Breakfast Table Talk Monday

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Breakfast Table TalkMonday

• Practice Loving God

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All Who Hunger

• All who hunger, gather gladly holy manna is our
  bread.
• Come from wilderness and wandering. Here, in
  truth, we will be fed.
• You that yearn for days of fullness, all around
  us is our food.
• Taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see
  that God is good.
• All who hunger, never strangers seeker, be a
  welcome guest.
• Come from restlessness and roaming. Here, in
  joy, we keep the feast.
• We that once were lost and scattered in
  communions love have stood.
• Taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see
  that God is good.
• All who hunger, sing together Jesus Christ is
  living bread.
• Come from loneliness and longing. Here, in
  peace, we have been led.
• Blest are those who from this table live their
  lives in gratitude.
• Taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see
  that God is good.

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Table Sharing

• A joy in my congregation/the UMC . . .
• A difficulty in my congregation/the UMC . . .
• Three minutes per person

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Three Simple RulesA Wesleyan Way of
LivingBishop Rueben P. Job

• Do No Harm
• Do Good
• Practice Loving God (Stay in Love with God)

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Practice Loving GodBy attending upon all the
ordinances of God. John Wesley

• To keep ones relationship with God alive and
  vital.
• Ordinance Means of Grace
• Spiritual Discipline Faith Practice
• Public Worship of God
• The Lords Supper
• Private and Family Prayer
• Searching the Scriptures
• Bible Study
• Fasting

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Inside Out Kind of Experience

• All we have in life is life. Things the cars,
  the houses, the educations, the jobs, the money
  come and go, turn to dust between our fingers,
  change and disappear . . . the secret of life . .
  . is that it must be developed from the inside
  out.
• Joan Chittester, Illuminated Life
• Share a time when you have experienced one of
  these spiritual practices/means of grace as an
  inside-out kind of experience of Gods love,
  presence, and/or assurance.

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Hear Respond to the Whisper of
DirectionReceive Presence Power of God

• Spending time daily in prayer
• Reflecting upon and studying Scripture
• Participating regularly in the life of a
  Christian community including,
• a) weekly worship
• b) frequent and regular participation in the
  communion
• 4) Doing acts of goodness and mercy
• 5) Taking opportunities to share with and learn
  from others who also seek to follow the way of
  Jesus (Christian conferencing)
• 6) Doing acts of witness and justice

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Sources of Authority

• WWJD - What would Jesus do?
• Pray. Sing the Psalms. Celebrate religious
  rites (baptism) and festivals (Passover). Keep
  Sabbath. Show mercy. Work for justice. Read
  sacred text.
• WWJWD What would John Wesley do?
• Methods, hence Methodists.
• Early to rise to pray, journal, and study.
• Daily eucharist. Weekly fasting on Wed. Fri.
• Classes and bands for accountability and growth.
• Mercy, witness, justice especially the poor
  forgotten.
• WWID What would I do?

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It Changes Me and the World

• When we practice loving God it includes
  practices that bind us to God every day and
  actions that heal the pain, injustice and
  inequality of our church and world.
• Consider and discuss which means of grace is
  inviting you to a greater intimacy and union with
  God.
• Consider and discuss which means of grace could
  move through you to bring healing for the pain of
  the church and world.

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Power or Love?

• Power offers an easy substitute for the hard task
  of love. It seems easier to be God than to love
  God, easier to control people than to love
  people, easier to own life than to love life.
• Henri Nouwen

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Blest Are They

• Blest are they, the poor in spirit theirs is the
  kingdom of God.
• Blest are they, full of sorrow they shall be
  consoled.
• Rejoice and be glad! Blessed are you, holy are
  you.
• Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of
  God!
• Blest are they, the lowly ones they shall
  inherit the earth.
• Blest are they who hunger and thirst they shall
  have their fill.
• Rejoice and be glad! Blessed are you, holy are
  you.
• Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of
  God!
• Blest are they who show mercy mer -- cy shall be
  theirs.
• Blest are they, the pure of heart they -- shall
  see God!
• Rejoice and be glad! Blessed are you, holy are
  you.
• Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of
  God!

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Blest Are They (cont.)

• Blest are they, who seek peace they are the
  children of God.
• Blest are they who suffer in faith the glory of
  God is theirs.
• Rejoice and be glad! Blessed are you, holy are
  you.
• Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of
  God!
• Blest are you who suffer hate, all because of me.
• Rejoice and be glad, yours is the kingdom. Shine
  for all to see.
• Rejoice and be glad! Blessed are you, holy are
  you.
• Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of
  God!
• Rejoice and be glad! Blessed are you, holy are
  you.
• Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of
  God!