Friday, June 22 ~ “CALLED to Take Risks”

Friday, June 22 ~ “CALLED to Take Risks”

Matthew 25:14-30

Reading the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, I recall my first reaction being shock because the servant with one talent kept it safe and returned it to his master, as a kid I saw no reason why that should be a punishable offence.  However, as I have gotten older I have begun to see the benefit and importance of taking risks.  While there is nothing inherently wrong with being cautious, the servant showed no initiative whatsoever, making him basically worthless to the master (if the master just wanted to just keep the money safe he could have buried it himself).  God is the same way with us.  While we like to think he would be nicer about it than the master of the servant, it is important to remember that God provides us with talents just as the master provides his servants with talents and he expects us to use those talents to further the kingdom.  Our talents should not return empty.

            Now risk taking is one of those activities we like to discourage often times, especially in our children.  Most of us do not really want to see our child preparing to take a big risk, but it is necessary if we are to ever move beyond our current situation.  In a sense, every step we take toward a goal is a risk; there is not guarantee of success, no matter how brilliant and talented you are.  This is important for us to remember, because we often see risk as something big and dangerous, but a risk can be something small and simple.  For the servant, the master told him he should have invested the money, as fairly safe and non-work intensive risk all things considered.  But Jesus reminds us in this parable that the risk is necessary to make the talent worth having.  God may have given someone a talent for something, but if they choose not to use that talent he can give it to another who will put it to good use.

            Now this is not to say that God is a vindictive God who will yank away our unused talents and leave us destitute.  As long as we trust him, he will provide us with talents to use for his kingdom.  However, we must be willing to take the risk necessary to use those talents because God does not give us talents to be put to waste.  Risk taking is part of being a Christian and an important part of it.  The early Christians were not martyred for sitting around doing nothing.  Therefore, it is necessary in our society for us to step out and take the risks required to make disciples and not to be afraid to act when something seems scary or dangerous.  Two important things to remember is that no risk is too small and most importantly God is on our side and will help protect us no matter the risk.

Blessings,

Ashley Rogers

Day Three --THOUGHTS!

   Last night Leslie Mills,  a Local pastor and the volunteer coordinator for this project, joined us to share information about the local area and what it was like to live through hurricane Irene. Can you imagine waking up in the middle of the night, grabbing your children or grandchildren and having to swim to find higher ground? That's what it was like here.
   It was a perfect storm for Aurora. It rained and rained and rained, somewhere between 18 and 22 inches in less than two days. And then the winds pushed the water from the sound upstream into the river and into Aurora. (As Leslie was sharing with us last night, I kept thinking..."and there are folks who believe that God couldn't have used a mighty wind to separate the Red Sea for the Hebrew people.) In and around Aurora, water met water and the result was lots of flooded homes.
   That is the beginning of the story. The rest of the story is still being written. Folks with means and insurance, have been able to put their homes and lives back together in good order--not easy but at least doable. But for folks who were already just getting by, the perfect storm continues.
    Thank you so much for your support in helping us come to Aurora this week! You are helping to add a new hope-filled chapter to the Hurricane Irene story in the lives of several families.

God is good!(and so are you!!!)

Blessings.

Rich

Day Two ---thoughts

Work day two was another wonderful day! We continued to work on our first two sites and began work on a third--putting up rafters, roofing and beginning to shingle. I can't help but wonder how I would react to being pushed from my home for a year or more? How would I tolerate living in a FEMA trailer and/or having to move in with relatives. As one of our youth said, "We just forget how good we have it."

FEMA regulations require that all FEMA trailers be removed from flood zones before hurricane season begins. So on June 1, everyone here who had been living in a FEMA trailer since their home was flooded in August, had their new home taken away from them. Twice in one year!

The good news is that each week these homes get a little closer to being occupied again.

Rich

Thursday, June 21 ~ “CALLED By Name”

Thursday, June 21  ~ “CALLED By Name”

John 15:12-17

This is my commandment: love each other just as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than to give up one’s life for one’s friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command you.  I don’t call you servants any longer, because servants don’t know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because everything I heard from my Father I have made known to you.  You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you could go and produce fruit and so that your fruit could last. As a result, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.  I give you these commandments so that you can love each other.

– John 15:12-17

We have been called to leave the building, called to imitate Jesus, and called to make more disciples of Christ.  But now, we are called in a wonderful way that we did not expect.  We are called by name into friendship with God.  Who ever dreamed that the Creator of heaven and earth (and all the rest of the breathtaking universe) would love us as precious children?  That is the very love that was so great that God gave God’s only Son so that we might have abundant life as the loving subjects of God’s heavenly kingdom.  But then, Jesus gives His disciples a new commandment – to love each other as we have been loved by God.  And Jesus says that if we do love one another, even laying down our lives for one another, then we can be friends with Jesus.

Every Christian, or person who follows the Lord Jesus Christ, is a servant.  But God has called us to be more than servants.  We are called to be God’s friends – a deep, mutual, loving relationship with God.  That is what salvation is really all about.  Through Christ’s death and resurrection, God saves or frees us from sin and death so that we can discover greater friendship with God.  Jesus, the Lord of heaven with the Father and Holy Spirit, has made the kingdom of heaven begin breaking into our current world.  The closer our world comes to God’s kingdom, the closer we become to God.  As we help to bring God’s heavenly kingdom into focus through our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness, our friendship with God grows.  The world becomes more beautiful.  People begin to be kinder to one another.  And our struggle becomes more bearable because we know that we will never be alone.

God chose us and calls us out by name to be God’s friends.  God has shared every blessing with us.  And if we are truly friends with God, we will naturally love and serve each other more and more.  In Jesus’s words, “You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you could go and produce fruit and so that your fruit could last.”  Do you feel that you truly have this friendship with God?  If you want to fan the flame of your friendship with God, or if you want to learn about or seek friendship with God, just pray for God’s guidance, listen for God’s voice, and definitely go tell this desire to leaders in the Church.

Blessings,

Daniel Collins

Day 4 (Wednesday) – “Sent to Receive”

Day 4 (Wednesday) – “Sent to Receive”

*Matthew 26:6-13 

http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=175319407

 ⁶Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the the house of Simon the leper,⁷a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table.⁸But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, “Why this waste?⁹For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor.”¹⁰But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me.¹¹For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.¹²By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial.¹³Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”
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Throughout this week we have been exploring our mission as disciples of Christ.  We have learned that as followers of Christ we are to carry on the mission of Christ.  We have learned that as people on the mission of Jesus we are sent to bring good news to the brokenhearted, offer our bounty to the poor, and advocate for justice.  In short, we are sent to be emissaries of hope.  But, if we’re not careful, our mission can end up sounding something like this: give of yourself, give of your time, give of our possessions, give of your energy, and then give some more.  “Give, give, give” can easily become the mantra for Christian mission.

No doubt, giving is a key component of being sent in the name of God.  We are called to give.  Jesus gave of himself to such an extent that he offered his body unto death for the sake of the world.  But Jesus was sent to be more than a sacrificial giver.  Jesus was sent to receive.  Jesus was sent to honor the sacrificial giving of others. 

   The story in Matthew 26 of the woman with the alabaster jar beautifully illustrates Jesus’ commitment to receive.  Jesus was reclining at a friend’s dinner table, surrounded by his disciples, when a woman approached with an alabaster jar filled to the brim with expensive perfume.  In an attempt to honor Jesus, this woman poured the perfume on Jesus’ head, emptying the bottle.  Aghast that such an expensive luxury would be used for what appeared to be frivolity, the disciples grumbled amongst themselves that the perfume should have been sold to raise money for the poor.  They were consumed with the “give” mentality of missions.  Jesus was supposed to give, give, give – they thought –not receive!  Yet Jesus would not allow the precious gift of the woman to be overlooked.  “She has performed a good service for me,” he tells his disciples.  She had given of herself to Jesus, she had poured out her love and commitment to Jesus so beautifully that her act was truly a gift to be cherished.  And Jesus was determined to receive the goodness that she offered him.  Jesus was determined to remind his followers that receiving the gifts of others is just as important as giving. 

   Like the disciples, we are often more comfortable being the giver than we are being the receiver.  We find it easier to pour ourselves out for others than to allow others to pour themselves out for us. We must remember that “give, give, give” is not our mission mantra.  If we only give, give, give, how are our brothers and sisters in Christ supposed to give?  If we’re doing all the giving, how are others supposed to fulfill their Christian mission to give?  When we go into mission work with the only intention of giving, we go with an attitude of pride.  We assume that we are superior, the only ones with gifts good enough to be given.  We rob our brothers and sisters in Christ of the chance to fulfill their Christian mission.  

   Many of us go out into the world ready to give, give, give, but rarely are we ready to receive the good gifts of others.  Rarely are we ready to celebrate the God-given offerings of others.  Rarely are we ready to acknowledge ourselves as the needy ones. As persons sent on the mission of Christ, we are called to be receivers.  Like Jesus, we are sent to receive.  We are called to humbly hold our hands out to others, honoring them by letting them give, give, give to us.  So let us remember that we are sent as givers and receivers: we are sent as givers who desperately need our neighbors’ gifts of love.

Blessings!

Laura Johnson

Tuesday, June 19 ~ “CALLED to Make Disciples”

Tuesday, June 19 ~ “CALLED to Make Disciples”

Matthew 28:16-20

¹⁶Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.¹⁷When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,²⁰and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
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In Matthew 28:16-20, Jesus gives his disciples the Great Commission, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  This call has been the basis for Christian evangelism ever since.  We, like the Twelve, have been called to make disciples of all nations.  But what is a disciple, how are they made, and how can we accomplish this call?  These are just some of the questions that the church looks to answer daily as it attempts to achieve its mission, a mission that the United Methodist Church states as “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

Before we can go about making disciples, we must figure out what makes a person a disciple.  A myriad of definitions exist for disciple most of them revolving around the disciples of Jesus in his lifetime.  However, for us, the one of the best answers we can give is that a disciple is someone who believes and follows Jesus now.

Therefore, in order to make disciples we must make sure our future disciples are told about Jesus.  As Matthew 28:20 states, we must teach them to obey all that Jesus taught his followers in his lifetime.  Another important step in making disciples is baptism.  Jesus explicitly tells his disciples to baptize people in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Therefore, to help make true disciples we must plant to seed that will lead to the desire for baptism and a life with Christ.

But how can we do that?  First, we must remember that the call Jesus gives the disciples is not a passive call.  He tells them to “Go” and make disciples, not to wait for potential disciples to come to them.  Therefore, as Christians we must be willing to go into the world and work at disciple making.  This is something that the youth and other mission trip members are doing.  While it may seem that going to build a house is not the same as going and telling someone about Jesus, it can be.  As James points out in his letter, works are a testimony of faith and without them faith is dead.  By showing God’s love through our actions we can make disciples, sometimes without even realizing it.  As a church, the best way we can make disciples is to not be afraid to tell others what God has done for us.  If we have faith and pride in our faith, we will attract others who can learn of God’s love from us. 

Thus, while the call to make disciples may seem intimidating at first, it does not have to be a frightening endeavor.  It does require courage to go into the world and tell people about our faith, but that is what we have been instructed to do and if we trust that Jesus will be with us when we do this then God through us will “transform the world.”

Blessings,

Ashley Rogers

Monday, June 18 ~ “CALLED to Copy”

Monday, June 18 ~ “CALLED to Copy”

1 John 4:7-21

⁷Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.⁹God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.¹¹Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.¹²No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.¹³By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
¹⁴And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world.¹⁵God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.¹⁶So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.
¹⁷Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.¹⁹We love because he first loved us.²⁰Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.²¹The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.
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Jesus is sincere in loving us. Jesus loved us before we came to this world, Jesus is loving us at this very moment, and Jesus will love us. This love is unconditional in its nature. If Jesus loved us because of our certain achievement, it would have been impossible that everyone is loved by Jesus.

     We are called to imitate Jesus. Some people might think that there is no need for us to actually practice the love like Jesus,’ because we are loved by Jesus regardless of how we think and behave. However, we rather need to love one another because that it is what we received from Jesus. 1 John 4:19 teaches us that we love because Christ first loved us. If we do not love others even after we know that we received love from Jesus, it is hard to say that we understood and felt the unconditional and sincere nature of Jesus’ love. If we felt Jesus’ love toward at least a little bit, we need to try to imitate the love. This is why we are “called” to imitate Jesus.

     The fact that “we are called to imitate Jesus” does not mean that we are called to be a simply “good person.” It rather means that we are called to be a person that thinks and acts and loves like Jesus. Therefore, in imitating Jesus’ love, we should not only love our neighbors but also show the love in our actual life. Sometimes we need to be selfless and sacrifice ourselves to love others. This attitude might seem to be foolish from the perspective of secular world. However, this is exactly what Jesus went through in order to love us. Even though our love cannot be as big as Jesus’ love, we should keep trying to copy Jesus by expressing love to our neighbors.

     This mission trip is one of the imitations we can practice. Since Christ went on missions to share God’s love with us when he became a human, we can understand his love and practice it by participating in this trip.

Blessings,

I Sil Yoon

Sunday, June 17 ~ “CALLED to Leave the Building”

Sunday, June 17 ~ “CALLED to Leave the Building”

Mark 6:7-13

He called for the Twelve and sent them out in pairs. He gave them authority over unclean spirits.  He instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a walking stick—no bread, no bags, and no money in their belts.  He told them to wear sandals but not to put on two shirts.  He said, “Whatever house you enter, remain there until you leave that place.  If a place doesn’t welcome you or listen to you, as you leave, shake the dust off your feet as a witness against them.”  So they went out and proclaimed that people should change their hearts and lives.  They cast out many demons, and they anointed many sick people with olive oil and healed them. 

                                                                                    –Mark 6:7-13

Jesus calls them.  Then, He sends them.  Simple as that.  No intensive leadership training session required.  Jesus presumably doesn’t teach the 12 apostles the proper hand placement when casting out demons as if they were in a CPR class.  He simply calls them, mentions some brief instructions, and sends them out.  I wonder how it really went down.  Did the apostles just drop their stuff and run to the nearest houses?  Perhaps some just stood and stared at Jesus for a moment, dumbfounded, mouths half-open.  Did anyone say, “Wait!  I don’t even understand what I’m supposed to do!  All you said was to invite ourselves into people’s houses!”  Who knows if any of these things happened, but the Scripture just says, “So they went,” and they did it.  They proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus, cast out demons, and healed the sick.

Jesus really doesn’t even tell them what to do.  “He gave them authority over unclean spirits,” but do they even know He had done that?  And what are they supposed to do if they figure that out?  Jesus casts out demons, not me!  He also tells them not to bring any food or money and nothing but minimal clothing.  All they can bring is a walking stick (for walking or whacking demons?).  And if this mystery mission isn’t challenging enough, then Jesus warns them about the places where they won’t be accepted.  If someone is “not welcoming,” it’s probably less like “no thanks” and more like “get off my lawn, we don’t want what you’re here for.”  What a headache.  What a nightmare.  What an adventure!

The Church is called to live an adventurous life, just like the apostles.  In fact, the word “church” in Greek, or “ecclesia,” means “the ones who are called out.”  Hear that?  Church is not a building!  It’s a people!  The Church is a group of people who are called to an adventurous life – a life of following the calling of God.  The adventurous life to which the Church is called may be mysterious or uncertain or confusing at times.  We may have few possessions.  We may even have to rely completely on God to have food some days.  We will probably run into dangers along the way, or at least some people who don’t welcome us.  We may get bumps and bruises, and sometimes worse.  One thing is for sure, if we as the Church are faithful to the adventurous life to which we have been called together, it will not be boring!  So, if you thought Church was boring, you must have been thinking of the building (the beautiful places that help the true Church worship together).  No, the Church is the people called out by Jesus to an adventurous life together – a journey in which the Church will proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, help bring God’s heavenly kingdom to earth, and maybe even help cast out demons.  Let the adventure begin!

Blessings,

Daniel Collins