Reflections From Sunday Evening

Today at our annual Church Conference we approved Britton Fields as a candidate for ordained ministry. Britton has been a part of our church for a number of years and most recently been playing with the band at our NEXT service. He also serves on our church leadership council. I have met and prayed with Britton. He has prayerfully explored the call to ministry and today took another significant step toward a life of serving Christ and the Church. When a member of our church steps into ministry it is a tremendous highlight. Seeing a person come to faith in Christ for the first time is the greatest experience a church can share. Second to that is having one of our own respond to the call to ministry. This shows that our church is a place where faith is nurtured and the voice of God is heard. It is a joy to recommend Britton for ministry. Ordained ministry is not the only way to respond to God's call. I believe all Christian are gifted and called to some form of ministry. There are many opportunities at Platte Woods UMC. We have a variety of service ministries. Some are called to teach. Some are called to administer. Some are called to help. Some are called to give. Some are called to work with children. Some are called to youth ministry. Some are called to hospitality. Some are called to preach. It is a wonderful thing when the people of the church hear God's call and say yes. Then the adventure begins as God equips and empowers. Welcome to the adventure Britton. Welcome to the adventure ... It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Today we talked about the difficulty many people have reconciling our belief in a good, gracious, kind, powerful and wise God with the reality of sin, evil and suffering in the world. There is no definitive answer to this issue. However there is a very real hope that we find in Jesus Christ. While I cannot give some secret answer to the problems encountered I can offer the hope of Christ with great confidence. We looked at an illustration from Leonard Sweet. It is always nice to adapt others illustrations to our own purposes! The idea centered on learning a second language. It is one thing to learn vocabulary and grammar but that does not make us fluent in a new language. The test comes when we "dream" in the new language. That comes when we go beyond vocabulary and grammar. This comes when we are immersed in a new culture. We learn to recognize the sounds, sights and smells of a new culture. We not only learn the language, it becomes part of us. Then we "know" a new language. We applied this to the Christian life. John the Baptist came calling people to repent. They were baptized in water and entered a new relationship with Jesus Christ. Sins are forgiven. Abundant life is experienced. Eternal life is promised. Coming back to the challenges of our day we wonder if this sufficiently empowers us to live a redemptive life in a world laced with sin, evil and suffering. Perhaps we should listen to John the Baptist again. "I baptize you with water for the forgiveness of sins. One comes after me who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." We can be immersed in the Holy Spirit and when we are we will emerge new people. To be immersed in the Holy Spirit is to enter a new culture and know the language, the smells, the sights and the sounds. This is when we dream the dreams of God. This is a way we know and experience a good, kind, wise, powerful and gracious God living in redemptive ways in the world of sin, evil and suffering. By faith, be immersed in the Spirit and emerge a new person. On a personal note... Cindy's mom, Ruth Ann Grizzell, passed away this weekend. She had battled cancer. She had two good years after undergoing treatments three years ago. She lived the faith and looked forward to heaven. We would love your prayers for Cindy, her brother and sisters and the extended Grizzell family as we share in the celebration of her life. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Tomorrow the college football season comes to a close. There will be a real national championship game played between Oregon and Ohio State University. Oregon and their high powered offense is favored to win. But I am going to make a prediction. (Someone tell Don Schriver I am picking Ohio State). Yes I believe OSU will win the game and take home the national title. Oregon is great. If they win it will be because they deserve to and they will have capped an amazing season. But here are some things Ohio State has going for them. Tradition. OSU has been a power for decades. Go to the "Horseshoe" and watch a game with 105,000 fans. They have great tradition. Coaching. Urban Meyer is a fantastic coach. He wins everywhere. This will be no exception. Players. It does not matter how much tradition there is or how great the coach, it all comes down to players. They have talent. Program. They have a plan. They have a way they do things and stay with it. It all adds up to an OSU National Championship. Tune in Monday evening or check the score later and lets see how my prognosticator skills work out. Before I move on I want to compare OSU to what we experience in the life of the Church. There are days and even eras of history where people wonder if the Church will last. But we do not affirm, "The Church is of God and will be preserved to the end of time" for nothing. The people of God make the Church and the Body of Christ is the leaven that God uses to change and redeem the world. We have some great things going for us at Platte Woods UMC. Tradition. We are part of the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit dwells with us. Jesus lives in our midst. Furthermore we have engaged in effective ministry since the 1950's. We have a history of making a difference and seeing lives changed. Coaching. We have a great staff that is capable of inspiring and equipping people to serve and honor God in life changing ways. The lay leadership of PWUMC is as strong as they come. We have people who are deeply devoted to God's mission in and through PWUMC. Players (members/participants). This is what makes all the difference. You are the people of God who care for one another. You are the people of God who serve. You give. You share the faith with others. You are the primary reason we have a great church. Program. We have a plan. We are "building an outwardly focused Christian Community of full participants in the Life of Grace". That is a plan (vision). We are focused upon making disciples of Jesus Christ. That is a mission. It is an absolute joy to be part of our church. It is a double joy to serve as your pastor. If we were a football team I would certainly pick us to win the championship! It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Today we spent some time thinking about 2 types of people: The NONES and the DONES. These are people who represent a portion of the 40,000 plus people who live in our immediate area that are not part of a faith community. NONES are those who have never been baptized, do not have a church background, did not go to Sunday School or Bible School, or those who have left a childhood faith and now check the "No Preference" box on a religious survey. NONES. The DONES are those who have been faithful in church attendance. They have served in many ways. They give. Then one day they decide "I'm Done!" Both types of individuals present challenges to the church. It is clear that for the church to continue to do "business as usual" will not help the NONES move past the barriers that keep them from full participation in a faith community. Clearly "business as usual" has contributed to DONES. We can spend time developing strategy and plans. We could bombard people with all sorts of messages. But there is one thing we (the church) have to offer that is unique. We offer grace. I am sharing from Phillip Yancey's book, "Vanishing Grace: Whatever Happened to the Good News?" Could it be that the church has resorted to "standards", "expectations", "accountability" and "rules" and seen grace slowly vanish? We begin a new year and today I offer you GRACE. This is the free gift of God revealed in Jesus Christ. This year we anticipate the emergence of grace in our church and in our lives. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve

Embark

One definition of the word embark is to take the first step into a process. This seems like a good way to begin this new year - 2015. In our church we anticipate the "next" step in a building process. We are embarking upon something that stretches beyond the immediate. We are embarking upon something larger than ourselves. We embark upon a 40 year project! What we do in these next months will serve the church for years. These initial steps we take will continue to bless and encourage for generations to come. I am not sure of all the exact steps we will take. We may hesitate. We may stumble but we will not fall. We embark - take the first step - into a process to honor and glorify God. I am overjoyed to embark with you into this New Year.