Monday evening we had a Finance Committee Meeting, always the highlight of the month. Church finance meetings usually start off on the right foot...we are here to serve the Lord and His church, but somewhere along the way, the meeting morphs into a business meeting not unlike those of the corporate world. Income is deficient, expenses are too high, and planning for the future is depressing.
This morning I was listening to Moody Radio and Dr. David Jeremiah was giving a message on the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25: 14-30). It was so relevant as I thought back to the previous night's meeting. The Master entrusts us with money and talents and asks us to use what he gives us with an understanding that one day he will return and we will make an accounting of what he has given us. As the parable shows, some of us will invest and put the gifts to work, multiplying and growing while others of us will put the gifts in a hole (a reserve account) so that they are safely preserved for that day the Master returns.
I think that by safely preserving what God gives us, we miss the joy and satisfaction of watching His gifts grow. We can put Him out of our minds and just wait for that day of accountability or we can live each day looking for new ways to invest what He has given us.
Last night in the Finance meeting I am pleased to report that we looked for ways to invest and the discussions included not only money, but also time and talents of our church family. Pastor David Pawls and his wife Michele were with us for the first time and he made a couple of points that I would like to share. He wants Crystal River United Methodist Church to be "relevant" in our community. That caused me to pause because to be relevant is to have significance and bearing on matters at hand. To be Christ's church in a relevant way, we need to care for and about those things Christ cares about...the salvation and caring for the least, the lost, and the last.
Pastor Rawls also stated that he wants worship to be at the center of Crystal River United Methodist Church....the center of our ministries, our fellowship, and our serving. Dr. Jeremiah made the same point regarding the parable. How we handle our talents is a reflection of our worship. If we invest for the Lord, it is measure of our faith, trust, and belief. If we bury our talents it is reveals our fears that we don't trust God to provide, to carry, to enable.
Pastor Rawls made one more point that I believe shows how we can keep worship in the center of all we do. He wants a church full of "Servants" not "Volunteers". The Bible tells us a lot about being a servant while the world tells us never to volunteer. We Serve (worship) A Mighty God!
Discover and Proclaim the Truth of The Bible which is: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life." (John 3:16 NRSV). Jesus came to humanity to proclaim and give evidence to that love and He has commanded us to do the same. We, who believe, must not merely be followers, but we must be proclaimers of the Gospel Message and we can only do that by being filled with the love of God.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
May, 18, 2011 Wednesday Night Bible Study...John 14: 1-14
In these passages, Jesus was speaking to (teaching) His disciples at the last supper. We were struck by the number of times Jesus said the words "BELIEVE" and "KNOW". He did not use this time to give His disciples a "To Do" list or a "Survival" checklist. Instead He emphasized the necessity of believing and knowing that He and God were one and He invited them to be one with Him as well.
As we studied these verses, I got a picture of a Bible study group, sitting and listening as the leader of the group teaches. I am sure that we have all been in such a setting. Two of the blessings from these verses are the results of questions that came up in the middle of the study. Two verses, spoken by Jesus, which are the foundation of our Christian beliefs. Thomas was confused about where Jesus was going and how are we to follow, to which Jesus replied in verse 6, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Then Phillip showed that he was having trouble believing and knowing God. In verse 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father....."
Jesus understands our confusion and our struggle to understand and believe. I just find it very encouraging that it was through the questions of these two disciples that we get two such powerful and recognizable verses from Christ. He responds to our questions and our searching. He responds through our prayer time with Him. He shares through our Bible study and in our worship. He gave us the Holy Spirit to overcome our confusion and unbelief, because it is only through believing in Him that we will be saved.
Our group talked about how simple Christ made it. He did not give us a complicated formula or tasks to do in order to share in Him. It is by our belief and knowing that He and God are one that we too are one with them.
As we studied these verses, I got a picture of a Bible study group, sitting and listening as the leader of the group teaches. I am sure that we have all been in such a setting. Two of the blessings from these verses are the results of questions that came up in the middle of the study. Two verses, spoken by Jesus, which are the foundation of our Christian beliefs. Thomas was confused about where Jesus was going and how are we to follow, to which Jesus replied in verse 6, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Then Phillip showed that he was having trouble believing and knowing God. In verse 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father....."
Jesus understands our confusion and our struggle to understand and believe. I just find it very encouraging that it was through the questions of these two disciples that we get two such powerful and recognizable verses from Christ. He responds to our questions and our searching. He responds through our prayer time with Him. He shares through our Bible study and in our worship. He gave us the Holy Spirit to overcome our confusion and unbelief, because it is only through believing in Him that we will be saved.
Our group talked about how simple Christ made it. He did not give us a complicated formula or tasks to do in order to share in Him. It is by our belief and knowing that He and God are one that we too are one with them.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Wednesday Bible Study...John 17 Jesus' Clarity of Mission!
We read John 17 in Wednesday's Bible study. In this Easter season, it was an interesting look into the heart of Christ as he was only hours from His death. The 17th Chapter is a prayer in which Jesus essentially prayers for Himself, His Disciples, and for us who believe that He is the Son of God who was sent for our salvation.
In the first five verses many of the Bibles labeled it "Jesus Prays for Himself". As we look at the verses we see that Jesus does pray for God to glorify Him but only so He can glorify God and He asks to be glorified in the presence of God as He was in glory before He was sent into the world. It is apparent that when Jesus prayed for Himself, it was not for His wants and needs but for His Father's glory.
Verse 4 struck me as well: "I glorified you on earth by finishing the work you sent me to do." I find this interesting that He is speaking in past tense and this is before His crucifixion. What work is He talking about? The answer is in verses 2 & 3... "since you have given him (Jesus) authority over all the people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." The work completed was that His disciples know that He was sent by God for the salvation of all who believe. He considered his work complete at this time and when He prayed for God's will, not His in the Garden of Gethsemane, I believe that God carried Him through the crucifixion, death and resurrection. Jesus surrendered to the will of His Father and God completed the work of salvation for us.
As we continued to study Chapter 17, we see Christ praying for the Discples in verses 6 - 19 and for future believers (us) in verses 20-26. The prayer is essentially for His disciples to know the truth (believe) and by their belief, be glorified in Christ and united through Him with His Father, and by their glory, others come to know and believe and receive the same glory. What Christ really prays for is for us to become equal with Him in glory and unification with God. He wants us to have all that He has and to be with Him in heaven. We do see a stark separation between those who believe (those given to Him by God) and the world (non-believers) and He makes it clear that He is praying for believers to receive that glory and oneness with His Father.
As I try to summarize this beautiful prayer, I am struck by the clarity Jesus had for His mission and purpose... that He make known to us that He was sent by God so that we may know God and be saved. It is that specific. Over and over He mentions that He was sent, that He was given the disciples and us, and that we know, believe, and receive the Truth, united and filled with the love of Christ.
In the first five verses many of the Bibles labeled it "Jesus Prays for Himself". As we look at the verses we see that Jesus does pray for God to glorify Him but only so He can glorify God and He asks to be glorified in the presence of God as He was in glory before He was sent into the world. It is apparent that when Jesus prayed for Himself, it was not for His wants and needs but for His Father's glory.
Verse 4 struck me as well: "I glorified you on earth by finishing the work you sent me to do." I find this interesting that He is speaking in past tense and this is before His crucifixion. What work is He talking about? The answer is in verses 2 & 3... "since you have given him (Jesus) authority over all the people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." The work completed was that His disciples know that He was sent by God for the salvation of all who believe. He considered his work complete at this time and when He prayed for God's will, not His in the Garden of Gethsemane, I believe that God carried Him through the crucifixion, death and resurrection. Jesus surrendered to the will of His Father and God completed the work of salvation for us.
As we continued to study Chapter 17, we see Christ praying for the Discples in verses 6 - 19 and for future believers (us) in verses 20-26. The prayer is essentially for His disciples to know the truth (believe) and by their belief, be glorified in Christ and united through Him with His Father, and by their glory, others come to know and believe and receive the same glory. What Christ really prays for is for us to become equal with Him in glory and unification with God. He wants us to have all that He has and to be with Him in heaven. We do see a stark separation between those who believe (those given to Him by God) and the world (non-believers) and He makes it clear that He is praying for believers to receive that glory and oneness with His Father.
As I try to summarize this beautiful prayer, I am struck by the clarity Jesus had for His mission and purpose... that He make known to us that He was sent by God so that we may know God and be saved. It is that specific. Over and over He mentions that He was sent, that He was given the disciples and us, and that we know, believe, and receive the Truth, united and filled with the love of Christ.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)