Hebrews 13:5-6 (The Message)
Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote,
God is there, ready to help;
I'm fearless no matter what.
Who or what can get to me?
John 15:12-16 (The Message)
"I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father.
"You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
July 29, 2007 Readings
2 Corinthians 9:6-8
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work
Matthew 5:14-16
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work
Matthew 5:14-16
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
July 22, 2007 Message
July 22, 2007
1 Corinthians 10:15-17,26; Luke 12: 13-21
A guy walks into a diner and asks the man behind the counter if he will give him a free sandwich if he shows him something amazing. The man agrees, so the guy pulls out a hamster, that begins dancing and singing "Amazing Grace".
"That IS amazing!" says the counter man and gives the guy his sandwich.
"If I show you something else amazing, will you give me a piece of pie?" The man behind the counter agrees, so the guy pulls out a small piano and a hamster and a frog. This time the hamster plays the piano while the frog sings "What a Friend We Have in Jesus".
The man behind the counter, completely stunned, gives the guy his piece of pie. About then, a man in a suit, who's been watching the entire time, offers to buy the frog for a thousand dollars, which the guy agrees to.
"Are you nuts?" asks the man behind the counter. "You could've made a fortune off that frog."
"Can you keep a secret?" says the guy. "The hamster's a ventriloquist."
Moral: Be careful when buying singing frogs, especially if accompanied by a hampster.
There are a lot of things to be careful about. Growing up, you have to be careful crossing streets and of burners on kitchen stoves and of people you don’t know and of the green stuff on your plate that mom calls ‘vegebles.’ Then you have to be careful to listen to the teacher and careful going down the slide and careful getting on the right bus after school. Later it’s being careful about driving too fast and the friends you hang out with and about getting home on time on Saturday night. You get older and it’s being careful about the money you spend and what you say in front of the kids and what the neighbors might think. Finally you have to be careful to take your medicine and careful of what you eat and careful crossing streets. There's always something to be careful of, right?
As related in today’s reading from Luke (12:15, The Message), Jesus told the people gathered around him, as he would tell us today if he were here, “Be careful! Avoid being even a tiny bit selfish and wanting more. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot."
That being the case then, as followers of Jesus the Christ, what is our life to be defined by?
Some would say that because there are only a limited amount of resources in the world, a Christian should not acquire wealth. You should take only what you need and leave the rest to others. A person doesn’t need a new car or nice clothes or a nice house. You don’t need to eat out in fancy restaurants. Live a simple life so that others can have some of the world’s limited resources, too.
Some would say that God blesses with wealth those who have been more faithful disciples than others. Wealth is seen as a divine reward for having been good. God is more than happy to prosper those who go to church, keep their nose clean, and give 10% of what they make to the church with more. For these folks, wealth is a sign of divine favor.
And some would say there is no connection at all between our wealth and God. These people think the money they have belongs to them and not to God. After all, God has no use for money.
Well…Jesus doesn’t say any of that. He doesn’t say there are limited resources in the world. And he doesn’t say that if you give God one-tenth of what you have, the rest is yours as a reward. And he sure doesn’t say that you can live as if you can keep God and money separate from one another.
Rather Jesus says that when life is all about what you have and about your getting more – then it is wrong, and that is not a good thing. In fact, it is rather foolish. If I become obsessed with having more and more, my possessions will possess me. And I will forget that God is the maker and owner of all things including everything I have and all that I am! Unfortunately that happens to some of us, doesn’t it?
Life often becomes about what we have and about what is ours and about holding onto it. And that is indeed foolish – making no sense at all – because, as the wisdom of Ecclesiastes points out, we are going to lose it anyway.
That then takes us to Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (10: 26) when he suggests how ‘sensible’ people should live: “So live with the very life of Christ in you, a life that will unite and transform. "The earth," after all, "is God's, and everything in it." Might the answer be found there?
Everything on this earth is God’s. Imagine that! Our life is God’s! We are God’s. You and I, every one of us, is God’s. Our life is not ours at all – it is God’s, unless of course Paul had it all wrong. But I don’t think he did.
This idea that we are God’s is reinforced by our baptism, I think. For in Holy Baptism, we are claimed as much-loved daughters and sons of God through no effort or merit of our own. At our baptism God’s claim on us is recognized. We are also baptized into the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, who emptied Himself for our sake, who became poor in order to save us from sin, death, and evil, and who died that we might have life and have it abundantly.
The baptized life is a daily denial of all our idols including our quest of the ‘American Dream.’ As we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, we begin to realize that our life may have been obsessed with acquiring wealth that we will eventually lose anyway when we die. Jesus is right. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.
Today God calls us again to the waters of Baptism to lose our lives and to be reborn as grateful children of God, knowing "The earth is God's, and everything in it." We can trust God to care for God’s creation because as the song says, “He’s got the whole world in His hands.” Ours is the greatest treasure of all. We are loved and cherished by the God who gave His life for us on a cross. Ours is an inheritance in heaven that can’t be bought. We have the certainty that nothing can separate us from God’s love. And that promise changes how we look at who we are, what we have, and where we are going in life.
We don’t need to be wealthy. We don’t need to have a lot of money. We don’t need to have more and more things. It’s not only foolish, it is wrong to think that is the answer. Jesus says, “Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.”
Life is best defined by our “breathing the air of Christ,” as Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury, says, “Christ becoming the atmosphere in which we live.” It is living in a state of equilibrium trusting that God has no agenda that is not for our own good. And it is a life of community – a family really - living for one another. Knowing that we are God’s dearly loved child changes everything! It changes how we look at our life, and how we use our gifts and resources. Paul vision was that if you have a gift, it is there so that you can help another become a giver in return. God’s gift makes givers. When you know that everything belongs to God, then life can be as it should be –using God’s things on behalf of the Kingdom of God.
Rowan Williams describes the good life as, “simply one in which we have learned how to be for each other, and in so being to live fully as ourselves.” Christian people are holy simply because they are adopted by God into a family relationship. Our sharing as family becomes tangible and real by our words and actions. Those who are baptized are immersed in Christ’s love to be transformed into a different person in this ‘new life’ community called the church.
We are rich because as a child of God, God has given us everything we have and everything we are – even His own life on the cross - that we may be His precious children forever!
1 Corinthians 10:15-17,26; Luke 12: 13-21
A guy walks into a diner and asks the man behind the counter if he will give him a free sandwich if he shows him something amazing. The man agrees, so the guy pulls out a hamster, that begins dancing and singing "Amazing Grace".
"That IS amazing!" says the counter man and gives the guy his sandwich.
"If I show you something else amazing, will you give me a piece of pie?" The man behind the counter agrees, so the guy pulls out a small piano and a hamster and a frog. This time the hamster plays the piano while the frog sings "What a Friend We Have in Jesus".
The man behind the counter, completely stunned, gives the guy his piece of pie. About then, a man in a suit, who's been watching the entire time, offers to buy the frog for a thousand dollars, which the guy agrees to.
"Are you nuts?" asks the man behind the counter. "You could've made a fortune off that frog."
"Can you keep a secret?" says the guy. "The hamster's a ventriloquist."
Moral: Be careful when buying singing frogs, especially if accompanied by a hampster.
There are a lot of things to be careful about. Growing up, you have to be careful crossing streets and of burners on kitchen stoves and of people you don’t know and of the green stuff on your plate that mom calls ‘vegebles.’ Then you have to be careful to listen to the teacher and careful going down the slide and careful getting on the right bus after school. Later it’s being careful about driving too fast and the friends you hang out with and about getting home on time on Saturday night. You get older and it’s being careful about the money you spend and what you say in front of the kids and what the neighbors might think. Finally you have to be careful to take your medicine and careful of what you eat and careful crossing streets. There's always something to be careful of, right?
As related in today’s reading from Luke (12:15, The Message), Jesus told the people gathered around him, as he would tell us today if he were here, “Be careful! Avoid being even a tiny bit selfish and wanting more. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot."
That being the case then, as followers of Jesus the Christ, what is our life to be defined by?
Some would say that because there are only a limited amount of resources in the world, a Christian should not acquire wealth. You should take only what you need and leave the rest to others. A person doesn’t need a new car or nice clothes or a nice house. You don’t need to eat out in fancy restaurants. Live a simple life so that others can have some of the world’s limited resources, too.
Some would say that God blesses with wealth those who have been more faithful disciples than others. Wealth is seen as a divine reward for having been good. God is more than happy to prosper those who go to church, keep their nose clean, and give 10% of what they make to the church with more. For these folks, wealth is a sign of divine favor.
And some would say there is no connection at all between our wealth and God. These people think the money they have belongs to them and not to God. After all, God has no use for money.
Well…Jesus doesn’t say any of that. He doesn’t say there are limited resources in the world. And he doesn’t say that if you give God one-tenth of what you have, the rest is yours as a reward. And he sure doesn’t say that you can live as if you can keep God and money separate from one another.
Rather Jesus says that when life is all about what you have and about your getting more – then it is wrong, and that is not a good thing. In fact, it is rather foolish. If I become obsessed with having more and more, my possessions will possess me. And I will forget that God is the maker and owner of all things including everything I have and all that I am! Unfortunately that happens to some of us, doesn’t it?
Life often becomes about what we have and about what is ours and about holding onto it. And that is indeed foolish – making no sense at all – because, as the wisdom of Ecclesiastes points out, we are going to lose it anyway.
That then takes us to Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (10: 26) when he suggests how ‘sensible’ people should live: “So live with the very life of Christ in you, a life that will unite and transform. "The earth," after all, "is God's, and everything in it." Might the answer be found there?
Everything on this earth is God’s. Imagine that! Our life is God’s! We are God’s. You and I, every one of us, is God’s. Our life is not ours at all – it is God’s, unless of course Paul had it all wrong. But I don’t think he did.
This idea that we are God’s is reinforced by our baptism, I think. For in Holy Baptism, we are claimed as much-loved daughters and sons of God through no effort or merit of our own. At our baptism God’s claim on us is recognized. We are also baptized into the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, who emptied Himself for our sake, who became poor in order to save us from sin, death, and evil, and who died that we might have life and have it abundantly.
The baptized life is a daily denial of all our idols including our quest of the ‘American Dream.’ As we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, we begin to realize that our life may have been obsessed with acquiring wealth that we will eventually lose anyway when we die. Jesus is right. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.
Today God calls us again to the waters of Baptism to lose our lives and to be reborn as grateful children of God, knowing "The earth is God's, and everything in it." We can trust God to care for God’s creation because as the song says, “He’s got the whole world in His hands.” Ours is the greatest treasure of all. We are loved and cherished by the God who gave His life for us on a cross. Ours is an inheritance in heaven that can’t be bought. We have the certainty that nothing can separate us from God’s love. And that promise changes how we look at who we are, what we have, and where we are going in life.
We don’t need to be wealthy. We don’t need to have a lot of money. We don’t need to have more and more things. It’s not only foolish, it is wrong to think that is the answer. Jesus says, “Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.”
Life is best defined by our “breathing the air of Christ,” as Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury, says, “Christ becoming the atmosphere in which we live.” It is living in a state of equilibrium trusting that God has no agenda that is not for our own good. And it is a life of community – a family really - living for one another. Knowing that we are God’s dearly loved child changes everything! It changes how we look at our life, and how we use our gifts and resources. Paul vision was that if you have a gift, it is there so that you can help another become a giver in return. God’s gift makes givers. When you know that everything belongs to God, then life can be as it should be –using God’s things on behalf of the Kingdom of God.
Rowan Williams describes the good life as, “simply one in which we have learned how to be for each other, and in so being to live fully as ourselves.” Christian people are holy simply because they are adopted by God into a family relationship. Our sharing as family becomes tangible and real by our words and actions. Those who are baptized are immersed in Christ’s love to be transformed into a different person in this ‘new life’ community called the church.
We are rich because as a child of God, God has given us everything we have and everything we are – even His own life on the cross - that we may be His precious children forever!
Monday, July 16, 2007
July 22, 2007 Readings
1 Corinthians 10:15-17,26 (The Message)
I assume I'm addressing believers now who are mature. Draw your own conclusions: When we drink the cup of blessing, aren't we taking into ourselves the blood, the very life, of Christ? And isn't it the same with the loaf of bread we break and eat? Don't we take into ourselves the body, the very life, of Christ? Because there is one loaf, our many-ness becomes one-ness—Christ doesn't become fragmented in us. Rather, we become unified in him. We don't reduce Christ to what we are; he raises us to what he is. That's basically what happened even in old Israel—those who ate the sacrifices offered on God's altar entered into God's action at the altar. "The earth," after all, "is God's, and everything in it."
Luke 12: 13-21 (The Message)
The Story of the Greedy Farmer
Someone out of the crowd said, "Teacher, order my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance." He replied, "Mister, what makes you think it's any of my business to be a judge or mediator for you?" Speaking to the people, he went on, "Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot." Then he told them this story: "The farm of a certain rich man produced a terrific crop. He talked to himself: 'What can I do? My barn isn't big enough for this harvest.' Then he said, 'Here's what I'll do: I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I'll gather in all my grain and goods, and I'll say to myself, Self, you've done well! You've got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!' "Just then God showed up and said, 'Fool! Tonight you die. And your barnful of goods—who gets it?' "That's what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God."
I assume I'm addressing believers now who are mature. Draw your own conclusions: When we drink the cup of blessing, aren't we taking into ourselves the blood, the very life, of Christ? And isn't it the same with the loaf of bread we break and eat? Don't we take into ourselves the body, the very life, of Christ? Because there is one loaf, our many-ness becomes one-ness—Christ doesn't become fragmented in us. Rather, we become unified in him. We don't reduce Christ to what we are; he raises us to what he is. That's basically what happened even in old Israel—those who ate the sacrifices offered on God's altar entered into God's action at the altar. "The earth," after all, "is God's, and everything in it."
Luke 12: 13-21 (The Message)
The Story of the Greedy Farmer
Someone out of the crowd said, "Teacher, order my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance." He replied, "Mister, what makes you think it's any of my business to be a judge or mediator for you?" Speaking to the people, he went on, "Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot." Then he told them this story: "The farm of a certain rich man produced a terrific crop. He talked to himself: 'What can I do? My barn isn't big enough for this harvest.' Then he said, 'Here's what I'll do: I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I'll gather in all my grain and goods, and I'll say to myself, Self, you've done well! You've got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!' "Just then God showed up and said, 'Fool! Tonight you die. And your barnful of goods—who gets it?' "That's what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God."
Happenings This Week
VBS at Calvary UMC - Blairstown
Monday-Friday, 6:00pm-8:00pm
Meetings at Salem UMC
Wednesday, NOW at 6:30pm; Worship at 7:30pm; Lay Leadership at 8:30pm
VBS Program at Calvary UMC
Friday, 7:00pm
Monday-Friday, 6:00pm-8:00pm
Meetings at Salem UMC
Wednesday, NOW at 6:30pm; Worship at 7:30pm; Lay Leadership at 8:30pm
VBS Program at Calvary UMC
Friday, 7:00pm
Sunday, July 08, 2007
July 15, 2007 Readings
Proverbs 3: 5-10
Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he's the one who will keep you on track.
Don't assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
your wine vats will brim over.
But don't, dear friend, resent God's discipline;
don't sulk under his loving correction.
It's the child he loves that God corrects;
a father's delight is behind all this.
Matthew 6: 25-34
"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
"Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he's the one who will keep you on track.
Don't assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
your wine vats will brim over.
But don't, dear friend, resent God's discipline;
don't sulk under his loving correction.
It's the child he loves that God corrects;
a father's delight is behind all this.
Matthew 6: 25-34
"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
"Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
Friday, July 06, 2007
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