Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Prayer
October 26, 2011
This morning’s Upper Room devotional spoke to me. Being still and silent challenges many of
us. Where do we find time to be still
and silent before the Lord? If you are
like me, it doesn’t happen without intentionality.
I remember a Prayer Guide that was developed by The
Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference Council on Ministries. It challenged persons to pray for five
unchurched people during the Lenten season.
Each day’s prayer guide began with a statement about realizing you are
in the presence of God. Here are a
couple of the ways it was put:
Get
comfortable. Realize that you are in The
Presence, receiving special attention, as you join God in love and concern for
each of the Five.
Get
comfortable. Become aware of the
presence of God within you and about you.
Prepare yourself with expectation to receive some new truth from the
scripture you are about to read.
I need to remind myself to be
still and become aware of God’s presence.
Without such an intentional commitment to be still, I tend to rush
through my petitions without ever sensing God’s presence.
This week, some of the staff was
talking about prayer and one mentioned writing her prayers. I have practiced that at times in my life. Writing my prayer helps me stay focused. It also helps me look at my prayer
times. Am I giving God praise and
adoration or simply asking things of God.
If you want an example of written
prayers, look at the Psalms. Many of the
Psalms are prayers. In the Psalms, the
Psalmist pours out his heart to God.
Sometimes he offers praise and adoration, at other times he offers
confession, petitions and intercessions.
This Sunday, our Youth will be
giving leadership to our Sunday morning services. Be in prayer for them and for Micah Dormann
as he brings the message. Then on Sunday
evening we will have “The Resolution Service.”
We have copies of “The Resolution” used in the movie Courageous and also
a women’s version. There will time in
the service for families to come to the altar to reaffirm their commitments to
one another using these resolutions. If
you plan to participate in signing the resolution during the service, please
communicate with Marcia Cuellar, so we will have enough copies. (mcuellar@gmvumc.org)
Monday night, October 31, is our
Harvest Hoedown. That needs to be on
your prayer list. Especially pray for a
door to open to any undiscipled person who attends. While it is a night of fun and games, our
main focus is to become all things to all people in order to reach one for
Jesus.
We expect a few thousand to come
to the Harvest Hoedown. I understand we
could still use some more candy and trunks for “Trunk or Treat.” Find where they are having sales on candy and
purchase a large bag or two. If you want
to volunteer to help, contact Amy Sizemore (asizemore@gmvumc.org).
As always, your responses to these
Reflections are welcome. You can
email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
The Ministry of Hospitality
The other night, Gina and I went to a nice restaurant in the
greater Birmingham area. We met there,
for we were coming from different places.
I arrived first, was greeted by the host and taken to our table. The waitress came quickly to welcome me and
ask if she could get me something to drink while I waited. But that was the end of the quickly.
A couple was sitting in the same area that the waitress
knew. The rest of the night, we were
waiting on her. The people she knew
became her priority, not us. When we
finished, we waited several minutes as she stood at her friends’ table talking,
trying to get her attention so we could get our check and pay our bill. If that had been my first time there, I
probably would not have been impressed enough to come back. You see, the quality of the meal is only part
of the restaurant experience. The whole
experience plays a part in whether or not we will return.
As I have reflected on that experience, I remembered an
article Dan Reiland wrote on connection.
He used a similar experience to illustrate the importance of hospitality
when the Church gathers. He wrote; “This idea of connection is the same in your church. Whether
you are part of a chain, or a mom and pop café, or an independent, people want
to connect with your experience or they're not coming back. And keep in mind, it's not all about the meal
(sermon), it's the whole experience.”
Dan then raised the question,
“Connection on whose terms?” Here is how
he responded:
I think it's best to set the
connection to the environment on their (the guests’) terms and set the
connection to the church mission on your (church leaders’) terms. It's often
done just the opposite in many churches.
Here's what I mean. When you set the connection based on the new person's
experience, you set the environment to make them feel at home. So we make the
space itself feel good, we have a Coffee Shop for the fancy stuff, and free
coffee stations too, the aroma is important. The dress is casual, we don't make
visitors stand, we don't make them were a name tag that says "Hey
everybody, look at me, I'm new, I don't belong here." They don't have to
do anything, say anything, or commit to anything to come to church. Those are
the terms new people love when trying a church. And like a restaurant, they
know real fast if they like it or not.
In churches where the environment is set on the church leaders' terms, the
guest is required to embrace any number of things such as dressing a certain
way, wear a name badge, sit in a special section, stand up, go to a room,
accept a visit, meet the pastor after the service, and the list goes on. All
these things can be good, but keep in mind one crucial issue, your guest might
not want to!
You’ve
probably heard the expression, “First Impressions Matter.” Many point out that guest begin to form their
first impressions when the pull on the church campus. Have the church members taken all the good
parking spaces? Last Sunday I watched a
church family park in a parking space marked for visitors and most of the
parking around the Family Ministry Building was taken by those of us who are
here to serve. What kind of first
impressions does that make for a young family with children, who have to park
in the upper parking lot and find their way first to the place of worship and
then to the nursery?
And
when persons enter the building, are we there welcoming them or have we huddled
in our little groups? The same could be
asked of Sunday school classes. I was
talking to a person recently who had visited one of the larger Sunday school
classes. He said no one spoke to them (he
and his wife) when they visited the class.
I
regularly hear persons talk about the friendliness of Gardendale-Mt.
Vernon. Apparently we do make some
pretty good first impressions. The
restaurant I ate at generally does. But
that night, the waitress’ focus was somewhere else. It reminded me how important it is for us to
be very intentional Sunday after Sunday, Wednesday after Wednesday. When we don’t put our best foot forward, a
person may not get connected.
As always, your responses to these
Reflections are welcome. You can
email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
greater Birmingham area. We met there,
for we were coming from different places.
I arrived first, was greeted by the host and taken to our table. The waitress came quickly to welcome me and
ask if she could get me something to drink while I waited. But that was the end of the quickly.
A couple was sitting in the same area that the waitress
knew. The rest of the night, we were
waiting on her. The people she knew
became her priority, not us. When we
finished, we waited several minutes as she stood at her friends’ table talking,
trying to get her attention so we could get our check and pay our bill. If that had been my first time there, I
probably would not have been impressed enough to come back. You see, the quality of the meal is only part
of the restaurant experience. The whole
experience plays a part in whether or not we will return.
As I have reflected on that experience, I remembered an
article Dan Reiland wrote on connection.
He used a similar experience to illustrate the importance of hospitality
when the Church gathers. He wrote; “This idea of connection is the same in your church. Whether
you are part of a chain, or a mom and pop café, or an independent, people want
to connect with your experience or they're not coming back. And keep in mind, it's not all about the meal
(sermon), it's the whole experience.”
Dan then raised the question,
“Connection on whose terms?” Here is how
he responded:
I think it's best to set the
connection to the environment on their (the guests’) terms and set the
connection to the church mission on your (church leaders’) terms. It's often
done just the opposite in many churches.
Here's what I mean. When you set the connection based on the new person's
experience, you set the environment to make them feel at home. So we make the
space itself feel good, we have a Coffee Shop for the fancy stuff, and free
coffee stations too, the aroma is important. The dress is casual, we don't make
visitors stand, we don't make them were a name tag that says "Hey
everybody, look at me, I'm new, I don't belong here." They don't have to
do anything, say anything, or commit to anything to come to church. Those are
the terms new people love when trying a church. And like a restaurant, they
know real fast if they like it or not.
In churches where the environment is set on the church leaders' terms, the
guest is required to embrace any number of things such as dressing a certain
way, wear a name badge, sit in a special section, stand up, go to a room,
accept a visit, meet the pastor after the service, and the list goes on. All
these things can be good, but keep in mind one crucial issue, your guest might
not want to!
You’ve
probably heard the expression, “First Impressions Matter.” Many point out that guest begin to form their
first impressions when the pull on the church campus. Have the church members taken all the good
parking spaces? Last Sunday I watched a
church family park in a parking space marked for visitors and most of the
parking around the Family Ministry Building was taken by those of us who are
here to serve. What kind of first
impressions does that make for a young family with children, who have to park
in the upper parking lot and find their way first to the place of worship and
then to the nursery?
And
when persons enter the building, are we there welcoming them or have we huddled
in our little groups? The same could be
asked of Sunday school classes. I was
talking to a person recently who had visited one of the larger Sunday school
classes. He said no one spoke to them (he
and his wife) when they visited the class.
I
regularly hear persons talk about the friendliness of Gardendale-Mt.
Vernon. Apparently we do make some
pretty good first impressions. The
restaurant I ate at generally does. But
that night, the waitress’ focus was somewhere else. It reminded me how important it is for us to
be very intentional Sunday after Sunday, Wednesday after Wednesday. When we don’t put our best foot forward, a
person may not get connected.
As always, your responses to these
Reflections are welcome. You can
email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.
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