Home Builders—Week 4--The Big Reveal

Forgive me for failing to post a week 3 blog. We were away with family and did not have internet access out there in the country that week. To be honest, it was a little refreshing. :) You can listen to the message on our website's Media Pulpit www.fairhopeumc.org or you can download our podcasts on iTunes. Look for Fairhope United Methodist Church.

Week 4--The Big Reveal
What is in your heart? What is important to you? What do you value? Are you willing to build others up or try to bring them down to look better in your own eyes?
We all reveal these things everyday. We reveal them to ourselves and to others. We do so in what we say. Jesus' teaching is clear that the overflow of our hearts comes out through our mouths. It is not only what we say, but how we say it that is important. Would you examine the overflow of the heart with me this week? This Sunday's message takes a look at our mouths what powerful tools they are--for good or for evil.

Home Builders—Week 2—Trading Spaces

Last week we laid the foundation of building our homes. We said that our homes are the places where we can be ourselves. Spiritually, the home is the very core of who we are and where we have our deepest thoughts and feelings. In order to build that home, we must build it on the Wisdom of God. In week 2, we investigate “Trading Spaces.”
The news is full of stories about children and teens who are out of control. We see TV shows in which children are causing so much misery for parents that “experts” must come in to solve the problems. While most of us will never find ourselves on these kinds of shows, it does give us pause to look at a few points.
The Parent/Child relationship is the most basic of all relationships. We are all in that relationship in one form or another. Sometimes we find ourselves in some “non-traditional” places in Parent/Child relationships. In this week’s message we’ll examine how we start “Trading Spaces” to make these relationships what God has called them to be.

Home Builders Week 1--Divine Design

If you were to start to build a home, where would you begin? What kind of things would you put in it? What would be the most important things to you?
This week, we begin a five-week series called “Home Builders.” We’re going to examine what God’s Word says about our homes and His desire for them. Our homes are important to us. No matter our station in life: single, married, young or old, home is HOME. It is our place, the place where we belong, the place where we can be ourselves, the place where we’re comfortable. That’s exactly the place where God wants to talk to us. This week I want to challenge you to ask, “What would be God’s Divine Design in building my home?”

Taking Flight--The Flight of Obedience

How would our life be changed if we accepted God's promises for our lives and lived the transformed life? That is a life of Obedience.

Taking Flight Week 2--The Flight of Transformation

Jacob's story in the book of Genesis shows us what happens to a life transformed. Let's explore what it means to live a life transformed.

Taking Flight-The Flight of Faith

We launch a new three-week series in The Gathering this week. Would you go with me on a "Flight of Faith"?

To Whom Shall We Go?

To whom shall we go?
This week’s I’ve spent time examining Peter’s question to Jesus. Here’s the setup. Jesus is in Capernaum—the base of much of his ministry and certainly his ministry in the Sea of Galilee area. He’s teaching in the synagogue one day and many of those who were following at Jesus really got turned off by some of the things he was asking them to do. So they abandoned Jesus for their own ideas.
Jesus then turned to the twelve. He said, “What about you? Are you going to leave me too?” Peter says, “To whom shall we go?” I love his answer. You see, they are Peter’s home turf. All Peter had to do was to stay there with his family, wave goodbye and go back to the life he knew before. But there is something that wouldn’t let him. It was the fact that Peter had come to know that Jesus possesses the Words of eternal life. Peter had experienced the miracles and teachings of Jesus first hand. Having seen that, he knew he was following God’s Holy One. At that point, how could he do anything but follow Jesus?
The same applies to us. We may not think we’ve seen the miracles of God or that we haven’t seen his teachings. If we try to say such a thing then we’re not paying attention. Jesus offers all of us the opportunity to follow him. Some do. Some turn away. But Peter’s question remains: “To whom shall we go?” To have life, there is no other but Jesus! This week we examine what it means to be that kind of follower of Christ.

After Sunday’s service (August 23), you can find the message online www.fairhopeumc.org and on iTunes.

May We Continue

Coming off of last week’s discussion on how to remain in Christ, I’m excited about where we’re headed this week. (By the way, if you missed the “Remain” message, you can find it here: http://www.fairhopeumc.org/304124.ihtml)
This is a great week for me as the 3rd graders will get a Bible from the church. I remember as a child sitting in Dyer Hill Baptist Church in Burna, Kentucky with my grandmother. I remember the old men cleaning the dirt of the field off and putting on their good shirt to come to church. The church was small, but the message of the Bible was huge. Through a simple act of obedience to share God’s Word, a work of God’s Grace began in me when I was a small child.
The Bible says that God’s message, when it is shared among children, is not lost on them when they are old. What a powerful thing. It is sobering to know that what our kids hear remains with them.
The apostle Paul relays this when he writes to Timothy. Paul mentored the young Timothy early in his ministry. He said, “continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” It is a reminder that there is something God has begun in us. It reminds us that there are others watching us. Are we diligent in that work—for the sake of the Kingdom of God and His children?

Please Excuse the Interruption

Interruptions. How do we handle those inconvenient distractions to our routines? Those unexpected phone calls, people who must speak to us NOW, and the demanding children around us can really pull us away from where we are headed at the moment.
But what about the bigger interruptions in life? What about the loss of job? What about a change in health or the loss of a loved one? What about when we were headed in a direction that we thought God was calling us and it turned out to be an absolute disaster? How do we handle those? We can throw up our hands and cry FOUL. Or we can crawl into a howl and wish it would go away. But it doesn’t always just go away.
This week’s message focuses on the time of the interruption. We talk about those who saw the interruptions and that weren’t mere opportunities. They were a trying time. But they were a time when God said simply, “Be still, and Go On.”

Where is Freedom?

Where do we find our Freedom? An interesting thing about freedom: we are free only as long as we have limitations. I speak of freedom in an earthly sense. I have Freedom because I live in the United States. However, my freedom is limited. I don’t have freedom to break into another family’s home and take their things. That would violate their freedom to live peaceably in their home. I don’t have freedom to physically harm other people simple because they disagree with me. That would violate their freedom to live peaceably without fear of harm.

What about the Christian life? Do we live a free people in a Spiritual sense? Not always as we should. Some people believe that if only they will “Live Right” then God will be happy enough with them to allow them into heaven. Maybe if they score enough good points and not enough bad points, then it will all be okay. But that is not what Jesus teaches at all. He says the only way to truly be free is to be bound. We must be bound to Jesus. Not to complex ideologies. Not to causes or ideas. But we must be bound to Jesus and Jesus alone. All else is secondary. This Sunday, as we honor those who so selflessly fought for the freedom of a nation, let’s examine what makes us free as individuals.

Thank you and Welcome

I’ve often used this forum to discuss topics of the upcoming Sunday’s message. I’m taking a couple of weeks off from sermons. My silence will be filled with messages from some important people. Fairhope United Methodist Church is changing. The Rev. Joe Bullington will retire on June 21. He’s served Fairhope faithfully for 15 years. We honor Joe and his wife Marilyn for being faithful to God’s call.
On June 28 we welcome the Rev. Mike McKnight to Fairhope. He and his wife Rene’ bring a wonderful set of gifts to this church and this community. Mike assumes the role of Senior Pastor at a very exciting time. As one person put it recently, Fairhope UMC is no long a Sunday/Wednesday church. We’re an everyday church. When we open our doors, and step out of them into the community, we bring God’s Love to a people in need. People at Fairhope are doing just that.
So my posts may be hit or miss for the summer. Nonetheless, I hope we can continue to partner in saying “thank you”, saying “welcome” and being faithful to God’s call to Reach, Equip, and Serve.

Back to the Beginning

Isn’t it interesting how precious we treat things when they are new to us? Think of the last time you bought something new. I mean a big purchase. Do you remember how you treated it delicately? How you protected it? How you spent extra time making sure it stayed “new”? Then things unplanned things happen. It gets a little nick, a ding, a scratch. Time goes by and your attention is turned elsewhere. That new thing becomes not-so-new. One day you look at it and realize that you don’t hold it in such high esteem as you once did.
This Sunday I want to invite you to go with me “Back the Beginning.” We’ll examine the excitement that the first followers of Jesus had. The church was new. The idea of living together in Christian community was new. Individual devotion to Jesus on a large scale was new. Let’s examine what it would take to recapture that “New-ness.” Let’s go Back to the Beginning.

Taking a deep breath

I want to thank all of you who have engaged in our discussion about Relationships. I know I have been blessed by the journey. I hope you have as well.

This week we take a deep breath. I won't be preaching this week. I know you will be blessed by the message that God will bring through Joe and Musial this week.

But I will be back the following week. And we're going to go Back to the Beginning. Do you remember what it was like when your most prized things in life were shiny and new? Oh how we treasured them and kept them from harm. Then life comes along and the shine wears off. Soon the objects of desire when they were new become objects of scorn when they appear old to us.

What if we went back to the beginning in many areas of our lives? What would happen if we recaptured our first love? How would we view the gifts God has given us?

So take a deep breath this week and try to go back to the beginning. I know I will.

Relationships|Healthy Conflict

What if we were to examine the conflict in our relationships in the way God intended? What if we stopped to ask God how to deal with difficult situations in our lives? In week four of our Relationship Series we talk about How to Fight Right: How to have Healthy Conflict.

Relationships|Mother and Child

This Sunday we take a look at the relationship between mother and child. Sometimes, those look like a greeting card commercial. Many times those relationships are less than perfect. What would God have us do with those relationships? What does the Bible say about how to honor those who have done so much for us?




You can hear the messages online at www.fairhopeumc.org

Relationships|Dealing with Hurts and Anger

Relationships

Who are you looking for?

Who are you looking for?

A common scene in our house is me going through drawers, looking under stacks of paper and riffling through things my children have left lying around. I’m looking for something. It might be my cell phone, a book I’ve been reading, or a scrap of paper where I wrote down a reminder. It is something of uttermost importance at that moment. And I can’t find it. I get antsy. I go crazy with the thought of losing something.
Then my wife will ask me, “What are you looking for?”
When I tell her, she usually can tell me with a high degree of accuracy. I grab the object of my search, thanking God for giving me a wife that can keep me so balanced.
On the morning that Jesus rose from the dead, a lady named Mary (who lived near Magdela) went out to the Jesus’ tomb. She probably went out there to mourn. She probably felt like she was all out of tears. Someone she loved deeply was gone. She had seen him die a horrible death on Friday. She probably spent all night Friday, all day Saturday, and all night Saturday numb from the shock. On Sunday morning she went to go see how she might cope with this pain at the tomb. When she got there, the tomb is empty. Jesus speaks to her, though at first she doesn’t recognize him. Her tears and grief are consuming her. And then Jesus asks the important question: “Who were you looking for?”
Jesus is probably the most discussed figure in history. Many times he is the most misunderstood. This Easter, who are you looking for? Are you looking for a good teacher, a moral giant, a good example of how to live? Are you looking for a scapegoat, someone to blame, or an object of someone’s wrath? Or are you looking for what Mary found: A God who loves us with such a great love that He would give his only Son to overcome that which we cannot overcome ourselves. Would you go with me to the Empty Tomb this week to look for this Jesus?

Silent Stones

The other morning my five-year-old daughter asked me if we could listen to the sunrise. She wanted to look for the sun to rise—specifically to see if it had spikes on it like in the cartoons. We watched while the sky turned from black to grey to light blue. Then she told me to listen to the sunrise. She wasn’t listening to the celestial object move across the sky. We listened to birds begin their songs. We listened to the nearby dogs and cats begin to explore in the early daylight. We listened to the wind rustle through the trees. We listened to the events of the sunrise.
I am amazed by the small things that we seem to miss when the big things go on around us. Now that it is spring time there is much to consider in this realm. Spring thunderstorms roll through our area and we all talk about the rain. But we don’t often notice the new life on the trees or the flowers of the fields that follow such rains. We may notice the days getting longer, but we don’t look for the new life that the extra hours of sun bring. When I do take time to notice such things I often wonder how I missed them before.
The Bible tells an interesting story about Jesus on the Sunday before the crucifixion. One week before Jesus rose from the dead, He rode into town on a humble donkey colt. His followers shouted his praises as He rode down into the Kidron Valley and up the opposite hill into Jerusalem. Some real self-righteous thinking religious leaders told Jesus to silence His followers. He told them He couldn’t. If they stopped praising what God was doing, then the very rocks would cry out. What if we stopped thanking God for what He has done in our midst? The stories of the Bible and history tell us that God always has a witness to speak on His behalf. As I “hear” the things of creation lift up praise to God, I wonder how loudly they would cry out if we stopped? Will we let the rocks take our rightful place?

This Sunday let's engage in a conversation about those silent stones.

We want to see Jesus

If someone asked you to show them Jesus, what would you say? What would the picture look like? How would you do it? Maybe a picture from a children’s Bible—you know the smiling Jesus who pats little kids on the head. Maybe the morose Jesus in the coffee table Bible who looks all somber and serious.

The book of John tells us about some people who were not yet followers of Jesus who came to Philip—one of Jesus closest followers. They told Philip that they wanted to see Jesus. So Philip goes to the master and tells him that he has some people who want to see him. John doesn’t tell us if Jesus invites them in or if he goes out to see them. But what he does tell us is important. Jesus responses with some vivid language on what he would do to show himself to the world. He talks about how a seed is planted. In order for it bring life, it must die. This, he says is why he came—to die to bring life.

Do you want to see Jesus? What are the things we must die to in order follow him? What is the life Jesus is trying to bring to us? We’ll talk about these things and more this Sunday. Would you join me as we go to see Jesus?