
Nine week summer series addressing questions from the KirkWood family.
Video Message | Resources |
Week 1: How does Intercessory Prayer Work? | Monday Memo notes Asking God This Week 1. From the sermon notes: – Don’t edit or restrict your asking; ask freely and without hesitation, knowing that God will always answer in a way that’s best and will redirect your asking as warranted. – Ask in order to play our role as co-creators of the world. 2. From the end of the sermon, here are a few specifics ways to ask God that you can weave into your prayer life: – Use flash asking prayers: ask God for something or on behalf of someone immediately instead of waiting. – Pray for anything that seems to be “manifestly good” (as suggested by Father James Martin). If it seems good to you, then ask for it, no reservations or hesitation! – As C. S. Lewis did every night, ask God on behalf of those you are tempted to dislike or hate. This is how praying for your enemies changes you, not just them. – Begin to keep a record of answered prayers, not just prayer requests. These answers may well not be the ones you wanted, but they likely will reveal God’s deeper wisdom and better intention. 3. From our congregational prayer time yesterday, spend time this week asking God for what you find in this list, which represents what Father James Martin with regularity asks God for: – Ask for needed wisdom and perspective – Ask for success in what you do, and then humility to accompany that success – Ask for freedom from your unhealthy patterns – Ask for the courage to act – Ask for creative inspiration when you feel stuck or lethargic – Ask for the patience to wait – Ask for present and future hope when you have none. |
Week 2: Can You Help Me with my Fear of Dying? | Monday Memo notes Memento Mori this Week 1. So how can you “memento mori” this week? – Maybe you can pray the George Wheler prayer in the sermon summary point 6 above every night before bed, accompanied with those thoughtful questions in the same summary point. – Maybe you can dwell on how leaning into, and not away from, your own mortality makes you wiser? How does that help you reevaluate your priorities, change where you’re spending your time, etc.? – Maybe you can work on trusting God fully each day, especially with all that lies beyond your control and power, as a way to prepare for needing the same robust faith when you face your own demise? – What else? 2. Some good resources: – A great article on the practice of “memento mori” from Renovare: Going Down Singing – Carolyn Arends – A couple of great, short devotionals from The United Church of Christ on a biblical view of death…sprinkle them throughout the week: Death and Life and I Wanna Be Ready – A few pieces on the psychology underlying our ubiquitous fear of dying: Is the Fear of Death Behind Your Health Anxiety? and Facing the Fear of Death and Haunted by a Fear of Death? – Last, if you’re interested in a short-ish video overview of the groundbreaking work by Ernest Becker on humanity’s penchant to deny or avoid thinking about death, try these two videos (18 min. total): Ernest Becker and the Fear of Death and Ernest Becker and Heroism |
Week 3: How Can We Share Our Faith with Others? | Monday Memo notes |
Week 4: How should a Christian View Artificial Intelligence? | Monday Memo notes |
Week 5: How Can We Heal a Broken Relationship? | Monday Memo notes |
Week 6: What Am I Supposed to Make of All the Miracles in the Gospels? | Monday Memo notes |
Week 7: Do Politics Have a Place in Church? | Monday Memo notes |
Week 8: Will You Talk About the Japanese Practice of Kintsugi? | Monday Memo notes |
Week 9: Tips for Those Who Are Long-term Caregivers, Especially Their Own Parents | Monday Memo notes |