Reflections From Sunday Evening

I was surprised when the people of Great Britain voted to leave the European Union. You can listen to and read all the political experts explain this but in essence it seems to me a populist movement. Citizens are weary of trusting leaders to make decisions for them. So here we go. There is a good bit of this going on in the USA these days. Trust of leaders and institutions is low. There have probably been times in history that were even more challenging, but these are "interesting" times. So what do we as followers of Jesus do with the current climate?
 In America we are committed to democracy. We in the United Methodist Church do not really operate as a democracy. We are a representative form of church government. We elect people to represent us at all levels of our church life, including the local church. The past few years all the administration books and leadership books have stressed the necessity of strong leadership in the church. (With the exception of Leonard Sweet who keeps insisting that we do not need leaders as much as followers of Jesus.)
So what do we do? Who do we copy? What does all this have to say to us at Platte Woods UMC?
We are always seeking to learn from others but want to recognizing our unique features and do what we do well.
We are trying to build a leadership model that calls for the Senior Pastor to cast vision and show the way forward.  The authority is in influence.
The staff identifies, recruits and equips leaders who do the same to bring the people of the congregation into ministry and service.
When this works right the people are the "ministers".  The staff and church leadership support the church, not steer the course.
Like most other things in the culture today it presents challenges.  But what a great time in the life of our church to be part of what God is doing.  Always learning.  Always seeking.  Always serving.
Here we go.
It's been a good day.  I hope you've had a good day too.
steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Father's Day. Thinking about dad and how grateful to be able to stop by and visit to this day. I think of sooooo many things about my dad. He took me to my first Big League baseball game. He was my biggest fan whether it was pee wee baseball, high school football, basketball, track or any other activity. He was discipline. He was encouragement. He was teacher. He has many stories that still bless me. He was always present in church. I may not have been sitting by him but he was always in view. He was example. He was provider. He was influencer. He was a (silent) cheerleader. He was there when I started preaching. He is still there - often physically, always in spirit. There is so much more my brother and I could say about our dad. But today it is Happy Father's Day. Thanks for all you are and have ever been. Now I better finish up. The kids will be here in a minute and I get to go get mom and dad for dinner. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

And we rest... Kevin Roth John Armstrong Marvin Raley We celebrated each of these lives the past week. Kevin was a tremendous leader in our Scouting program. His memorial service featured a Tribe of Mic-O-Say service. I found it meaningful and encouraging. John's service was at Leavenworth and featured the Military Service. The recognition of service to country added deep meaning to his memorial service. Marvin's service included military honors and his life in the church was a very meaningful part of his remembrance. There were other things that happened in the life of our church this week. A worshiping community gathered in support of one who lost a loved one. A baby was baptized. Two people want to join the church. (I got that news Sunday!) Pastor Jake and Keera had a reception in light of their recent marriage. People smiled. People listened. People heard the Word. People took a challenge. Some are going to be reading a Gospel this week! Many played golf and helped raise money for our church endowment. (Thank you Nelson and Kathie Hopper) People served by providing hospitality in the parking lot. (I point these out because they had a new challenge this week.) People led in worship. People got some good news this week. Some people got bad news this week. This merely scratches the surface of a life in the week of the people of God coming together at Platte Woods UMC. It's been a great - an amazing - a meaningful week. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. blessings, steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Today we talked about "We Are More." Bishop Schnase used the phrase some time back when he was addressing a group in preparation for General Conference. Kim Jenne, our Connectional Ministries director has done some great work expanding the idea "We Are More". wearemore.faith. Check it out. We are more than our attendance averages. We are more than our buildings. We are more than "cash". We are more than "A,B,C goals". We are more. A huge point in this is that we are more than the issues that divide. Feel free to check out today's message on our website (www.plattewoodschurch.org) and hear what I was talking about in this context. I'll give you the bottom line. We are more...because we are followers of Jesus Christ. This is more than ethnicity, age, gender or anything that makes us different. We are more. We are more because we are followers of Jesus Christ. Remember this...When you follow Jesus there is a great likelihood that you will fall in love with Jesus and when you fall in love with Jesus you will want to honor and serve him. That sounds like a pretty good path of discipleship. Remember, We Are More. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too and may this Memorial Day weekend be a blessing to you. steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

It is good to be home from General Conference where United Methodists have debated the issues and worked to govern our denomination for the past two weeks. Many of you have probably followed the events and know we continue to do ministry in the name of Christ in churches all over the world. There were contentious debates but many of these were countered with Spirit-filled worship and inspired preaching. The conversation around human sexuality impacted much of our conference. At the end of the day the Council of Bishops have been charged with providing denominational leadership to help us find the way forward from what feels like an impasse. There are some matters that affect the local church more than others. For instance we approved a 604 million dollar budget for the next four years. I will be glad to speak to the some of the matters discussed and acted on at General Conference when I share what all is taking place in our church on June 14. I look forward to talking with you about the exciting things happening at PWUMC. It was a joy to be in church this morning and be blessed by Pastor Ginger's sermon. It was also a joy to hear John Miller talk about the progress being made to do something about predatory lending in the state of Missouri. I appreciate John's work in this area. This will be a busy week at church. We are seeing progress on the parking area and the building continues to rise. Plans are being made to insure funding for the project in addition to our on-going ministry. I will be preaching next week on "We Are More". Frankly we are More than General Conference, debates, disagreements, things that divide and distractions to the mission of the Church. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Today we talked about being "in sync" with Jesus. The illustration related to the invention of the pendulum clock. (Google Christiaan Huygene Pendulum clock). The story goes on about how he observed that clocks placed on the same shelf would synchronize together. It has been determined that slight vibrations connect the clocks and then they synchronize. We could think about how we sync our iPods, iPads, computers and other electronics but for these purpose we stay "old school" and look at pendulum clocks. The application relates to the manner in which the heart of Jesus (who is alive and well today) continues to beat. The heartbeat of Jesus is a vibration of love for people. When we connect by faith the vibration of Jesus' love for us will bring us in sync with Him. In other words our hearts will beat with the heart of Jesus. What would your life look like if your heart was beating with the heart of Jesus for... justice mercy love kindness those who do not know the Lord? We get connected by faith. Simply believe that our desire to have a connection with Christ will be honored and our lives will be synced with his. Often we seem to get "un-synced". What puts you out of sync with Jesus? Fear? Worry? Sin? We can all fill in our blanks on this one. But the good news is that the heartbeat of Jesus continues. We may connect. We may be re-synced. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good (Mother's Day) too. steve - The "Sync" idea comes from a sermon by Leonard Sweet, "Sync It". See sermon for April 10, 2016 on preachthestory.

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Just got home from Sunday evening service where our graduating seniors were recognized. Wow. What a great group of young people. They introduced themselves and shared their future plans. Impressive! Their parents joined them at the front and others surrounded these soon to graduate seniors, laid hands on them and were led in prayer by Britton Fields, our Youth Minister. It was a powerful moment. This truly is a significant transition in the lives of our young people and their families. Perhaps parents face this moment with a sense of great pride and also a bit of sadness. These kind of changes make things different. We are never the same. We are never the same. This is how it works with transitions in life. We change. We move forward. Here is some good news. This is precisely at the heart of Christian experience. Jesus changes us. We are never the same. With God in our lives we constantly move forward. Things change. We are never the same. So as we pray for our seniors and their families we do so with confidence that God is in the midst of the transitions and they will never be the same -- just better. Embrace the changes Christ is working in your lives as you walk in faith, hope, love and trust. You will never be the same. blessings, steve