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.

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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