This is a video I made to end the service tomorrow. I love this song. I am encouraging people to pray for our city.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Our Memorial Day Weekend
We had a great weekend. I was off from church and we did a lot of stuff including going to Chattangooga, waterpad, campout, smores, etc. Here is a snapshot of the weekend.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
What's Going on?
Last week I participated in Career Day at Aiden and Max's school. Parents each manned a booth in the gym where we talked about our jobs for 5 minutes to rotating kids groups. I was the only pastor represented and tried to make my job sound as interesting as possible as compared to the other jobs. I was amazed at how many kids think pastors work only a day or two a week and were surprized by the amount of education we receive. Next year I need to have a cool giveaway like some of the other parents did.
A couple weeks ago we went to a party for Isaac, a kid from church and we are friends with his parents. It was based on a Heroes theme. These are some pictures from the party.
Last Wednesday we had a family Fun Night at Fun Expedition where we could ride go carts, play video games, etc to celebrate the end of school. The kids loved it and I must admit, I did too. They even gave me a free game card to play the games since I was a pastor. I should have said that to the kids at the career fair that being a pastor has its privledges.
Last night we celebrated school being out by lighting a fire in the fire pit and making smores.
Today I am heading out to go golfing and have a little fun for myself. I have this Sunday off and I am looking forward to it. Life has been stressful at work because we are in staff transition which has lead to some uncertainty and each of us picking up the slack. I anticipate in the next 2 months things should be worked out but the past few months has had its challenges.
A couple weeks ago we went to a party for Isaac, a kid from church and we are friends with his parents. It was based on a Heroes theme. These are some pictures from the party.Last Wednesday we had a family Fun Night at Fun Expedition where we could ride go carts, play video games, etc to celebrate the end of school. The kids loved it and I must admit, I did too. They even gave me a free game card to play the games since I was a pastor. I should have said that to the kids at the career fair that being a pastor has its privledges.Last night we celebrated school being out by lighting a fire in the fire pit and making smores. 
Today I am heading out to go golfing and have a little fun for myself. I have this Sunday off and I am looking forward to it. Life has been stressful at work because we are in staff transition which has lead to some uncertainty and each of us picking up the slack. I anticipate in the next 2 months things should be worked out but the past few months has had its challenges.Thursday, May 15, 2008
Bulgarian Mission Team from FUMC
A team from our church left for a 10 day mission trip to Bulgaria last week. Here is a picture from their blog. They are having a great experience. You can check them out by clicking here.
A Growing Church
Some pictures are coming later. This is for my next newsletter ...
Becoming a Growing Church
The mission of our church is “Making Disciples of Jesus Christ by Reaching, Growing and Serving”. Last week I began a three week series on looking at our mission statement as a church and what it means for us personally to reach out to people with the love of Christ. In this issue I will talk about becoming a growing church. A “Growing” church can mean many things to many people; growing in attendance, growing in buildings, growing in finances. As a church we have defined growing as growing deeper in our relationships with God and one another.
A number of years ago a storm came through my neighborhood and uprooted some trees and did damage to homes. What was surprising were some trees that I thought had deep root systems that had come up and other trees looked like nothing ever happened. Life has a way of bringing storms our way and the aftermath of those storms reveal how well rooted we are. We find in the book of Acts the early church was committed to each other and to growing deeper with God. Luke writes in Acts 2:42 that, "They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." He could have said they were committed to deepening themselves in the truth of God’s Word and committed to one another. Can that be said of you? Do you have a hunger for God and knowing his Word every day? Are spiritual disciplines that vital to your daily life? My hope as a pastor is that your desire for God increases. If you find yourself in a season of life when that desire for God is lacking or non-existent, pray for the desire to have the desire for God. God works with us where we are, not where we are not.
Secondly, when was the last time you had someone from the church over to your house for a social engagement or just to have coffee? God’s desire for us is not just to go to church but to be the church to one another. Luke says they met daily together. At a recent conference I heard a speaker share a story of a guy in his church who was leaving. This guy had been part of a gang and he told the pastor he was leaving church because he thought the church was going to be like a Christian gang. He thought the church would be family like his former gang and he was disappointed. In his gang they were committed to each other and had his back. That wasn’t his experience with church. God’s desire for us is to be that kind of group in the church. It is more than people just knowing your name and your occupation. It is to have soul-friends, where each person knows one another’s needs. These friends not only encourage you but hold you accountable in walking with God. Do you have Christian brothers or sisters like that? You can only have these kind of relationships in small groups. If you are in a group, I encourage you to be vulnerable and take initiative in becoming that kind of Christian. It takes some work but I know many who would testify that it’s worth it.
That is what it means to be a growing church, not just in numbers on Sundays but in love for God and for one another that is practically lived out week by week.
Becoming a Growing Church
The mission of our church is “Making Disciples of Jesus Christ by Reaching, Growing and Serving”. Last week I began a three week series on looking at our mission statement as a church and what it means for us personally to reach out to people with the love of Christ. In this issue I will talk about becoming a growing church. A “Growing” church can mean many things to many people; growing in attendance, growing in buildings, growing in finances. As a church we have defined growing as growing deeper in our relationships with God and one another.
A number of years ago a storm came through my neighborhood and uprooted some trees and did damage to homes. What was surprising were some trees that I thought had deep root systems that had come up and other trees looked like nothing ever happened. Life has a way of bringing storms our way and the aftermath of those storms reveal how well rooted we are. We find in the book of Acts the early church was committed to each other and to growing deeper with God. Luke writes in Acts 2:42 that, "They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." He could have said they were committed to deepening themselves in the truth of God’s Word and committed to one another. Can that be said of you? Do you have a hunger for God and knowing his Word every day? Are spiritual disciplines that vital to your daily life? My hope as a pastor is that your desire for God increases. If you find yourself in a season of life when that desire for God is lacking or non-existent, pray for the desire to have the desire for God. God works with us where we are, not where we are not.
Secondly, when was the last time you had someone from the church over to your house for a social engagement or just to have coffee? God’s desire for us is not just to go to church but to be the church to one another. Luke says they met daily together. At a recent conference I heard a speaker share a story of a guy in his church who was leaving. This guy had been part of a gang and he told the pastor he was leaving church because he thought the church was going to be like a Christian gang. He thought the church would be family like his former gang and he was disappointed. In his gang they were committed to each other and had his back. That wasn’t his experience with church. God’s desire for us is to be that kind of group in the church. It is more than people just knowing your name and your occupation. It is to have soul-friends, where each person knows one another’s needs. These friends not only encourage you but hold you accountable in walking with God. Do you have Christian brothers or sisters like that? You can only have these kind of relationships in small groups. If you are in a group, I encourage you to be vulnerable and take initiative in becoming that kind of Christian. It takes some work but I know many who would testify that it’s worth it.
That is what it means to be a growing church, not just in numbers on Sundays but in love for God and for one another that is practically lived out week by week.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
What does it mean to reach?
Yes, I am still alive. Work has been especially busy and I feel like I am continually behind, including blogging. This is from an upcoming newsletter article for my church.
Last week four of us from church attended the Orange Conference in Atlanta Georgia to experience worship and teaching with 4000 other like minded folks. It was a great conference. The first night we heard a talk by Reggie Joiner about the prodigal son story from Luke 15. That story is so familiar to us in the church that it often looses its power. While many think the main character in the story is the prodigal son, in the context of Luke 15, it presents a contrast of the other two characters: the loving father or the elder brother. Joiner explained that these are two approaches to sinners and invited us to examine our hearts: Are we more like the loving father or the elder brother?
Loving Fathers… Elder Brothers…
Welcome Sinners Condemn Sinners
Are preoccupied with those who are missing Are preoccupied with themselves
Operate from a context of forgiveness Operate from a context of shame
Throw Parties Throw Fits
Keep the lights on as long as it takes Close the door and turn off the lights
During Joiners’ talk, while I like to think of myself as like the loving father, I realized that I have a lot of the elder brother still in me. Too often I judge people more by how they look and speak than by “the content of their character”. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” That means before we were cleaned up and presentable before God, God loved us and died for us. If you and I are to become like Christ, that means we must love people, warts and all. It means more than being nice. It means being intentional and taking initiative in reaching out to people who need Christ. The question we all have to ask ourselves if we are disciples of Jesus, are we more like loving fathers or elder brothers?
Last week four of us from church attended the Orange Conference in Atlanta Georgia to experience worship and teaching with 4000 other like minded folks. It was a great conference. The first night we heard a talk by Reggie Joiner about the prodigal son story from Luke 15. That story is so familiar to us in the church that it often looses its power. While many think the main character in the story is the prodigal son, in the context of Luke 15, it presents a contrast of the other two characters: the loving father or the elder brother. Joiner explained that these are two approaches to sinners and invited us to examine our hearts: Are we more like the loving father or the elder brother?
Loving Fathers… Elder Brothers…
Welcome Sinners Condemn Sinners
Are preoccupied with those who are missing Are preoccupied with themselves
Operate from a context of forgiveness Operate from a context of shame
Throw Parties Throw Fits
Keep the lights on as long as it takes Close the door and turn off the lights
During Joiners’ talk, while I like to think of myself as like the loving father, I realized that I have a lot of the elder brother still in me. Too often I judge people more by how they look and speak than by “the content of their character”. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” That means before we were cleaned up and presentable before God, God loved us and died for us. If you and I are to become like Christ, that means we must love people, warts and all. It means more than being nice. It means being intentional and taking initiative in reaching out to people who need Christ. The question we all have to ask ourselves if we are disciples of Jesus, are we more like loving fathers or elder brothers?
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