Disciple: Being One, Making One

Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is a lifelong commitment. It is a journey that never ends. When we are baptized we are claimed publicly by God and lifted up by the church. When we make a commitment to Christ, it is not the end or the climax but rather the beginning. It is that time when we are justified by grace through faith, receive the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ and commit to a life time of growth. We Methodist Christians believe strongly in lifelong discipleship. We call this life journey sanctification. Sanctification is the lifelong journey to grow towards perfect love of God and neighbor. Worship, Bible study, mission, service, and leadership grow out of a disciple’s journey. Our understanding of them deepens and matures and they become a sign of where we are on that sanctified journey.
You may or may not know that the United Methodist Church’s mission statement is simply and powerfully “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” Our own Woodville UMC mission statement highlights the call to “nurture faithful disciples…” All of this discipleship emphasis is rooted in the Great Commission of Jesus found in Matthew 28. Jesus does not send out the 11 disciples to go and recruit church members. He does not say go get people to profess their faith in Christ. He does not start his commission with going and getting as many people baptized as possible although he quickly gets to baptism in the commission. He does not even say go and “save people,” Jesus is pretty clear that He does the saving through us, its not because of us. All of these are important but Jesus’ last words in Matthew to the 11 disciples were to “go and make disciples…” baptizing and teaching all to obey Jesus’ commands (remember that the Great commandment is to love God and love neighbor…see sanctification above). So, the Methodist way is deeply rooted in Scripture.
This Fall at Woodville UMC we are going to place heavy emphasis on discipleship, we’ll call it Disciple: Being One, Making One. I’m not only encouraging you, I’m exhorting you, pleading with you to take your own discipleship seriously. Many of you do that. Many more have the desire. As a church we will help you, as your pastor I will help in every way possible to plug you in to opportunities for worship, study, fellowship and service. Please take notice of all of the small group offerings that will be available starting at the beginning of September as well as Sunday school. When discipleship is a priority in our lives and our church, God is glorified, we are blessed and the world is transformed.

Yeah Lakeview Camp!

I look forward to being in worship with you this Sunday. Our summer pastoral intern, Stephen Gehring, will preach on a parable of Jesus and we’ll be blessed by his witness. Thank you to Jimmy Robertson and the youth who shared about their camp experiences in worship last Sunday. I heard about their testimonies and can echo them myself. I too had a powerful experience at Lakeview Camp last week. It always inspires me to see the way God can move in the lives of youth of all ages. Stephen was the preacher for the camp I was co-directing and he did a fantastic job connecting with those 6th and 7th graders. Going to Lakeview brings back many memories for me. I spent many summers there from the 6th grade until now. There is nothing quite like the great sense of community and connection that Methodist Christians have with each other. Campers and adults from all around our state gather there and learn about what they individually have in common as well as what is different about us and then lift up our unity in Christ together. Our connection as United Methodists is so real and powerful. We’re united together by belief in the power of God’s grace for all, the radical welcome of Christ, the life-time journey of discipleship and the importance of service in Jesus’ name.
On behalf of all 25 + of us, thank you church family for your prayers and cards while we were away. It was a joy for me to pass out mail in my camp and know that every one of our Woodville UMC campers was receiving something from their church. Thank you! Come to worship this Sunday as we send off one last group to camp. This time we send 8 youth and 2 adults to UM Army High School Mission Camp. They’ll be in Houston next week repairing homes and helping those in need.