Rural Rev

Today was a wonderful day at my church. Aside from the fact that we were finally back together for worship (having missed last Sunday’s regular gathering because of inclement weather)…AND that we had a chance to celebrate the long and faithful ministry of some men in our congregation who have served in various ways for many years; we also had a well-attended time of prayer at our new church facility (which should be completed in the next couple months). All in all, it was one of those days that makes me hopeful and excited about the church’s future.

As I side note, I also felt pretty good about the message I shared this morning. It was the second in a series of three sermons offered under the title: It Does a Body Good–Building Healthy Relationships in the Body of Christ and Elsewhere. Today’s focus was ’speaking the truth’ in love–a difficult thing to do, but on which is SO important if a church is to ‘grow into the fullness of Christ.’ I think folks got something out of it. What do you think?

Get On the Scale: Building Relationships of Accountability

Today we started a new message series at my church. I’m calling it “It Does a Body Good: Nurturing Healthy Relationships in the Body of Christ and Elsewhere.” Hopefully, this particular series will end up being “the right thing” at “the right time.” Make no mistake, I’ve got a great congregation. But like almost any group of people, there are issues that spring up between persons that don’t always get handled in the best way possible. I suppose that we could always chalk this up to ‘human nature.’ But I believe that the Spirit of Christ calls us to (and equips us for) more. So, in these three sermons, I’m going to attempt to share some handles that will help people manage these issues better. Since our church is preparing to move into a new facility later this year, I’d love to see us do so with a degree of harmony and ’singleness of purpose’ that rivals anything seen before in the history of this church.

The first of these sermons deals with the issue of conflict, and I’m calling it: Eat Your Veggies: Finding Nourishment in Conflict. Enjoy.

This morning’s message wrapped up my New Year’s sermon series: Big Questions – Worthy Dreams. While I am always left to wonder how well particular messages connected with my congregation, my initial sense is that these key questions (What are you praying for that’s big? Who are you doing life with? How will you tell the story?) have managed to get people thinking.

Every once in a while, I like to introduce a message with an object lesson of sorts, and today was one of those days. As the sermon started, we gave everyone a bottle of Coca-Cola. You’ll have to take a look at the text to understand why:

How Will You Tell the Story?

Obviously, it has been awhile since my last post. Part of this lack of blogging activity stems from some ‘down-time’ that I took from my preaching responsibilities during the Christmas holiday. The rest can be traced to some computer upgrading that I’ve done in recent weeks…upgrading that made it impossible for me to access my files. In any case, I’m back now. And even though I wish I had the discipline to blog about some of the fascinating dynamics that have both blessed and bedeviled my ministry these days, I figure that the least I can do is to stay current with my sermons.

Here as the New Year has begun, I’ve been preaching a short series of messages that I’ve called ”Big Questions – Worthy Dreams” (a title that I shamelessly lifted from a book by Sharon Parks…although the messages have nothing to do with that book). The series attempts to get people thinking about New Year’s resolutions. But–rather than asking what we want in the months ahead–invites us to consider what God might want by introducing some questions that (hopefully) offer food for thought. I’ll post the last message in the series next week. But for now, here are the first two:

• What Are You Praying for That’s Big?
• Who Are You Doing Life With?

Advent 2009 is looking to be a little unusual for me…at least from a preaching perspective. Because various children’s choirs at my church will be presenting their much-anticipated Christmas musicals in upcoming worship services, I will be sharing sermons on only the first and last Sundays of the season. I tend to think that this will be a welcomed change-of-pace for the folks in my congregation. After all, what better voices to proclaim the good news of Jesus’ birth than the voices of children? But it does mean that the messages I develop will have a much more ’stand alone’ feel than the series-based messages that I have leaned toward in recent years.

Today’s message dealt with the lectionary text from Luke 21:25-36, and–in something of a change for me–I actually went to see a movie explicitly so I could see how it might relate to the text. The movie was 2012, and I’ll leave you to see the connection.

It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)

I didn’t preach at my church last Sunday. We heard a report from a mission team, recently returned from Guatemala. However, I did get to preach at a Community Thanksgiving worship gathering that my congregation shares with the local Methodists, Presbyterians and another Baptist congregation. I was fairly pleased with the effort.

Treasures in Jars of Clay

Last Sunday concluded my brief series on worship. This message had been intended from the outset to bring home the notion that worship is incomplete until it gets expressed through our lives. While that did get said, various dynamics that I encountered during the week (which are described in the sermon itself) let me in a slightly different direction.

Everyday Offerings

My brief series of messages dealing with worship continued this Sunday with “How is God worshiped?” In this sermon, I’ve attempted to offer a biblical perspective on the question of ‘worship style’ that so frequently creates conflict in churches. I’m blessed to be in a church that is not in a conflict over these issues; and yet, I’m convinced that there is some tension not too far below the surface. Like many churches, we’ve got both: people who grew up in and long for worship that is rich in reverence and tradition and people who yearn for worship that is energized by new expressions and casual interaction. As someone who has benefitted from the blessings of both these styles, I present my sense that we need not choose between them but can embrace a ‘blended’ style that claims (or reclaims) the broad range of Christian worship practice.

How Is God Worshiped?

My congregation and I started a new message series this morning–one which will occupy our attention through much of the month of November. The series focuses on The Worshiping Life and draws on a number of sources to help us understand worship better and to inspire us to “worship in Spirit and in truth.” This first Sunday tackled some foundational matters: “Why do we worship?” and “What is worship?” Our youth praise band participated in the service today, which gave things a little extra ‘zip.’ All in all, it was a great day to be in God’s house, adoring Him.

The Why and What of Worship