One of the questions that I have asked in the past couple of sermons is "Are we truly seeking after God?" Of course it sounds like a stupid question on the surface, for we are all coming to church which suggests some desire to know something about God. And yet, it's an important question for there are many reasons for being a part of a church that have nothing to do with God, from maintaining the family traditions to needing a quiet hour each week to meditate and sleep (yes, I see you out there! :)  ) It's very easy to attend church regularly and be completely disconnected from seeking after God. 

One of the ways that we can begin to answer the question is to examine how we are spending our time and energy. Are we making an effort to grow in the grace and knowledge of God, or do we simply show up to things that don't require much thought and simply make us feel good? Don't get me wrong -- I like to feel good as much as the next person! But being on the path to finding God takes the discipline to talk about hard things as much as easy ones. It takes effort on our part to read and think and learn. We get what we pay for, and we pay with our time, attention, and energy. When we aren't willing to give those things to God . . . well let's just say our faith generally doesn't go very deep as well. 

That is why you will hear me pushing experiences like the Manthano program, which you can still be a part of. Yes, there are expectations with a program like this. Yes, there will be some reading outside of the class sessions. Yes, it requires a couple of hours each week in a group session. But in the long run, that time invested most folks would say is time well spent. It takes us to new places in our understanding of God, places that root us and help us in life. By the way, Manthano is going to meet on Sunday evenings starting Sept. 19.

There is another class coming up that I am going to and I want to invite you to join me. On Saturday, September 25 there will be a training on starting Wesley Covenant Groups held at the Blackman UMC in Murfreesboro. Wesley groups go back to the earliest days of our tradition, when Methodists would meet in small classes or bands to hold one another accountable in love. Basically they were groups that would meet to talk about how they were doing in their faith journey, with each member sharing about their own relationship with God. These groups would have a class leader who would be concerned with the physical and spiritual needs of the members, assisting the pastor in caring for the group members. There has been a revival of these groups in Methodism today, and congregations that are recovering this important part of our heritage are seeing growth spiritually and numerically. 

It's a lot to give up a Saturday to come to a training on a new ministry opportunity, but just like it takes time to grow in our faith, it takes time to grow the ministries of our church. I hope that you will consider joining me so that together we can think about where God is leading our church, and if starting Wesley Groups here is something that will help us in our search for God. 

Let me know if you would like to come. 

See you on Sunday,

--Jay

Dear friends,

As my children will be happy to tell you, we are on the downhill side of summer. Yes, the 90 degree days are continuing on, but with the kids back in school we find ourselves getting back into a normal rhythm of life. This morning, as I was hosing down the porch, I even felt a cool breeze signaling that the change of season is on the way. This time of year, after all, is a time of new beginnings, a time when the kids get to start anew in a new class, and many of the programs that we have come to love in our church get started anew as well.

Change is, of course, never easy. We come to love our routines, the ways we have done things in the past, and now new folks show up and want to do things differently. “Can’t they get with the program and conform to our expectations?” we say to ourselves, knowing that we need to embrace these new folks, but falling prey to the temptation of comfort and certainty. And yet, we all know that to change is to grow, to be transformed, and to experience new ways of doing things that often have a life of their own. To be alive is to experience change.

What’s funny is to me is that the church of all places should be a place that embraces new things. After all, Jesus himself came among us proclaiming a new Kingdom of God, a new way of understanding God’s love, a new covenant that gives us hope and fills us with joy. Jesus was centered in transformation, being made new again and again, and he calls all who would walk in his footsteps to likewise be transformed.

And yet, very often the church is often the place that is most resistant to change. It becomes a place of comfort and stability, offering us roots but often never growing very far beyond the surface. Roots are important, for they allow us to stand, but roots have no purpose apart from growth. In fact, roots ultimately rot and die when the tree fails to grow and thrive and become something new.

During the coming season we will be experiencing some changes together. We’ve already experienced some as this new preacher “messes with” the worship service and the bulletin. We’re going to see some with the creation of our revived youth group every Sunday afternoon (with 7 teens as our starting place!). I’m sure that there will be moments as I teach and preach and lead that you will want to throw up your hands in the air and shout “What does he think he’s doing!!!” Trust me that there will be times that I will probably do the same thing as well.

What all this is leading to is a reminder that we are on a journey of growth, and that probably means change along the way. Our task is to love one another through that change, remembering that yes it is hard, but that God will see us through. He has in the past, and I have no doubt he will in the future.

May God be with us all in the days ahead as we seek to do His will.

In Christ,
Jay

   As I was mowing the yard this morning, it occurred to me that there were a few more things that I should have said about prayer yesterday which I couldn't get to because of the time. the greatest difficulty with the Luke 11 passage on prayer is that it is easy to read Christ's words to ask and therefore receive and think that prayer is some sort of cosmic vending machine where we stick our coin in the slot out and out pops what we've selected. Then, when what WE are praying for doesn't come out like we envisioned, we find ourselves disappointed.

  For many of us, Jesus' words are important for we fail to ask, and then wonder why we struggle to find meaning and purpose. But there are some among us who have asked regularly and still continue to struggle in life. For those folks, there is a disconnect with Christ's words. 

  Of course, part of the problem is that our vision is not God's vision. It may very well be that God is answering us, meeting our needs in some way that we can't fully see. There is a mystery to prayer in which we live by faith, offering our needs and desires to God and then allowing God to do what God will, whether it conforms to our vision or not. 

  But I think part of the problem is that we fail to fully understand what Jesus is getting at in his call for persistent prayer. I believe that Christ is trying to help those who would follow him understand that prayer is a discipline which forms us simply because we do it. It isn't a cosmic vending machine, but rather is more like a personal growth program where simply doing it changes us, regardless of the outcome. In a real sense, we pray our way into clarity by coming about and doing it again, and again, and again, trusting that in the end God will provide as God always does. We pray not to get something, but because we are changed and conformed into the image of Christ by praying. 

  It's easy to say this, but much harder to practice in daily life. We are, after all, a people who want results (and live in a society where results matter). And yet, like so much in the life of faith, I think Jesus may be suggesting that the process is more important than the outcome. "Keep praying..." he says, "...because  you will be changed by doing it."

  What helps you in being disciplined in prayer? How have you been changed by regularly talking with God. I would love to hear your comments on this as we work together to become a praying people. 

What difference does church make in your life, and why?

It’s a simple question, but if you are like most regular church goers it’s a question that often goes unasked and unanswered. There are all sorts of reasons that people attend church, from continuing family traditions to finding a community of support to even simple habit, and there is little doubt that participating in faith community leads to ways of being that are different from non-participation. And yet, most studies suggest that very few long time church participants actively think about church as a place of transformation and change, nor the ways that their lives are changed by being a part of a church. Churches have often become places of low expectations, and those expectations keep us from approaching everything we do with anticipation that something significant is going to happen whenever we gather as the body of Christ.

Last year a young mother was talking with me about her struggles in connecting with church. In the midst of our conversation she said, "I don’t want to be coming to a place...I want to be part of a mission." What she was saying was affirmed in a workshop I led yesterday with a bunch of youth - there is a longing to be part of something significant, to make a difference in the world.

I want to suggest that every time we gather, be it to hand out backpacks to area children or to worship on Sunday morning, something significant is taking place. We are tied in to a mission that has been moving forward for some 2000 years, and there are things happening in both the spiritual and the physical realms that lead to change and provides meaning to people in need. Being a part of a church changes us, leading us to a deeper love of God and neighbor - something that makes us very different from the Rotary Club down the street.

It is my hope and prayer that OHUMC both is, and is becoming, a place where every person that walks in the door has a sense that great things are happening, and that lives will be changed because of what we are doing at that moment in time. I invite you to be on the lookout for all that ways that God is at work, so that you can answer clearly about the difference in your life because of being a part of our church.

Hi all,
Well we are one week in, and I am spending a lot of time unpacking and trying to get the lay of the land here in Old Hickory. I have also been spending some time planning for what we will be thinking about during the rest of the summer and moving into fall, and want you to have some sense of our worship plans.

This Sunday we'll be looking at Luke 10:25-28, the story of the "Good Samaritan," focusing on the question "Who IS my neighbor?"

Next Sunday, July 18, I will be away to lead worship at an event in Lake Junaluska, NC for the Upper Room called Soulfeast (http://www.upperroom.org/soulfeast/), which has been on my schedule for over a year. Anne Davis, our lay leader, will be preaching for me and I hope that you will make a special effort to experience her gifts.

July 25 -- A Prayer Primer (focusing on Jesus' teaching on prayer in Luke 11).

During the month of August I will be sharing a series titled "Rules to Build a Life On -- John Wesley's General Rules for the People Called Methodist." This series will consider this basic teaching of John Wesley (the founder of Methodism), which is rooted in the scriptures, and think about how these rules can form the basis of our own rule of life.

During September, we will be looking at "Creation and Our Place in It." This is a season of the church year which is focused on creation, and my hope is that we can begin to think about what it means to worship the one who created us, and to take care of God's creation.

October and November are still open, but we will find ourselves quickly at Advent, which begins November 28.

If you have suggestions for sermon topics or series that you would like to see us address, let me know anytime.

See you on Sunday,
Jay