Good morning holy, healthy, and happy people of God! If you are visiting today, I welcome you and apologize at the same time. Please do not judge McKendree by today’s sermon. I am but the humble seminary student here. Pastor Stephen will be back preaching as normal next week and I strongly encourage you to come back then.
Today marks the third time I’ve preached from this pulpit. People told me this would get easier over time, and I must say the writing part does get easier with each attempt. Surprisingly once one learns to let go of one’s high thoughts about one’s intellect and humbly falls before God praying only that his thought be expressed, the writing goes much easier. Hmmm, humbleness before the Lord bringing great joy, I seem to remember a book being written about that… Yes, some of us are slow learners. Those of us called to ministry, I’ve found, are often times the slowest of all.
Read more...Wir glauben an die Gemeinschaft der Heiligen und heute Morgen muss ich Dank geben zu einer die mit den Heiligen jetzt ist. Frau Phillips war meine Deutsch Lehrerin. Von ihr hab ich meine Liebe für die deutsche Sprache gelernt. Meine Familie ist nicht Deutsch aber wegen Frau Phillips fühle ich mich immer zuhause mit Deutsch. Ich hab vor fünfzehn Jahren mein erstes deutsches Wort gelernt. Ich kann nicht glauben dass ich jetzt hier stehe. Danke Frau Phillips. Gott weisst schon wie viele Deutschfehler ich bald machen werde. Du hast mich gut gelehrt, Frau Phillips, aber ich hab nicht immer gut zugehört.
Read more...The last few weeks we’ve been lead by Pastor Stephen down a path of reflection on the concept of a holy sabbath. Together we were challenged to make places for holy rest and refreshment in our lives. We marveled at how God graciously provides us extra in our lives that we might take the time for prayer and worship. And, we learned of the freedom that comes through our times of rest with the Lord.
Read more...Revelation 21:1-6a Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done!"
Read more...Introduction
McKendree United Methodist Church[1] has an imposing edifice that hides her true character. From the street she looks like the typical old-fashioned downtown church with an aging congregation. From the outside, no life or living ministry is expected to be found inside. However, if one takes a moment to step inside the 100 year old sanctuary one will find a missional congregation that reflects both the history of the 226 years and the ecology of a diverse, vibrant, and growing downtown community.
Ecology
Introduction
The church universal and especially the unique, individual congregations of the church have had many meanings in the history of humankind and the history of the church. Many have seen the church as an arm of oppressive government; baptizing war, causing destruction, and stifling academic and scientific progress. For others, the church in its global and local form is a tool for political and social agendas; an agent of governmental and societal “progress”. For the faithful the church is an educator, a social club, a place of worship, a place of edification, a place of conflict, a place of love, and much, much more. The entities known as “the church” over the last many thousand years have at one time or another been negative and positive influences towards the reconciling efforts of our loving God.
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