Sunday Worship Preview - August 17

Sunday, August 17 (8:30 A.M. and 11:00 A.M. Traditional and 9:45 A.M. Contemporary)

Features - 14th Sunday After Pentecost; Blessing of the Backpacks & Students; Youth Council Commissioning (9:45 A.M.)

Sermon Title - “What Breaks God's Heart - Local Poverty”

Scriptures -Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32 & John 21:12-17

Theme - This is the 2nd part of the sermon series, “What Breaks God’s Hear." We will focus on local poverty. Be exploring the meaning of the Apostle Peter's commission by Jesus after the Easter breakfast we will better understand how his charge and ours as the church to care for people is a reflection of our love for Jesus.

Christians Having Fun

Salt Shakers is the name of one of my church fellowship groups in which people who at first didn't know each other very well, get together about eight times a year to eat, pray, and have fun!

We recently had our monthly outing playing miniature golf at Young's Dairy. The women beat the men by five strokes, but the pain of defeat was lessened by a vanilla milkshake that was enjoyed afterward. The barbecue chicken dinner before we played didn't hurt either!

In the middle of Young's Dairy, we offered prayers for various needs among our group - not something I usually do on my own in the middle of an ice-cream store!

The Book of Acts tells us that the early Christians often got together for meals and fellowship (Acts 2:42-47.) I don't think it's any coincidence that the church grew because of the deep relationships that were formed among those first disciples in the name of Jesus.

One of the goals of our church is to help every person in the congregation get connected with a fellowship group that will help them grow in their faith and feel part of the larger church family.

Prayers, Prayers, & More Prayers

This evening, as I was silently standing in the corner of a hospital room filled with several friends and family members of a very ill parishioner, an incredible thought came to my mind.

In the silence of that room, I couldn't help but to become consciously aware of the many "little prayers" that were being lifted on behalf of their loved one in that precise moment. All of the sudden, it occurred to me that God wasn't just hearing my prayer. God was hearing many prayers.

Could it be that as we're going through our daily routine, the same is true? In any given moment, my prayer just might not be the only prayer being lifted in that moment and in that particular place.

And here's what really blows me away. Just think of what Sunday morning in church must be like! Just being aware of the many prayers being lifted in a given moment might make me a better preacher and it might also make a huge difference in how we offer our worship.

Sunday Worship Preview - August 10

Sunday, August 10 (8:30 A.M. and 11:00 A.M. Traditional and 9:45 A.M. Contemporary)

Features - 13th Sunday After Pentecost & Coins for Missions (Coins placed in the offering will help support St. Paul UMC Outreach Center in Dayton, FISH Food Pantry, the Caring Place Meal Ministry in Xenia, & IHN which provides temporary housing for families in need.)

Sermon Title - “What Breaks God’s Heart: Sin, Disease, & Death”

Scriptures - Genesis 3:1-7 & Mark 15:25-39

Theme - This is the 1st part of the sermon series, “What Breaks God’s Heart” and we will be focusing on the big three of sin, disease, and death. For some people, these three painful realities of life have led them away from God and the church. Why would a good and loving God allow so much pain and suffering in the world? Doesn’t God care? Come and join us on this Sunday as we explore these questions in light of the Christian faith.

Common Cup Softball Team - '08

The first ever Common Cup co-ed softball team ended it's Xenia recreational league season tonight with a loss to finish with a record of one win and several defeats. This might seem depressing but consider how expansion teams have fared for their inaugural years:


1962 New York Mets - 40-120
1972 Philadelphia 76ers - 9-73
1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 0-14

Despite the lack of victories in the win column, it was great to see team-like Christian fellowship and the Common Cup shared ministry spirit prevalent at each of our games. We averaged 4.5 fans a game which made it even more exciting!

A big thank you to the Common Cup softball players (some of whom aren't in this photo which was taken at tonight's game) and to Jason and Kristy Christian who served as managers/organizers. Plans are to have another co-ed Common Cup softball team next year and we'll begin advertising early in '09.

Check out the brief post game/post season interview between the Owner/General Manager and Manager Jason "Dusty" Christian.

Distinctively Methodist

Pastor Andy Bryan, a UM pastor in Missouri asks the question, "What makes a congregation distinctively Methodist?" on his web blog which is a question United Methodists would do well to consider at all times. Andy offers a pretty good summary of what makes United Methodists distinctive. To read his thoughts, go to:

http://entertherainbow.blogspot.com/2008/07/distinctly-methodist.html

If you have any comments on this, please post on Andy's blog as well as here on the Nikos blog.

Vacation Reading - "Surprised by Hope"

One of my goals for vacation was to finish reading the book, "Surprised by Hope," by N.T. Wright, a New Testament scholar and Anglican Bishop who resides in the UK.

The main point of the book is to help Christians get back to an orthodox and early church understanding of the meaning of the word, "resurrection." Too often, people associate the word, "resurrection" with a vague belief that "after I die, I'll go to heaven." Wright argues that after a person who has faith in Jesus Christ dies, that person goes to heaven to be with Jesus, not as a final destination but as a two-part process.

The 2nd part of that process is for all of God's people to be given new transformed bodies when Jesus returns to this earth and sets up his kingdom of justice and peace once and for all. It should be noted that this understanding is very different from the "Left Behind" theology that claims that Christians will be snatched away one day (the rapture) and live in a disembodied state in a place called, heaven, for ever and ever.

From there, Wright explains how this proper understanding of resurrection affirms one of the most basic theological truths of the Christian faith - that God created this world, called it good, and through the life, death, and resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, has already inaugurated the project of new creation (defeating sin, disease, & death) which will find it's fulfillment when Jesus returns and sets up his kingdom on this earth.

When Christians have this proper understanding of resurrection and of God's desire to redeem and reclaim all of creation, the church's task is then to join God in working toward justice and peace through word and deed. We do this while knowing in advance, that one day we will live in God's new creation and be given new bodies that will not be subject to sin, disease, and death.