Tag Archives: dallas

February 15, 2012

Hello My Name Is… Jesus?

By Nathan

This Sunday, I wrap up our look at three of the more controversial books of the Bible with Ecclesiastes. Expect a Bill Murray clip somewhere.

Then, we launch into our Lent series. If you don’t know what Lent is, check out Wikipedia for a dense overview. In essence though, it’s the period of the ancient Christian calendar leading up to Easter, symbolizing the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness before his ministry began. We generally use this as a time to focus on Jesus and discover new insights into his ministry and person. This year in particular, we are looking at a handful of broad identities that author and theologian, Marcus Borg, used in his book, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, as a starting point. You may have heard Jesus distilled into a single thing, like “Lord and Savior of the World”, when in fact, Jesus did a wide variety of things, like teaching, healing, exorcising demons, initiate a new movement, and even up end social orders of the day.

We’ll dig into that in an honest way with lots of questions, especially at the Table, where we will even be bringing some flavors from our pub night into worship with a more freeform give and take around the scripture passage.

Check out the flyer below – we hope to see you there!

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February 8, 2012

Come worship. Then give blood.

By Nathan

This Sunday, our church teams up with Carter Blood Care for an annual blood drive. We are officially naming the blood drive in memory of David Hill, a longtime member and leader of our community who passed away suddenly last year.Because of his hard work, our church understands more deeply why giving blood is so important and makes such a difference. Our blood has even gone to help children and neighbors whose stories we have learned about through the grapevine.

We hope you join us in this drive. There will be plenty of time right after the Table worship to give the gift of life to a stranger. You can RSVP by emailing Peggy in the church office, who will let you know the open times and slots available. Thank you for willingness to touch another life!

 

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January 30, 2012

Reports from the Homeless Census

By Nathan

Last Thursday, a group of six from the Table headed out out to participate in the Homeless Census, a now annual event designed to give both government and community organizations the information they need to serve the homeless population in the DFW area. Four of us went to Dallas Life to interview some of the residents there, while the others went with a police officer to various camps around the neighborhood. The interviews were conversational but basically found out how long a person has been homeless, what benefits are they receiving, and what kinds of services they might still need. It was moving and fascinating to hear their stories. There were 18 year olds, single moms with kids, people with college degrees, folks with histories of abuse, ex-offenders, and more. It was near impossible to categorize them. They were just people, like you and I.

As a community, we will be looking for more possibilities in the future to connect with, learn from, and serve our neighbors like them. I hope you might join us.

Here are some more quotes from a few of our people that went and participated:

After having been to Honduras and now seeing the conditions of our homeless in Dallas, it was like being back in a third world country last night – Greg

It was amazing to find that some homeless choose this lifestyle because they prefer it to any other. I would like to learn how to help those people. – Jules

A homeless man was asked why he did like The Bridge. He said,”too many people, I’m a loner…..I just want to live out here and be left alone.”

From Beth -

I was put at the Dallas Life Foundation, a shelter for families and singles.  I have worked at the Bridge many times, but this was one of my first experiences one-on-one with people experiencing homelessness.  The FIRST thing I realized is that I didn’t like the word “homeless”.  It sounds so final, like they are homeless forever.  I prefer to use “people experiencing homelessness”.  This to me means hopefully a transition, a place to stay until they can get the help they need to get on their feet.  I have heard and believe that almost half of people experiencing homelessness are mentally ill.  This makes it even harder for them to receive services – many don’t like being closed up and are basically invisible to the general public.

I talked to families with children.  I wondered, how do you explain this to your kids?  They just want their kids and to not worry about things like where they live or whether they have a lunch to take to school or dinner in the evening.  I talked to people with Master’s degrees, one with two master’s degrees.  They had run on hard times, lost their job, then their car, and as a result with no savings, ended up experiencing homelessness.  I talked one lady who receives $16.00 in food stamps a MONTH.  How ludicrous.  But the main service I heard people say they need and was nowhere on the form for the census is bus passes.  Most of these people want jobs and it is hard from downtown to get anywhere except on the bus, and with no money, no bus pass.

 I tried to carry on my survey with a conversation.  I shook their hand when they sat down.  I tried to engage with them.  Sometimes it was challenging, but so rewarding and an honor to meet these people and they taught me so much.

You can find out more about the Homeless Census at the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance website.

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January 26, 2012

Have you found your mission?

By Nathan

Jules & Greg are two of our key Table community regulars, whose leadership and care and welcome of others has made a difference. This past summer, they went with a group from the Church of the Incarnation to Honduras as part of a training/preparation program to lead such trips in the future. Jules shared her experiences back in August, but she and Greg will brief our whole church on Sunday at noon. I hope you can plan on being there.

Mission has been an unofficial theme for the Table in this New Year, as we have attempted to move beyond our four walls and into our community. Tonight, a group of us will go and participate with the homeless census and count, starting at City Hall. During Christmas, the Table helped Reconciliation Ministry organize and distribute gifts to families in need. Most of our messages in this New Year have been focused on our call to serve others.

But it’s important to realize that mission is not just something that you go and do in a foreign country, one time a month for a special event, or whatever. It’s what you do each day.

Theologian David Bosch, in his book Transforming Mission, says it this way:

… consequently, the church is called to live the resurrection life in the here and now and to be a sign of contradiction against the forces of death and destruction.

Your job setting is a place to do mission. Your apartment complex. Your home. Your neighborhood. Your gym. Your local pub. Your supermarket. Wherever your day takes you, you will have opportunity to participate in Jesus’ ministry of incarnation in someone else – being God’s love for a stranger, friend, or enemy. Sometimes, that’s handing a thirsty person a drink of water or buying a burger for a hungry neighbor. Sometimes, it’s your presence in a time of need. It might even be words of affirmation to someone who feels beat down by life. It definitely includes using your voice to change systems that are broken in our own community.

Have you discovered your place of mission? Are you opening up to sharing God’s love with those you meet? May this New Year be a time to discover the answers to those questions and hear God’s call afresh.

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January 18, 2012

This Sunday

By Nathan

Here a few activities going on Sunday that you are invited to attend -

- New Member Fellowship – For our recent new members, please join our New Member Fellowship in the parlor at noon on Sunday. This is an informal time to eat, meet some of our church leaders, and find out more about our community. If you have questions, this is a great place to share those. We have a lot of new members recently, so please RSVP if you can come.

- Tour of the Community Center – Our East Dallas Community Center used to be an educational building for our church, but we converted it to house non-profits for low rent rates. It’s a beautiful space that now features the Housing Crisis Center, Child Abuse Prevention Center, Texas Women’s Credit Union, and others. On Sunday at noon, all members and guests are invited to get a quick tour of the space, starting by our Sanctuary. Our New Member Fellowship attendees will also be getting a quick tour. Just follow the flow of the crowd if you want to check this out.

Also, Amahl and the Night Visitors is going on throughout this week, and tickets are still available.

See you Sunday, if not before!

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