Easter Sunday at Stone Soup

3/31/13 6:45 a.m. Orchard Hill

There are things you can't reach. But

you can reach out to them, and all day long.

The wind, the bird flying away.  The idea of God. (from a poem by Mary Oliver)

We'll meet Sunday at 6:45 at Orchard Hill at the top of Judd's Peak Rd. (directions below)

It's our community Sunrise Easter Service. There are lots of things we can say

about Easter but sometimes it is stronger just to do it. We, like the women who sought

Jesus on the first Easter, will go in the dark and reach for the Light. 

Come join us in the Beauty and Mystery of this wonderful day.

Dress warmly and bring a flashlight. There is a light breakfast to follow at the Presbyterian Church in Saluda. 

(There is no need to bring any food.)

Of course, you are also invited to Saluda UMC's 11:00 a.m. Easter Celebration at church too!

Directions from Downtown Saluda

Go up Greenville Street a little over 1½ miles and turn right on Pace Mountain Road. Then, after a very short distance, take the next right onto Judd’s Peak. Orchard Hill is above to the right when the road splits. 

Palm Sunday Stone Soup for 3/24

4 p.m. Wesley Cottage Christus Victor: a nonviolent atonement theology
We'll talk about what happens when real love breaks out in this world.
Bring sandwich makings, I'll bring bread (it won't be fancy).

Thursday 3/28 Joint Maundy Thursday service at the Presbyterian Church 7:30 p.m. will feature a dramatic reading and communion.

Friday 3/29  6 p.m. The Last Seven Words of Christ at St. Luke's Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (this is a traditionally black church which is very closely associated with the United Methodist Church) in Tryon. Come and experience a different style of worship.

Stone Soup on Easter
We'll meet at Judd's Peak (aka Orchard Hill where we go for star gazing) at 6:45 a.m. (Sunrise is scheduled for 7:17 a.m. When the service is over, the Saluda Presbyterian Church will host a light breakfast for the community.

We'll go to Orchard Hill on Easter morning to celebrate God's resurrection mystery. We'll sing, hear scripture and preaching. But we go there because we go when it's dark and wait for the light. It is a daily mystery. It is an eternal mystery and as Rheinhold Niebuhr once said, "No preacher is up to the task on Christmas or Easter." Amen.

Stone Soup Follows the Lord of the Dance!
We'll meet early this week, 3pm at the Wesley Cottage
So we can get to the Saluda Party Place and Event Center
in time to sign up and take the Contra Dance lessons at 3:30.
The Dance begins at 4 p.m. $10 adults $5 for kids.
They have hotdogs, snacks and all there.
Remember, Jesus leads us in the dance, in all
that we do and say...
Our scripture is Mark 15:25-39 and it goes with the song,
The Lord of the Dance

I danced in the morning when the world was begun
I danced in the Moon & the Stars & the Sun
I came down from Heaven & I danced on Earth
At Bethlehem I had my birth:

Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!

I danced for the scribe & the pharisee
But they would not dance & they wouldn't follow me
I danced for fishermen, for James & John
They came with me & the Dance went on:

Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!

I danced on the Sabbath & I cured the lame
The holy people said it was a shame!
They whipped & they stripped & they hung me high
And they left me there on a cross to die!

Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!

I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black
It's hard to dance with the devil on your back
They buried my body & they thought I'd gone
But I am the Dance & I still go on!

Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He

They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the Life that'll never, never die!
I'll live in you if you'll live in Me -
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!

Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!

Mark 15:25-39

 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, ‘The King of the Jews.’ And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!’ In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.’ Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.

The Death of Jesus

 When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, ‘Listen, he is calling for Elijah.’ And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.’ Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’

Stone Soup for 3/10/13
Meet at 4 p.m. at the Wesley Cottage at Saluda UMC
132 Greenville St, Saluda, NC 28773

This Sunday we'll talk about the whole youth spiritual journey program we are putting together for April-May. We'll call this our Affirmation Class. From this class, some may decide to join the United Methodist Church, and others who come from other faith backgrounds will be able to affirm their specific faith journey. We live in a small community and we are opening our Affirmation Class to any 7th grader and up. You don't have to be United Methodist, you don't even have to be part of a church to participate with us. We will learn together about the basics of Christian faith that could be applicable across faith backgrounds. We will also learn things that are uniquely United Methodist. Our hope is to help any youth in our area to strengthen or begin their faith journey as a community; crossing denominational and faith backgrounds.
If you know of a middle schooler or high schooler who might be interested please have them or their parents call Rob. If you have any questions about all of this, please call Rob 828-606-3452.

For Stone Soup this week, bring a picnic. The weather should be beautiful and we'll walk to the community garden to think about the continued renewal of the earth at spring time, the renewal in our own lives and what we want to plant in our lives to grow deeper in our spiritual journeys.

Our study this week will be on the moral influence theory of atonement:
from "24 Hours That Changed the World"
"The subjective or moral influence theory of the Atonement maintains that the Atonement was not about changing God or making it possible for God to forgive us. It was, rather, about changing you and me. Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection constitute a divine drama meant to communicate God's Word to humanity, to make clear to us our need for redemption and forgiveness, to show us the full extent of God's love and lead us to repentance..."
see John 3:14-16; John 15:12-13

Stone Soup for Sunday 3/3/13

4 p.m. Wesley Cottage

This is where we were last week. Moonrise was beautiful and cold. (this is an actual pic from our Moon Watch)

This week we'll talk about which is more powerful, "Taking up the sword" or "Refusing to take up the sword". Let's examine the efficacy and effect of the power of the sword and the power of love.

This is from Adam Hamilton's book, "24 Hour That Changed the World":
     During the year between Jesus' birth and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70, at least eight people, and perhaps as many as thirteen, called themselves messiah or were hailed as messiah by some of the Jewish people. Josephus, the first-centruy Roman historian, tells us about a few of them. Some were murderers and thieves. Some were earnest in their desire to reign for God. Some gathered a dozen followers, or maybe a few hundred. In the case of one man, six thousand people joined him to become a fighting force. Every one of these would-be messiahs used the sword in trying to drive out the Romans and establish a new kingdom of Israel. Each understood this to be the task of the Messiah, as did the people. And every one to these supposed messiahs was sentenced to death.
     When Jesus came into Jerusalem, many were anticipating a messiah who would lead an armed rebellion against the romans; and he sorely disappointed them. Jesus was the only messiah who refused to take up the sword...
     Jesus said, in effect, "Listen: I tell you; It is not by the power of the sword by by the power of the cross that you will be free. It's not going to be by raising up an army to fight the Romans. Rather, it will be by demonstrating sacrificial love."

Matthew 27:17 "Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?" Barabbas, we are told, was a "notorious prisoner". They both had the name "Jesus" which means "Savior".  So the crowd was choosing between a savior with a sword and a savior with nonviolent love. How would we choose?

For supper, I'll bring our sandwich press and make grilled cheese sandwiches (Ali is baking bread for the sandwiches). You bring what you want to go with it (bring a friend, they go well with grilled cheese!)