Editor – Page 44

“So Many Boundaries” Chapel Worship August 19, 2020

The world often sets up so many boundaries….well, let’s be more honest than that. WE humans set up boundaries that are pointlessly driven by our selfishness. We create all these “Other-isms”: racism, sexism, classism, nationalism, etc., etc. All of it is driven by our fear that someone might get what we have or need. In the process we take (tangible and intangible) stuff away from someone else and set up the idea of the Taboo and The Other. These boundaries get baked into our societies so thoroughly that we often thing we are just doing and being like good conforming people should. Even Jesus faced this and fell into expected patterns and behavior– until he broke the patterns and started crossing all these boundaries.

About this channel: Weekly worship normally takes place at Community Missions each Wednesday morning in our Chapel at 1570 Buffalo Ave. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, we have moved the service online. A new chapel worship service will be posted each week on the Hope For Niagara YouTube Channel.

Daily Reflections and links to other resources can be found at https://www.HopeForNiagara.org and at https://www.facebook.com/HopeForNiagara.

Special thanks to TheHymnalProject.com for today’s hymns.
“Holy, Holy, Holy” & “Come Thou Font of Every Blessing”
Arrangement: Peter Prochonow
Setting: Benje Daneman
Arrangement ©2018 and Video ©2020 Michigan District, LCMS.

Information about Community Missions in Niagara Falls can be found at https://CommunityMissions.org.

“Walking on Water: Faith and Doubt” Chapel Worship August 5, 2020

Faith is hard and doubt is easy. It is always a struggle to live faithfully as Christians. Some days are easier, some harder and God is with us through it all. Peter’s chance to walk on water meets with both success and failure– with strong faith and distracted doubt. Jesus remained faithful to Peter when there was doubt. Since that is true for us as well, we should take heart.
See below video for links to Podcast versions.

Daily Reflections and links to other resources can be found at https://www.HopeForNiagara.org and at https://www.facebook.com/HopeForNiagara.

A Podcast version of the weekly Chapel Services is available at:
Anchor Podcasts https://anchor.fm/hopeforniagara
Google Podcasts https://podcasts.google.com (Search for “Hope For Niagara”)
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6xoT6yYdSIwrXqDpBs4RlS
Breaker https://www.breaker.audio/hope-for-niagara-podcast
PocketCast https://pca.st/7cmrysun
RadioRepublic https://radiopublic.com/hope-for-niagara-podcast-8Qkznl
RSS Feed https://anchor.fm/s/1d7041a4/podcast/rss

Information about Community Missions in Niagara Falls can be found at https://CommunityMissions.org.

God, Birds & The Universe

Posted on July 30, 2020 by EditorAugust 7, 2020

By Rev. Wendy Depew Partelow: “We sometimes make God so small, don’t we. As human beings we feel we are superior to other life forms on earth – but a bird’s ability to see what we human beings cannot see causes me to believe that each of God’s creatures have their own unique superiority in God’s kingdom.”

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“Choices and Wisdom” Chapel Worship July 22, 2020

Making choices is part of our daily life. In our current times even small choices can affect our life and the life of others in out-sized ways. From wearing masks to taking a stand on racial justice, acting with wisdom is what is required of us. In today’s message we will look at a series of short parables of Jesus and at King Solomon, the wisest of all the kings of Israel.

Message title: “Choices and Wisdom“, Texts: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52, 1 Kings 3:5-12

This service is part of an ongoing, occasional series about Choices and Building The Kingdom of God.

Daily Reflections and links to other resources can be found at https://www.HopeForNiagara.org and at https://www.facebook.com/HopeForNiagara.

Information about Community Missions in Niagara Falls can be found at https://CommunityMissions.org.

It Shouldn’t be a Secret

Posted on July 17, 2020 by EditorAugust 7, 2020

By Rev. Mark Breese: “Really, when you think about it, why would they be silent! And in this particular story, it is totally improbable that people would keep mum. The dude could not hear or speak. Then suddenly he could! If he kept quiet, that would kind of defeat the purpose of being healed in the first place.”

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Living the Faith

Posted on July 13, 2020 by EditorJuly 17, 2020

By Rev. Wendy Depew Partelow: You can also read the Bible in a way that speaks the love and mercy of God, forgiveness for all who seek to know him, and God’s preferential treatment of the poor and destitute ON EVERY SINGLE PAGE, if you’ve a mind and heart to read it that way.”

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Remembering The Dance

Posted on July 7, 2020 by EditorAugust 28, 2020

By Rev. Mark Breese: “I have actually only seen the very first moment of the sun rising into view a handful of times. There was period of time in my early 20’s that I decided I was going to make sure I experienced this exact moment of the sun first coming into view.”

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The Gift of Half-Full Summer Evenings

Posted on June 28, 2020 by EditorJuly 7, 2020

By Rev. Mark Breese: “What was I doing, like, looking for something to bummed out about? Why in the world would I do that? So I sat for some time thinking about that, till long after it got dark.”

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Reverend Fun

Posted on June 27, 2020 by EditorAugust 28, 2020

By Reverend Fun: “Sometimes you just need a little laugh.”

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Weekly Chapel Service – Choices: “What We Plant Matters”

Message title: “What We Plant Matters“, Texts: Mark 4:26-29

There are always lots of choices that we make everyday. Some are small some are large. These days, it seems there are small choices that can make a big difference, not just for ourselves, but for others. All these choices, our choices, can determine what kind of world we live in. To get into our conversation we will take a look at gardening and start by asking a question: When you plant a seed, what happens in the ground?

Our text for the day is Mark 4:26-29.

This service is part of an ongoing, occasional series about Choices and Building The Kingdom of God. It is also the 2nd service offered as a live stream. There are a couple of technical glitches. Thanks in advance for your understanding.

Thank you again to Joanne Lorenzo of the Magdalene Project for providing our music! https://magdaleneproject.org/

For more information about Community Missions, please visit www.communitymissions.org