Be Still And Go

"The God in whom Abraham trusted is a God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things which do not exist."//Romans 4:13-25For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So

Your work for social justice is important and you belong in the greater movement for social change.//This episode was written and recorded by Kate Werning, the creator and host of the Healing Justice podcast. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat, the Associate Minister of Digital Strategy and Online Engagement at The Riverside Church.Find out more about Be Still and Go at www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo.Find out more about the Healing Justice podcast at www.healingjustice.org.

"Maybe we don’t need complex theories or volumes and volumes of dense theological reflection to explain a reality we know to be true: we can lament and praise in the same breath."//Psalm 22:23-31You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted;he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him.The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever!All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.Posterity will

This is the story of God doing what God does best: making a promise and keeping it.//Genesis 17:1-7When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.//This episode was written and recorded by Kevin Wright, the Executive Minister of Programs at The Riverside Church. It was produced by Rev

Lent is about reconciling realities: the me on the inside and the me on the outside. The world in all of its brokenness and the world in its most creative and generativeness.//This episode was written and recorded by Cameron Trimble, Executive Director of The Center for Progressive Renewal. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat, the Associate Minister of Digital Strategy and Online Engagement at The Riverside Church.Find out more at www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo.

The juxtaposition between Lent, a time of renewal for my commitment to God, and a red roadster launched by a business man into eternity — this is disorienting.Humans might build rockets and red convertibles, but God breathes life into the dust and I am here but for a little while.//This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Liz Wheeler, a member of The Riverside Church. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat, the Associate Minister of Digital Strategy and Online Engagement at The Riverside Church.Find out more at www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo.

"It is not enough to stay quiet and comfortable while the world around you goes to hell. You must leave the confines of heaven and place your feet in the flames, to stand with the oppressed and silence your voice to make room for theirs."//Mark 1:9-15In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good newsof God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near, repent, and believe in the good news.”//This episode was written, recorded, and produced by Rev. Jim Keat, the Associate Minister of D

God is utterly in control. Jesus taught that all is forgiven for those who love him and grace will be sufficient to heal each wound. My task is to sit with that. Admittedly, I sit with it uncomfortably.//1 Peter 3:18-22For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.//This episode was written and recorded by Rev. George Walker, a member of The Rive

Dark nights are going to come. The question is how we will spend them.When love hurts us so much we are sure that our shattered hearts will never mend, will we love anyway?When doing what is right and just isn’t what is easy or popular or expedient, will we do right anyway?When living the good news can lead to a cross, will we live it anyway?//This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Rachel Johnson, the Executive Minister of Communication at The Riverside Church. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat, the Associate Minister of Digital Strategy and Online Engagement at The Riverside Church.Find out more at www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo.

"Trust is built in small moments."//Psalm 25:1-10To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.//This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Bruce Lamb, the Associate

"Our tendency has been to respond to God’s covenant with greed instead of gratitude, dismissal instead of attention, confident ignorance instead of loving curiosity. The prophets criticize this and don’t we know it today."//Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that i

"In our weakness, in our humanity, Christ rises, God triumphs."//1 Corinthians 1:18-25For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.//This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Michael Liv

"May justice increase and oppression decrease. May wisdom increase and ignorance decrease. And may it be so with me."//This episode was written and recorded by Amanda Meisenheimer, the Associate Minister of Children & Families at The Riverside Church. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat, the Associate Minister of Digital Strategy and Online Engagement at The Riverside Church.Find out more at www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo.

"God has hands; they are attached to your wrists."//2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.” See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the r

"Who knew that an 'I’m sorry' could feel so good?"//Joel 2:1-2, 12-17Blow the trumpet in Zion;sound the alarm on my holy mountain!Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near—a day of darkness and gloom,a day of clouds and thick darkness!Like blackness spread upon the mountainsa great and powerful army comes;their like has never been from of old,nor will be again after themin ages to come.Yet even now, says the Lord,return to me with all your heart,with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;rend your hearts and not your clothing.Return to the Lord, your God,for he is gracious and merciful,slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,and relents from punishing.Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,and leave a blessing behind him,a grain offering and a drink offeringfor the Lord, your God?Blow the trumpet in Zion;sanctify a fast;call a solemn assembly;gather the people.Sanctify the congregation;assemble the aged;gather the children,even infants at the br

"I was beginning a journey of discovery, of telling the truth about who I am in a world that keeps telling me to show up prettier and smarter and shinier and more articulate and all the things I most definitely am not."//This episode was written and recorded by Amy Butler, the Senior Minister of the Riverside Church. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat, the Associate Minister of Digital Strategy and Online Engagement at The Riverside Church.Find out more at www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo.

Listen to all the episodes and find out more at www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo.//Today we show up for the ashes, asking to be marked by the dust, acknowledging that sometimes things break, even us. Our lives crack and fissure and today we remember that we are dust. (Amy Butler | Episode 1 | February 14, 2018)//We find an invitation to not only be the recipients of grace but also to extend grace to those around us. (Kevin Wright | Episode | February 15, 2018)//There is a piece of the divine in me and in all of us. And we are called to unleash this love and justice, this divine spark, in the world around us, to show the world what God looks like, to be the hands and feet and face of God in a broken and fractured world, to be, as 2 Corinthians 5:20 reminds us, an ambassador for Christ. (Jim Keat | Episode 3 | February 16, 2018)//Repentance is a realignment, not an apology. Repentance is picking yourself up, stepping back into the movement, and being fully present in spite of yourself. (Amanda Meisenheimer | Epis

Be Still and Go is a new podcast from The Riverside Church, a daily digital devotional for the season of Lent that invites you to reflect on a text or a theme so that you can be refilled and refueled for the work of love and justice that you are called to do. And this work is not a sprint. Take a moment and do your stretches because we’re in this for the whole marathon.Find out more at www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo.