I'm back with our thinking about becoming a better disciple. This is the third installment of the thoughts of Henry Knight III on Life Enriching Practices of United Methodists. The first section was on longing in life or Longing for God. The second was about Knowing about God or Knowing God. My contention is that the best way of Knowing God is to know Jesus Christ who we can know in reading the gospels and being in a relationship with Jesus.
Today we take on one of John Wesley's great contributions to discipleship, going on to perfection. We are not perfect, but we can be working on perfectly loving in all we do.
I had the opportunity to do a funeral for a gentleman the other day, who had a string of perfect attendance pins at Methodist Sunday school on his lapel in the casket. His wife said he tended to be a perfectionist in his life. He may have caught some of that working on perfect attendance at Sunday School. But perfectionism, or perfect attendance does not make you an automatic disciple or apprentice of Jesus. Perfectionism or going onto perfection is not a performance, but a loving attitude. We need to find ways to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and love our neighbor as Jesus loves us. (Mark 12: 28-35)
As pastors in the United Methodist Church we are asked just before we are certified and again just before ordination, the historic question of John Wesley, "Do you believe you are going onto perfection?" In front of all of annual conference we are supposed to answer "Yes!" and really mean it. So we try to grow in perfection and love. It's not easy but it worth working on. The 8 life enriching practices will add together to help make us a good apprentice and representative of Jesus.
One of the biggest misunderstandings we have about love is that it is emotional. That we should feel love. That impression has come to us from our culture and years of romantic inclinations. Our huge divorce rate happens sometimes because we stop feeling "In love" with the other. Love is really more about doing the right thing, the best for the other, regardless of how we feel. That's why Jesus commands us to love.
For John Wesley, perfection was loving to the best of our ability, and as long as we were heading in that direction, we were doing the best for what God asked us to do. John's practical applications were to help us to love better than before. He was trying to improve our love life, which might get people's attention now.
So for John improving our love included a deeper prayer life, a devotional reading of scripture, participating in the Lord's supper regularly, worshiping frequently, being involved deeply within a Christian community, living with a lifestyle that was guided by faith, caring and serving neighbors in need and being able to share your faith journey with them. We will look at each of those this summer.
Come along for the ride.
Blessings
Pastor Jeff
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Hunger for God pt. 2
It's pouring outside, we are hunkered down in the basement with constant warnings about a tornado in our area. It's a good time to reflect on power beyond our control, don't you think?
Yesterday I started reflecting on the message I shared on Sunday, you can catch it on you tube at Liberty Grove U.M.C. Pastor Jeff Jones sermons for 6/9/13 on Hungering for God. Yesterday I highlighted the first section on Longing in life and Longing for God, we should be longing for God and what God wants above all else. God does want what's best for us always, so it's not a waste of energy to pursue the Kingdom of God. As Jesus said on the sermon on the mount, God knows you need these things, so pursue and long for the Kingdom of God.
Today, I'm taking on the next section, Knowing about God or Knowing God. We do know about God, we get that from Sunday School, from previous messages, books we've read, and a lot of what we think we know about God comes from poor but popular and persuasive sources. I mentioned that national pollsters when surveying about attitudes ask the question of their interviewees, to quote their favorite verse from scripture. The number one answer, no matter who is polling the crowd is "God helps those who help themselves." It's not a good answer, it's not a quote from the Bible, it's a quote from Ben Franklin. It's quite different from what God would say, but we all think it's right. It tells us we think we know about God.
Knowing God is a relationship. Knowing in biblical languages is intimate, understanding, knowledge that is total and complete, inside and outside of you. A connection. That's one of the reasons that I keep emphasizing that we connect to God, it's a way of Knowing God. The absolute best way to know God is to have a significant and ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus shows us God. Everything we need to know about God we can see in Jesus. To quote him, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." so we can be reassured that if we want to know what God is really like, we need to know Jesus as well as we can. That would mean reading all of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) very closely and probably on an ongoing process. We are being evaluated by how well we do what God has told us to do. We can know what the questions are going to be by studying Jesus, and knowing him.
Being a follower of Jesus, being what some spiritual formation people call being an Apprentice of Jesus is very difficult. But in the long run, it is the most important thing we can do. It is very different from what we sometimes think is what a Christian is. I am hoping that this summer series in Sunday messages and weekly blogs will help people see what God means by being a disciple. There will be some moments that will shake us up, for some of us feel like we have this discipleship thing down very well. I know I keep discovering how difficult it is to do all of it, but thanks to the Cross of Christ, forgiveness for all those missing the target God planned for me moments, are really the only thing that saves me.
An apprentice of Jesus should be in worship every week. The commandment for a Sabbath day is not here or there, or when you feel like it. You can be excused if you are sick, we don't want your germs. Otherwise come on down. If you are out of town, there are other churches spread out everywhere, find one and bring us the bulletin. I get good ideas from other churches.
An apprentice of Jesus knows that returning our financial resources to God out of gratitude for all that we have physically, spiritually, emotionally, eternally, is a sign of our thanksgiving. No giving means no thanking God. We aren't the first to skip this important part. The Old Testament has many stories of the calamity that falls upon the nation when they rob God of the tithe. Malachi tells us that, but shows God's forgiveness with a challenge, do so, the full tithe, and see how God will bless you, keep the bugs off your crops, will allow you to prosper, you will be amazed at how true this is. The storehouse of God is the church, specifically the general fund, not some where else. That would be an offering beyond the tithe.
An apprentice, who knows God, accepts the leaders who have been placed over them. It doesn't say you have to like them, but you do have to respect them. St. Paul in Romans 13 was very specific that the responsibility of an apprentice is to honor and respect the leader. That means we have to show respect to the leader of our companies, our communities, our country and the church.
An apprentice of Jesus wants what is best for the community of faith where they participate. Disagreeing with how some things are done, is okay, but when we take our own opinion over what is good for the whole community we act like we don't Know God, who has called and created the church to be the way the world is put back in good order.
Thanks for getting this far, I hope I've given you some things to think about in your spiritual journey. My next blog is about reaching perfection. Wouldn't that be nice if we could. Afraid not, but in John Wesley's ideas, it is perfect in love, and that sounds like more fun.
Blessings on your journey
Pastor Jeff
Yesterday I started reflecting on the message I shared on Sunday, you can catch it on you tube at Liberty Grove U.M.C. Pastor Jeff Jones sermons for 6/9/13 on Hungering for God. Yesterday I highlighted the first section on Longing in life and Longing for God, we should be longing for God and what God wants above all else. God does want what's best for us always, so it's not a waste of energy to pursue the Kingdom of God. As Jesus said on the sermon on the mount, God knows you need these things, so pursue and long for the Kingdom of God.
Today, I'm taking on the next section, Knowing about God or Knowing God. We do know about God, we get that from Sunday School, from previous messages, books we've read, and a lot of what we think we know about God comes from poor but popular and persuasive sources. I mentioned that national pollsters when surveying about attitudes ask the question of their interviewees, to quote their favorite verse from scripture. The number one answer, no matter who is polling the crowd is "God helps those who help themselves." It's not a good answer, it's not a quote from the Bible, it's a quote from Ben Franklin. It's quite different from what God would say, but we all think it's right. It tells us we think we know about God.
Knowing God is a relationship. Knowing in biblical languages is intimate, understanding, knowledge that is total and complete, inside and outside of you. A connection. That's one of the reasons that I keep emphasizing that we connect to God, it's a way of Knowing God. The absolute best way to know God is to have a significant and ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus shows us God. Everything we need to know about God we can see in Jesus. To quote him, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." so we can be reassured that if we want to know what God is really like, we need to know Jesus as well as we can. That would mean reading all of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) very closely and probably on an ongoing process. We are being evaluated by how well we do what God has told us to do. We can know what the questions are going to be by studying Jesus, and knowing him.
Being a follower of Jesus, being what some spiritual formation people call being an Apprentice of Jesus is very difficult. But in the long run, it is the most important thing we can do. It is very different from what we sometimes think is what a Christian is. I am hoping that this summer series in Sunday messages and weekly blogs will help people see what God means by being a disciple. There will be some moments that will shake us up, for some of us feel like we have this discipleship thing down very well. I know I keep discovering how difficult it is to do all of it, but thanks to the Cross of Christ, forgiveness for all those missing the target God planned for me moments, are really the only thing that saves me.
An apprentice of Jesus should be in worship every week. The commandment for a Sabbath day is not here or there, or when you feel like it. You can be excused if you are sick, we don't want your germs. Otherwise come on down. If you are out of town, there are other churches spread out everywhere, find one and bring us the bulletin. I get good ideas from other churches.
An apprentice of Jesus knows that returning our financial resources to God out of gratitude for all that we have physically, spiritually, emotionally, eternally, is a sign of our thanksgiving. No giving means no thanking God. We aren't the first to skip this important part. The Old Testament has many stories of the calamity that falls upon the nation when they rob God of the tithe. Malachi tells us that, but shows God's forgiveness with a challenge, do so, the full tithe, and see how God will bless you, keep the bugs off your crops, will allow you to prosper, you will be amazed at how true this is. The storehouse of God is the church, specifically the general fund, not some where else. That would be an offering beyond the tithe.
An apprentice, who knows God, accepts the leaders who have been placed over them. It doesn't say you have to like them, but you do have to respect them. St. Paul in Romans 13 was very specific that the responsibility of an apprentice is to honor and respect the leader. That means we have to show respect to the leader of our companies, our communities, our country and the church.
An apprentice of Jesus wants what is best for the community of faith where they participate. Disagreeing with how some things are done, is okay, but when we take our own opinion over what is good for the whole community we act like we don't Know God, who has called and created the church to be the way the world is put back in good order.
Thanks for getting this far, I hope I've given you some things to think about in your spiritual journey. My next blog is about reaching perfection. Wouldn't that be nice if we could. Afraid not, but in John Wesley's ideas, it is perfect in love, and that sounds like more fun.
Blessings on your journey
Pastor Jeff
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Preparing to Grow as a Disciple
Hello travelers on a spiritual journey
I'm writing a series of summations of last Sunday's sermons to help people keep up with our summer series on growing as a disciple. I'm using Henry Knight III's book on Eight Life-Enriching Practices of United Methodists this summer and thought you might like to follow along. You can read it for yourself, or you can join us as I try to interpret what is being said to and for our benefit.
This past Sunday was an introduction about our hungering for God. If we are going to develop a real and meaningful and significant relationship to God, it starts with our hungering, our desire to be connected to our Creator. But there are several blocks in the way and we need to try to break them down or find a way to get around them. There is Longings in life versus Longing for God. There is Knowing about God and really Knowing God. And there is Going onto Perfection, where we take seriously the desire to be perfectly loving, as our way to develop holiness. It's an adventure for sure.
We long for a variety of things, a happy marriage and family for some, the corner office and a good job for others. We may want the perfect car, or one that is fun to drive and good on gas. We long for a happy life, good get-aways and relaxing vacations. The world we live in shows us every day and according to media specialists 1700 times a day, we see a commercial that influences our longing. If it's to just get the stain out of our favorite shirt.... The world not connected to God makes sure we think about a lot of things, like trying to keep up with the Joneses. Not these Joneses, I assure you. But keeping up none the less. As one of the Christmas movies suggests, they should be able to see the lights on our house from outer space...
As Christ followers, we should be longing for God and our relationship with God and more importantly what God wants with us and from us in our lives. Are we longing for, seeking after with our whole heart, the Kingdom of God and it's righteousness? Are we really committed to seeing the work of Jesus Christ happen because we are longing for God? Can we say that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength? And are we loving our neighbors as we love ourselves? We really need to be thinking that way. If we haven't, then we stand in need of the forgiveness that God offers so that we can be connected and loving and longing for the Kingdom.
So how are you doing in your longing for yourself or longing for God department? Are there somethings you think about about and wish for instead of God and all that God wants? I'll let you think about that and I''ll come back with more of this story tomorrow.
The sermon will be on youtube in a day or two. You can search for colby626 and search for Liberty Grove UMC or Pastor Jeff's sermons.
Check back in a day or two as we look at whether we Know about God, or really know God!
blessings on your journey
Pastor Jeff
I'm writing a series of summations of last Sunday's sermons to help people keep up with our summer series on growing as a disciple. I'm using Henry Knight III's book on Eight Life-Enriching Practices of United Methodists this summer and thought you might like to follow along. You can read it for yourself, or you can join us as I try to interpret what is being said to and for our benefit.
This past Sunday was an introduction about our hungering for God. If we are going to develop a real and meaningful and significant relationship to God, it starts with our hungering, our desire to be connected to our Creator. But there are several blocks in the way and we need to try to break them down or find a way to get around them. There is Longings in life versus Longing for God. There is Knowing about God and really Knowing God. And there is Going onto Perfection, where we take seriously the desire to be perfectly loving, as our way to develop holiness. It's an adventure for sure.
We long for a variety of things, a happy marriage and family for some, the corner office and a good job for others. We may want the perfect car, or one that is fun to drive and good on gas. We long for a happy life, good get-aways and relaxing vacations. The world we live in shows us every day and according to media specialists 1700 times a day, we see a commercial that influences our longing. If it's to just get the stain out of our favorite shirt.... The world not connected to God makes sure we think about a lot of things, like trying to keep up with the Joneses. Not these Joneses, I assure you. But keeping up none the less. As one of the Christmas movies suggests, they should be able to see the lights on our house from outer space...
As Christ followers, we should be longing for God and our relationship with God and more importantly what God wants with us and from us in our lives. Are we longing for, seeking after with our whole heart, the Kingdom of God and it's righteousness? Are we really committed to seeing the work of Jesus Christ happen because we are longing for God? Can we say that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength? And are we loving our neighbors as we love ourselves? We really need to be thinking that way. If we haven't, then we stand in need of the forgiveness that God offers so that we can be connected and loving and longing for the Kingdom.
So how are you doing in your longing for yourself or longing for God department? Are there somethings you think about about and wish for instead of God and all that God wants? I'll let you think about that and I''ll come back with more of this story tomorrow.
The sermon will be on youtube in a day or two. You can search for colby626 and search for Liberty Grove UMC or Pastor Jeff's sermons.
Check back in a day or two as we look at whether we Know about God, or really know God!
blessings on your journey
Pastor Jeff
Friday, March 15, 2013
The Bible on the History Channel
I'm glad that the producers of the Bible, kept the Rahab story in the show. It's a very brief moment in the history of all that God is doing with God's people, but it is a significant story because she is included in the genealogy of Jesus found in Matthew, chapter one. Here is a woman, who was not the best example of faith, being willing to cooperate with what God is doing and God used her.
So often we resist or hang back from letting God use us for God's purposes because we feel like we are not perfect, and therefore not qualified to serve God or participate in something God is doing. I've worked a lot of my life trying to be perfect so God would not have a reason for putting me aside when the time came to be useful, but I found that work too hard and I'm not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. God can still use me with my flaws, my hesitations, my misunderstandings and my resistances. That is truly good news.
In God's story, Rahab was a lady of the evening, shall we say, who provided a place to hide for the two spies that Joshua sent into Jericho to check out the city before attacking it. The people of Israel, had come through the desert wandering since their deliverance from Egypt. The older generation that had complained so much, they died off in the desert. Joshua had the new generation and was at the edge of the promised land. Except Jericho stood in the way. God's plan was to reassure Joshua that this was not an obstacle to worry about. Hence the song we know from childhood, "Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, and the walls came a tumbling down."
The angel of the Lord instructed Joshua to circle the city each day for six days, just walk around the city. The seventh day, they were to walk around the city six times, then blow the trumpets and shout out and the walls would crumble and the soldiers could march right in. It was God who did the work of knocking down the walls and opening the doors. God still does that, but we think we have to do the work. Maybe we should pray around something and let God open the door, more often.
I teach a couple of classes during the week and one of the questions or comments that came up from the students was why the story of Samson and Delilah took so much time. That's a good question. But it also relates to a lesson we need to learn, God's timing and God's using events in our lives is often hard to understand or get a handle on. We want everything spelled out very clearly, and this doesn't fit that category very well. Delilah, in the scripture, had to bug, beg, whine for a whole week to get Samson to divulge his secret to his strength. In the scripture he kept giving her a different and untrue reason and the soldiers would burst in on them and he would be as strong as ever and escape. But when she finally wore him down, he confessed his hair and his vow to God was his source of strength, she found a way to have his hair cut and he lost his strength.
In the end, his hair grew back. He was blinded so that the Philistines could control him. But in the last act, he was able to pull down the columns that held the temple of their god and he crushed his enemy as he took his own life. He was not perfect either, but God could use him too. Our dedication and commitment to God and doing God's will and work is a source of strength, even in uncertainty and if we don't have all the answers. This is a good lesson to learn from watching the Bible on the History channel.
I'm hoping you decide to work on getting God's strength into your life. Dedication, prayer, worship, study of scripture will all build you up to help you face the challenges this world gives you. A One Year Bible from a bookstore or online is a great way to start. It's little baby steps toward reading the whole Bible. The Story, a condensed version of the Bible is a really good place to start as well.
Blessings on your faith journey and keep watching the Bible, you will learn good things, or be challenged to want to know more. You can always comment here and I'll try to answer your questions or thoughts.
Pastor Jeff
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Watching the Bible on History Channel
I'm happy that the Bible is coming to a small screen near you. I have dedicated my life to helping people get to know and appreciate God's love shown to us in the Bible. Seeing it go by so fast on TV, that's going to take some getting used to.
Start with the good stuff. It helps to see images that might give us some idea of what the characters in scripture actually faced, or at least give us an impression to go along with the story. We are such a visually oriented culture now that we need pictures to go along with our words. The Bible on TV has given us some images to float around in our heads. The rocking back and forth on the Ark with Noah was a pretty good way to paint some pictures. Seeing the animals inside gave me a better sense of appreciation for the work that Noah had to do and how anxious that task would be.
I digress for a brief moment, those animals in the Ark, reminded me of the challenge of being the pastor for a congregation, floating along in the sea of turmoil we have today in our culture. We all want to be safe and on board during the storms of life that are raging all around us. Each animal has their own set of circumstances, issues, places in their spiritual journey and a different reason for coming to church and a different diet necessary and appropriate for their well being. Some get along great, others look at each other with either fear or longing depending on their spiritual maturity or place on the food chain? Trying to watch over the whole boat for the whole trip, is what God's help is for. Makes me want to pray that much harder for God's help and intervention.
Back to the Bible on TV, getting some pictures to go along with the story will help us keep the details and the main purpose of learning about God's relationship to us in focus, is a good thing. Watching David recite the 23rd psalm as he walked out to meet Goliath, is a lesson we can all learn. Ask God to help us each step of the way and know that God will prepare the way ahead for us. Goliath in this case took off his helmet because he was laughing so hard, made it that much easier for David's rock to hit him. God does open up doors and ways for us if we prepare as we approach the challenge with prayer and remembering the help that God has given us in the past.
I'll write more about this later.
I'm a little overwhelmed by how fast the stories go by. I am very aware that trying to tell God's story in ten hours is almost impossible. But maybe this is part of the point, we long for more, that we will read it for ourselves. Now what I need to do is to find condensed and appropriate versions of the Bible for people who are now interested, but are not about to get bogged down on all those begat so and so's. I'm going to have to really look for helpful resources in this direction. May I offer the Story, a readers digest type of writing as a good starting place. Even the Story, produced by Zondervan press tells the whole story but in a shorter version. It's great for the Old Testament, I would like a longer version of the Jesus sections. But that too is a topic for another Blog session.
Part of what I missed in the going fast version is the story of Joseph, son of Jacob, one of the twelve. Joseph is such a good example of a person after God's own heart and his ability to be used by God no matter what the circumstances should not have been skipped over. I also missed the deeper presentation about the Passover, so that it could be tied in with Jesus at the Last Supper. I know members of my Bible Study really appreciate the connections when they can see them so clearly.
Keep watching the Bible on History Channel. It will be available in stores in April as a DVD set. But more importantly, find a Bible and read some, you will be amazed at how much help God is offering us for life.
Thanks for your patience, I plan to write a whole lot more now. Grace & Peace on your spiritual journey
Pastor Jeff
Start with the good stuff. It helps to see images that might give us some idea of what the characters in scripture actually faced, or at least give us an impression to go along with the story. We are such a visually oriented culture now that we need pictures to go along with our words. The Bible on TV has given us some images to float around in our heads. The rocking back and forth on the Ark with Noah was a pretty good way to paint some pictures. Seeing the animals inside gave me a better sense of appreciation for the work that Noah had to do and how anxious that task would be.
I digress for a brief moment, those animals in the Ark, reminded me of the challenge of being the pastor for a congregation, floating along in the sea of turmoil we have today in our culture. We all want to be safe and on board during the storms of life that are raging all around us. Each animal has their own set of circumstances, issues, places in their spiritual journey and a different reason for coming to church and a different diet necessary and appropriate for their well being. Some get along great, others look at each other with either fear or longing depending on their spiritual maturity or place on the food chain? Trying to watch over the whole boat for the whole trip, is what God's help is for. Makes me want to pray that much harder for God's help and intervention.
Back to the Bible on TV, getting some pictures to go along with the story will help us keep the details and the main purpose of learning about God's relationship to us in focus, is a good thing. Watching David recite the 23rd psalm as he walked out to meet Goliath, is a lesson we can all learn. Ask God to help us each step of the way and know that God will prepare the way ahead for us. Goliath in this case took off his helmet because he was laughing so hard, made it that much easier for David's rock to hit him. God does open up doors and ways for us if we prepare as we approach the challenge with prayer and remembering the help that God has given us in the past.
I'll write more about this later.
I'm a little overwhelmed by how fast the stories go by. I am very aware that trying to tell God's story in ten hours is almost impossible. But maybe this is part of the point, we long for more, that we will read it for ourselves. Now what I need to do is to find condensed and appropriate versions of the Bible for people who are now interested, but are not about to get bogged down on all those begat so and so's. I'm going to have to really look for helpful resources in this direction. May I offer the Story, a readers digest type of writing as a good starting place. Even the Story, produced by Zondervan press tells the whole story but in a shorter version. It's great for the Old Testament, I would like a longer version of the Jesus sections. But that too is a topic for another Blog session.
Part of what I missed in the going fast version is the story of Joseph, son of Jacob, one of the twelve. Joseph is such a good example of a person after God's own heart and his ability to be used by God no matter what the circumstances should not have been skipped over. I also missed the deeper presentation about the Passover, so that it could be tied in with Jesus at the Last Supper. I know members of my Bible Study really appreciate the connections when they can see them so clearly.
Keep watching the Bible on History Channel. It will be available in stores in April as a DVD set. But more importantly, find a Bible and read some, you will be amazed at how much help God is offering us for life.
Thanks for your patience, I plan to write a whole lot more now. Grace & Peace on your spiritual journey
Pastor Jeff
Sunday, April 22, 2012
After Easter, Now What
Two weeks after Easter, Now What? the power of God changing everything should still shape us. I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do, and I invite you to reflect on this with me.
I'm convinced that what we should be doing is helping each other on the spiritual journey to find out how we can become the people God shaped in our Mother's wombs. Psalm 139 tells us that's when it began. But like most children we can choose not to follow what was the basic plan. How can I discover and keep to my journey and help you keep to your journey.
I'm convinced that spiritual formation, the shaping of our journey in a spiritual realm, requires that we learn from God what our journey is. That will happen as we are exposed more and more to the work of God that we will learn from the Word, Jesus and the experiences of those who knew Jesus very well. We can find their story in the New Testament. So I'm going to read more of what Jesus did and said and what happened to the people that he touched and talked to to see what I can do to be a good student of Jesus and a follower of his example.
Over the next few weeks, I'll be blogging about what I'm discovering. I've been challenged by Leonard Sweet to focus clearly on Jesus who invited us to serve this present age. I'm going to try to serve it, give to it, direct it as best I can. You can help me and help you if you respond with questions and thoughts you might have about making a better spiritual life out of all of this. How do we pray, how do we practice the Jesus way. How do we overcome obstacles and let God's love shape us more clearly to be the people who bless and make a real difference in our own world and into the lives of others. I think that's a real challenge and I hope you pray for me as I pray for you.
Easter is all about overcoming the worst, death into new life. All of us can move from death and the old way, into the Abundant life Jesus invited us to experience, but we are going to have to get a little more frisky, a little more adventuresome if we are going on our own journey of faith. I'll report back in on my story, I hope I hear from you.
Let the games and the resurrection of life begin. Please come with me.
I'm convinced that the purpose of our church is to help make disciples who get it. Maybe we can help you get it too.
Blessings
Pastor Jeff
PS, if you go to www.facebook.com/LGUMC15225 you will see video of our work at Liberty Grove, our special events and sermons.
I'm convinced that what we should be doing is helping each other on the spiritual journey to find out how we can become the people God shaped in our Mother's wombs. Psalm 139 tells us that's when it began. But like most children we can choose not to follow what was the basic plan. How can I discover and keep to my journey and help you keep to your journey.
I'm convinced that spiritual formation, the shaping of our journey in a spiritual realm, requires that we learn from God what our journey is. That will happen as we are exposed more and more to the work of God that we will learn from the Word, Jesus and the experiences of those who knew Jesus very well. We can find their story in the New Testament. So I'm going to read more of what Jesus did and said and what happened to the people that he touched and talked to to see what I can do to be a good student of Jesus and a follower of his example.
Over the next few weeks, I'll be blogging about what I'm discovering. I've been challenged by Leonard Sweet to focus clearly on Jesus who invited us to serve this present age. I'm going to try to serve it, give to it, direct it as best I can. You can help me and help you if you respond with questions and thoughts you might have about making a better spiritual life out of all of this. How do we pray, how do we practice the Jesus way. How do we overcome obstacles and let God's love shape us more clearly to be the people who bless and make a real difference in our own world and into the lives of others. I think that's a real challenge and I hope you pray for me as I pray for you.
Easter is all about overcoming the worst, death into new life. All of us can move from death and the old way, into the Abundant life Jesus invited us to experience, but we are going to have to get a little more frisky, a little more adventuresome if we are going on our own journey of faith. I'll report back in on my story, I hope I hear from you.
Let the games and the resurrection of life begin. Please come with me.
I'm convinced that the purpose of our church is to help make disciples who get it. Maybe we can help you get it too.
Blessings
Pastor Jeff
PS, if you go to www.facebook.com/LGUMC15225 you will see video of our work at Liberty Grove, our special events and sermons.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Our Ultimate Purpose
Just read an interesting survey about Americans. Half of us have stopped thinking about our ultimate purpose. Those who think about it tend to go to church to get help with their questions. Those who don't seem interested don't bother with those spiritual journey issues and pursue their own course, wherever it takes them. (Lifeway Researsh Dec. 2011)
No wonder we seem to be in such a mess.
How can we work on getting somewhere if we don't have a somewhere to go. To me, that would seem a horrible nightmare. Wandering without any direction sounds pretty scary to me. I am so glad God called me and gave me something to work on. I'm so glad that call comes with help along the way too. And that can be true for you as well.
I think there is some mystic connected to pastors, that somehow we have extra stuff no one else has.And besides that, that extra stuff comes to us in unusual or mystical ways.
I hate to break it to you, but unless I follow the directions that God gives me by reading the Bible, I'm not getting anything secretly.
Now I do hear from God very convincingly from other people speaking a word of the Lord to me. But it needs to match what I've already heard from God to be a good reinforcement. I haven't heard totally new words of God that aren't already spelled out in scripture. I may not have been paying attention to the Bible like I shoud have, sometimes, but God is very helpful in that he is consistent. God won't say one thing one time and something else another time. We may think so, we may hope so, but the Word of the Lord is dependable. As Psalm one reminds us, those who look to God are like trees planted by the water, we will have fruit in due season all the time.
So the challenge is getting myself near enough to the water to be nourished. Sometimes that means leaving the desert to move closer to water. The desert could be I'm getting so busy I don't have time for Bible reading. Or I'm too wrapped up in other things and have too little time for God. I can shrivel up pretty fast, that way.
I need to get closer to the living water more regularly. I need a map to keep me heading in the right direction for the living water. This year, I've downloaded the One Year Bible plan off of the internet and printed it out and folded it up and put in in my new Common English Bible. For about 15 minutes a day, I'll read again, the whole Bible, all of it, from cover to cover. There are other plans too. if you type in one year Bible in the search window, you will get dozens of them. Biblegateway.com has many reading plans too. You can sign up to have the readings emailed to you everyday if that would help you keep near the living water more regularly.
One or two questions to ask yourself when you read, might be helpful. I've found these questions very helpful. "Is there something here in this verse, or story, I need to avoid?" then start to avoid that. "Is there something here in this verse or story, I need to emulate, or copy or do myself?" then, start to copy or do.
St. Paul reminds us that we are to mature in the faith and grow up into the likeness of Jesus. So maybe the challenge for your spiritual journey is to read more about Jesus. One chapter a day of a Gospel, means you can cover all 90 chapters in three months. You will be amazed at how much that can help you to mature and grow and bear fruit in season.
There is help to find our what our destiny is. God does not leave us as orphans, but provides the Holy Spirit to interpret the Word. And you will be blessed. The blessings will far outweigh life without a purpose, because you thought you could do better on your own.
This is a sermon. I've learned it the hard way. I'm trying to keep you from falling into a ditch, which is no fun at all. Blessings
Pastor Jeff
No wonder we seem to be in such a mess.
How can we work on getting somewhere if we don't have a somewhere to go. To me, that would seem a horrible nightmare. Wandering without any direction sounds pretty scary to me. I am so glad God called me and gave me something to work on. I'm so glad that call comes with help along the way too. And that can be true for you as well.
I think there is some mystic connected to pastors, that somehow we have extra stuff no one else has.And besides that, that extra stuff comes to us in unusual or mystical ways.
I hate to break it to you, but unless I follow the directions that God gives me by reading the Bible, I'm not getting anything secretly.
Now I do hear from God very convincingly from other people speaking a word of the Lord to me. But it needs to match what I've already heard from God to be a good reinforcement. I haven't heard totally new words of God that aren't already spelled out in scripture. I may not have been paying attention to the Bible like I shoud have, sometimes, but God is very helpful in that he is consistent. God won't say one thing one time and something else another time. We may think so, we may hope so, but the Word of the Lord is dependable. As Psalm one reminds us, those who look to God are like trees planted by the water, we will have fruit in due season all the time.
So the challenge is getting myself near enough to the water to be nourished. Sometimes that means leaving the desert to move closer to water. The desert could be I'm getting so busy I don't have time for Bible reading. Or I'm too wrapped up in other things and have too little time for God. I can shrivel up pretty fast, that way.
I need to get closer to the living water more regularly. I need a map to keep me heading in the right direction for the living water. This year, I've downloaded the One Year Bible plan off of the internet and printed it out and folded it up and put in in my new Common English Bible. For about 15 minutes a day, I'll read again, the whole Bible, all of it, from cover to cover. There are other plans too. if you type in one year Bible in the search window, you will get dozens of them. Biblegateway.com has many reading plans too. You can sign up to have the readings emailed to you everyday if that would help you keep near the living water more regularly.
One or two questions to ask yourself when you read, might be helpful. I've found these questions very helpful. "Is there something here in this verse, or story, I need to avoid?" then start to avoid that. "Is there something here in this verse or story, I need to emulate, or copy or do myself?" then, start to copy or do.
St. Paul reminds us that we are to mature in the faith and grow up into the likeness of Jesus. So maybe the challenge for your spiritual journey is to read more about Jesus. One chapter a day of a Gospel, means you can cover all 90 chapters in three months. You will be amazed at how much that can help you to mature and grow and bear fruit in season.
There is help to find our what our destiny is. God does not leave us as orphans, but provides the Holy Spirit to interpret the Word. And you will be blessed. The blessings will far outweigh life without a purpose, because you thought you could do better on your own.
This is a sermon. I've learned it the hard way. I'm trying to keep you from falling into a ditch, which is no fun at all. Blessings
Pastor Jeff
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