I am enjoying the Discipleship University classes which started last week. We have just over 20 enrolled in them. We are reading a new book every 3 or 4 weeks that covers an area of discipleship. This kind of reading deepens our discipleship journey with Christ because it causes us to ask deep questions. We begin to think and discern theologically around essential questions in life. When we start reading the second book, we'll open enrollment again for these classes. Right now, we are reading The Illumined Heart: Exploring the Vibrant Faith of Ancient Christians. Let me share a few reflections from that little book.
In the first chapter, the author, Fredericka Mathewes-Greene talks about our very existence in this wild, unpredictable, exciting, God-created world. Here are some excerpts-"What is this human condition, this timeless question? To take the most global approach, we could say that it is the riddle of why none of us feels truly at home in this world....
It can take different forms in different people. For some, there's a vague, haunting feeling that we're always disappointing others; for others, it's that everyone else is always disappointing us. A lot of us feel like the whole rest of the world is in on a joke we're not getting, and we just smile awkwardly and pretend to go along. Some of us are burdened throughout our lives with guilt for a severe and genuine evil we committed. Others feel peppered daily by twinges over a host of minor offenses, pursued as by a cloud of mosquitos." Can you see your life here? Can you find your walk with God here? I can. At the base of it the author reminds us gently and powerfully "the only really important thing we can do is to live in Christ." Living in Christ means we begin and end each day with prayer, asking God to forgive and transform us by His grace. "God's love is a healing love, and healing is always uncomfortable. It heals in a surgical sense, and the scalpel can hurt."
In and through it all, God desires to see us transformed, day by day conquering sin and moving closer to God. It is a journey that cannot be done alone.
I'm thankful for a church family that seeks to be in authentic relationship with God and one another. God bless each of you this week as you walk with Him.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Wesley Center Update
Please pray for our youth as they attend the Mid-Winter Retreat at Lakeview camp this weekend, February 5-7. We have 17 youth and 3 adults attending. This Sunday in worship we will enjoy our Children's Choir as they sing praises to God. Yolanda Griffin directs this choir with assistance from Judy Brown. They do a wonderful job.
In this space, I would like to provide an update on the progress of the Wesley Center building. As of the writing of this column, here's where we are.
The metal structure is of course up, framed, walled with ceiling. I understand that the wood framing inside is complete or close to it. If you take a look inside, you'll see a large open space on the east side. This will be our fellowship area. It will have a basketball goal on the south wall. There is plenty of storage on the bottom floor there for tables and chairs. The elevator machinery began to arrive today (February 2nd). On the bottom floor on the west side of the building, you'll find a large kitchen, parlor area and youth director's office. In addition, there are two bathrooms, men's and women's, each with two showers. This will equip us to be a shelter in case of disaster and will also be a blessing for hosting mission camps.
The second floor is located on the west side of the building and it contains four classrooms, two devoted solely to our youth ministry. They can call this space home. There is also a small restroom upstairs.
As you know there is a porte-cache drive through on the south side of the building that is covered for drop off in the Wesley Center. We were able to add this to the project without going over the approved budget, because of cost savings in other areas.
At present, the elevator is on its way, the electrician is beginning his work inside and other utilities are close to doing their work.
The brick work has begun with a great deal of progress made on the north side of the building (Walt Davis Drive) and preparations being made for the other sides. Brick will go up from the ground to just above the first story windows on every side. There will also be brick columns going higher on every side, which you can begin to see on that north side. Just a reminder that the non-bricked area will be covered with a stucco-like finish that will match the brick coloring.
We don't have an accurate "move-in" time. You can understand the contractors hesitancy to put a target date on that but if you drive by the church frequently, you'll notice that all the laborers are hard at work nearly every day of the week. We are grateful for the work of our building committee and particularly Sidney Allison its chair. Great thanks to Otis Fortenberry also, our General Contractor. Otis and Sidney go to extra lengths to make sure things are done right.
At our recent annual Church Council Leadership Retreat, we announced the formation of the Wesley Center Task Group. This group will study and make recommendations for Wesley Center ministry to the Church Council. We want to be ready to transfer exisiting ministries to that space as soon as it's open, as well as plan new ministries that this space makes possible. This group will also work with the Trustees on policies that will govern the use of the building. The Wesley Center Task Group is Gordon McCluskey, Council chair; Stephanie Smith, lay leader; Reagan Pillack, Building Committee, Dixie Jarrott, staff; Grady McCluskey, Trustees; and me. If you have ideas or questions related to Wesley Center ministry, please contact one of these folks.
Please pray for us as we work on putting together some concrete recommendations for Wesley Center ministry.
God bless you this week.
In this space, I would like to provide an update on the progress of the Wesley Center building. As of the writing of this column, here's where we are.
The metal structure is of course up, framed, walled with ceiling. I understand that the wood framing inside is complete or close to it. If you take a look inside, you'll see a large open space on the east side. This will be our fellowship area. It will have a basketball goal on the south wall. There is plenty of storage on the bottom floor there for tables and chairs. The elevator machinery began to arrive today (February 2nd). On the bottom floor on the west side of the building, you'll find a large kitchen, parlor area and youth director's office. In addition, there are two bathrooms, men's and women's, each with two showers. This will equip us to be a shelter in case of disaster and will also be a blessing for hosting mission camps.
The second floor is located on the west side of the building and it contains four classrooms, two devoted solely to our youth ministry. They can call this space home. There is also a small restroom upstairs.
As you know there is a porte-cache drive through on the south side of the building that is covered for drop off in the Wesley Center. We were able to add this to the project without going over the approved budget, because of cost savings in other areas.
At present, the elevator is on its way, the electrician is beginning his work inside and other utilities are close to doing their work.
The brick work has begun with a great deal of progress made on the north side of the building (Walt Davis Drive) and preparations being made for the other sides. Brick will go up from the ground to just above the first story windows on every side. There will also be brick columns going higher on every side, which you can begin to see on that north side. Just a reminder that the non-bricked area will be covered with a stucco-like finish that will match the brick coloring.
We don't have an accurate "move-in" time. You can understand the contractors hesitancy to put a target date on that but if you drive by the church frequently, you'll notice that all the laborers are hard at work nearly every day of the week. We are grateful for the work of our building committee and particularly Sidney Allison its chair. Great thanks to Otis Fortenberry also, our General Contractor. Otis and Sidney go to extra lengths to make sure things are done right.
At our recent annual Church Council Leadership Retreat, we announced the formation of the Wesley Center Task Group. This group will study and make recommendations for Wesley Center ministry to the Church Council. We want to be ready to transfer exisiting ministries to that space as soon as it's open, as well as plan new ministries that this space makes possible. This group will also work with the Trustees on policies that will govern the use of the building. The Wesley Center Task Group is Gordon McCluskey, Council chair; Stephanie Smith, lay leader; Reagan Pillack, Building Committee, Dixie Jarrott, staff; Grady McCluskey, Trustees; and me. If you have ideas or questions related to Wesley Center ministry, please contact one of these folks.
Please pray for us as we work on putting together some concrete recommendations for Wesley Center ministry.
God bless you this week.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Dying Well
One of the Christmas gifts I received from Bethany was a book by one of my favorite Christian writers, Henri Nouwen. This particular book is entitled, Our Greatest Gift: Meditations on Dying and Caring. It is a short little book and even this slow reader, completed it quickly. Now you might wonder why a 34 year old young man is reading a book about dying. After all, I feel like I am in the prime of life. I feel healthy, my energy level is high, I have a beautiful young family.
I really wanted to read this book and was enthralled in the reading of it both to help my work as a pastor and to come more to grips with that unknown part of life called death.
Death, I believe, is on a continum of life. It is something dramatic that occurs along that line of life that is a harsh, painful and stark. No matter how we people of faith try to gloss over it being " a passage way" and a "bump" in the road of life, the pain is not eased for loved ones left behind.
With all the advances of medicine, all the knowledge gained, and many mysteries solved in this world, the mortality rate is still holding firm at 100%. We will all die. The mystery of death can be frightening for the person of faith and the person of no faith. It is an unknown.
Let me glean a few points from this little book I read. First, Nouwen says, to "befriend death." Talking about it, discussing it, remembering that you are a child of God. Always know that you can talk with me as your pastor or a trusted Christian friend. Befriending death means to reject fear, to not treat illness as simply a battle to be won or a foe to conquer but period of time where we can demonstrate "grace through powerlessness," like Jesus did in his suffering and dying.
Some will never know the experience of dying. It can come suddenly, or our minds are lost so much so that we may not be aware of our condition. For the young, therefore, reading and thinking about "dying well" is a matter of spiritual preparation that can bring peace.
Nouwen moves in the book to caring for the dying. Many of you are doing that for loved ones and many of us probably will one day. He notes that we are "parents of generations to come." We love the dying as "children of God" and treat them with that dignity. I recommend this book for those who are caring for aging and dying loved ones. It offers spiritual grounding for you in that journey.
Overall, he says, "I stay close to the heart of Jesus, whose life and death are the main source for understanding and living my own life and death."
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, said that "Methodists are people who die well."
I hope this is helpful for you or one you love.
I really wanted to read this book and was enthralled in the reading of it both to help my work as a pastor and to come more to grips with that unknown part of life called death.
Death, I believe, is on a continum of life. It is something dramatic that occurs along that line of life that is a harsh, painful and stark. No matter how we people of faith try to gloss over it being " a passage way" and a "bump" in the road of life, the pain is not eased for loved ones left behind.
With all the advances of medicine, all the knowledge gained, and many mysteries solved in this world, the mortality rate is still holding firm at 100%. We will all die. The mystery of death can be frightening for the person of faith and the person of no faith. It is an unknown.
Let me glean a few points from this little book I read. First, Nouwen says, to "befriend death." Talking about it, discussing it, remembering that you are a child of God. Always know that you can talk with me as your pastor or a trusted Christian friend. Befriending death means to reject fear, to not treat illness as simply a battle to be won or a foe to conquer but period of time where we can demonstrate "grace through powerlessness," like Jesus did in his suffering and dying.
Some will never know the experience of dying. It can come suddenly, or our minds are lost so much so that we may not be aware of our condition. For the young, therefore, reading and thinking about "dying well" is a matter of spiritual preparation that can bring peace.
Nouwen moves in the book to caring for the dying. Many of you are doing that for loved ones and many of us probably will one day. He notes that we are "parents of generations to come." We love the dying as "children of God" and treat them with that dignity. I recommend this book for those who are caring for aging and dying loved ones. It offers spiritual grounding for you in that journey.
Overall, he says, "I stay close to the heart of Jesus, whose life and death are the main source for understanding and living my own life and death."
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, said that "Methodists are people who die well."
I hope this is helpful for you or one you love.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Christian Marriage
I read a sad fact the other day. While many of us know that the marriage success rate in the United States of America has hovered around a depressing 50%, did you know that among Christians the percentage is the same? Half of all marriages end in divorce and those of us who claim the name of Christ do not have a better “success” at it. Truly a sad fact. I don’t know the reasons for that. I suspect that many of the Christians polled are not active Christians worshipping regularly in a church, studying the Bible, serving their neighbor. With these life practices, our lives and our relationships are nurtured for the glory of God.
Many of you reading this column have experienced the tragedy and hurt of a broken marriage; I grieve for you and pray for others whose marriages are “on the ropes.” The difficult thing is that many are suffering in the shadows. Almost no one outside the home knows what is happening inside.
In this very brief space, I would like to offer some guidance for our marriages, both healthy and happy ones, and ones on the rocks. Marriages of every kind need nurturing. Even if good marriages are neglected, they will be damaged. For all married folks, read these words coming humbly from me and for unmarried folks, try to apply it to relationships in your life. I am adapting some of these pointers from Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California. Warren is a pastor I admire in many ways and also disagree with in other ways but his pointers are helpful and I’ll note where I borrow from his writings.
Like the saying goes, “the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence; the grass is greener where you water it.” We must make sure our marriage is growing and developing, or we’ll be susceptible to moral failure. If you want a happy marriage, you’re going to have to work at it.
1. Surround yourself with reminders of your family. Warren keeps a drawer filled with reminders of his family. I keep pictures of my family in my office so that I can both remember them, celebrate them and let their need for me hold me accountable to be present when I am needed as a husband and father.
2. Keep lines of communication open. Keep the lines of communication open. Talk through issues in a way that works for you and your spouse. Some need to talk everything out, others need to “walk away” for a bit after an argument. The main thing is to return to a disagreement if it’s significant to at least one of you, and work it out. It’s very important also to understand what your spouses’ frustrations and dilemmas are, and understand their hopes and dreams.
3. Date your mate. You and your spouse need a regular date night. Put it on the calendar. Don’t let anything get in its way. It doesn’t have to be expensive. If the weather is nice where you live, have a picnic somewhere. There may be someone in your church willing to babysit your kids as a ministry to your family (Warren). Regardless of how you make it happen, you need to do it. For Christmas 2009, Bethany identified dozens and dozens of free things we could do together all over our area. They were both family fun and couple fun. It doesn’t have to be expensive but your marriage is what you had before children and your marriage is what you have after children are raised and on their own.
4. Pray. The most important one. Many folks are in marriages where one spouse is an active church involved Christian and the other is not. Ultimately we are responsible for our own relationship with Christ and with the faith exposure of the children God entrusts to us. If you are a nominal Christian, you could do nothing more important right now than to begin worshipping regularly, and letting study, service and personal generosity grow from there. If you are an active Christian, pray and stay committed.
Please receive these as words from a pastor who cares for each and every one of you. I pray for your church family and I treasure the knowledge that you are praying for me.
Many of you reading this column have experienced the tragedy and hurt of a broken marriage; I grieve for you and pray for others whose marriages are “on the ropes.” The difficult thing is that many are suffering in the shadows. Almost no one outside the home knows what is happening inside.
In this very brief space, I would like to offer some guidance for our marriages, both healthy and happy ones, and ones on the rocks. Marriages of every kind need nurturing. Even if good marriages are neglected, they will be damaged. For all married folks, read these words coming humbly from me and for unmarried folks, try to apply it to relationships in your life. I am adapting some of these pointers from Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California. Warren is a pastor I admire in many ways and also disagree with in other ways but his pointers are helpful and I’ll note where I borrow from his writings.
Like the saying goes, “the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence; the grass is greener where you water it.” We must make sure our marriage is growing and developing, or we’ll be susceptible to moral failure. If you want a happy marriage, you’re going to have to work at it.
1. Surround yourself with reminders of your family. Warren keeps a drawer filled with reminders of his family. I keep pictures of my family in my office so that I can both remember them, celebrate them and let their need for me hold me accountable to be present when I am needed as a husband and father.
2. Keep lines of communication open. Keep the lines of communication open. Talk through issues in a way that works for you and your spouse. Some need to talk everything out, others need to “walk away” for a bit after an argument. The main thing is to return to a disagreement if it’s significant to at least one of you, and work it out. It’s very important also to understand what your spouses’ frustrations and dilemmas are, and understand their hopes and dreams.
3. Date your mate. You and your spouse need a regular date night. Put it on the calendar. Don’t let anything get in its way. It doesn’t have to be expensive. If the weather is nice where you live, have a picnic somewhere. There may be someone in your church willing to babysit your kids as a ministry to your family (Warren). Regardless of how you make it happen, you need to do it. For Christmas 2009, Bethany identified dozens and dozens of free things we could do together all over our area. They were both family fun and couple fun. It doesn’t have to be expensive but your marriage is what you had before children and your marriage is what you have after children are raised and on their own.
4. Pray. The most important one. Many folks are in marriages where one spouse is an active church involved Christian and the other is not. Ultimately we are responsible for our own relationship with Christ and with the faith exposure of the children God entrusts to us. If you are a nominal Christian, you could do nothing more important right now than to begin worshipping regularly, and letting study, service and personal generosity grow from there. If you are an active Christian, pray and stay committed.
Please receive these as words from a pastor who cares for each and every one of you. I pray for your church family and I treasure the knowledge that you are praying for me.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Happy New Year
Happy New Year to the Woodville UMC family! I pray that your new year is off to a good start. I feel blessed to enjoy this time with you and I'm looking forward to some special opportunities this Winter and Spring to spend in study as well as worship with you.
At this time we are always making new years resolutions. Mine have to do with exercise, time for nurturing my journey as a disciple of Jesus Christ, renewed dedication to being an attentive and loving husband and father, and spending increased time in prayer for them and you. What are you resolving to do this year?
It's true that most of our resolutions revolve around stuff we will do - diets, exercise, finances, calendars and the like. What would it be like if we would ask this question - "who does God want me to be this year? and how do I start becoming that person this year?" We are afterall human beings not human doings. Being and becoming have to do with prayer, relationships, integrity at work and at home and an openness to God growing us by grace into something new.
The scriptures are full of words from the Lord about the new. In Isaiah the Lord says, "do not consider the former things of old, for I am about to do a new thing." Jesus talks a great deal about old and new. In I Corinthians, Paul says that "in Christ you are a new creation." Jesus also challenges us by saying that "you cannot put new wine into old wineskins," in other words we can't expect to completely hold the new if we are unwilling to let our old selves change.
I would repeat here something I shared in the sermon last Sunday. The author, George Bernard Shaw at the end of his life was asked who in history would he choose to be if given the chance. His response - "I would choose to be the George Bernard Shaw I was created to be but never became."
God's invitation to you and me this and any year is to allow His grace to grow us into becoming the people God created us to be. Do your resolutions respond to this question?
After we ask the question about being and becoming, I trust that the doing will flow naturally out of it.
Please take a look at this newsletter for new year opportunities for Bible study, discipleship growth, and service. This Sunday we will gather to renew our faith together in worship through the Wesleyan Covenant Renewal service and also bless our church leaders in this new year.
At this time we are always making new years resolutions. Mine have to do with exercise, time for nurturing my journey as a disciple of Jesus Christ, renewed dedication to being an attentive and loving husband and father, and spending increased time in prayer for them and you. What are you resolving to do this year?
It's true that most of our resolutions revolve around stuff we will do - diets, exercise, finances, calendars and the like. What would it be like if we would ask this question - "who does God want me to be this year? and how do I start becoming that person this year?" We are afterall human beings not human doings. Being and becoming have to do with prayer, relationships, integrity at work and at home and an openness to God growing us by grace into something new.
The scriptures are full of words from the Lord about the new. In Isaiah the Lord says, "do not consider the former things of old, for I am about to do a new thing." Jesus talks a great deal about old and new. In I Corinthians, Paul says that "in Christ you are a new creation." Jesus also challenges us by saying that "you cannot put new wine into old wineskins," in other words we can't expect to completely hold the new if we are unwilling to let our old selves change.
I would repeat here something I shared in the sermon last Sunday. The author, George Bernard Shaw at the end of his life was asked who in history would he choose to be if given the chance. His response - "I would choose to be the George Bernard Shaw I was created to be but never became."
God's invitation to you and me this and any year is to allow His grace to grow us into becoming the people God created us to be. Do your resolutions respond to this question?
After we ask the question about being and becoming, I trust that the doing will flow naturally out of it.
Please take a look at this newsletter for new year opportunities for Bible study, discipleship growth, and service. This Sunday we will gather to renew our faith together in worship through the Wesleyan Covenant Renewal service and also bless our church leaders in this new year.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Love All
What a joy it is to celebrate Christmas with you. The Advent season has been one filled with great joy and blessing shared with you. I look around our church and into the eyes of the people and see our faith growing and deepening together. We have had a tremendous year in ministry and mission. We have "Embraced our Heritage" and begun "building our future" in exciting ways. This Fall, 5 Disciple Bible studies took place where people grew in their understanding of God's Word. Missions continued to make a difference in the lives of people serving food, providing material assistance and helping other churches, all in Jesus' name. Our youth ministry has more than doubled in size this year and they have grown deeper in their discipleship. Worship has been a powerful experience each week all year for me and I trust for you as well.
This year we moved forward together to build our future through the Wesley Center, making space for ministry to happen in the decades to come. You responded to all these positive life-changing possibilities with great generosity.
Join with me in praising God for your faithfulness in giving this year. We paid 100% of our missional committments beyond our church. Through what we call apportionments, you supported college campus ministry, scholarships, missions in Africa, missions at home and more. You went above and beyond by also giving to "Fair Share Goals" which are not expected every year. Your giving supported Lakeview Camp, Lon Morris College, and others. On top of all of this, your general giving of course made possible the ministries I mentioned already and we completed the first of a three year pledge campaign to build Wesley Center. We met our general budget, fulfilled these missional apportionment committments and are on track with our Wesley Center committments 1/3 of the way.
Only you know where you are on your personal giving committments for the year 2009. Time still remains for you to fulfill what you feel led to give for this year. If you would like to give for the year 2009 for tax purposes, please mail or bring by your gift before the end of the year. I thank God for your faithfulness and for what He has done in and through us.
Love All. That is the last of the four values for Advent that I lift up this week of Christmas. While that little phrase may sound sentimental and simple, it means so much more. To love all is to take seriously the love of God for all people. In Jesus Christ His only Son, God demonstrated His boundless love for every person for all of time. Young and old, rich and poor, black, white or brown, God loves us all.
Being loved like this causes me to pause this Christmas and gulp pretty seriously and look at others in a new way. Why? Because I'm aware more than ever, that God looks at me with nothing but love and invites me to come to Him and receive the gift of new life in Jesus Christ. Of all the gifts we receive this Christmas, may that gift take first place in our hearts.
Merry Christmas to you all,
Tommy
This year we moved forward together to build our future through the Wesley Center, making space for ministry to happen in the decades to come. You responded to all these positive life-changing possibilities with great generosity.
Join with me in praising God for your faithfulness in giving this year. We paid 100% of our missional committments beyond our church. Through what we call apportionments, you supported college campus ministry, scholarships, missions in Africa, missions at home and more. You went above and beyond by also giving to "Fair Share Goals" which are not expected every year. Your giving supported Lakeview Camp, Lon Morris College, and others. On top of all of this, your general giving of course made possible the ministries I mentioned already and we completed the first of a three year pledge campaign to build Wesley Center. We met our general budget, fulfilled these missional apportionment committments and are on track with our Wesley Center committments 1/3 of the way.
Only you know where you are on your personal giving committments for the year 2009. Time still remains for you to fulfill what you feel led to give for this year. If you would like to give for the year 2009 for tax purposes, please mail or bring by your gift before the end of the year. I thank God for your faithfulness and for what He has done in and through us.
Love All. That is the last of the four values for Advent that I lift up this week of Christmas. While that little phrase may sound sentimental and simple, it means so much more. To love all is to take seriously the love of God for all people. In Jesus Christ His only Son, God demonstrated His boundless love for every person for all of time. Young and old, rich and poor, black, white or brown, God loves us all.
Being loved like this causes me to pause this Christmas and gulp pretty seriously and look at others in a new way. Why? Because I'm aware more than ever, that God looks at me with nothing but love and invites me to come to Him and receive the gift of new life in Jesus Christ. Of all the gifts we receive this Christmas, may that gift take first place in our hearts.
Merry Christmas to you all,
Tommy
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Give More
Last Sunday in worship was a glorious day of music. The Chancel Choir, with Jim Lazenby's leadership, was a blessing to us all. I know God was pleased by such an offering of praise and worship. I'm grateful to God for Jim, for Jackie Fultz, our organist/pianist, for Shalane Wesley for stepping in on the drums, for the soloists and the whole group. The choir loft was full and the sound was even more full.
This Sunday we'll continue with great music as we enjoy our children's choir leading us in worship in addition to more music from the Chancel Choir.
This week the value I want to lift up for the Advent season is Give More.
First we must understand that to give more this Christmas does not necessarily mean quantity or the amount of stuff one gives. Giving more means giving more fully of ourselves to God through worship, gift-giving, through relationships with family and friends.
In this way, we can all give more.
One of the most common struggles we human beings have is the "just enough" syndrome I'll call it. You know what I mean. We do just enough to get by. We come to worship just enough to feel like we've been. We call or write our loved one just enough or we say just enough or we give just enough to feel temporarily satisfied with our offering. We rarely empty ourselves totally for God or others.
At Christmas God gave Himself fully for us. He didn't hold back, hedge, offer just enough, He gave it all, He gave us His only Son. What would happen if we gave more this Christmas? What if we chose to write a letter to a loved one and poured ourselves out? What if we gave more by saying "thank you" and "I love you" to those who need to hear that from us? What if we gave more of our resources to the ministry of the church to close out the year right?
All of our giving is a faithful response to the God who gave us everything. What would it mean for you and me to give more this Christmas?
This Sunday we'll continue with great music as we enjoy our children's choir leading us in worship in addition to more music from the Chancel Choir.
This week the value I want to lift up for the Advent season is Give More.
First we must understand that to give more this Christmas does not necessarily mean quantity or the amount of stuff one gives. Giving more means giving more fully of ourselves to God through worship, gift-giving, through relationships with family and friends.
In this way, we can all give more.
One of the most common struggles we human beings have is the "just enough" syndrome I'll call it. You know what I mean. We do just enough to get by. We come to worship just enough to feel like we've been. We call or write our loved one just enough or we say just enough or we give just enough to feel temporarily satisfied with our offering. We rarely empty ourselves totally for God or others.
At Christmas God gave Himself fully for us. He didn't hold back, hedge, offer just enough, He gave it all, He gave us His only Son. What would happen if we gave more this Christmas? What if we chose to write a letter to a loved one and poured ourselves out? What if we gave more by saying "thank you" and "I love you" to those who need to hear that from us? What if we gave more of our resources to the ministry of the church to close out the year right?
All of our giving is a faithful response to the God who gave us everything. What would it mean for you and me to give more this Christmas?
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