9/25/2016
Chris Breslin
Jeremiah 29:4-14
“This is kind of how blues began — out of feeling misused, mistreated. Feeling like they had nobody to turn to. Blues don’t necessarily have to be sung by a person that came from Mississippi as I did, because there are people having problems all over the world.” (B.B. King)
“To be a resident but alien as a formula for loneliness that few of us can sustain. Indeed, it is almost impossible to minister alone because our loneliness can too quickly turn into self-righteousness or self-hate. Christians can survive only by supporting one another through the countless small acts through which we tell one another we are not alone, that God is with us.” (Stanley Hauerwas & Will Willimon, Resident Aliens)
“What Jeremiah was saying was that it is possible to survive in exile with your identity intact, your appetite for life undiminished, while contributing to the wider society and praying to God on its behalf… “ (Jonathan Sacks, On Creative Minorities)
“Every time you try to be like your neighbors, they said, you will be defeated by your neighbors. Every time you worship power, you will be defeated by power. Every time you seek to dominate, you will be dominated. For you, says God, are my witnesses to the world that there is nothing sacred about power or holy about empires and imperialism.” (Jonathan Sacks)
“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” (Frederick Buechner)
Scripture
This Sunday’s Songs
Wayfaring Stranger
All Creatures of Our God and King by St. Francis
Blessed Be Your Name by Redman
Steadfast by McCracken
10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) by Redman
Jesus, You’re Leading Us Home by JnV
Further Reading on Work & Vocation
A Woman’s Place by Katelyn Beaty
A Theology of Work by Darrell Cosden
Culture Making by Andy Crouch
Culture Care by Makoto Fujimura
Visions of Vocation by Steve Garber
Creating with God by Sarah Jobe
Every Good Endeavor by Tim Keller & Katherine Leary Alsdorf
Called by Mark Labberton
Forgetting Ourselves on Purpose by Brian Mahan
When the Kings Come Marching In by Richard Mouw
Work Matters by Tom Nelson
Laborem Exercens (Through Work) by Pope John Paul II
Kingdom Calling by Amy Sherman
Consider Your Calling by Gordon T. Smith
Work in the Spirit by Miroslav Volf
Work: A Kingdom Perspective by Ben Witherington III