Psalm 111 and Luke 17:5-19

Rev. John Collett returns for an “encore presentation” while your pastor observes the day at Locks Memorial’s Homecoming. John has generously booked in the two Sundays in a row. He may become a “regular!”

Our United Methodist way of doing church may have several drawbacks, but the availability of committed and trained preachers and the continuity of worship has been a plus. We ARE a connected people serving a Lord who is all about “increasing our faith.” A healthy working relationship between clergy and laity was one of John Wesley’s goals of leadership and few denominations have done as well as the United Methodist Church in mutual leadership by clergy and laity.

Needless to say, there will always be room for improvement, repentance, and reform! The church does not rest only on the past! Ever onward by renewed faith is our guiding theme.

Join John this Sunday at Kedron, pray for your sisters and brothers at Locks and look for your pastor to reappear October 20th…..”God willing!”

Prayers and blessings~~~†

Pastor Barry

Rev. John Collett brings our message this World Communion Sunday and will preside at the Lord’s Table. Many of you know John from his service as an Elder in The Conference where he has been a pastor, DS, Assistant to the Bishop, and now at Martin College. John and my wife LeNoir served together at Donelson Heights UMC way too many years ago!

He brings a message which will “focus on World Communion Sunday with a take on the Table of Jesus as the Table to which all in the community are invited and that the church ‘longs for’ those who are missing from the Table. It will be a kind of ‘evangelism of the Table” theme.”

Pray for the gathering this Sunday and pray for the one who leads in Word and Table.

Blessings, prayers, and hopes~~~+

Pastor Barry

Amos 6:1-7, I Timothy 6:6-19 and Luke 16:19-31

It’s possible…..anyone could fall into hard times and be left with just food and clothing. No one wants to imagine it though. We often read of starvation, poverty, unemployment, homelessness, but few reading this have been there. Yet, life is full of “what ifs….” What if I had been born in a very poor country ? What if I fall ill and can’t work? What if I give until it hurts?

In Jesus and Paul’s time with calls to “seek ye first the Kingdom of God,” and the shift from identifying only as a Jew or only as a Gentile to being a follower of Christ, the real risk of falling into one of the above desperate conditions e.g. poverty, unemployment, was ever present. It made for an exciting life but with potential hardships.

This Sunday will be a call to empathize with those like poor Lazarus at the gate. And a call to beware of the “lure of riches” or rather “the love of money” which are considered to be threats to a life of faith, and, not to put too fine a point upon it, the root of all evil. Strong language indeed!

Yet, the joy of what Christ has done for us is the motivation here! The demanding language is always in the context of God’s grace bestowed upon, unmerited favor. What will we do when grace “sinks in?!” Awareness of grace is the starting point! What follows should be amazing too!

Blessings in your walk with Christ!

Pastor Barry

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1, I Timothy 2:1-7 and Luke 16:1-13

Jesus almost never talks about his income! Financial resources were available through his disciples, gifts to Him as a Teacher, and simply living fairly frugal! Needless to say, money and work and possessions were daily concerns then as much as in our time. Jesus repeatedly guides us through example, parables, admonitions, and community living to ways to approach good stewardship.

“Show me the money” is the oft quoted memorable line from the 1996 movie Jerry Maguire about a sports agent and his clients. That line is now used in so many different settings and is often an exuberant way to express feelings about the blessings and woes of money. Jesus too has a memorable line that most church folks know: “you cannot love both God and mammon” Luke 16:13. Or you “cannot have two masters.” You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.

Sunday will be a reminder to be good stewards. And to not be fearful when lean financial days come upon us. The I Timothy passage is a call to pray for all both those who we assume have great resources, e.g. Kings and authorities, as well as “all people.”

Let those who have ears to hear…..hear.

Prayerfully,

Pastor Barry

Psalm 14, I Timothy 1:12-17 and Luke 15:1-10

Hide and seek….a fun childhood game. I suppose adults play the game also but over time…..that’s perhaps less fun!

Lost and Found. Every big store or institution has such an office. Airports and luggage!

Home and away. A way of talking about sports games. Also a sense of not being in the familiar home but traveling from hotel to hotel maybe.

Our scriptures, especially the Story of the shepherd seeking the one lost sheep of the 99 speak to our experiences of “hide and seek,” “lost and found,” “home and away.” And what better day to hear about these experiences than a church Homecoming!

Memories and reminiscing take center stage on such a Sunday and rightly so! We remember home and we remember God bringing us home when we have been lost.

Sunday there will be laughter and food and a great rejoicing in just “being home”……..by the grace of God.

Tell someone they are missed, tell someone they are loved at Kedron.

Pastor Barry

Jeremiah 18:1-11, Philemon 1:1-21 and Luke 14:25-33

Well, the hits just keep coming! The scriptural hits that is. Hard hitting verses that make us sit up and listen. It’s that Bible world where, we who responded to grace/unmerited favor from God, are challenged to respond to a call to discipleship.

Jesus is direct like a tough coach, a demanding officer, a forthright CEO. He challenges those within hearing range to make decisions about family, about possessions. Paul, in his letter to Philemon, his “fellow worker,” he first sends a command but also says he would prefer to just make an appeal….”for love’s sake.” I like the appeal part….but I also hear the command.

No one said this faith walk was easy. It is THE grand way to travel through the life we are given. Grace through faith saves us…..and we are saved to be about participating in God’s Kingdom which just might change the world when it appears! When it appears in lives both changed and lives directed to “step up” for the sake of others.

Work with me this Sunday! I “appeal” to you. And be sure to read beforehand Paul’s very short letter to Philemon. 25 verses. Something’s going on here!

Blessings everyone!

Pastor Barry

Jeremiah 2:4-13, Hebrews 13:1-8 and Luke 14:7-14

You may note the reference to the long running TV series in the sermon title. Although, that show on the “rich and famous” is long gone, there is no lack of current programming to remind us that some are rich and famous and most of the world is not!

The first century church was not so much a movement of poor and marginalized Jews but an awakening to God’s call upon ALL people to see what was happening in the life of the carpenter rabbi from Nazareth. He ate with sinners but also dined in the homes of the moneyed religious. He could be found “mixing” with everyone under the sun!

In the passage from Luke, Jesus makes it clear that a change in the ways “social classes” should relate was to be a mark of being a disciple of Jesus! The social walls were to come tumbling down. Again there are echoes of the prophets such as Jeremiah in this new announcement of the very present Kingdom of God.

Social, ethnic, religious, and economic barriers still separate people, but the church is always aspiring to overcome that which divides us because of human failures in loving and sharing as God would have us to love and share.

Jesus is the real “standard” for measuring who is “rich” and “famous.” Hebrews celebrates what has happened in Jesus Christ and sets out to remind us of the incredible change now brought forth in our relating to God and neighbor, and even how we see ourselves in light of the New Creation, a New Covenant, and a New “Me and You!”

Pull up a chair at the table and make welcome everyone and without partiality! And think about where you will sit!

Pastor Barry

Jeremiah 1:4-10, Hebrews 12:18-29 and Luke 13:10-17

Jerry Lee Lewis is known for “A Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On!” Our texts all seem to have moments when people listening and seeing SHOULD be shaking! To their core!

Jeremiah, quite the “youngster,” is being called to be a prophet and such a call is overwhelming him: “Alas….I can’t speak….I am too young!” God insists and reassures the lad!

Jesus heals on the Sabbath and the synagogue ruler gets upset, then gets scolded, and the people are rejoicing! I can imagine the “shaking” of the routine of synagogue worship that day.

And the Hebrews text uses the words “terrifying,” “tremble,” and a “voice that shook the earth.” And the word “shaken” no less than 5 times. These 11 verses cry out for a visual rendition before our very eyes!

Powerful descriptions of the life of faith together. And somehow all “the company of heaven” (Hebrews 12:23) is with us in our living into these words and stories and experiences!

If we are even the least bit moved “shaken” as we worship and hear the scriptures read, we are the better for it! And this August week ahead will be filled with confidence in what God wants for us the Beloved and for those yet to join in being called, healed, and reassured all will be well!

Join the “assembly” (Hebrews 12:23) this Sunday in worship.

Blessings!

Pastor Barry

Isaiah 5:1-7, Hebrews 11:29-12:2 and Luke 12:49-59

There is the old sermon story about the preacher who goes on about the sins of the congregation. They respond “preach it!” Until….the preacher gets too close to their own sins, whereas, the member in the amen corner says to the preacher, “Now you’ve gone to meddlin!”

Well, that’s what prophets do. And this Sunday we hear both Isaiah and Jesus weigh in on the current (and future) state of the “world.” The message is immediately for those closest, those who are disciples and earnest to follow Prophet and Teacher. But, the messages are stern, demanding, eye opening! Yet, for the most part, Jesus’ followers, especially the Twelve, hear the message and still stay with their Master. They know him as the caring Master and trust him in spite of the indicting words.

If we know someone loves us down deep, we can usually accept harsh warnings about our behavior. It’s not meant to be abusive but more a “wake up call!”

If you are in a community that consistently hears the full sweep of scripture read, taught, and preached we too can bear up under the stern words when we know the ultimate message is love for us. If we only occasionally attend to scripture, we may well only hear “doom and gloom,” “meddlin’ so to speak!

It’s the full orb of faith we encounter by ongoing life in the church. It’s the fullness of the whole Faith that takes a lifetime in church relationships to enjoy what all God has in store for all Creation including us who stumble along eager for both discipline in Christ and joyous freedom in Christ!

Rejoice and be glad in whatever God’s message is for us!

Join together in worship this Sunday!

Pastor Barry

Isaiah 1:15-20, Hebrews 11:1-3 and Luke 12:32-40

In a week in which the school season begins again, vacations come to a close and the nation grieves over mass shootings our Lectionary texts find ways to still speak to our many concerns.

We will look at reasons Isaiah says Judah has “hands full of blood” a nation sinful and “laden with iniquity.” We will be reminded of the ultimate value of faith in all times as the writer of Hebrews so poetically declares: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Why trusting God in both good and bad times is the most meaningful way to live one’s life.

And we will try to “unpack” a bit more of Jesus’ message on possessions. In Luke 12:33 he says “Sell your possessions” which seems to go a step farther than last Sunday’s “hold in your hands lightly what you do possess.” We will look at the context of this verse and see how it goes along with Jesus’ words “Do not fear little flock” and that God wants to give us the Kingdom of God!

This is a lot to “chew on and digest” but since school is starting up again let’s be eager students of our Scriptures. Remember…..we are examples and teachers to others one way or another! All are to be lifelong learners!

See you in worship!

Pastor Barry