow is easter...which means we all can escape our tombs and live again. and so we wait for the morning...
peace to you,
scott
p.s. the upper room will be having brunch together at derek and heidi's tomorrow instead of our normal 4pm @ fude...email if you need directions.

i see the groom's reflection in the eyes of the bride

tonight i was reminded again how much i love living life in the context of community. there are some who say that they need no one else to complete them-- that they are fine on their own--but i am pretty sure that i would not survive without others to walk alongside me.
i know that some people have grown weary of the church. i know that some have considered her message to be out of touch and out of date. that we have moved past the point of needing her influence in our lives. (keeping in mind that we all have varying definitions of what/who the church is)
some might say that it is possible to love god, to follow the teachings of jesus, to be a christian and not go to church. and on some level, i can see where they are coming from. at one point in my journey i would have whole-heartedly agreed. but today i don’t.
i am not sure that this whole “christianity” thing was meant to be as individualistic as we have made it out to be. we have made such a big deal about knowing jesus as your ‘personal’ lord and savior that i think at times we have missed what it means to be a body. we have individual parts saying that they really don’t need each other.
maybe god meant for us to be in relationship with more than just him. maybe it is about each other just as much as it is about him. maybe it is not just vertical, but horizontal. maybe the two really cannot be separated.
the truth is, life experience is richest when it is shared with others. the valley never seems quite so dark when we do not walk it alone. likewise, the mountaintop seems so much greater when we reach the summit with another at our side.
i guess what i am trying to say is that i love the church. i love when she lives out the life she was designed for. when she welcomes those who are hurting and weary. when she brings hope and healing to those lost in despair. when she truly is the body of christ.
i love that i am a part of that glorious bride. we are the church. i love being a part of the upper room...doing life together and breaking down what it really means to "be" the church. i love when we reflect just a bit of the one who loves us so much.
peace to you,
scott

tonight tonight

we will be meeting at our house tonight. (fude has a special event planned)
we will be talking about the miracle in mark 10.
we will be praying for a miracle for a friend who is in surgery this morning.
he healed a man who could not see...so he can heal a man who may not walk again.
peace to you,
scott

o mickey you're so fine...

scott and brenda will be in orlando next sunday...a few of us will still get together at someone's house, but there will be no upper room at fude on the 8th. drop us an email if you want to know what's happening where.
peace to you,
scott

what god has joined together...

this week we will be looking at jesus' words concerning divorce...what he has to say may actually shock you...read mark 10 for a sneak peak.
see you sunday at 4 at fude,
peace to you,
scott

the sunday night shuffle

i just got word from surf that fude is in use this sunday...so we will shuffle on over to our place for the upper room this week...see you at 4! (email if you need directions)
peace to you,
scott