|
2/28/2017 0 Comments February 28th, 2017 What Is Ash Wednesday Anyway? This Wednesday, March 1st, is Ash Wednesday this year, so I want to take a pause in our discussion of the PATH to Prayer to focus on this important day. Ash Wednesday is 40 days before Easter Sunday - not including Sundays - and marks the beginning of the season of Lent. Lent, of course, is known as that time when we are supposed to give something up. Many people decide to give up eating chocolate or desserts, to cut out caffeine, to stop watching TV, or to refrain from logging onto Facebook. All of these are little ways of giving up something that we normally enjoy without a second thought. So what's the point of this? Historically, the season of Lent was meant to be a period of preparation as potential new members awaited their opportunity to be baptized and join the family of the church at Easter. The forty days of Lent recalled Jesus' forty days in the wilderness before he began his ministry, the forty years the Israelites spent wandering the desert between their escape from Egypt and their entering the promised land, and the forty days of the flood in the time of Noah. During this final time before taking the baptismal vows, the new converts spent extra time praying, studying, and fasting. In time, those who were already members of the church began to join with those who were preparing in their dedication to these disciplines, and it became a season of repentance and renewal for the whole church. It is this practice of fasting that lies at the root of our tradition of giving something up for Lent. Giving something up is simply a discipline to help remind us of the vows we've taken to follow Jesus and obey God. (On a side note: The Sundays between Ash Wednesday and Easter are not included in the forty days of Lent. While Lent is somber time, each Sunday is considered a celebration and remembrance of the resurrection of Easter. Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras in French) is the last day before the beginning of Lent and became a festival to use up all of the rich foods (eggs, butter, sugars) that were given up during the Lenten fast and might otherwise spoil before Easter - thus the association of pancakes which use these ingredients as a typical Shrove Tuesday food.) Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent and is a day in which we worship in a unique way. During our worship, we respond to the call to repentance and the invitation to focus on spiritual disciplines by marking a cross with ashes on our foreheads. This cross reminds us of whose we are and who we have committed to follow. The use of ashes to make the cross echoes the "ashes to ashes" line that we hear at funerals and is a reminder of where we come from and where we go. These ashes are made from the palm branches that we used in our celebration of Palm Sunday (a week before Easter) the year before. This cycle from celebration to repentance and back to a new celebration in a few weeks symbolizes the way we live and grow in faith - commitment, failure, repentance, forgiveness, stronger recommitment... What will you give up this Lent? What good thing might you take on in its place? I hope to see you at our Ash Wednesday service this week, March 1st at 7 pm, as a part of our Wednesday at the Port. Adults and children alike are encouraged to participate. Blessings on the journey, Jim Called: Worshiping and FastingSunday's Sermon Snippet: Worshiping and Fasting (Acts 12:24-13:3) With Barnabas' encouragement, Paul was finally on track to live out his calling to become a missionary to the Gentiles, but he was not quite there yet. One day, as Barnabas and Paul gathered with other leaders of the church in Antioch for worship and fasting, the Spirit spoke to them: "Set apart Barnabas and Paul for the work to which I have called them." With that, the community continued to fast, blessed the two missionaries, and sent them on their way. After over a dozen years of preparing and wandering, Paul was finally fully on his way! From this moment, we can learn a couple of things. First, we hear God's call when we actually spend time with God. It was in worship and the intentional act of fasting that they heard God's call. Further, it is in worshiping together that the Spirit was heard. We can hear a lot when we spend time with God alone but even more when we spend time with God together. Second, the Spirit does not speak to Paul and Barnabas alone but to the whole community gathered there. The instruction is for the community to send them out. We often think of our calling - our purpose in life - as a very personal thing just between us and God. This encounter shows us, however, that the calling belongs to the whole community. Sending these two missionaries out is God's gift to the whole church not just to the two being sent. When we are called, we are called for the sake of the whole church and its work for Jesus Christ. That is why it is important that we listen for God together, because what we hear is a message for us all to set apart those being called. Following God's call means spending time with God together. Living in CommunityThank you to Linda, Jason, Brad, Tyler, Keith, Liz, Gretchen, Sue, and Pam for your faithfulness in leading our music in worship each Sunday! Thank you to Pam, Debbie, and Martha for helping to fold bulletins and mail newsletters to our shut-ins each week! This Week at Port ChurchMonday, February 27 9:30 am - Bible Study at Dianna's Tuesday, February 28 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours 7:00 pm - Bible Study at Dianna's Wednesday, March 1 6:00 - Wednesday at the Port Menu: Breakfast for Dinner 7:00 - Ash Wednesday Service Thursday, March 2 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours Sunday, March 5 9:30 am - Worship with Communion "From Garden to Garden: Twisting the Truth" 11:00 am - Sunday School 6:30 pm - Financial Peace University Looking AheadMarch 17 - Paint Night
April 23 - Youth Sunday June 26-30 - Vacation Bible School
0 Comments
2/21/2017 0 Comments February 21st, 2017 The PATH to PrayerOver the last couple of weeks, I have shared with you about the PATH to prayer- "Praise, Admit, Thank, Help." Last week, we looked at what it means to praise God, so this week we turn our attention to "Admit." Admitting when we have done something wrong is probably one of our least favorite things to do. It takes humility to say we are wrong, and it comes with perhaps a bit of shame. Yet admitting our faults is an important part of our prayer lives. Why do we need to admit what we have done when God already knows it, though? Admitting the wrong we have done frees us up. When we know we have done wrong but do not admit it, we feel the need to hide it, cover it up, or pretend like it's not there. Yet that wrong stands in the middle of our relationship with those we have hurt. God knows what we have done and forgives us, but until we admit it the wrong damages our relationship. To admit our wrongs is to take away the power they have to hurt our relationships. That is why we should admit what we have done. But what about if we do not realize we have done something wrong that has damaged our relationship with God and others? In Psalm 19, the author questions how one can know all the wrong they have done and asks God to clear them of hidden faults. In a way, this is about admitting not just specific sins that we have committed but also to the fact that we are sinful and need God's help. To admit this is not about making us feel bad about who we are but to remind us that we need God's strength every moment. Take some time this week to praise God and then to admit both the wrongs you have done and your need for God! Blessings on the journey, Jim Called: Son of EncouragementSunday's Sermon Snippet: Son of Encouragement! (Acts 4:32-37, 11:19-30) Long before Paul arrived on the scene to first persecute and then to preach the gospel of Jesus, the church in its earliest days was a community that shared life together and spread the good news. When any had need, those who had property would sell it and give the money to the apostles so that it could be shared with those who needed it. Many of the followers of Jesus did just this, but Luke notes one man in particular who sold his property and gave it to the community. His name was Joseph but he was given the nickname Barnabas, meaning "son of encouragement." We are not sure what specifically the apostles saw in him that would lead them to give him this name at this point, but he would certainly live up to this name. When Paul came to Jerusalem a changed man preaching Jesus, the believers remembered his former persecution of them and were wary of accepting him into their midst. Barnabas, however, spoke up and vouched for Paul and his preaching in Damascus. With this endorsement, Paul was accepted and his ministry encouraged to its next phase. Of course, Paul made new enemies and had to flee back home to Tarsus. Years later, a new Christian community was growing in nearby Antioch. The apostles heard of this and sent Barnabas to encourage the new believers there. What made this community special was that it included Gentile in addition to the Jewish Christians. The believers there had taken up the calling given to Paul to spread the good news among the Gentiles. Barnabas encouraged the church there, and in time went to Tarsus in search of Paul. He brought Paul back to Antioch to join in the work to which he had been called. Again, Barnabas encouraged Paul in his ministry and set him back on the right path. In all things, Barnabas lived up to the nickname given to him. We all need someone to encourage us and so we all ought to encourage one another as Barnabas did for Paul. May we one day be found worthy of such a great nickname as sons and daughters of encouragement! Ash Wednesday, March 1Ash Wednesday is a holiday marking the beginning of the season of Lent, a time of spiritual preparation leading up to the celebration of Easter. On Ash Wednesday, we repent of the things that are holding back our faith and make commitments to seek God and spiritual growth. Join us next week on March 1st at 7 pm (following our Wednesday at the Port breakfast-for-dinner meal) as we set out on the journey to Easter together! Living in CommunityThank you to our bus drivers, Mark, Randy, and Dinah, and our team of riders who make it possible to bring so many kids to our church each and every week! Thank you to Dave, Adam, Chris, Meg, and Susie for their work with the sound and computer system during worship each week! This Week at Port ChurchTuesday, February 21 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours Wednesday, February 22 6:00 - Wednesday at the Port Menu: Pork Tenderloin Thursday, February 24 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours Sunday, February 26 9:30 am - Worship: "Worshipping and Fasting" 11:00 am - Sunday School 6:30 pm - Financial Peace University Looking AheadMarch 1, 7 pm - Ash Wednesday Service
March 17 - Paint Night 2/14/2017 0 Comments February 14th, 2017 The PATH to PrayerLast week, I shared with you about talking with God like you would with a close friend and the PATH to prayer. PATH stands for "Praise, Admit, Thank, Help" and helps us to remember the kinds of things to talk with God about. First is Praise! Praise is saying how we feel about who God is. "God, you are awesome and holy. I love you." "God, you are so wonderful and mighty. You are my strength." "God, I know I can count on you. You are always there when I need you." Praise is not to be confused with thanking God (which we will cover later). Praising God is rooted in who God is and how we feel about God, while thanking arises from our gratitude for what God has done. One is about who God is and the other is about what God does. It is easy to focus on what God has done and forget to say how we feel. Yet praise is important on its own, not because God needs to hear it but because we need to say it. If we have a close friend who has really been there for us or we have fallen in love with someone, there are times that we cannot help but to say how we feel. We need to say it to them, and the same is true of our prayers to God. There are times when we are particularly close to God, and we need to express our feelings for our own sake. Even when the emotions are not welling up inside and pouring out, praise is an important part of prayer because it can help us to reconnect to God. Do we not tell our family that we love them even when we could hold back? It is a part of building up the relationship. Again, the same is true of our praise of God. May we share our deepest feelings with God in our prayers this week! Blessings on the journey, Jim Called: Hurry Up and Wait!Sunday's Sermon Snippet: Hurry Up and Wait! (Galatians 1:13-2:1) As Luke tells of Paul's conversion, beginning to preach, and escapes from Damascus and then from Jerusalem, we would think that all of this happened in fairly short order. Yet Paul himself fills in some of the details in his Letter to the Galatians, and what we find is a messier, longer story. Paul left Damascus, and instead of heading to Jerusalem, he went to Arabia - a province in the Roman empire including the desert wilderness just east of the Jordan River and in the Sinai peninsula. It would be three years before he made his way to Jerusalem. What was he doing there in the wilderness? We do not know for sure, but we know what happens when anyone goes into the wilderness - be it the people of Israel, the prophet Elijah, or even Jesus himself. The wilderness is where people are tested and formed into who they are meant to be. The wilderness is where people are made. It is not hard to imagine that the same may be true of Paul. In time, he would become not only the great missionary of the early church but also the great theologian who had more impact than any other person on how we understand who Jesus is and what his life means for us. Paul had to figure that out for himself at some point, and it stands to reason that his time in the wilderness may have been a part of that wrestling with faith for him. The other disciples had spent three years following Jesus around; now Paul spent three years in the wilderness and Damascus before going to meet them in Jerusalem. When he was then forced to flee there and return home, he tells us it was another fourteen years before he returned to Jerusalem. Given other timelines given in his writings, we suspect that he spent at least ten years at home. We have reason to believe that he was preaching the gospel there and in nearby Antioch, a major center for the early Christian movement, but he still is living up to his full calling to go out in to the world to the Gentiles. Thirteen years from the moment of his conversion and calling, he is still waiting. While none of us actually likes the wilderness and the waiting, it is an important part of the journey. They are the times when we are formed and when we prepare. Following God's call means being patient and preparing for the work ahead! If the calling is true, it will come to fruition in God's time. Living in CommunityContinued prayers of healing for Margie, Larry, and WD. Thank you to all of our cooks, servers, and cleaners at Wednesday at the Port! This Week at Port ChurchBible Study cancelled this week and will resume February 27th. Tuesday, February 14 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours Wednesday, February 15 6:00 - Wednesday at the Port Menu: Soup, Hot Dogs, Sandwiches Thursday, February 16 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours Sunday, February 19 9:30 am - Worship: "Friend of Encouragement" 11:00 am - Sunday School 6:30 pm - Financial Peace University Looking AheadFebruary 20 - CPR/AED Class
February 25 - First Aid Class March 17 - Paint Night 2/6/2017 0 Comments February 06th, 2017 The PATH to PrayerThis spring at Wednesday at the Port, the Little Fishermen are learning about prayer. For something as essential to faith as prayer, I often get questions about it even from faithful, committed adults. So I thought I would take some time to share with you what we are teaching our kids about prayer. First of all, what is prayer? Some folks think of it as asking God for what you want. Others think of it as a special way of talking to God in which you need to say just the right things to please God. I tend to think of prayer as a conversation with a trusted friend. We talk, we listen, we share our lives, we sit in silence enjoying the moment together. We pray because we have things to say and not just because we ought to. The point of prayer is not to get what we want from God but to grow closer to each other. So then, what kinds of things do we talk about with God? The simplest answer is anything. Some folks worry that there are things they shouldn't say to God - that they are angry, for instance - but how can we grow closer to God if we are afraid to share our deepest and strongest feelings. Although anything can be shared with God, there are many acronyms out there to help us remember different things that it is helpful to talk with God about. The simplest of these that I have found is PATH - Praise, Admit, Thank, Help. Over the next few weeks, I will share more about the PATH to prayer, what each of these parts mean, and how to use it to grow our relationship with God. In the meantime, take some to talk with God and share your heart. Blessings on the journey, Jim Called: The Dangerous Gospel Last week, we witnessed as Ananias bravely came face to face with Paul who had come to Damascus to arrest him. Ananias had been sent by God to heal Paul who had been blinded in his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Sunday's Sermon Snippet: The Dangerous Gospel (Acts 9:19b-31) Having been healed from his blindness, Paul got up and was baptized. He began to preach the good news of Jesus Christ. He showed the same zeal in defending the gospel now as he had previously demonstrated in opposing it. That is the kind of claim that the gospel makes on our lives. To encounter and accept Jesus is to be changed by the good news he holds for our lives. Yet this change comes at a price. The claim the gospel lays on our lives is one that has the power to change the world and so is a threat to the powers of this world. Paul learned this first hand as his former allies were not convinced by his preaching but instead sought to kill him. The believers in Damascus had to sneak him out of a hold in the wall lowering him to the ground in a basket. Paul would eventually find his way to Jerusalem where the believers were suspicious of him because of his past. A respected man named Barnabas vouched for him and his preaching in Damascus, and he was accepted. He began to preach boldly and argue with the Greek-speaking opponents. These were his people, and yet they too were not convinced and began to seek ways to kill him. Paul was snuck out of Jerusalem to Caesarea where he could board a boat going back home to Tarsus. Paul was finally trying to live up to his calling as an apostle and missionary, yet the gospel he preached was so dangerous that his life was being threatened. Whereas he had been willing to kill for his beliefs as an opponent of the gospel, he now had to be willing to die for the sake of that same gospel - something requiring much more courage. Yet we learn from Paul that being willing to die for our beliefs is not the necessarily the greatest sacrifice we can make with. Paul escapes with his life twice so that he can continue on in the mission God has given him, even if it is embarrassing or defeating in the moment. Following God's call means being willing not just to die but to live and even suffer for our beliefs. Coffee Cup Challenge Thank you to those who have helped us raise $90 for world missions through our Coffee Cup Challenge so far! The challenge is to find something during the week - like a cup of coffee - that we can forego so that we can then give the money to support the work of missionaries and new church starts across the world. Our goal is to raise about $2,400 this year. Living in CommunityThanks to Dinah, Chris, Meg, Angela, Randy, Liz, and Steve for making this weekend's youth retreat and lock-in a great time for our youth! Thanks to Meg, Chris, and Linda for serving communion and to Susie for running the computer in worship this week! Thanks to Ralph for helping to lead worship, especially on Sundays when he is also preaching at one of Pastor Rick's churches! Continue to pray for Margie and Larry as they recover and heal from their surgeries. Thanks to everyone who donated items for the Food Pantry and SRES Clinic as a part of our Port Republic Super Bowl! Despite their loss in the big game, the Falcons were the winners of our competition. This Week at Port ChurchBible Study cancelled this week due to illness. Tuesday, February 7 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours Wednesday, February 8 6:00 - Wednesday at the Port Menu: Meatloaf Thursday, February 9 9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours Sunday, February 12 Registration of $25 for Paint Night due to Lee 9:30 am - Worship: "Hurry Up and Wait" 11:00 am - Sunday School 6:30 pm - Financial Peace University Looking AheadFebruary 20 - CPR/AED Class
February 25 - First Aid Class March 17 - Paint Night |
News and UpdatesFind out what is going on at Port Republic UMC this week and in weeks to come! Archives
January 2019
Categories |
RSS Feed