Advent

Advent is upon us, we are in a waiting mode! What do you do when you are waiting for someone to arrive? Do you closely keep an eye on your watch, do you pace, do you watch the last few minutes of a TV show? 

What are you doing while we await the celebration of the birth of Jesus? Are you shopping, wrapping presents, getting the house decorated, baking and preparing food for all your guests?

How about praying! Let us pray and seek God during this time of waiting! Read and ask for direction for your life and what God wants you to do!

Take time this Advent season to search your heart, wait on God for God's direction for your life through the same experience that John Wesley had at Aldersgate, where he experience his heart strangely warmed.

Have a blessed and spirit-filled Advent!

Staying in Love With God

I am sitting here prior to opening the Tuesday evening worship and prayer service and I am thinking about how we stay in love with God.  

Many of you may ask, how do I fall in love with God in the first place? Not just staying in love with our creator. 

Staying in love with God takes work; just like a marriage. We know that when two people fall in love, they begin doing things for each other; they might do random acts of kindness, they might sit quietly holding hands,  play together on a beach making sand castles, or take long walks in the park. No matter what it is, they spend time together.

It is no different when we want to stay in love with God. God wants to spend time with us. We find God giving us a great example of spending time with humankind in Genesis 3: 8 "When they heard the sound of God strolling in the garden in the evening breeze...." (MSG)
We can also see very clearly how God loves to spend time with people through the example found in Matthew 14: 13-21. God spends time with us through the teachings Jesus gave us during his ministry on earth. In these teachings God shows and cares for all people. God used a small boy to give up his lunch  and how Jesus blessed that meal and fed 5,000. There in no greater way to show love than to provide sustenance for those in need.

Let's practice some of these small things in beginning our love relationship with God. After doing some of these smaller things let's move into bigger opportunities. 

I encourage you today to take a walk with God and see what God has for each and everyone of us. ENJOY and HAVE FUN!

Changing Seasons

I have been driving around town this past week and I am beginning to see the changing of the season. We have moved from summer to autumn. The lush colors of green that grace us with shade and soft grasses have moved into the colors of red, yellow, orange and hews of brown. What a magnificant palatte of God's creative beauty. Every time autumn arrives, we see again that magnificant creativity.

Seasons change in the church as well. We have seen this throughout it's history. The seasons contiue to change on how we worship. Many traditions remain faithful to thier historicial format, others have moved to a very contemporary style. Whatever season you find yourself in, enjoy it. Look to God for the love given freely, to sing, praise, read, contemplate, meditate upon and share with others the truth about God's word for the nations.

How Are You Spending Time?

September has begun; a new church program year begins! Sunday school, Bible studies, community events, so many things to participate in I can hardly fit it into all the normal days activities. Then I think, where do I fit in my personal devotion time, my prayer time, visiting time with friends and family!

I think about Jesus and his time on earth and how busy it must have been for him, when he began his ministry. Traveling from place to place, healing the sick, speaking in the Temple, feeding the hungry, teaching the disciples, spending time trying to get the elite of the Jewish priests to understand who he was.

What about today! How do we spend your time? Do you find the time in your busy lives to spend some time with a sick friend, a family member who is dealing with something big or small? Are you taking time to build relationships with those that cross your path every day?

Jesus spent time getting to know his neighbors, he ate with them, he listened to their hurts and pains, he reached out and touched them so that God would send healing through him. He spent time sitting and laughing, he spent time playing with the children!

Relational evangelism is something that needs to be brought back to our faith tradition. We find ourselves so busy with all the “stuff” we must accomplish throughout the day that we forget the most important things in life. Sharing the good news of Christ with those we meet every day.

Let’s begin a new year in the busyness of the church and sit a while, so that we might get to know the person that has sat next to us in the church pew these last 12 months, who we only greet on Sunday morning when passing the sign of peace! Let us do what Jesus did, spend time building relationships, so that we can be that person used by God to share the news of salvation and healing!

As I begin today to think about how to best use this blog. I am contemplating how Jesus got others to hear his message of love and grace. I also wonder about the fact that Jesus traveled from town to town and place to place on foot and that took time. During these times I bet he was sharing with his disciples the truths about the kingdom of God. I also imagine he was spending time praying and communicating with God about his concerns for the human race.

Forwarding to today,  I think about our ability to communicate. The push of a keystroke and our words go around the world instantiously. How the world has changed from Jesus's time. One thing I do know is that the message Jesus brought forth never changes. 

No matter how we communicate let us remember to speak in love, pray for wisdom, and share the truth!

Good day everyone,
I am new at blogging, but I thought I would give it a try. I will be posting my weekly Reflections From the Porch. These are thoughts and words of encouragment!