Reflections From Sunday Evening

This has been a mixed day. You realize I base this on our church services this weekend. There were some really great things happening. The music - Jubilante, praise team, choir, were really on it. They practice and come on Sundays and help us experience the presence of God. So much talent and so many gifts.

We highlighted some amazing things going on in the life of the church. When Ginger talked about the upcoming "My First Prayer Retreat" I was so glad we are taking the opportunity to help our youngsters learn the joy and importance of prayer. That is amazing.

There were good conversations going on all over the place. That is a great sign of fellowship. We had first-time visitors. A number of people indicated they planned to come to the new member orientation this afternoon. Should be good. These are great signs of life.

I'm counting on our youth to download John Mellencamp's new song "Forgiveness." It is a great message.

People were engaged. I am convinced that many who were there gained some fresh insights into God's forgiveness and our human capability of extending grace and forgiveness to others.

Here's the other side of the mixed day. There were an awful lot of empty seats today. Our attendance was significantly lower today than it was on the final weekend of September last year. It makes me wonder what we need to do. There are so many doing so much, so what are we missing?

I suppose the best thing to do is get back to praying and planning for next week. We'll have a wonderful worship experience next week. There will be all sorts of service opportunities this week. God is alive and well among us and we are going to keep on loving and learning and serving our Savior. In that light it's been a good day.

On another note I've been watching the Chiefs today. (I am and will always be a Chiefs fan.) I'm reminded of what Coach John McKay once said following another loss of the Tampa Bay team he was coaching. When asked what he thought about his team's "execution" he responded, "Right now I'm all for it." I don't know how Todd Haley keeps from going out of his mind.

So much for that - just scored a TD.

Enough of this rambling. Have a great day and God bless you in all you do.

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Today was a special day in the life of Platte Woods UMC. We celebrated our 50th anniversary. Glen Wiggs, Jerrol Boehmer and John Breon were three former pastors who joined us and shared some of their experiences at PWC. Jeff Denton organized the event and shared from the time capsule. (We'll get the letters on-line soon.) Food was great - the day was great - Makes a fellow eager for the next 50 years!
While we were celebrating we also were looking ahead. Our past is wonderful but the future belongs to God! So today was also a bit of vision casting. Check out the sermon on our website if you want to hear what I see in the next few years. Hint - some building - lots of mission and ministry and a church that clearly understands our purpose, mission and vision.
To be the church (whether PWC or any church for that matter) God is calling us to be we MUST discover the joy and power of inviting others to participate in the life of grace through worship, learning and serving. To be the church God wants us to be we must increase our own commitments to being present and bearing witness to what Christ is doing in our lives.
Back on the inviting theme. I was recently meeting with a group of people and we were talking about the book, Simple Church. The question was posed; what would be an example of something we might stop doing if it was not matching our purpose? I mentioned one of our most successful ministries - the ladies Christmas Tea. My thought is that if this becomes a "members only" event and we do not invite our friends who do not regularly worship it would lose its value. I also mentioned the Men's Faith Breakfast - we need to be sure we invite folks who do not go to church to these events with the idea they will be introduced to Jesus Christ and the life of faith.
At that point a statemnt was made. "I did not know we COULD invite outsiders." You talk about something I assume that was not communicated! Then it was explained. The information about the event encouraged everyone to "register early" and signalled that space was limited. The person knew a number of people he thought would love to come but did not feel he could invite them. Wow.
Let it be known that we are REQUIRED to invite people. If we run out of room we'll figure it out. We need to invite.
Today we had roughly 550 people eat in the new dining hall. We were pretty nervous (Jeff Denton!) about what to do with the anticipated crowd. It went very smoothly. People came through the lines in a timely manner. It was relaxed and enjoyable. God has a way.
It's been a really good day. I hope you've had a good day too.
steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

This weekend we introduced Curtis and Terri Huffman in our worship services. Curtis has been appointed to start a new UM church in the Northland. Church planting is so much different than when I had the opportunity in 1982. We were more neighborhood oriented then. Today Curtis is charged with finding unchurched people and gathering a launch team which will then develop the church, including the site where they will worship. It is exciting to see new beginnings. We at PWUMC have the opportunity to partner with this new work. We can all look forward to getting acquainted with Curtis and Terri.

This past week I had the opportunity to attend a "Changing Church Culture" seminar in Dallas. The event was sponsored by the North Dallas Conference and the topic dealt with changing the culture in a church to become more focused on reaching the unchurched. The seminar was held at the Southwest Airlines Corporate Headquarters. About half the time was spent with a leader from Southwest and included a tour of their facility and history. It was a great opportunity to learn more about setting priorities and developing the spiritual DNA of a congregation.

When it comes to applying the principles learned it simply becomes an issue of how we go about our life together. I have the privilege of setting the tone in many ways and definitely seek your continued prayers as I offer servant leadership here.

Worship this weekend was really meaningful. Things came together very well. I was truly blessed by Michael Short singing "I Can Only Imagine." The praise team and then the choir certainly made that time of worship heart moving. Thanks Michael and everyone who brought us to the throne of grace today.

Claim the moment of God's Spirit in and around you today. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too.

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Labor Day weekend is not one of our "high holy" days but we still had good attendance and a great spirit in worship today. I always come away from church with a song in my heart. It may be a hymn, a chorus or even "Jesus is Just Alright With Me!" but our music stirs the soul. Thanks to all who make it happen.
At the 11:00 service I realized during communion that we had a family from another religious tradition. It seemed neat that I had specifically addressed different world religions and was not aware of this family. I noticed them during communion as one of our members was taking time to explain what we were doing. That is so important. After church the family was delighted to have been present with us. I look forward to following up with them.
One of the amazing things about preaching is how we end up speaking to ourselves! If you heard the closing illustration today you understand how important I believe it is to not only have Jesus know our name but to know Him as well. I pray that this week when I meet the risen Lord Jesus in some person, circumstance or place that I fully recognize the One who knows my name.
It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. (I am going to need to change this before long since Charlie Gibson has announced his retirement!) But for now.....
steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

If you heard the sermon today you know I was talking about what I would need to do in order to be a better golfer. It sounds like a great idea. I'd love to play golf regularly. I'd like to hit the ball straight and far. I'd love to be able to chip and putt. For this to happen a couple of things must happen.

1. Take lessons. I went over that. I would need someone to instruct me in the fundamentals. It is important to do things correctly - grip, stance, swing. Then ...
2. Practice. Hit balls - practice chipping - putting - all the different shots - get consistent.

Practice takes commitment. Time - energy - focus - expense. I doubt many were surprised when I said right now, it's not going to happen. At this point in life I am not willing to set aside the time, use the energy, place and focus and commit the expense to being a better golfer.
Many people consider the spiritual life but when it comes to needing to practice - spiritual disciplines - prayer - Bible reading - Christian conferencing - worship - they decide not to pursue it. Not now. Maybe later.

People are not against the Lord. Some will come to worship occasionally (just as I still play in the church golf tournament!). But there is a real challenge to making a commitment to the spiritual life.

It all fit together pretty well this weekend. It was funny - I got blessed preaching the sermon! The worship - baptism - commissioning a mission team to go to Greensburg, Kan., next weekend - youth sitting together in good numbers - the choirs - the praise team - special music - youth ushers - Wow. It was a good day. I hope you've had a good day too.

Reflections From Sunday Evening

In the parable of the Sower Jesus talks about planting seeds. Seeds get scattered in various places - a path, rocky ground, among thorns and on good soil. The results are fairly predictable. Seed that falls on the road tends to get eaten up by birds looking for food. Jesus likens this to the devil coming along and stealing the Word from people before it takes root and makes sense. Other seeds fell on stony ground - this is like the seed that sprouts up but in the heat of the day the produce withers. When the Word gets started in a person's life it will get taken down when challenges to faith arise. The seed in rocky places is like the Word sown in a life but the cares of this world choke it out. Only in good soil does seed produce. Jesus indicates we might expect as much as a 100 fold increase!

This weekend many seeds were planted just in our church alone. Here are some examples of seed planting. Greeted at the door - fellowship in Sunday School classes - a lesson for our youngest children - music - prayers - scripture read - a sermon - corporate worship - personal prayers - a smile - a handshake. You could add to the list. All these are seeds of the gospel of grace being planted week after week. We do it here and seed planting is reproduced all over the world. You will be planting seeds this week. The daily planting is essential for kingdom growth.

My question is this. How do we get to the good soil? Is it merely by chance? Is some soil predetermined to be good while other is just not going to produce? (That could be a Calvinist's interpretation but we are Wesleyan!) Should we be more selective in where (or to whom) we plant seed? Is there anything we might be able to do that would produce good soil? Are we able to create an environment in our church where the seeds being planted on a regular basis will be finding good soil - our hearts and souls?

Would you join me in praying that the seeds planted find good soil and we are privileged to witness seeds growing up and producing much fruit - many hearts touched - many lives moved - many souls saved.

It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too.

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Brody Smith told me I mentioned "Christ" 54 times in the sermon this morning. Too repetitive or Christ-centered? Humor me a moment and allow me to consider it Christ-centered.

• Some are exploring Christ - some are growing in Christ - some are close to Christ - some are becoming Christ-centered (that's all Willow Creek stuff but it is good).
• Some are walking away from Christ - Some stopping at the impulse of Christ - some turning to Christ - some walking to Christ - Some walking with Christ - Some walking in Christ.
• Christ calls us to follow - Christ desires our life - Christ calls us to join him.

That's 16 times in a couple of minutes - he's probably right.

Now if I can only back up my "talk" about Christ with actually living in Christ - the Christ-centered life.

This is our goal. It is a value to claim and pursue. To be Christ-centered forms a life where Jesus Christ is at the core of everything - Christ is the center of all our life. Christ is the power that holds all aspects of life together in the grace of God.

Well, I was glad to know I had something (SomeOne) to talk about today. I'm glad Brody was listening.

It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too.