Reflections from Bro. Rudy –
December 14, 2010
“More than Homage”
The scripture says the Wise Men, in finding the child Jesus, “knelt down and paid him homage.” (Matthew 2:11; NRSV) Most other translations read, “…worshiped him.” That word “homage,” probably captures a little more of the Greek, but it is not a word that we regularly use. Paying homage is more than paying respect. Homage is more than an act of reverence or awe. It involves a surrender of your life to the One you revere.
True worship also carries that element of surrender. Worship is not simply coming together to sing some hymns, pay some respect, and then going on our way. Worship involves a surrender to the One worshiped. Paul put it this way; “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1; NRSV)
Does “homage” and “spiritual worship” describe how we will approach the celebration of Christ’s birth? Some studies have found that Christmas has replaced Easter as the time when more non-regular church participants attend a worship service. But that yearly journey to a Christmas service is not the same as paying real homage to Christ. Nor is it the spiritual worship that Paul says Christ desires.
I read of a preacher who sent his members a record of their worship attendance during the year. He said many were surprised when they saw how many Sunday’s they had actually missed. Many members, who considered themselves regular in worship and committed followers of Christ, had missed more than 30% of the Sunday worship experiences. Some had missed 50% or more of the time. But they thought themselves faithful to Christ and His Church. This took place the week before their Christmas Eve services. During their Christmas Eve services he had a Worship Commitment Card in their bulletins. As an act of worship, he invited the congregation to lay in the manger that Commitment Card. On the card, they were encouraged to make a commitment to the number of Sunday’s they would be in worship in the coming year.
We are not planning on such a Commitment Card for our Christmas Eve services, but that pastor had a good point. Truly paying homage to Christ, involves a year long commitment to worship and serve Christ. Christ wants followers, not simply fans who show up at special times.
I believe it is very appropriate that we are following our Advent-Christmas celebrations with Impact 2011 and the study “Not a Fan.” By now you should have seen information about this opportunity to grow as a committed follower of Jesus Christ. The Message Series and Small Group study kicks-off January 9th, 2011. There will be opportunities to sign up and purchase your study material this Sunday, December 19th.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Stewardship Is Not About Paying Bills
Each week I receive a few newsletters from other churches. And this time of the year, many are having some kind of stewardship emphasis. Arab First UMC is preparing for their Consecration Sunday on November 21. In this month’s newsletter, their Administrative Council Chairperson wrote: “Congregations that approach financial stewardship from a biblical perspective do not view the money Christians give to their church merely as a way to pay its bills. Rather, such congregations see financial contributions as a way to help people grow spiritually in their relationship with God by supporting their church’s mission and ministry with a percentage of their incomes.”
Later in the article, Wayne Washam wrote; “New Consecration Sunday is based on the biblical philosophy of the need of the giver to give for his or her own spiritual development, rather than on the need of the church to receive. Instead of treating people like members of a social club who should pay dues, we will treat people like followers of Jesus Christ who want to give unselfishly as an act of discipleship.”
Reading the article reminded me of something our former Bishop, Robert Fannin, often said; “Stewardship is a spiritual matter.” Bill Flounders put it this way; “Your checkbook reveals your true priorities.”
Yesterday, in my travels between hospitals, I listened to Dr. David Jeremiah’s first message in his series, “The Coming Economic Armageddon.” He shares some very difficult truths about our nation’s economy. He points out that economic crisis is one of the signs of the end time. After sharing what were some very gloomy facts about our nation’s economy, he concluded, that this is not a time for Christians to despair. This is an opportunity to bear witness to our faith, as we store up treasure where it really counts, the eternal Kingdom of God.
November 14th, will be our Commitment Sunday. You should receive your Commitment Card in the mail this week. As you pray about your commitment, whose economic plan will you follow? Where are you turning for guidelines related to your giving? Are you following rules you made up or biblical guidelines that have stood the test of time?
Don’t forget, Wednesday Fast and Pray at Noon. The chapel is open all the time for prayer, but some have made a commitment to be in the chapel during the noon hour to pray for our church. If you cannot come to the chapel, find some place to pray at noon each Wednesday during November.
Saturday Prayer Vigil, November 13, from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM. In addition to the daily Prayer Guide and the weekly Wednesday Fast and Pray, we will have a twelve hour Prayer Vigil on the Saturday before Commitment Sunday. Take 30 minutes to come by the chapel and spend time in prayer for your church. There are places to sign up for a time slot in the Welcome Areas.
New Study begins tonight – God Provides. Judy Shepherd will be the facilitator for this video based look at how God really wants to be your Provider. No registration is required. It starts at 6:30 in room 319.
Operation Christmas Child shoes boxes will be available this Sunday, November 7th. Instructions for filling the box will be available at the pick up places in our Welcome areas. These boxes are sent to church around the world, offering the hope and love of Christ. All boxes must be returned by Sunday, November 21.
Ministry Fair is this Sunday, November 7th. This is an opportunity to learn about the variety of ministries in which your church is involved, and to see where you might use your gifts, talents and time. Then on November 14, you will be ready to make a commitment to some area of ministry in or through your church.
Also, this Sunday, November 7th, is All Saints Sunday. During our 11:00 service we will remember those members of our Church Family who have joined the Communion of the Saints around the eternal banquet table.
Friday, November 12th, our Youth will have a BUNKO Night. The cost is only $5.00 for dessert, drinks and a night of fellowship around the Bunko tables.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Later in the article, Wayne Washam wrote; “New Consecration Sunday is based on the biblical philosophy of the need of the giver to give for his or her own spiritual development, rather than on the need of the church to receive. Instead of treating people like members of a social club who should pay dues, we will treat people like followers of Jesus Christ who want to give unselfishly as an act of discipleship.”
Reading the article reminded me of something our former Bishop, Robert Fannin, often said; “Stewardship is a spiritual matter.” Bill Flounders put it this way; “Your checkbook reveals your true priorities.”
Yesterday, in my travels between hospitals, I listened to Dr. David Jeremiah’s first message in his series, “The Coming Economic Armageddon.” He shares some very difficult truths about our nation’s economy. He points out that economic crisis is one of the signs of the end time. After sharing what were some very gloomy facts about our nation’s economy, he concluded, that this is not a time for Christians to despair. This is an opportunity to bear witness to our faith, as we store up treasure where it really counts, the eternal Kingdom of God.
November 14th, will be our Commitment Sunday. You should receive your Commitment Card in the mail this week. As you pray about your commitment, whose economic plan will you follow? Where are you turning for guidelines related to your giving? Are you following rules you made up or biblical guidelines that have stood the test of time?
Don’t forget, Wednesday Fast and Pray at Noon. The chapel is open all the time for prayer, but some have made a commitment to be in the chapel during the noon hour to pray for our church. If you cannot come to the chapel, find some place to pray at noon each Wednesday during November.
Saturday Prayer Vigil, November 13, from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM. In addition to the daily Prayer Guide and the weekly Wednesday Fast and Pray, we will have a twelve hour Prayer Vigil on the Saturday before Commitment Sunday. Take 30 minutes to come by the chapel and spend time in prayer for your church. There are places to sign up for a time slot in the Welcome Areas.
New Study begins tonight – God Provides. Judy Shepherd will be the facilitator for this video based look at how God really wants to be your Provider. No registration is required. It starts at 6:30 in room 319.
Operation Christmas Child shoes boxes will be available this Sunday, November 7th. Instructions for filling the box will be available at the pick up places in our Welcome areas. These boxes are sent to church around the world, offering the hope and love of Christ. All boxes must be returned by Sunday, November 21.
Ministry Fair is this Sunday, November 7th. This is an opportunity to learn about the variety of ministries in which your church is involved, and to see where you might use your gifts, talents and time. Then on November 14, you will be ready to make a commitment to some area of ministry in or through your church.
Also, this Sunday, November 7th, is All Saints Sunday. During our 11:00 service we will remember those members of our Church Family who have joined the Communion of the Saints around the eternal banquet table.
Friday, November 12th, our Youth will have a BUNKO Night. The cost is only $5.00 for dessert, drinks and a night of fellowship around the Bunko tables.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The Influence of Children
October 26, 2010
This week we began our Cottage Fellowships. These are opportunities to talk about some next steps in fulfilling the vision God has given us to reach children for the Kingdom. As the Psalmist wrote, “He established a decree in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children; that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments...” (Psalm 78:5-7; NRSV)
This week I’ve been reminded why this is so important. Each Wednesday we have Chapel with the older 2’s through Kindergarten children. This morning I was out gathering some sports balls to use in chapel, when I heard one of the classes on the way to chapel singing, “To Chapel we will go.” Sometimes I wonder how much they get out of chapel.
After chapel this morning, Deanna Lewis reminded me that we are planting seeds of faith into these children’s lives. Deanna leads the music for chapel. She shared that some of the kids from our Child Enrichment Ministry were playing chapel at the ball park. One of the girls said, “I’m Ms Deanna,” as she led the singing. One of the boys, one in the 2-3 year old class, said “I’m Brother Rudy.” We obviously are making an impression in those children’s lives.
Deanna went on to share about another experience. A mother shared that her son regularly acts like a preacher in their home. He gets the family together to teach them what he has learned in chapel and/or during Bible time. Each day every class has a Bible time.
Seeds of faith are certainly being planted in these children’s lives. Not only are they growing in faith, but they are leading their families to faith. Just recently, I had the privilege of baptizing a father along with his son. While the baby is not yet in the Child Enrichment Ministry, the family has another child in the ministry. The children helped bring their parents back to the Church and in the father’s case, to faith in Christ.
As I mentioned, we have begun our Cottage Fellowships. In one of the first meetings this week, I was reminded of the words of Isaiah; “a little child shall lead them.” (Isaiah 11:6b; NRSV) As we were finishing the conversation about the opportunity that is before us, one said he wanted to share a personal word. He said that when he received his packet of information about this year’s Stewardship Campaign, he had decided that he would not give as much to the Capital Fund as he has been giving. He explained that neither his Social Security or his retirement income had increased. Then he went to see one of the staff persons in our Child Enrichment Center. She took him on a tour. He saw first hand children learning about Jesus. After seeing this ministry, he said his mind was changed. He is going to make a sacrificial commitment to provide more space for children ministries.
If we are going to accept the opportunity that is before us, we may need a little more of that childlike faith. Jesus had a word about that as well. We need some more of that trusting faith of a child. In Sunday’s message, I will be dealing with faith, as we look at the definition of faith found in Hebrews 11.
Speaking of children, this Saturday is one of our largest outreach ministries of the year, the Harvest Hoedown. We anticipate several thousands to come on our campus this year. The time is 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. It will be a fund time for children and their families. We can always us some more candy. Invite the children in your neighborhood.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
This week we began our Cottage Fellowships. These are opportunities to talk about some next steps in fulfilling the vision God has given us to reach children for the Kingdom. As the Psalmist wrote, “He established a decree in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children; that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments...” (Psalm 78:5-7; NRSV)
This week I’ve been reminded why this is so important. Each Wednesday we have Chapel with the older 2’s through Kindergarten children. This morning I was out gathering some sports balls to use in chapel, when I heard one of the classes on the way to chapel singing, “To Chapel we will go.” Sometimes I wonder how much they get out of chapel.
After chapel this morning, Deanna Lewis reminded me that we are planting seeds of faith into these children’s lives. Deanna leads the music for chapel. She shared that some of the kids from our Child Enrichment Ministry were playing chapel at the ball park. One of the girls said, “I’m Ms Deanna,” as she led the singing. One of the boys, one in the 2-3 year old class, said “I’m Brother Rudy.” We obviously are making an impression in those children’s lives.
Deanna went on to share about another experience. A mother shared that her son regularly acts like a preacher in their home. He gets the family together to teach them what he has learned in chapel and/or during Bible time. Each day every class has a Bible time.
Seeds of faith are certainly being planted in these children’s lives. Not only are they growing in faith, but they are leading their families to faith. Just recently, I had the privilege of baptizing a father along with his son. While the baby is not yet in the Child Enrichment Ministry, the family has another child in the ministry. The children helped bring their parents back to the Church and in the father’s case, to faith in Christ.
As I mentioned, we have begun our Cottage Fellowships. In one of the first meetings this week, I was reminded of the words of Isaiah; “a little child shall lead them.” (Isaiah 11:6b; NRSV) As we were finishing the conversation about the opportunity that is before us, one said he wanted to share a personal word. He said that when he received his packet of information about this year’s Stewardship Campaign, he had decided that he would not give as much to the Capital Fund as he has been giving. He explained that neither his Social Security or his retirement income had increased. Then he went to see one of the staff persons in our Child Enrichment Center. She took him on a tour. He saw first hand children learning about Jesus. After seeing this ministry, he said his mind was changed. He is going to make a sacrificial commitment to provide more space for children ministries.
If we are going to accept the opportunity that is before us, we may need a little more of that childlike faith. Jesus had a word about that as well. We need some more of that trusting faith of a child. In Sunday’s message, I will be dealing with faith, as we look at the definition of faith found in Hebrews 11.
Speaking of children, this Saturday is one of our largest outreach ministries of the year, the Harvest Hoedown. We anticipate several thousands to come on our campus this year. The time is 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. It will be a fund time for children and their families. We can always us some more candy. Invite the children in your neighborhood.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Reflections from Bro. Rudy –
September 15, 2010
A CALL TO PRAYER
What a powerful three days our Tent Revival was. God used John Ed Mathison to speak some powerful words into our lives. He opened on Sunday and closed Tuesday night with several words that I have been thinking about over the night and this morning.
First, John Ed made the point that as we celebrate the past we must move into the future. He said, “The Church is a movement.” We must not live in the past. I believe it is a God thing that God’s word through John Ed was so close to the theme that has been chosen for our fall Stewardship Campaign: Celebrate the Past – Build the Future. It hit me that the best way we can honor and celebrate the sacrifices of the past is to make our own sacrifices for the building of the future.
The second word that I’ve been reflecting on is Prayer. Sunday morning John Ed asked us what we had been praying for in relation to the Revival. Then on Tuesday evening he pointed out the prayer life of the Acts 2 Church. He asked, “When had our prayers been so vibrant that the building shook?”
His words caused me to examine my own prayer life. What am I praying about? Am I boldly praying believing in a God of might and miracles? Do I place limits on God even before I pray? Am I really praying for God’s leadership in His Church? Am I praying for our nation?
Speaking of Prayer, Derek Belcher shared with me after the service last night (Tuesday) that some were promoting 40 Days of Prayer for the Election. Election Day 2010 is just over 40 days away. I did some searching on the internet and found that the Southern Baptist Convention has developed a 40/40 Prayer Guide for this fall, in preparation for the election. The Prayer Guide is available as a free download. Here is the web address if you would like to download it: www.4040prayer.com. You may have to copy this into your internet search engine to find the download. This Prayer Guide is designed to begin next Monday, September 20th.
Whether or not you use this Prayer Guide, I encourage you to spend time the next six weeks praying for our nation and this election. As you read the suggested themes for the 40/40 Prayer Guide, they certainly speak to where we are: Personal Revival, Church Revival, Revival Among Church Leadership, National Revival, National Renewal, Wisdom for Public Officials, Wisdom to Elect the Best Officials. I believe the Guide has it right; renewal in American must begin with the people of God being revived, which we bring to the Church. A revived Church is the only real hope for America and this world.
There is one other word that John Ed mentioned both Sunday morning and Tuesday evening that I’ve been reflecting on – People Bring People to Jesus. He asked us, who have you brought this year to Christ and His Church. And He challenged us to bring someone over the remainder of this year. Are we going to answer Jesus’ prayer for labors in the Harvest? One of the best ways to do that is to invite.
I’m excited about the message God has given me for Sunday. The staff spent this summer studying the Book of Ephesians. During July, we focused on Ephesians 4, in the message series, Being the Body of Christ. This Sunday I want to return to the book of Ephesians, to the second chapter, to look at the results of grace. Having experienced revival, I believe it is a good time to look at how grace transforms our lives.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
A CALL TO PRAYER
What a powerful three days our Tent Revival was. God used John Ed Mathison to speak some powerful words into our lives. He opened on Sunday and closed Tuesday night with several words that I have been thinking about over the night and this morning.
First, John Ed made the point that as we celebrate the past we must move into the future. He said, “The Church is a movement.” We must not live in the past. I believe it is a God thing that God’s word through John Ed was so close to the theme that has been chosen for our fall Stewardship Campaign: Celebrate the Past – Build the Future. It hit me that the best way we can honor and celebrate the sacrifices of the past is to make our own sacrifices for the building of the future.
The second word that I’ve been reflecting on is Prayer. Sunday morning John Ed asked us what we had been praying for in relation to the Revival. Then on Tuesday evening he pointed out the prayer life of the Acts 2 Church. He asked, “When had our prayers been so vibrant that the building shook?”
His words caused me to examine my own prayer life. What am I praying about? Am I boldly praying believing in a God of might and miracles? Do I place limits on God even before I pray? Am I really praying for God’s leadership in His Church? Am I praying for our nation?
Speaking of Prayer, Derek Belcher shared with me after the service last night (Tuesday) that some were promoting 40 Days of Prayer for the Election. Election Day 2010 is just over 40 days away. I did some searching on the internet and found that the Southern Baptist Convention has developed a 40/40 Prayer Guide for this fall, in preparation for the election. The Prayer Guide is available as a free download. Here is the web address if you would like to download it: www.4040prayer.com. You may have to copy this into your internet search engine to find the download. This Prayer Guide is designed to begin next Monday, September 20th.
Whether or not you use this Prayer Guide, I encourage you to spend time the next six weeks praying for our nation and this election. As you read the suggested themes for the 40/40 Prayer Guide, they certainly speak to where we are: Personal Revival, Church Revival, Revival Among Church Leadership, National Revival, National Renewal, Wisdom for Public Officials, Wisdom to Elect the Best Officials. I believe the Guide has it right; renewal in American must begin with the people of God being revived, which we bring to the Church. A revived Church is the only real hope for America and this world.
There is one other word that John Ed mentioned both Sunday morning and Tuesday evening that I’ve been reflecting on – People Bring People to Jesus. He asked us, who have you brought this year to Christ and His Church. And He challenged us to bring someone over the remainder of this year. Are we going to answer Jesus’ prayer for labors in the Harvest? One of the best ways to do that is to invite.
I’m excited about the message God has given me for Sunday. The staff spent this summer studying the Book of Ephesians. During July, we focused on Ephesians 4, in the message series, Being the Body of Christ. This Sunday I want to return to the book of Ephesians, to the second chapter, to look at the results of grace. Having experienced revival, I believe it is a good time to look at how grace transforms our lives.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Look Up - God is There
When God wants you to get His message, He often sends it in various ways. We are in this series Fearless. The scriptures in my devotional time this morning spoke directly to this. The first was from Psalm 121:1-2: “I will lift up my eyes to the hills - from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
Jim Coleman, one of the pastors on staff with Dr. Robert Schuler, wrote on that passage:
When we're bombarded or buried with all of our problems, challenges, financial losses, daily pressures, health concerns - the list goes on and on and on - look up! We have a big God. His love, His joy, His mercy is looming in front of you right now. Stop whatever you're doing. Take your focus off your problems. Look up to God - YOU'VE ARRIVED! Your destination, God, is with you always!
I don’t know about you, but I need reminders like that. We have a very Big, Great God. Sometime I allow the situation to blind me of God. Yet, God is always there, if I simply look up.
Then to reinforce His message to me, God sent it again in the Upper Room Scripture of Wednesday, August 18: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:2) In order to do that, I have to spend time in God’s Word and Presence each day.
The challenges and fears of this world come at each of us regularly. God has given us a pattern for life that is designed to help us face these challenges. That pattern includes weekly worship with the Body of Christ, personal time in prayer and Bible study, and acts of service in Jesus name. As I worship Christ and spend time with Christ, I am able to lift my eyes to the hills in the confidence that my help does come from the Lord.
Our Children’s Ministry Team has begun a new ministry to help parents and grandparents look up. They have established a Parent’s Book Club and Discussion Blog. The Discussion Blog began this week. It is not too late to pick up a copy of George Barna’s Revolutionary Parenting. You can purchase a copy for $14.00 in the Child Enrichment Center Office or you can order on line at http://tiny.cc/revolutionaryparenting. As you read the book, go on line and join in the on-line discussion. Here is the link to the online discussion Blog: www.kidsrevolutionatgmv.blogspot.com
Some of us are presently participating in a month of prayer for the children. If you picked up a prayer card for a child or teacher, don’t forget to write the child a Prayer Note. Return the Prayer Note to the office, so they can be delivered to the children by the end of the month.
Children’s Choirs and Bible Study begin today. And it’s not too late to join in one the adult studies on Wednesday. Come on out and experience a mid-week recharge.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Jim Coleman, one of the pastors on staff with Dr. Robert Schuler, wrote on that passage:
When we're bombarded or buried with all of our problems, challenges, financial losses, daily pressures, health concerns - the list goes on and on and on - look up! We have a big God. His love, His joy, His mercy is looming in front of you right now. Stop whatever you're doing. Take your focus off your problems. Look up to God - YOU'VE ARRIVED! Your destination, God, is with you always!
I don’t know about you, but I need reminders like that. We have a very Big, Great God. Sometime I allow the situation to blind me of God. Yet, God is always there, if I simply look up.
Then to reinforce His message to me, God sent it again in the Upper Room Scripture of Wednesday, August 18: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:2) In order to do that, I have to spend time in God’s Word and Presence each day.
The challenges and fears of this world come at each of us regularly. God has given us a pattern for life that is designed to help us face these challenges. That pattern includes weekly worship with the Body of Christ, personal time in prayer and Bible study, and acts of service in Jesus name. As I worship Christ and spend time with Christ, I am able to lift my eyes to the hills in the confidence that my help does come from the Lord.
Our Children’s Ministry Team has begun a new ministry to help parents and grandparents look up. They have established a Parent’s Book Club and Discussion Blog. The Discussion Blog began this week. It is not too late to pick up a copy of George Barna’s Revolutionary Parenting. You can purchase a copy for $14.00 in the Child Enrichment Center Office or you can order on line at http://tiny.cc/revolutionaryparenting. As you read the book, go on line and join in the on-line discussion. Here is the link to the online discussion Blog: www.kidsrevolutionatgmv.blogspot.com
Some of us are presently participating in a month of prayer for the children. If you picked up a prayer card for a child or teacher, don’t forget to write the child a Prayer Note. Return the Prayer Note to the office, so they can be delivered to the children by the end of the month.
Children’s Choirs and Bible Study begin today. And it’s not too late to join in one the adult studies on Wednesday. Come on out and experience a mid-week recharge.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Bring the Children to Jesus
Every time a child is baptized in our church, these words of Jesus are read; “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:14; RSV) Jesus words remind me of the wonderful privilege and awesome responsibility that we have. The Body of Christ joins with the parents of the child to bring the child to Jesus.
Some of you know that God laid it on my heart to intentionally pray for the children connected to our Church Family. Each morning I pray for a child or two, specifically praying for that child to come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. As I began this journey of prayer for the children back in May, God quickly reminded me that I needed to pray for parents as well. While the Body of Christ has a vital role in a child’s coming to faith in Jesus Christ, parents have an even larger role.
To help parents in their role, our Children’s Ministry Team has begun a new ministry. They have begun a Parent’s Book Club and Discussion Blog. The Discussion Blog will begin this coming Monday, August 16. Parent’s are encouraged to read George Barna’s Revolutionary Parenting. You can purchase a copy for $14.00 in the Child Enrichment Center Office or you can order on line at http://tiny.cc/revolutionaryparenting. Then on August 16, you can join in the on-line discussion of chapter 1. Here link to the online discussion Blog: www.kidsrevolutionatgmv.blogspot.com
Some of us are presently participating in a month of prayer for the children. If you picked up a prayer card for a child or teacher, don’t forget to write the child a Prayer Note. Return the Prayer Note to the office, so they can be delivered to the children by the end of the month. The goal was to have the Prayer Notes in the office by August 15.
I’m not sure we realize how many children we presently have the potential of influencing for Christ. We again have over 350 children registered in our Child Enrichment Center. Their classes actually begin August 16th. Some of those children are part of our church family and others are not. In addition, we have some 250 children and youth who are part of our children who will be in elementary, middle or high school. That is 600 children we are praying for this August. Thank you to all who have made the commitment to pray for the children. We do have a few cards that have not been picked up. If you have missed the opportunity to get a Prayer Card for the Children, or would be willing to take another one or two, come by the office.
I was blessed with the opportunity to participate in the Prayer Walk at Snow Rogers School this past Sunday afternoon. I have not heard how it went at every school, but we were greeted` by our own Karen White, who is the principal there. She shared some specific requests for the start of the school year and then we covered the entire facility in prayer. I understand some of our church family made the news Sunday night as ABC 33/40 did a segment on the Prayer Walk at Gardendale High School.
This Monday, August 16, we will have a Prayer Walk before our Child Enrichment Center classes begin. You are invited to join us at 6:30 in the Children’s Dining Room (First Floor) to begin the Prayer Walk. We will finish by 6:55, so the doors can open at 7:00 for the early birds. This is another opportunity to cover children in prayer.
Today, Wednesday, August 11, kicks-off Wednesday Grow. Classes begin at 6:30. There are a variety of growth opportunities in addition to the Fearless Small Groups. Come and join in this time of fellowship and growing. It is another way we participate in building up the body of Christ.
I leave you with thought that was passed on to me by Karen Smith: GOD can turn a MESS into a MESSage, a TEST into a TESTimony, a TRIal into a TRIumph, a VICtim into a VICtory. GOD is GOOD...all the time.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Some of you know that God laid it on my heart to intentionally pray for the children connected to our Church Family. Each morning I pray for a child or two, specifically praying for that child to come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. As I began this journey of prayer for the children back in May, God quickly reminded me that I needed to pray for parents as well. While the Body of Christ has a vital role in a child’s coming to faith in Jesus Christ, parents have an even larger role.
To help parents in their role, our Children’s Ministry Team has begun a new ministry. They have begun a Parent’s Book Club and Discussion Blog. The Discussion Blog will begin this coming Monday, August 16. Parent’s are encouraged to read George Barna’s Revolutionary Parenting. You can purchase a copy for $14.00 in the Child Enrichment Center Office or you can order on line at http://tiny.cc/revolutionaryparenting. Then on August 16, you can join in the on-line discussion of chapter 1. Here link to the online discussion Blog: www.kidsrevolutionatgmv.blogspot.com
Some of us are presently participating in a month of prayer for the children. If you picked up a prayer card for a child or teacher, don’t forget to write the child a Prayer Note. Return the Prayer Note to the office, so they can be delivered to the children by the end of the month. The goal was to have the Prayer Notes in the office by August 15.
I’m not sure we realize how many children we presently have the potential of influencing for Christ. We again have over 350 children registered in our Child Enrichment Center. Their classes actually begin August 16th. Some of those children are part of our church family and others are not. In addition, we have some 250 children and youth who are part of our children who will be in elementary, middle or high school. That is 600 children we are praying for this August. Thank you to all who have made the commitment to pray for the children. We do have a few cards that have not been picked up. If you have missed the opportunity to get a Prayer Card for the Children, or would be willing to take another one or two, come by the office.
I was blessed with the opportunity to participate in the Prayer Walk at Snow Rogers School this past Sunday afternoon. I have not heard how it went at every school, but we were greeted` by our own Karen White, who is the principal there. She shared some specific requests for the start of the school year and then we covered the entire facility in prayer. I understand some of our church family made the news Sunday night as ABC 33/40 did a segment on the Prayer Walk at Gardendale High School.
This Monday, August 16, we will have a Prayer Walk before our Child Enrichment Center classes begin. You are invited to join us at 6:30 in the Children’s Dining Room (First Floor) to begin the Prayer Walk. We will finish by 6:55, so the doors can open at 7:00 for the early birds. This is another opportunity to cover children in prayer.
Today, Wednesday, August 11, kicks-off Wednesday Grow. Classes begin at 6:30. There are a variety of growth opportunities in addition to the Fearless Small Groups. Come and join in this time of fellowship and growing. It is another way we participate in building up the body of Christ.
I leave you with thought that was passed on to me by Karen Smith: GOD can turn a MESS into a MESSage, a TEST into a TESTimony, a TRIal into a TRIumph, a VICtim into a VICtory. GOD is GOOD...all the time.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Can We Put Anything Else into a Weekend?
As the staff prayed this morning, (Wednesday), I found myself feeling a little overwhelmed as we prayed about this weekend. We have a lot going on. Friday night and Saturday morning is the North Jefferson Ministry Association Men’s Conference at the Church Revived. I’m teaching on Family Order from Ephesians 5 and 6. Men, there is still room.
Sunday morning we kick off our August Camp Meeting – August Reach 2010. This year’s message theme is Fearless. As I was feeling a little overwhelmed thinking of everything I have this weekend, Jesus’ question for this Sunday’s message came back to my mind, “Why are you afraid?” It is a question that all of us face sometime in our lives.
I received an email this week from one who shared some of her fears. Visiting in the hospital, I heard another express some fears. Fears come at us from many angles. The question is, how do you deal with your fears? Read Matthew 8:23-27 in preparation for Sunday morning’s message. The disciples were suddenly faced with the fear of a storm and there are some important messages for us in that story.
Sunday afternoon we are having a Back To School Rally for the Hispanic Community of 100 Oaks. This is an opportunity to build relationships with the Hispanic community as we move toward English as a Second Language Classes and Spanish Bible Study and Worship in 2011. This event begins at 3:00 PM. We could still use some homemade goodies for the Rally. If you would provide some homemade cookies, finger sandwiches, chips & dip, please contact Jennifer Lindholm jlindholm@gmvumc.org. You can bring them Sunday morning. If you would like to help with this outreach, please let Jennifer know. We will need some people to help with food tables and handout school and family packets.
Sunday evening we kick off BODY BUILDING: Connecting, Growing, Equipping the Body of Christ. Intergenerational Worship begins at 6:00 PM in the sanctuary. This Sunday some of our children will be leading our worship. Then at 6:30 PM there will be a variety of opportunities. Our Youth Ministries have restructured their Sunday evening to be part of the worship time. After worship they will have their small groups and children will have growth studies.
Adult options are as follows:
• Connecting Group: Jesus 101, led by Bob Brewis. This is a look at Jesus in the Gospel of John. Read the first chapter of John before the class.
• Growing Groups:
o Fearless Groups, led by Paul Wiegert and Judy Shepherd
o Disciple Bible I led by Billie Sue Hulsey
• Equipping Group: Discover Your Serve, led by Pam Ansardi
• Chasing Rabbits: Faith Conversation with the Pastor.
I’m looking forward to our Chasing Rabbits conversations. Sunday night we’re going to begin with the question, Why did the people of Israel have so much fear in their journey to the Promise Land, when God kept working miracles? Which leads to the question, why do we let fear grip us? If you have some faith questions you would like to discuss, drop me an email.
Sunday also kicks off a Month of Prayer for the Children. You are invited to be a Prayer Warrior for one or more children or for a teacher as they begin the school year. Cards with all the children enrolled in our Child Enrichment Center and all the school aged children of our Church Family will be on the altars on Sunday. They will be color coded according to age. There will be instructions on the prayer card about praying for the child/teenager for the month of August and writing the child/teenager a note to let them know you have been praying for them.
Then on August 8th, at 3:30 PM, there will be a Prayer Walk at all of the schools in North Jefferson County. In most of the schools we will have the opportunity to walk the halls of the school and pray for students, teaches, administrators and staff. You might go to the school closest to you, or the school that your children/grandchildren will be attending. There will be a leader at each campus with information on how you might pray as you walk through or around the facilities.
I’m excited about what God has planned for us in the month of August. Be in prayer and be present as we grow together in Christ. As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Sunday morning we kick off our August Camp Meeting – August Reach 2010. This year’s message theme is Fearless. As I was feeling a little overwhelmed thinking of everything I have this weekend, Jesus’ question for this Sunday’s message came back to my mind, “Why are you afraid?” It is a question that all of us face sometime in our lives.
I received an email this week from one who shared some of her fears. Visiting in the hospital, I heard another express some fears. Fears come at us from many angles. The question is, how do you deal with your fears? Read Matthew 8:23-27 in preparation for Sunday morning’s message. The disciples were suddenly faced with the fear of a storm and there are some important messages for us in that story.
Sunday afternoon we are having a Back To School Rally for the Hispanic Community of 100 Oaks. This is an opportunity to build relationships with the Hispanic community as we move toward English as a Second Language Classes and Spanish Bible Study and Worship in 2011. This event begins at 3:00 PM. We could still use some homemade goodies for the Rally. If you would provide some homemade cookies, finger sandwiches, chips & dip, please contact Jennifer Lindholm jlindholm@gmvumc.org. You can bring them Sunday morning. If you would like to help with this outreach, please let Jennifer know. We will need some people to help with food tables and handout school and family packets.
Sunday evening we kick off BODY BUILDING: Connecting, Growing, Equipping the Body of Christ. Intergenerational Worship begins at 6:00 PM in the sanctuary. This Sunday some of our children will be leading our worship. Then at 6:30 PM there will be a variety of opportunities. Our Youth Ministries have restructured their Sunday evening to be part of the worship time. After worship they will have their small groups and children will have growth studies.
Adult options are as follows:
• Connecting Group: Jesus 101, led by Bob Brewis. This is a look at Jesus in the Gospel of John. Read the first chapter of John before the class.
• Growing Groups:
o Fearless Groups, led by Paul Wiegert and Judy Shepherd
o Disciple Bible I led by Billie Sue Hulsey
• Equipping Group: Discover Your Serve, led by Pam Ansardi
• Chasing Rabbits: Faith Conversation with the Pastor.
I’m looking forward to our Chasing Rabbits conversations. Sunday night we’re going to begin with the question, Why did the people of Israel have so much fear in their journey to the Promise Land, when God kept working miracles? Which leads to the question, why do we let fear grip us? If you have some faith questions you would like to discuss, drop me an email.
Sunday also kicks off a Month of Prayer for the Children. You are invited to be a Prayer Warrior for one or more children or for a teacher as they begin the school year. Cards with all the children enrolled in our Child Enrichment Center and all the school aged children of our Church Family will be on the altars on Sunday. They will be color coded according to age. There will be instructions on the prayer card about praying for the child/teenager for the month of August and writing the child/teenager a note to let them know you have been praying for them.
Then on August 8th, at 3:30 PM, there will be a Prayer Walk at all of the schools in North Jefferson County. In most of the schools we will have the opportunity to walk the halls of the school and pray for students, teaches, administrators and staff. You might go to the school closest to you, or the school that your children/grandchildren will be attending. There will be a leader at each campus with information on how you might pray as you walk through or around the facilities.
I’m excited about what God has planned for us in the month of August. Be in prayer and be present as we grow together in Christ. As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Finishing Strong
Something happened with last week’s reflection. It went out blank. Jennifer resent it later in the week, but apparently it still did not get out. So, here are my reflections from last week, along with some thoughts for this week.
I was reading a devotional this week that used Carl Lewis as an illustration. Carl Lewis is the record holder when it comes to the most Individual Gold Medals in Track & Field in a single Olympics. He won four Gold Medals in one Olympics. In the devotional, it was pointed out that Carl Lewis was not a good starter. If you look at recordings of his races, it was very rare for him to be the first off the starting line. Carl Lewis was a stronger finisher. He knew how to finish strong.
Finishing strong must be a message God wants me to learn. It was the theme of the message at Gina’s parent’s church on Sunday (Father’s Day). The title of the message was, “Daddy, Please Finish Well.” It was taken from these words of Paul to Timothy: “I have fought to good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8; NRSV) Paul was approaching the end of his life. He writes to Timothy, “I’m committed to finishing well.”
A little over a week ago, Gina and I celebrated the homegoing of one who finished strong. Gina’s Uncle Bud Yoakum died on Friday and his funeral was Saturday. During the service it was shared that Uncle Bud had introduced a nurse to Jesus in his final days. As he approached the end of his life, he was still thinking of others and concerned about their salvation. He finished strong the race of faith and has received his crown.
Some of you know that Gina’s mother (Sue Yoakum) is in a battle with cancer. She was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer this spring. This weekend I heard her say; “I’m not afraid of dying, but I am afraid I will not see some of those I love after I die.” Think about that for a moment, “I am afraid I will not see some of those I love after I die.” She was referring to some of her children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters who do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. They are not all like Uncle Bud, committed to finishing strong the race of faith.
I imagine that most of us have ones we love who are not ready to enter eternity with Jesus. That fact should concern us. It should be a part of our prayer life. And we should be looking for opportunities to share Jesus.
One way I’m doing that is praying for the children related to our church who have not made a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Each day I pray for three to five children and their parents. For young children, parents are the key to their faith development. So, I’m praying that parents will model for their kids what it means to be a Christ Follower. And I’m praying that children will be open to the pull of Christ at their heart. I know that Jesus is seeking them.
Back to the pastor’s message: He pointed out that in Sevier County, Tennessee, only about 20% of the people are actively involved in the Body of Christ, a Church. I’m not sure that Jefferson County is much better. We don’t have to go overseas to find the mission field. We live every day in our mission field. The question is; are we committed to reaching those persons we know who are traveling through life without Jesus? Does it concern us that they may go into eternity without Jesus?
I think we need some of that fear that Gina’s mother expressed. Maybe it would motivate us to make sharing our faith a priority. I know her words have challenged me to pray more faithfully for undiscipled people and ask the Holy Spirit to give me eyes to see open doors through which I can share Jesus.
This Sunday we will celebrate our nation’s Declaration of Independence. I encourage you not to leave worship out of the July 4th activities. America was birthed by people who were committed to worshipping the Living God. It has been pointed out the majority of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were committed Christians, active in their local Church. I’m convinced that was what made America strong. And that is still the key to strong America.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
I was reading a devotional this week that used Carl Lewis as an illustration. Carl Lewis is the record holder when it comes to the most Individual Gold Medals in Track & Field in a single Olympics. He won four Gold Medals in one Olympics. In the devotional, it was pointed out that Carl Lewis was not a good starter. If you look at recordings of his races, it was very rare for him to be the first off the starting line. Carl Lewis was a stronger finisher. He knew how to finish strong.
Finishing strong must be a message God wants me to learn. It was the theme of the message at Gina’s parent’s church on Sunday (Father’s Day). The title of the message was, “Daddy, Please Finish Well.” It was taken from these words of Paul to Timothy: “I have fought to good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8; NRSV) Paul was approaching the end of his life. He writes to Timothy, “I’m committed to finishing well.”
A little over a week ago, Gina and I celebrated the homegoing of one who finished strong. Gina’s Uncle Bud Yoakum died on Friday and his funeral was Saturday. During the service it was shared that Uncle Bud had introduced a nurse to Jesus in his final days. As he approached the end of his life, he was still thinking of others and concerned about their salvation. He finished strong the race of faith and has received his crown.
Some of you know that Gina’s mother (Sue Yoakum) is in a battle with cancer. She was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer this spring. This weekend I heard her say; “I’m not afraid of dying, but I am afraid I will not see some of those I love after I die.” Think about that for a moment, “I am afraid I will not see some of those I love after I die.” She was referring to some of her children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters who do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. They are not all like Uncle Bud, committed to finishing strong the race of faith.
I imagine that most of us have ones we love who are not ready to enter eternity with Jesus. That fact should concern us. It should be a part of our prayer life. And we should be looking for opportunities to share Jesus.
One way I’m doing that is praying for the children related to our church who have not made a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Each day I pray for three to five children and their parents. For young children, parents are the key to their faith development. So, I’m praying that parents will model for their kids what it means to be a Christ Follower. And I’m praying that children will be open to the pull of Christ at their heart. I know that Jesus is seeking them.
Back to the pastor’s message: He pointed out that in Sevier County, Tennessee, only about 20% of the people are actively involved in the Body of Christ, a Church. I’m not sure that Jefferson County is much better. We don’t have to go overseas to find the mission field. We live every day in our mission field. The question is; are we committed to reaching those persons we know who are traveling through life without Jesus? Does it concern us that they may go into eternity without Jesus?
I think we need some of that fear that Gina’s mother expressed. Maybe it would motivate us to make sharing our faith a priority. I know her words have challenged me to pray more faithfully for undiscipled people and ask the Holy Spirit to give me eyes to see open doors through which I can share Jesus.
This Sunday we will celebrate our nation’s Declaration of Independence. I encourage you not to leave worship out of the July 4th activities. America was birthed by people who were committed to worshipping the Living God. It has been pointed out the majority of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were committed Christians, active in their local Church. I’m convinced that was what made America strong. And that is still the key to strong America.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
The Power of Character
A “Perfect Game” in baseball is very rare. There have been only 20 pitchers to pitch a perfect game in the 135 years of professional baseball. On June 2, Armando Galarraga, of the Detroit Tigers, actually was the 21st pitcher to accomplish that feat. But Galarraga was denied his perfect game because of a bad call by the umpire.
For those who do not know what a Perfect Game is, it is a pitcher who faces only 3 batters each inning, 27 for the game. That is 3 up and 3 outs each inning, with no base runners. It is very rare in baseball.
Armando Galarraga pitched such a game but it was taken away from him by a bad call. He had gotten the first 26 batters out. Only one more batter and he would have been memorialized in Baseball’s Hall of Fame. It happened, but the First Base Umpire made a bad call. He called that 27th batter safe at first, when replays showed he was out. After the game Umpire James Joyce acknowledged that he blew the call, but the perfect game had been lost.
Instead of a Perfect Game, Galarraga will be remembered for something else – his character. He looked in disbelief as the Umpire called the runner safe at first and smiled. Steve May, wrote of the moment, “But Galarraga just smiled – albeit a sardonic ‘you’ve go to be kidding me’ smile – and then he went back to the mound and got the last out. Even after the game, he refused to lash out at the umpire’s mistake.” Armando Galarraga demonstrated character that is kind of a rarity these days, especially in the world of sports.
Steve May, in his “Monday Morning Memo” reminded readers that blown calls are a fact of life. “They come at us in different ways: The boss who gives credit to the wrong guy, the teenager who blames everyone else for their own insolence, the church member who finds fault in everything the pastor does. The result is that sometimes you get short-changed. You deserve credit, but credit doesn’t come your way, thanks to someone else’s bad judgment.”
In those moments, how do you respond? Do you have the mind of Christ, that looked at his betrayers and forgave them? I don’t know anything about Galarraga’s faith, but he demonstrated a Christ-like character. What about you and me? When you are hurt by the bad judgment of others, do you lash out? Do you get mad? Or, do you smile and get back to work?
Galarraga did not get the Perfect Game he deserved. But he did show baseball fans how a true sportsman plays the game. What about you and me? Do we show those who are watching us how a Christ-Follower plays the game of life? Do those around us see a Christ-like character in the way we respond in those times we are hurt?
The Apostle Paul commended the Thessalonians for such character. He wrote: “So, when you accepted the message, you followed our example and the example of the Lord. You suffered, but the Holy Spirit made you glad. You became an example for all the Lord's followers in Macedonia and Achaia.” (1 Thessalonians 1:6-7; CEV)
Remember to lift the Youth Mission Team in your prayers. They are in Tennessee, serving others in Jesus’ name. They will be returning on Saturday.
Sunday morning, our Family and Leisure Team, is having a Pancake Breakfast for dads. Bring your father to breakfast before Worship and Sunday School. Breakfast will be served in the Fellowship Hall from 8:00 AM until 10:00 AM.
Some have asked me if I have read Max Lucado’s new book, Fearless? I am reading it and planning a message series related to it for our August Camp Meeting. We will also be having Small Groups that will be studying the book. If you would be interested in hosting a small group or leading one, you can email me. Most of these groups will kick off the first week in August. Some may wait until the second week. Either way, they will run five weeks.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
For those who do not know what a Perfect Game is, it is a pitcher who faces only 3 batters each inning, 27 for the game. That is 3 up and 3 outs each inning, with no base runners. It is very rare in baseball.
Armando Galarraga pitched such a game but it was taken away from him by a bad call. He had gotten the first 26 batters out. Only one more batter and he would have been memorialized in Baseball’s Hall of Fame. It happened, but the First Base Umpire made a bad call. He called that 27th batter safe at first, when replays showed he was out. After the game Umpire James Joyce acknowledged that he blew the call, but the perfect game had been lost.
Instead of a Perfect Game, Galarraga will be remembered for something else – his character. He looked in disbelief as the Umpire called the runner safe at first and smiled. Steve May, wrote of the moment, “But Galarraga just smiled – albeit a sardonic ‘you’ve go to be kidding me’ smile – and then he went back to the mound and got the last out. Even after the game, he refused to lash out at the umpire’s mistake.” Armando Galarraga demonstrated character that is kind of a rarity these days, especially in the world of sports.
Steve May, in his “Monday Morning Memo” reminded readers that blown calls are a fact of life. “They come at us in different ways: The boss who gives credit to the wrong guy, the teenager who blames everyone else for their own insolence, the church member who finds fault in everything the pastor does. The result is that sometimes you get short-changed. You deserve credit, but credit doesn’t come your way, thanks to someone else’s bad judgment.”
In those moments, how do you respond? Do you have the mind of Christ, that looked at his betrayers and forgave them? I don’t know anything about Galarraga’s faith, but he demonstrated a Christ-like character. What about you and me? When you are hurt by the bad judgment of others, do you lash out? Do you get mad? Or, do you smile and get back to work?
Galarraga did not get the Perfect Game he deserved. But he did show baseball fans how a true sportsman plays the game. What about you and me? Do we show those who are watching us how a Christ-Follower plays the game of life? Do those around us see a Christ-like character in the way we respond in those times we are hurt?
The Apostle Paul commended the Thessalonians for such character. He wrote: “So, when you accepted the message, you followed our example and the example of the Lord. You suffered, but the Holy Spirit made you glad. You became an example for all the Lord's followers in Macedonia and Achaia.” (1 Thessalonians 1:6-7; CEV)
Remember to lift the Youth Mission Team in your prayers. They are in Tennessee, serving others in Jesus’ name. They will be returning on Saturday.
Sunday morning, our Family and Leisure Team, is having a Pancake Breakfast for dads. Bring your father to breakfast before Worship and Sunday School. Breakfast will be served in the Fellowship Hall from 8:00 AM until 10:00 AM.
Some have asked me if I have read Max Lucado’s new book, Fearless? I am reading it and planning a message series related to it for our August Camp Meeting. We will also be having Small Groups that will be studying the book. If you would be interested in hosting a small group or leading one, you can email me. Most of these groups will kick off the first week in August. Some may wait until the second week. Either way, they will run five weeks.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Church Wins Beautification Award
The Gardendale Beautification Committee had their annual awards banquet last Thursday night. Our church received the Church Garden Beautification award for our Prayer Garden. Lem Green and I received the award on behalf of the church.
Did you know we have a Prayer Garden? It is located between the Chapel and the Sanctuary. There are two entrances to the Prayer Garden, one in the hall at the Chapel entrance and the other off the Glass Narthex, just past the Giving Tree.
There is always a danger thanking persons for their work for you risk missing someone. But I want to thank those who serve God through their yard and garden work here at the church. Robbie and Lem Green gave leadership to the re-working of the Prayer Garden. They and their helpers have done a great job. Take a look the next time you are on the campus.
There are several families who work faithfully to keep the yards and flower beds of the church looking good. I regularly see Wallace and Jo Dickinson laboring in the flower shrub beds of the church. They spent hours getting ready for Homecoming. And they were back this week, working in front of the sanctuary. Jackie and Kathy Phelps, who chair our Grounds Committee, also give a lot of time working on the beautification of our grounds.
Wayne Duncan saw a need for someone to keep the Fountain Clean. So he accepted that responsibility and regularly cleans the fountain and the area around it.
Ernie Brown is our yardman. For him, it is a family labor of love. His son Neil got home this week from college and Ernie had him on the lawnmower, cutting the grounds. The other day I saw his dad, Glenn Brown watering the sod that had been laid on the area where the sign had been moved.
All of these and many others help us honor God with their labors on the grounds of this church. I hope you will join me in thanking them.
We do have one area that does not look very beautiful at this time – the north end of our campus. Work has begun on the Erosion problem. We should know more about the depth of this problem sometime Thursday, when they anticipate exposing the foundation to check it for any damage. If there is no damage to the foundation, and the engineering firm does not believe there is any, the cost of the Erosion Project will be in the $120,000 to $140,000 range.
Our Erosion Fund continues to grow. $39,117.00 has now been given. The first payment on the project will be made this week.
Friday night is Graduation for the 4 and 5 year olds in our Child Enrichment Ministry. This week they are working very hard on the program they will present for their parents and friends. If you are at the church you might take a look in the sanctuary to see the set that the Child Enrichment staff has put up. It is another example of a commitment to excellence.
Children’s Prayer Warriors, have you turned in your Prayer Notes. Today is the deadline. The Prayer Notes have to be sorted by classes and then given to the teachers to include in each child’s graduation bag.
In my hospital rounds yesterday, the receptionist at Lakeshore thanked our Church for offering the Shred Day. She had her papers already boxed, ready to bring them Saturday. Shred Day is this Saturday, May 22. It is a ministry we offer to the community.
Also on Saturday, our Youth will have a Car Wash. They will be in the front parking lot, ready to clean your cars. And they will accept any donation you offer. Money will help the youth who are going on the Mission Trip in June.
Sunday is Pentecost. It is the day we remember the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus. This year we are offering something different to celebrate the Birthday of the Church. We are having a Pentecost Party in place of our traditional Sunday night service. It will be at 6:30 in the Gym. There will be Intergenerational worship and a variety of activities for persons of all ages. Come and join the party, as we celebrate the Birthday of the Church.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Did you know we have a Prayer Garden? It is located between the Chapel and the Sanctuary. There are two entrances to the Prayer Garden, one in the hall at the Chapel entrance and the other off the Glass Narthex, just past the Giving Tree.
There is always a danger thanking persons for their work for you risk missing someone. But I want to thank those who serve God through their yard and garden work here at the church. Robbie and Lem Green gave leadership to the re-working of the Prayer Garden. They and their helpers have done a great job. Take a look the next time you are on the campus.
There are several families who work faithfully to keep the yards and flower beds of the church looking good. I regularly see Wallace and Jo Dickinson laboring in the flower shrub beds of the church. They spent hours getting ready for Homecoming. And they were back this week, working in front of the sanctuary. Jackie and Kathy Phelps, who chair our Grounds Committee, also give a lot of time working on the beautification of our grounds.
Wayne Duncan saw a need for someone to keep the Fountain Clean. So he accepted that responsibility and regularly cleans the fountain and the area around it.
Ernie Brown is our yardman. For him, it is a family labor of love. His son Neil got home this week from college and Ernie had him on the lawnmower, cutting the grounds. The other day I saw his dad, Glenn Brown watering the sod that had been laid on the area where the sign had been moved.
All of these and many others help us honor God with their labors on the grounds of this church. I hope you will join me in thanking them.
We do have one area that does not look very beautiful at this time – the north end of our campus. Work has begun on the Erosion problem. We should know more about the depth of this problem sometime Thursday, when they anticipate exposing the foundation to check it for any damage. If there is no damage to the foundation, and the engineering firm does not believe there is any, the cost of the Erosion Project will be in the $120,000 to $140,000 range.
Our Erosion Fund continues to grow. $39,117.00 has now been given. The first payment on the project will be made this week.
Friday night is Graduation for the 4 and 5 year olds in our Child Enrichment Ministry. This week they are working very hard on the program they will present for their parents and friends. If you are at the church you might take a look in the sanctuary to see the set that the Child Enrichment staff has put up. It is another example of a commitment to excellence.
Children’s Prayer Warriors, have you turned in your Prayer Notes. Today is the deadline. The Prayer Notes have to be sorted by classes and then given to the teachers to include in each child’s graduation bag.
In my hospital rounds yesterday, the receptionist at Lakeshore thanked our Church for offering the Shred Day. She had her papers already boxed, ready to bring them Saturday. Shred Day is this Saturday, May 22. It is a ministry we offer to the community.
Also on Saturday, our Youth will have a Car Wash. They will be in the front parking lot, ready to clean your cars. And they will accept any donation you offer. Money will help the youth who are going on the Mission Trip in June.
Sunday is Pentecost. It is the day we remember the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus. This year we are offering something different to celebrate the Birthday of the Church. We are having a Pentecost Party in place of our traditional Sunday night service. It will be at 6:30 in the Gym. There will be Intergenerational worship and a variety of activities for persons of all ages. Come and join the party, as we celebrate the Birthday of the Church.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Reflections from Bro. Rudy –
May 5, 2010
Recognition for Growth
As I was beginning to write this week’s Reflection, I received a phone called from The Foundation of Evangelism for the United Methodist Church. The late Harry Denman, a Birmingham businessman, was instrumental in the establishment of The Foundation of Evangelism. Its purpose is to advance the ministry of evangelism in the United Methodist Church.
The reason for the phone call was, in looking over the statuses for the last five years, our church stood out because of our growth in worship. They wanted to know what we thought were the reasons for our growth. How would you answer that question?
Here are some of the answers I gave:
• The diversity in styles of worship.
• Cultural relevant message series.
• Very intentional Evangelism System
• Invitations by Lay Persons
I was asked to write an article about this for the Foundation of Evangelism’s web page. That is the second such article I have been asked to write this week. I got an email from our national United Methodist Men asking me to write an article on scouting. They had a representative at the Bishop’s Dinner on Scouting, which we hosted a few weeks ago. They wanted me share, as I did that night, about some of the ways scouting has opened the doors of evangelism for us. I shared some of that in a previous email.
As Brother Lambert and I talked this morning, I was reminded that one of the keys to our growth and the growth of any church is “people inviting people.” God is growing His Church Family here at Gardendale-Mt. Vernon. One of the keys to this growth is servants of Jesus who take seriously the opportunity to invite their friends, neighbors and associates.
I believe prayer is the foundation for anything we do as the Church. God leads His praying people into areas that He wants to move and bless. I believe we have witnessed many examples of this. The most recent was the call to pray for the Children.
Sunday, I shared a conviction that God laid upon my heart to pray for the children connected to the Church Family. Out of that came a call for at least 100 Children’s Prayer Warriors who would pray specifically for the children graduating from our Child Enrichment Ministry. I was blown away with the response. We had the 100 needed commitments in our 9:45 Crossfire service alone. With the other two services we were able not only to give each child one Prayer Warrior, but each child was given two Prayer Warriors. Thank you for that kind of commitment to pray for the children.
Those who made a commitment to pray for a child should have gotten the child’s name on Monday. I thank Mary Smith and Amy Sizemore for getting that information out that afternoon. If you made a commitment to pray, remember you are to pray for your child each day through graduation on May 21. Of course, you can certainly continue after that time. Also, you are to write a Prayer Note which will be given to the child at graduation. There is a box in the Reception Area of the Office where you can place your Prayer Notes. We need them by Wednesday, May 19th. You can bring them Sunday or any other time you are by the office.
We have had a little hold up on the Erosion Project. The city wanted some additional information from the engineers. That should be in their hands before this week is out and work should begin as soon as we get the go ahead from the city. Our Erosion fund continues to grow. We now have $30,617.00. If there is no damage to the foundation, we are getting close to being able to fund this without having to borrow any money. That, however, would still mean depleting two emergency funds that are there for other purposes. If you have not made a gift, prayerfully consider making one. One shared that he was making a gift, but could do more later. If we have to take out a loan, those gifts that come in after the project begins will go to reduce the debt as quickly as possible.
ATTENTION GOLFERS – There are two opportunities coming up for you to play golf and support some important ministries. The Fourth Annual Camp Sumatanga Golf Tournament is Monday, May 24. Shotgun start at 12:30, with lunch provided before hand. It is held at Grayson Valley Country Club. The cost is $100 per person. You can get two mulligans for an additional $20.00. We’ve had a team or two participate each year in this tournament. I will be happy to again draw names for our teams. I will need your $100 and your HDC or Average Score by tomorrow, May 13. Our deadline to register is this Friday.
The Second Annual Joyce Sanford Memorial Benefit Golf Tournament will be Saturday, May 22, at Green Briar, in Morris. This Tournament is sponsored by the Church Revived and funds go to families in need. This is a 2 person scramble. Cost is $25 per person and includes breakfast and lunch. Deadline to register is also Friday, May 14th. You can contact The Church Revived to register or come by the church office for a registration form.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
May 5, 2010
Recognition for Growth
As I was beginning to write this week’s Reflection, I received a phone called from The Foundation of Evangelism for the United Methodist Church. The late Harry Denman, a Birmingham businessman, was instrumental in the establishment of The Foundation of Evangelism. Its purpose is to advance the ministry of evangelism in the United Methodist Church.
The reason for the phone call was, in looking over the statuses for the last five years, our church stood out because of our growth in worship. They wanted to know what we thought were the reasons for our growth. How would you answer that question?
Here are some of the answers I gave:
• The diversity in styles of worship.
• Cultural relevant message series.
• Very intentional Evangelism System
• Invitations by Lay Persons
I was asked to write an article about this for the Foundation of Evangelism’s web page. That is the second such article I have been asked to write this week. I got an email from our national United Methodist Men asking me to write an article on scouting. They had a representative at the Bishop’s Dinner on Scouting, which we hosted a few weeks ago. They wanted me share, as I did that night, about some of the ways scouting has opened the doors of evangelism for us. I shared some of that in a previous email.
As Brother Lambert and I talked this morning, I was reminded that one of the keys to our growth and the growth of any church is “people inviting people.” God is growing His Church Family here at Gardendale-Mt. Vernon. One of the keys to this growth is servants of Jesus who take seriously the opportunity to invite their friends, neighbors and associates.
I believe prayer is the foundation for anything we do as the Church. God leads His praying people into areas that He wants to move and bless. I believe we have witnessed many examples of this. The most recent was the call to pray for the Children.
Sunday, I shared a conviction that God laid upon my heart to pray for the children connected to the Church Family. Out of that came a call for at least 100 Children’s Prayer Warriors who would pray specifically for the children graduating from our Child Enrichment Ministry. I was blown away with the response. We had the 100 needed commitments in our 9:45 Crossfire service alone. With the other two services we were able not only to give each child one Prayer Warrior, but each child was given two Prayer Warriors. Thank you for that kind of commitment to pray for the children.
Those who made a commitment to pray for a child should have gotten the child’s name on Monday. I thank Mary Smith and Amy Sizemore for getting that information out that afternoon. If you made a commitment to pray, remember you are to pray for your child each day through graduation on May 21. Of course, you can certainly continue after that time. Also, you are to write a Prayer Note which will be given to the child at graduation. There is a box in the Reception Area of the Office where you can place your Prayer Notes. We need them by Wednesday, May 19th. You can bring them Sunday or any other time you are by the office.
We have had a little hold up on the Erosion Project. The city wanted some additional information from the engineers. That should be in their hands before this week is out and work should begin as soon as we get the go ahead from the city. Our Erosion fund continues to grow. We now have $30,617.00. If there is no damage to the foundation, we are getting close to being able to fund this without having to borrow any money. That, however, would still mean depleting two emergency funds that are there for other purposes. If you have not made a gift, prayerfully consider making one. One shared that he was making a gift, but could do more later. If we have to take out a loan, those gifts that come in after the project begins will go to reduce the debt as quickly as possible.
ATTENTION GOLFERS – There are two opportunities coming up for you to play golf and support some important ministries. The Fourth Annual Camp Sumatanga Golf Tournament is Monday, May 24. Shotgun start at 12:30, with lunch provided before hand. It is held at Grayson Valley Country Club. The cost is $100 per person. You can get two mulligans for an additional $20.00. We’ve had a team or two participate each year in this tournament. I will be happy to again draw names for our teams. I will need your $100 and your HDC or Average Score by tomorrow, May 13. Our deadline to register is this Friday.
The Second Annual Joyce Sanford Memorial Benefit Golf Tournament will be Saturday, May 22, at Green Briar, in Morris. This Tournament is sponsored by the Church Revived and funds go to families in need. This is a 2 person scramble. Cost is $25 per person and includes breakfast and lunch. Deadline to register is also Friday, May 14th. You can contact The Church Revived to register or come by the church office for a registration form.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Reflections from Bro. Rudy –
April 28, 2010
Who’s Church?
This morning, in Chapel with our Children, I told them about Homecoming this Sunday. When I mentioned that Gardendale- Mt. Vernon was celebrating their 150th birthday, some of their eyes got real big. 150 years is a long time, especially for a child. I went on to share that this Church Family began before Gardendale was even a town.
Then I asked them a question that I was asked by a child many years ago, “Who’s Church is it?” Immediately, several of the children shouted out, “God’s!” Sometimes we adults forget that. We make the church about “us” or even more, “me.” We “church members” think the church is here to meet our needs. We forget that the Church belongs to God and was established by God to accomplish God’s purpose.
Our Baptismal/Confirmation Covenant, found in our “Book of Worship” and Hymnal, states; “The church is of God, and will be preserved to the end of time for the conduct of worship and the due administration of God’s Word and Sacraments, the maintenance of Christian fellowship and discipline, the edification of believers, and the conversion of the world. All, of every age and station, stand in need of the means of grace which it alone supplies.”
A couple of weeks ago I was in San Antonio for the Large Church Initiative. In one of the Keynote addresses, Reggie McNeal made this statement, “The Church does not have a mission. God’s mission has a church.” Think about that for a moment. God called the church into being to accomplish God’s mission. And what is God’s mission? Jesus stated that in what we call “The Great Commission,” “make disciples of all people.” We exist to join the Holy Spirit in seeking to offer salvation to the lost and to grow believers to become faithful disciples.
Reggie then illustrated it this way: We are the bride of Christ. In conversion we are married to Christ. Therefore, what captures Christ’s heart better capture our heart. It’s just like when a husband and wife marry. What captures the wife’s heart better capture the husband’s heart and what captures the husband’s heart better capture the wife’s heart. Being married to Christ, what captures His heart should capture our heart.
When John Shugart arrived in this part of Alabama, his heart had been captured by Christ’s heart for the people in North Jefferson County. God had a mission to accomplish here and John Shugart gave himself to that mission. I believe God still has a mission here and God continues to call us to join Him in accomplishing His mission.
As we celebrate these 150 years, we give thanks for the many disciples who have sought to accomplish God’s mission in North Jefferson County and beyond. And we also recommit ourselves to God’s mission. I hope you will be with us for this great celebration.
Don’t forget, there is only one worship service this Sunday at 10:00 AM. There will be seating in both the Sanctuary and the Fellowship Hall. Those in the Fellowship Hall will have a live video feed from the Sanctuary. Children’s Worship will also be at 10:00 AM, in the Youth Room.
After the service, I hope you will stay for Lunch and Fellowship. Bring dishes to share. The church is providing the meat, bread and drinks. During the meal time, a video about our history will be shown in both the Gym and Fellowship Hall. This will be a collection of pictures and testimonies about the growth and ministry of the Gardendale and Mt. Vernon churches and their coming together to form Gardendale-Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church.
If you are a member of this Church Family you will be receiving a letter about the Funding of the Erosion Work. As soon as the weather permits, we should see work begin on the erosion at the northeast corner of the Sanctuary building. The Administrative Board approved the receiving of a Special Offering for this work. The cost will be somewhere between $120,000 and $180,000. Prayerfully consider making a generous special offering to the “Erosion Work.”
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
April 28, 2010
Who’s Church?
This morning, in Chapel with our Children, I told them about Homecoming this Sunday. When I mentioned that Gardendale- Mt. Vernon was celebrating their 150th birthday, some of their eyes got real big. 150 years is a long time, especially for a child. I went on to share that this Church Family began before Gardendale was even a town.
Then I asked them a question that I was asked by a child many years ago, “Who’s Church is it?” Immediately, several of the children shouted out, “God’s!” Sometimes we adults forget that. We make the church about “us” or even more, “me.” We “church members” think the church is here to meet our needs. We forget that the Church belongs to God and was established by God to accomplish God’s purpose.
Our Baptismal/Confirmation Covenant, found in our “Book of Worship” and Hymnal, states; “The church is of God, and will be preserved to the end of time for the conduct of worship and the due administration of God’s Word and Sacraments, the maintenance of Christian fellowship and discipline, the edification of believers, and the conversion of the world. All, of every age and station, stand in need of the means of grace which it alone supplies.”
A couple of weeks ago I was in San Antonio for the Large Church Initiative. In one of the Keynote addresses, Reggie McNeal made this statement, “The Church does not have a mission. God’s mission has a church.” Think about that for a moment. God called the church into being to accomplish God’s mission. And what is God’s mission? Jesus stated that in what we call “The Great Commission,” “make disciples of all people.” We exist to join the Holy Spirit in seeking to offer salvation to the lost and to grow believers to become faithful disciples.
Reggie then illustrated it this way: We are the bride of Christ. In conversion we are married to Christ. Therefore, what captures Christ’s heart better capture our heart. It’s just like when a husband and wife marry. What captures the wife’s heart better capture the husband’s heart and what captures the husband’s heart better capture the wife’s heart. Being married to Christ, what captures His heart should capture our heart.
When John Shugart arrived in this part of Alabama, his heart had been captured by Christ’s heart for the people in North Jefferson County. God had a mission to accomplish here and John Shugart gave himself to that mission. I believe God still has a mission here and God continues to call us to join Him in accomplishing His mission.
As we celebrate these 150 years, we give thanks for the many disciples who have sought to accomplish God’s mission in North Jefferson County and beyond. And we also recommit ourselves to God’s mission. I hope you will be with us for this great celebration.
Don’t forget, there is only one worship service this Sunday at 10:00 AM. There will be seating in both the Sanctuary and the Fellowship Hall. Those in the Fellowship Hall will have a live video feed from the Sanctuary. Children’s Worship will also be at 10:00 AM, in the Youth Room.
After the service, I hope you will stay for Lunch and Fellowship. Bring dishes to share. The church is providing the meat, bread and drinks. During the meal time, a video about our history will be shown in both the Gym and Fellowship Hall. This will be a collection of pictures and testimonies about the growth and ministry of the Gardendale and Mt. Vernon churches and their coming together to form Gardendale-Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church.
If you are a member of this Church Family you will be receiving a letter about the Funding of the Erosion Work. As soon as the weather permits, we should see work begin on the erosion at the northeast corner of the Sanctuary building. The Administrative Board approved the receiving of a Special Offering for this work. The cost will be somewhere between $120,000 and $180,000. Prayerfully consider making a generous special offering to the “Erosion Work.”
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
An Open Door - Are We Using It?
As Paul closes his first letter to the Corinthians he makes this statement, “…a wide door for effective work has opened to me…” (1 Corinthians 16:9a; NRSV) We are not sure where that “wide door” was, but Paul saw an opportunity for ministry being opened to him.
That is the way I felt after our Bishop’s Dinner on Scouting. We had the privilege of hosting the dinner, as a little more than 100 persons from United Methodist Churches across North Alabama came, at the Bishop’s invitation, to explore the relationship between the local church and scouting. It was pointed out that “Churches of the North Alabama Conference are the principal partner for Scouting in Alabama.” (Rich Kilgore, A Scouting Director)
In his address, Bishop Willimon challenged local churches to consider scouting as an opportunity to fulfill the Conference Priority, “Empowering a New Generation.” Scouting opens the door to connect with the “next generation.” It is our biblical mandate to pass on the faith to the next generation. The Psalmist put it this way: “And he [God] told our ancestors to teach their children, so that each new generation would know his Law and tell it to the next.” (Psalm 78:5b-6; CEV)
I’m not sure that we have really seen Scouting as an opportunity to help us connect the next generation to Jesus Christ. Think about it: has scouting been seen as a ministry of our church or a group that simply meets in our facilities. There is a difference. Sure, we have held Scout Sunday the last two years but is that the same as claiming scouting as a ministry to connect the next generation to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and grow disciples in their relationship with Jesus Christ?
At the dinner, one of the Associates at Vestivia Hills UMC shared these facts about their scouting ministry. They have three hundred families involved in their scouting ministries. The Cub Scout Pack has grown to the point that they have two packs in their church. He said the transformation came when Scouting became a ministry of the church not simply an organization that used their facilities. Of the three hundred families, only about a hundred are church families. The other two hundred are part of the ripe harvest field of the church. We need to learn from them to be more intentional in connecting with the harvest field. Every week we have families come onto this campus that are not connected to Christ and/or His Church. Our children and youth ministries especially need to be more intentional in using this opportunity. We talked about this opportunity in our staff time on Monday. Kelly Wiegert and Paul Turner will be sharing some ideas about this connection with the Children’s and Youth Ministry Teams.
I was asked to share a story about the Scouting connection to our church. That was an opportunity to tell about a conversation I had at the Easter Egg Hunt on Palm Sunday. I had seen a new person in our 11:00 service that morning. That afternoon, at the Easter Egg Hunt, she was there with her children. As we talked, she said that it was scouting that brought her to the church. While bringing her children to scouts, she picked up some of our information brochures. She also read our bulletin boards and announcements around the church and came to the conclusion this was a church that had something for her family. She had been to the 9:45 service and Palm Sunday she attended the 11:00 service. She said her family had found a church home. It all happened because of scouting.
On Scout Sunday, February 14th, we had many first time guests. Later, one of the leaders of the Cub Scout Pack said that we had five unchurched families in worship at 9:45 with the Cub Scouts. Those are five families who probably would never have come to a worship service here if it had not been for Scouting. A door was opened because of Scouting.
Bishop Willimon shared that his work on the God and Country Award played a role in his hearing God’s call to ministry. At their annual Blue-Gold Banquet, I spoke to our Cub Scouts about the God and Country Award. There is such an award for each level of Scouting. The last Scouts in our church to seek that award in our church were Bruce and Lynda Gagle’s children. I was blessed being their counselor. I volunteered to work with any scout who wanted to work on the God and Country Award.
Talking about “Open Doors,” the Saturday night Easter Celebration provided an “Open Door.” Because of the 245 persons who were at the Saturday night service, we did not have the traffic problem on Easter morning that we have had in the years before. We had some new people at that service and some people who saw it as an opportunity to come back.
I believe we also have another door opening to us. For a couple of years some have been talking about beginning a Hispanic Worship Experience or Bible Study. The Council on Ministries is putting together a Task Force to begin more “intentional” work on this possibility. We have learned of some grants to help with the establishment of Hispanic ministries with the church. We are now looking for persons who would like to serve on this Task Force. You can contact me or Jennifer Lindholm. If you are interested. We hope to have a meeting in a couple of weeks.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
That is the way I felt after our Bishop’s Dinner on Scouting. We had the privilege of hosting the dinner, as a little more than 100 persons from United Methodist Churches across North Alabama came, at the Bishop’s invitation, to explore the relationship between the local church and scouting. It was pointed out that “Churches of the North Alabama Conference are the principal partner for Scouting in Alabama.” (Rich Kilgore, A Scouting Director)
In his address, Bishop Willimon challenged local churches to consider scouting as an opportunity to fulfill the Conference Priority, “Empowering a New Generation.” Scouting opens the door to connect with the “next generation.” It is our biblical mandate to pass on the faith to the next generation. The Psalmist put it this way: “And he [God] told our ancestors to teach their children, so that each new generation would know his Law and tell it to the next.” (Psalm 78:5b-6; CEV)
I’m not sure that we have really seen Scouting as an opportunity to help us connect the next generation to Jesus Christ. Think about it: has scouting been seen as a ministry of our church or a group that simply meets in our facilities. There is a difference. Sure, we have held Scout Sunday the last two years but is that the same as claiming scouting as a ministry to connect the next generation to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and grow disciples in their relationship with Jesus Christ?
At the dinner, one of the Associates at Vestivia Hills UMC shared these facts about their scouting ministry. They have three hundred families involved in their scouting ministries. The Cub Scout Pack has grown to the point that they have two packs in their church. He said the transformation came when Scouting became a ministry of the church not simply an organization that used their facilities. Of the three hundred families, only about a hundred are church families. The other two hundred are part of the ripe harvest field of the church. We need to learn from them to be more intentional in connecting with the harvest field. Every week we have families come onto this campus that are not connected to Christ and/or His Church. Our children and youth ministries especially need to be more intentional in using this opportunity. We talked about this opportunity in our staff time on Monday. Kelly Wiegert and Paul Turner will be sharing some ideas about this connection with the Children’s and Youth Ministry Teams.
I was asked to share a story about the Scouting connection to our church. That was an opportunity to tell about a conversation I had at the Easter Egg Hunt on Palm Sunday. I had seen a new person in our 11:00 service that morning. That afternoon, at the Easter Egg Hunt, she was there with her children. As we talked, she said that it was scouting that brought her to the church. While bringing her children to scouts, she picked up some of our information brochures. She also read our bulletin boards and announcements around the church and came to the conclusion this was a church that had something for her family. She had been to the 9:45 service and Palm Sunday she attended the 11:00 service. She said her family had found a church home. It all happened because of scouting.
On Scout Sunday, February 14th, we had many first time guests. Later, one of the leaders of the Cub Scout Pack said that we had five unchurched families in worship at 9:45 with the Cub Scouts. Those are five families who probably would never have come to a worship service here if it had not been for Scouting. A door was opened because of Scouting.
Bishop Willimon shared that his work on the God and Country Award played a role in his hearing God’s call to ministry. At their annual Blue-Gold Banquet, I spoke to our Cub Scouts about the God and Country Award. There is such an award for each level of Scouting. The last Scouts in our church to seek that award in our church were Bruce and Lynda Gagle’s children. I was blessed being their counselor. I volunteered to work with any scout who wanted to work on the God and Country Award.
Talking about “Open Doors,” the Saturday night Easter Celebration provided an “Open Door.” Because of the 245 persons who were at the Saturday night service, we did not have the traffic problem on Easter morning that we have had in the years before. We had some new people at that service and some people who saw it as an opportunity to come back.
I believe we also have another door opening to us. For a couple of years some have been talking about beginning a Hispanic Worship Experience or Bible Study. The Council on Ministries is putting together a Task Force to begin more “intentional” work on this possibility. We have learned of some grants to help with the establishment of Hispanic ministries with the church. We are now looking for persons who would like to serve on this Task Force. You can contact me or Jennifer Lindholm. If you are interested. We hope to have a meeting in a couple of weeks.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
It's All About the Cross
Bishop Willimon, in one of His Weekly Messages, wrote about Paul’s focus on the cross. He began his reflection on Paul’s preaching this way:
Imagine being asked to stand before a grand gathering of the good and the wise and being asked to make a speech about goodness, beauty, the meaning of life, the point of history, the nature of Almighty God or some such high subject and having no material at your disposal but an account of a humiliating, bloody, execution at a garbage dump outside a rebellious city in the Middle East. It is your task to argue that this story is the key to everything in life and to all that we know about God. This was precisely the position of Paul in Corinth. Before the populace of this cosmopolitan, sophisticated city of the Empire, Paul had to proclaim that this whipped, bloody, scorned and derided Jew from Nazareth who was “God with Us.”
In that setting Paul said he focused on the cross: “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2; NRSV) Paul knew that such preaching “about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18; NRSV)
This may explain why this week, which we call Holy Week, no longer receives the emphasis it once did. The cross has become “foolishness” to some. Even in segments of the institutional church the cross is seen as foolishness. It was not long ago that a Bishop said that she did not need someone hanging on a cross to save her. Like the Greeks of Paul’s day, the cross is foolishness to her.
Here is how Paul addressed such foolishness:
“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where it the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and the Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:20-24; NRSV)
Later in his message, Bishop Willimon wrote:
A crucified Messiah? It is an oxymoron, a violation of Israel’s high expectations for a messianic liberator. In order to bring such a scandal to speech, Paul eschewed “lofty words or wisdom,” the stock-in-trade of the classical orator. Rather than avoiding the scandal of the cross or attempting to sugar coat its absurdity in order to make it more palatable, he limited his subject matter so that he knew, “nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” His manner of presentation, his delivery was “weakness,” “fear and trembling,” a rather peculiar demeanor for a public speaker. Why? So that nothing might move his hearers, nothing might convince them but “the power of God.”
For God the Father to allow God the Son to be crucified, dead and buried is for God to be pushed out beyond the limits of human expectation or human help. The cross is the ultimate dead end of any attempt at human self-fulfillment, human betterment or progress. Hanging from the cross, in humiliation and utter defeat, there is nothing to be done to vindicate the work of Jesus or to make the story come out right except “the power of God.”
That power of God is what we celebrate on Easter. It is the power of the resurrection that turned the cross into a cherished sign of victory. God took what seemed foolish to the world and through the touch of His Power, made it the Key Event in human history. Everything changed because of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The next two nights we have special opportunities of Worship to help us celebrate the “foolishness” of the cross. During our Maundy Thursday Service (6:30 PM) we will celebrate the meal that Christ gave to us as a means of remembering the cross. My message that evening, “Give Thanks – Christ Died!” will look at how Holy Communion is a regular reminder of the tremendous love of Christ in going to the cross.
Our Good Friday Service (6:30 PM) will also focus on the cross. Through scripture and song will we remember the depth of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. This is sometimes called a Service of Darkness, for we leave in darkness remembering the utter despair that was felt when Jesus was placed in the tomb. It seemed that the powers of darkness had won.
But we know the tomb is not the end of the story of Jesus. The power of God transformed the cross by raising Jesus from the dead. We will have four opportunities to celebrate the resurrection this weekend: Saturday night Easter Celebration at 6:30 PM and Sunday morning Easter Celebrations at 8:30, 9:45 and 11:00.
I appreciate the commitment of the Crossfire band to give leadership to the Saturday night Celebration as well as the 9:45 service on Sunday. The “Pairs and Spares” Sunday school class is coming to the Saturday service and then many of them will be back on Sunday morning serving as Parking Ushers. Others are coming to worship on Saturday night and coming back to serve as Ushers, Greeters and Nursery Servants. And others have found guests were receptive to an invitation to come worship with them on Saturday night.
I was talking to a person this week, inviting him to worship this weekend. He had seen the announcement about the Saturday night service and said that he was thinking about coming on Saturday night. Who have you invited to worship with you this weekend?
There has been a change of time for the Community Sunrise Service. We received word this week it will be at 6:30 AM, not 6:00 AM. This is a wonderful way to begin Easter Day, joining other believers at Oakwood Memorial Gardens to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Imagine being asked to stand before a grand gathering of the good and the wise and being asked to make a speech about goodness, beauty, the meaning of life, the point of history, the nature of Almighty God or some such high subject and having no material at your disposal but an account of a humiliating, bloody, execution at a garbage dump outside a rebellious city in the Middle East. It is your task to argue that this story is the key to everything in life and to all that we know about God. This was precisely the position of Paul in Corinth. Before the populace of this cosmopolitan, sophisticated city of the Empire, Paul had to proclaim that this whipped, bloody, scorned and derided Jew from Nazareth who was “God with Us.”
In that setting Paul said he focused on the cross: “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2; NRSV) Paul knew that such preaching “about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18; NRSV)
This may explain why this week, which we call Holy Week, no longer receives the emphasis it once did. The cross has become “foolishness” to some. Even in segments of the institutional church the cross is seen as foolishness. It was not long ago that a Bishop said that she did not need someone hanging on a cross to save her. Like the Greeks of Paul’s day, the cross is foolishness to her.
Here is how Paul addressed such foolishness:
“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where it the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and the Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:20-24; NRSV)
Later in his message, Bishop Willimon wrote:
A crucified Messiah? It is an oxymoron, a violation of Israel’s high expectations for a messianic liberator. In order to bring such a scandal to speech, Paul eschewed “lofty words or wisdom,” the stock-in-trade of the classical orator. Rather than avoiding the scandal of the cross or attempting to sugar coat its absurdity in order to make it more palatable, he limited his subject matter so that he knew, “nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” His manner of presentation, his delivery was “weakness,” “fear and trembling,” a rather peculiar demeanor for a public speaker. Why? So that nothing might move his hearers, nothing might convince them but “the power of God.”
For God the Father to allow God the Son to be crucified, dead and buried is for God to be pushed out beyond the limits of human expectation or human help. The cross is the ultimate dead end of any attempt at human self-fulfillment, human betterment or progress. Hanging from the cross, in humiliation and utter defeat, there is nothing to be done to vindicate the work of Jesus or to make the story come out right except “the power of God.”
That power of God is what we celebrate on Easter. It is the power of the resurrection that turned the cross into a cherished sign of victory. God took what seemed foolish to the world and through the touch of His Power, made it the Key Event in human history. Everything changed because of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The next two nights we have special opportunities of Worship to help us celebrate the “foolishness” of the cross. During our Maundy Thursday Service (6:30 PM) we will celebrate the meal that Christ gave to us as a means of remembering the cross. My message that evening, “Give Thanks – Christ Died!” will look at how Holy Communion is a regular reminder of the tremendous love of Christ in going to the cross.
Our Good Friday Service (6:30 PM) will also focus on the cross. Through scripture and song will we remember the depth of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. This is sometimes called a Service of Darkness, for we leave in darkness remembering the utter despair that was felt when Jesus was placed in the tomb. It seemed that the powers of darkness had won.
But we know the tomb is not the end of the story of Jesus. The power of God transformed the cross by raising Jesus from the dead. We will have four opportunities to celebrate the resurrection this weekend: Saturday night Easter Celebration at 6:30 PM and Sunday morning Easter Celebrations at 8:30, 9:45 and 11:00.
I appreciate the commitment of the Crossfire band to give leadership to the Saturday night Celebration as well as the 9:45 service on Sunday. The “Pairs and Spares” Sunday school class is coming to the Saturday service and then many of them will be back on Sunday morning serving as Parking Ushers. Others are coming to worship on Saturday night and coming back to serve as Ushers, Greeters and Nursery Servants. And others have found guests were receptive to an invitation to come worship with them on Saturday night.
I was talking to a person this week, inviting him to worship this weekend. He had seen the announcement about the Saturday night service and said that he was thinking about coming on Saturday night. Who have you invited to worship with you this weekend?
There has been a change of time for the Community Sunrise Service. We received word this week it will be at 6:30 AM, not 6:00 AM. This is a wonderful way to begin Easter Day, joining other believers at Oakwood Memorial Gardens to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
We Can't Sneak Anything Past God
It is amazing how God uses different sources to confirm a message He wants us to get. Yesterday, (Tuesday, March 16) the scripture for The Upper Room devotional came from Psalm 139. The Psalm begins, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away.” (Psalm 139:1-2; NRSV) In other words, God not only knows all our actions, God knows what we are thinking.
After reading The Upper Room devotional, I opened the Purpose Driven devotional. The title was “We can’t sneak anything past God.” It too was based on a Psalm; “My sins, O God, are not hidden from you; you know how foolish I have been.” (Psalm 69:5; Good News) In the devotional Rick Warren makes the statement: “Everything you think, everything you see, everything you do, everything you feel -- God knows all about it. He already knows all you've done wrong and He still loves you!”
There are probably some things in our lives that we wish God did not see. There are times when we’d just as soon God was not with us. But the truth is, our God is so big that he sees everything. “We can’t sneak anything past God.”
It’s because we cannot sneak anything past God that Jesus went to the cross. God does not simply overlook our sin. God does not close His eyes and pretend our sin is not there. God loves us so much that He died on the cross to deliver us from our sin. On the cross, Jesus did for us what we could have never done for ourselves. He died for our sins. That is how much God loves you and me. Knowing everything about us, God still loves us so much that He provided the way of salvation through Jesus Christ.
The worship experiences of Holy Week help us celebrate this great love of God that knows all about us and still loves us. The scriptures tell us that before Jesus entered Jerusalem in what we call the Palm Sunday Parade, He wept over the city. He loved the people so much and He knew that most of them did not return His love. He entered to the shouts of “Hosanna” knowing that the cross was before Him. Jesus must have known the mixture of heart that the crowd had. They wanted to believe He was the Messiah. But they were not ready to stake their life on Him. Still, Jesus entered Jerusalem in order to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Palm Sunday is March 28. In addition to our three morning worship services, we will join with the Church Revived to offer a Community Easter Egg Hunt and Worship Without Walls. Help spread the word about these special opportunities that will be held at the Gardendale Civic Center Amphitheater.
Before Jesus went to the cross on what we call Good Friday, Jesus gathered to celebrate the Jewish Passover. It was during the celebration of the Passover Seder Meal that Jesus broke with some of the Jewish traditions to establish what we call Holy Communion. The Passover celebrated the deliverance God brought His people through the Passover Lambs. How appropriate for the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world who take some of the symbols of that first Passover, the bread and the wine, and refocus them on Him.
We have the unique opportunity this year to have a Messianic Jewish Rabbi come to teach us about the Passover Seder. This will take the place of our Wednesday meal and classes on March 31. You will need to purchase a ticket for this experience, for the meal is part of the worship experience that night. NOTE the time for the Seder Meal on March 31st is 6:00 PM.
On Saturday of Holy Week we will have a Saturday evening Easter Celebration. Last year, we filled the gym for the 9:45 Easter Service. To make more room for guests on Easter morning, we are offering this additional Easter Celebration on Saturday, April 3, 6:30 PM. We hope some of our 8:30 Sunday School classes will decide to come to worship on Saturday night to make room both in the 9:45 service and the parking lot for guests on Easter morning. We do need some to come back on Sunday morning to serve as Parking Ushers, Greeters and Nursery Servants. Isn’t this a great situation to have?
This Sunday, we conclude our message series, “START Becoming the Good Samaritan.” We’ll look at the parable one more time to learn about how Jesus intends for us to live when he said, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:37b; NRSV) The real question is; are you more aware of the needs of those around you and are you acting with compassion?
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
After reading The Upper Room devotional, I opened the Purpose Driven devotional. The title was “We can’t sneak anything past God.” It too was based on a Psalm; “My sins, O God, are not hidden from you; you know how foolish I have been.” (Psalm 69:5; Good News) In the devotional Rick Warren makes the statement: “Everything you think, everything you see, everything you do, everything you feel -- God knows all about it. He already knows all you've done wrong and He still loves you!”
There are probably some things in our lives that we wish God did not see. There are times when we’d just as soon God was not with us. But the truth is, our God is so big that he sees everything. “We can’t sneak anything past God.”
It’s because we cannot sneak anything past God that Jesus went to the cross. God does not simply overlook our sin. God does not close His eyes and pretend our sin is not there. God loves us so much that He died on the cross to deliver us from our sin. On the cross, Jesus did for us what we could have never done for ourselves. He died for our sins. That is how much God loves you and me. Knowing everything about us, God still loves us so much that He provided the way of salvation through Jesus Christ.
The worship experiences of Holy Week help us celebrate this great love of God that knows all about us and still loves us. The scriptures tell us that before Jesus entered Jerusalem in what we call the Palm Sunday Parade, He wept over the city. He loved the people so much and He knew that most of them did not return His love. He entered to the shouts of “Hosanna” knowing that the cross was before Him. Jesus must have known the mixture of heart that the crowd had. They wanted to believe He was the Messiah. But they were not ready to stake their life on Him. Still, Jesus entered Jerusalem in order to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Palm Sunday is March 28. In addition to our three morning worship services, we will join with the Church Revived to offer a Community Easter Egg Hunt and Worship Without Walls. Help spread the word about these special opportunities that will be held at the Gardendale Civic Center Amphitheater.
Before Jesus went to the cross on what we call Good Friday, Jesus gathered to celebrate the Jewish Passover. It was during the celebration of the Passover Seder Meal that Jesus broke with some of the Jewish traditions to establish what we call Holy Communion. The Passover celebrated the deliverance God brought His people through the Passover Lambs. How appropriate for the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world who take some of the symbols of that first Passover, the bread and the wine, and refocus them on Him.
We have the unique opportunity this year to have a Messianic Jewish Rabbi come to teach us about the Passover Seder. This will take the place of our Wednesday meal and classes on March 31. You will need to purchase a ticket for this experience, for the meal is part of the worship experience that night. NOTE the time for the Seder Meal on March 31st is 6:00 PM.
On Saturday of Holy Week we will have a Saturday evening Easter Celebration. Last year, we filled the gym for the 9:45 Easter Service. To make more room for guests on Easter morning, we are offering this additional Easter Celebration on Saturday, April 3, 6:30 PM. We hope some of our 8:30 Sunday School classes will decide to come to worship on Saturday night to make room both in the 9:45 service and the parking lot for guests on Easter morning. We do need some to come back on Sunday morning to serve as Parking Ushers, Greeters and Nursery Servants. Isn’t this a great situation to have?
This Sunday, we conclude our message series, “START Becoming the Good Samaritan.” We’ll look at the parable one more time to learn about how Jesus intends for us to live when he said, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:37b; NRSV) The real question is; are you more aware of the needs of those around you and are you acting with compassion?
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Being the Good Samaritan
Cathy Harris recently shared with me a story about being the Good Samaritan that was shared at Birmingham Emmaus Walk #55. The Emmaus Walk is a 72 hour Spiritual Retreat or Basic School in Christianity. Participants on an Emmaus Walk share special times of worship, hear several talks about living their faith from Lay persons, and a few talks on God’s amazing grace shared by clergy persons. You may have heard me say, “If you want a better understanding of God’s Prevenient, Justifying and Sanctifying Grace, go on an Emmaus Walk.”
There are several places in Alabama where a person can attend an Emmaus Walk. The Alabama Emmaus Community, which holds it’s Walks at Camp Sumatanga, has been around the longest. The Birmingham Walk sprang out of the Alabama Walk to provide additional opportunities to go on a Walk. If you would like more information about the Emmaus Walk, let me know. I’ll be happy to share with you and put you in contact with persons who would love to sponsor you on an Emmaus Walk.
Now, back to the story from Cathy Harris from Birmingham Walk #55. One of the lay persons who shared during the Walk had been homeless, but is now the Director of the Shepherd Center in Leeds. She keeps small brown lunch bags in her car. Each bag is packed with crackers, bottled water, toothbrush, small tube of toothpaste and deodorant. When she encounters a homeless person or someone is stationed along the side of the highway asking for money, she gives them one of those bags. She has intentionally prepared herself to be the Good Samaritan.
Cathy Harris, in sharing the story said, “…isn’t that a neat idea!!” It is! It is a very simple and practical way of being the Good Samaritan.
My wife Gina recently had another practical way of being the Good Samaritan shared with her. A parent shared a card she had received when going through a fast food drive-thru. When the person pulled up to the window to pay for her order, she was given the card (We call them a “Servant Evangelism” Card) that said her meal had been paid for, Jesus loves you. It also had a little information about the church that was printed on the card.
Did you know that we have business size cards that can be used in a similar manner? They have the church name and a place to write in your name on the front and information about our worship times on the back. I encourage you to pick some up and have them available to use in inviting persons to worship with you.
Talking about inviting, at lunch yesterday, I talked with a person who had worshipped at our Ash Wednesday Service. He is a member of a church that does not have such a service. That night, he made a commitment to pray for an unchurched friend during Lent and invite him to worship on Easter. That was one of the suggested spiritual disciplines. That was February 17th. This week he received a call from his unchurched friend. The friend said he wanted to go to church with him Sunday. That is the power of prayer.
This Saturday’s Old School verses New School Basketball Game is an opportunity to invite a friend to share in some fellowship with other believers. The cost is $10.00 per person, with money raised going to the youth summer mission trip. It should be an entertaining game, but in a different manner from the games you will see on television during this week of tournament games. There will also be some halftime entertainment that you will not want to miss. For your $10.00 you not only get to enjoy the game but you get a hot dog, drink and popcorn.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
There are several places in Alabama where a person can attend an Emmaus Walk. The Alabama Emmaus Community, which holds it’s Walks at Camp Sumatanga, has been around the longest. The Birmingham Walk sprang out of the Alabama Walk to provide additional opportunities to go on a Walk. If you would like more information about the Emmaus Walk, let me know. I’ll be happy to share with you and put you in contact with persons who would love to sponsor you on an Emmaus Walk.
Now, back to the story from Cathy Harris from Birmingham Walk #55. One of the lay persons who shared during the Walk had been homeless, but is now the Director of the Shepherd Center in Leeds. She keeps small brown lunch bags in her car. Each bag is packed with crackers, bottled water, toothbrush, small tube of toothpaste and deodorant. When she encounters a homeless person or someone is stationed along the side of the highway asking for money, she gives them one of those bags. She has intentionally prepared herself to be the Good Samaritan.
Cathy Harris, in sharing the story said, “…isn’t that a neat idea!!” It is! It is a very simple and practical way of being the Good Samaritan.
My wife Gina recently had another practical way of being the Good Samaritan shared with her. A parent shared a card she had received when going through a fast food drive-thru. When the person pulled up to the window to pay for her order, she was given the card (We call them a “Servant Evangelism” Card) that said her meal had been paid for, Jesus loves you. It also had a little information about the church that was printed on the card.
Did you know that we have business size cards that can be used in a similar manner? They have the church name and a place to write in your name on the front and information about our worship times on the back. I encourage you to pick some up and have them available to use in inviting persons to worship with you.
Talking about inviting, at lunch yesterday, I talked with a person who had worshipped at our Ash Wednesday Service. He is a member of a church that does not have such a service. That night, he made a commitment to pray for an unchurched friend during Lent and invite him to worship on Easter. That was one of the suggested spiritual disciplines. That was February 17th. This week he received a call from his unchurched friend. The friend said he wanted to go to church with him Sunday. That is the power of prayer.
This Saturday’s Old School verses New School Basketball Game is an opportunity to invite a friend to share in some fellowship with other believers. The cost is $10.00 per person, with money raised going to the youth summer mission trip. It should be an entertaining game, but in a different manner from the games you will see on television during this week of tournament games. There will also be some halftime entertainment that you will not want to miss. For your $10.00 you not only get to enjoy the game but you get a hot dog, drink and popcorn.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Others, Yes Others
"Others, let this my motto be” says an old hymn. That song somewhat captures the focus of this verse from Philippians; "Look out for one another's interests, not just our own." (Philippians 2:4; GNT) That is what the Good Samaritan did. He put the other persons first. The Priest and Levite put their interests first.
Rick Warren, in one of his “Purpose Driven Connections” wrote on this passage, “In other words, if you want to connect with people, you’ve got to start with their needs, not your own.” That is what the Good Samaritan did. He saw the needs of this wounded man. He put aside his personal agenda and focused on the needs of the wounded man.
We are in the Lenten Season, a time when we remember Jesus’ journey to the cross. Jesus certainly put our interests, our needs first. In fact, we are Jesus’ personal agenda. He lived, died and rose again for you and me. How can we claim to follow such a Savior and live selfishly?
Living for others is living against the trends of our culture. Almost everything in our culture tends to train us to think ‘me first.’ Because of that, we often find ourselves in the role of the Priest and the Levite in Jesus’ parable. We miss even seeing persons in need as we rush through life focused on our own needs.
I suggest three questions Sunday morning for you to consider throughout this week. How are you doing with them? They were…
What need(s) do I see?
How do I need to pray about this need?
What action can I take to help?
This week I’ve witnessed people living in a counter-culture way. The servants who make the Kingdom Kids Consignment Sale happen have chosen to act for others. Saying “yes” to serving always involves “no” to something else. Monday morning as I arrived here at the church campus about 7:00 am, some of these servants were already here ready to receive items for the sale. When I left the church about 9:00 pm following the Cub Scout Blue-Gold Banquet, some of those same servants were still in the gym making sure everything was in order for the Consignment Sale. Last night, Tuesday night, the sale for the sellers closed a little after 8:00 pm. Some of those servants had been here most of the afternoon evening. Then this morning, Wednesday, some of the same servants were here as shopping opened to the public. Why do they do it? One of the leaders put it well in her final words before the Sellers came to shop last night – “Remember – It’s about Jesus.” We serve because Jesus first served us.
This Sunday I will continue the message series, “START Becoming the Good Samaritan.” http://www.juststart.org/ We will look at the wounded man. Who are the wounded that we need to connect with?
Those who serve with the Royal Family Kids Camp feel called to connect with some wounded kids. Presently, there is a real need for men counselors. Because of the nature of the camp, counselors serve specifically with one or two campers. Prayerfully consider becoming a counselor for the week of May 31 through June 4. For more information, contact Pam Ansardi - pansardi@alabamabroadband.net or Paul Wiegert – pwiegert@gmvumc.org
You’ve probably seen the announcements about the Passover Seder Meal with Messianic Rabbi Eric Walker. The Seder Meal marked the beginning of the Jewish Passover. The instructions for the Passover were given to Moses as a way for the people to remember God’s deliverance from Egyptian slavery, especially the night of the Passover Lamb.
It was this meal that Jesus celebrated with His Disciples the night before he went to the cross as our Passover Lamb. We traditionally call that Thursday Maundy Thursday. The word Maundy meals “command.” That night Jesus commanded His Disciples to remember Him by means of the bread and the cup. The bread and the cup were part of the Seder Meal, which Jesus took and applied to Himself, the Lamb of God.
This year we have a unique opportunity to experience what the disciples experienced that Thursday night as they celebrated the Passover Seder with Jesus. Be sure to get your tickets for the meal, for space is limited. You can get them in the Church Office.
Tonight, Wednesday, February 24, some new “START Becoming a Good Samaritan” Small Groups get started. I encourage you to get in a group.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Rick Warren, in one of his “Purpose Driven Connections” wrote on this passage, “In other words, if you want to connect with people, you’ve got to start with their needs, not your own.” That is what the Good Samaritan did. He saw the needs of this wounded man. He put aside his personal agenda and focused on the needs of the wounded man.
We are in the Lenten Season, a time when we remember Jesus’ journey to the cross. Jesus certainly put our interests, our needs first. In fact, we are Jesus’ personal agenda. He lived, died and rose again for you and me. How can we claim to follow such a Savior and live selfishly?
Living for others is living against the trends of our culture. Almost everything in our culture tends to train us to think ‘me first.’ Because of that, we often find ourselves in the role of the Priest and the Levite in Jesus’ parable. We miss even seeing persons in need as we rush through life focused on our own needs.
I suggest three questions Sunday morning for you to consider throughout this week. How are you doing with them? They were…
What need(s) do I see?
How do I need to pray about this need?
What action can I take to help?
This week I’ve witnessed people living in a counter-culture way. The servants who make the Kingdom Kids Consignment Sale happen have chosen to act for others. Saying “yes” to serving always involves “no” to something else. Monday morning as I arrived here at the church campus about 7:00 am, some of these servants were already here ready to receive items for the sale. When I left the church about 9:00 pm following the Cub Scout Blue-Gold Banquet, some of those same servants were still in the gym making sure everything was in order for the Consignment Sale. Last night, Tuesday night, the sale for the sellers closed a little after 8:00 pm. Some of those servants had been here most of the afternoon evening. Then this morning, Wednesday, some of the same servants were here as shopping opened to the public. Why do they do it? One of the leaders put it well in her final words before the Sellers came to shop last night – “Remember – It’s about Jesus.” We serve because Jesus first served us.
This Sunday I will continue the message series, “START Becoming the Good Samaritan.” http://www.juststart.org/ We will look at the wounded man. Who are the wounded that we need to connect with?
Those who serve with the Royal Family Kids Camp feel called to connect with some wounded kids. Presently, there is a real need for men counselors. Because of the nature of the camp, counselors serve specifically with one or two campers. Prayerfully consider becoming a counselor for the week of May 31 through June 4. For more information, contact Pam Ansardi - pansardi@alabamabroadband.net or Paul Wiegert – pwiegert@gmvumc.org
You’ve probably seen the announcements about the Passover Seder Meal with Messianic Rabbi Eric Walker. The Seder Meal marked the beginning of the Jewish Passover. The instructions for the Passover were given to Moses as a way for the people to remember God’s deliverance from Egyptian slavery, especially the night of the Passover Lamb.
It was this meal that Jesus celebrated with His Disciples the night before he went to the cross as our Passover Lamb. We traditionally call that Thursday Maundy Thursday. The word Maundy meals “command.” That night Jesus commanded His Disciples to remember Him by means of the bread and the cup. The bread and the cup were part of the Seder Meal, which Jesus took and applied to Himself, the Lamb of God.
This year we have a unique opportunity to experience what the disciples experienced that Thursday night as they celebrated the Passover Seder with Jesus. Be sure to get your tickets for the meal, for space is limited. You can get them in the Church Office.
Tonight, Wednesday, February 24, some new “START Becoming a Good Samaritan” Small Groups get started. I encourage you to get in a group.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Reflections from Bro. Rudy –
February 17, 2010
Be Doers of the Word
Last night my “START Becoming the Good Samaritan” Small Group began our journey with the book. I wrote to the staff this morning that I wish every one could have heard the teaching/sharing on the DVD for the first session. It was powerful.
The session had some words from a variety of persons, many of whom will be on future lessons. One of the presenters referred to the book of James where James writes, “But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” (James 1:22; NRSV)
Another of the presenters referred to a passage in 1 John, “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help?” (1 John 3:17; NRSV)
Yet another presenter reminded us that we were created to serve.
We all know these things. The issue is doing. That was the case with the lawyer whose questioning of Jesus led to the parable we call the “Good Samaritan.” He knew what the law said: Love God and Love others. Jesus then told him “Do this, and you will live.” (Luke 10:28; NRSV)
His problem was not very different from ours. Most of us know the basics of what the Bible teaches. We know that we are to worship God and God alone. And we know that we are to serve others in the name of Jesus. It is the doing that we have problems with.
One of the reasons we have a problem with the doing is we have bought into our societies focus on the mighty “Self.” We have become a selfish people. That has poured into our church. We want the church to cater to our needs.
How can we expect to truly follow Jesus, the One who spent His physical life serving, and be self-centered? During this season of Lent, we hear again Jesus’ call, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24; NRSV)
Where are you denying yourself for the sake of Christ and His Kingdom?
What cross have you taken up in order to serve others in Jesus name? Remember, the cross for Jesus was something He committed Himself to for your sake and mine. What is the risk, the sacrifice you are making for others? What are you really doing to follow Jesus 24/7?
That’s one of the things last night’s lesson said to me. Being the Good Samaritan is not simply helping when we come across a stranded motorist. Being the Good Samaritan is having the heart and eyes of Jesus to see the needs of those around us, and then doing something.
If you are not in a “START Becoming a Good Samaritan “small group,” I encourage you to get in one. We have room for more in our group, which meets on Tuesday nights at 6:30 at Karen and George Smith’s house. There are several groups beginning next Wednesday night here at the church.
We talk about the importance of prayer. Today, Wednesday, February 17, 2010, begins our ACTS 29 Prayer Journey. If you did not receive yours by email, contact Amy Sizemore asizemore@gmvumc.org or Jennifer Lindholm jlindholm@gmvumc.org. If you want a hard copy, they are available in the Welcome Areas.
Here is another opportunity for prayer – Prayer Walk our Schools. First Priority is beginning this Sunday a weekly prayer walk around the schools here in North Jefferson County. The Prayer Walk will begin at 3:00 each Sunday afternoon, moving from school to school. The first Prayer Walk is this Sunday, February 21, 3:00 PM at Bragg Middle School here in Gardendale. The next Sunday, February 28, 3:00 PM, it will be at Gardendale High School.
Next week is the next Kids Kingdom Consignment Sale. There will be an opportunity to serve on Sunday afternoon setting up the gym, then on Monday in receiving the items. You can contact Valerie Maldonado valandfrankm@hotmail.com about serving. The biannual consignment sales are the two major fundraisers for our Volunteer in Missions Teams, including Royal Family Kids Camp.
This weekend many of our youth will be participating in a 30 Hour Famine. Students will be fasting for 30 hours on Friday, February 19 and Saturday, February 20. One of the purposes is to bring awareness to the reality of world hunger. According to the US Dept. of Agriculture, 17.3 million people live in insecure food households. You can sponsor a youth and the money raised will be used by World Vision to help feed the hungry. For more information about sponsorships contact Paul Turner pturner@gmvumc.org. If you would like to know more about the 30 Hour Famine check out www.30hourfamine.org
Tonight is our Ash Wednesday service, 6:30 PM. I hope to see you as we begin the journey of Lent.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
February 17, 2010
Be Doers of the Word
Last night my “START Becoming the Good Samaritan” Small Group began our journey with the book. I wrote to the staff this morning that I wish every one could have heard the teaching/sharing on the DVD for the first session. It was powerful.
The session had some words from a variety of persons, many of whom will be on future lessons. One of the presenters referred to the book of James where James writes, “But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” (James 1:22; NRSV)
Another of the presenters referred to a passage in 1 John, “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help?” (1 John 3:17; NRSV)
Yet another presenter reminded us that we were created to serve.
We all know these things. The issue is doing. That was the case with the lawyer whose questioning of Jesus led to the parable we call the “Good Samaritan.” He knew what the law said: Love God and Love others. Jesus then told him “Do this, and you will live.” (Luke 10:28; NRSV)
His problem was not very different from ours. Most of us know the basics of what the Bible teaches. We know that we are to worship God and God alone. And we know that we are to serve others in the name of Jesus. It is the doing that we have problems with.
One of the reasons we have a problem with the doing is we have bought into our societies focus on the mighty “Self.” We have become a selfish people. That has poured into our church. We want the church to cater to our needs.
How can we expect to truly follow Jesus, the One who spent His physical life serving, and be self-centered? During this season of Lent, we hear again Jesus’ call, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24; NRSV)
Where are you denying yourself for the sake of Christ and His Kingdom?
What cross have you taken up in order to serve others in Jesus name? Remember, the cross for Jesus was something He committed Himself to for your sake and mine. What is the risk, the sacrifice you are making for others? What are you really doing to follow Jesus 24/7?
That’s one of the things last night’s lesson said to me. Being the Good Samaritan is not simply helping when we come across a stranded motorist. Being the Good Samaritan is having the heart and eyes of Jesus to see the needs of those around us, and then doing something.
If you are not in a “START Becoming a Good Samaritan “small group,” I encourage you to get in one. We have room for more in our group, which meets on Tuesday nights at 6:30 at Karen and George Smith’s house. There are several groups beginning next Wednesday night here at the church.
We talk about the importance of prayer. Today, Wednesday, February 17, 2010, begins our ACTS 29 Prayer Journey. If you did not receive yours by email, contact Amy Sizemore asizemore@gmvumc.org or Jennifer Lindholm jlindholm@gmvumc.org. If you want a hard copy, they are available in the Welcome Areas.
Here is another opportunity for prayer – Prayer Walk our Schools. First Priority is beginning this Sunday a weekly prayer walk around the schools here in North Jefferson County. The Prayer Walk will begin at 3:00 each Sunday afternoon, moving from school to school. The first Prayer Walk is this Sunday, February 21, 3:00 PM at Bragg Middle School here in Gardendale. The next Sunday, February 28, 3:00 PM, it will be at Gardendale High School.
Next week is the next Kids Kingdom Consignment Sale. There will be an opportunity to serve on Sunday afternoon setting up the gym, then on Monday in receiving the items. You can contact Valerie Maldonado valandfrankm@hotmail.com about serving. The biannual consignment sales are the two major fundraisers for our Volunteer in Missions Teams, including Royal Family Kids Camp.
This weekend many of our youth will be participating in a 30 Hour Famine. Students will be fasting for 30 hours on Friday, February 19 and Saturday, February 20. One of the purposes is to bring awareness to the reality of world hunger. According to the US Dept. of Agriculture, 17.3 million people live in insecure food households. You can sponsor a youth and the money raised will be used by World Vision to help feed the hungry. For more information about sponsorships contact Paul Turner pturner@gmvumc.org. If you would like to know more about the 30 Hour Famine check out www.30hourfamine.org
Tonight is our Ash Wednesday service, 6:30 PM. I hope to see you as we begin the journey of Lent.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Reflections from Bro. Rudy –
February 3, 2010
Who is a Missionary?
This morning in Chapel, I asked the children, “What is a Missionary?” A Kindergartener raised her hand and gave this answer, “Someone who tells others about God.” I couldn’t have given a better answer. A missionary is essentially a witness for Christ.
Today we kick off our Global Impact Celebration. When we first began the annual Celebration I imagine that many of us thought of missionaries as persons who accept God’s call to go somewhere else in the world to bear witness to Christ. I believe that understanding is changing. We are all called to be missionaries where we are. In fact, in Jesus’ marching orders He told us to begin bearing witness in our Jerusalem, which is the place where we are.
The signs at the exits to our campus, remind us that the mission field begins right here in the North Jefferson area. We are to be missionaries in our neighborhoods, our civic clubs, our place of work, our schools, even our homes. Remember what a missionary is – “Someone who tells others about God.”
Tonight, Wednesday, February 03, 2010, we will hear a powerful message from one who has a real vision for missions, The Rev. Paul E. Smith, from Mandeville, La. Under his leadership, Life Church has been instrumental in starting over 50 churches throughout North, Central and South America. It is going to be a great night of worship.
On Friday, February 5, 2010, we will have most of the missionaries we support here to share about what God is doing in their place of ministry. We will also have some additional missionaries, as we hope to add one or two other connections through our Faith Promise Offering. I hope you will be here Friday night for the “Taste of the World” event. You will have the opportunity to meet all of these missionaries. Even if you did not have the opportunity to sign up for an event, come on. Don’t miss out.
God is up to something. As He said through the Prophet Isaiah, even “now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19; NRSV) Let’s be a part of what God is doing.
Here is a schedule for this weekend:
Friday – 2/5/10
12:00 Noon Senior Luncheon
6:30 PM Taste of the World
Saturday – 2/6/10
7:00 AM Men’s Breakfast
9:00 AM Family Project
12:30 PM Women’s Luncheon
6:00 PM Sunday School Socials
Sunday
The Rev. Richard Adams will be our preacher at each of the morning services.
Missionaries will be in most of our Sunday School Classes.
Sunday morning we will be making our Faith Promise commitments to missions. In Paul’s writing we find several places where he mentions this kind of second mile, beyond the tithe offering for missions. As the title suggest, this is a Promise you make in faith, trust God to provide. Our Faith Promise giving provides the support for all of our missions beyond our Conference and District commitments. If all of our over 600 giving families were to commit $500 to Faith Promise that would be $300,000.00 to missions. If 250 families would commit $500, that would surpass our $100,000 goal this year. Gina and I will be trusting God for more than $500 and I know others will be doing the same.
This Sunday night we will celebrate Holy Communion as part of our Healing and Wholeness Service. This morning’s Upper Room Devotional Scriptures was the healing that Peter and John offered the lame man at the Temple gate (Acts 3). God is still doing mighty acts of healing. This is a good time to bring persons who need God’s people to lay hands on them in prayer, according to James 5.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
February 3, 2010
Who is a Missionary?
This morning in Chapel, I asked the children, “What is a Missionary?” A Kindergartener raised her hand and gave this answer, “Someone who tells others about God.” I couldn’t have given a better answer. A missionary is essentially a witness for Christ.
Today we kick off our Global Impact Celebration. When we first began the annual Celebration I imagine that many of us thought of missionaries as persons who accept God’s call to go somewhere else in the world to bear witness to Christ. I believe that understanding is changing. We are all called to be missionaries where we are. In fact, in Jesus’ marching orders He told us to begin bearing witness in our Jerusalem, which is the place where we are.
The signs at the exits to our campus, remind us that the mission field begins right here in the North Jefferson area. We are to be missionaries in our neighborhoods, our civic clubs, our place of work, our schools, even our homes. Remember what a missionary is – “Someone who tells others about God.”
Tonight, Wednesday, February 03, 2010, we will hear a powerful message from one who has a real vision for missions, The Rev. Paul E. Smith, from Mandeville, La. Under his leadership, Life Church has been instrumental in starting over 50 churches throughout North, Central and South America. It is going to be a great night of worship.
On Friday, February 5, 2010, we will have most of the missionaries we support here to share about what God is doing in their place of ministry. We will also have some additional missionaries, as we hope to add one or two other connections through our Faith Promise Offering. I hope you will be here Friday night for the “Taste of the World” event. You will have the opportunity to meet all of these missionaries. Even if you did not have the opportunity to sign up for an event, come on. Don’t miss out.
God is up to something. As He said through the Prophet Isaiah, even “now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19; NRSV) Let’s be a part of what God is doing.
Here is a schedule for this weekend:
Friday – 2/5/10
12:00 Noon Senior Luncheon
6:30 PM Taste of the World
Saturday – 2/6/10
7:00 AM Men’s Breakfast
9:00 AM Family Project
12:30 PM Women’s Luncheon
6:00 PM Sunday School Socials
Sunday
The Rev. Richard Adams will be our preacher at each of the morning services.
Missionaries will be in most of our Sunday School Classes.
Sunday morning we will be making our Faith Promise commitments to missions. In Paul’s writing we find several places where he mentions this kind of second mile, beyond the tithe offering for missions. As the title suggest, this is a Promise you make in faith, trust God to provide. Our Faith Promise giving provides the support for all of our missions beyond our Conference and District commitments. If all of our over 600 giving families were to commit $500 to Faith Promise that would be $300,000.00 to missions. If 250 families would commit $500, that would surpass our $100,000 goal this year. Gina and I will be trusting God for more than $500 and I know others will be doing the same.
This Sunday night we will celebrate Holy Communion as part of our Healing and Wholeness Service. This morning’s Upper Room Devotional Scriptures was the healing that Peter and John offered the lame man at the Temple gate (Acts 3). God is still doing mighty acts of healing. This is a good time to bring persons who need God’s people to lay hands on them in prayer, according to James 5.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Celebrate the Past – New Vision for the Future
If you have been in worship this year, you have seen the new bulletins. We thank Rachel Fitzpatrick for designing the logo that will be on all of our 150th Anniversary material. As you probably know by now, we have kicked off a year long celebration of our 150th Anniversary of ministry here in North Jefferson County.
In preparation for this year of celebrating, the 150th Anniversary Committee has attempted to read most of the histories that have been written through the years on both the Gardendale Church, which had its birth in 1860, and the Mt. Vernon Church, which had its birth in 1878. Often times those histories were revised when a new directory was done. As you read of those two churches and then their coming together on this hillside in 1974, you learn a lot about living into a vision.
It started with the vision of the Rev. John Shugart and the Tennessee conference. This part of North Jefferson county had not developed enough to even have a name when Brother Shugart began holding evangelistic services in what is now Gardendale. But he had a vision, a vision that moved Methodist across this nation, a vision to offer everyone Christ and to spread scriptural holiness.
I have noticed that often the histories of these two churches moved from one building project to the next. If you look closer, those building projects were testimonies to the churches real mission of growing more fully committed disciples of Jesus Christ. That is the way it should be. The vision should never be about building for building sake. It is about providing space to better fulfill the mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ. When a church stops visioning of new facilities, it has probably stopped visioning of reaching many new people for Jesus Christ.
George Mathison sends me the newsletter from Auburn United Methodist Church. In a recent newsletter he mentioned their purchase of another Church Facility. They do not need all that facility at the present moment, but they are preparing for the future. I sense that Gardendale-Mt Vernon has witnessed that kind of visioning in its 150 years of ministry.
Teresa Watson has been working on ways to get the news of 150th Anniversary out to the community. She was able to line up spot on NBC 13’s Mid-Day News a couple of weeks ago. We have been able to obtain a copy of the interview that Lisa Crane did with me that day. It is included in this blog.
As we celebrate these 150 years of ministry, our Building Committee is looking at cost for a new Children’s Ministry Building. They have already discovered that cost estimates for the new building are down from two years ago. They are gathering information which they hope to have ready for the March Administrative Board meeting.
While construction on a new building is still down the road, we need to remember what is driving that vision. If we had additional space we could increase the number of children we have the opportunity to influence for Christ. Our overall waiting list still numbers over 300 children. We also need additional Sunday school space for adults. We are running out of room and we really need to begin one or two more classes right now. And when the entire new Children’s Ministry Building is complete, we will also have room to expand our facilities for youth. That’s the reason we have a new building on the drawing board, to provide additional space to connect more people to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, to grow more people in Christ-like love and to send more people into the world through Christ-like service.
Before we can think much more about building a new facility, we have to fix some erosion problems. You need to know that our building is not presently in danger, but the heavy rains have created some major erosion issues. The Trustees decided to do more than another stop gap attempt to stop the erosion. They hired an engineering firm to give us a solution for the long haul. The Trustees are almost ready to bring those recommendations to the Administrative Board and then put the work out for bid. They will keep us informed of the next steps in that journey. You need to know that it will not be cheap. Be in prayer for the decisions related to this work and its funding.
You should have received a packet of information about our Global Impact Celebration. It kicks off next Wednesday, February 3rd, 6:30 PM. Make plans to participate in all the opportunities of the Global Impact Celebration.
Because of the Faith Promises made last year at the Global Impact Celebration, our Mission Team was able to send $1,300 immediately to our United Methodist Committee on Relief for there response in Haiti. I encourage you to be in prayer for your Faith Promise commitment to missions that will be made in the morning services on February 7th. A Commitment was included in the packet of information you received.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
In preparation for this year of celebrating, the 150th Anniversary Committee has attempted to read most of the histories that have been written through the years on both the Gardendale Church, which had its birth in 1860, and the Mt. Vernon Church, which had its birth in 1878. Often times those histories were revised when a new directory was done. As you read of those two churches and then their coming together on this hillside in 1974, you learn a lot about living into a vision.
It started with the vision of the Rev. John Shugart and the Tennessee conference. This part of North Jefferson county had not developed enough to even have a name when Brother Shugart began holding evangelistic services in what is now Gardendale. But he had a vision, a vision that moved Methodist across this nation, a vision to offer everyone Christ and to spread scriptural holiness.
I have noticed that often the histories of these two churches moved from one building project to the next. If you look closer, those building projects were testimonies to the churches real mission of growing more fully committed disciples of Jesus Christ. That is the way it should be. The vision should never be about building for building sake. It is about providing space to better fulfill the mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ. When a church stops visioning of new facilities, it has probably stopped visioning of reaching many new people for Jesus Christ.
George Mathison sends me the newsletter from Auburn United Methodist Church. In a recent newsletter he mentioned their purchase of another Church Facility. They do not need all that facility at the present moment, but they are preparing for the future. I sense that Gardendale-Mt Vernon has witnessed that kind of visioning in its 150 years of ministry.
Teresa Watson has been working on ways to get the news of 150th Anniversary out to the community. She was able to line up spot on NBC 13’s Mid-Day News a couple of weeks ago. We have been able to obtain a copy of the interview that Lisa Crane did with me that day. It is included in this blog.
As we celebrate these 150 years of ministry, our Building Committee is looking at cost for a new Children’s Ministry Building. They have already discovered that cost estimates for the new building are down from two years ago. They are gathering information which they hope to have ready for the March Administrative Board meeting.
While construction on a new building is still down the road, we need to remember what is driving that vision. If we had additional space we could increase the number of children we have the opportunity to influence for Christ. Our overall waiting list still numbers over 300 children. We also need additional Sunday school space for adults. We are running out of room and we really need to begin one or two more classes right now. And when the entire new Children’s Ministry Building is complete, we will also have room to expand our facilities for youth. That’s the reason we have a new building on the drawing board, to provide additional space to connect more people to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, to grow more people in Christ-like love and to send more people into the world through Christ-like service.
Before we can think much more about building a new facility, we have to fix some erosion problems. You need to know that our building is not presently in danger, but the heavy rains have created some major erosion issues. The Trustees decided to do more than another stop gap attempt to stop the erosion. They hired an engineering firm to give us a solution for the long haul. The Trustees are almost ready to bring those recommendations to the Administrative Board and then put the work out for bid. They will keep us informed of the next steps in that journey. You need to know that it will not be cheap. Be in prayer for the decisions related to this work and its funding.
You should have received a packet of information about our Global Impact Celebration. It kicks off next Wednesday, February 3rd, 6:30 PM. Make plans to participate in all the opportunities of the Global Impact Celebration.
Because of the Faith Promises made last year at the Global Impact Celebration, our Mission Team was able to send $1,300 immediately to our United Methodist Committee on Relief for there response in Haiti. I encourage you to be in prayer for your Faith Promise commitment to missions that will be made in the morning services on February 7th. A Commitment was included in the packet of information you received.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Prayer and Action Together Yields Results part II
Prayer and Action should also be our response to the disaster in Haiti. I heard last night that there had been another earthquake in Haiti. As God’s people, we need to be in prayer for the people of Haiti. Here are some of the ways I have been praying for the people of Haiti: Strength for those still trapped; Direction for those searching for survivors; Medical help for the injured; Wisdom for the nation’s leaders; Protection and Energy for rescue and help personal; Supplies to arrive where needed; Guidance for leaders of helping agencies. Our prayers also need to take action. The best action at the present time is money and/or health kits. Our Mission Team has already sent $1300 from our Faith Promise Budget to Haiti relief. In addition, $1905.69 was given Sunday to Haiti relief and it has been sent. I am aware of additional money that has come in since Sunday. If you want to make a gift simply make your check to the church and mark it for “Haiti.” One advantage of giving through your church is every penny given through our United Methodist Committee on Relief will go to Haiti relief. Here is some of the latest information I have about our Annual Conference’s efforts. On January 19, a PX-12 airplane departed Huntsville with purification systems, health kits and medical supplies. We were ready to respond so quickly because of our Disaster Warehouse in Decatur. “Health Kits” were there, ready to be shipped. The plane should have landed by now Barahona, Dominican Republic. The supplies will then be trucked 20 miles to an orphanage in Jimani, Haiti. This 40 bed orphanage was scheduled to open in February. It has become a relief station that had 1,800 people last Thursday night. There were 10 water purification systems on the plane. Each system will produce 10,000 gallons of drinking water per day. The rest of the shipment was health kits and medical supplies. It is a God thing that a general surgeon from Nashville, Dr. David Vanderpool, was in Haiti. He is now working out of the orphanage. On Monday he made contact with his wife in Nashville listing medicines and supplies that were needed. She worked with Nashville hospitals to collect the supplies and got them to Huntsville to be part of the shipment. The plane also carried a satellite uplink system so that better communications with our UMCOR teams can take place. These kind of things happened because of the connection of our great church. Let me get back to Actions we can take. We are told that right now money is the best thing we can do. Attached is a link to the UMCOR site where you may make a donation. http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/ There are two other ways you can also take action. One is collect items for Health Kits. Our Children’s Ministries are giving leadership in this. Our Child Enrichment Center has collection bins outside their dining room where Health Kit Items can be placed.
Here is what is included in each Health Kits:1 hand towel (15” x 25” up to 17” x 27”, no kitchen towels)1 washcloth1 comb (large and sturdy, not pocket-sized)1 nail file or fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail clippers)1 bath-size bar of soap (3 oz. and up)1 toothbrush (single brushes only in original wrapper, no child-size brushes)6 adhesive plastic strip sterile bandagesPlus $1.00 for toothpaste (Our UMCOR warehouse purchases toothpaste in bulk to ensure product does not expire before it is sent.) The After-School Children at CEC will be putting these supplies together into Health Kits. Because of international transportation issues, each kit must have only the listed items, so if you bring items they must be those listed above.
There is also a need for Food – specifically rice, dry beans, powdered milk and powered infant formula. Our Disaster Relief Warehouse in Decatur is collecting these specific food items and will be doing a shipment of them. Bins will be place around the church were you can donate these items as well.
Don’t forget there are two important Training Events Sunday. Our Evangelism System training will be 12:15 PM. This includes lunch, so please contact the office to make your reservations. There are a variety of opportunities in our Evangelism System where volunteers with a heart to bring people to Christ and the Church are needed. The Evangelism System includes Sunday Computer Teams, First Time Visitor Follow-up, Telephone Teams, Cultivation Teams and Welcome Wagon Teams. Come and see if there is a place God may be calling you to serve.
Care Team Captain training will be held at 4:00 PM Sunday afternoon. These teams are vital to providing care to our growing congregation. Each Team consists of about 5 families. The Captain sees that the Care Team truly cares for one another. We can always use additional Care Team Captains as the need for additional teams grows every year.
Our Global Impact Celebration kicks off two weeks from tonight. (Kick off service is Wednesday, February 3, 6:30 PM) Make plans to be part of this great night of worship. And be in prayer about your above the tithe commitment to this year’s Faith Promise Budget.
Here is what is included in each Health Kits:1 hand towel (15” x 25” up to 17” x 27”, no kitchen towels)1 washcloth1 comb (large and sturdy, not pocket-sized)1 nail file or fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail clippers)1 bath-size bar of soap (3 oz. and up)1 toothbrush (single brushes only in original wrapper, no child-size brushes)6 adhesive plastic strip sterile bandagesPlus $1.00 for toothpaste (Our UMCOR warehouse purchases toothpaste in bulk to ensure product does not expire before it is sent.) The After-School Children at CEC will be putting these supplies together into Health Kits. Because of international transportation issues, each kit must have only the listed items, so if you bring items they must be those listed above.
There is also a need for Food – specifically rice, dry beans, powdered milk and powered infant formula. Our Disaster Relief Warehouse in Decatur is collecting these specific food items and will be doing a shipment of them. Bins will be place around the church were you can donate these items as well.
Don’t forget there are two important Training Events Sunday. Our Evangelism System training will be 12:15 PM. This includes lunch, so please contact the office to make your reservations. There are a variety of opportunities in our Evangelism System where volunteers with a heart to bring people to Christ and the Church are needed. The Evangelism System includes Sunday Computer Teams, First Time Visitor Follow-up, Telephone Teams, Cultivation Teams and Welcome Wagon Teams. Come and see if there is a place God may be calling you to serve.
Care Team Captain training will be held at 4:00 PM Sunday afternoon. These teams are vital to providing care to our growing congregation. Each Team consists of about 5 families. The Captain sees that the Care Team truly cares for one another. We can always use additional Care Team Captains as the need for additional teams grows every year.
Our Global Impact Celebration kicks off two weeks from tonight. (Kick off service is Wednesday, February 3, 6:30 PM) Make plans to be part of this great night of worship. And be in prayer about your above the tithe commitment to this year’s Faith Promise Budget.
Prayer & Action Together Yields Results
This morning’s Upper Room Devotional (January 20, 2010) captures key parts of my last two messages. The devotional was based on the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem under Nehemiah. The scripture was from Nehemiah four. As the wall was going up, some opposition developed. Nehemiah told the people to pray and establish some guards.
Tori Tremaine Walker, who wrote the devotional, closed this way: “What desire or situation pulls at your heart today? Besides praying, what action does God want you to take in this matter? As Nehemiah 4 tells us, God’s people discovered that prayer plus action yields results.”
Prayer and Action are keys to living the change that God wants to establish in our lives. Many of us made New Years Resolutions. Others in our Church Family made a commitment to change something in their life. These are represented by the sticky notes on the crosses in the sanctuary and gym. But how do we keep the change? That’s what we are looking at in the present message series, “Keep the Change: Resolutions that Stick.”
In the first message we saw that Thinking is a key component to change. Paul tells us,“Let the Spirit change your way of thinking.” (Ephesians 4:23; Contemporary English Version) This most often takes place was we pray and mediate on God’s Word and the change that God wants to bring about in our lives.
This past Sunday we saw that Action is also vital if we are to Keep the Change. We must become doers of God’s Word. This Sunday we will see that we must take Responsibility for Change in our lives. But Tori was right, real change involves Prayer and Action. The Application Sheet this week can help you in both of these areas.
Tori Tremaine Walker, who wrote the devotional, closed this way: “What desire or situation pulls at your heart today? Besides praying, what action does God want you to take in this matter? As Nehemiah 4 tells us, God’s people discovered that prayer plus action yields results.”
Prayer and Action are keys to living the change that God wants to establish in our lives. Many of us made New Years Resolutions. Others in our Church Family made a commitment to change something in their life. These are represented by the sticky notes on the crosses in the sanctuary and gym. But how do we keep the change? That’s what we are looking at in the present message series, “Keep the Change: Resolutions that Stick.”
In the first message we saw that Thinking is a key component to change. Paul tells us,“Let the Spirit change your way of thinking.” (Ephesians 4:23; Contemporary English Version) This most often takes place was we pray and mediate on God’s Word and the change that God wants to bring about in our lives.
This past Sunday we saw that Action is also vital if we are to Keep the Change. We must become doers of God’s Word. This Sunday we will see that we must take Responsibility for Change in our lives. But Tori was right, real change involves Prayer and Action. The Application Sheet this week can help you in both of these areas.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
A New Way of Thinking
God truly moved in our worship Sunday. In each service people lined up to place a commitment on one of the crosses. Several hundred of us made a commitment to be made new in some area of our life. If you are one of those who placed a commitment on one of the crosses, I have prayed for you this morning. I pray that the Holy Spirit will lead you to a new way of thinking that will change your life.
There was an insert in this past Sunday’s bulletin that was designed to help you apply the message. In case you were not here or forgot to take yours with you, a copy is attached to this email. As I studied for this message series, “Keep the Change – Resolutions that Stick,” I realized that many of our resolutions never take root in our minds. Sure, our mind is involved when we decide to make our resolutions. But how much time do we really devote to thinking about the new way we are to live? If we don’t make thinking about the changes a part of our lives, our commitments will soon be out of our minds. The application ideas provided on the attachment can help you think for a change.
This morning’s thought from “WalktheWalk.com” spoke to this issue of thinking. The quote was from Patricia Neal; “A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.” If you really want to see change, it must start with your mind. Remember what the Proverb says,“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7a, New King James Version)
Yesterday, I had the privilege of appearing on NBC 13’s Mid-Day News to share a little about our 150th Anniversary. I thank Teresa Watson for setting that up. It was an opportunity to share about our year long celebration of 150 years of ministry in North Jefferson County.
I understand we are going to have a special guest from the past with us in worship Sunday. He will share what brought him to what is now the Gardendale area to begin a new church. The church that began as Shugart’s Chapel would later become New Bethel and after the town of Gardendale was established, it became the Gardendale Methodist Church.
Lisa Crane was the NBC 13 news person who did the interview. She was amazed by the three different styles of worship we offer each Sunday morning. In our prep time before the live interview, she made the comment that many churches have three worship services, but she was not aware of any that had three different styles of worship. Then she said, “I can see where that opens the door to reach a diversity of people.” That is so true. In conversations with new members the last few years, this diversity of worship has regularly been lifted up as one of our greatest strengths.
Each month, we send a questionnaire to those who worshiped with us for the first time during that month. It asked them to share their reflections on various aspects of their experience here at Gardendale-Mt. Vernon. It also asks “How did you hear about Gardendale-Mt. Vernon UMC?” The number one response to that question continues to be “Invitation.” More people come to worship because someone invited them than any other reason. It reminds me we must be offering the invitation. Who have you invited lately?
One of the latest questionnaires to be returned reminded us we are not always as welcoming as we like to think. Another question asks, “Did an usher or greeter extend a warm welcome and provide adequate assistance?” The person checked “No.”
Hospitality should be the responsibility of all of us. We need to make an effort to speak to persons, especially persons we do not know. It is also true, what is everybody’s responsibility is often nobody’s responsibility. That is the reason we must be very intentional about our hospitality. Come and learn how you can help make Gardendale-Mt. Vernon a more Hospitable Place in the Hospitality Training this Sunday afternoon, at 5:00 PM.
Another key to helping people feel truly welcome is effective follow up. On Sunday, January 24, you can learn how to help with our follow up on guests to our church. That is what our Evangelism System is all about. Our Evangelism System training will be, January 24, 12:15 PM. This includes lunch, so please contact the office to make your reservations. There are a variety of opportunities in our Evangelism System where volunteers with a heart to bring people to Christ and the Church are needed. The Evangelism System includes Sunday Computer Teams, First Time Visitor Follow-up, Telephone Teams, Cultivation Teams and Welcome Wagon Teams.
Also on January 24, Care Team Captain training will be held at 4:00 PM. These teams are vital to providing care to our growing congregation. Each Team consists of about 5 families. The Captain sees that the Care Team truly cares for one another.
Participation in any of these trainings do not obligate you to serve in that area. Come and learn what your church is doing and see if one of these might be a place you can use the Gifts God has given you.
Our Global Impact Celebration is kicks off three weeks from tonight. (Kick off service is Wednesday, February 3, 6:30 PM) Because of your support of the Faith Promise Budget, we already have money to send to Earthquake relief in Haiti. Be in prayer for your above the tithe commitment to this year’s Faith Promise Budget. And if you don’t give to Faith Promise, and want to give to Haiti relief, you can mark your gift Haiti relief.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
There was an insert in this past Sunday’s bulletin that was designed to help you apply the message. In case you were not here or forgot to take yours with you, a copy is attached to this email. As I studied for this message series, “Keep the Change – Resolutions that Stick,” I realized that many of our resolutions never take root in our minds. Sure, our mind is involved when we decide to make our resolutions. But how much time do we really devote to thinking about the new way we are to live? If we don’t make thinking about the changes a part of our lives, our commitments will soon be out of our minds. The application ideas provided on the attachment can help you think for a change.
This morning’s thought from “WalktheWalk.com” spoke to this issue of thinking. The quote was from Patricia Neal; “A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.” If you really want to see change, it must start with your mind. Remember what the Proverb says,“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7a, New King James Version)
Yesterday, I had the privilege of appearing on NBC 13’s Mid-Day News to share a little about our 150th Anniversary. I thank Teresa Watson for setting that up. It was an opportunity to share about our year long celebration of 150 years of ministry in North Jefferson County.
I understand we are going to have a special guest from the past with us in worship Sunday. He will share what brought him to what is now the Gardendale area to begin a new church. The church that began as Shugart’s Chapel would later become New Bethel and after the town of Gardendale was established, it became the Gardendale Methodist Church.
Lisa Crane was the NBC 13 news person who did the interview. She was amazed by the three different styles of worship we offer each Sunday morning. In our prep time before the live interview, she made the comment that many churches have three worship services, but she was not aware of any that had three different styles of worship. Then she said, “I can see where that opens the door to reach a diversity of people.” That is so true. In conversations with new members the last few years, this diversity of worship has regularly been lifted up as one of our greatest strengths.
Each month, we send a questionnaire to those who worshiped with us for the first time during that month. It asked them to share their reflections on various aspects of their experience here at Gardendale-Mt. Vernon. It also asks “How did you hear about Gardendale-Mt. Vernon UMC?” The number one response to that question continues to be “Invitation.” More people come to worship because someone invited them than any other reason. It reminds me we must be offering the invitation. Who have you invited lately?
One of the latest questionnaires to be returned reminded us we are not always as welcoming as we like to think. Another question asks, “Did an usher or greeter extend a warm welcome and provide adequate assistance?” The person checked “No.”
Hospitality should be the responsibility of all of us. We need to make an effort to speak to persons, especially persons we do not know. It is also true, what is everybody’s responsibility is often nobody’s responsibility. That is the reason we must be very intentional about our hospitality. Come and learn how you can help make Gardendale-Mt. Vernon a more Hospitable Place in the Hospitality Training this Sunday afternoon, at 5:00 PM.
Another key to helping people feel truly welcome is effective follow up. On Sunday, January 24, you can learn how to help with our follow up on guests to our church. That is what our Evangelism System is all about. Our Evangelism System training will be, January 24, 12:15 PM. This includes lunch, so please contact the office to make your reservations. There are a variety of opportunities in our Evangelism System where volunteers with a heart to bring people to Christ and the Church are needed. The Evangelism System includes Sunday Computer Teams, First Time Visitor Follow-up, Telephone Teams, Cultivation Teams and Welcome Wagon Teams.
Also on January 24, Care Team Captain training will be held at 4:00 PM. These teams are vital to providing care to our growing congregation. Each Team consists of about 5 families. The Captain sees that the Care Team truly cares for one another.
Participation in any of these trainings do not obligate you to serve in that area. Come and learn what your church is doing and see if one of these might be a place you can use the Gifts God has given you.
Our Global Impact Celebration is kicks off three weeks from tonight. (Kick off service is Wednesday, February 3, 6:30 PM) Because of your support of the Faith Promise Budget, we already have money to send to Earthquake relief in Haiti. Be in prayer for your above the tithe commitment to this year’s Faith Promise Budget. And if you don’t give to Faith Promise, and want to give to Haiti relief, you can mark your gift Haiti relief.
As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
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