Creation in Christ Sunday: A Worship Resource
Creation is struggling, and we are suffering with it! People around the world are reeling from natural disasters such as earthquakes, wildfires, drought, floods, tornadoes, and typhoons.
Rebecca Snippe on Zeteosearch.org
Preachers, worship leaders, teachers, and others who study the Bible often go online to find resources for their research. Sorting through search results is often frustrating. But Zeteosearch.org—a revamped curated search engine—offers thought-provoking results.
Local Psalm Festivals
As part of the Dwelling in the Psalms year, the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship has provided resources to support Psalm festivals around Canada and the United States. These events are open to the public and many will be livestreamed.
Monica Schaap Pierce on Appreciating Other Christian Traditions
The Holy Spirit has gifted different Christian traditions with unique songs, rituals, stories, and practices. Monica Schaap Pierce, executive director of Christian Churches Together, explains how to learn from and welcome gifts from other church families. You can use these ideas at church and at home.
Monica Schaap Pierce on Christian Churches Together
When congregations cooperate, it’s often with other churches in their own family of faith. But building relationships with churches and Christians who are very different can open us to how God has gifted them. Christian Churches Together helps Christians learn from each other and build relationships so they can witness to the unity Jesus prayed for.
Dwelling in the Psalms
You are invited to join the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW) in a year of dwelling in the Psalms—the prayerbook and songbook of the Bible. Together, the 150 psalms guide Christian worshipers through the full range of human emotions and experiences, making space for communities to practice praise and lament, to ask questions and find words of comfort, and so much more. Our work at CICW over the years has connected us to many people engaging in thoughtful and imaginative work around the psalms. We are eager to build on those connections and encourage more new and ancient ways to dwell in the psalms.
A Prayer for Those Living and Working in Urban and Rural Areas
Weekly worship prepares congregations for the work of the week ahead in many different jobs and places. We all carry different burdens throughout the week and are given different tasks. This series of prayers written by Calvin University faculty and staff for people working in various professions can be adapted to fit the different occupations present in your congregation. As a Christian liberal arts institution, Calvin University prepares students not only for their different fields of calling, but to live as agents of renewal and citizens of God’s kingdom in their everyday work and living.
Trauma-Informed Worship: A Priestly Act
Every person who enters Christian worship brings more than a body into the room. We bring our histories, relationships, memories, fears, wounds, hopes, and expectations. For some worshipers, those histories include trauma.
La autoridad de Jesús cuestionada y confirmada
Este mes nos encontramos con la confrontación final de Jesús con los líderes religiosos de Israel. Estos comienzan cuestionando la autoridad de Jesús (21:23-27) y él les responde con tres parábolas: los dos hijos (21:28-32), los labradores malvados (21:33-46) y el banquete de bodas (22:1-14). En ellas, Jesús describe a la nación y su liderazgo como rebeldes que no han respondido al llamado de Dios. Los líderes, a su vez, le envían tres grupos con preguntas capciosas con la intención de hacerlo caer en su trampa, desprestigiarlo e incluso incriminarlo ante Roma: los fariseos (22:15-22), los saduceos (22:23-33) y un experto de la ley (22:34-40). Una vez que los ha callado, Jesús responde a la pregunta original y deja ver con claridad su autoridad divina (22:41-46).
Advent: Come, Be Our Light
In Advent we anticipate the coming light of Christ, symbolized by using candles and contrasting light and darkness.
Holy History: Psalm 106
All 150 of the psalms have in common their nature as poetry and songs. Yet from psalm to psalm there are distinct themes, including thanksgiving, praise, lament, and confession.
Doubt: Psalm 73
Doubt can surface in big ways, and it’s something we believers don’t often like to admit. We often have questions about faith, injustice in the world, or why following God sometimes feels harder than ignoring God. In Psalm 73, Asaph is wrestling with doubt: “But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (vv. 2–3, NIV).