September 2013 - Pastor's Reflection

They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'" - Exodus 32:8 

In April during our daily Bible reading we spent a week focusing on worship. Our readings encouraged us to worship with gladness, to put aside inhibitions and to be joyful. We were also reminded that when we come to The Lord in truth, God meets us wherever we are and inspires us to worship. The week ended with a reading from the book of Leviticus. 

As one of the books of Law in the Bible, a lot of folks do not find it to be as “inspiring” as some of the other books we find in the Bible, but there is much we can learn from studying it. In the first seven chapters of Leviticus we read how God defines worship. Many of the rituals we read of in the time of Leviticus seem really strange to us today but lead us to the heart of what God wants from us in our worship. The rituals that were laid out for the people reminded the Israelites of just how much God had given them and allowed a means for them to remember, to celebrate and to teach their children what God had done. God took special care to help his people be holy and taught the people that what he simply required for worship was an offering of one’s very best. Although God took steps for us to be made right with him after our sin, we need to do our part to be in covenant with God. 

Our worship, when done the way God desires, allows us to put our focus on God and to give him our best - through our prayers, our presence in worship, our money, our sacrificial gifts, our service to others, and our witness to the community. Not simply our leftovers of our time, financial resources, or our energy. Worship allows us to remember whose we are and what he sacrificed to make a way for us to be made right with him. Let us prayerfully evaluate if we are living out our end of the covenant - are we giving OUR best, or are we giving from our leftovers? 

The Psalmist asked the question, "What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me?" Then the Psalmist answered his own question, "I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord and I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people in the courts of the house of the Lord in your midst O Jerusalem." (Psalm 116:12-13) 

That is how GOD defines worship. 

Let us ask ourselves, what is my worship costing me? What am I willing to sacrifice so that I may worship in the house of The Lord? And am I willing to give my life to him as a living sacrifice?

May God help us to examine our worship. 
~ Rev.Pat

August 2013 - Pastor's Reflection

Why Does Worship Matter?

When people were asked to answer the question “Why does worship matter?” on a recent blog I read, the blogger received some great answers. Here are several of the responses that I particularly found interesting.

Ryan J. said: “Worship matters because it is the inescapable activity of all people everywhere regardless of whether they are a Christian or even “religious.” All people have some sort of “god” that they orient their life around, making sacrifices for the sake of that god’s glory. In our culture, people sacrifice for everything from their stomachs to their favorite sports teams worshiping them as their functional gods. Worship matters because it is obvious that though we do not need help learning how to worship, we desperately need to understand how to worship rightly.”                                                 

Daniel B. turned his focus to God’s uniqueness: “Worship matters because God matters – a simple, yet infinite reason for true worship. Only God can declare that He is perfectly holy, uniquely different from all His creation. He alone fashioned our universe ex nihilo. He alone sustains all around us – all existing because He spoke. Yet even in His holiness, He loves us who are rebels, bent against Him and naturally exalting ourselves. He proved His love through the bloody sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, who received God’s wrath against us and reconciled us to our Creator God forever. Worship matters because God infinitely matters in this universe.”                                                                                                                         

My personal favorite is from Naomi T.: 

“Worship matters. It’s an obedience issue. Just read Psalms. Worship matters. It’s an eternity issue. Just read Revelation. This life will pass away. Possessions will rust. Fame will fade. But love remains. And a believer’s love for God compels him to worship. Not just in this life, but the ages to come. Worship matters. Forever.”  

I like that – simple, to the point.  

Finally, the most unique reply I've ever read was offered by Geoff Y.: 

“Putting the toilet seat down. Flowers on your anniversary. Saying and living “I do.” Toiling week in, week out, to provide. A poem on her birthday. All ways of declaring, with our lives, who matters. Worship should matter to us as much as God does: it is our most basic response to his status, sovereignty and salvation, whether in simple obedience or exuberant song. True worship declares to God our grateful estimation of him, to the world our humble sincerity, to our hearts what is of ultimate value. Worship matters because God does.” 

I guess that when we think about why worship matters it’s really simple in a perfect sort of way. Worship matters because God is God. (And we’re not!)

Hope to see you in worship soon!

Rev. Pat                                                                               

July 2013 - Pastor's Reflection

The following devotion came from the weekly M.U.S.T. e-news and was shared with me through another United Methodist pastor. I found it inspirational and want to share it with the whole congregation of Mt. Nebo UMC in the hope that you will find it as inspiring as I do!

            "It seems every week I see a TV commercial that, in bold type and loud voice, urges me to “Dare to compare!!!” their prices to those of their competitors. It reminds me of another “dare to compare”, a kind of spiritual self-check that I sometimes apply to myself.

           “We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

           “…Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:39

             So, we are called to love, but how do we do that?

            “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

            

            So how do your interactions with others compare with the above passage? If any of them perhaps fall a little short of that example, I have good news- God is a God of second chances! You get another chance every day."

            Carefully consider the witness you present to others because the perception people may make of Christ may be based upon it. It is important that I remind myself every day that “it’s not about me" but it is about the One who created me. 

May the me they see be Christ in me,

Rev. Pat

June 2013 - Pastor's Reflection

When I grow up I want to be like ... (you fill in the blank). 

For me, there are several people whose names I would want to include in that blank space. Not for every quality they possess, but because of particular qualities they have shared with me.

The first name I would put in that (blank) space is Kim. During 32 years of marriage he has been an example of real love towards me, our children, other family members, friends, strangers, and others I've never even met. I hope one day to be able to love as generously as he has.

The next name I would put in that blank is my friend Buffie. This lady drips joy from her very pores! She has had her share of life's ups-and-downs, but is always encouraging, loving, supportive and full of joy when I am in her presence. And that joy is authentic.

Another name I would put in my (blank) space is my friend Mickey. Everyone who knows this guy will tell you that if Mickey had too much more of the peaceful, easy-feeling attitude, you would have to check his pulse! His smile is genuine and his attitude is contagious.

There are other names I would put in that (blank) space. People who have been examples of patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Some of those names are of people from my past who have moved on to glory long ago. Other names are people who I have had brief opportunities to interact with but who have shared a part of themselves that left me forever changed. And there are the names of some people who I come into contact with on a weekly basis and encourage me to keep on growing. What each of these folks have in common is a love for God and a deep desire to show that love to people, ALL people - even me.

My challenge, and yours, is to continue to grow up - in our love for God and for his people so that others will look at us and say, "When I grow up, I want to be like" ... (write YOUR name in the blank).
In Christ, 

Rev. Pat

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. - Galatians 5:22-23

May 2013 - Pastor's Reflection

“What is Your # 1 Priority?”              

Romans 10: 8-15

            Summer is quickly approaching and for many of us it is a time where we slow our hectic pace and take time to “catch our breath”.  It’s also a good time to reflect and look at our priorities for the remaining half of the year. 

Remembering what we have experienced of the love Jesus has for us through His sacrificial death and the glory of Easter, we are able to see what God’s number one priority is: His love for us.

John Wesley, the 18th century Anglican priest who founded the Methodist movement, was putting Thomas Coke, known as the Father Methodist Missions, on a ship to his new assignment. Mr. Wesley was sending Coke to give leadership to a rapidly growing church in the new world, which we now know as the United Methodist Church. Tradition tells us that Mr. Wesley gave Mr. Coke only three words of advice, "Offer them Christ." Years later, Mother Teresa shared a comparable statement with a reporter while trying to sum up her life’s work by telling him, “I give them Jesus.”

In Romans 10:15 Paul is telling the disciples that for them there is no greater priority than for them to share their faith with others. The power of the 15th verse is most moving where Paul proclaims, “How beautiful are the feet of those who come to share the good news of Jesus Christ.”

John Wesley’s advice, Mother Teresa’s statement and the advice of Paul are still relevant to the church and to each of Jesus’ disciples in this day. It is true that there is no higher priority for our lives than to offer Christ to the world.

We should make His #1 priority our #1 priority. We should love others so much that we will give them Jesus and help lead them into a life of discipleship.

Shalom,

Rev. Pat