Christmas Institute in July Grows Youth Disciples in the Filipino-American Tradition
The 2026 Christmas Institute in July, a beloved Filipino-American United Methodist tradition, gathered 21 youth, 23 pastors and deaconesses,…
God of the foolish cross,
tottering down the streets of Jerusalem on a donkey,
You are not the savior we expect.
Your power doesn’t look like the power we want our God to demonstrate.
Your wisdom makes no sense to us.
We are happy to join the crowd, waving branches,
But not so sure we want to follow you
into the temple courts
into the upper room
into the Garden of Gethsemane
to the foot of the cross.
Forgive our false assumptions.
Clarify our clouded vision.
Let us relax into the foolishness of your love, your grace.
Hosanna, hosanna.
Save us, we beseech you!
Written by Joanna Harader on her Spacious Faith blog. Re-posted on the re:Worship blog.
The 2026 Christmas Institute in July, a beloved Filipino-American United Methodist tradition, gathered 21 youth, 23 pastors and deaconesses,…
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