Reflections

Reflections from Bro. Rudy –

May 24, 2012

FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION

WOW!!! What a night.  110 Kindergarteners and 4- year-olds graduated from our Child Enrichment Center Tuesday night.  They recited scripture; Psalm 100, John 3:16 and Psalm 23.   They also lead us in praise to God as they concluded their musical time with songs of worship and praise.  What a powerful moment it was when those 110 voices sang, “How Great Thou Art.” 

The Bible tells us that we are to pass on the faith to the next generation.  In Psalm 78 we read:  “He gave laws to the people of Israel and commandments to the descendants of Jacob.  He instructed our ancestors to teach his laws to their children, so that the next generation might learn them and in turn should tell their children.  In this way they also will put their trust in God and not forget what he has done, but always obey his commandments.” (Psalm 78:5-7; Good News)

I thank God for the staff of our Child Enrichment Center who seek to do just that, pass on the faith to the next generation.  And the children are getting it.  My 4-year-old grandson heard the name Mary the other day and responded, “That is Jesus’ mother.”   He went on to tell about Jesus’ birth, then His dying on the cross and rising again and living in our hearts.  I thank God for the teachers and staff who are helping pass on the faith so the children “will put their trust in God…”

I also thank the many persons who helped make Tuesday night a great success.  By the time the families and friends of those 110 children got into the sanctuary, it was packed.  Pews that comfortably seat about 12 adults had 13 to 15 persons on them.  Extra chairs filled every spot in the balcony.  Micah Dorman had a group of youth who helped the parking ushers.  And Marcia Cuellar had her faithful ushers and greeters showing hospitality.  I will not attempt to name all that served with them, but thanks to all who gave of their time last night.  Also thanks to Bob Bradley, Susan Payne and Alan Riethmaier for serving in the sound and media booth.    

The Staff-Parish Relations Committee and the Child Enrichment Center Board knew that finding the person God was calling to lead this vital ministry was critical.  The Interview Team worked through about 20 resumes.  There were some excellent candidates.  After working through the interview process, everyone agreed that the person that could best continue to move this ministry forward, as a ministry, is Kay Moman.  In another week, Kay will move into the role of Director.  Undergird Kay with your prayers as she assumes these new responsibilities and seeks, with the SPRC and CEC Board, the support staff who will be part of the administrative team. 

The Child Enrichment Center is just one part of our ministry to children.  The Children’s Choirs, under the direction of Stacy Curl and Carrie Gilmore, blessed us on Sunday night.  As Stacy said, they were worship leaders Sunday evening. 

  

As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome.  You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org. 

Reflections

Reflections from Bro. Rudy –

May 16, 2012

 

SOWING IN TEARS

 

The title comes from this morning’s “Today God is First” devotional by Os Hillman.  Os reminded his readers that the “most difficult place to keep moving in faith is the place of extreme pain.  Extreme pain, especially emotional pain, can become immobilizing to the human spirit if it is allowed to overcome us.”  (TGIF, 5-16-12)

The Psalmist faced painful moments.  But he also knew a shepherd who walked with him through the valley.  In Psalm 126, he gives us a “remedy for overcoming painful circumstances that will result in joy.  We are to sow in the midst of these times.  You cannot do this if you live by feelings alone.  It is an act of the will.  This act requires that we go outside ourselves in pure faith.”  (TGIF)

 

As I read that devotional I remembered something I learned a long time ago:  Expression and Depression have the same root word, but they are total opposites.  You cannot have expression and depression at the same time.  Depression happens as we turn inward.  Expression cannot happen without turning outside of ourselves.  That is what the Psalmist is saying, “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.”  (Psalm 126:5)  He goes on in the next verse; “He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.”  (Psalm 126:6)

 

Os Hillman concluded his devotion; “Pain can become a source of joy if we take the first step by planting seed.  There is a harvest that will come if we sow in the midst of tears.”  (TGIF)

This Sunday morning we will recognize our High School Seniors during the 11:00 service then with a meal after the service.  I’m going to be preaching a sermon titled, “Here’s the Way – Follow Him.”  You might want to look at John 14:1-7 in preparation for worship. 

On Sunday evening, 6:30 PM, our Children’s Choir will be leading us in worship.  We should fill the sanctuary in support of these young disciples.

Royal Family Kids Camp is just 2 months away.  Pam Ansardi and her team need our prayers as they finish training and especially for the registration of children.  Pray that God will open the doors for the kids who need this camp the most to be able to come. 

Moving day for the Greer’s is just under a month from now.  Be in prayer for Terry, Lisa and Suzanna as they finish packing and saying goodbye to the people of Decatur.  Terry has met with our staff and Staff-Parish Relations Committee. The SPRC is working with Terry as he plans to become the Senior Pastor here at Gardendale-Mt. Vernon.  His first Sunday will be June 17^th.   

As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome.  You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org. 

Reflections

Reflections from Bro. Rudy –

May 9, 2012

A MOTHER’S PRAYER

Susana Wesley was the mother of Charles and John Wesley.  She played a major role in their faith development.  This prayer reveals why she was such an influence on Charles and John becoming the spiritual leaders they became:

God, I give You praise for days well spent.

But I am yet unsatisfied,

Because I do not enjoy enough of you.

I apprehend myself at too great a distance from You.

I would have my soul more closely united to You by faith and love.

You know, Lord, that I would love You above all things.

You made me, You know my desires, my expectations.

My joys all center in You and it is You that I desire.

It is Your favor, Your acceptance, the communication

Of Your grace that I earnestly wish for more than anything in the world.

I rejoice in your essential glory and blessedness.

I rejoice in my relation to You, that You are my Father, my Lord, and my God.

I thank You that You have brought me so far.

I will beware of despairing of Your mercy for the time which is yet to come,

And will give You the Glory for Your free grace. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

(Susanna Wesley)

(Shared by Kenny Baskin – Arab First UMC Newsletter)

This Sunday we will recognize mothers during our worship services.  Those of us who have/had mothers like Susanna Wesley need to take the opportunity to say thank you for their faithfulness. 

As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome.  You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org. 

Reflections from Bro. Rudy –

May 2, 2012

INWARD OR OUTWARD FOCUSED?

I received an email this morning from Bob Brewis.  It contained an article written by Thom S. Rainer.  The title of Thom’s article was “The 10 Warning Signs of an Inwardly Obsessed Church.”  In the article, Thom points out that any “healthy church must have some level of inward focus.  Those in the church should be disciples.  Hurting members need genuine concern and ministry.  Healthy fellowship among the members is a good sign for a congregation.” 

 Then came the “But”;  “But churches can lose their outward focus and become preoccupied with the perceived needs and desires of the members.  The dollars spent and the time expended can quickly become focused on the demands of those inside the congregation.  When that takes place, the church has become inwardly obsessed.  It is no longer a Great Commission congregation.”      

Thom Rainer is a church consultant and, in his working with churches, he developed the following list of potential signs that the church may be moving toward inward obsession.  He suggests that a church that manifests three of more of these warning signs is on the way to become an inwardly obsessed church.  

1.    Worship wars. One or more factions in the church want the music just the way they like it. Any deviation is met with anger and demands for change. The order of service must remain constant. Certain instrumentation is required while others are prohibited.

2.    Prolonged minutia meetings. The church spends an inordinate amount of time in different meetings. Most of the meetings deal with the most inconsequential items, while the Great Commission and Great Commandment are rarely the topics of discussion.

3.    Facility focus. The church facilities develop iconic status. One of the highest priorities in the church is the protection and preservation of rooms, furniture, and other visible parts of the church’s buildings and grounds.

4.    Program driven. Every church has programs even if they don’t admit it. When we start doing a ministry a certain way, it takes on programmatic status. The problem is not with programs. The problem develops when the program becomes an end instead of a means to greater ministry.

5.    Inwardly focused budget. A disproportionate share of the budget is used to meet the needs and comforts of the members instead of reaching beyond the walls of the church.

6.    Inordinate demands for pastoral care. All church members deserve care and concern, especially in times of need and crisis. Problems develop, however, when church members have unreasonable expectations for even minor matters. Some members expect the pastoral staff to visit them regularly merely because they have membership status.

7.    Attitudes of entitlement. This issue could be a catch-all for many of the points named here. The overarching attitude is one of demanding and having a sense of deserving special treatment.

8.    Greater concern about change than the gospel. Almost any noticeable changes in the church evoke the ire of many; but those same passions are not evident about participating in the work of the gospel to change lives.

9.    Anger and hostility. Members are consistently angry. They regularly express hostility toward the church staff and other members.

10. Evangelistic apathy. Very few members share their faith on a regular basis. More are concerned about their own needs rather than the greatest eternal needs of the world and community in which they live.

How many of these signs to do you see in Gardendale-Mt Vernon?  There is certainly not a perfect church, because every local church is composed of imperfect people like you and me.  But, is Gardendale-Mt Vernon manifesting too many of these signs?

I’ve been asked about a place to keep up with actions at General Conference.  This is a very important day there as the restructuring plan is being dealt with.  The petitions related to human sexuality are also expected to come before General Conference today.  A good place to keep up with what is happening there is The Confessing Movement web page.  (www.confessingumc.org)

Tomorrow, May 3^rd, is the National Day of Prayer.  We will hold a Community National Day of Prayer Service tomorrow night at 6:30 pm.  The Rev. Larry Dodd, from The Church Revived, will share a meditation and we will spend most of the service in prayer.  See you tomorrow night.

Don’t forget, the CEC Golf Tournament is this Saturday, May 5^th.  The money raised will go toward the next phase of making the playground handicapped accessible.  You can go to the website www.gmvumc.org for registration and sponsor information.

         

As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome.  You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org. 

Reflections

Reflections from Bro. Rudy –

April 25, 2012

IN WHAT DIRECTION ARE WE FOCUSED?

The General Conference for United Methodist began yesterday (Tuesday, April 24^th) in Tampa.  This morning Bishop Peter Weaver gave the Episcopal address.  Many have been passing on quotes from his address by Facebook and Tweeter.  In the words of Adam Hamilton, pastor at the Church of the Resurrection in Kansas, “Bishop Weaver nailed it!  Stirring Episcopal Address! Resurrection Revolution!”

Dr. Leonard Sweet passed on this statement of Bishop Weaver’s address: “Too many have swapped the ‘Let's Go!’ of the Great Commission for the 'status quo' of no mission.”  That is the reason many churches are not growing.  They have made the church all about themselves. 

Years ago Dr. Herb Miller shared that he was challenged to ask his congregation to raise their hands if they had brought someone to Christ.  Then he backed off, fearing no one would raise their hand.  But that is the critical question – have I introduced anyone to my Savior? Since the early days of the church, people have brought people to Jesus. 

In today’s culture, it often begins with an invitation to worship or some event at the church.  We send a questionnaire to all first time worship guests.  One of the questions asked; “How did you hear about Gardendale-Mt. Vernon UMC?”  Over half of those who return the questionnaire say they were invited to our church.  Sometimes they even write in the name of the person who invited them. 

In Second Corinthians, Paul calls us to be Ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19).  An ambassador is one who is sent out.  We cannot be ambassadors without going.  Yet, as Bishop Weaver said, we are often more interested in the “status quo” than in Christ’s mission of reaching the world.

 Shortly after we began the 9:45 service, one blamed me because his family was no longer sitting together during worship.  Some were going to the 9:45 service instead of sitting on the family pew at 11:00.  Today, the 9:45 service is not only our largest, but more baptisms and professions of faith take place in that service than the other two.  It is accomplishing what Bill Easum said, when he challenged us to begin a contemporary service at that time frame.  For those who don’t know the name Bill Easum, he is a United Methodist Church consultant who worked with our church about a decade ago.     

Bishop Weaver, in his address to General Conference also said; “None of this is for the preservation of the institution! But all of this is for the transformation of the entire world.”  Yet, the preservation of the institution, as we like it, is often our focus.  We tend to forget that this is not our church.  It is Christ’s Church.  And this church of Christ exists to make disciples for the transformation of the world.

I encourage you to continue to pray for General Conference as the business part of the Conference will soon begin.  It is my prayer that the mission of Christ will become the dominating theme of the congregation. 

Thanks to everyone who gave items, purchase items and served during the Mission Yard Sale.  Over $5,000 was raised to help send our Volunteers in Missions Team out.

Don’t forget, the CEC Golf Tournament is Saturday week, May 5^th.  The money raised will go toward the next phase of making the playground handicapped accessible.  You can go to the website www.gmvumc.org for registration and sponsor information.

    

As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome.  You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org. 

Reflections From Brother Rudy

Reflections from Bro. Rudy –
April 18, 2012

MAINTENANCE OR MISSION?

Sometime back, Bishop Willimon shared a piece in his weekly
message entitled “Maintenance or Mission?”
It was an excerpt from an article by Harold Percy that had been shared
with him from the website http://www.crossmarks.com
The article has some important insights during this time of transition:
MAINTENANCE OR MISSION?
1. In
measuring the effectiveness, the maintenance congregation asks,
"How many pastoral visits are being made?” The mission congregation asks,
"How many disciples are being made?"
2. When
contemplating some form of change, the maintenance congregation
says, "If this proves upsetting to any of our members, we won't do
it." The mission congregation says, "If this will help us reach
someone on the outside, we will take the risk and do it."
3. When
thinking about change, the majority of members in a maintenance
congregation ask, "How will this affect me?" The majority of members
in the mission congregation ask, "Will this increase our ability to reach
those outside?"
4. When
thinking of its vision for ministry, the maintenance congregation
says, "We have to be faithful to our past." The mission congregation
says, "We have to be faithful to our future."
5. The
pastor in the maintenance congregation says to the newcomer,
"I'd like to introduce you to some of our members." In the mission
congregation the members say, "We'd like to introduce you to our
pastor."
6. When
confronted with a legitimate pastoral concern, the pastor in the
maintenance congregation asks, "How can I meet this need?" The pastor
in the mission congregation asks, "How can this need be met?"
7. The
maintenance congregation seeks to avoid conflict at any cost (but rarely succeeds).
The mission congregation understands that conflict is the price of
progress, and is willing to pay the price. It understands that it
cannot take everyone with it. This causes some grief, but it does not keep it
from doing what needs to be done.
8. The leadership
style in the maintenance congregation is primarily managerial,
where leaders try to keep everything in order and running smoothly. The
leadership style in a mission congregation is primarily transformational,
casting a vision of what can be, and marching off the map in order to bring the
vision into reality.

9. The
maintenance congregation is concerned with their congregation, its
organizations and structure, its constitutions and committees. The mission
congregation is concerned with the culture, with understanding how secular
people think and what makes them tick. It tries to determine their needs and
their points of accessibility to the Gospel.
10. When
thinking about growth, the maintenance congregation asks, "How
many Lutherans live within a twenty-minute drive of this church?"
The mission congregation asks, "How many unchurched people
live within a twenty-minute drive of this church?"
11. The
maintenance congregation looks at the community and asks, "How can
we get these people to support our congregation?" The mission
congregation asks, "How can the Church support these people?"
12. The
maintenance congregation thinks about how to save their congregation.
The mission congregation thinks about how to reach the world.
The Mission Yard Sale
helps our Volunteers in Missions Teams reach out to the world. The resources raised will help with Team
member’s costs for travel, room and board.
The sale is this Friday and Saturday, April 20-21. They will
receive items for the sale this evening. If you would like to help, they will be
setting up the Fellowship Hall following the evening meal and working all day
Thursday. You can bring your items
tonight or Thursday or call the office if you need someone to pick up items for
the sale.

The CEC Golf Tournament is just two weeks away. The money raised will go toward the next
phase of making the playground handicapped accessible. You can go to the website www.gmvumc.org for registration and sponsor
information.


As always,
your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.

The Palm Sunday Parade

Reflections from Bro. Rudy –

THE PALM SUNDAY PARADE

This morning in chapel with the children of CEC, we talked about parades. The Palm Sunday parade was not much of a parade compared to the Gardendale Christmas parade or Macy’s
Thanksgiving Day parade. There were not bands or floats, but there was a welcoming crowd, as Jesus entered Jerusalem.

On my first trip to Jerusalem, a parade of “scouts” suddenly drew the attention of everyone in the Old City of Jerusalem. For about ten minutes, young persons in uniforms marched through those old streets to the beat of drums. Those streets are so narrow we had to step into some of the shops to get out of their way.

I imagine the Palm Sunday parade created a similar disruption in Jerusalem. As Jesus
entered the gates of Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, a crowd welcomed Him with singing and the waving of palm branches. Those who were in the city that day were suddenly aware of this little
parade. At least for a few moments, this little parade had gotten their attention and changed what they were doing. Some may have joined in the welcome of Jesus. Others were probably upset that their shopping had been disrupted. And we know the religious leaders were angered by the reception Jesus had received.

Jesus still comes to interrupt our daily lives. He wants to be allowed into our daily activities. Jesus never meant discipleship to become simply a Sunday experience. In talking about discipleship, He said it involved a daily response: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23; NRSV)

Jesus is looking for more from us than fans who sing “Hosanna” on Sunday. Jesus is looking
for committed followers, who seek to put Him first each day. As we approach this Palm Sunday are you a fan or follower of Jesus?

Don’t forget the Easter Egg Hunts that are coming up Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday,
March 31, Clyde and Brenda Cork will be leading the Easter Egg Hunt for the children
of our United Methodist Children’s Homes. Be in prayer for these children and those who
will be giving leadership. This will be held at Camp Sumatanga.

Then on Sunday, April 1, we have the Community Easter Egg Hunt at Blackcreek Park.
It kicks off at 4:00 PM. Invite the children in your neighborhood to the Egg Hunt. If it rains, the Hunt will be moved to the Church.

Also on Saturday, March 31 our Family and Leisure Team is having a Bunko Party. It begins at 7:00 PM. The cost is $5.00, with the money going to the Handicapped Playground. Walk-ins are welcomed.

As always, your responses to these Reflections are welcome. You can email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.