Today at NRN

Saturday was a full day and travel as we visited a dear friend whose mother suffered a stroke this past week and is hospitalized in Concord, NC. Thanks to ALL those who participated in the church work day as we prepared our facility for the open house in conjunction with the Gigantic Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday April 23, 2011. Today will be special at NRN as draw near to our upcoming prayer vigil. Here are some of the worship songs we plant to present to the Lord:

Lenten Devotional: Turning Hate to Love

These are the things which might conceivably and truly make men forgive their enemies. We can only turn hate to love by understanding what are the things that men have loved; nor is it necessary to ask men to hate their loves in order to love one another. And just as two grocers are most likely to be reconciled when they remember for a moment that they are two fathers, so two nationals are most likely to be reconciled when they remember (if only for a moment) that they are two patriots.

From: "The Intrinsic Value of the Nation," Illustrated London News, June 4, 1921

Eye for an Eye "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you." Matthew 5:38-42

Prayer Who am I, God, that I should consider myself superior to others—worth special treatment or consideration? Open my heart to understand my fellow men and women, especially those with whom I currently experience conflict. Open my mind to comprehend that I am connected to other human beings; that my sense of individual separateness is in reality an illusion. Teach me, Lord, first to understand my enemies and then even to love them.

Lenten Action Spend ten to twenty minutes in silent prayer. As distractions crowd your mind, do not hold on to them; let them go. After you find some soul silence, ask God to bring to your mind your "enemies." Imagine, as Chesterton suggests above, ways you are alike. Ask God what you have in common with these people. Finally, ask God to show you ways you might take small steps toward reconciliation—a card or phone call, a smile or handshake.

Excerpted from: Lent and Easter Wisdom from G.K. Chesterton

BY: G.K. Chesterton

A Lenten Devotional - A nut falling from a tree

Readings: Isa 49:8-15; John 5:17-30

Scripture: "Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for what he does, the Son will do also."

(John 5:19)

Reflection: Principals and counselors appreciate the old adage about the nut not falling far from the tree. To understand a student's attitudes or behaviors, to understand a client's values and vision, the principal or counselor need but reflect upon the family of origin and in so doing come to a fairly good grasp of what is going on. The intimate relationship within the Trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the concern of John's gospel. To understand the nature of our triune God, we must ponder the works that God does, and those works are creating, redeeming, and sanctifying. Jesus does what the Father and the Holy Spirit do, that is, give life and love to the world. That is why Jesus came, that we might have life to the full that comes to us through faith in the Lord and love for one another. We are the children of God, God's beloved children.

Hopefully we "nuts" do not fall far from the tree, the tree of life. Made in the image and likeness of God, we are called to continue the works that Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit are doing. We are called to be agents of life, instruments of divine love, conduits of God's light. But something has gone wrong. We tend to wander from the tree that has given us life. We tend to do works of darkness, not light; we struggle with self-absorption when we should be loving; we sometimes participate in the culture of death and fail in our mission of bringing life to others.

Lent is the season to repent, to once again return to our baptismal commitment of being true disciples of Jesus. Like Jesus, we are to seek God's will and we are to participate in the marvelous works of God: creation, redemption, sanctification.

Meditation: What is God asking you to do? In what ways can you be an agent of God's creative, redeeming, and sanctifying love? Who are the people you have known who have done the works of the Lord?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, deepen our faith in you. May we hear your voice and follow in your way so that we might be agents of your Father's kingdom. May we live out our call to participate in your mission of salvation by being ambassadors of reconciliation. Come, Lord Jesus, come.

Excerpted from: Not by Bread Alone: Daily Reflections for Lent 2011

By: Bishop Robert Morneau

A Lenten Devotional: Well Being and Responsible

Readings: Ezek 47:1-9, 12; John 5:1-16

Scripture: When Jesus saw him [the sick man] lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be well?" (John 5:6)

Reflection: Health is one of the most desired values in all of life. Well-being, be that of body, emotions, or our spiritual life, is a grace of supreme importance. Tremendous amounts of money, research, and energy are put into the healthcare field. As Emerson reminds us, "The first wealth is health." Jesus raises a question in today's gospel that is directed not only to the man who had been ill for thirty-eight years but also to us: "Do you want to be well?"

Do we want to be healed of whatever infirmity we have? Despite it being the Sabbath, Jesus cures the man on the spot, bidding him to pick up his mat and walk. But not only was the man cured of his physical ailment, the Lord makes reference to the man's spiritual life as well when he commands him not to sin anymore. The persecution directed at Jesus was as much at his spiritual healing as it was at his physical healing.

This wanting to be well has an interesting consequence. Once healed of whatever infirmity, we are now given new responsibilities and we cannot claim exemptions from ordinary tasks because of illness. So the thirty-eight-year-old ill man must now get a job and take on the duties of ordinary life. The person who is emotionally healed cannot continue to be excused from one's responsibility from solid relationships, hiding behind emotional distress. And the spiritually healed person, sins forgiven, must now take up those religious disciplines (prayer, fasting, almsgiving) that sustain spiritual health and help us to grow in the Spirit.

The philosopher Father William Lynch, SJ, reminds us: "With the ill, there is less relationship, less call, less response, more fear of help or response when it is there, and therefore far more trouble." It is no small wonder that some people do not want to get well, for good health imposes many demands on our life.

Meditation: What is the state of your health—physically, emotionally, spiritually? Have you ever hidden behind illness as a way of avoiding responsibility?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, you came to heal and restore us to health. May we have great faith in your power to make us whole. Through the gift of your Holy Spirit we can live full and productive lives, and even when ill, we can discern and do your will. We do want to be well and praise you for the gift of health.

Excerpted from: Not by Bread Alone: Daily Reflections for Lent 2011 By: Bishop Robert Morneau

Lenten Devotional: The Whole Household

Readings: Isa 65:17-21; John 4:43-54

Scripture: The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live," and he and his whole household came to believe. (John 4:53)

Reflection: Ours is an age of individualism. Our thought patterns and our moral behavior tend to focus more on the individual, much less on the common good. Self-interest reigns; it's all about me; you've got to take care of number one! Jesus was concerned about the individual and about the "whole household."

In teaching the disciples how to pray, stress was put on "our" Father. We are all interconnected; we are all part of the same body, the body of Christ. St. Paul clarifies this by reminding us that when one person suffers, we all suffer, and, vice versa, when one person rejoices, joy comes to all.

The second sign that Jesus worked—the curing of the royal official's son—led to belief. But not only did the official come to faith, "his whole household came to believe." The same thing happened in the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) wherein salvation came not only to the tax collector but also to his whole family. The social nature of our spirituality has profound implications. One implication is, as the Quaker Douglas V. Steere asserts, we have "unlimited liability for one another." A mature spirituality does not allow us to privatize our relationship with God. Although we do have a personal relationship with the Lord, there is always a corporate component to our religious life. The notion of being a pilgrim and traveling with other pilgrims illustrates this "unlimited liability" notion.

A second implication is that, because of our social nature, community has a high priority in the Christian life. We are church, a gathering of people in the household of God. We are called to share and care; we are called to compassion and empathy; we are called to respond together to God's will by acting justly, loving tenderly, and walking humbly in faith (Mic 6:8).

The royal official in Capernaum was in a life and death situation. His son was critically ill and the official begged Jesus to heal his boy. The official believed! And so did the rest of the family.

Meditation: What role do you assign to the social component of spirituality? How has the faith of others influenced your personal growth?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, give us the gift of faith. In our illness and struggles, we need your healing power. May our personal faith enrich the lives of others; may their faith in you help us to be better disciples. Come, Lord Jesus, come.

Excerpted from: Not by Bread Alone: Daily Reflections for Lent 2011 by: Bishop Robert Morneau

Lenten Devotional - The Center

One who does not seek the cross of Jesus isn't seeking the glory of Christ.

-St. John of the Cross

Every believer knows that Christ went the way of the cross for our sakes. But it is not enough just to know this. Each of us must find the cross. He suffered in vain unless we are willing to die for him as he died for us. Christ's way was a bitter way. It ended in a victory of light and life, but it began in the feeding trough of an animal in a cold stable, and passed through tremendous need: through suffering, denial, betrayal, and finally, complete devastation and death on a cross. If we call ourselves his followers, we must be willing to take the same path.

When a grain of wheat is laid in the earth, it dies. It no longer remains a grain, but through death it brings forth fruit. This is the way of true Christianity. It is the way Jesus went when he died on the cross for each of us. If we want our lives to be fruits of Christ's death on the cross, we cannot remain individual grains. We must be ready to die too. Christ died on the cross to break the curse of evil and vanquish it once and for all. If we do not believe in the power of evil, we cannot comprehend this. Until we realize that the main reason for his coming to earth was to do this on our behalf—to free us from the powers of darkness—we will never fully understand our need for the cross. We can search the whole world, but we will find forgiveness of sins and freedom from torment nowhere except at the cross.

Many people say, "God is so great, so mighty, that he could have saved humankind without the cross." But that is not true. We should remember that God is not only one hundred percent love—which might have allowed him to forgive our sins without the cross. He is also one hundred percent justice. To kill the son of God was the most evil deed ever done. But it was just through that deed that God showed his greatest love and gave everyone the possibility of finding peace with him. The image of a sweet, gentle Savior, like the thought of an all-loving God, is wonderful, but it is only a small part of the picture. It insulates us from the real power of his touch. Christ comforts and heals, saves and forgives--we know that; but we must not forget that he judges too. If we truly love him, we will love everything in him; not only his compassion and mercy, but his sharpness too. It is his sharpness that prunes and purifies. There is something in modern thinking which rebels against the Atonement.

Perhaps our idea of an all-loving God keeps us from wanting to face judgment. We think that love and forgiveness is all that is needed, yet that is not the whole Gospel---it makes God too human.... When we know Jesus in the depths of our hearts, we will begin to realize (even if only to a tiny degree) what he went through for our sake. This means surrendering ourselves to him in prayer and quiet, confessing our sins to one another, and laying them before the cross in a spirit of repentance. Then he will accept us and give us reconciliation with God, a clean conscience, and a pure heart. In rescuing us from inner death and granting us new life, his love for us will spill over into our own hearts and give us a great love for him. Naturally it cannot end here, however. The experience of personal purification at the cross is vital, yet to remain focused on that alone would be useless. Christ's love is so great, it must lift our minds above our little struggles—and any preoccupation with our own salvation—so that we can see the needs of others, and beyond that the greatness of God and his Creation.

The cross is so much greater than the personal; it has cosmic significance, for its power embraces the whole earth and more than this earth! There are secrets that only God knows, and the crucifixion at Golgotha is perhaps the greatest of them all. Paul speaks of its mystery and says only that it pleased God to let his full nature dwell in Jesus and to reconcile to himself everything on earth and in heaven "through the shedding of his blood on the cross" (Col. 1:19-20).

At the cross, then, not only earth but also heaven and all the powers and principalities of the angel world will be reconciled to God. Certainly not we, and maybe not even the angels, will ever fully understand this. But one thing we know: Christ overcame death, the last enemy, and through this, something took place that continues to have power far beyond the limits of our planet.

A devotional by J. Heinrich Arnold

Preparing for Sunday April 3rd at NRN

As I prepare for Sunday at NRN I am praying over the message in the teaching series called 24 hours that changed the world! We are walking through the last 24 hours of Jesus life here on earth.

I am so excited about what God has planned for our worship experience on Sunday April 3rd at NRN!

We will begin with an awesome Call to Worship:

Followed by a great hymn of our faith:

As we prepare for a time of prayer and remembrance we share this great song:

We will conclude our time of communion with a song of adoration to God:

I have requested the worship team share this song as we present our tithes and offerings to the Lord: