The document contains a summary of the first half of the church calendar including Advent and the second Sunday after Epiphany. It discusses passages from Matthew, John, and a prayer for Epiphany. It also includes commentary on a passage from John about Nathanael questioning if anything good could come from Nazareth and lessons we can learn from his experience. Related thoughts about Martin Luther King Jr. are also provided noting we must see people as God does and not ignore his full message.

1. { The First Half of The Church Calendar }

2. ADVENT ~ Week 1
The Second Sunday After The
January 14, 2018

3. CallingDisciples
-Matthew4:18-20-
byDr.HeQiofChina(2001)

4. TheFirstTwoDisciples
-John1:29-42-
byJesusMafaofCameroon(1973)

5. GodLovesHaiti
-LawrencePublicLibrary–
(January12,2018)

6. O God, you spoke your word
and revealed your good news in Jesus, the Christ.
Fill ALL creation with that word again,
so that by proclaiming your joyful promises to ALL nations
and singing of your glorious hope to ALL peoples,
we may become one living body,
your incarnate presence on the earth.
Amen.
A Prayer For The Epiphany

7. ADVENT ~ Week 1
The Second Sunday After The
John 1:35-46

8. Nathanael said to him,
“Can anything good
come out of Nazareth?”
John 1:46a

9. What Nathaneal Got Wrong…
1. FOOLISHLY PARROTING CULTURAL ASSUMPTIONS
Nazareth was considered to be, let’s say, “sub par”
and Nathaneal just goes along with the party line

10. 1. FOOLISHLY PARROTING CULTURAL ASSUMPTIONS
Nazareth was considered to be, let’s say, “sub par”
and Nathaneal just goes along with the party line
What Nathaneal Got Wrong…
2. IGNORANTLY ASSUMING THE WORST
The place of one’s origin doesn’t determine
their character, value or their future

11. 1. CHANGED HIS TUNE WHEN HE SAW HE WAS WRONG
Repented of old assumptions when they were upended
What Nathaneal Got Right

12. What Nathaneal Got Right
2. DECLARED HIS ALLEGIANCE TO JESUS
Saw past old assumptions ENOUGH to repent & follow
1. CHANGED HIS TUNE WHEN HE SAW HE WAS WRONG
Repented of old assumptions when they were upended

13. 1. REJECTING THE WORST OF OUR CULTURAL HISTORY
Moving beyond deep-seeded cultural/racial stereotypes
and our cultural/historical arrogance/ignorance
What We Can Learn

14. What We Can Learn
2. REFUSING TO ASSUME/BELIEVE THE WORST
Folks’ place of origin, skin color, etc. doesn’t determine
their worth, dignity, character, calling, future, etc.
1. REJECTING THE WORST OF OUR CULTURAL HISTORY
Moving beyond deep-seeded cultural/racial stereotypes
and our cultural/historical arrogance/ignorance

15. - Being from Mexico doesn’t make one a rapist or “illegal”
- Being from Haiti, or any of the 54 predominantly black
African nations, doesn’t make one unworthy/undeserving
- Being a woman of whatever dress/look doesn’t make one
deserving of verbal, physical or sexual harassment
- Being a white man from the south doesn’t make one
a violent white supremacist, or unintelligent
- Being a Muslim doesn’t make one a radical extremist

16. 1. REJECTING THE WORST OF OUR CULTURAL HISTORY
Moving beyond deep-seeded cultural/racial stereotypes
What We Can Learn
2. REFUSTING TO ASSUME/BELIEVE THE WORST
Folks’ place of origin, skin color, etc. doesn’t determine
their worth, dignity, character, calling, future, etc.

17. 3. REPENTING WHEN WE’RE PROVEN WRONG
Being open to it, acknowledging it, learning/growing…
What We Can Learn

18. 3. REPENTING WHEN WE’RE PROVEN WRONG
Being open to it, acknowledging it, learning/growing…
What We Can Learn
4. DECLARING OUR ALLEGIANCE TO JESUS
Believing ENOUGH to follow him, knowing our
repentance/growth will be a gradual, lifelong process

19. Related Thoughts on MLK Weekend

20. Nathanael said to him,
“Can anything good come
out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46a)
Without question, many said similar things
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Can anything good
come from Birmingham, Alabama? Can anything
good come from a black man in America?”
Related Thoughts on MLK Weekend

21. 1. WE MUST LEARN TO SEE PEOPLE AS GOD DOES
As having inherent worth/dignity as human beings
created in God’s image, not DESPITE their skin color
or place of origin but partially BECAUSE of those things
Related Thoughts on MLK Weekend

22. 1. WE MUST LEARN TO SEE PEOPLE AS GOD DOES
As having inherent worth/dignity as human beings
created in God’s image, not DESPITE their skin color
or place of origin but partially BECAUSE of those things
Related Thoughts on MLK Weekend
2. WE MUST NOT IGNORE THE WHOLE OF HIS MESSAGE
It’s incredibly easy – especially for white people – to
play his “greatest hits” and forget the “deep tracks”

23. “I have a dream that one day my children
will one day live in a nation where they
will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character.”
Greatest Hits…

24. “Darkness does not drive out darkness;
only light can do that
Hate can’t drive out hate;
only love can do that.”
Greatest Hits…

25. “Love is the only force capable
of transforming an enemy
into a friend.”
Greatest Hits…

26. “Injustice anywhere
is a threat to
justice everywhere.”
Deep Tracks…

27. “We must rapidly begin the shift from a
‘thing-oriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’
society. When machines and computers,
profit motives and property rights are
considered more important than people,
the giant triplets of racism, materialism and
militarism are incapable of being conquered.”
Deep Tracks…

28. “I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion
that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his
stride toward freedom is not the Ku Klux Klanner,
but the white moderate who is more devoted
to order than justice; who prefers a negative peace
which is the absence of tension to a positive peace
which is the presence of justice.”
Deep Tracks…

29. "Whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in
a similar mass effort to reeducate themselves out
of their racial ignorance. It is an aspect of their
sense of superiority that the white people of
America believe they have so little to learn."
Deep Tracks…

30. “Why does white America delude itself,
and how does it rationalize the evil it retains?...
(white people’s belief in the fairness of America)
is a fantasy of self-deception and comfortable
vanity…There aren’t enough white persons
in our country who are willing to cherish
democratic principles over privilege.”
Deep Tracks…

31. 1. MARTIN IS “I HAVE A DREAM” AND “LETTER FROM
BIRMINGHAM JAIL” AND “BEYOND VIETNAM”
We dishonor the “dream” if we forget the “letter”…
Closing Thoughts on Jesus & MLK Jr.

32. 1. MARTIN IS “I HAVE A DREAM” AND “LETTER FROM
BIRMINGHAM JAIL” AND “BEYOND VIETNAM”
We dishonor the “dream” if we forget the “letter”…
Closing Thoughts on Jesus & MLK Jr.
2. JESUS SHOWS US THAT GOOD PEOPLE CAN COME
FROM ANYWHERE, INCLUDING THE “SUB PAR”
Nathaneal’s “Nazareth” might be your “Manhattan, NY”
or “Manhattan, KS” or another’s “Haiti, Mexico, etc.”

33. Holy God, you gather the WHOLE universe into
your radiant presence and continually reveal
your Son as our Savior. Bring healing to ALL
wounds, make whole ALL that is broken, speak truth to
ALL illusion, and shed light in EVERY darkness, that ALL
creation will see your glory
and know your Christ. Amen.
A Closing Prayer

34. Hear, O Israel:
the Lord our God, the Lord is one;
you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind,
and with all your strength.’
And, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no other commandment
greater than these.
Mark 12