Skip to main content

The Gospel in 7 (or so) words


As a follow up to my last post, below are the 7 words (or less) offerings included in the Christian Century magazine, followed by the fabulous contributions from the people of St. Aidan's. 
What strikes me as I read them is how many of them are about love (from God toward us and from us toward the world) and forgiveness.  Also how very few of them have anything to do with doctrine.  Which reminds me of how funny it felt after having everyone boil down the essence of the Gospel during sermon time on Sunday morning to go straight to reciting the Nicene Creed, which is so completely different from the challenge at hand.

From Christian Century:
Will Campbell – “We’re all bastards but God loves us anyway”
Martin Marty – “God, through Christ, welcomes you anyhow.”
Donald Shriver – “Divinely persistent, God really loves us”
Beverly Roberts Gaventa – “In Christ, God’s yes defeats our no”
Mary Karr – “We are the Church of Infinite Chances”
Brian McLaren – “In Christ, God calls all to reconciliation”
Carol Zaleski – “He led captivity captive”
Bill McKibben – “Love your neighbor as yourself”
Scott Cairns – “Christ’s humanity occasions our divinity”
Walter Brueggemann - “Israel’s God’s bodied love continues world-making”
M. Craig Barnes - “We live by grace”
Ellen Charry - “The wall of hostility has come down”
Lamin Sanneh - “God was in Christ, reconciling the world”
Martin Copenhaver -“God gets the last word”
Carol Howard Merritt - “God was born.  We can be reborn.”
Nadia Bolz-Weber - “We are who God says we are”
Kathleen Norris - “God is love.  This is no joke.”
Stephanie Paulsell - “To dwell in possibility”
William Willimon - “God refuses to be God without us.”
Lillian Daniel - “Everyone gets to grow and change”
Leo Lefebure – “Wisdom become flesh, spirit roars, life transformed”
Peter W. Marty – “Once dead. Now alive. Christ reshaping people.”
Grant A. Wacker- "Christ offers new life for all"

From the People of St. Aidan's:
-Our loving God invites us into love
-To love each other while living together.
-Love in constant passion and despite despair
-Communicating with God our Lord
-Walking in relationship with God
-If you lack wisdom, ask of God
-Christ at the core who died for all of us
-God loves us all no matter what.
-Thy will be done; forgive thy neighbor
-Jesus is the way to eternal life
-God's love
-God is always with us
-God is good this I know
-Love yourself before you can love others
-God makes life complete - Trust in Lord
-Have faith God hears prayers and needs
-Christianity is a sharing and loving community
-Love your neighbor as Jesus loves you
-Jesus ... who taught her how to live (by my father, speaking about my mother's faith)
-We give an important piece of ourselves
-Love others as you would love yourself
-God around me - God within me
-Faith without good works is dead
-Don't give up, you can be forgiven
-All encompassing acceptance and love.  Respect.
Fully and knowingly love God and neighbor
-Abdicate worries to God; love unreservedly
-Love your neighbor as yourself
-Spirit of peace and love alive on earth
-Jesus knew what he was talking about
-Love everybody
-Jesus is love and rule of the world
-God takes care of us
-Peace, joy, forgiveness, love, thankfulness, clarity, understanding, beauty, wonder
-God is with all goodness and love
-Good, great God - Father, Son, Holy Spirit
-I know that my Redeemer lives
-Being loved, loving others, hope, forgiveness, peace
-Love God, love others as thyself
-Faith. Hope. Love. The greatest is love.
-Love God and all people
-Love, sharing, forgiving, repent, pray, obey, Heaven
-We are God's people, Jesus proves it
-Joy, Exhaltation, Saving grace, Understanding, Supreme, I'm saved, Society
-Life, love, everything, faith, always, forever, grace
-Willingly offering God's love to others, ourselves
-Being adopted as a child of God
-God is love; love conquers all
-It feels really happy to be here
-Church makes me feel calm
-Love and life don't end.  Just believe!
-Love thy neighbor
-Christ loves us.  Died for our sins.
-Love of neighbor, not of self
-That there is a God above
-Peace, love, forgiveness
-The love of people and the world
-Love from and for the community
-Love your neighbor as yourself
-Love God; love your neighbor as yourself
-God sent his son to save us
-Community
-To follow Christ is to love and serve
-Wonder of creation; belief in new beginnings
-Love, respect, peace
-Live with love, kindness, faith and forgiveness
-Human actions toward unending grace
-He is pleased with me his beloved daughter
-Consideration and generosity to others
-Surrender
-Striving to find my purpose in life
-Be still and know that I am God
-God is love; I must align myself
-To see the world through God's love
-Love one another as you love me
-Enduring, unconditional, love, understanding, non-judgmental, everlasting, eternal
-Love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, guidance, protection, peace
-Love and compassion for all
-I love u God.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gospel as Stand-Up Comedy

April 8, 2018 Easter 2 John 20:19-31 Today in the church world is often called Low Sunday because of the generally low attendance.  After all, everyone came last week and heard the biggest story of all! So church can be crossed off the to-do list for a while. Have you heard the joke about the man who came out of church on Easter and the minister pulled him aside and said, "You need to join the Army of the Lord!" The man replied, "I'm already in the Army of the Lord."  The minister questioned, “Then how come I don't see you except at Christmas and Easter?" The man whispered back, "I'm in the secret service."   I recently heard a name for today that I much prefer to Low Sunday - Holy Humor Sunday.  Apparently, the early church had a tradition of observing the week following Easter Sunday as "days of joy and laughter" with parties and picnics to celebrate Jesus' resurrection.  And so there is a (small but grow
1 comment
Read more

Shining Like the Sun

Last Epiphany Exodus 34:29-35; Luke 9:28-36 My youngest daughter, Maya, will turn 9 years old on Tuesday.  Which makes me feel a bit nostalgic. Just yesterday she was my baby, happily toddling after her older brother and sister.  A naturally joyful person, she was just as excited about a trip to the grocery store as a trip to the zoo, so she transformed our boring chores into adventures just by her presence.  And now she is this big kid -- a total extrovert who loves making slime and turning cartwheels. Sometimes Maya’s birthday is just a regular day.  Every once in a while it falls on Ash Wednesday (which makes celebrating a little hard).  This year, it’s on Shrove Tuesday, which is perfect for her! Because Maya is our pancake fairy. In our house, whenever we find ourselves with a free Saturday morning, Maya and I make pancakes.  We work side by side, laughing and sniffing and tasting -- and sometimes pretending we are competing on a Chopped championship.  Often there is
Post a Comment
Read more

Is Jesus passing through our midst? (4 Epiphany Sermon)

Luke 4:21-30 “But passing through the midst of them he went away.” At first glance, this last line from this morning’s Gospel seemed like a perfect metaphor for this season of Epiphany. Jesus passes through the midst of the crowd. Which is, in a way, what Epiphany is all about – God making God’s self known in our midst, our learning to recognize God all around us. The problem of course, which is so often the problem with pieces of scripture that at first seem very promising, is that that isn’t all. The context isn’t the greatest – the crowd that Jesus is passing through the midst of just happens to be an angry, unruly, blood-thirsty mob. And there’s the small problem of the few words tacked on to the end of the hopeful part about passing through their midst – after passing through, “he went away.” I’d much prefer Jesus to have passed through their midst and then have them realize their error; or maybe Jesus could pass through their midst and they finally understand exactly who it w
Post a Comment
Read more