Christ the King Sunday Thoughts

Here is the collection of notes from this past Sunday's sermon for Christ the King Sunday. It's jumbled but I heard from enough people who thought they would like to think about it that I would pass  the thoughts I had onto others to wrestle with.

KINGDOM OF GOD

Instead, the church must embrace and embody a new narrative driven by Kingdom concerns instead of church issues.

But if we respond to Jesus’ call to live as Kingdom agents everywhere we go , we will experience the joy of seeing God at work. Once you’ve witnessed a few resurrections, everything else pales in comparison!

most of what God does happens outside the church. The church has a vital role to play, but the church is not the center of the action.

Christianity’s greatest period of vulnerability and political weakness was the time of its most explosive growth. It became a magnet to others as well as a model of compassion. Likewise, rather than lecturing the world, we need to show a different and better way to live in the world, which includes seeking, as the prophet Jeremiah described it, “the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile” (Jer. 29:7). This view of power places average Christians on the mainstage of cultural influence. The loss of political sway in some areas empowers the everyday example of believers

“Apocalyptic and hysterical rhetoric is inappropriate for people who are children of the King,” James Forsyth, senior pastor at McLean Presbyterian Church, told us. “Christians should not be characterized by white knuckles of fear and terror.” God’s kingdom has a set of values that should shape us and instill a sense of mission; but God’s purposes ultimately don’t hinge on us. We can rest in the knowledge that God is in control and that things will unfold according to his will and ways.

If we understand this moment of cultural weakness in the right way—if we show joy and grace, serenity and hope, even while traveling on roads marked by difficulty—this moment can turn out to be not a calamity but a greater and grander stage for the true, enduring, and life-giving message of the gospel.

We want to use the time in church to prepare for Kingdom of God work out there. The end all be all of church is not to gather members, to save some one and feel like we are finished. But to prepare kingdom agents for working in the world. Disciple making prepares us for doing some awesome in the world outside of the church. It's tough for us to hear that, because we worry that our own church is in such need. To focus outside seems like neglect.

Jesus taught us to pray for the Kingdom to come. We must keep working on that possibility.

This hymn, by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette played a part in the pastoral prayer this Sunday as we prayed for the victims and their families who were in Paris for the destruction of so many.

O God, Our Words Cannot Express

ST. ANNE CM ("Our God, Our Help in Ages Past") (MIDI)

 

O God, our words cannot express 

The pain we feel this day.

Enraged, uncertain, we confess

Our need to bow and pray.

 

We grieve for all who Please their lives...

And for each injured one.

We pray for children, husbands, wives

Whose grief has just begun.

 

O Lord, we're called to offer prayer

For all our leaders, too.

May they, amid such great despair,

Be wise in all they do.

 

We trust your mercy and your grace;

In you we will not fear!

May peace and justice now embrace!

Be with your people here!

 I

Tune: Attr. William Croft, 1708.

Text: Copyright © 2001 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette.

Email:  bcgillette@comcast.net   Web site:  www.carolynshymns.com 

Our Bosses

   who we are influenced by, who shapes our behavior, who do we try to emulate, who were the people we were trying to be like? Who do we take our cues from for how we act. When I was little I wanted to be Superman. When a teenager, I wanted to be like the jocks I saw who were able to have friends and date the cute girls. Later on it's others who I thought I should impress. But it's not supposed to be liike that, but we should emulate Jesus and the ways of the Kingdom.

The Church

   Jesus started the church to help train disciples to work for the Kingdom of God. 3 times Jesus mentions 3 as assembly. 150 times Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God/Heaven. We have focused our efforts at the church, getting people to become members, to help people be comforted in times of trouble, to help make the building a good place. Even our own bosses and other pastors measure what we are doing well by the number of people in our pews, the size of our buildings and the amounts of our budget. We are even chastised if we aren't growing the numbers of members. Not much talk about Kingdom influences. The church should be the training ground for living the Monday through Saturday life in the kingdom and with kingdom values being shared with all others.

Parable of the Life-Saving Station  This is a good story about what happens to many churches, they start off well and then grow comfortable as a club.




A Parable of a Lighthouse

  On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur there was a once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves, they went out day or night tirelessly searching for the lost. 

  Many lives were saved by this wonderful little station, so that it became famous. Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding areas, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews were trained. The little life-saving station grew.

  Some of the new members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and so poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea.

  So they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in an enlarged building. Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they re-decorated it beautifully and furnished it as a sort of club.

  Less of the members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired life boat crews to do this work.

  The mission of life-saving was still given lip-service but most were too busy or lacked the necessary commitment to take part in the life-saving activities personally.

  About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boat loads of cold, wet, and half-drowned people.

  They were dirty and sick, and some of them had black skin, and some spoke a strange language, and the beautiful new club was considerably messed up. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.

  At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club's life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal life pattern of the club.

  But some members insisted that life-saving was their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the life of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast. They did.

  As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. They evolved into a club and yet another life-saving station was founded.

  If you visit the seacoast today you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, only now most of the people drown.

Author unknown

Adapted by Steve Rudd

The Kingdom

we have for a long time emphasized just the church and it's needs, and we do have them. BUT

  Jesus challenges us to work on developing our discipleship so we engage the world we live in with the influences of the Holy Spirit to bring about the Kingdom. For God so loved the World...

   May we be blessed by John Wesley's teaching on engaging in a world we don't always agree with and learn that love should triumph over total consensus as these quotes instruct us.

  We may not all agree on things, but we can all agree on love for one another is the most important thing. 

  Let us commit to growing in our faith so we can influence the world we live in to become more like the Kingdom of God.

Fruit of The Spirit Joy

JOY

Usually, we employ this word to communicate our intense satisfaction, our sense of well-being and our underlying contentment at having experienced something for which we have earnestly longed, something that we have deeply desired.

One of the most powerful of these practices and the one that may be most responsible for inhibiting the cultivation of Christian joy is the practice of advertising.

the significance of the etymological connection between the Greek word for "grace" (charis) and the New Testament word most commonly translated as "joy" (chara). Both words developed from the same root, and both imply the activity of freely taking delight in something or someone beyond one's self.

As Evelyn Underhill writes: "Real love always heals fear and neutralizes egotism, and so, as love grows up in us, we shall worry about ourselves less and less, and admire and delight in God and his other children more and more, and this is the secret of joy."2

This emphasis on the outward movement of joy is carried over into the New Testament, where healing and restoration of wholeness are an occasion sion for joy and praise.

For me, I define JOY in two ways…

1) Internal Joy: living with a high level of self-worth that is not based off circumstances. I’m not talking about being arrogant. Rather, having internal “confidence” in who I am, no matter what others say or do.

2) External Joy: offering help and hope to others.

But perhaps most significantly, joy is a defining characteristic of the life of God. The parables of Luke 15 remind us that God also rejoices when those who were lost are found. God has always longed for the reconciliation of all creation.

O Lord, far be it from me to think that whatever joy I feel makes me truly happy. For there is a joy that is not given to those who do not love you, but only to those who love you for your own sake. You yourself are their joy. Happiness is to rejoice in you and for you and because of you. This is true happiness and there is no other. Those who think that there is another kind of happiness look for joy elsewhere, but theirs is not true joy.3  St. Augustine

Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. (Lk 6:22-23)

"My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you maybe mature and complete, lacking in nothing" (Jas 1:2-4).

advertising both plays on and helps create our contemporary confusions and anxieties about who we are and whether we have worth.

Furthermore, because we believe we are entitled to pursue happiness and because our culture defines happiness in terms ofwhatwe possess,we believe we are entitled to acquire and accumulate whatever possessions we believe will make us happy. The result, as many of us can well attest, is that our lives (not to mention our closets, garages and attics) are often cluttered with stuff that promised to bring us happiness but didnt and doesn't.

When we gather for worship, therefore,we are focusing our attention on that which is our chief end. Such gatherings should be marked by the joy that comes from doing what we were created to do.

The source of our joy as Christians is God and God's reconciling work. Even the Old Testament rings out with psalms of joy to the God who saves.

Rather, what is being aroused in many cases is a desire for desiring, a desire that makes contentment with who one is and what one has all but impossible.

Fruit of the Spirit Peace

PEACE

shalom/peace refers to the state of well-being, wholeness and harmony that infuses all of one's relationships. Such a view of peace is inherently social; to be at peace only with oneself is not to experience shalom in all its fullness.

As

Establishing and sustaining wholeness in all one's relationships is no easy thing. To be in right relationship with God and one's fellow creatures one must consistently do what is right, what God desires, what God requires.

Peace for overcoming storms

Moving toward a new understanding of Shalom or Wholeness

Willing to be invested in increasing peace

Into the midst of this divisive culture, the gospel of Jesus brings an alternate perspective. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” or from the apostle Paul, “If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”

A prayer attributed to Francis of Assisi: “Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.” 43

The root meaning of the word “peace” comes from the Hebrew concept of “shalom.” Shalom refers to a state of well-being, wholeness and harmony; a connectedness that infuses all of one’s relationships, with God, each other and the world.

I hope these random thoughts will help you think about making peace a more important part of your life and your spiritual journey.

blessings on you as you travel

Pastor Jeff

Wait for it.... Wait for it... my notes on Patience for sermon

PATIENCE

Reflect on your own life during the past few days, considering those times when you have found yourself growing impatient. How do you think your understanding of time contributed to your impatience? Can you, for example, think of times when your impatience and frustration was rooted in your conviction that your time was your own? More specifically, can you recall times when you have grown impatient because people were not meeting your expectations or were not conforming to your timetable?

When we gather together each week, we need to remember that at the heart of the Christian story is a God who is patient, a God who works slowly and diligently over many generations to create a people who will, by their very life together, bear witness to that God.

This way of thinking has become so ingrained in us that it shapes the ways we think about the Christian life. As a result, many of'us find ourselves exceedingly impatient about Christian growth. Yet maturity takes time; fruit does not grow overnight. Cultivating a life in the Spirit is slow, painstaking work. But most of us (myself included) secretly long for the day when we will wake up and find that we have been instantly transformed.

In a similar way, those among us whose lives are increasingly dictated by their appointment books would do well to find creative ways of building in "slack" time.

A related issue that affects our life together concerns the "time consciousness" ness" that often places severe restrictions on our gatherings. Is it really conceivable that we will ever learn to be patient with each other when many of us gather to worship with one eye on the hymnal and the other on our watches?

God being "slow to anger." Indeed, a refrain echoes throughout the Old Testament: "The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love" (Ps 103:8; cf. Ex 34:6; Num 14:18; Neh 9:17; Ps 86:15; 145:8;Joel 2:13; Jon 4:2; Nahum 1:3).

So this week, God decided to teach me some patience. We lost electricity and then the connection for phone TV and Internet. And the earliest the service provided could come was two days later.

 

See Believe, the chapter on patience for the wisdom of Solomon and Proverbs about patience, good stuff.

Is it possible to imagine a more stunning example of long-suffering than this: the Creator hanging on a tree on behalf of creation?

But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance .... Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. (2 Pet 3:8-9, 14)

the New Testament connects the virtue of patience with the practice of "bearing with" others in two powerful passages. Paul begs the Ephesians to "lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph 4:1-3).

This more fluid and flexible way of conceiving time was changed dramatically with the invention of the mechanical clock, a device developed in the West by Benedictine monks as an aid to their rigorous schedule of prayer and work. Ironically, this invention paved the way for viewing time as something other than a seamless, endless flow. Now time was a resource, something to be segmented, scheduled and managed.

Don't these devices merely enable us to cram those few extra moments with further attempts to justify our existence by being even more productive? In strange and subtle ways, therefore, many of these devices that were supposed to liberate us have instead contributed to our further enslavement. Rather than having more time, we feel as if we actually have less.

Patience is a willingness to surrender your private agenda and proceed on God’s timetable at the exact pace he ordained for you.

Patience isn’t something we develop, it is something God develops in us as he takes over.

Patience is informed waiting.

Those who will not hurry, seem to us to be lazy.

Patience is the art of innocent suffering, Patience means loving God even when he is silent. Patience means crediting God with knowing what’s best.

Isa 40:31  Those who wait upon the Lord.

  1.Will renew their strength.

2. Will mount up with wings as eagles, spiritual elation is a result of waiting
3. Will run and not be weary, waiting supplies the energy for life we may have never known before.
4. We will walk and not faint.

Verses for further reflection

“A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly”  Prov. 14:29

“A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.” Prov. 15:18

“Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.”   Prov. 16:32

“A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to over look an offense.”   Prov. 19:11

“Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.”   Prov. 25:15

Rom 12:12  “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction”

Colossians 1:11  “Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience.”

1 Thessalonians 5:14 “And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

Learning to wait patiently on God is worth it. The benefits include the ability to influence others in godliness, the certainty of God’s blessings, a deeper knowledge of Scripture, a growing patience and forgiveness of others, and a certain hope to sustain us even in the darkest times.

Holly Whitcomb names seven “gifts” that can come through waiting: patience, loss of control, living in the present, compassion, gratitude, humility, and trust in God. 65

Reflections for the summer

   June already? How did that happen?

   Time flies when you are having fun, and I hope that you are having some fun. Jesus told us that he wanted us to know the Joy that was in him, and I hope there is some joy rubbing off on you for hanging around North Bethesda UMC. Joy that reminds us that Jesus is first, Others are second and Yourself is third… J O Y!

   I’m reading a fascinating book about the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church. It’s called Sailboat Church by Joan Gray. Her idea is that the church should be a sailboat, not a row boat. A sailboat is powered by the wind, hence the Holy Spirit. A row boat is powered by people rowing, hence limited to how well we can row. I am enjoying the challenge of remembering that I am to be aware of the wind of the Spirit and not by my own efforts or the efforts of people, but by the Spirit, says the Lord.

   So I am trying to find ways to help us pay attention to the direction and the power of the wind of God. So for starters, I’m preaching a series on the fruits of the Spirit this summer. We are going to look at each of the fruits of the Spirit that Paul talked about in Galatians 5:22,23. “Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control.” They are all qualities that were in Jesus and that are available to us. It will bring us a level of joy, when we pay attention to them. I’ll designate a fruit for each week and we will have some fun getting our fruit intake for the summer.

   I’ll be looking at returning to the Lectionary that you all are familiar with when we are finished with the summer series. We are currently in year B and the Gospel majority comes from Mark, which our Sunday School has been studying. In December we move into year C with the majority of the Gospel lessons are from Luke. I’ll put out a list of the topics for the sermons for all to see, soon.

   I am asking you all to start praying for the new schedule. We are going to move to 10 am for worship on Father’s Day and keep the 10 o clock time after Labor Day. This is because several of our young families have asked us to be more sensitive to their hectic schedules and we want to build up our reaching children and youth and this should help.

   11 am was set up to help the farmers get their milking done first and then they could come to church. We don’t need to milk the cows, so we can come a little earlier. Besides we would like to try having learning opportunities following Happy Hour to help you grow in faith, if you can stay around for a while. We will have a Bible Class in the parlor, much like we have had in the past and I will help teach that class.

   We will also have a book study meeting after Happy Hour and I would also like to have a discussion class meeting after Happy Hour to look at current events in light of the Bible and it’s teachings. There is a great resource for that called the “Wired Word” if that sounds interesting to you, please let me know, I’m looking for some coordinators for that class. The material is available to help and an email can go out to each class member a few days prior to the class with Biblical resources. It too could be a fun experience in tying the faith and the world together.

   Jesus gave the disciples a charge to go into all the world and teach what Jesus had commanded them, so this is continuing what we were told to do. It can be a grand adventure, and learning new things keeps the mind young and alive, besides helping you to grow in your faith.

Blessings

Pastor Jeff

Happy Mother's Day

Thank God for Women

   I want to celebrate the women in my life today. I give thanks for my mother Edlea Kelly Jones. Born in New Orleans in 1925 she was the oldest of four and after her father lost his construction business in the Great Depression, she helped raise her younger brothers and sister. She moved to Washington DC to help win the second world war and worked for the Navy and in the White House. Her younger sister was in my father's youth group when he was youth pastor at Metropolitan Memorial UMC. You ought to meet my older sister. And the rest is history.

   She moved with my father to the Congo in the middle fifties and was the principal of the school on the mission station in Kindu. She also gave birth to my younger brother Kelly while in the Congo. We had to be evacuated a couple of years later from Katanga. She kept us going in faith through all those upheavals and changes because her faith was so strong, and because she had been through trouble growing up. She went back to school when my youngest brother hit school all day and graduated from the University of Maryland. She went back an earned a Master's degree in Library Science. Hence my love for books.

   My mother was killed in an automobile accident on my youngest son's birthday in 1989. A farmer driving cows to a market, ran a red light and hit her broadside in her small car. Five Bishops and over 800 people came to her funeral, a reflection on the many lives she touched in so many ways. She will always be a beacon of light for me.

   My senior year in high school I had an english teacher who was extremely hard on me. Mrs Whitman pushed and challenged me to grow in my use of the language. Her efforts paid off, my SAT scores went up 157 points from the first time I took the test, to the one that counted for college. She made a huge difference in my life because she was so tough. Sometimes, women have to be hard on us to get us to grow, and I am thankful for her efforts on my behalf.

   My last Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Price, was a gem too. We rode the bus to the Westminster UMC for Sunday School and worship my freshman year at Western Maryland, Now Mc Daniel College. She taught or allowed us to share our thoughts in our Ekklesia class. She even looked me up and prayed with me when I returned to the area as a pastor in the Manchester Charge, when I got out of seminary. She demonstrate love, support, encouragement and nurture in many ways.

   Perhaps you have a woman in your life who nurtured you, or challenged you, or loved you unconditionally that ended up influencing your growth and maturity as a person and as a follower of Jesus. I would love to hear from you about who they might be as we take time to honor the women in our lives this weekend.

   Blessings on all the women, and blessings on you

Pastor Jeff

Growing in Faith

   "So then, if anyone is in Christ, that person is part of the new creation. The old things have gone away, and look, new things have arrived!"  (2 Cor. 5:17)

Sermon 4/26/15  Since I wasn't able to do this this morning.

  With 2 baptisms and 7 new members, I want to take the time to remind the church of the promises we make to the children, to nurture them, and for joining the congregation, making an effort to grow in faith along the lines of the compass.

  In AD that we are watching, the moving of the Holy Spirit brings confrontation with the existing order, but it also brings healing and power to those who have been hurt or broken or out of the system. The beggar is healed and the Sanhedrin  wants the disciples to shut down the ministry.

  We live in a world that really wants to shut down the ministry too But some of our negativity and criticism and nastiness should be shut down. But our love from God and for one another needs to keep growing.

  The church’s mission is to help people discover the living God. Our mission is what Jesus gave us, go and make disciples, teaching them to obey all that he has commanded us, and to know that he is with us until the ends of time.

  As a congregation, we should be creating those moments that help us grow. We ought to be inspiring people to connect with God by our worship and by our nourishing the soul. We ought to be creating a way to get to know our neighbor and to love them. We ought to share our resources so we can show God’s love is real and genuine. We ought to serve our community so we will be able to nurture and encourage a relationship to God because of what they see us do, and how they see us treat each other.

  We grow in faith with attendance at worship, we grow in our faith by nourishing our souls, learning about the Bible, study, book reading, exploring the resources we try to make available to you to help your faith. We grow by getting to know one another, In Methodist history, everyone was in a small group to help them grow in faith. Each week they gathered together to ask how was it going with your soul? What joys and places were you seeing God at work in your life. What challenges and struggles were you having in your walk with God this week? Praying for one another and offering suggestions to grow in faith was what the group was all about. Then they shared and served with what they had for others.

  God has welcomed us in as a baby, before we could do anything to merit God’s welcome and acceptance. This should generate gratitude that plays out in our daily lives, how we worship, how we nourish our souls, how we let the love of neighbors help us to grow.

  We all promise to support the ministry of the church/local congregation, with our prayer, our presence, our gifts our service and our witness. We can all renew today our pledge to do that growing.

PRAY

PRESENCE

GIFTS

SERVICE

WITNESS

  I challenge you to grow and feel encouraged to answer your call from God to be a person of his body on earth. 

Pastor Jeff

A Parade to a Cross

   We approach the most holy and special time of the Christian calendar this coming week, Holy Week as we call it. This is the greatest act of God to show us love than anything we can imagine.

   I want to urge all of us to consider participating in the worship experiences of the whole week in order to get the story and to see how much love is being shown.

   Jesus arrives in Jerusalem because it is where what is going to happen must happen. It's the holy city, the city of David, the high water mark of the relationship to God.

   He is riding a donkey to show that he is coming in peace and not a warrior king. Jeremiah made that quite plain, but not everybody gets it.

   Thursday night he participates in the Passover meal to connect to what happened to deliver the slaves while they were in Egypt.

   He washed the disciples feet to show a new level of servanthood and to prepare them for what was coming in his life and in theirs.

   He introduced the Lord's Supper so that we would have a special way to remember him and to recall what he was doing for us when he died on the cross.

   He reminded them of the importance of love, on the help the Holy Spirit would give them, he introduced the rooms made in heaven for our comfort, he described what would be happening and he prayed for you and for me in his great priestly prayer in John 17.

   He introduced the concept of constant connection as he walked to the garden of gethsemane passing those vineyards along the way.

   He asked for prayer for himself to face the awesome challenge of dying for us.

   He taught us to pray Not My Will, but Thy Will Be Done. This is the ultimate way to pray about everything.

   St. Luke tells us he sweated blood that night, a medical sign of deep passion, stress, anxiety, as he wrestled with Satan one more time about whether to drink this cup of crucifixion or not.

   He was encouraged and ministered to by angels as he affirmed his decision to meet his purpose at restoration with God.

   He was betrayed by an insider, Judas led the soldiers to his hiding place for the arrest.

   He was healing a servant's cut off ear, thanks to Peter's resistance, to continually show God's love and compassion even to an enemy. To live by the sword, will mean we die by the sword.

   He was dragged to an unfair trial, he was abused during the night. And he had Peter deny even knowing him three times before the cock crow.

   He was delivered to Pilate with trumped up charges about being the King of the Jews, so the romans would execute him, since it was currently illegal for the Sanhedrin to carry out a death sentence. The jews found him guilty of blasphemy, because he said he was the son of God.

   Pilate had him beaten with a whip of sharp bones and lead to maximize the pain. He was mocked in a purple robe, crowned with a ring of thorns to cut into his head, and then dragged off to be crucified.

   Crucifixion was a powerful and painful way of trying to discourage people from crossing or rebelling against the Romans.

   Jesus forgave them even as he was being nailed to the cross. He connected his mother to John for safe keeping. He offered a companion on the cross a promise of paradise. He quoted Psalm 22 so that those who listened to him would know what he was going through and that he would come back. Go read Psalm 22 as a devotional.

   He died to take away our sins. He died so that justice of the penalty for sin would be carried out, but on our behalf. It had to happen to him, because as God's son, the quality of the sacrifice was needed to cover all of our sins.

   The temple curtain was torn in two, allowing for all to see God rather than obscured behind the curtain. This was another sign that Jesus' death on the cross was bringing us back to God.

   He died and was buried in a borrowed tomb, he didn't own anything of his own, he was totally dependent on God.

   But this is not the end of the story. Come back for the rest of the story...

   I urge you to worship on Palm Sunday and on Maundy Thursday, and on Good Friday so that Easter will be the fantastic and glorious morning it is supposed to be.

Blessings on your spiritual journey

Pastor Jeff

March Madness

   Hello Pilgrims on a Spiritual Journey, I've been working on our sign for out front of the church and came up with March Madness, from ashes to lilies. The Lenten journey is one that begins with the Ash Wednesday experience and moves toward the joy and gladness of an Easter celebration. I'm hoping you have been on a journey and growing in your faith this Lenten Season.

   The current sign reads, Lent a time to fill in the potholes in your life. With all the car eating potholes on our streets, I hope some people can relate to the gift of God to fill in some of our potholes in our spiritual travels. God is in the repair and resurrection business.

   Today is a collection of thoughts.

   Sunday our choir presented their February music presentation, delayed not once but twice by the weather. The choir sang about the blessings and gifts that come to our worship experience, coming out of the slavery of African Americans. We learned between the songs where they came from and how they have blessed thousands over the course of time, and have continued to make a difference, even to us today. It was a real blessing to witness.

   Something unusual happened in church yesterday. One of our new members, who usually sits up front in the sanctuary decided that they would like company up front. So with my permission, they made an announcement, that if people would move up and sit in the first five pews on either side and fill them up, for the next three weeks, they would give an extra $1,000. in the offering. That challenge was promptly matched, which totally surprised me. But then a large portion of the sanctuary folks, took them up on the offer and moved up front. It made for great singing and made the whole sanctuary appear filled, which makes this preacher happy. Now if only for the next two weeks, and then beyond people would be sitting closer to the front, that would be awesome. It didn't hurt them one bit either.

   The choir appreciated the show of support. The children's expressions could be seen by those in the first few rows, as they participated in the children's message. It was a great moment.

   We had a Birthday Party Pot Luck Lunch for everyone in the fellowship hall after that musical special. The Birthday party was postponed by weather as well. We set up the fellowship hall with 12 tables and decorated each one for a special month and then invited folks to sit at the table of their birthday month, not by families. It was so much fun to hear people say they got to meet people they had never talked to before by doing it this way. And of course the food was out of this world, we have the best cooks, sharing their food with us for this. We sang happy birthday, had cake and dessert and people hung around for a long time. It was so much fun.

   I got in the mail a Church Kit to help connect our congregation to the NBC Easter and following airing of the first ten chapters of the book of Acts, called AD. It is produced by Roma Downey, and her husband Mark Burnett. They did the Bible episode in 2013 for 100 million viewers. Anyway, this is the first ten chapters of the book of Acts, the beginning of the church. It's a 12 week tv episode on Sunday nights at 9 pm on NBC. The Church Kit helps coordinate the message, educational opportunities and bulletin and worship resources to maximize the experience. It even suggests that we have some viewing parties around the congregation to watch and reflect on the episodes. We will find a way to have discussions here at church. The Monday and Thursday study for those 12 weeks will look into the show's message about the beginning of the church in those early days following the Resurrection of Jesus and the impact of Pentecost. Wow.. looking forward to that excitement.

   I can't believe how fast a year goes by. It was a year ago in late March that the Bishop decided to move me to North Bethesda UMC. It was  a year ago in late April that I went into the hospital for surgery. It just doesn't seem possible so much time has passed. And now Easter is upon us once more. The Easter message is all about restoration, recovery, new life, new opportunities in faith, new components of life, thanks be to God.

   I pray that your Easter experience will bring new life to you, because with God all things are possible, as God continues to demonstrate them to me. May God's peace and grace be with you all.

Pastor Jeff

Snow Enough

   Hello Spiritual Pilgrims

   Here we are in the first full week of Lent and it has snowed for two weekends and on Ash Wednesday. What a way to start the Lenten journey. We are working on giving up Bad things for Lent, I'm ready to give up shoveling this snow. Please Stop, Whoever has the power to do that, cut it out.

   Yesterday, Sunday Feb. 22, we decided to go ahead with worship at 11 am. The choir special on Gospel Music in Song was put aside because several key members of the choir were snowed in. We turned to the back of our hymnal and followed the Service for Morning Prayer and Praise. We sang some favorite hymns, we read from the Letter of James, encouraging us to pray and we prayed for our church and for people who were mentioned or written about on the prayer request forms.

   I was blessed by the fellowship and the casual nature of our worship. I had not planned a sermon since the choir was singing. So we worked on the prayer list I had prepared for the congregation to begin this Lenten season. I had a two column page with the names of all our church leaders by day of the month. I asked for prayers for our staff. I asked for prayers for the fruitfulness of our congregation. And I asked for prayers for me during the week, that I might hear clearly from God to be able to lead this dynamic fellowship.

   We were blessed with several visitors from other congregations that had called off worship. We found a couple of people who were looking for a church home that came because we were open and doing worship. They even stayed for our Coffee Hour, so that they got to know us a little better, and we got to know them. It was a real blessing.

   We had 48 people all together and they were willing to sit in the front half of the sanctuary, it was nice and cozy and very spirit filled time together. We had several children among the visitors, so I did an impromptu children's message. Fortunately I had a baseball and a coach's hat in my office and we talked about the similarity of Lent and Spring Training. It's time to get ready to be able to play, and for us as followers of Jesus, we are working on doing a better job of following and living the Christian life. Giving up something bad for lent, is like getting ready for a full season.

   I now ask each of you to pray for the coming of Spring. The week long forecast is calling for snow on Saturday night or Sunday morning. I say enough of that. Let's pray it waits until we are past the worship time.

   The Lenten season is always special for me. Over the years it has changed, but still calls me to deepen my walk with God. In college I discovered Godspel and Jesus Christ, Superstar musicals, I would play those albums over and over to give me a wider and deeper appreciation for all that God was doing. When I served in Baltimore city, the pastors of the other denominational churches would study together during Lent, and we would offer a three hour Good Friday service based on the last words of Jesus from the Cross, or some Good Friday witness, like seven characters around the cross. It was always very meaningful.

   I dig out old devotional books during this time, and try to do more prayer and meditation time, because I know my busy schedule takes that away from me. So let's pray we all get a season of preparation to be faithful followers of Jesus.

Blessings on all you do

Pastor Jeff

Beginning of February

   Hello Fellow Spiritual Travelers,

   Well the Super Bowl is over now, the game was close, you can still argue about what happened and why, but I won't. The Commercials had a friendly, be kind to one another flavor to many of them, which is good. There were no costume malfunctions to worry about this year during the half time show, and there are people going to Disney World.

   This is a transition month, we might be enduring more winter, or we might be getting closer to Spring. I like Spring, so that would be fine with me if the groundhogs were wrong this year. But what do they know? And one of the mayors got bit on the ear trying to listen to the groundhog give his prediction, there has to be a lesson learned in there somewhere. I don't think they were meant to be weather experts anyway. But we always look for an angle don't we?

   Lent begins this month too. Ash Wednesday is on Feb. 18th, coming up much quicker than we realize. So we find ourselves wondering how do we make a spiritual commitment to grow this year? I found a devotional we will use at North Bethesda, written by a United Methodist Pastor, James Moore, about giving up something bad for lent. I like his premiss, why not get rid of bad things in your life during Lent, than suffer putting off eating dessert or something that you like. He suggests that we work on improving our spiritual life with good things, by working on giving up the bad things at this time. We will have a study on Monday nights, Wed mornings and Thursday afternoons if you are interested in joining us.

   Rev. Moore suggests we work on giving up something bad for Lent. He recommends that we give up harsh condemning judgments for instance. Just stop doing that. He suggests that we give up enemies for Lent. He encourages us to give up our bad habits, and you know we all have them, for Lent. He goes on to suggest that we give up pettiness for Lent. All that time we spend on nitpicking and complaining could be developed into positive encouragement. I like that.

   "It is my genuine hope and prayer that as we go through the pages of this Lenten Study and the accompanying Scripture lessons for each chapter together, we will be inspired and encouraged this year as never before to give up something bad for Lent and then be better prepared to wrap our arms around the good news of Easter."  James Moore, from the Introduction to the study. I agree completely and would hope that would happen.

   This coming Sunday Feb. 8 we will celebrate Scout Sunday. I am proud to say that the United Methodist Church has been a major sponsor for the scouting movement. When we first got to Africa as missionaries, one of the young students at our mission school asked my Dad to start a scout troop. He had not been a scout, but read the scouting manual in French and translated it to Swahili for the unit. He had to turn young men away who wanted to become scouts because they had not had the opportunity to be involved when they were younger. I was a scout for a while, then we moved and I didn't reconnect to a troop. But I wished I had, years later of course.

   Both of my sons were scouts. I was active in the Cub Scout program and served as Chair of the Committee for many years. When they moved up to Scouts, I would go on the summer camp trips as a dad, when many other fathers could not take that much time away from work. I couldn't go on the weekend trips because of my preaching duties, so it worked out well. God has a great sense of humor. The troop was 95% Roman Catholic, and I got to be the chaplain for the troop during the summer camp trips. What fun. We had great fun going to Michigan, New York, Maine, Wyoming, and Tennessee. My oldest son is an Eagle Scout. The Bishop moved me just before my younger son could complete his advancement and didn't hook up with the new troop to finish his.

   A Scout is Reverent, acknowledging God and appreciating the many ways scouts can connect their variety of faiths with the basic training the scouting movement can give them. So thank the leaders of the programs that have such a blessing and influence on so many young lives, both girls and boys.

   I'll wear my uniform one more time, and encourage those who can to do so this Sunday.

Blessings on your spiritual journey, wherever the influences come from to help you pursue the dream to be the kind of person God wants you to be.

Pastor Jeff

a New STAR Trek, part 2

   Come and join our pilgrimage, our spiritual journey to become the kind of people the original designer had in mind. The last blog we started this adventure with the Magi and the word STAR, to help remember the Studied, Traveled, Adored, Redirected, STAR, experience of the Magi. So here is the next installment.

   I chose the second word to be T Traveled, because after the Magi discovered the phenomena in the sky, they Traveled to further discover what this was all about. So often we  get stuck at one place and never quite move beyond where we are. New Year's resolutions to lose weight for instance often require that we travel to the gym, and that seems a bigger obstacle than we first realized. So we stay stuck.

   This adventure was different because the Magi were willing to travel. They arranged for a journey to find the King of the Jews who was to be born according to the great star/light in the sky. They went looking for the baby. It meant they left behind the familiar and went looking for the new discovery. We ought to be so inclined as we encounter Jesus, we ought to leave behind the past and the ways our faith didn't work, and find a new relationship and encounter with Jesus.

   Some travel might not be too far. It's getting out of bed on a Sunday morning and going to church. I know that this is harder and harder to do for more people. Attendance at worship services continues to decline, people come less often per month and still feel like they go all the time. Some of this may be our fault for not making the services and encounters with God that Passionate and exciting. Pray for us as we move into new ways to worship so that it will be Passionate and encouraging and uplifting and help you make a connection to the Creator.

   Some travel might include a missions trip somewhere to make a difference for someone else. Go on a Volunteers in Mission trip to rehab broken down houses, or hurricane restorations. Or go dig a well, or teach people how to do better with nutrition or education. There are thousands of opportunities for you to take a week of you time and invest it in some worthwhile project. It will be life changing. I've been to Africa University in Zimbabwe to help build faculty housing. I've been to Rochester NY to rehab run down houses with our youth group. I've been to Red Bird Mission to bring water into to homes that did not have it. I've been to Denver CO to refurbish a run down apartment complex that was being renovated to be a second chance for single moms. I've been to our camps to put in new screens in the windows, paint walls, etc. You can travel somewhere and make a difference to others and ultimately for you.

   Some travel may not be external but internal. You may have to figure out a way not to react to somethings people say, because you are thinking more what would Jesus say in response. Some travel may be to find a different response to people who are nasty at work. Maybe there is something going on in their lives that needs fixing, and until it is, they will always be nasty. Maybe it's traveling across the hall, or down to the coffee pot and staying there for a time to see what you might do to make a difference in some one else's life. Caring goes a long way.

   Some travel may be interior as you explore what is the most meaningful thing you can do with your talents, abilities, and skills. You may find you are in the wrong place and might want to explore where God might have you work instead. That can be scary and it will change a lot of things. Hopefully for the best. The travel should be the result of wanting to be the person God created you to be, to be the person that Jesus role modeled for you to follow.

   Jesus often ended his conversations with people he met, with come follow me. See traveling again. It meant to be willing to hang out with Jesus long enough to get what was important in life. It meant discovering how we might love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and how might we love our neighbor the way Jesus loves us. It might mean to follow a class to learn what the difference that Jesus makes can be all about.

   This new year, I hope you can travel for your faith, so that in six months or so, you can look back and see that you have changed and made a difference in your own life and in the lives of others. Looking back and seeing lives you've touched will be an awesome story to tell.

   Come join us, travel with Jesus.

Next issue will be on the Adored part. How do we bow down and worship God and not some idol we have created that get's all of our attention.

Until then

God Bless Us Everyone

Pastor Jeff

A New Star Trek

   Hello Spiritual Trekkers, going on the adventure following the sign from God is a good thing. I've come up with a formula to share the story of Matthew 2: 1-12 and it relates to a STAR. Imagine that.

   What I am planning on doing is preparing four sections to this blog, one a day, to share the insights and wonders of the sign from God that we find in Matt. 2: 1-12. I hope you come back in a day or two to pick up the other pieces. This started out as research for my sermon on Jan. 4, which is Epiphany Sunday in some church world circles. It has been celebrated by Christians from very early in our history, sometime before Christmas became a big deal, to commemorate the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child. It was a good way to say to non-jews who were becoming Christians as the message and the Good News spread, that there were other gentiles who were noticing what God was doing with the Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.

   I've chosen the word STAR, because it helps me to keep my thoughts together. S stands for Studied, both the Magi and the experts of the law studied and had parts of the answer to the quest for the baby who would be born King of Jews. We need that component still.

   I've chosen the second letter T to stand for Traveled, the Magi left behind their study halls and went looking for this great result of the sign from God. This is a clue to the need for us to get up and follow where God is leading us. More to come on this letter in another day's blog.

   I've chosen the third letter A to stand for Adored, the Magi adored, worshipped, bowed down, respected the Boy Jesus for who they knew him to be, the King of the Jews. In a world where we feel so important, or think we are, Adoring the child of God, the one whom God sent to connect with us so that we might know God is with us, it is important to Adore, to worship, to give value and recognition to the Creator of us all. We lose so much when we don't have an" other " to worship.

   I've chosen the fourth letter to be R to stand for Redirected. The Magi were warned in a dream to head home in a different way than the one they came in. It was in part to stay away from Herod, but it's also a great symbol for, coming to encounter the Love of God should make us different people as a result. We should go away from the encounter with the Creative force of the Universe, who knows us and wants a relationship with us, a different person that before the encounter. We should be Redirected in our goals and purposes in life because we have met the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.

   So back to Day one thoughts...

   The Magi knew something extraordinary was happening in the sky, because they knew the sky. Part of their ability to resource and equip Kings and Emperors and Caesars, was their deep knowledge of important things. They Studied, they knew history and Astronomy, and Astrology, and science and could bring the wisdom of the ages together to advise those who sought their wisdom for help. They discovered something was going to happen because of what they saw, what they studied. We don't know exactly what they did see. There have been many blogs and papers written and argued about what the phenomena was that they witnessed, but I'm not going there. It was enough to get them excited that something was about to happen.

   The connection to modern day seekers is the value of Study. We need to read and learn about what God is doing, and the best place for that is Scripture. Now I know that's a tall order, but it's one that has been truly helpful for centuries. The struggle is that we have to become familiar enough with the book, a library actually, to make sure it's helpful. It's a collection of the experiences of many people who encountered God and wanted us to learn from their experience, to guide our experience. When Herod was so upset about a rival King of the Jews, he turned to the scholars around him. They knew their Bible well enough to know that the answer was the promise of Micah, that the child would be born in Bethlehem.

   Bethlehem, the town of David the King who wrote all those Psalms. The David who was able to have faith enough to take on Goliath. The David who was King and who brought the nation of 12 scattered tribes into a powerful force. The David who was able to bring worship and government and lifestyle together for the people. A new King of the Jews, a ruler for all our lives, should be born in a place like that. The meaning and connections to all those qualities are worth seeing to understand the power of Jesus in our lives.

   The S of STAR, is an invitation to you now to study what God is doing, so that you gain wisdom for your journey through life. Study, read a few chapters of the Bible through at a time. Get a One-Year Bible, in what ever translation or version you are comfortable with and read a section a day. Go online and sign up for a daily email study. Get an app that will provide a daily guide to reading like You Version, it can be a tremendous help. Study 5 Psalms a day to develop your prayer life, to help you know what and how to pray about anything, which can be big help for a whole bunch of other things you worry about. Discover BibleGateway.com for a wealth of study helps.

   Study is also best with a group of friends. A Bible Study, a Sunday School class, some people gathered at a coffee shop or burger joint, who want to talk about the Bible can be a good idea. We can encourage and stimulate each other. John Wesley made small groups for learning a priority among Methodists, and as long as we made that a commitment, we were dynamic. We've lost our touch because we don't require everyone to do that anymore, we've lost our edge at changing people's lives for the better. But Study is important. Find a group to study, you'll be glad you did.

   I'll come back tomorrow or the next day to talk about the T of STAR, for Traveled, making a significant difference in your life. Blessings on your STAR gazing....

Pastor Jeff