I'd like to think I'm a cheerful person who is pleasant to be around.
But sometimes I don't like people.
A few weeks ago my friend made the comment to me that I needed "to stop doing so much stuff" with my church. They didn't mean this in a bad way but it could be taken that way. My friend was just trying to say that I spent a lot of my time there, and I take that as a compliment.
Lately I've been kinda busy, and probably not too fun to be around. I'm always talking about SLT or the Methodorks that I don't get to hang out with my other friends.
One of my favorite Sunday School teachers once taught me that the church is not God. It is a great way to God, but it can also serve as a distraction. Sometimes we get so caught up with what we're doing and adding more and more to it that we forget why we do it and just go through the motions.
So am I about to resign from SLT or stop teaching my Intermediate Worship Birds? You've got to be kidding. But maybe I need to refresh myself on why I love doing it so much, and keep the focus.
The church helps me get to God, and I want to keep it that way.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Thanksgiving in a Whale
"But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the LORD.’” -Jonah 2:9
This verse was the inspiration for a lesson on Jonah and giving thanks.
So I'm under a table that's covered in blankets, the belly of a whale if you will.
4 8ish year-old girls sitting comfortably there, just talking about old Jonah.
So we talk about how gross it would be in a whale.
And how Jonah just kept messing up.
I get to the part about how even though all the yucky stuff was happening to Jonah, he still gave a prayer of thanksgiving. And then I witnessed them get more involved in a lesson then ever before.
"Thanksgiving? How long was he in the whale for?"
"He ate Thanksgiving in the whale?"
"How did Santa get Jonah his presents?"
Great. They always say you're going to get asked questions you don't know the answer to, but I wasn't expecting this.
"Um, this is old Testament, Santa wasn't born yet."
I thought it was a good answer.
"What? No, Santa was ALWAYS born!"
"Yea!"
"Yea, Santa never dies!"
Good to know they'll fight for what they believe in.
The lesson went in a bit different direction then I planned, but that's okay. I can give thanks that I learned many lessons about Jonah, myself, and what not to say in front of little girls that day. There's always something to give thanks for, and probably more than we can even think of.
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the LORD.’” -Jonah 2:9
This verse was the inspiration for a lesson on Jonah and giving thanks.
So I'm under a table that's covered in blankets, the belly of a whale if you will.
4 8ish year-old girls sitting comfortably there, just talking about old Jonah.
So we talk about how gross it would be in a whale.
And how Jonah just kept messing up.
I get to the part about how even though all the yucky stuff was happening to Jonah, he still gave a prayer of thanksgiving. And then I witnessed them get more involved in a lesson then ever before.
"Thanksgiving? How long was he in the whale for?"
"He ate Thanksgiving in the whale?"
"How did Santa get Jonah his presents?"
Great. They always say you're going to get asked questions you don't know the answer to, but I wasn't expecting this.
"Um, this is old Testament, Santa wasn't born yet."
I thought it was a good answer.
"What? No, Santa was ALWAYS born!"
"Yea!"
"Yea, Santa never dies!"
Good to know they'll fight for what they believe in.
The lesson went in a bit different direction then I planned, but that's okay. I can give thanks that I learned many lessons about Jonah, myself, and what not to say in front of little girls that day. There's always something to give thanks for, and probably more than we can even think of.
The Fumes Have Gotten to Me
Preach every sermon as though it someone's salvation depended solely upon it, but with enough grace to know it doesn't.
Put everything you have into your work, knowing that everything you can do will never amount to enough, but that grace will cover it all.
By putting everything you have into your work so that there is nothing left you leave no choice but to have God's grace take over.
It's like using all your gas and depending on the fumes to get you home. Except these fumes last forever.
Put everything you have into your work, knowing that everything you can do will never amount to enough, but that grace will cover it all.
By putting everything you have into your work so that there is nothing left you leave no choice but to have God's grace take over.
It's like using all your gas and depending on the fumes to get you home. Except these fumes last forever.
The Differences Between
Spiritual gifts are great.
The body of Christ wouldn't function without them.
It's that part of you that you've surrendered to Christ completely, allowing Him to control you so that people recognize the works you do as Him.
Could we strive towards every part of us being surrendered to God?
Isn't our life a gift driven by the Spirit?
While we work on to perfection, on towards completely unifying ourselves with God, we begin to create these alliances initiated by our differences.
We focus on what we do best and why it is great.
And while we should focus on those things that we're really good at (letting God take control of,) we let it separate us.
Rather, let us use our stronger point, our likeness, our faith in Christ to unify us with each other so that we can work as the body of Christ.
I guess what I'm saying is that we have to not put aside our differences but use them in order to work as a church and Christ's body. God's just awesome enough to work it out like that for us.
The body of Christ wouldn't function without them.
It's that part of you that you've surrendered to Christ completely, allowing Him to control you so that people recognize the works you do as Him.
Could we strive towards every part of us being surrendered to God?
Isn't our life a gift driven by the Spirit?
While we work on to perfection, on towards completely unifying ourselves with God, we begin to create these alliances initiated by our differences.
We focus on what we do best and why it is great.
And while we should focus on those things that we're really good at (letting God take control of,) we let it separate us.
Rather, let us use our stronger point, our likeness, our faith in Christ to unify us with each other so that we can work as the body of Christ.
I guess what I'm saying is that we have to not put aside our differences but use them in order to work as a church and Christ's body. God's just awesome enough to work it out like that for us.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Smelly Jesus and Disney World
Freshman year I got the opportunity to travel to Disney World with the band, but it was a long process getting there. A year before I was running around town selling millions of boxes of cookie dough so I could raise money. I worked concession stands, sold wrapping paper, even one of my lungs so I would raise enough money.
The trip was probably one of the best experiences of my life. I'm not one for amusement parks, but the "magic of Disney" certainly caught on. I enjoyed just about every second of it and hope to go back one day. However I don't know that I ever will. The price, security checks, little things like flash passes and IDs were rituals that hindered my enjoyment, and I don't really want to deal with that if I have to meet all these qualifications just to get in.
What if it was free to get into Disney World? What if we didn't have to worry about remembering our ID or flash pass? What if I didn't have to go through numerous security checks to make sure I was adequate, wouldn't that be great?
Truth is, the lines would get really long and everyone might get tired of the park. However, there is a place where you don't have to get bored...
Yes, church is free, and as long as we're looking, it'll never get boring. But for some reason we tend to put up barriers that keep others from wanting to come. We get caught up in our same method (yea, I'm a UM) of church that we don't keep our eyes open to how others view the church-going bunch.
Dressing up for church, for example. If you dress nicely for church, go ahead. But if that is high on your priority list, I ask that you rethink your values. Sometimes we're late because we're too busy getting an outfit together or fixing our hair, but how often do we spiritually get ready?
Do you think Jesus got dressed up nicely before he preached? NO, Jesus was a smelly homeless man who preached to prostitutes in dusty streets! If that statement can be said about the Lord, there is obviously something more to true worship than the physical aspects. We've come to think that our physical features reflect our attitude towards worship, when in fact it is our heart.
In turn, visitor began to see the physical. People who yearn for Jesus do not want to have qualifications to reach Him- have we forgotten the Grace we have been given?
The trip was probably one of the best experiences of my life. I'm not one for amusement parks, but the "magic of Disney" certainly caught on. I enjoyed just about every second of it and hope to go back one day. However I don't know that I ever will. The price, security checks, little things like flash passes and IDs were rituals that hindered my enjoyment, and I don't really want to deal with that if I have to meet all these qualifications just to get in.
What if it was free to get into Disney World? What if we didn't have to worry about remembering our ID or flash pass? What if I didn't have to go through numerous security checks to make sure I was adequate, wouldn't that be great?
Truth is, the lines would get really long and everyone might get tired of the park. However, there is a place where you don't have to get bored...
Yes, church is free, and as long as we're looking, it'll never get boring. But for some reason we tend to put up barriers that keep others from wanting to come. We get caught up in our same method (yea, I'm a UM) of church that we don't keep our eyes open to how others view the church-going bunch.
Dressing up for church, for example. If you dress nicely for church, go ahead. But if that is high on your priority list, I ask that you rethink your values. Sometimes we're late because we're too busy getting an outfit together or fixing our hair, but how often do we spiritually get ready?
Do you think Jesus got dressed up nicely before he preached? NO, Jesus was a smelly homeless man who preached to prostitutes in dusty streets! If that statement can be said about the Lord, there is obviously something more to true worship than the physical aspects. We've come to think that our physical features reflect our attitude towards worship, when in fact it is our heart.
In turn, visitor began to see the physical. People who yearn for Jesus do not want to have qualifications to reach Him- have we forgotten the Grace we have been given?
Monday, November 1, 2010
One Body, Many Parts
My sermon notes for Youth Sunday without cited references (shout out to Rev. Alan McGrath!)
One Body, Many Parts
*To be the body requires many parts.
*It’s obvious that the church wouldn’t function very well if everyone was up here preaching or sitting in the choir. We couldn’t all fit in the back to run the sound and video for the sermon. We couldn’t all teach Sunday School or anything for that matter. And we aren’t supposed to do everything. But we’re all supposed to do something.
*On CTCYM, the mission trip our youth go on every summer, we’re paired up with a few other churches for the week. We stay in the same church, eat together, worship together, work together, basically everything. We’re usually paired up with a church from the Metroplex. Now, until I started going on mission trip I didn’t realize that the city and country mouse story actually applied in real life.
*On mission trip we’ve got the city punks and the country bumpkins. But I don’t think we could get along without both. The kids in the city are really good at navigating. They actually pay attention to things like street numbers and addresses instead of referring to things like “the big tree.” And some of us in Glen Rose know everything about every tool, and know how to do that physical labor. Still, some of us, like me are good at neither. I can hardly hammer a nail into a board. But I’d like to say we need those people to keep the moral up.
*You see, we all have something inside of us that God has worked out for us to do. Something that makes us different. Something He put there that urges us, saying “I can do it better” when we see another doing it. When we feel those urges we have found the essence of our spiritual gifts.
*A spiritual gift is not just something that we’re really good at, it’s when we use that gift to glorify God. You can be the best worker in your office or the best basketball player on the team, but that doesn’t qualify as using your spiritual gifts. It’s when we use it to glorify God that it becomes a spiritual gift.
*If you ask a someone in ministry, they can usually tell you about their call, how they came to decide that they would work for Christ. We take that as a strong word, “called.” But the truth is that we’re all called to not only spread the Good News but to make disciples. Romans 11:29 says “For the gifts and the callings of God are irrevocable.”
*Listen to what the Spirit is telling you.
*Because in the church we have to use our spiritual gifts to work together to become the body.
*First we have to unify between ourselves and the Holy Spirit inside of us. One of the greatest things is that we have the Holy Spirit inside of us. When Jesus rose again and God sent the Spirit down it was a great thing. The very being of God to be with us always, the very essence of God in us!
John 14:12-13 says “12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.”
* Do even greater things? That’s hard to comprehend. But He’s walking along side us and driving with us in the car. We’re in the presence of the Spirit all the time! But how many times do we complain that there’s nothing to do, or that we’re bored? How many times are we content with complacency when God is right there with us saying, “Go, DO!”
*The next part is unifying with others, which can be hard because we’re all so different. We worship different ways and find God is many different places.
*Watch this (The Skinny on Worship youtube video. You can stop reading this now and look it up.)
*When we get past all the details that don’t really matter, we realize that our intentions are the same. We can get really hung up on our differences, not just between different churches but people. In that video, they all had a different way of worshipping. God has given each of us the spiritual gifts so we do worship differently. *But because God has worked it so perfectly that we don’t have to look past our differences in order to work together, we get to use our differences so that the Body may thrive!
*And then we have to spread it to others.
*Once we learn to function not only as individual members, but a body, we have to learn how to move.
*Yesterday, we had our Lord’s Acre, which in itself is a great illustration of how the body works. One of the things I’ve always liked to do is to listen to Mr. Anderson when he’s running the auction. There’s something about listening to all that talk and watching the items being auctioned off to people. But I never go home with any of the prizes because I never bid.
*The same is with the church. We can sit here all day and feel good about salvation, but we’re going to get a lot more out of it when we begin to “Go, and DO” like we are supposed to.
*Finally, we must grow as the body of Christ, and we do that by taking risks.
* I work at GLC in the summer, and sometimes I get to help out with the zipline. There are two counselors that sit at the top and help strap in the campers and send them down. Whoever is up there has a harness that attached them to another rope so that they don’t fall off the platform. There is one counselor who is a real dare devil. He’ll take off his shoes and go to the edge of the platform and lean off the side. The only thing keeping him from falling is the rope.
*When we put ourselves in a position to where the only thing keeping us from falling is God, we’re doing that risk-taking mission that we talk about. And that is when we grow the most as an individual and a body.
*This week, I invite you to take a risk to extend the body of Christ!
One Body, Many Parts
*To be the body requires many parts.
*It’s obvious that the church wouldn’t function very well if everyone was up here preaching or sitting in the choir. We couldn’t all fit in the back to run the sound and video for the sermon. We couldn’t all teach Sunday School or anything for that matter. And we aren’t supposed to do everything. But we’re all supposed to do something.
*On CTCYM, the mission trip our youth go on every summer, we’re paired up with a few other churches for the week. We stay in the same church, eat together, worship together, work together, basically everything. We’re usually paired up with a church from the Metroplex. Now, until I started going on mission trip I didn’t realize that the city and country mouse story actually applied in real life.
*On mission trip we’ve got the city punks and the country bumpkins. But I don’t think we could get along without both. The kids in the city are really good at navigating. They actually pay attention to things like street numbers and addresses instead of referring to things like “the big tree.” And some of us in Glen Rose know everything about every tool, and know how to do that physical labor. Still, some of us, like me are good at neither. I can hardly hammer a nail into a board. But I’d like to say we need those people to keep the moral up.
*You see, we all have something inside of us that God has worked out for us to do. Something that makes us different. Something He put there that urges us, saying “I can do it better” when we see another doing it. When we feel those urges we have found the essence of our spiritual gifts.
*A spiritual gift is not just something that we’re really good at, it’s when we use that gift to glorify God. You can be the best worker in your office or the best basketball player on the team, but that doesn’t qualify as using your spiritual gifts. It’s when we use it to glorify God that it becomes a spiritual gift.
*If you ask a someone in ministry, they can usually tell you about their call, how they came to decide that they would work for Christ. We take that as a strong word, “called.” But the truth is that we’re all called to not only spread the Good News but to make disciples. Romans 11:29 says “For the gifts and the callings of God are irrevocable.”
*Listen to what the Spirit is telling you.
*Because in the church we have to use our spiritual gifts to work together to become the body.
*First we have to unify between ourselves and the Holy Spirit inside of us. One of the greatest things is that we have the Holy Spirit inside of us. When Jesus rose again and God sent the Spirit down it was a great thing. The very being of God to be with us always, the very essence of God in us!
John 14:12-13 says “12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.”
* Do even greater things? That’s hard to comprehend. But He’s walking along side us and driving with us in the car. We’re in the presence of the Spirit all the time! But how many times do we complain that there’s nothing to do, or that we’re bored? How many times are we content with complacency when God is right there with us saying, “Go, DO!”
*The next part is unifying with others, which can be hard because we’re all so different. We worship different ways and find God is many different places.
*Watch this (The Skinny on Worship youtube video. You can stop reading this now and look it up.)
*When we get past all the details that don’t really matter, we realize that our intentions are the same. We can get really hung up on our differences, not just between different churches but people. In that video, they all had a different way of worshipping. God has given each of us the spiritual gifts so we do worship differently. *But because God has worked it so perfectly that we don’t have to look past our differences in order to work together, we get to use our differences so that the Body may thrive!
*And then we have to spread it to others.
*Once we learn to function not only as individual members, but a body, we have to learn how to move.
*Yesterday, we had our Lord’s Acre, which in itself is a great illustration of how the body works. One of the things I’ve always liked to do is to listen to Mr. Anderson when he’s running the auction. There’s something about listening to all that talk and watching the items being auctioned off to people. But I never go home with any of the prizes because I never bid.
*The same is with the church. We can sit here all day and feel good about salvation, but we’re going to get a lot more out of it when we begin to “Go, and DO” like we are supposed to.
*Finally, we must grow as the body of Christ, and we do that by taking risks.
* I work at GLC in the summer, and sometimes I get to help out with the zipline. There are two counselors that sit at the top and help strap in the campers and send them down. Whoever is up there has a harness that attached them to another rope so that they don’t fall off the platform. There is one counselor who is a real dare devil. He’ll take off his shoes and go to the edge of the platform and lean off the side. The only thing keeping him from falling is the rope.
*When we put ourselves in a position to where the only thing keeping us from falling is God, we’re doing that risk-taking mission that we talk about. And that is when we grow the most as an individual and a body.
*This week, I invite you to take a risk to extend the body of Christ!
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