e-Soundings

Making it real... Core Values pt. 3

Our “Christ centered Core Values” are not just for our church life together, but they are expectations that can be used throughout all our relationships.  By living out what it means to be a Christian, we become transformed, and so does our world around us.

We first looked at: Joyfully Sharing Jesus Christ & Providing Engaging Worship.  This helped us focus on our attitude in life as one grateful for God’s unconditional love. Then last week we talked about Equipping Disciples through God Given Gifts and Accountable Small Groups. This refers us to the daily disciplines of learning, growing, empowering each other in face to face, personal ways.

This week we look at “Radical Hospitality” and “Involved Mission and Service.”  And we do it in the context of Mother’s Day and Pentecost.

Making it real... Core Values pt. 2

As we continue our exploration of the “Core Values” of our church, we recognize that one hallmark of all of them is that they are “Christ centered.”

This simply means that we measure their effectiveness by they way they help live out our central commitment to Jesus Christ our Lord through our congregation.

We lift up these Core Values as a growing, dynamic set of positive preferences and attitudes that our leaders and members are expected to live out spontaneously in our daily living.  It’s not an easy task.

We are hoping and praying that they become the initial boundaries within which we are free to express our God-given gifts and talents.  We do this for the sake of the Body of Christ and the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

The challenge of these words are to make them real, to put them into daily practice and have them guide us in the way

Making it real... Core Values pt. 1

Over this past year, our church leadership has worked long and hard to identify the things we hold in common and what our shared mission is.

Last week we spoke of the Mission and Vision that has been adapted by our church. This week we focus on the emerging “Core Values” of our church.

This “constellation” of values informs us as we live out our central commitment to Jesus Christ our Lord through our congregation.

First of all they are:

** Christ-Centered **

This means that they are all meant to be seen through the lens of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

As we become more and more faithful to him as his followers, we seek to be more sacrificial, loving & graceful in everything we do, especially in our leadership style.

The following six core values are

Making the Mission Statement Real

Our mission statement is: “Making a difference through Christ.”

And the mission statement of the United Methodist Church is: “…to make disciples…”

Both of these statements are founded on the Great Commandment found in Matt: 22:37-39:
(Jesus) said to him,
“’You shall love the Lord your God
     with all your heart, and with all your soul,
           and with all your mind.’
This is the greatest and first commandment.
And a second is like it:
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

John Wesley, who began the Methodist movement of renewal, pointed out that we must keep the love of God and the love of neighbor balanced, for one depends on the other.

When we love God, we cannot ignore the fact that God loves us all, and that all around us are just as

How do you "live" your faith?

Is it a private, internal thing?  Or do you allow God to challenge yourself to make it an external, visible thing?

The letter to James tells us: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?”  (James. 2:14)

He was the original “walk the walk, talk the talk” guy.

The day of Resurrection is always a great and wonderful celebration, but all too often it’s forgotten as we return to our daily activities.

We shouldn’t be surprised at this, it’s human nature to look after our own plans and forget

Did you have a wonderful Easter Celebration?

Ours was filled with great music, wonderful worship and a fantastic breakfast.

So…. Did what you do make any difference in your life?

For those early Christians, it turned their life around.  They could never be the same.

At the time of the crucifixion, there was no one to stand up for Jesus.  Within 70 years, there was an estimated 500,000 people who were willing to claim their trust in Jesus Christ.  As “Followers of the Way” they often paid for their faith with their lives.

Could we respond in the same way?

We are blessed to live in a nation that allows us all great freedom, including the freedom to believe

Centering on Resurrection Day

  The day of resurrection is the lynch pin of our faith.  Everything hangs on our response to Christ’s victory over death.

   Some may wish for a more convincing miracle than an empty tomb and the assurance of long dead witnesses.

   Yet there is nothing in this world that cannot be doubted, even God.

   As a product of our education institutions, I was taught how to doubt and question as well as how to research and find answers.

 

   Based on such a process, I expected to gain all the knowledge I needed in order to live a good life.

   But there was something missing.  I needed a more eternal measure than just what I could

A Mission with a Vision

  Our new statement of Vision begins:

“We are a grace-filled, welcoming community.”

   It follows the easy to remember Statement of Mission: 

          “To Make a Difference through Christ.”

   As people who follow Jesus, as Disciples committed to the way of God’s love incarnate, we have chosen a very ambitious path.

   It’s not easy to live a Christian lifestyle today.  There are so many distractions and problems, concerns and tragedies. Yet we still try to live a life of love and contentment in the midst of it all.

   And on top of that, we commit ourselves “to make a difference through Christ.”

   Lots of people make a difference.  There are many good and even great efforts to change the world, to attend to someone’s suffering, to repair the damage caused by human or by natural disaster.

   Our challenge is to do it “through Christ.”  Which simply means,

One of the Saints among us....

For almost 98 years, our good friend and sister in Christ, Bertha Stear, lived on God’s good earth.  Last Saturday morning, she died and now rests in eternal God’s arms.

She was born in 1910 England, shortly before World War I and the birth of Communism; she was a teenager during the "Roaring Twenties" and the days of the "Flappers."  She witnessed the Great Depression as a young adult and worked long hours during the dark days of World War II.

She raised her family amidst the post war economic boom, and saw the election and assassination of President Kennedy, the Vietnam war, the Civil Rights struggle and the Watergate scandal that toppled President Nixon.

She cheered our victory over Communism and the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.

She prayed for our military as it was sent to the Middle East for long years of war.

And she attended our congregation from the early 1960’s until now, faithfully serving our fellowship with a deep dedication and a

Moment by Moment Living...

To live a life with God is to live a life that is aware and alive every second, every moment.

All we have is this present instant.  The future is yet  to be, the past is behind us and gone.

All of us are given this unique gift of a precious and irretrievable moment.

What do you make of that? 

Do you make the best of it?  Do you fill it with all the depth and love that Christ gives to you?

Do you keep your awareness sharp and rejoice in God’s presence even in the most discouraging of times and frustrating of circumstances?

As Christians, we are given a rare glimpse into heaven through the living presence of Jesus Christ that can