Gathering Together

Hebrews 10:24–25

²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Last Sunday was Easter – and most sanctuaries were probably fuller than normal. I know our church had a number of folks that were visiting and most of our regular members were present. It wasn’t packed – but there were more than usual. It was a wonderful day and worship was a blessing. Did you attend worship? If so – leave some comments in the comment section giving God glory for what you experienced.

My sermon Sunday – was about commissioning the Body of Christ – the church – to go out and tell somebody about Jesus. You can hear the service and sermon here. The sermon is titled – The Great Commissioning – and is based on Matthew 28:1-20. I challenged the congregation – and myself – to think of four persons that they believed needed to hear about Jesus – and go and share our faith with them.

Traditional Faith

Matthew 28:18–20

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Today’s presenting scripture has been called the the Great Commission. It is often seen as the marching orders for the Christian Church. It will be a part of our sermon on Easter morning this year.

We are called to go and make disciples of or for Jesus Christ (whichever makes the most sense to you – lol). In the early years of the Methodist movement – making disciples – followers of Christ – seemed to be the main focus. Revivals and Camp Meetings were all the rage and altar calls were common place in Methodist worship – as pastors challenged parishioners to be transformed after the likeness of Christ. I typically have an altar call each week to challenge those in attendance to faith – or to a deeper faith – or simply to pray about something that has been a challenge for them. Even online – we challenge people at the end of our services.

Early Methodists were called to holiness – they were part of the holiness movement in the United States. We were taught to study the Word of God (the Bible) and to strive to live our lives after what it taught. We were even encouraged to avoid some of the ills of our society. The way it was explained to me (as a third generation Methodist pastor) – Methodists were encouraged to abstain from alcohol – from playing cards – from dancing – even from playing pool. The reason – again as it was explained to me – was because these social activities were often associated with bars and night clubs – with gambling and behavior and places that were not appropriate for folks striving to follow after Christ. We were encouraged to avoid even the appearance of evil or sin (we actually called behavior contrary to God’s will – sin in those days).  We were encouraged to keep Sunday set aside for the Lord. In my home growing up – Sunday was a day for worship and Sunday School in the morning – a family lunch – a nap time – youth group – and worship in the evening. Sunday was a day set aside for being with God and with other Christians.

Christian Discipline: Prayer

Ephesians 6:18

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

I often ask – how’s your prayer life? We even recently had a sermon on our prayer as part of our Christian Discipline sermon series. You can listen to the service here. Prayer is an essential – even an absolute – in our Christian life. Today’s passage comes toward the end of the passage on the Armor of God. See the partial context later in this blog post.

How’s your prayer life? In today’s passage – Paul writes about putting on the whole armor of God. He describes that armor as he describes a soldier’s armor. Each piece has a purpose. Each spiritual discipline that we add and practice – has to do with our spiritual health and well-being. He wraps it all together with a call to pray. Prayer is seen as the glue that holds it all together. Prayer is seen as our communication with God – and cements our walk with God together. How’s your prayer life?

Guard Your Heart

Proverbs 4:23

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Recently – I was scanning the different news stations – trying to find some information about the most recent results from the Iowa caucuses. I came across several stations that were giving completely different reports on the caucuses results – at least it seemed so to me. Some said this first election was very important – some saying it had no bearing on the election this fall or even for this party’s eventual candidate. Some were calling the results a historic win for the candidate that won – by a landslide – greater than ever – and some were not even reporting on it or allowing the winning candidate to be aired as he gave his victory speech. Some were calling it the beginning of this candidate’s rise to the office of President – while the others were saying his election would be the end of democracy and our nation. I got the feeling – that if I didn’t believe their truth – I was wrong and ignorant. There were no reports of the facts and allowing me to interpret them for myself. I thought of this proverb – urging me to guard my heart.

Apparently – these were not news stations – but rather programs with an agenda – a predetermined worldview of what they were going to report. If the news didn’t fit the narrative they desired – they would form it to that narrative. Gone are the days of Walter Cronkite or Paul Harvey – people who would tell us the news or a straight forward account of the events of the day. We need to guard our hearts these days – not only from the devil who tries to tempt us – but from those who would try to give us their insights and expect us to fall in line with them. Some seem to want Lemmings or mindless bots. Lemmings by-the-way – are real animals that seem to follow the crowd. They were also part of an early computer game – following the leader off a cliff – seemingly without any effort to divert from the leader’s plan or direction – think the followers of Jim Jones drinking cool-aid. Sisters and brothers – guard your heart.

What Is Our Christmas Attitude or Mindset?

Philippians 2:5

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

This coming Sunday we will light the 4^th candle on our Advent wreath – it is also Christmas Eve. Christmas is only 5 days away (counting today). Are you excited yet? What do you do to prepare for Christmas? A niece of mine and her married family always bake dozens and dozens of Christmas cookies that their family (and extended family) bake together. It is a family tradition for her husband’s family. They certainly look good and if I could taste them – I imagine they taste good too. I will try to resist cookies this Christmas season – LOL – at least too many of them. Why do I pick the holidays to change my diet? Ugh! Maybe I’ll give in – a little!

What do you do to prepare for Christmas? What do you do in this time of waiting and anticipating (Advent)? Were you active on Cyber Monday shopping online? Now they call the whole time – throughout the week – Cyber Week – – or even Cyber month – so if we missed the one day – we were able to catch up throughout the week (maybe even the whole month). Have any of us hit the Malls yet? I went there one day last week to meet with someone – and – lines were not bad this year – other than at the Apple Store. Have any of us baked any cookies? Have we planned our parties and the ones we will attend? I had three – a full family party – an immediate family party – and a party with the Country Club staff I work with soon. Have we picked out that perfect gift for our loved ones?