Vol 4 No 24 - Observing Freedom

During this holiday week as we observe the 233th anniversay of the USA's declaration of independence, take a moment to be thankful for the freedom you have to worship God in whatever way you see fit. 

We have such an honor and privilege to live in such a free place - what better way to celebrate that freedom and honor the men & women who provide that freedom than to join in worship this Sunday?

See you Soon!

Lamar

Vol 4 No 23 - Intentional Example

As this summer now officially gets started this week, I cannot get the image of children and youth out of my mind.  Specifically, the images of children and youth spending summers getting to know Christ and experiencing Christ's love through the ministries of the church.

This past Monday, and again next Monday, we are moving deeper into our Vacation Bible School planning, and I have seldom been as overjoyed as I was Monday evening meeting with our first group of volunteers.  To see people voluntarily giving of their time on a Monday evening when EVERYONE had other things to do was a joy.  Thinking of them giving a week of evenings, much less the preparation time that goes into them, so that children can experience Christ's love is just mind-blowing.

The one thing that I failed to mention Monday, but I will mention this Monday, and as often as I can, is that teaching our children and youth about Christ is not something we can squeeze into pre-planned, pre-packaged blocks of time, places, and spaces.  Far from it.  Actually, we teach our children and youth more about the importance of our faith in Christ, and our true commitment, far beyond the walls of the church or its institutions.  The words we say, the decisions we make...they watch us far more than we realize.

VBS is important, and I firmly believe there is not a one of you reading this that is not called to participate in the ministry of VBS at some level in your congregation.

However, the decisions you and I make right now, TODAY, are telling the children and youth of our lives far more about whether or not our faith, and the commitments we make based on our faith, really mean much at all.

As for me, I know that I am far from perfect on this.  This I do know, however - if I don't keep reminding myself of this, then I'll never get it.

See you Sunday!

Lamar

Vol 4 No 22 - What Do You Hear?

During hot summer afternoons such as this one, I am often reminded of childhood days where my mother would tell me something along the lines of 'Boredom is a character defect.'  She tells me to this day that this was one of my grandmother's favorite sayings, and it's been running around my head today as I worked on the preaching calendar for July and August.  In thinking and praying about the various lectionary passages, I came across a number of quite familiar parables and Biblical events that each of us should know very well, and I thought about how 'boring' it might be for you and for me to revisit some of these same, oft-told, oft-studied scriptures.  Then my grandmother comes calling - 'Boredom is a character defect.'

I wonder if maybe, just maybe, my grandmother's words address a far-too-familiar situation for us Christians.  Are we still inspired by the reality of a God who offers us unconditional grace?  Are we still inspired by the reality that 'In the beginning God...'?  Are we still inspired by the reality of John 3:16-17 (go look it up if you don't remember it)?  Are we still inspired by the reality of the Last Supper, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday?  Are we still inspired by 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do'?  Are we still inspired by the awesome reality of Pentecost Sunday?  Are we still inspired by the hope of Christ coming again?

Or, does it really matter to us?  

My hope and prayer for each of us is that we never get in a position to consider any of the Scriptures 'boring' or not in need of discussion and proclamation.  God forbid!  For, if we ever allow ourselves to be in such a place that we do not believe that God's word has something to say to us, the problem is not with the Scripture or with the God who gave us the Scripture.  If we ever allow ourselves to be in such a place that we find the Scriptures to be boring, then the defect rests in us.

Moral of the story: I'm more excited now than I was even this morning to hear what God is going to say to us through the text over the next couple of months.  Consider yourself invited to join with me in this time of listening (again or for the first time) what the Almighty has in store for us.  Heck, bring someone with you.  You never know what will happen.

See you Sunday!

Lamar

Vol 4 No 21 - Family Reunion

Is there any more unique thing in life than a family reunion?  The opportunity to see people you haven't seen in years, connect with people close to you that you don't see very often, meeting new members of the family and greeting others you didn't know were a part of the family, remembering and celebrating the life of those who have passed since the last time we gathered, conferring about and making decisions concerning family matters, spending time over common meals, recalling favorite memories of the past and the long-ago relatives without whom none of this would be possible...and the list could go on...

Sunday - Wednesday of this past week, I, along with your lay delegate Dana Blanco, attended Louisiana United Methodism's annual family reunion (also known as annual conference).  This year's session, held at the Ponchartrain Center in Kenner, was all of the above and more.  To see and hear what all God is doing in the life of the United Methodists of Louisiana is beyond description.  Just let me say that it is truly a joy to be a part of such a strong connection.

One thing that hit me this morning as I reflected on this family reunion was the tendency at times to take it for granted.  For the first time, I recognized that I may not have gotten as much out of, or more importantly, may not have put as much into, this holy time that I was given as a gift from God.  Of course at times like these there are some decisions that I did not agree were correct.  Of course there were some people who I allow to bring out less-than-the-best in me.  Of course I saw some old friends that I didn't spend as much time with as I should have because I figured that if I didn't catch them this year, I'd catch them next.

Admit it, we all take those that we are closest to for granted far often than we would like to think.

Whether we like to claim it or not, the church IS our family (Christ even went as far as to tell us that we had better not allow our blood family to keep us away from His purposes).  My hope and prayer is that NONE of us will EVER take the privilege we have been given to participate in the church for granted.  When we take it for granted, we will inevitably miss out on things that God has for us.

See you Sunday!

Lamar

Vol 4 No 20 - A Special Service

This week's mid-week message is a little bit different than normal, for I want to spend this week's note inviting you to a special worship service to be held next Monday night @ 7:00PM.  Worship on that evening will consist of the church receiving a special gift, a gift with lasting implications on all of us within the Christian movement, and it is important that as many of you as can be present as we receive this gift.  

What is this gift?  It is the gift of ordination.  As is stated in our Book of Discipline:

Ordination is a gift from God to the church.  In ordination, the church affirms and continues the apostolic ministry through persons empowered by the Holy Spirit.

This is an annual event in the life of our United Methodist Church, where those who have been called to the ordained ministry, have completed the educational and practical requirements, and been subject to rigorous examination by their peers are set apart for a life of service in this facet of ministry.  The Service of Ordination and Commissioning is the highlight of every annual conference session, and with annual conference being closer than usual this year, I encourage each and every one of you to make time to go celebrate this most joyful time in the life of the church.  Since our service will be held in the Ponchartrain Center, there should be plenty of seating for all.

I promise (and I don't normally make this kind of promise) that if you make the effort to journey to Kenner for this celebration, you will come away blessed beyond imagination.  Our resident bishop, William Hutchinson, will be presiding, and always brings a message that will inspire and enlighten us all. 

See you Sunday!

Lamar

P.S.  Interested in helping out for VBS?  See note at the bottom of this message.