Job 38:1-7, 34-41, Hebrews 5:1-10 and Mark 10:35-45

One question after another! God peppers Job with questions and it seems clear Job has no answer. James and John come to Jesus with a question and it is the wrong question! In Hebrews 5, Jesus “in the days of his flesh, offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears….” Sounds like Jesus had his moments of questioning and agonized appeals to God the Father.

We just can’t go long without asking questions, some of which are from a hurting heart and mind and body. We thank God that questions are allowed before God’s glory and majesty! There seems to be no frown or scold toward us from God for asking hard questions. Nor does God withhold questioning us!! Not in a mean way but to open our eyes to wonder and amazement at the vastness of Creation and our very existence.

This past week I have had a lot of questions and a lot of amazement coming and going with LeNoir’s knee surgery and PT as well as the routine Q & A of the week PLUS the never ending amazement and questions that come with elections in the USA! Top that off with an amazing puzzling hospital food moment and I am left before the presence of God just “looking up” to that which is beyond me!

I am eager to share a number of things from the scriptures and our week behind us with you this Sunday. If you have any questions, bring them with you and be ready to “raise your hand!”

Be there!

Pastor Barry

Job 23:1-17, Hebrews 4:12-16 and Mark 10: 17-31

So…..these are the scriptures that are before us. Mostly challenging us as the “rich”, at least compared to the majority in Haiti or Malawi or Bangladesh. Jesus sadly sees the rich young ruler turn away. In Hebrews we are told that each of us ” will have to give an account” before God who sees all. And we know what the theme in Job is all about! Pain and loss and all that!

Given a long week of personal stress what with LeNoir’s knee replacement surgery I was hoping for something more along the lines of the 23rd Psalm! Even so, at least the Hebrews passage ends on an incredibly encouraging note in essence saying we will find grace to help us JUST WHEN WE NEED IT. It is up to us to “seek” and be attentive to the Holy Spirit regardless of a good week or a bad week. In that attitude of trust….we find our way.

It is necessary to face up to God who calls us out at times, but just as necessary to realize we are helped in whatever we will face. Anyone listening? Anyone got a testimony?! Yes, most everyone in worship this Sunday! As Jesus says to his disciples (who are beginning to question can anyone be saved), all things are possible with God!

Be there Sunday! Both to listen…and to speak out!

Pastor Barry

Sunday’s worship finds us at The Lord’s Table…all around the world in languages and cultures different from ours in the USA. We can’t go “over, up, or down there” literally but in faith and in unity we are with Christians in Russia, Indonesia, Israel, and China. And most every other nation! Places, where indeed, the Creator God is present, where indeed the “rain falls on the just and the unjust alike.”

I remember in 1979, LeNoir, I, other new young UMC clergy flew into Puerto Rico, Haiti, and then the small island country of Monserrat. A Mission Exploration opportunity for new clergy in the Holston Conference. Worship and fellowship there was both familiar AND different! From the barest of city spaces to worship in to the loveliest of island sanctuaries. Yet brothers and sisters in Christ came together to bear witness, serve others, and participate in the coming Reign of God regardless of country of origin. Their joys, their struggles, their hopes were ours also!

This Sunday we will heighten our connection with others in lands far away, but with those whom one day we will sit at the same Table in the Kingdom. Surely the call is to be at one together with the One who overcomes all painful differences which divide us as brothers and sisters of one Lord.

This Sunday, bring to worship the name or face of a Christian in lands far away with whom you are determined to be in communion with….by faith, in service, and in partaking of the Bread and the Cup for all.

Blessings on this coming World Communion Sunday!

Pastor Barry

Esther 7:1-10, James 5:1-11 and Mark 9:38-50

Some situations cry out for justice in a world of hurt and pain. We all tend to have our limits and boundaries to what is acceptable. Governments set laws and penalties for breaking laws. And in the midst of the strong feelings there is often a cry for revenge, or at least the secret wish that “he or she will get what’s coming to them!”

All our texts deal with offensive behavior and reactions and responses. And in those texts we can see ourselves and some of our life stories! As far back as saying at say age 4….”Sally hit me mama! Do something!” Or standing before a court room judge and owning up to misbehavior; “here is my penalty.”

What we can find in these scriptures are ways to grow in a particular Christian response as opposed to other different examples in the world to deal with offense and injustice. And there’s the “cutting edge” of “going on to perfection, to be made perfect in love.” A striving and never arriving….until one day….the fullness of the Kingdom! Until one day, all will be at rest and peace. Let’s look at Esther, Jesus in Mark 9 and James 5 speaking to the church and find ways toward justice and God’s way of dealing with bad things happening to “good” people.

Blessings on your walk with the Lord and those you will “bump up against” this week! Come worship the One who sets the high standard for justice and patience until that day comes.

Pastor Barry

Proverbs 31:10-31, James 3:13-4:3 and Mark 9:30-37

In Mark the disciples seem to be all about positioning for THEIR own greatness. Jesus’ response to this “earthly, unspiritual, devilish” attitude is to speak of “welcoming a child!” And both James 3 and Proverbs 31 give us examples of how we can be about following Jesus in such a way that people notice such…for the good! Both books, Proverbs and James, are all about wise living. And as we might figure, it’s wisdom “caught, not as much taught.” It’s what we see going on in the lives of others and we admire that! And admiration leads to imitation!

Not to make saints where there is as much sinner as saint, but to at least to be “drawn toward that noticeable servant like behavior and warm heart attitude” rather than toward the “dark side” ( catch the Star Wars reference?). We do spend 99.9% of our lives outside worship on Sunday, but we want to “catch something” on Sunday that lasts all week! In worship, faith opens our eyes and sees a way forward for all the rest of the week.

Look and listen for those who are kind to children and the wise woman going about doing for others. And pray to do likewise…..

Blessings as we approach worship and daily walking with the Lord!

Pastor Barry

Psalm 25:12-15, John 21:15-19 and Hebrews 11:1-12:2.

Homecoming implies a place to come to with people you care about and that care about you! In that sense homecoming is every Sunday and every time brothers and sisters in Christ gather. But, at least one Sunday a year, we look toward a gathering that includes family and friends arriving from either a distance or from an extended absence. For whatever reason! Plus all the “regulars!”

Our selected scriptures are very much about the people and personalities we have come to love and admire from the Bible. Hebrews 11 is that great “faith Hall of Fame.” When the names are called out we know the stories and personalities behind the name!

In similar fashion, we know the backstory to Jesus and Peter’s exchange at the end of John. Just as Peter once denied Christ three times, now Peter is forthright is saying he loves his Lord and will go about “feeding the sheep.”

On Sunday, we will recall and hear again our Kedron names, stories, and shared faith. A large and extended family of the usual suspects both Saint and sinner in each and everyone.

And as Jesus asked Peter to do, we as the sheep of the Lord’s flock will be fed and in turn feed others both spiritually and physically. Our paths cross in so many ways but our homeland is the same! Together with the saints before us we set our sights toward the Kingdom of God both here and forever!

See you at home!

Pastor Barry

Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23, James 2:1-17 and Mark 7:24-37

Faith alone. Faith and works. Trust and obedience. You can see where we are headed this Sunday in worship! Nothing less than trying, again, to get a grip on being a Christian day in and day out!

Jesus in Mark’s account is about healing in Gentile territory. What do THEY know about the faith of Israel or who Jesus really is?! James says faith without works is dead! But, we all know works won’t get you justified before God. No working your way into God’s grace, correct?

Well, we will sing and pray our faith this Sunday even if we still struggle as many before us have (Martin Luther and John Wesley) in connecting faith and good works. In my humble opinion, Wesley expressed it better than Luther, but Luther had a bigger challenge church-wise than did Wesley!

If this seems to be “splitting theological hairs” feel free to just come to celebrate Grandparents Day, Rosh Hashanah, Teddy Bear Day, or a birthday or anniversary amongst family and friends!

By faith, we will strive to teach, preach, and sing the Word and by faith, we will strive to be “doers of the Word not hearers only!”

Blessings and a good week ahead for you and the neighbor you minister to!

Pastor Barry

Song of Solomon 2:8-13, James 1:17-27 and Mark 7:1-23.

Your guess is as good as mine at this point as to why the Old Testament reading is this one from Solomon’s Song of Songs! A lot about love but, upon first reading, sure looks like the “romantic love” between a couple!

We will work to bring this together with Jesus’ stern address to the Pharisees about their “traditions of the elders” which tended to emphasize outward observance of cleanliness to the neglect of purity within. And James insists that “true and faultless religion” is that which cares outwardly for “widows and orphans.” And this will all come together on a Holy Communion Sunday! Pray for me as the preacher and for the scripture readers and for the music leaders!

At least as you read these scriptures you will see how interesting and challenging Bible reading can be! Love, cleanliness within, and practical religion are spelled out and show us the way the Beloved One would have us follow.

It’s a lot to take in but people should leave worship encouraged to faithfully “live into” the daily Christian’s walk. And know where we are to ask for forgiveness when we don’t!

Thanks for your prayerful help heading into Sunday morning!

Pastor Barry

I Kings 8:22-30, 41-43, Ephesians 6:10-20 and John 6:56-69

It’s always something! Maintenance and upkeep. Whether an apartment, house, or other dwelling, someone’s got to keep it up! Same for the human body. Some kind of “service agreement” comes with it! Medicines, exercise, nutrition, treatment for this and that.

In worship this Sunday we will hear of the Temple a site of worshipping and serving God. Turns out that Temple has two locations! Both a material structure made of stone and wood, while the other is…well….the human body (person).

The scriptures bring heaven and earth together in Jesus, the Church, and YOU as an individual with all your needs for care, maintenance, and expression. You need nourishment? Yes, bread and the Bread of Life. You need protection both physically and spiritually. John and Ephesians speak to these Creator designed needs.

Work is necessary and welcomed on the Temple. And God does the best work upon the crown of Creation the human being. Are we partners by faith in the work God is about doing within us and outwardly toward others? I renew that partnership and work agreement every time I come to worship!

Blessings on your “building” work!

See you Sunday!

Pastor Barry

I Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14, Ephesians 5:15-20 and John 6:51-58

As young and inexperienced as Solomon thought himself to be, he still was wise enough to ask God the right kind of requests! Solomon says he is so “inexperienced” that he hardly knows “how to go out or come in (!)”. But, the son of David is a quick learner it appears!

There is “book learnin” and “learning by doing.” We need both. Methodists have long been known for valuing education and one’s own personal experiences of faith. These, with also “rightly discerning” the Bible while continually looking at faithful tradition, have empowered Methodists to have been faithful witnesses for over 200 years plus!

Thus, the scriptures for Sunday emphasize experience (Solomon), tradition (John and the striking images of Jesus as Bread of Life), and reason (we see the latter applied in all these scriptures).

We will listen in on young Solomon’s “conversation” with God and the experiences of Paul instructing the new Christians at Ephesus. We will hear much that applies to each of us as “learners in the faith” and how we go about “coming and going” in daily experiences in being Christian.

I hope to share a few “experiences” from a most recent road trip Westward which was a faith trip after all given a less than stellar bill of orthopedic health the last few weeks! Again thanks to LeNoir and Chip for filling in the pulpit in my absence. And for the people of Locks and Kedron for being faithful in their own “going out and coming in!”

Pastor Barry