Prayers and Notes from Days Past

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Oh Yahweh, Elohim, Allah, Ahura Mazda,

Creator God by any Name, hear our prayers today.

We pray for our nation and for its leaders.

We pray for the healing of our nation.

We pray for acceptance of our differences.

We pray for racial justice and equity.

We pray for those who are in financial need.

We pray for healing for those who are sick.

We pray for the families who grieving loved ones.

We pray for the healing of the earth.

We pray with gratitude for the lessons we have learned about resilience and perseverance.

We pray with gratitude for all our blessings.  Amen ~by Gloria Toot

We are pleased to have engaged as a church with people of different faith traditions. The past two years, we have had a table at the Cincinnati Festival of Faiths, this past Sunday, we celebrated World Religion Sunday, and while at our former Kemper Road location, we facilitated an Interfaith Dialogue Series. We continue to be a welcoming church, not demanding any adherence to any particular creed, in order to worship together in love and with the understanding that differences make us more open, and fill us with peace.

The announcement and notes from the dialogue series are below:

Oh what a delightful afternoon was enjoyed this past
Sunday at the New Church of Montgomery, when a
panel of 7 different religious traditions explored “What
is the core nature of God like,” and “What is God made
out of,” to begin the first of three Interfaith Dialogues.
After a break for refreshments, the views of the BAHA’I,
Eckankar, Hindu, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Sikh and
Swedenborgian Christians continued with reflections on the
existence of evil and what is evil’s nature and role in human
affairs. WoW! The Q & A meandered through more wonderful
territory; from shared stories of Messiahs and to the more intimate
of how does one communicate with God. The richness of the
answers was elevated further by the sincere and wonderful emotion
present when many gather and find and share many commonalities
in their loving and knowing of God.
Join in the fun Sundays, June 10 and June 17, 1:30 to 3:30, 2007, as
Judaism, Islam, Native American, Syrian Christians of India and
the Zoroastrians will join as their schedules permit. Questions can be
directed to Rev. John Billings at the New Church of Montgomery, (513)
489-9572, map at: http://www.newchurchofmontgomery.net
What: Interfaith Dialogue Series
When: Sunday June 10th and 17th

1:30 to 3:30

Who: BAHA’I, Eckankar, Hindu, Islam, Judaism, Native
American, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Sikh, Syrian
Christians of India, Swedenborgian and Zoroastrians

Where: New Church of Montgomery
9035 E. Kemper Road
Montgomery, Ohio
(523) 489-9572
http://www.newchurchofmontgomery.net

Mary Jane Portaz – Eckankar
Mr. Kannicks – Hindu
Rev. George Hupps – Presbyterian
Darsham Schbi – Sikh
Jasleen Goel – Sikh
Majid Samarghandi – BAHA’I
Father Chris – Roman Catholic
Rev. John Billings – Swedenborgian

The Power of Prayer; Hope, Comfort, and Joy

From https://swedenborg.com/the-magical-power-of-prayer/

Regarded in itself, praying is talking with God, while taking an inward view of the things we are praying about. In answer we receive a similar stream of speech into the perceptions or thoughts of our mind, so that our inner depths open up to God, in a way. The experience varies, depending on our mood and the nature of the subject we are praying about. If we pray from love and faith and focus on or seek only what is heavenly and spiritual, something resembling a revelation emerges while we pray. It discloses itself in our emotions in the form of hope, comfort, or an inward stirring of joy. (Secrets of Heaven §2535)

Light the way. Pray for #Jeffersontown, #Pittsburgh

“We light the first candle to honor the good and truth to be found in all spiritual traditions…” ~Four Candles Opening Prayer- New Church of Montgomery

…..

Pray that our differences may be points of light to highlight the joys we should find in one another.

In the wake of more mass shootings and displays of hatred, we pray to love one another more each day; respecting differences, and coming together to find places and times to share peaceful dialogue.

Amen.

Thursday Theology Useful Prayer

If we pray from love and faith and focus on or seek only what is heavenly and spiritual, something resembling a revelation emerges while we pray. It discloses itself in our emotions in the form of hope, comfort, or an inward stirring of joy. (Secrets of Heaven §2535)

#Tunesday, Joy in Repetition @CinciMUSEchoir

Repetition can be beneficial, whether it’s learning math or maintaining a daily spiritual practice. Joan Chittister says, “The daily schedule consists of the same prayers and chores repeated over and over again until we see God’s presence in the ordinary and are grateful.” Buddhist author Norman Fischer reminds us that “each moment in the ever-repeated pattern is, by virtue of the repetition, always new; whatever comes around again in the great cycle of things is always fresh.”

Just as the repeated patterns in Scottish waulking songs accompany the women as they beat the cloth to make it softer, our own hardness is softened by the repetition of prayer.

Waulking songs (this version by @cinciMUSEchoir,) according to Wikipedia, are:

Waulking songs (Scots Gaelic: Òrain Luaidh) are Scottish folk songs, traditionally sung in the Gaelic language by women while fulling (waulking) cloth. This practice involved a group of women rhythmically beating newly woven tweed against a table or similar surface to soften it. Simple, beat-driven songs were used to accompany the work.

A waulking session often begins with slow-paced songs, with the tempo increasing as the cloth becomes softer. As the singers work the cloth, they gradually shift it to the left so as to work it thoroughly.

#MindfulMonday Sunday’s Inspiration

Yesterday, we gathered virtually (over Skype with one of our members) and bodily at our worship space, the Glendale New Church.  We brought in things that gave us hope during our childhoods and adulthoods and that continue to give us hope that God exists, is present in our lives, and accepts us fully for who we are, faults and all.

We discussed God’s love, using it to combat the seemingly simple, yet endlessly prevalent things in our life that bog us down, like workplace gossip.  Remember the old bumper stick WWJD? 🙂 We spoke of taking our own disappointment in the drudgery of mundane tasks by feeling that all activity can be something that is done for God.

And how about negative inner messages?  By feeling good enough in God’s eyes, feeling that we are enough as children of God; sensing that negativity comes from external sources, we send these thoughts to the background and replace them with good. We end by feeling worthy and whole; accepting ourselves as works-in-progress.

Here are some of our examples of inspiration. May they inspire you, too.

Quote: “We are born for no purpose but to be useful to the community we live in and to our neighbor as long as we are alive in the world, and to serve at the Lord’s good pleasure in the other world.” Emanuel Swedenborg, Arcana Coelestia 1103:2

“Just as I Am” song by Charlotte Elliott which was Billy Graham’s signature hymn in his crusades.

“Observing Spirit” book by Peter Rhodes

“Small Enough” song by Nichole Nordeman

Unknown author Quote: “Prayer is the only power to which God surrenders.”

Quote by St. Teresa of Avila “The closer we get to God, the simpler we become.”

#FridayFeeling #DoSomething

We are losing young people to gun violence at an alarming rate. Being useful is one of the main tenets of our church. If you feel compelled to advance the development of the human race, be useful; do something.

#Vigil Tonight for #LasVegas Tragedy

Contemplating Our Shock, Sharing Our Grief, Seeking Our Peace

Everyone welcome to join together. 7 PM,

Tonight

• A gathering in a safe place to begin to relieve the shock, process the grief, and reestablish peace of mind.
• A gathering together in a prayer vigil so that we feel our hearts and minds supported by each other.
• A gathering to begin to move from darkness to light, from cold to warmth, from the pit to the mountain.
• A gathering to share Word. To share our prayers. To share our hearts.

Monday, October 2, 2017, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM

Glendale New Church, 845 Congress Rd Glendale, OH, 45246

for more info, contact

newchurchofmontgomery@gmail.com and glendalenewchurch@gmail.com

Prayer chain, hurricane Irma

Lord, please bring Your power to calm the winds, tornadoes, and flooding rains and storm surges of Hurricane Irma. You calmed the waters of the Sea of Galilee when you walked among us as Jesus. Please, if it is Your Will, calm the air and waters of the Atlantic ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Please be with all caught in Irma’s path, including all volunteers, medical personnel, zookeepers, and first responders.

[Please add first names only and locations of loved ones you want included in this prayer:]

Debbie and her family in Orlando; Lorraine and Alex in Naples_______________

In Your Most Holy Name, we pray

Sarah Amend Memorial #UC #Scholarship Donation #CF

Sarah Amend was often in our prayers. She was a strong young woman who battled Cystic Fibrosis, and recently endured a double lung transplant. Sadly, her new lungs were rejected by her body after much struggle, and she passed from this world, June 15, 2017.

The Sarah Amend Symphony Scholarship Fund has been set up by her family to allow Sarah’s inspirational qualities of friendship, personal integrity, service to others, academic excellence and intellectual pursuits through community and campus involvement and personal and career development, to become a legacy.

Our church will be taking up a special collection and making a donation to the fund.  Our collection will be open until August 20.  Checks can be made out to our church with a note that says “For Sarah”. Funds will then be distributed to the Sarah Amend Symphony Scholarship Fund through the UC Foundation. These funds, and all future additions to the Fund, which will be administered by the UC Foundation in accordance with their policies for gift funds, will be used for scholarships to be awarded annually. 

https://www.gofundme.com/SarahSymphony