Reflections From Sunday Evening

This has been a tough week in many ways. Racial strife at the flagship university in Missouri. Leaders of a great university resigned in the midst of racial unrest. A football team stands with fellow students. A game is at risk. An uneasy truce seems to come forth. The coach of the football team announces he is fighting cancer and will retire at the end of the season. That is a difficult week in Missouri. In the whole scheme of things our issues pale in light of things that happened in Kenya, Nigeria, Baghdad and Paris. Lives were lost in terrorist attacks. There have been no negotiations. There is no uneasy truce. How will the free world respond to the evil threat of terrorism? There are other things that have happened in the past days that have not made the news. People have felt a strange uneasiness. There is a gnawing sense of anxiety over who knows what. Where do we turn? There are some other things that have happened. A person came to church and reported that they had their best church experience in two years. A newly relocated widow found her way to church and perhaps is finding a new family. Youth after youth served 750 people at a turkey dinner. What do we make of all this? Horrible terror. Joyful celebration. Perhaps if we were to walk through the New Testament with Jesus we might encounter one who walked in a real world. He lived under an oppressive political power that was ruthless in maintaining power. There were terrorists in those days who planned and plotted acts of violence to turn things in their favor. In the middle of all that Jesus talked about loving your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. Then he went out and actually did what he preached. I wonder what I will do this week? steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

It seems like ages ago that we were watching the KC Royals in the World Series. So much has happened in the past week. Game five was another reminder to never quit. Always anticipate something good happening. (Unless you were a Met) Perseverance pays off. There is always hope. Wow. All the things we seek to impress upon people seemed to play out before our very eyes. Less than 48 hours after the final game everyone who ever thought about going to Kansas City showed up for a parade! What a celebration. Again we witnessed a piece of life. Celebration! Royals players show up on late night tv shows. Sports writers keep writing about the amazing year. Already plans are being made for next season. So even World Champions must prepare for tomorrow. Some men who played on the 2015 team will not be with the team in 2016. There will be others to take their place. The game goes on. I suppose we will be making comparisons between the Royals and life and the spiritual life in particular. Most of those comparisons will be a stretch. But if there is a great spiritual lesson to be found in this past week perhaps it is the hope and possibility of unity. Even people who do not know or care anything about baseball got caught up in the joy. People of all economic situations, faith perspective, ages, gender and any other demographic joined together to support the boys in Blue. Here is a lesson. We who are people of faith believe Jesus Christ is the one who truly unites all people to God. We become one in Christ. Yet we who follow Jesus keep putting up roadblocks and barriers. For some reason we get the idea that our particular views and beliefs are right and all others are wrong. So we split up. We are convinced that our actions reflect the path of Christ and any other is out of bounds. So we divide. We like the way we baptize, communion, structure the church, administer the finances, govern, lead, serve, vision...If you don't do it my way we go our separate ways. But there is hope. Hope in Christ. One day...One day the Holy Spirit will move in amazing ways. One day Jesus will gather His Church together. One day we will be one in Christ. Hey, if the Royals can unite a city Jesus can unite the Church and the world. Something to seek after. Something to pray for. Something to think on. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a great day too. steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Let's talk baseball! Baseball is an absolutely great game. We start playing when we are little kids. I think of playing baseball when I was a little guy. We played and had fun. We learned everything about the game. It was all new to us. We learned how to hold the bat and swing correctly. We learned how to catch the ball and throw it. We learned how to get in the right position and what to do when the ball came our way. As we get older the game gets more difficult. The pitcher throws harder. They start to throw curve balls. We adapt. We grow with the game. On a summer day we may remember days when a bunch of kids got together and played until dark or we lost the ball. I remember throwing a ball against the barn door. There is no way of knowing how many rocks I hit with various ball bats. Maybe we find ourselves at the "K" on a late July or August afternoon. It is a lazy day. We find the ballpark to be a place to relax. We look at the well manicured green grass. Our mind wanders. We hear the crack of the bat and the crowd cheers. We watch the play unfold and then settle back in to enjoy the pace and the peace of baseball. Today we see a big difference in July baseball and October baseball! In October every pitch holds a grip on our attention. Every pitch, every play has the potential to bring delight or despair. My heart beats faster just watching the World Series. I actually tried to NOT watch game four. It is Saturday night. I get up early on Sunday. I have things to do. I decide to go to bad after the sixth inning. I actually fall asleep for an inning. Then the Royals come to life. I hear a cheer from the living room. Cindy is cheering for our team. I hear a notification on my phone. Tie game. I hear another cry of joy from the living room. Royals take the lead. I lay there but my mind is now engaged. Another cheer from the living room. Another run for the Royals. I get up to watch. The idea of a two run lead with six outs to go is too stressful. I still have to get up in the morning. I lay there trying to not think about the game. Finally I hear one more sound from the living room. I check the game. One out and two on base. Then I hear this cry of delight from the other room. Cindy is celebrating the win. I go watch the celebration. Baseball. I said all that to think about the church. For many church is a place of nurture and comfort. It is a place where we find peace. It is like a summer afternoon. Then I think of church as October baseball. There is intensity from the heart of God. There is so much more at stake than there is in a baseball game. There is eternal significance in everything done. The Holy Spirit drives us to the Cross. The Holy Spirit sends us into mission. There are new discoveries in the life of grace that jump into our hearts. There is an intensity of Spirit that is absolutely life changing, community changing, nation awakening and world altering! The Church is alive with the Holy Spirit. It is even more exciting - even better than October baseball. It's been a great day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Today we were looking at Genesis 22. That is the story where God tells Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering. I was looking at traditional and alternate interpretations of the text. I won't go into all that now. But I want to go back to the idea that we might focus on verse 11. This is the verse where just before Abraham goes through with sacrificing Isaac God intervenes. He stops Abraham from going though with the sacrifice. We generally focus on Abraham's response but here we look at God's action. This is a significant moment in the story of redemption. Abraham is leading God's people. They will become a great nation. Later a new leader named Moses will arise. There will be ups and downs for the people of Israel. Prophets will come forward. Later God will come in Jesus Christ. Apostles will carry the message of the Gospel. Through history the faithful will continue the message and untold numbers will believe in Jesus Christ and continue the people of God initiated so long ago. When God called out to Abraham I see him beginning a new way. The people where Abraham's people were going had many practices such as worshiping many gods, child sacrifice, sexualized religious practices and other things. When God says "stop" a new way is introduced. The people of God will be distinct from the cultures and nations of the world. They will not practice those acts the others took for granted. A new way is beginning. When Moses brought the 10 Commandments they were counter to the practices of others. In a world with a multitude of gods the Lord says you shall have One God. In a world of idolatry there is a prohibition of graven images. The list goes on. The people of God continue to this day. We may forget some of this but we still carry the distinctive mark of the people of God. The people of God live differently from the prevailing culture. We think different. We live different. We are different because Christ lives in us. ...Something to think about. We are the people of God. What does that mean to us? On another note... Today PWUMC held our Trunk or Treat at Chin Elementary School. We partnered with the school and were able to share with many who are not in our church. I thought it was a great witness. So proud of our Children's Ministry and whole church. It's been a good day. (Chiefs win?) - (Go Royals!) steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Today we were talking about faith and how it produces hope. Hope is an interesting word. Some time when you are with some friends ask how they define hope. If they are like many people today the definition will include words like "wish" and "desire". Frankly we have developed an understanding of hope as wishful thinking. A Biblical understanding of hope is much different. The scriptures speak of our "blessed hope" (Titus 2:13). This refers to our hope of the appearing of Jesus Christ. In our Christian understanding hope is much more than wishes and desires, it is grounded in faith and is sure and certain. I shared what I learned from Rev. Nanette Roberts who serves the UMC in Olathe, Kansas. The Indo-European, Hebrew and Greek root words end up being translated hope and the same root word leads to a word translated curve. The image emerges of a bend that changes direction and provides a new way. A change in perspective is always possible. The bottom line is we can have a more informed definition of hope. Hope is a strong and confident expectation that change is likely to occur. When faith rises and hope follows we may find ourselves having a strong and confident expectation that change is likely to occur. Feel free to apply that idea to your faith life, your relationships, your health, your finances or any circumstance in your life. We might also apply that idea to our hopes for our church, community, nation and world. People of faith have been entrusted with something that is life changing and world changing. Faith produces hope and hope leads to a strong, confident expectation that change is likely to occur. God is likely to step into our lives and make a great change. God is likely to step into our lives and forgive us, redeem us and change our hearts. God is likely to move in the Church and bring forth a revival of faith that will rock the world. God is likely to get involved in the community, the nation and the world in a very redemptive way. Let faith arise and hope follow. Live with a strong, confident expectation that God will move in your life. It is very likely to occur. It's been a great day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Third Grade Bibles. Today was the day we gave our third graders their Bibles. It is always a joy to hand out the Word of God and shake a young persons hand. They are such a great group. Week after week third graders comes to Sunday School. Their teachers and all those involved in Children's Ministry invest in their faith formation. Many of these kids are part of our Wednesday night program (WOW). They have been in Vacation Bible School. Through the years they have been in many classes. They have done crafts. They have served in different ways. They have played. They have shared refreshments. They have been part of the Church. Today we added an important ingredient to their life of faith. The Bible. I asked them to find the Gospel of Mark. Their assignment is to read Mark. I told them when they finish Mark 4 and read the Parable of the Sower to email me. (About half of our third graders have email addresses). Past experience tells me they will be reading and getting more and more acquainted with God's Word. I anticipate someday these third graders will be sharing the Word in Middle School and then in High School groups. These are the young people who one day will participate in and lead campus groups in college. These are some of those who will be witnesses in the workplace and encourage co-workers with the Scriptures. Seeds are being sown. The church plays a great role in the development of disciples of Jesus Christ. We pray, we serve, we give and we love children into the life of faith. It's been a great day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

I am thinking sports this afternoon. Here is a general principle for success. Be in the right place and do the right thing. This is especially true when playing defense. I would say that over half the battle is simply being in the right place. At least then you are in the way! (I watched the Chiefs game and they prove my point. Seldom did they appear to be in the right place). We watch defensive placements in baseball that seek to put people in the right place to make a play. Once in the right place it becomes important to do the right thing. From experience I know what it is like to be in the right position and then miss a tackle. But it is much easier to do the right thing when you are in the right place. There are examples of people making super plays even though out of position. But that is not common. Be in the right place and do the right thing. That makes for success. Let me put this in a spiritual perspective. It is important to be in the right place spiritually. Be "in"Christ. That means it starts with a relationship with Jesus Christ. We accept Christ and the Lord then "lives in us". We are in the right place by the grace of God. From our position in Christ we are empowered to do the right things. This is when we are best able to "love mercy, do justice and walk humbly with our God." It is evident that people without a relationship with Christ do good and accomplish some important things. But in my analogy it takes some extraordinary actions when doing good work in our own power. In Christ we have the power of the Holy Spirit to empower us to do mercy and justice. In Christ we have the power to witness for Christ and point others to His love. When in the right place (in Christ) we are best equipped to do the right things. On another note... Tomorrow (Monday) we host a blood drive at church. We are open from 2-7. It is a great way to serve and make a difference. Remember (from the announcement today) that those who sign up become eligible to take home a pie from Corner Cafe. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve