Archive for the ‘Wesley United Methodist Church’ Category
Lectionary Scriptures for February 26th, 2012 – First Sunday in Lent
February 20, 2012Lectionary Scripture for February 22, 2012 – Ash Wednesday
February 20, 2012Pastor’s Ponderings, Wonderings, Wanderings
February 14, 2012
It is Valentine’s Day. The day for love. 1 Corinthians 13 is often called the love chapter but it was written to a church that was feeling everything but the love. There was fighting, bickering and falling away in the church. Thanks to God that Wesley UMC is not in that kind of shape. We at Wesley act out the love that Jesus Christ calls us too and we practice a welcoming attitude at each and every service.
While the secular world uses this day as a time to focus on the person who loves them as an individual, Paul was talking to a church that needed to love being in communion and worship with each other in a harmony that brings the Holy Spirit on them and in them. It is important that we love each other and really work on strengthening our relationships with each other in our couple relationships. This also applies to our relationships in our churches with those we worship with. Paul knew that the bickering, fighting and falling away would block the Holy Spirit’s work and would hold back any spiritual growth as well as numerical growth in the church. When we as couples or christians example a spirit of love we attract people to ourselves and to our churches. While spiritual growth should always be our first emphasis we must also consider the way we interact with each other and how that draws people into our congregation because our calling is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Having a place of worship that is welcoming, friendly and exampling the love that God has for us is the best way for us to attract disciples for Jesus Christ.
Valentine’s Day is just another day for us to be true to the love for the world that Jesus Christ examples to us. Yes we should be living Valentine’s Day 365 days a year. Reaching out to people with love is how our Lord and Savior did it and how we must do it.
Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day. Hope everyone has 364 more.
Randy
Pastor’s Ponderings, Wanderings, Wonderings
February 13, 2012
Mark 1:40-45 – 40 A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.
As I read this scripture from the Gospel of Mark I was struck with the desire this outcast had to be healed from this disfiguring, crippling, slow death disease. Jesus shows us His compassion in His willingness to heal this man. We see the Leper’s desire in his daring to even think about approaching a group of Jewish men walking down the road. This leper came to Jesus even though he knew that if he got within 50 paces the Law said that the men were within their right to throw stones at him to keep him at a safe distance. He also was required by Law to shout unclean whenever he was coming upon people. Can you just imagine the compassion that led Jesus to walk up to this man and touch him even though under the Law Jesus would be considered unclean himself. I don’t know but it seems to me that Jesus was there alone with the Leper. The disciples probably kind of hung back to keep the proper distance.
This thought pattern led me to think of how many of us truly seek healing from the touch of Jesus Christ. Many of us are plagued by diseases of the heart, mind and soul. Our spirits are held back and our spiritual growth is stunted because we hang on to the disease we have. It could be drugs or alcohol or sex or pornography or greed or selfishness or jealousy or many other diseases that cripple our souls. Jesus wants us to seek Him out like this leper did. He wants us to call out to Him because we want to be healed by Him. He can and will set us free from the disease that is plaguing us. Is the life you lead making you feel unclean? Do people shun you because of your actions? Seek out Jesus and call on Him. Seek His healing touch. Then go out and tell everyone who healed you.
Have a blessed week,
Randy
Lectionary Scriptures for February 19th, 2012
February 13, 2012Pastor’s Ponderings, Wonderings, Wanderings
February 8, 2012
I have another Matthew moment from our Bible Study tonight. In Matthew 20:20-28 we get to hear the mother of Zebedee’s sons ask Jesus if her sons James and John could sit one on the right hand and one on the left hand in His kingdom.
Perhaps we see a mother who wants her sons to have positions of power in the earthly kingdom that they still believe Jesus will create. But is it her ambition or theirs? Jesus tries to warn them that they will have to “drink from His cup” because they are His disciples but makes no promise to give a position that only God can grant. Now needless to say this band of disciple brothers were jealous or perhaps outraged that James and John would seek this high ranking position. Jesus addresses this disciple rilvary by letting the disciples know that they are to have on their minds how they might serve rather than looking for a position they could be served in.
I wonder just how many disciples of Jesus Christ today are looking for positions of importance in which they can garner the praise and sit in the seat that will get them served? It is always a struggle to be the servants servant but that is exactly what Jesus calls us to do. We must set aside our own will that leads us to the desire to be recognized and work on doing the will of Jesus Christ because it is what He calls us to do. It is a hard thing for us in our humanity to not seek praise for what we do but it is our role as Christians to do just that. Do what God through Jesus Christ calls us to do in a way that is humble and self sacrificing. God will see us and He will reward us with rewards that will be so much better than any plaque or certificate that man can create.
As Christians we do work for Christ because we love Him, want to give Him glory and honor and see His kingdom grow.
Have a blessed day, Randy
Lectionary Scripture February 12th, 2012
February 6, 2012Pastor’s Ponderings, Wanderings, Wonderings
February 2, 2012
I had to leave the Fellowship Hall and got a glimpse of the sun peaking through the clouds. I walked out into the parking lot and was treated to a beautiful sunset view. I took the picture with my Iphone and it is a little blurry but what a beautiful picture it turned out to be.
Our Bible Study was on the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 19. Tommy Day covered the material for me because we were out of town last week and he needed another night to finish covering it. Tommy did a very good job and brought out some very good points. One of them was from verses 16-22. The rich young man came to him and asked the question “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” Here was a man who had wealth and followed all the commandments but was still searching for the one thing he could do to gain eternal life. When Jesus told him to sell his possessions and give the money to the poor he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
How often do we grieve over our gift to God? Is our gift given with a heart that is glad to give? Are we sad over the things we could have had if we didn’t give?
Jesus call us to share and gives us a guideline, the tithe, one tenth of all that you have coming into your household. That guideline is the minimum not the maximum because we are called to give our tithes and our offerings. So the tithe is to be given as if it truly does belong to God and we consider other gifts to be given to the needy. The rich young man must have been grieved because Jesus told him to give the money to the poor. His place in society would say that the poor were untouchables and he would have taken the suggestion better if he were told to sell and give it to whom he chose such as relatives or friends. Jesus did not give him that choice because He knew that the man would selfishly give to those who would be able to give back to him.
Could Jesus’s point be that our gift is to be given with a heart that says we give it with no strings attached. That the place we worship is to do what it has been charged to do with whatever money is given. Most mainline denominations have extensive aid organizations that do very well with helping others in ways we as individuals could never afford to do. An example is the United Methodist Church’s UMCOR organization. The United Methodist Committee On Relief as an organization is supported in it’s entirety by the Church and its giving. Any gift given to UMCOR then is 100 percent applied to the designated need. Some disasters such as Haiti, Japan, the Tsunamis and Hurricane relief are examples of the massive aid effort helped by UMCOR.
Any gift given should be given with no strings attached and by a heart that is glad to help others. Is your heart really in your tithe? Do you go above and beyond because your heart says to share? Does your heart reflect the Holy Spirit into the world as Jesus calls you too?
God gives us beautiful sunsets and beautiful hearts. Take the time to see them both.
Randy
Lectionary Scripture for February 5th, 2012
January 30, 2012Pastor’s Ponderings, Wanderings, Wonderings
January 25, 2012Last night I watched the State of the Union Address by President Obama. It really got me to thinking but not necessarily about the things he was talking about. It was a state of the union and it was his view of how things were going with the United States. What he has gotten done and what he hopes to achieve.
It made me think about Jesus and His ministry. About what He has gotten done and what He hopes to achieve. We sometimes look to the leaders of our country to help us with our lives. We have faith in them because of what they tell us. Which is so often what we want to hear. Jesus told us so much in His short three-year ministry. Much of it words that we really didn’t want to hear. Words, however, that we needed to hear. Words that would heal us and help us through our lives if we would just hear them. I believe that if we would just listen to the words of Jesus we would hear the solutions to many of our problems today. That’s interesting isn’t it. Someone 2000 years ago could tell us about ourselves and how to solve our problems today.
Wouldn’t it be a great thing if our politicians listened to the words of the Savior of the world and used those words to help solve the problems of the world. Wouldn’t it be a great thing if we elected people who had compassion and genuinely cared about humanity and were not so interested in their own careers and selfish agendas. Now I am not saying that all politicians are bad but I am saying that there are many who are misled.
As Christians we are to be led by the one we believe is the Son of God. He will not mislead you. Try Him out as the one who can help solve those problems you need help with. I believe He can and will if you will depend upon Him.
Pastor Randy
Wesley United Methodist Church, Orange TX 