Friday, October 14, 2005

Good Morning!

Hope to see everyone on Sunday.

The new unit for this week is Unit 24, The Way Methodists Live

Focus Scripture for the Week:

Micah 6:8

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Today's Scriptures: James 1:2-18, 1 John 3:11-24, 1 Peter 5:1-11

Today's Discussion:

-- these three passages from these three short letters provide guidance on how to live as a Christian, particularly how to perservere when you run into trouble for living as a Christian.

-- the one verse that really jumped up and grabbed me from this group was from 1 John 3:18: "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." I think that we all are familiar with the commands to love others and to love one another. This passage adds some weight and responsibility to those well-known instructions. We tend to think that our fulfillment of our charge to love others is covered by the fact that we try not to get mad at others, or that we have a pleasant attitude towards others. I think what James is saying here is directly addressing that attitude, saying that love is far more than that.

-- the last passage from Wesley in our book is a long one that outlines his vision of how Methodists should live and conduct themselves, and there was one that caught my eye in particular. He encouraged Methodists to do business with each other -- to prefer them when you were hiring, to buy from each other, and otherwise help each other in business. It is a very practical example of the idea of community, and a reminder that we are in one, and that we should help each other, because the world is not going to help us. Maybe we need to do something for Pleasant Hill -

- a business directory or some such -- that outlines what businesses our members are in, so that builds the idea that

we are a community, and the idea that we should and can have relationships beyond Sunday morning.

Question for Sunday:

-- how do you take to the idea that you should prefer members of your church when doing business. Does it put you off because it is bringing business into the world of the spiritual, or does it broaden your idea of what it means to be a member of the church?

Today's prayer request: Hurricane Katrina and Rita victims

Need to continue to remember this people, whose lives will remain in flux for the forseeable future. Need to pray for them to have peace, for comfort, and for them to get all of the assistance that they need to restore their lives

Today's class member prayer:

Brad Douglas

Have a great day.

Jay

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Good Morning!

Quick message this morning -- I'm running behind this morning.

Note that I will be there on Sunday. I've gotten feedback on the our next study --- if you have a preference or a suggestion, let me know.

The new unit for this week is Unit 24, The Way Methodists Live

Focus Scripture for the Week:

Micah 6:8

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Today's Scriptures: 1 Timothy 6:11-16

Today's Discussion:

-- this scripture is a great, encouraging call for the kind of life we are supposed to lead as Christians.

-- "flee from all this" Paul writes, and he referring to the dangers that he has just mentioned in the previous verses, primarily the love of money. But it easily is direction for all of us, covering a multitude of traps, snares and sins that seek to lead us astray, not just the love of money.

-- but like a lot of instruction in Paul's letters -- he just doesn't say "don't do this", he also says "do this instead". These verses are no different -- Paul urges us to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance -- he urges us to be proactive in our faith, not just reactive. And that is what really distinguishes the Methodist Christian -- one who is proactive, who is invested not just in the "thou shall nots" but also the "thou shall" -- actively pursuing a daily relationship with Christ through prayer and reading, while also actively engaging with others in love to meet their needs.

Question for Sunday:

-- this is an interesting question, though one that takes things out of context a bit. In the US Constitution, it is stated that one of the fundamental rights of man is the "pursuit of happiness"

In Timothy, Paul urges us to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness, not expressed as a right, but as goal or obligation.

To me, there is something instructive about thinking about the difference in the focus of those two statements. How does it strike you to see those two "pursuits" side by side?

Today's prayer request: Tyrone Prothro.

This is the player who was severely injuried in the Alabama/Florida game, and he is still in the hospital, apparently running a fever from some sort of infection, while also trying to recover from the surgery to insert a steel rod in the leg that was broken. I don't know, but it just seems like his recovery from all of that isn't going well.

Today's class member prayer:

Wes Russell

Have a great day.

Jay

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Good Morning!

The new unit for this week is Unit 24, The Way Methodists Live

Focus Scripture for the Week:

Micah 6:8

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Today's Scriptures: Matthew 26:69-75

Today's Discussion:

-- couple of quick notes this morning.

-- this is the passage about Peter's denial of Christ after Jesus' arrest. It is a sad and painful story to me.

-- to me, the inclusion of this passage in our readings for this chapter is pretty obvious. In a chapter that is talking about the way we live as Methodists and Christians, these verses talk about one of the ways that we may fall short in that walk.

-- the last couple of days, we have talked about the way that we live out our faith should and can be obvious to those around us, and can mark us as a Christian. However, the pressure of the world against Christian living can cause us to turn our back on Christ in order to be accepted, either by co-workers or friends or others. While we won't be asked as directly at Peter was in our scripture, there are times when we will feel compelled to do the very same thing as Peter, which is to put some distance between ourselves and Christ. Sometimes this is in effort to be cool, or an effort to seem more wordly, or simply as a way to justify doing something that we want to do.

-- I think we are like Peter when we downplay the role that the church plays in our life, when people perceive that it might be a big part of who you are, or when someone calls you out about your participation in some activity vs. their perception of your faith "I thought you were big church goer there Alex, I didn't think you'd want to come with us . . . ", or when we neatly cut all references to church out of our normal conversation and relating to others - for instance, when the question comes "What did you do this weekend?" and leaving church out when you mention everything else.

Question for Sunday:

-- when have you downplayed your relationship with Christ in order to fit in?

Today's prayer request: Our bosses

Remember those who are in positions of authority at our work places, for guidance, strength and wisdom as they fulfill their resposibilities.

Today's class member prayer:

Kelly Thaxton

Have a great day.

Jay

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Good Morning!

We are planning to have a Sunday School get together on Friday, October 21 at Monica and Joey's house. I'll send some more information along later today, and I'll have the info on the web site.

The new unit for this week is Unit 24, The Way Methodists Live

Focus Scripture for the Week:

Micah 6:8

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Today's Scriptures: Acts 11:19-30

Today's Discussion:

-- today's scripture actually answers an interesting trivia question -- when did Christians start to be called Christians? Verse 26 of today's passage has the answer.

-- in the context of the unit we are studying, I think there are two things to note:

-- one is the idea/importance of bringing others to the faith, and the roll of "example" in accomplishing this. In the passage today, in verse 24, it talks about Barnabas, how he was a good man, full of faith, and the implication is that his example helped to bring many to the faith. So the takeaway that lines up with this week's lesson is that by living a Methodist life, a Christian life, we help bring others to the faith.

-- the second takeaway from the reading today is the idea of the connectional church. At the end of the passage, they talk about how Christians in Antioch provided help for the other Christians living in Judea during a severe famine. This idea of living out your faith by helping others in need is a key Methodist thought, and then the idea of a connectional church, where Christians in one area feel connected and responsible for Christians in another area, is another distinguishing idea.

-- the example given in the scripture, of the church in Antioch helping out the church in Judea, is no different than our church in McCalla helping out the church and community in Bayou La Batre.

Question for Sunday:

-- if living in "connection" is a key Methodist idea, how have you felt the connection with other Christians, or specifically, other Methodists? Is there a program that exists, or an event that you have attended, that has fostered that sense of connection with other Methodists?

Today's prayer request: Someone in need of Christ

Think of someone at your work place that you know is not a Christian, or perhaps a Christian but who has fallen away, and pray for them to tune into the way that God is calling them, and for God to use you in helping them find their way to God.

Today's class member prayer:

Brandon Herring

Have a great day.

Jay

Monday, October 10, 2005

Good Morning!

The new unit for this week is Unit 24, The Way Methodists Live

Focus Scripture for the Week:

Micah 6:8

e has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Today's Scriptures: Luke 12:22-34

Today's Discussion:

-- the lesson this week is as much a challenge as invitation. The words of the last paragraph of the Reflections section look like and sound like an invitation to living a fuller walk with Christ, but really it is a challenge. And it is a challenge with two parts:

-- one, are you willing to live your life in a way that is resistant to the values and priorities of the world; a way that makes your faith recognizable and visible to your co-workers, family and friends?

-- second, do you trust God to care for you as live this life of obedience? that is essentially the point of the scripture from today, a beautiful and graceful passage from Luke about worry and treasure and the heart.

-- There are members of religious groups and sects that are easily distinguishable by sight -- the Amish is an extreme example, but there are also various Jewish groups with their yamulkes and other dress, or the Mormon mississionaries with their white shirts and ties and bikes. But when our author says that Methodists used to be easily distiguishable, I don't think he is talking about dress. The whole Methodist dress code thing didn't quite work out. So that just leaves the way we live our lives to give witness to our faith.

-- One of the main things to note is that the point of living a Methodist life is not for people to notice that you are Methodist, but that you are a Christian. And it is not as far fetched as it might seem, that people should be able to notice if you are Christian. Think about some of your co-workers --- it doesn't take long to find out whether they are Alabama or Auburn fans, whether they are country music or rock music fans, or whether they like traveling or staying home. It isn't a stretch to think that your faith should be as distinguable as these other associations. It is not about wearing your faith on your sleeve, but wearing it on your heart and mind and lips, everyday.

Question for Sunday:

-- It is overlooked, but your approach to worrying is a telltale sign of a Christian. The scripture today is about handling some of the big worries of life -- meeting our basic needs for food, clothing and shelter - and having confidence in the Lord's provision of those things. Are you a worrier?

Today's prayer request: Earthquake victims in Afganistan, India and Pakistan

Major devastation and death in these countries from the earthquake on Saturday. We need to remember these people and the people who are responding to the diaster. .

Today's class member prayer:

Danny Walker

Have a great day.

Jay