I want to share some news with you regarding our church staff. Our Director of Music Ministries, Matt Moody, has decided to resign in order to spend more time balancing his primary work and his family commitments. Matt and Mindy and their young family continue to be members of our church and we look forward to their continued participation in the life of our church. Matt, as we all know, is extraordinarily talented. His gifts for singing and musical excellence have shined in his leadership of our Hand Bell and Chancel Choirs for the past year. We thank God for Matt’s leadership. I am personally grateful for the friendship that Matt and I share and for the “can do” spirit that he has always demonstrated in his work on the staff. Thank you Matt for your service to Christ through Woodville United Methodist Church.
As with any staff transition, our Staff Parish Relations Committee (SPRC) is the group charged with personnel decisions and they will work with me to find a new director of music ministries. Representatives from our choirs will be involved in the process as well. All of you are welcome and invited to give input. We maintain our commitment to excellence in all areas of staff ministry leadership including in our music ministry. Meanwhile both of our choirs will continue to meet and rehearse on Wednesday evenings.
On that musical note, our Children’s Choir had their debut in worship last Sunday and did a great job! Yolanda Griffin is directing the choir with assistance from Judy Brown and Jackie Fultz. What a wonderful blessing our children and their leaders are to the church.
This Sunday I am concluding the sermon series on “Biblical Wisdom for the New Year.” I have really enjoyed this series with you and have learned a great deal about the wisdom books of the Old Testament. I hope you have too. This Sunday I’ll finish in the Book of Job. I will be preaching from excerpts of the dialogue between Job and God. One of the famous lines from Job is that verse that introduces God. After a period of silence, God comes to Job, “out of the whirlwind.” Have you ever had an experience of God that comes out of nowhere like that? Maybe we’ll experience God that way together this Sunday.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Looking for a College for someone you care about?
I have recently begun a term of service on the Lon Morris College Board of Trustees. Lon Morris is a United Methodist 2 year college in Jacksonville, Texas. I am honored to serve because I attended there and had a great experience that prepared me for further study and gave me continued encouragement and experience for my life in the Methodist ministry.
If you have a child, grandchild or know a young person who is considering college and trying to figure out where to go, I want you to let me know so that I can talk to them about Lon Morris. Lon Morris is a small college that offers great individual attention from high quality teachers; the average class size is 12. When I transferred from Lon Morris to Stephen F. Austin to finish my Bachelor’s Degree, there was no drop off in the quality of teaching from Lon Morris to SFA. I was very well prepared for that university and later for graduate school. Lon Morris offers all of the “real college” experiences - sports, art, dance, theatre, music, student activities, student government, and dorm life. Most importantly they offer continued growth as a Christian disciple. They have a new gifted young chaplain. He leads Christian students and with those students reaches others for Christ through worship, missions and classes in church careers for those who are trying to discern a call to some type of ministry.
I was hooked for Lon Morris when I was in the 6th grade. The youth group from my local church visited Lon Morris on one of their youth campus visit days. We ate in the cafeteria, went to a basketball game, toured around the dorms and got a first impression of “college life” that I never forgot. Since that visit, my family moved to Houston and heard about all other kinds of schools. When it came time for me to decide on where to go to college, I always pictured Lon Morris in my mind. So my parents and I went to Jacksonville, met with folks from the school and worked out a way for me to go there. My parents and my church were a great support.
On Saturday February 28th, Lon Morris is holding a campus visit day. If you have a young person from 6-12th grade in your family or know of someone who might want to go, I will personally take them that day. Feel free to call me at the church office, or email me at revtommywilliams@sbcglobal.net
If a young person is a member of Woodville UMC or another Methodist Church, I as a pastor can write one letter of recommendation a year for a youth in my church and they will be awarded a $2500 scholarship to Lon Morris.
Lon Morris College will not be the school for every young person but it will be for some, maybe someone like me.
If you have a child, grandchild or know a young person who is considering college and trying to figure out where to go, I want you to let me know so that I can talk to them about Lon Morris. Lon Morris is a small college that offers great individual attention from high quality teachers; the average class size is 12. When I transferred from Lon Morris to Stephen F. Austin to finish my Bachelor’s Degree, there was no drop off in the quality of teaching from Lon Morris to SFA. I was very well prepared for that university and later for graduate school. Lon Morris offers all of the “real college” experiences - sports, art, dance, theatre, music, student activities, student government, and dorm life. Most importantly they offer continued growth as a Christian disciple. They have a new gifted young chaplain. He leads Christian students and with those students reaches others for Christ through worship, missions and classes in church careers for those who are trying to discern a call to some type of ministry.
I was hooked for Lon Morris when I was in the 6th grade. The youth group from my local church visited Lon Morris on one of their youth campus visit days. We ate in the cafeteria, went to a basketball game, toured around the dorms and got a first impression of “college life” that I never forgot. Since that visit, my family moved to Houston and heard about all other kinds of schools. When it came time for me to decide on where to go to college, I always pictured Lon Morris in my mind. So my parents and I went to Jacksonville, met with folks from the school and worked out a way for me to go there. My parents and my church were a great support.
On Saturday February 28th, Lon Morris is holding a campus visit day. If you have a young person from 6-12th grade in your family or know of someone who might want to go, I will personally take them that day. Feel free to call me at the church office, or email me at revtommywilliams@sbcglobal.net
If a young person is a member of Woodville UMC or another Methodist Church, I as a pastor can write one letter of recommendation a year for a youth in my church and they will be awarded a $2500 scholarship to Lon Morris.
Lon Morris College will not be the school for every young person but it will be for some, maybe someone like me.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
I'm back
If you are still out there friends, I'm back after a long hiatus from blogging. I didn't intend to stay away so long but such is life. I'm going to start posting my weekly newsletter columns here that I write for my church's weekly newsletter. I hope they will provide an easy way for church folks and friends to receive reflections, insights and news from me and the church.
I also hope to review books I'm reading and do some more blogging through sermon series' and church wide studies, so look for those too.
Look for all these soon.
For now, I invite any good ideas for studies and sermon series topics for Lent. I'm praying and narrowing down and always invite additional ideas.
Grace to everyone,
Tommy
I also hope to review books I'm reading and do some more blogging through sermon series' and church wide studies, so look for those too.
Look for all these soon.
For now, I invite any good ideas for studies and sermon series topics for Lent. I'm praying and narrowing down and always invite additional ideas.
Grace to everyone,
Tommy
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Dreams
What were your childhood dreams? What did you want to do when you "grew up?" I was reminded of this basic question while reading The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Pausch recently died of pancreatic cancer before he reached 50 years of age. He reflected on these questions in his last lecture at Carnegie Mellon where he taught computer science. The more I thought about these the more I recalled about my own inner life as a child - what I thought about, what I dreamed about, what went through my mind at those formative times in my life. So, here goes...here are some of the childhood dreams I remember entertaining and what I thought I might want to do when I "grew up." What were yours?
1. I wanted to be President of the United States. I thought a lot about how I would get there. I loved history, especially presidential history even at a young elementary age and I concluded that a bunch of presidents were lawyers so I should be a lawyer.
2. I couldn't get all that excited about being a lawyer as a kid so I thought about being an historian since it was closer to what I loved but I didn't understand at age 9 what a historian would actually do (I did get to give tours of the US Capitol as a congressional intern during college, I think that qualifies)
3. I wanted to go to Disney World (I've gotten to visit there three times!)
4. Later as I got interested in sports I think the thought crossed my mind that I could be on TV talking about sports (here in Woodville I got to call a few games on radio!)
5. Preacher. I wanted to sit and talk and drink coffee with people all the time and talk about the church because I heard my favorite pastors do that at our dinner table with my parents. (That's how I'm spending my life now!)
What were your dreams? Do you still think about them? Which ones could you still accomplish?
1. I wanted to be President of the United States. I thought a lot about how I would get there. I loved history, especially presidential history even at a young elementary age and I concluded that a bunch of presidents were lawyers so I should be a lawyer.
2. I couldn't get all that excited about being a lawyer as a kid so I thought about being an historian since it was closer to what I loved but I didn't understand at age 9 what a historian would actually do (I did get to give tours of the US Capitol as a congressional intern during college, I think that qualifies)
3. I wanted to go to Disney World (I've gotten to visit there three times!)
4. Later as I got interested in sports I think the thought crossed my mind that I could be on TV talking about sports (here in Woodville I got to call a few games on radio!)
5. Preacher. I wanted to sit and talk and drink coffee with people all the time and talk about the church because I heard my favorite pastors do that at our dinner table with my parents. (That's how I'm spending my life now!)
What were your dreams? Do you still think about them? Which ones could you still accomplish?
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Knowing Jesus through Mark 15
At this stage in the Gospel, everything points to the cross. Here in chapter 15, we find Jesus "handed over" by the religious leaders to Pilate, the political authority. I would like to look at this chapter through the lens of the characters. Most chapters of course are filled with the actions of Jesus, his disciples and the masses. Often there is a named someone who has a personal interaction with Jesus. (note - Even though I am calling them characters, I'm not implying they were fictional as in a dramatic play)
Many of the characters we find here are new.
Chief priest, elders and scribes (professional interpreters of the Jewish law and repeatedly Jesus' opponents in Mark)
Pilate - Roman governor, ruling political authority who is portrayed by Mark as a reluctant participant in the trial and execution of Jesus (vs 14) Pilate served in his office from 26-36 AD.
Barrabas - in prison because of his apparent involvement in a rebel insurrection (vs 7) It's not clear which one Mark is referring to because they were many around this time but that detail doesn't seem relevant. He was a criminal who it seems is justifiably incarcerated (as opposed to Jesus).
The crowd - remember its Passover time so the city is full. Were some of the disciples in the crowd?
Soldiers - mock and humiliate Jesus by stripping his clothes, spitting on him and showing outright contempt. The "whole cohort" was a regiment of soldiers of about 200-600 troops. That might be an exaggeration. It doesn't seem like you would need that many for one prisoner but Mark seems to want us to understand the gravity of the situation.
Simon of Cyrene - "passer-by" to help Jesus carry the cross. No doubt journeying to Jerusalem for Passover. Cyrene is in present day Libya.
Bandits - no conversation is found here as in Luke's Gospel between Jesus and the others being crucified on eithe side of him. Again, I think the emphasis is his innocence with others guilt.
Others passing by while Jesus hangs from the cross - religious leaders again - mocking and humiliating Jesus
God - Jesus prays to his Father in the words of Psalm 22:1
Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James, Salome - were present it seems along with other women who Mark notes, cared for and traveled with Jesus from Galilee. Although not one of 12 disciples, clearly these women were disciples in the broader sense, as we are. It's impossible to know if Mary mother of James is also Jesus' mother but could be.
Joseph of Aramithea - we don't know which council he was amember of but Mark indicates he was "waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God." He was a "respected member of the council" but Mark still notes that his approaching Pilate for Jesus' body was a "bold" action. He has Jesus entombed with dignity.
What do we learn about Jesus from this chapter?
Many of the characters we find here are new.
Chief priest, elders and scribes (professional interpreters of the Jewish law and repeatedly Jesus' opponents in Mark)
Pilate - Roman governor, ruling political authority who is portrayed by Mark as a reluctant participant in the trial and execution of Jesus (vs 14) Pilate served in his office from 26-36 AD.
Barrabas - in prison because of his apparent involvement in a rebel insurrection (vs 7) It's not clear which one Mark is referring to because they were many around this time but that detail doesn't seem relevant. He was a criminal who it seems is justifiably incarcerated (as opposed to Jesus).
The crowd - remember its Passover time so the city is full. Were some of the disciples in the crowd?
Soldiers - mock and humiliate Jesus by stripping his clothes, spitting on him and showing outright contempt. The "whole cohort" was a regiment of soldiers of about 200-600 troops. That might be an exaggeration. It doesn't seem like you would need that many for one prisoner but Mark seems to want us to understand the gravity of the situation.
Simon of Cyrene - "passer-by" to help Jesus carry the cross. No doubt journeying to Jerusalem for Passover. Cyrene is in present day Libya.
Bandits - no conversation is found here as in Luke's Gospel between Jesus and the others being crucified on eithe side of him. Again, I think the emphasis is his innocence with others guilt.
Others passing by while Jesus hangs from the cross - religious leaders again - mocking and humiliating Jesus
God - Jesus prays to his Father in the words of Psalm 22:1
Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James, Salome - were present it seems along with other women who Mark notes, cared for and traveled with Jesus from Galilee. Although not one of 12 disciples, clearly these women were disciples in the broader sense, as we are. It's impossible to know if Mary mother of James is also Jesus' mother but could be.
Joseph of Aramithea - we don't know which council he was amember of but Mark indicates he was "waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God." He was a "respected member of the council" but Mark still notes that his approaching Pilate for Jesus' body was a "bold" action. He has Jesus entombed with dignity.
What do we learn about Jesus from this chapter?
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Knowing Jesus through Mark 13
It is first important to note with this chapter the probable composition period of Mark's Gospel - mid to late 60's AD.
Therefore what Jesus and his disciples discuss here is to be read in light of the probable cultural context of the 60's AD which I will briefly describe here.
- During the 60's AD, Christians experienced evil and harsh persecutions by the Roman empire, most notably led by the Emperor Nero. Christians were beaten, tortured, and executed. One Roman historian's comments seem to summarize the mindset - Christians are "notoriously depraved" and "are holding on to a deadly superstition."
- The Jews begin an active revolt against the Roman occupiers in 67 AD which lasts until 70AD at which time the temple in Jerusalem is destroyed. It is never rebuilt.
- The Jews are revolting against the Romans, they also turn inward and fight viciously among themselves.
- Jesus warns about the disciples reacting hastily at first (vs.7-8) about all that will happen (Mark here is recalling the words of Jesus that are prophesying what he is currently experiencing in the late 60's AD).
- Jesus soon tells his disciples that at the right time they should leave Jerusalem (vs14-16)
- This passage often invites discussion about the "second coming" of Jesus (see opening comments).
Therefore what Jesus and his disciples discuss here is to be read in light of the probable cultural context of the 60's AD which I will briefly describe here.
- During the 60's AD, Christians experienced evil and harsh persecutions by the Roman empire, most notably led by the Emperor Nero. Christians were beaten, tortured, and executed. One Roman historian's comments seem to summarize the mindset - Christians are "notoriously depraved" and "are holding on to a deadly superstition."
- The Jews begin an active revolt against the Roman occupiers in 67 AD which lasts until 70AD at which time the temple in Jerusalem is destroyed. It is never rebuilt.
- The Jews are revolting against the Romans, they also turn inward and fight viciously among themselves.
- Jesus warns about the disciples reacting hastily at first (vs.7-8) about all that will happen (Mark here is recalling the words of Jesus that are prophesying what he is currently experiencing in the late 60's AD).
- Jesus soon tells his disciples that at the right time they should leave Jerusalem (vs14-16)
- This passage often invites discussion about the "second coming" of Jesus (see opening comments).
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Updated Mark Schedule
Derrick Noble preached with passion and insight on Mark chapters 9-12 during our Revival. It was good to have a fresh voice and varied approach to our study focus. We are now in the "home stretch" of our study. Here is the remaining schedule:
This Sunday morning, October 5th - Mark 13
This Sunday evening - Mark 14
Sunday morning, October 12th - Mark 15
Sunday evening - Mark 16
The series will conclude on October 12th. Check back in on this blog in the next 24 hours and you'll find brief sketches of chapters 13 and 14 to give you a preview of this Sunday.
This Sunday morning, October 5th - Mark 13
This Sunday evening - Mark 14
Sunday morning, October 12th - Mark 15
Sunday evening - Mark 16
The series will conclude on October 12th. Check back in on this blog in the next 24 hours and you'll find brief sketches of chapters 13 and 14 to give you a preview of this Sunday.
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