“Amazing and Uncomfortable Grace”
Several years ago, there was an absolutely fascinating study done of America’s favorite music and one of the discoveries was that for many Americans one of their favorite songs is actually an old hymn, Amazing Grace. Perhaps you know how it goes: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.” But what exactly is grace? And what makes it amazing?

You know, when we use the word grace in ordinary conversation, we tend to downsize the word. We’ll say things like, “She’s a very graceful young woman,” and we mean she dances well. Or, “He’s a very gracious host,” and we mean he says nice things at dinner parties. We tend to use the word grace in small ways. But when the New Testament uses the word grace, it uses it in a very big way. It’s a powerful word. It’s an amazing word. In fact, it’s so powerful that sometimes grace can be quite uncomfortable.

When the New Testament uses the English word grace, it’s actually the translation of a Greek word, charis, which means “gift.” And this is the New Testament’s way of saying that at the very center of life there is a God who is not a punitive judge or a scolding parent, but a God who gives gift after gift after gift. That’s grace.

 Dr. Thomas Long is from Atlanta, Georgia, where he is Professor of Preaching at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. Tom is a Presbyterian minister and the author of several books on the art of preaching. Read the Entire Sermon

Worship Goes Big-Screen and Hi-Fi, With Direct-Deposit Tithing

Technology Raises Fears of a Lost Reverence

By Virgil Dickson and Catherine Rampell

Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, September 25, 2007; Page A01

At First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Prince George’s County, parishioners who don’t make it to church on time are directed to an overflow room to watch the Sunday service on a huge projection screen. If they can’t make it to church at all, they can catch the service online, anytime.

The Church at Severn Run in Anne Arundel County has a wireless network in its cafe that lets parents work and peruse the Internet while waiting for their children to finish Sunday school. And at McLean Bible Church in Northern Virginia, fancy lighting, rock music and occasional applause spice up spirited sermon.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE 

Acidity: refers to the sharpness or dryness that a coffee produces on the back of our palate.

Aroma: Characteristics that are distinguished by smell. Such characteristics could be ‘floral’ or ‘Winy’.

Barista: A person that specializes in preparing coffee drinks.

Blend: Two or more individual coffees that are mixed together to bring out desired characteristics.

Body: The richness or heaviness that is felt on the tongue.

Cafe Latte: Espresso combined with a liberal amount of steamed milk.

Cafe au Lait: French for coffee with milk. It consists of equal portions of scalded milk and coffee.

Cappuccino: A shot of espresso with the remainder being half steamed milk and half frothed milk.

Crema: The tan foam formed on the surface of a well made espresso.

Demitasse: A term meaning ‘half cup’ or basically a small coffee cup.

Espresso: A strong coffee brewed by forcing steam under pressure through darkly roasted, powdered coffee beans.

Exotic: Refers to coffees with unusual aromatic and flavor notes (‘floral’, ‘berry-like’ and ‘sweet-spice like’)

Flavor: The overall perception of the coffee in the mouth. Components of flavor include acidity, aroma and body.

Froth/Foam: Term used to describe milk which has been made foamy by aerating it with hot steam.

Latte: Streamed milk and espresso.

Mellow: Smooth taste, lacking acidity.

Portafilter: The cupped handle on an espresso machine which holds the ground coffee during the brewing process.

Richness: Refers to body and fullness.

Spicy: Describes a coffee that has a flavor and aroma reminiscent of spices.

Winy: Describes a coffee that has an aftertaste reminiscent of a well matured wine.

“God’s way and law of fullness is that of organic life. In the Divine order, life produces its own organism, whether it be a vegetable, animal, human or spiritual. This means that everything comes from the inside. Function, order and fruit issue from this law of life within. It was solely on this principle that what we have in the New Testament came into being. Organized Christianity has entirely reversed this order.”

T. Austin-Sparks is the man who deserves credit for this term.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON ORGANIC CHURCH 

The Grace Café is an interactive, multimedia supported, organic conversation about God’s grace being active in our everyday lives. The journey to be a follower of Jesus Christ begins with asking the question, “When and where do I meet Jesus? What miraculous changes should take place in my life and how long will it take?”

We would like to invite you to join us as we take the journey together.

October 7, 2007
1:00 pm

5130 Greenwich Ave
Baltimore, MD 21229

Join us on Facebook.com and see how the community is growing.

Grace be With You

Pastor Chaney