Waterloo United Methodist Church

01/17/2025

I have learned that if you want to get the streamed service, you need to send a Friend Request to Jay Waterloo and you can receive the services. There are four Jay Waterloo sites. Be sure to check and send to the correct Jay.

01/12/2025

Hallelujah. I am back. Trying to find this morning’s streamed service.

10/19/2024

10/19/2024

Cracking Open the Rock of Language
ALAN RUBENSTEIN

The Hebrew Bible is a mystery, with every word a clue that raises more questions than it answers. Take the root word כבד (kvd). At its most concrete, this word means “weight.” One of the places it appears is in the chapters about the plagues in the Book of Exodus, which state several times that Pharaoh’s heart is “hardened.” In fact, three different verbs are used to describe what happens to Pharaoh’s heart. What is the significance of each of them? Elsewhere in Exodus, כבד means “honor,” notably in the commandment to honor thy father and mother. How can one word describe what happens to Pharaoh’s heart, preventing him from freeing the Israelite slaves despite the display of God’s power, and also describe the attitude one should have to one’s parents?

My fellow detective in this matter was a man named Robert Sacks.

Source: plough.com

10/19/2024

CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH BLUMHARDT

Then the peace of God, which is beyond our utmost understanding, will keep guard over your hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7, NEB

O Lord God, grant us your Spirit, that we may comprehend your peace. As we pray, help us to recognize what must come from you alone, for you are mighty and holy and your will is peace on earth. Your will is peace beyond all understanding, your peace in heaven and on earth and under the earth, your peace that opposes all sin and death and takes away every evil that can be named. We await you, O Lord our God, and you will hear us. No matter how long the battle lasts, we hold out in patience, for we are your children. We shall never lose the faith that your name shall be honored and that all things shall come into harmony with your will of peace on earth, your peace. Amen.

Source: plough.com

10/18/2024

Jeremiads of Broomsedge
ADAM WHIPPLE

The color and savory scent of a broomsedge field has always held a particular draw for me. It used to be nostalgia; now it’s something else. The grass is a sign of disturbed and fallowed ground in the Southeast, a kind of botanical requiem after progress’s colonial ravishings: the flora of grief. It’s a grief in which I was raised unawares. The apartments where my family lived in North Carolina were built in the 1960s on a broad, decapitated hilltop. The edgeworks there, where much of the offgraded soil had been dumped, were wild with broomsedge, along with briers and blackberries.

The grass is a somewhat dependable marker of change.

Source: plough.com

10/18/2024

CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH BLUMHARDT

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Matthew 22:37–39, NIV

Lord our God, through your Spirit help us to live in love to you. Open our eyes to see your goodness and truth surrounding us your children, even in this troubled world. We look to you, Almighty Father. Protect us in these difficult times. We plead for our country, entrusting it to your care so that love to you may be awakened. Where shall we turn except to you? Where shall we find help except in Jesus Christ, whom you have sent to us to win the victory, to subdue and end all evil in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and to become Lord, to the glory of your name? Amen.

Source: plough.com

08/22/2024

In Praise of Physical Work
ASTON FEARON

Certain types of work are more valued than others. When someone asks, “What do you do?” the reply is often weighed, sifted, and placed in a subconscious pecking order of value. Many of us have been on the receiving end of this kind of sizing up. Practical work is placed lower on the list of modern society’s values. Work that is paid is valued more highly than work that is unpaid.

The ordering of such values happens, in part, because of the way capitalist economies function. As well as this, there’s the way schools prioritize academic learning over practical skills. As a society, we’d much rather move away from certain forms of work, placing them out of view. If we could, we’d replace more and more of the practical aspects of industry with machines, computers, apps, or artificial intelligence.

But why is work done by humans important? Why does bodily labor matter?

Source: plough.com

08/22/2024

CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH BLUMHARDT

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8–9, NIV

Dear Father in heaven, let our thoughts be filled with all that is honorable, just, pure, gracious, good, and praiseworthy. We want to await your Spirit, not giving way to anxiety, but showing ourselves worthy to be your children. We want to be your children, who can rise above even the most difficult conditions and maintain a quiet trust, to the glory of your Spirit within us. Protect us now and always in your divine peace. Amen.

Source: plough.com