Living Close to God

Reflections from Bro. Rudy –
November 30, 2011

Living Close to God

I saw a quote this morning that has been around a long
time. It was posted by Pray in
Faith. “If you are not as close to God
as you used to be, who moved?”

Christmas is about God’s move toward us. Being created in the image of God there is a
need within us to be in relationship with God.
One of my seminary professors said we were created to be balanced by
God. But sin separates us from God. Sin puts our lives out of balance. God, in Jesus, came to reconcile us back unto
Himself. At Christmas God’s reaching
love took human flesh as God moved toward us, so we could reconnect with God.

The problem is, rather than living in this restored
relationship with God, we often focus on our own selfish desires instead of
living by the Spirit. Paul wrote, “Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not
gratify the desires of the flesh.”
(Galatians 5:16; NRSV) When we
are not intentional about living by the Spirit, we move away from God.

This Christmas season has many opportunities. Sometimes even the good things make our lives
so busy that we lose focus on the main thing.
We get so wrapped up in the many activities of the season that we fail
to spend time with the One who is the reason for the season. It is not that God has moved. Rather, we have drifted.

Christmas is about God moving toward us – Emmanuel, God with
us, has come. It is my prayer that we
don’t miss this great God in the busyness of the season.

This Sunday night, our Children’s
Choir will help us remember this great God who moves toward us. They will share their Christmas musicals at 6:30 in the Sanctuary. You will be blessed by their faith and
excitement about Jesus.

During our Sunday night service this week, we will receive
our White Christmas Offering for the
Children’s Home. This offering helps
support this special ministry to children.
If you cannot be present, you can still make your special gift by
marking your check for “White Christmas” or “Children’s Home.”

Commitments to the 2012 budget continue to come in. If you have not made your commitment,
Commitment Cards are available in the welcome areas.

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

Giving Thanks

Sunday that old song “Count Your Blessings, Name them One by
One,” came to me. As I begin to count my
blessings, it has a way of lifting my spirit.
God really is a good God.

Years ago I heard someone say that depression and expression
are the same root words, but they are totally opposites. You cannot have depression and expression at
the same time. I believe that is one of
the reasons the scriptures continually remind us to express praise and
thanksgiving. Giving thanks refocuses
our attention on the blessing that God is giving us. When we do we discover the song was right,
“it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

I’m rejoicing at the privilege God has given me to be an
ambassador for Jesus. Just this week,
I’ve had the privilege of talking with a boy and his family as he was exploring
faith. After sharing the basics of the
Gospel, I asked him if he was ready to invite Jesus into his heart. He said he was. So I lead him in a prayer. I can still see the tears of joy in his
father’s eyes as we finished that prayer.
There is no experience like having a part in a person coming to faith in
Jesus Christ.

That same day I was meeting with a couple who are planning
on getting married. In the conversation
we talked about faith and he shared that he had not confessed his sin to
God. I had the privilege of leading him
in a prayer of confession and forgiveness.

As I left the office that night, I remembered that the
scriptures say there is rejoicing in heaven when a lost sheep is found. That made Thanksgiving for me.

We have discovered that many did not receive your letter
with a Commitment Card for
2012. They went out a couple of weeks
ago, but apparently some sections of our parish area never received their
cards. If you have not made your
commitment to the 2012 ministries of the church, a card is attached.

Have you finished your Christmas Shopping? This Sunday you will have a unique
opportunity to do some Christmas Shopping as our United Methodist Women and
Emerge Young Adult Ministries host a Holiday Bazaar. Sojourns, a local Fair Trade retailer, will
be here with a variety of Fair Trade items.
By purchasing gifts through this means, you not only can get your gifts
at a good price, but you are providing fair wages and labor. Items on sale will range from Coffee and
Chocolate, to soaps, accessories and jewelry, along with some great children’s
gifts from all across the globe. The
Bazaar will be in the Fellowship Hall.

This Sunday night, our Hanging of the Green service will
take place in the sanctuary at 6:30 PM.
It is a learning time, a refocusing time and a worshipful time. It is a great way to set our sights on the
reason for the season.


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

I Bring an Offering to You

Paul Baloche has a great worship song entitled, Offering. It reminds us that worship itself is an
offering to God. The chorus
declares: “I bring an offering of
worship to my King. No one on earth
deserves the praises that I sing. Jesus
may You receive the honor that You’re due.
O Lord I bring an offering to You.”

Psalm 100 is sometimes called “The Call to Worship for the
Great Day of Thanksgiving.” Long before
we Americans established Thanksgiving Day, the Hebrew people had their Great
Day of Thanksgiving. On the day they
came together to bring an offering of worship.
The Psalm encouraged worshippers to “Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise. Give thanks
to him, bless his name.” (Psalm 100:4;
NRSV)

Singing and prayer are two ways we offer praise and
thanksgiving. But the Psalmist also
referred to another form of thanksgiving that took place in worship – the
offering. “Give an offering to show thanks
to God. Give God Most High what you have
promised.” (Psalm 50:14; NCV) This is
one reason I believe the offering time is a vital part of worship. It is not simply about collecting money for
the church. It is an act of worship in
which we declare our thanks and praise to God.
Notice also, that the offering is something “you have promised.”

This Sunday, you and I have the opportunity to make a
promise to God concerning our offerings for 2012. In making that promise, we are saying that we
trust God to supply our needs. And we
are giving Him thanks believing that God will be faithful so we can bring an
offering to God. It’s like Paul wrote to
the Corinthians; “And God is able to provide you with every blessing in
abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share
abundantly in every good work.” (2
Corinthians 9:8; NRSV)

Be in prayer about your Offerings for 2012. And bring your Commitment Card with you on
Sunday to make that promise of thanksgiving to God. If you cannot be present, you can mail you
card to the Church.

This Sunday night, we are hosting a Community Thanksgiving Service, at 6:30 PM. Mayor Othell Phillips will bring the message
and the Gardendale High School Chamber Choir will share some special
music. Invite your neighbors to join you
in this special evening of worship.

If you picked up a Box for Operation Christmas Child,
don’t forget to bring it Sunday. That is
another offering we bring to God. We
will pray over the boxes during worship and then on Sunday afternoon they will
begin their journey to the children.

Be in prayer for our wonderful custodians. This time of the year is very busy for
them. Yesterday, our Child Enrichment
Center had its Thanksgiving Celebration.
They had over 420 children, parents and grand-parents at the feast.

Now preparations are being made for tonight’s Night
in Bethlehem. The gym is being
transformed from a Thanksgiving Feast to the little town of Bethlehem. This will be a fun night for all ages. We are expecting guests from all over the area;
one church is bringing a group of their members to experience the night.

Then on Thursday night, we host a Boy Scout Banquet in the
gym. At the same time, our Junior Girl
Scouts have a special program going on in another part of the building.

With all the traffic, not to mention the set up and take
down, our custodians are busy. When you
see Lee, Joseph, Beverly and Betty, let them know how much you appreciate them.

Speaking of appreciation, the first phrase of the Playground
renovation has almost been completed.
There were numbers of volunteers who worked last Wednesday night and
Saturday pouring the new sidewalks that will also be a bike track. The main purpose was to provide wheelchair
access to the playground and also a better way to take wheelchair persons out
of the building in case of an emergency.
Thanks to all who gave time to this project.

This Sunday is the youth/UMW bake sale in the fellowship
hall. You can shop in between any of the
services. All money raised from this bake sale will go to buy gifts for the
CASA kids. Come with your sweet tooth
and a little money to go to a good cause!

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

Giving Thanks for Freedom - It came with a cost.

Last Sunday we remembered the saints from our church that
have entered the Communion of Saints around the throne. I was part of the Home going Celebration for
several of them. Some of them were
veterans. They were honored with an
American Flag over their casket, which was presented to the family at the
graveside. It is always a moving moment
for me when the family is presented the flags with the words, “On behalf of a
grateful country…” We should be
grateful.

This Friday, November 11th, our nation celebrates
Veterans Day. This is an opportunity to
express our gratitude to those who have served in our nation’s Armed
Forces. During each of our worship
services this Sunday we will recognize our veterans. Because of the sacrifices they made, we have
the freedoms we enjoy in this country.

It is also true that our freedom from sin and death came at
a cost. As Paul wrote to Timothy,
“[Jesus] gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone.” (1 Timothy 2:6a; NLT) Our freedom was purchased at great cost. That is the reason the German Theologian
Dietrich Bonhoeffer referred to grace as “costly grace.” This unconditional acceptance, that we call
grace, cost Jesus His life on the cross.

How do you say thanks for such a costly gift? Over and over in the scriptures we see that
God’s unconditional acceptance brought forth a response of repentance,
re-commitment and worship. Jacob
responded by committing a tithe of all that God would bless Him with. Isaiah responded with confession, and then a
commitment to serve, “Here I am, send me.”

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, November 20th, will
be Commitment Sunday. It is appropriate
for Commitment Sunday to fall on Thanksgiving Sunday. The best expressions of Thanksgiving go
beyond words. We thank God for His
amazing grace by giving God our very selves.
Like Jacob we pledge our tithe and like Isaiah we surrender, “Here I am,
send me.”

This Sunday afternoon, November 13th, will be a
wonderful opportunity for Christian Fellowship.
The Tailgate Party begins at 3:30.
Bring food for your family or join with your small group or Sunday school
class to share a meal together. Also
bring a game or two to involve people in fellowship. Then at 5:15, we gather for worship. Martin Houston, who played on the 1992
Championship Team at the University of Alabama, will be the preacher.

If you have not picked up a box and instructions for
Operation Christmas Child, they are available in the welcome areas. The boxes need to be returned by November 20th,
so they can begin their journey to the children who will receive them at
Christmas.


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

November 2, 2011

All Hallows’ Eve

It is impossible to know how many we actually had on our
campus for the Harvest Hoedown on Monday night.
Just the children who registered and their parents put the attendance
over 2500. But we know that many did not
register. The Children’s Team did an
outstanding job in preparing for the evening.
And it appeared that those who volunteered to help had a good time.

Did you know that before Halloween emerged as a holiday,
Christ-Followers were celebrating All Hallows’ Eve? That word “eve” points to something that is
coming, something just over the horizon.
For example, Christmas Eve points us to the celebration of Christmas,
the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
All Hallows’ Eve pointed believers to All Hallows or All Saints day. It was the day the Church celebrated the
“Communion of the Saints” as we affirm in the creed.

What comes to your mind when you hear the word “Saint?” Because of the influence of the Roman
Catholic Church, we tend to think of special people who lived extra-ordinary
lives. We think of the Apostles as
Saints; St. Matthew, St. John, St. Paul.
Some of the early church leaders are referred to as saints, like St.
Augustine and St. Francis. And more
recently we’ve heard about Mother Teresa’s journey to sainthood.

Sometime after the third century, the word “saint” began to
take on this different meaning in the church.
As the church became more of an institution in Rome, the emergence of
these special “saints” took place. That
was not the class in the early church.
In the New Testament, the word “saint” refers to those who are followers
of Jesus Christ. You may have heard the
saying, “Jesus transforms sinners into saints.”
By His grace we are cleansed of sin and made new creations. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are set
apart as holy, seeking after sanctification through His grace.

All Hallows or All Saints day emerged both to challenge
Christ-Followers to live as holy, set apart people and to remember those who
had joined the eternal Communion of Saints during the year. All Saints Day was celebrated in the Church
on November 1st. Hence, All
Hallows Eve, on October 31st, was the preparation for the All Saints
Day celebration.

Today, many churches take the first Sunday after November 1st,
to celebrate “All Saints Day.” It still
has that dual role, to challenge Christ-Followers to live as holy, set apart
people and to remember those who have joined the eternal Communion of the
Saints. In our 11:00 Service this Sunday
we will remember those from our Church Family who have become part of that
great “cloud of witnesses” referred to in Hebrews 12:1.

This Sunday our United Methodist Women will have their Soup Luncheon
for missions. Tickets are on sale
in the office for only $6.00 a person.
Be sure to get your tickets so they will know how much soup to
prepare.
As always, your responses to these
Reflections are welcome. You can
email me at rguess@gmvumc.org.

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.

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.