Down to the River to Pray
Michael Conley • July 13, 2021
Down to the River to Pray
Traditional American.
arr. Sheldon Curry
Phoebe Rosquist, Nancy Hall, Vrushabh Doshi, Jefferson Packer, & Michael Conley
“Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.” But when? There is no holy itinerary for God’s arrival — no day or hour, no platform or gate. In Matthew 24, Jesus teaches us that if we want to live good and meaningful lives, we must keep awake: stay alert, attentive, expectant. God’s ever-dawning presence is
The Bible has a tendency to compare us to sheep. In the 23rd Psalm, it is a good comparison because God is the shepherd and God's pretty good at the shepherding business, leading us to still waters. The prophet Jeremiah reminds us that sometimes human shepherds let God's flock down. How can we be helpful shepherds, fil
Amos was a small-town shepherd when God called him to be a prophet for justice. This relatively unknown "nobody" spoke boldly to those in power, railing against their policies and systems that favored profit over people. Join Amos on his quest for a fair and equitable society where justice rolls down like waters...
Elijah is a very relatable prophet. He has moments of great faithfulness, and moments where his fear gets in the way and his hope dissolves into despair. How does God respond to Elijah, and to us, in those moments when we forget just how great God's faithfulness really is.
Toward the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his disciples to be the 'salt of the earth' and 'light of the world'. How is God calling Calvary to be light for the world?
We must learn to let our spirits dance with God, even in the thick of this world’s confusion—with Halloween costumes, deep questions, and all the rest. Come ready for joy, mystery and a holy mash-up where darkness becomes the very place where God does her best work.
In an age of rising nationalism and executive power that feeds on our fear so it can take over, God offers us a new orientation. God looks to our hearts to guide our actions in the world.
Perhaps it was destiny, child, that Samuel heard God's voice calling his name in the night. God called him during a time when "The word of the Lord was rare" and "visions were not widespread." We live in similar times. In "Say My Name, Say My Name" Part 1, we learned God's name. In "Say My Name, Say My Name" Part 2, we
This story from Exodus 16 contains one of the best-known miracles in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible: when Moses and the people have no food to eat in the wilderness, God sends the miracle of manna to be their daily bread. The people eat that manna for the next forty years, as God sustains them throughout their wilderne
Perhaps it was destiny, child, that drew Moses toward that burning bush. There he learns God's name. Let's remove everything that separates us from holy ground and listen together for a new divine revelation.