New Series Coming up

As we enter the month of February, the pastors will be preaching from the epistles to the Corinthians. The Corinthian church was a troublesome church. We have 2 letters but some scholars believe there may have been as many as 4 letters written. Paul's authority was challenged. Paul faced the problems between Jewish and Gentile Christians.

Next Sunday, Pastor Arlin will preach from 1 Cor. 8-13 and he is calling his sermon: "Sensitivity Training." Paul is in the midst of talking about food sacrificed to idols as well as people who believe they have special knowledge. These issues could divide the church. Paul is calling for a special sensitivity in dealing with people.

Do you suppose we need to learn how to be sensitive to the people around us? Duh!

Again, read the scripture several times during this week and pray for Pastor Arlin as he prepares for next week. When we do a series of sermons, they overlap, so it's important to be there as much as possible so you will not miss something.

Change

During the night on Monday night I started making trips to the bathroom. I was worshipping at the porcelain throne (to put it delicately). As the light of Tuesday approached I was still feeling bad. I laid around all day sipping on diet 7-Up. Because of this I was exposed to so much of the Innauguration. The only parts of it I missed was when I was in the bathroom or asleep.

There were so many historic things. We have our first black (mixed race) president. It was the largest crowd for such an event. Our new president has an unbelievable approval rating. It is one of the times that people of all parties are willing to give the new person a chance to succeed.

But there's another reason I write about this. Just as we made an orderly change in our national life, there is a need to make changes in our lives as Christians. If we make no changes in our spiritual life, we will not just stay the same, we will actually lose our momentum.

We have celebrated the birth of Jesus and we have made resolutions or set new goals. We have renewed our vows and we have examined the first disciples who responded to the invitation "come and see."

Our new president called on all citizens to sacrifice and give of our time to help solve the nations problems. Your pastors call on you to examine your spiritual life. Are you involved in Bible study? We could add another table for Sunday School. We will continue to dedicate ourselves as your pastors to search God's Word and share it during the sermons. The church will continue to reach out to the community through our mission efforts. Our youth will continue to be active and we, as adults, will help them grow.

We will continue to look for persons who do not have the joy of having a church family to become a part of our church family. Perhaps you are having difficulty getting the nerve to invite someone to church. Sacrafice! Take a chance! It becomes easier the more we do it.

Let us recommit ourselves to praying for our church. Presently, both pastor have been trying to get over this "creeping crud" which is going around. We request your prayer for us to both feel better. We request your prayers for us as we work on the sermons and other things which are important for us to be the best leaders we could possibly be.

May you all be in good health and may you grow in your spiritual health.

Pastor Larry

Why Did Others Begin Following Jesus?

Pastor Arlin will use Mark 1:14-22 to share a sermon "Why did others begin following Jesus?" This will conclude our series following Christmas. Last Sunday you were challenged to invite others to "come and see" and Pastor Arlin will take it the next step. We hope this will encourage us all to be conscious of our opportunities to share the gospel with other people in a non-threatening way.

In February we will start a series from the Corinthian letters. Want to know what they will be?
Feb. 1 - Pastor Arlin - 1 Cor. 8:1-13 "Sensitivity Training."
Feb. 8 - Pastor Larry - 1 Cor. 9:16-23 "All Things to All People."
Feb. 15 - Pastor Larry - 1 Cor. 9:24-27 "Disciples in Training."
Feb. 22 - Pastor Arlin - 2 Cor. 4:3-6 "The Light of the Gospel.

Lent will feature a series on "Covenant".
After Easter we will have a series from 1 John on "Christian Maintenance."

Your pastors are planning ahead with the hopes we will be able to give you spiritual food. Please join us each week by prayer, reading the scripture and inviting others to join us.

New Membership Vows

The United Methodist at our last General Conference added another word to the membership vows. We have always asked: "As members of this congregation, will you faithfully participate in its ministries by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, and your service?"

Now the phrase "witness." "With your prayers, prayers, gifts, witness and service."

Isn't this an important addition?

One would assume witness was a part of service, but not specifically. The church grows as we witness to our faith.

Since we renewed our vows last Sunday, perhaps we should all pause and say, "P.S. God, I also promise my witness!"

Bob Farr's third point is:
"This is a church, not a YMCA with a prayer."
He points out that it is easy to believe activity is ministry.
We need to be sure our activities are minister to persons and giving them an opportunity to draw closer to God.

Look at his scripture: Luke 10:38-42.

Leadership tips

We've been sharing ten tiips for leadership and growth from Rev. Bob Farr. The second one is:

"If you're going to lead you're going to bleed."
He shares that real leadership means we will take heat. We won't make people happy with every decision they make.
He reminds us that making no decision is a decision.
The scripture he gives us to stury this is: Luke 9:21-27

Great Opportunity Coming Up

There is a special meeting coming up the end of the month and we need to have a lot of people there. It could make our church more effective. Here it is.

"GOOD IDEAS FOR SMALL CHURCHES"
SATURDAY, JAN. 31, 2009 -- LEXINGTON UMC
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Morning keynote speaker: Dr. Shannon Jung, professor, Town and Country Ministries, Saint Paul School of Theology. Her topic: "Small Churches Reaching the Poor: The Gift that Gives."

There will be 5 workshops and we need to have someone in each of the workshops.

1. Your Church and Your Public Schools led by Rev. Susan Cox-Johnson
2. Assessing the Needs of Your Community -- leader to ber announced.
3. Revitalizating Worship in the Small Church -- leader to be announced.
4. Praying Outward: Building Spiritual Passio for the Unchurched/Unseen of your Community.
led by Rev. Ginger Pudenz
5. Even More Ministry Ideas for Your Church and the Poor of Your Community led by Dr. Jung.


Let's pray about this and see how many people we can take with us.

What's coming up?

We had a good experience on Sunday as we renewed our vows of baptism and church membership and remembered our baptism. I hope the stone you have will remind you regularly of your vows. I hope you will also be reminded that you are God's child and God is well pleased with you.

Our series will continue on Sunday with a sermon: "Why Did Men Want To Be Jesus' Disciples." Read John 1:43-51. We will look at the call of Philip and his sharing it with Nathaniel. We'll even look at Evan Almighty in the call to build an ark. What are you called to do? How are you a disciple?

Let's go back to the leadership tips from Bob Farr that we had in the last blog. We did number 10 so let's go back to number 1: "Put some skin in the game." We need to be personally involved like a shepherd. read John 10:1-17

Leadership

The Reverend Bob Farr is the Director of the Center for Congregational Excellence. In a recent publication from the Annual Conference, Bob has an article with 10 tips for leadership and growth. They are all good and we'll try to bring them to you, but let's start with number ten. It's like eating dessert first.

"The Horse Is Dead - dismount." Bob tells us:
"the way of doing church today is changing in leaps and bounds. The church has moved so far away from the church that any notion of doing ministry in the way were were taught will only lead to more frustration and a further decline in relevance and participation."

He adds: "The Gospel is timeless, but its presentation has always changed to meet the culture where it was at, not to leave it there but rather to change it into authentic followers of Jesus Christ."

At Paradise, we will continue to look for creative ways to present the grace of God to the community in ways it can be understood. That will make our faith more meaningful in our lives and something we are compelled to share.

Ready For Sunday?

A friend asked why our blog hadn't been changed and I said we changed it several times this week. I looked and we had an entry on Sunday and another on Monday. Nothing since then.

The activities for Jan. 11th are included on Monday so there wasn't much more to add. All we can do is ask if you are prepared to be in Sunday School and Worship on Sunday? The sermon is nearly ready. Hopefully, you've read the scriptures and invited someone to come with you. The weather is supposed to be bad on Saturday but turn nice for Sunday.

I guess there is a lesson here. I thought I had entered several entries but I had not. Sometimes we think we have done the things for God that we need to do but we really haven't. We need to constantly check on our progress.

On Sunday we'll have the opportunity to review the vows we took when we joined the church and check on our progress. Seems like it will be worthwhile. See you Sunday.

Pastor Larry

Renewing Our Covenant with God

It is always good to remember the covenant you have made with God and renew it regularly.
The first Sunday after Epiphany is called "Baptism of the Lord." Each year the gospel lesson is about Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist.

One common practice is to use this Sunday for a "Remembering Your Baptism" service. In our hymnal there are 3 services for baptism plus the 4th which is for this service. During this service we go through all the prayers and questions of the baptism but we don't "put water on anyone." You will have an opportunity to watch to the front of the church an look into a container of water and remember your baptism.

Now, some of you may not have been baptized. That's OK. In such a case you will be invited to "anticipate" the day you will be baptized. This would be appropriate for children who have not been baptized as well as adults who have not yet made that decision.

Those who have been baptized, even if it was in another denomination, you can renew the vows you made when you were baptized.

The sermon will be the second in the series Pastor Arlin and Pastor Larry are preaching. Pastor Arlin started it by looking at "Why wise persons choose to follow Jesus." This week Pastor Larry will look at "Why Did Jesus Want To Be Baptized?" Scripture is Mark 1:4-11. Remember you are better prepared to hear the sermon if you have read this scripture several times during the week.

You might want to read the scripture first through the eyes of John the Baptist.
Then you may want to read it through the eyes of Jesus.
Then you may read it as one of the onlookers.

Bring a friend and let's have a great time of worship.

Benefits from tag team pastors

Reflections from Pastor Larry

As we moved into Advent I found myself being at Paradise 4 weeks in a row, even though I only preached 2 of them. Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy being at Paradise. It did give a feel of the days when I served a church alone.

Today I attended North Star for the second week in a row. I was able to walk in and greet people and then take a seat and have a pastor feed my spirit. After the service we went out to eat and I was actually in front of my TV before noon. I remember thinking, "They are just about ready to take communion at Paradise!"

Then I realized one of the dangers of a pastor is that we spend so much time tending to the spiritual needs of the church members that it is easy to neglect one's own spiritual life. I had times in my past where my spiritual level was low enough that it even made it difficult to prepare good sermons.

So, I give thanks that we have this special arrangement at Paradise. I believe it blesses your pastors by allow us to re-charge our spiritual batteries. It also benefits the church members because your pastors are better prepared to give strong spiritual direction to the church.

I wasn't sure how this experiment was going to work. Now, each month I am more impressed by what we are experiencing.

Pastor Larry

January 4, 2009 Worship

"Why the Wise Chose Jesus." Matthew 2:1-12.
That is the sermon Pastor Arlin will preach this Sunday.
It is the first of a series of sermons our pastors will preach in January.

Why do you think the wise choose Jesus?
Do you know wise persons who haven't chosen Jesus? Perhaps they are waiting to be invited to hear this sermon. Bring them with you on Sunday.

Remember Sunday School starts at 10 am and Worship follows at 11.

This is also the first Sunday of the month so we will have communion.
Our Communion is open to EVERYONE.

Happy New Year.