A Journey of Faith

Well, here it is almost Christmas once again!! Time just seems to continue to accelerate toward who knows where next. What a wonderful journey it has been during my five months of ministry at Long's Chapel UMC!! God seems to be everywhere, using his people in unexpected places and mysterious ways. I am constantly amazed at how God shows himself.
Baby "Huck", John Howard is a year old and walking, talking, and beginning to show his developing personality. What a boy!! The other grandchildren, Sawyer and Scout are growing so fast.
I look forward to another anniversary with my wonderful and beautiful wife. What a blessing she is to God, me, and so many other people!!
I am a blessed man, Momo is still able to do so many things for herself! She is an amazing mother!
I look forward to Advent, and the New Year. What opportunities are out there?? God has many surprises. 

The Whole Gospel-In Two Sentences

   I recently re-read Matthew 22:34-40 in preparation for a sermon. I felt a sense of amazement when I realized how simple and obvious Jesus’ answer to the Pharisee’s question was. The lawyer had asked, “Jesus, of all the 613 commandments, rules, and regulations, which one is the most important?” And Jesus reached back into the Torah, which the lawyer knew by heart, and quoted from Deuteronomy and Leviticus. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your soul. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

      Jesus went on to say that on these two commandments hang all those hundreds of rules. These two must be carried out together. They are like hinges on a door. These are not open to debate, nor are they are optional for a disciple of Jesus Christ.

      Then I began to think. What does it look like for me to love God with all my heart, soul, and mind? Most of us have experienced deep, sincere love with a spouse, our children, grandchildren, family members, and friends. We develop such a strong relationship with them that we want to spend time with them, talk with them, think about them, and consider what we can do for them to please them in the name of unconditional love. We are willing to give all of our self for them and to them. That’s the kind of relationship that Jesus says we must have with God. We must be willing to give every thing to God, holding nothing back. Jesus said, “Give up your self, pick up your cross, and follow me.” A self-giving love back to God.

      Then Jesus said, “There is another commandment, another hinge for your door. ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Now just what does that mean? Who is my neighbor? My neighbor is anyone who has a need, whether that need is big or small, regardless of social, ethic, economic status, or even that person’s appearance or how they got into the situation they are in.

      Jesus means taking care of others as much as we take care of our selves, attending to the needs of others as much as we attend to our wants and needs, making others comfortable as much as we are comfortable. It means taking care of the beat-up people who we see around us.

            What good is your door without the two hinges? It needs both hinges to work properly. Jesus said: “Do these and you shall find life; you shall begin to really live.” He didn’t say: memorize them, recite them, or think about them. He said: “Do these and you shall finally begin to live a life worth living.” This is the way to a holy sanctified life, a life patterned after Jesus. The whole Gospel-in two sentences.

Rev. Tim McConnell, Peachtree UMC, October 30, 2011

  The Shepherd and Us

      I don’t know about you, but I know very little first-hand about shepherds and sheep, or goats. What I do know I have learned second-hand, by watching the History Channel, or reading from books written by real-life shepherds about the 23^rd Psalm. I have learned that sheep are not very smart. They are smelly and not very well motivated, mostly staying away from change, and anything less than routine. Sheep are creatures of habit, tending to follow, or not follow, whichever sheep decides to be the leader for the day, oblivious to the many dangers on the hills and mountain pastures.

      So, we see that shepherds for those needy sheep must be individuals who are constantly aware of what the sheep might or not do, ready to prevent a problem, or rescue a sheep from a dangerous situation. Being a shepherd is a demanding and challenging, yet rewarding job. No wonder Jesus looked at us, called us his sheep, and realized that he must be our Shepherd.

      Jesus had much to say about how he is the Good Shepherd, and we are his sheep. In John 10 Jesus gives a beautiful picture of how he as our Shepherd is willing to lay down his life for us. In Mark 14, on that Thursday night before his arrest, Jesus predicts how the disciples, the sheep, will scatter because they will have no Shepherd.

      But Jesus also says to his disciples then and now, “I will leave you physically and give my life for you, but my Spirit will always be with you. My Spirit, the Spirit of the Good Shepherd, will watch over you, lead you, and heal you. You will always be my sheep, and I will always be your Shepherd. I promise.”

      We know that Jesus’ mission statement contains these words, “I have come to seek and save whoever is lost.”(Luke 19:10) Then Jesus tells us that if he had one hundred sheep and one was lost, he would leave the ninety-nine and go find the one who was lost. (Matthew 18:12) We find in the John 10 reading the not so surprising news that he has other sheep outside of his fold, who he must go out and find and bring into the church, into a relationship with him, so that there will be one fold with Christ as the Good Shepherd. What a wonderful picture this verse paints for us! If Jesus is willing to go outside the safety of the church to find others, why are we waiting? Why aren’t we going with him?

     You see, being in the same pasture with Jesus as our Shepherd is not just about being “churchy.” It’s not just about what we “do” as a church and what we “do” for ourselves and even others. Being in the same pasture with Jesus involves relationships; relationships with the other sheep and an intimate, intentional relationship with the Shepherd, getting to really know him. Perhaps after that relationship begins, we will begin thinking differently about worship, church, and our faith walk with Jesus. It may not be so much about what we can do for the church, what we can do for others, or even what we can do for God; as important as all that is. Worship, church, and our faith walk may be more about what God can do with us and in us. So the question may be, “If we are sheep, what is our relationship with the Good Shepherd? Do we really know him? Or, are we all over the hills and mountainsides doing our own thing, instead of following the Good Shepherd?

Rev Tim McConnell, Long’s Chapel UMC, October 28, 2012

God of the Future

    

      Even before the dawn of human creation, God, in his Triune council, thought about the future. His design was to create a world occupied by human beings created by him to worship and serve him forever. And ever since that creation, humans have turned their faces toward the future. It is because of our creation in God’s image, our historical relationship with God, and the eternity that he has placed in our hearts, that we can be called a people of the future.

      If we are to be a covenant people with God as our creator and sustainer, we must also be focused on the future. If we are to be disciples of Jesus Christ, our thoughts must be on a future with him.

      We look back on the Old Testament examples and find people looking forward to the future. There we find a constant looking for what will happen next, when will the Christ come, when will we find peace?

       Noah looked at the covenant of the rainbow and saw a renewal of the earlier promise to Adam, to re-populate the earth and never another flood to destroy the earth. Abraham trusted God that he would be the father of not only the nation of Israel, but a spiritual father to all who believed in the future. Joseph knew that one day his people would leave Egypt and return to the land God had promised. He said, “When we return, take my bones with you and bury them in our land.” Moses and Joshua believed in the future of the Promised Land, and with God led the people back home.

      Jesus looked down on the small band of disciples, as he ascended back to heaven, and placed the future of his church in their hands saying, “Go into all the world, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching what I have taught you.” Jesus believed in the future when he said that he would send the Holy Spirit and that he, Jesus, would return one day.

      We learn from the past, and we treasure it. We live in the present and realize how important every minute is. But our faces are turned to the future, the future of the next second, next hour, and the next day. Through the miracle of technology, I have placed the heartbeat of our soon-to-be-born grandson on the ring tone of my cell phone, because I believe in the future. I plant bushes and bulbs in my yard with the spring in mind. We must not stop planning for the next day.

      So we pray for our children, grandchildren, spouses, and ourselves. We pray and hope for a better job, a more concerned church, and for health and retirement. All the while, we must realize that it is in the future that we will find hope for the present.  

      And we keep on praying for those who need spiritual and physical healing. The answers will come, maybe this afternoon, maybe next week, or even next spring. God’s time is not our time and his thoughts are not the way we think. The God who created us, provides for us, and loves us so much will be with us in the future.

      So we take some of the past, live confidently in the present, as we serve a God who walks with us into the future.

 

Rev. Tim McConnell, Peachtree UMC, October 16, 2011

 

 

Using Our Gifts

      We all have received gifts at different times in our lives; birthdays, Christmas, graduations, special accomplishments, and anniversaries. These are gifts given with no obligation to reciprocate other than a note or word of thanks. In another sense, gifts can be thought of as abilities and talents given to us by the specific code of our DNA, such as, the gifts of music, sports, foreign languages, mathematics, etc.

      By looking somewhat deeper and with a different perspective, we can discover what Scripture calls “spiritual gifts.” Paul referred to these gifts on several occasions in his New Testament writings. These spiritual gifts have some similarities to the natural gifts, but are subtly different. Spiritual gifts are given freely by God’s grace to each of us to be used in his work to build his kingdom here on earth by making disciples.

      Can you imagine going to your own birthday party, opening all the wonderful gifts, and somehow neglecting to open one, or even two? Or, even worse, just imagine that you decided not to open a certain one, instead you place it in a closet soon to be forgotten. The unopened gift.

      We all have been given spiritual gifts and each of those gifts is important. It is left up to us to identify the gifts we have, and then learn how and where to use them. God takes his willing people, gives them gifts as tools, and places his disciples in the areas of greatest need.

      James Harnish, in his “A Disciple’s Path, a Guide for United

Methodists,” expresses well the powerful sense of urgency about the decisions we make concerning the use of our gifts.

      He writes, “There are children who may never hear the stories of Jesus if people with the gift of teaching do not teach them. There are lost, confused, spiritually searching people who may never experience God's love unless people with the gift of evangelism share the good news with them. There are adults who may never grow in their understanding of Scripture until someone with the gift of discernment guides them. There are people who may never find their way into the church until people with the gift of hospitality welcome them. There are people with broken hearts and broken lives who may never find healing until people with the gift of intercession pray for them. There are new opportunities for new ministries that may never be accomplished unless people with the gift of leadership show others the way. There are lonely, isolated people who may never find their way into Christian community until people with the gift of mercy extend care to them. There are important issues of justice and peace that never will be confronted until people with the gift of prophecy confront them.

       In short, God has work to be done in this world that will not get done until we offer the stubborn ounces of our weight to make it happen.”

Rev Tim McConnell, Long’s Chapel UMC, October 14, 2012

Preparations

      It seems that we spent a good portion of our time preparing for some event, or activity. We prepare each day in varying degrees for the next day at our workplace, classroom, or our day working at home. Much preparation goes into planning for trips, vacations, and even the career paths we will take.

      As we move from season to season, we see preparations being made for the transition between summer and winter, then winter back to summer. In this fall season, we see the animals preparing for the months when food will be unavailable. We hear chain saws cutting firewood, and see mulch being placed around the yard plants for protection against the cold. We know it is wise to make preparations for every phase of our lives.

      Every year around this time, we begin to see signs and advertisements for flu immunization in preparation against a disease, which surprisingly still takes human lives each year. So, we take the shot to help prepare our bodies against the germs which cause the flu.

     Just as preparations need to be made in the natural world for winter, any changing season, or for any event, God intends for us to be spiritually ready to face whatever may come our way. It is possible with all that life has to throw at us that we could lose our way, slipping off the path that God has made for us, and maybe even taking our hand from his to try to find our own way. We know that trying to face things in life without God would be a mistake, but it happens to people who are not prepared.

      We can prepare ourselves for whatever each day may bring, or the ups and downs of our spiritual seasons by following a path of spiritual disciplines. This path will lead us into a life that is Christ-centered, filled with a love of God and a love for each other.

      This path must involve daily prayer as a communication tool to form an intimate relationship with God. Our prayer will need to be deeply rooted in meditative reflection and study of Scripture.

      Then, we must not neglect to join with other believers in corporate worship and small group fellowship. We do this so that we can experience and praise God together, and grow as disciples. The effectiveness of Christ’s Church is in the unity of its individual members.

      In order to prepare ourselves even further, we realize that our financial resources and our spiritual gifts are given to us so that we can give them back to God. We give freely from a heart that is motivated by God’s love. We learn to serve without the expectation of anything in return.

      As we begin to practice these disciplines, the desire to tell others the story of Jesus begins to take root in our minds and heart. What we have begun to experience as disciples will need to be told to others. Therefore, personal evangelism begins to become part of our way of living and thinking.

      Let’s try these spiritual disciplines as we think of preparing ourselves for God’s kingdom here and now, and into eternity.

 

Rev Tim McConnell Long’s Chapel UMC October 7, 2012    

Questions from Jesus

      In Matthew 16:13-20 we find two of the most important questions asked by Jesus as recorded in scripture. As he was discussing with his disciples, these two questions came up. “Who do the people say I am?” And then the second question was a little more penetrating and definitely personal, “Who do you say I am?” These questions demanded a confession as an answer.

      We read that the disciples answered the first question by saying, “Some people say you are John the Baptist, others Elijah, and some even say you are Jeremiah, or some other prophet.” Then after Jesus had heard the public opinion report from the people, and the evaluation of his ministry, he asked the most important question of all time, the central question of history, and the question that if we get the answer right, we get eternity right. “Who do you say I am?”

      There was perhaps much shuffling of feet and clearing of throats until finally Peter answers, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Then Jesus said, “You are blessed, Peter. Blessed because you didn’t come up with this answer and confession on your own, you didn’t read it in a book, or hear this in the synagogue. You’ve been talking to God and it is he who has revealed who I am to you.” You see how important it is for us to stay connected to God? When we are in touch with God, he tells us things. He reveals himself to us.

      Jesus praised Peter for his belief and quickly said, “Upon this rock, (“Peter” means rock) I will build my church.” Notice how quickly Jesus takes Peter’s confession of faith and turns it into an action of faith. We can talk all day about what we believe about Jesus, but it is the action that counts.

Jesus tells Peter, “Since you know who I am, I am going to tell you who you are. You, and all the disciples who will follow you down through the years, will be the foundation of my church. You will be the builder of my church. And to my church I will give the keys to the kingdom. The church will be the ‘keeper of the keys.’ We have work to do.”

     If we believe that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” then what difference does that make in our daily lives? Is what Jesus did for us on the cross so weak, and God’s grace so cheap, that we can say we are Christians, followers of Jesus, and go on living we way we always have? Jesus told Peter to not stop with just believing, but take the next step of living what you believe.

      Belief should produce action, and with action comes a transformed life.

Are we living so close to God that he has revealed Jesus to us as the way, the truth, and the life? The keys to his kingdom? Who is Jesus to you and to me?

Rev. Tim McConnell Long’s Chapel UMC September 30, 2012