Order of worship — January 8, 2023
You are welcome to use this liturgy in your online worship services and distribute it to your congregation.
Latest Posts
Called before I was born — Weekly Christian ed lesson
In this lesson, children will explore the idea of gifts of talents and abilities from God and will examine those that God placed within them before they were born.
The top 10 Outlook stories of 2022
We've covered a lot of ground in 2022 including national news, denominational meetings, a three-week General Assembly and a year's worth of Sundays and holidays. Outside of our weekly worship resources, these are the most popular stories from 2022.
How to Inhabit Time: Understanding the Past, Facing the Future, Living Faithfully Now
"When we remember where we came from, we are obligated to live outside of our schedules and forget our impatience. In an American world full of rush and calendars, Smith offers an alternative: we are to rest."
Grateful for our 2022 donors
A word of gratitude and acknowledgment for the many donors who make the Outlook’s ministry possible.
Thank you, Leslie Scanlon
Outlook's national reporter Leslie Scanlon will be moving on to new opportunities and challenges in 2023. We are grateful for her many years of faithful service.
How the war in Ukraine dominated this year’s online searches for Bible verses
YouVersion reported that users' engagement with the Bible rose by 55% this year in Ukraine, which neighboring Russia invaded in February.
In Haiti, a crisis of violence, chaos, and cholera goes largely ignored by outside world
Charities do what they can to help the impoverished nation, but international action is needed to bring order and restore infrastructure, experts on the ground say.
Mountain biking as a spiritual practice
Anna Kendig Flores shares how she picked up mountain biking as a 36-year-old, and what the activity has taught her about herself, the world, and God.
Free hymn in support of asylum seekers
Permission is given for free use of this hymn by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, including in online worship services.
Despite ample evidence, Christian nationalism mostly absent from final Jan. 6 report
Faith leaders have questioned the omission, which lawmakers have signaled is founded in caution against tarring 'every American who believes God has blessed America' as a white supremacist.
Theological education: God’s work in the world and our response
Theodore J. Wardlaw considers what changes will strengthen theological education in our “between the times” period.
Parable of the school board president and the pastor
Andrew Taylor-Troutman shares a lesson he learned from a local school board president.
In Transit: Being Non-Binary in a World of Dichotomies
Anderson openly shares their journey … eventually declaring, “I ... am non-binary. I am not a woman, as society already thinks, but I am also not a man. I am a Not, and I am happy there.”
Bible podcasts help Christians resolving to read the old, old story in the new year
While yearlong plans taking readers from Genesis to Revelation have been around for years, podcasts have more recently become a popular way for listeners to keep up with or better understand a daily Bible reading plan.
Faith-based groups on border unswayed after lawmakers’ call to investigate them
The gospel compels us to do so. If that’s unpopular with certain members of Congress, so be it,’ said Anthony Granado with Catholic Charities USA.
How the battle over Christian nationalism often starts with homeschooling
Some of the most popular homeschool curriculum textbooks teach that the first Europeans to arrive in Virginia and Massachusetts made a covenant with God to Christianize the land.
Hard times in Texas: Transgender Presbyterian minister Remington Johnson and her ministry of visibility and presence
I feel the anxiety. I feel the fear. I’ll still show up.
The hard work of hope
"But hope is not a wish. ... Hope is trusting that no matter what pains or tragedies befall us, no matter what darkness envelopes us, no matter what grief we live with, that God is still here."
A prayer for 2022 and 2023
Allysen Schaaf pens a prayer for the new year.
Order of worship — January 1, 2023
You are welcome to use this liturgy in your online worship services and distribute it to your congregation.
New Year’s Day — January 1, 2023
Kyle Walker invites us to pause in the New Year and use Psalm 148 as a guide to see how creation praises God in ordinary, extraordinary ways.
Education Secretary Cardona: ‘If it weren’t for my faith, I wouldn’t be here’
A sign on Cardona’s desk reads “Let your faith be bigger than your fear.”
Christians from Myanmar celebrate passage Of US BURMA Act
Last week, America's Congress passed the historic Burma Unified through Rigorous Military Accountability Act of 2022 (BURMA) Act, an act that will authorize sanctions against senior officials in Myanmar’s military and state-owned commercial enterprises, support democracy efforts and provide humanitarian relief.
Why early Christians wouldn’t have found the Christmas story’s virgin birth so surprising
The idea of virgin birth has been part of Christianity since the start, but its significance has shifted over time.
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