Devotional 7-31-15

Maturing as Christians and the CHURCH

Read Ephesians 4:1-16

Paul is writing this letter to the believers in Ephesus some 60 years after Christ’s Resurrection.  In Chapter 4, he speaks of maturing as Christians. How we have been called to live as Christ lived his life? One of love, gentleness, patience and acceptance. We are of one body and one spirit.  We have all been given different gifts to use as one body. Some preach, some teach, some prophecy and some are evangelists.  We are called to use all of these for the CHURCH and to bring others into the CHURCH.  And to continue doing so until we mature as adults in the fullness of Christ.  We are to no longer be as a child who can be tricked into other beliefs.  We are to:

¹⁵Instead, by speaking the truth with love, let’s grow in every way into Christ, ¹⁶who is the head. The whole body grows from him, as it is joined and held together by all the supporting ligaments. The body makes itself grow in that it builds itself up with love as each one does its part. Ephesians 4:15-16

But what is the church?  Is it a building? A steeple? Is it a place of rest?  No “It Is THE PEOPLE”. The church Johnson Memorial UMC would not have existed if it were not for the people who started it over One Hundred and Thirty years ago.  It would not still exist today if it were not for the PEOPLE of JM.  The building is not the CHURCH, the CHURCH is wherever the PEOPLE of JM gather.  Just as the Refrain from “I am The Church” says:

I am the church! You are the church!
We are the church together!
All who follow Jesus,
all around the world!
Yes, we're the church together!

JM is not a CHURCH all alone, we are a part of the Universal Church, in every corner of this vast world of ours.  We may not always agree with each other, but the message from God is that we are to love one another, accept one another, live in one Spirit and become like Christ.  And as we bring others into our CHURCH we bring them with: Love, Gentleness, Acceptance and Patience. All of the qualities of how Christ LIVED !!!

The song “One Bread One Body” written by John Michael Talbot is one which we have sung at JM many times.  It is special to me because it sums up how I feel about the CHURCH.

Refrain
One bread, one body,
one Lord of all,
one cup of blessing which we bless.
And we, though many,
throughout the earth,
we are one body in this one Lord.

1. Gentile or Jew,
servant or free,
woman or man, no more.

2. Many the gifts,
many the works,
one in the Lord of all.

3. Grain for the fields,
scattered and grown,
gathered to one, for all.
Pray for the CHURCH………… that we will all be one in Christ and like Christ.  Amen

Have a very blest week.
Fred Herr

Devotional 7-17-15

“ ‘With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?’
He has told you, O mortal one, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God.” – Micah 6:6-8

As I write this, it has been a week since I had the blessing of attending the Wednesday evening Bible Study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.  We had planned a family vacation in Charleston to visit and hold two new month-old babies:  a great granddaughter (our third) born June 1 and a grandson (our 17th) born June 2.  Since we would be there, I determined that I would attend the Wednesday Bible Study at Mother Emanuel AME Church, called “Mother Emanuel” because it was the first AME congregation in the south from which others were born.  The Johnson Memorial congregation sent with me nine prayer shawls into which people wove their own prayers as the shawls draped from the prayer rail during the Eucharist the Sunday we left.

The United Methodist Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Church are siblings in the broader Methodist family.  That makes JM and Emanuel first cousins.  It was a holy joy to meet my cousins.

The group was studying the prophet Micah.  Chapters 5 and 6 are full of God’s judgment against those who refuse to live in the ways of God.  The conversation often turned to events three weeks earlier when 9 members were gunned down and a 10th wounded.  The memory of the event was still fresh and raw, though the Emanuel folk exhibited remarkable grace and hope.  At one point, a woman stood and very quietly but directly said, “Our church is getting a lot of credit in the media and across the country for how we have handled this tragedy.  But we don’t deserve the credit; God did that.”  She sat down, and there was a moment of palpable stillness.  I know that in my feebled attempt to write this, I cannot capture the deep and wide spirit of that moment. But her comment, and the grace of the Emanuel congregation, are bringing redemption to a sacred space that had been fouled by violence and hatefulness.  Perhaps the lesson beyond that evening’s study is that wherever we are, there is the opportunity to sense the fresh blowing of the spirit’s wind, cleansing what humans have soiled.  Further, there is the lesson that we are all called to be redeemers in a troubled world.

“Breathe on me, breath of God.  Fill me with life anew,
That I would love what thou dost love, and do what thou wouldst do.” – Edwin Hatch, 1878
     
Rev.. Jack Lipphardt

Devotional 7-10-15

WAIT A MINUTE…WHAT???

 

This week's lectionary readings ranged from King David's exuberant joy in returning the ark of the covenant (the presence of God) to the city of Jerusalem; to David's Psalm proclaiming God's holiness and sovereignty over all creation; to Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus, exhorting them to remain strong in their faith because they have been adopted as children of God; to Mark's Gospel which records people's responses to the miracles and healings performed by Jesus and His disciples. I'm sure there is a common thread in this mix of Scripture… I just can't seem to grasp it… try as I might.  As a consequence, I've chosen to focus on one portion of the Gospel reading, which is quite jolting after reading the first 16 verses of Mark 6.

 

Mark tells of some people saying, "'John the baptizer has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers are at work in him.'  But others said, 'It is Elijah.' And others said, 'It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.'  But when Herod heard of it, he said, 'John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.'" (Mark 6:14b-16).

 

"For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because Herod had married her.  For John had been telling Herod, 'It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.' And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him.  But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him.  When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him." (Mark 6:17-20)

 

Wait a minute…what???  Herod recognized John's righteousness, his holiness, feared him, imprisoned him, and liked listening to him. Yet Herod let his own self-importance, reputation, and power overcome that small piece of light beginning to appear in his dark soul ("and yet he liked to listen to him."), and allowed himself to be manipulated to the point of having John beheaded!

 

I believe God, through Jesus Christ, and the indwelling Holy Spirit, has given each of us that wonderfully amazing small piece of light to help us during those dark seasons we all have at one time or another. The causes of the darkness run the entire spectrum of human emotions and human circumstances.  Our response to the darkness is our choice.  Sadly, being human, it is often much easier to indulge in the seductive power of the darkness, which requires no effort to sustain.

 

Because we have all been adopted into the family of God, we must do everything possible to encourage and enable our little pieces of light to become brighter, so they may help eliminate the dimming of others' pieces of light.  As Jesus reminds us, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." (Matthew 25:40).

 

My prayer is for us all to be aware of each member of our holy family – of each other's little piece of light. When there is a dimming, offer a piece of your light, and, in the giving, I'm sure your light and my light will burn a little brighter. 

     

Linda Summers

Devotional 7-3-15

ENOUGH GRACE

Lectionary Readings:  2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10; Psalm 48; 2 Corinthians 12:  2-10; Mark 6:1-13

And then He told me, “My grace is enough; it’s all you need.  My strength comes into its own in your weakness.”  Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen.  I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift.  It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size---abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks.  I just let Christ take over!  And so the weaker I get the stronger I become. (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10. The Message)

I think that I speak for the majority when I say that celebrating a weakness is not an easy thing to do.   Human nature leans closer to celebrating accomplishments, joys, achievements and wins.  The idea of appreciating a weakness is as radical as “the last will be first” or “you must lose your life to save it”.  And yet, that is exactly what Paul advises.  The theme of this chapter of the second letter to the Corinthians is “Surrender to God and God will provide all you need, even enough strength to overcome any weakness”.

Surrendering control of our lives to God is such a radical idea that most of us have great difficulty in accomplishing the surrender.  The act of surrendering control is difficult because we like making decisions and choices, planning and implementing, creating and directing. We are encouraged to become independent in all thoughts and actions. Surrendering has a negative connotation when we think it means “giving in” or “giving up”.  Even dealing with a full-fledged handicap is not usually welcomed as an asset even though many of us compensate effectively for multitudes of different and varying degrees of handicap.But Paul is talking about spiritual surrender not an abandonment of self-control.

The blessing of this radical change of thinking is that God already knows what we need.  The marvelous grace of God is the gift given freely because of the sacrifice of his Son on Calvary.  Surrendering to God—Letting Christ take over—gives us the strength we require for any situation or activity. God promises to accept us as we are, with our limitations and handicaps, with no strings attached.  Ah, the mystery of love!!!

This hymn about God’s grace is one example of the depth of God’s love for us(#365 in the Methodist Hymnal):

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace

Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt! Freely bestowed on all who believe!

Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured, You that are longing to see his face,

There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt, will you this moment his grace receive?

Grace, Grace, God’s grace,

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within,

Grace, Grace, God’s grace,

Grace that is greater than all our sin!

Julia H. Johnston (1911)

Dear Loving God, We humbly ask you to forgive us for our sins.  We thank you for your amazing gift of love and acceptance—love beyond our wildest imagination.  Help us to surrender to your guidance and plan for our lives.  Help us to accept the grace that you so freely offer.  AMEN

Chyrl Budd
P.S   Happy Independence Day Weekend, everyone.  Celebrate responsibly!!