We are now moving closer to Thanksgiving and the beginning of the holiday season, and with the season to come there is many things that are going on, gatherings of our families, events in the community, shopping and decorating and cooking . . . It becomes so easy to close our eyes, rush through this season, and come through the other side and miss what truly is important, our connection with God through Jesus and our connection with others, both in our families and church, and the connection that we might have available to other people who God is bringing into our lives. How many times have we been in line in the grocery store (the lines are much longer this time of year) and in the middle of the sea of humanity never acknowledge the person in front of you, or the person behind you, or the person at the counter who is working so hard to make ends meet for this season? Why do we instead begin to thumb through the People magazine in the rack, or just stand and fume and blow and stomp because the line is not moving fast enough?
The “holiday” season (the word comes from “holy” and “day”) has another name in the church. We call this time Advent, which means “coming,” and just as if we are expecting visitors to come in our house, we in the church are preparing ourselves to welcome the arrival of Emmanuel, of Jesus, our Savior and Lord. Yet, too often, in our preparing, we miss the reason for the effort. In our homes, we become so busy preparing for people that we forget to actually talk to the people we are preparing for. In our spiritual life, we can become so busy doing things for Christmas that we forget to connect with our Savior, who is the reason why we have Christmas.
Here is a challenge for us this Advent season. It is very simple. Instead of this being a season of things to do and get, let this instead be a season where we connect with others and connect with God. Let this season be about relationships, and not about events and things. Talk to God, talk to your family, talk to the stranger in your midst. Find a devotional time each day, have a meal with your kids, say hello and “Merry Christmas” to the mom who is wrestling with the kid at the checkout counter who wants every candy bar in the store. Be present in the present, and you might find the best present of all. May God bless you and yours this Advent season.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
August Newsletter Article
Summer has been very busy here at First Methodist Hallsville, and I hope that you are finding some time to relax and renew before the school year begins again. Just wanted to remind you about a few things, so that you can be connected to what we are doing here at the church.
First, I hope that you have looked at the new website. It has a great amount of information and resources to keep you connected with what is going on, including sermons, announcement bulletins, and study guides. If you have someone who you would like to come to church, send them the link to the website (fumchallsville.org) and let them see and hear first hand what we have to offer as a church.
Second, we have started a new Adult Sunday School class, a multigenerational class. It still doesn’t have a name, but have seen 18 people come and be a part of the group. If you are looking to be a part of something new, come to room 101, we would love for you to join us. Also, we will begin a second new Adult Sunday School class in the middle of August for those who are in their 20’s and 30’s, and there will be Sunday night and Wednesday night small groups forming in the near future. The goal is for our church is to have everyone in a group so that we all can grow in Christ.
Finally, we are having another town hall meeting on Sunday, August 8 at 6:00 pm in the sanctuary, where the Ministry Planning Team will come forward with recommendations for meeting our mission “Connect. Grow. Serve.” We will also come forward with a recommendation for a new church organizational structure. We will need you present to hear and share with us. This is an exciting time, and I hope that you will join us as we begin to fully live out our mission as a church.
First, I hope that you have looked at the new website. It has a great amount of information and resources to keep you connected with what is going on, including sermons, announcement bulletins, and study guides. If you have someone who you would like to come to church, send them the link to the website (fumchallsville.org) and let them see and hear first hand what we have to offer as a church.
Second, we have started a new Adult Sunday School class, a multigenerational class. It still doesn’t have a name, but have seen 18 people come and be a part of the group. If you are looking to be a part of something new, come to room 101, we would love for you to join us. Also, we will begin a second new Adult Sunday School class in the middle of August for those who are in their 20’s and 30’s, and there will be Sunday night and Wednesday night small groups forming in the near future. The goal is for our church is to have everyone in a group so that we all can grow in Christ.
Finally, we are having another town hall meeting on Sunday, August 8 at 6:00 pm in the sanctuary, where the Ministry Planning Team will come forward with recommendations for meeting our mission “Connect. Grow. Serve.” We will also come forward with a recommendation for a new church organizational structure. We will need you present to hear and share with us. This is an exciting time, and I hope that you will join us as we begin to fully live out our mission as a church.
Friday, July 2, 2010
My Favorite Sermon Podcasts
When I was doing research on my Doctor of Ministry degree from Brite Divinty School (TCU), I began to listen to different podcast of preachers throughout the country who were progressive in nature. Over the years I have subscribed to 5-7 of them to find out what others are doing in preaching and worship as well as having a source of spiritual exhortation for my own life. I thought that in this post that I would share with you my favorites, why they are my favorites, and maybe learn from you some of yours and why you listen to them. Here are mine in no particualr order:
Mike Slaugher - Ginghamsburg Church (http://www.ginghamsburg.org/)
Missional. It has been a joy to listen to Mike over the years, and to see how his focus has moved from church growth to missional living. His strong mission focus is inspirational to say the least and his self-proclaimed gift of "irritation" has moved not only Ginghamsburg but also the entire United Methodist denomination.
Adam Hamilton - Church of the Resurrection (http://www.cor.org/)
Preparation. You can tell how much he studies his subject, taking it and transforming it into a teaching that moves both head and heart.
Mike Householder - Lutheran Church of Hope (http://www.hopewdm.org/)
Entertaning. Also studies his subject, and has great energy. Have not found a boring moment in his teaching yet.
Rob Bell - Mars Hill Bible Church (http://www.marshill.org/)
Inspiring. Finds the very hidden truths in scripture and opens up a whole new world. I also like his self-description of preaching as "guerilla theatre." As an added bonus, he is now co-teaching with Shane Hipps at the church.
Jim Jackson - Chapelwood United Methodist Church (http://www.chapelwood.org/)
Art. I marvel at how he crafts his sermon. Also, his vunerabilty in the pulpit should be an example to all who dare to preach.
So which ones do you listen to, and why?
Mike Slaugher - Ginghamsburg Church (http://www.ginghamsburg.org/)
Missional. It has been a joy to listen to Mike over the years, and to see how his focus has moved from church growth to missional living. His strong mission focus is inspirational to say the least and his self-proclaimed gift of "irritation" has moved not only Ginghamsburg but also the entire United Methodist denomination.
Adam Hamilton - Church of the Resurrection (http://www.cor.org/)
Preparation. You can tell how much he studies his subject, taking it and transforming it into a teaching that moves both head and heart.
Mike Householder - Lutheran Church of Hope (http://www.hopewdm.org/)
Entertaning. Also studies his subject, and has great energy. Have not found a boring moment in his teaching yet.
Rob Bell - Mars Hill Bible Church (http://www.marshill.org/)
Inspiring. Finds the very hidden truths in scripture and opens up a whole new world. I also like his self-description of preaching as "guerilla theatre." As an added bonus, he is now co-teaching with Shane Hipps at the church.
Jim Jackson - Chapelwood United Methodist Church (http://www.chapelwood.org/)
Art. I marvel at how he crafts his sermon. Also, his vunerabilty in the pulpit should be an example to all who dare to preach.
So which ones do you listen to, and why?
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
July Newsletter Article
We are about to wrap up the first half of the year here at the church, and I wanted to give everyone an update about our strategic planning we are doing here at the church. As you may remember, we are working under a new mission statement, "trying it on for size" right now and hopefully fully approving it at the next charge conference in the Fall. For those who have not memorized it yet, here is the statement: Connect. Grow. Serve. Transform lives through Jesus Christ. Also we have adopted five core values that we believe will help us live into our mission statement. These core values: Grace, Humility, Restoration, Accountability, and Intentionality. We will be sharing a series on these in the month of July, and we hope that you will be a part of this series, as Daniel, Shinia and I will be sharing with you what the bible says about these values.
As far as the future planning goes, the Ministry Planning Team is working in four areas: Connect, Grow, Serve, and Administration. Connect - which has to do with worship, evangelism and fellowship - is working on improvements in worship, focusing on ambiance and flow, especially with our contemporary worship celebration. We are also working on ways in which we can make our traditional celebration more traditional, and our contempoarary celebration, well, more contemporary. Grow - which has to do with spiritual formation of all ages - is working on an adult small group cirriculcum tied to the worship subject material, improvements to youth and children areas, and adding new Sunday school classes. Serve - which has to do with ministry, missions and recovery - will begin work on a fall emphasis campaign called "Do Something!" that will conclude with our Hearts and Hammers week in October. On the Admistration front, we are working on a restructuring of the church which will emulate our mission statement and eliminate unnecessary committees. Moreover, an emphasis would be placed on working teams, that would, upon completion of a task, be disbanded. We believe this will make our church administration more productive and at the same time allow members to be more involved in ministry rather than committees. As always, if you have any questions or if you have any ideas, you can contact Shinia or I and we would love to talk with you about future plans. We will also have another town hall meeting at the end of July or beginning of August to continue to share the plan being developed.
I hope that you are having a great summer, and look forward to what the future holds for our church, knowing that the Spirit is alive and well at First Methodist Hallsville.
As far as the future planning goes, the Ministry Planning Team is working in four areas: Connect, Grow, Serve, and Administration. Connect - which has to do with worship, evangelism and fellowship - is working on improvements in worship, focusing on ambiance and flow, especially with our contemporary worship celebration. We are also working on ways in which we can make our traditional celebration more traditional, and our contempoarary celebration, well, more contemporary. Grow - which has to do with spiritual formation of all ages - is working on an adult small group cirriculcum tied to the worship subject material, improvements to youth and children areas, and adding new Sunday school classes. Serve - which has to do with ministry, missions and recovery - will begin work on a fall emphasis campaign called "Do Something!" that will conclude with our Hearts and Hammers week in October. On the Admistration front, we are working on a restructuring of the church which will emulate our mission statement and eliminate unnecessary committees. Moreover, an emphasis would be placed on working teams, that would, upon completion of a task, be disbanded. We believe this will make our church administration more productive and at the same time allow members to be more involved in ministry rather than committees. As always, if you have any questions or if you have any ideas, you can contact Shinia or I and we would love to talk with you about future plans. We will also have another town hall meeting at the end of July or beginning of August to continue to share the plan being developed.
I hope that you are having a great summer, and look forward to what the future holds for our church, knowing that the Spirit is alive and well at First Methodist Hallsville.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
I Am Making All Things New
The only thing constant is change.
This is true yet not quite.
True in one way.
I am about to complete my 15th year of pastoral ministry, and looking back, change was my constant companion. When I began at Liberty Springs UMC in Milam, TX in 1995, I wrote my sermon on a computer that today we would laugh at. My iPhone has many times the computing power that that computer had. Internet was something that involved a dial-tone and a new browser called Netscape, and e-mail was a novelity item that we thought would never be as popular as those new pocket cell phones. Texting, blogging and tweeting were not even on the horizon.
That is superfical stuff compared to how I have come from a single pastor in the East Texas countryside, to a married pastor going to seminary, to a father and pastor in the Houston suburbs, to a family pastor trying to go back to school (again) and now a family pastor with a multi-staffed church back in the East Texas countryside.
Change has been my constant companion. Just about the time I have figured out life, life has moved on, and now I realize that learning and growing never ends, not just because I am striving to perfection, but because the target I am shooting at is always moving farther off.
Yet as I look back, I do have to say that there has been something just as constant as change. Grace. For each time I have been called to figure everything out again, God has always provided the grace necessary to grow into the new that God has placed before me.
I am reminded of this passage in Isaiah:
Thus says the Lord, who made a way through the sea,
A path through the mighty waters:
Remember not the former things,
Neither consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing,
Even now it is springing to light.
Do you not perceive it?
A way will I make in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert!
Isaiah 43:16, 18-19
I am saying all of this because of two things. First, this is my first blog entry. I am doing this as part of the website redo for the church, a way for everyone to get to know me better.
Second, I am saying all of this to remind myself and others that in a world where things are always different than the day before, God is constant, and by his grace and love he will make a way. Peace.
This is true yet not quite.
True in one way.
I am about to complete my 15th year of pastoral ministry, and looking back, change was my constant companion. When I began at Liberty Springs UMC in Milam, TX in 1995, I wrote my sermon on a computer that today we would laugh at. My iPhone has many times the computing power that that computer had. Internet was something that involved a dial-tone and a new browser called Netscape, and e-mail was a novelity item that we thought would never be as popular as those new pocket cell phones. Texting, blogging and tweeting were not even on the horizon.
That is superfical stuff compared to how I have come from a single pastor in the East Texas countryside, to a married pastor going to seminary, to a father and pastor in the Houston suburbs, to a family pastor trying to go back to school (again) and now a family pastor with a multi-staffed church back in the East Texas countryside.
Change has been my constant companion. Just about the time I have figured out life, life has moved on, and now I realize that learning and growing never ends, not just because I am striving to perfection, but because the target I am shooting at is always moving farther off.
Yet as I look back, I do have to say that there has been something just as constant as change. Grace. For each time I have been called to figure everything out again, God has always provided the grace necessary to grow into the new that God has placed before me.
I am reminded of this passage in Isaiah:
Thus says the Lord, who made a way through the sea,
A path through the mighty waters:
Remember not the former things,
Neither consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing,
Even now it is springing to light.
Do you not perceive it?
A way will I make in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert!
Isaiah 43:16, 18-19
I am saying all of this because of two things. First, this is my first blog entry. I am doing this as part of the website redo for the church, a way for everyone to get to know me better.
Second, I am saying all of this to remind myself and others that in a world where things are always different than the day before, God is constant, and by his grace and love he will make a way. Peace.
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