Tag Archives: mustard seed house

Feb. 27 Conversation with Mark Van Steenwyk in Seattle

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Join us at the Mustard Seed House for an evening of conversation with Missio Dei’s communitarian Mark Van Steenwyk and follow Mustard Seed House people.

Mark Van Steenwyk is a member of Missio Dei (an Anabaptist intentional community anchored on the West Bank of Minneapolis that pursues Jesus’ way of simplicity, prayer, hospitality, and peace). Missio Dei is affiliated with the Mennonite Church USA and the Baptist General Conference.

The evening will be an informal time of sharing stories and experiences about new monasticism, intentional communities and radical discipleship.

For more info, contact Eliacín

When? Friday, February 27 at 7:00 PM

Where? Mustard Seed House , Seattle (click to see map)

This is a free event, but spaces are limited. Registration is required. Register here.

Discernment at the Mustard Seed House

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Via Godspace

Sunday night we started a series of discernment sessions with the Mustard Seed House community to work out how we can put our MSA rule of life into practice.  Over the next few months we plan to use this process to flesh out the shape of not just our community life but our personal disciplines too.  The idea is not  to dictate how each person practices their faith but to provide a framework of accountability for the practices that each person wants to commit to.  I am a great fan of British theologian John Stott.  One of his great comments from a lecture of his is

“The answers we get depend on the questions we ask.  Our job is not to give people answers but to help them ask the right questions

Part of what we are discovering is that this discernment process enables us to ask the right questions that move us towards a more intimate walk with God and a life in which God’s presence is more deeply connected to everything that we do.

The first half hour of our meeting was spent checking in – reflecting on what we are looking forward to and what we have experienced in the last week.  This provided a wonderful foundation for our discussions.  We then asked other the question:

What personal prayer and Bible study practices would you like others to hold you accountable for?

As we shared we realized that we are all had very different ideas of how much time we should spend in prayer and Bible study.  Some of us were struggling with the very idea of daily prayer times because these had become rote routines that seemed to do little to strengthen our faith.  After a very open time of sharing we started to grapple with what is probably a much more important question for us.

What makes us feel closest to God?

As we discussed this question we realized that most of us draw closer to God through a variety of avenues that often have very little to do with Bible study and traditional forms of prayer.  However these practices often then draw us into prayer and Bible study as a way to go deeper into the revelation of God that we are already experiencing.  Some of us connected to God through nature, another person through walking on the beach or reading and yet another through encountering the divine presence of God in the mundane everyday things of life. Someone else encountered God through talking to friends and strangers.

Out of this discussion we have shaped our question for next week

Out of knowing how we experience God, what practices should we encourage in each other in order to help us experience God more deeply?

 

New Season in the Mustard Seed House

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Tonight we had our first community dinner night with Dustin and Joy, the new communitarians at Mustard Seed House. After several times together and several times of prayer and discernment, we invited Joy and Dustin to be part in this adventure of living in intentional community.

Here is the Afro-Celtic prayer we prayed as way to begin this new season in the Mustard Seed House.

    

Prayer:

[Christine, Ricci & Joy light 1 candle each]

[Selah: take a moment of silent to meditate in the light of the candles]


[Christine & Tom]

O Lord, O God,

Creator of the land, the earth, the trees,

the animals and humans, all is for your honor,

The drums beat it out, and people sing about it,

and they dance with noisy joy that you are the Lord.

[Selah: stop and listen]


[Dustin & Joy]

Let your face shine upon us, O God

and be merciful to us.

[Selah: stop and listen]

[Ricci & Eliacín]

The Peace of God, the Creator,

and of Christ, the Redeemer,

and of the Holy Spirit, The Sustainer,

be upon us

for ever more.

[Selah: stop and listen]

[Dustin]

Yours is our trust, O King of kings,

We pray that no evil and malice,

no hatred or fear, may smother the flames.

[Selah: stop and listen]

[Joy]

We pray that indifference and apathy,

contempt and pride,

may not extinguish its light.

[Selah: stop and listen]

[Christine]

Be with us by day,

be with us by night,

and as darkness covers the earth,

keep our lights shining brightly.

[Selah: stop and listen]

[Tom]

We are on a journey,

for our hearts have run before us,

to your kingdom;

once far off,

we have now been brought near.

[Selah: stop and listen]

[Ricci]

We pray the protection of Christ to clothe us,

Christ to enfold us,

To surround and guard us,

this day and every day.

[Selah: stop and listen]

[Catie]

See how good and joyful thing it is to dwell together in unity!

[Selah: stop and listen]

[Eliacín]

Glory be to the Father, the Creator and Source,

To the Nursing Mother,

To Jesus, the Healer and Eldest Brother

And to the Unsurpassed Great Spirit.

Amen.