The solar eclipse of 2017 was an event that will not repeat itself for us in Middle Tennessee for a very long time. Yet, the church Reformation of 1517 has been repeating itself in various ways for 500 years this very October! Yes, it’s been 500 years since the very conscientious monk Martin Luther nailed 95 things he thought should be addressed in the teachings and practices of the church at that time to the door of the chapel in Wittenberg, Germany. He was protesting. He sought reformation not division. He got both.

That door has become famous and reminds us this Sunday that doors mentioned in scripture are also about reformation….the reformation of all people! Change is called for! In individuals and in the body of the church. The church of the ancient Apostles always being reformed in every age.

“Doors” present themselves all the time. Doorways to something good and better or doorways to less than good. That whole thing about “Sin crouching at the door” in Genesis! Cain invited sin in! Bad outcome!

In Matthew and John’s Revelation we hear Jesus encourage us to knock to receive the good and He also comes to knock on our door that each one (and we as the church) will invite Him in.

This Sunday we will hear of biblical doors and we will even get a chance to nail or knock on a door! Bring your “hammer and nails” as well as strong knuckles!

Pastor Barry

Even today idols and governments of all kind beg us to “worship” them! “Worship” in the sense of devotion, following, and giving way too much attention to them! All this while the glory of God is nowhere to be seen. Or is it?

It’s a matter of what we give our attention to. It’s a God approved necessity to have food, shelter, and clothing. Having a job or some financial security is not far behind. Add commitments to family and friends and the most basic needs of life are before us. After that…we just might be tempted to follow after “idols” and “Caesar!” Most will deny they follow idols and few think government is the answer to everything in life! But……look at how we often spend the week!

Moses and God once again are in a discussion and the end result is the question of Gods glory or presence. The Golden Calf episode is now behind Moses but the need for some sense of God is still real. What can Moses hope for? God offers his Glory if only for a moment.

Paul says look at you, you Thessalonian believers! Paul virtually says “I see God in Christ in you!” “Models” of faith! Examples of the result of the Presence of God in their lives together as people of faith.

And Jesus gets to the heart of the matter of loyalty (devotion to someone or something) when he says “whose image is on that coin?” Give THAT to Caesar! Give what is God’s to God! Don’t confuse the two Jesus says. The Roman coin actually said Caesar was divine!! Idols anyone?

We face idols and Caesars all too often. Faith says “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God….” Worship is a good place to start ( and truly finish…see Revelation 21,22). Worship just might be our first line of defense against idols and Caesar! Surely a day of worship is helpful against 6 days of……????

See you at worship!

Pastor Barry

Very few people start out to be anxious or disobedient in their relationship with God and the neighbor. But, stuff happens! Even with best of intentions we can find a way to spoil a party, a wedding, a trip, or a friendship.

I believe that about covers the themes in the scriptures before us this Sunday. The Israelites get anxious when Moses is not around and foolishly make an idol. The church folks at Philippi are in need of getting along. And Jesus says some people don’t know how to appreciate a good wedding party. They don’t have the “courtesy” to dress up for a great day of celebration!

We are forever capable of messing up. The Good News is that God is ever ready to remind us of who we are and Who we belong too!
Moses and Paul and Jesus set examples and tell us true stories of life in the Presence of a God who keeps on speaking to us: “Hey,” says God. “Pay attention here. Things have changed and are changing for the good when you listen to what I am telling you. And, you don’t have to go through both bad and good ALONE!”

Can’t get well all alone and surely can’t have a party all alone! We are all Israelites, Philippians, and wedding guests! Let’s act like something good will come of being who we are!!

Come to worship and, well, listen up and look in the mirror of scripture.

You might just like what you hear and see!

Pastor Barry

Sunday is World Communion Sunday. This day we are reminding ourselves we have brothers and sisters in Christ around the world! We know this in our “head” but often we tend to act as though our church family is just where we gather each Sunday worship and weekly fellowships.

Here is simply where “we are planted.” The goal is to both bloom here but scatter “seed” to all the reaches of earth. In turn, we receive and learn that cultural and language differences actually enrich us saints and sinners here in Middle Tennessee!

For example, I cherish my early, brief 1979 missional time in Haiti and preaching in tiny Montserrat. I marvel at how at “home” I felt in attending alone a UMC service in Burlington, California (a state often thought by many to be a “world” unto itself!).

And how much joy I received, while being at home in the mid-Eighties on Christmas Eve with sleeping 1 and 3 year olds in bed, catching the Pope in Italy celebrating Midnight Mass.

Another time of experiencing our international Faith was when I helped serve communion with a student hospital chaplain from Romania, a Pentecostal minister studying in the USA.

We have been given a Great Commission to “go into all the world…..and make disciples.” And the faithful from all around our globe help make ME a growing and maturing Christian who happens to reside in Murfreesboro TN!

To God be the Glory as we receive the Bread of Life and drink from the Cup of a New Covenant this Sunday worship knowing millions do the same “planted and blooming” from Australia to Zimbabwe, nations A to Z and all in between!

Bring a neighbor this Sunday!

Blessings!

Pastor Barry

Each Sunday worship is considered by Christians to be a “little Easter.” Of course, every Sunday’s sermon, hymns, and scriptures are not specifically about Death and Resurrection, even so, the unspoken awareness of most is that we are present together to affirm both our mortality and God’s promise to overcome mortality.

I had a pastoral care professor who quoted Leander Keck, NT professor at Yale, saying that all teachers of classes on Scripture should be sure to tell students that they were in that class to always hear what these scriptures say about Death and/or about Life.

September 24 follows a week filled with news of death and destruction, threats about death and destruction, and even one more prediction about the End of Earth and Christ’s return coming on Saturday the 23rd! My experience in such predictions is that I will be conducting worship on the following Sunday and the End is not yet!

As brother Travis at Kedron is fond of saying, “I can be sure Christ is NOT coming back on THAT day whenever anyone predicts a certain day of His coming back!” I agree! Nevertheless, we, of all people on earth, should not shy away from hearing of both OUR end or of God’s promise about an End!

So, Jesus in Matthew 20 speaks to the First and the Last and Paul at the church in Philippi yearns to be with the Lord but stays here for “our sakes.” And the Exodus narrative has the Israelites grumbling about “dying in the wilderness.” But, whichever verses you focus on there will still be found Good News to cheer us about God’s Grace and Providence in spite of our Human Condition.

Come on to worship this Sunday! It’s a “little Easter” happening kind of day!

Blessings!

Pastor Barry

Our two churches have their respective Homecomings on September 17 (K) and October 8 (LM). As of now I have not been given the power to bi-locate I.e. be in two places at the same time. This capacity has been attributed to a few saints, but so far…..not me! So, I will only be at Kedron this coming Sunday and Bill will bring the message at Locks.

We have spoken about the texts and Bill is focusing on the message of Grace in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18:21-35. I am drawn to Romans 14:1-12 and Grace given to help people live together as though Church was the best living example of a “home” for many very different people to live in!

As we worship relatively free from destructive hurricanes, our brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as all God’s creatures, are struggling to return to their homes and churches in other areas of our country. We will pray for them as our many churches send both supplies and volunteers to assist in helping thousands return to homes and communities in recovery.

We are all on life’s journey to be safe and secure in homes made by human hands and ultimately in God’s home where love lives forever and every tear is wiped away. In worship we celebrate both as we pray for Gods will to be “done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Join Bill and me in worship this Sunday! You are welcome at both and if you can bi-locate…..more power to you…..and thanks be to God!

Pastor Barry

As Groucho Marx once said: “I wouldn’t want to be a member of any club that would have ME as a member!”

Church belonging is another matter. Church takes all kinds. And only later does the church deal with matters of misbehavior or interpersonal conflict. “Drinking problem? Come on! God accepts you!” Struggling with lust and pride?
Come on in! God loves you!” “Battling old wounds from someone in your family? Come on in, God will help you!”

As Steve Brown (amongst others) said, “God accepts you just the way you are; but God doesn’t leave you just the way you are!” So, what happens with the congregation when there are “issues?” What about misbehavior that affects some if not all? Discipline is one way as is counseling another way. Resolution and reconciliation are the goals. Does that sometimes require “shunning” or “excommunication?” What exactly do these words mean?

The United Methodist Discipline is quite specific on the disciplining of its clergy and uses counseling and even trials for remedial courses of action or even removal of clergy if deemed necessary. This is not spelled out quite as clearly for laity, members of a local congregation. Some guidelines but not as many.

Our scriptures for Sunday help show us how Moses, Paul, and Jesus spoke of situations where conflict arose or misbehavior was affecting how people got along and how this reflected upon their relationship with “God and neighbor.”

All in all, pretty good scriptures to read, study, and apply (if need be) as we head toward coming back together after Summer and Holidays and…well…being absent from the fellowship…for whatever reason! We are all in this together. Let God show us how to keep on “keeping on” when the way gets rough together!

God bless! See you Sunday!

Pastor Barry

Parents are always trying to convince their kids that certain things like fruit and vegetables are good for them. Or that going to bed and getting a good night’s rest is better than staying up late and playing video games! Sometimes persuasion fails and commands are issued. (That works easier with video games than vegetables!).

In the scriptures for this Sunday I see three reasons that going to worship, going to church is good for people:

1) There is such a thing as the Sacred, the Holy. People need to approach the Sacred and Holy rather than ignore it or “take for granted.” (See Moses and the burning bush in Exodus 3).

2) In spite of what we often see around us and in history, God says good will triumph over evil. As bad as we might feel, there is a One who helps and that One has helpers! There is a way forward out of the bad that is provided by God. We need to hear and to see this Hope and Promise! In all its imperfections and weaknesses the Church does point toward God our Helper. (See Paul giving examples of how very different people could ‘get along’ in the congregation in first century Rome. Romans 12:9-21).

3) Being a person of the Church, being “saved” is a way of living, a response to God’s grace that is a way of discipleship. And it can be a challenge! But who doesn’t want the challenge to have a life that is more than survival or boredom or all self-centered or just “entertaining.” We need deep within us to be part of a Greater Purpose than just what we want or think we need! (See Jesus’ challenge to his disciple Peter and all those who would follow the Messiah. Matthew 16:21-28 is about losing and saving one’s own life and soul).

Who wouldn’t want to know the Holy, find a Way through life’s troubles, and be part of a Challenge to live an exciting life with a purpose and a Guide??!! Are we the kind of Church that gets that across to others not part of Church? Are we the kind of Believers that take this awareness to our own hearts and are made glad knowing God our Savior??!

See you in worship this Sunday! Invite a neighbor!

Pastor Barry

This week we will hear about civil disobedience. By midwives. In ancient Egypt. We will also get reassurance that “the gates of hell will not prevail against” the church. When Jesus spoke of gates the people would likely have images of gates that were strongholds of not only local cities but also powerful oppressive Rome. Jesus has confidence in the “church” he is building with the faith of disciples such as Peter. And lastly we are encouraged by Paul who stresses the “renewing of our minds” so as to be “transformed” so we can “figure out” what God’s will is for us. In other words, don’t be afraid to THINK! Just do the kind of thinking that leads to what is “good, pleasing, and mature.”

I was greatly encouraged by these scriptures! After the last few weeks of civic turmoil and international fear and anxiety, I felt that God shows us we will be given strength of mind and will and community to get through crisis; to be given the means to “figure this all out!”

Of course, the captive Hebrews in Egypt, Peter and the other disciples, and Paul the missionary to a wide cultural range of non Jews (Gentiles) still have a long walk of faith and witness ahead of them! But, God promises to meet the needs of the “will, the mind, and the body of believers” to find a way through crisis and uncertainty.

We may not be captive in Egypt nor subject to the “hellish gates of powerful Rome,” but there are challenges enough in 2017 America and in Middle Tennessee and in our personal lives! God says to God’s people…..”you can do this!”

Thanks be to God~+

See you Sunday!

Pastor Barry

August, a month of changing light. Gradual but you begin to notice evening comes on and the house lights come on sooner. August 21, 2017 and many Tennesseans (and visitors) will catch the total or partial eclipse.

What better time to read scriptures that speak of light and the Light! And whether personal or family, local or national, nation or international we struggle with darkness, that which makes our life journey questionable, uncertain, fearful. Light and dark. It’s the way we learn to trust in God. And, in turn, share that trust with others also struggling to find their way in the dark.

As Edith Wharton said, “There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” For Christians we reflect Christ. We point to the True Candle.

Since we are less than all we can be and never quite the witness we are called to be each day, we need to be reminded that though not perfect we should

“Ring the bells that still can ring.
Forget your perfect offering,
There is a crack in everything.
That’s how the light gets in.”
Leonard Cohen

God is all about using us, the cracked imperfect, to help bring about light where there is darkness.

“Turn on your love light!”

Pastor Barry