Blogging Hiatus

Hello Friends,
     As you can see, I have already been on a blogging hiatus since June, and for the current season I will probably continue this hiatus.  For my own ability to concentrate on my spiritual disciplines, I am going to expend my energy in other places for a little while.
     I may pick this up again soon, and if you miss something about this blog, would you please let me know?!  I have been wondering how many people have been reading my blog, and that would help me gauge its usefulness.

I hope to see you soon.

Prayerfully,

Gregg

P.S. - My account had been hacked, so if you saw a post about Miley Cyrus, I SWEAR I didn't post it!  :)

Vision for Covenant United Methodist Church

On May 27, 2012 I preached a sermon on John 12:20-26 at Covenant United Methodist Church in Spokane, Washington (covenantmethodist.org). Here is that passage:

"Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor."

During the sermon we had also utilized a clip from the film, "Gladiator." We viewed images of "eternal life" near the end of that film, but we also talked about the quote from Russell Crowe's character: "What we do in life echoes in eternity." Just prior to this video, those gathered discussed the various meaning and purpose of "eternal life" focusing on the key part of that passage about a grain of wheat needing to fall to the earth and die in order to bear fruit.

This video is the last part of the message when I then began to clarify and cast a vision for our community of faith to "bear fruit"...

[I apologize for the poor sound quality and slightly truncated ending on this video. 

After reciting the above quote, I ended with the prayer, "May it be so. Amen."]

May Devotional

INTRODUCTION:
As children, we don't think about our long-term future much.  We don't wonder what the world would be like if we weren't here.  As we age, however, we begin to ask ourselves the question, "What is my legacy?"


SCRIPTURE READING:

John 14:1-14

The Message (MSG)

The Road

 ^1-4 "Don't let this throw you. You trust God, don't you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father's home. If that weren't so, would I have told you that I'm on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I'm on my way to get your room ready, I'll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I'm taking."  ⁵Thomas said, "Master, we have no idea where you're going. How do you expect us to know the road?"
 ^6-7Jesus said, "I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You've even seen him!"
 ⁸Philip said, "Master, show us the Father; then we'll be content."
 ^9-10"You've been with me all this time, Philip, and you still don't understand? To see me is to see the Father. So how can you ask, 'Where is the Father?' Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you aren't mere words. I don't just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act.
 ^11-14"Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can't believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I'm doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I'll do it. That's how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I'll do.

FURTHER DISCUSSION:

•  What do you think Jesus had in mind when he told the disciples that they would do "even greater things?"
• Who do you think has had the biggest impact on your life (positive or negative)?  Why? 
• What do you think other people think you stand for?
• Ultimately, what do you want your legacy to be?

April Devotional

INTRODUCTION:
Being an adult is very different from being a child.  What were you like as a kid?  What are you like now as an adult?  Where are the similarities and differences?


SCRIPTURE READING:

Matthew 18:1-5

The Message (MSG)

Whoever Becomes Simple Again

 ¹ At about the same time, the disciples came to Jesus asking, "Who gets the highest rank in God's kingdom?"  ^2-5For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom. What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me. 

FURTHER DISCUSSION:

• What do you think of when you hear the phrase "childlike faith?"  
• When have you (or have you?) experienced a childlike faith?
• What are your earliest memories of:
• Church?
• Conversations about God?
• Worship?
• Offering/Giving to others? 

March Devotional

INTRODUCTION:
Think for a minute about what it is like to be alone.  How would you describe it?  On the other hand, what is it like to be with other people?  There were times that Jesus went away by himself to pray (think of the Garden of Gethsemane), but here he is telling the disciples that even mature believers can fall prey to the dangers of isolation. 


SCRIPTURE READING:

Matthew 18:15-20

The Message (MSG)

 ^15-17"If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend. If he won't listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won't listen, tell the church. If he won't listen to the church, you'll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God's forgiving love.
 ^18-20"Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."

FURTHER DISCUSSION:

• When have you have felt spiritually connected with others?  
• When have you have felt spiritually alone?
• Think of the "buddy system" in SCUBA diving... Do you have someone that you trust with your spiritual life?  
• What are your experiences allowing someone to accompany you on your journey?
• Was it difficult or easy?  Why?

February Devotional

INTRODUCTION:
We talk a lot about the "journey" of faith, and "walking with" one another.  As you read the following scripture reading, I invite you to think about the components to "walking with" others, or allowing others to "walk with" us.  What are the different components?


SCRIPTURE READING:

Luke 24:13-25 (The Message)

The Road to Emmaus

 ^13-16That same day two of them were walking to the village Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem. They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognize who he was.  ^17-18He asked, "What's this you're discussing so intently as you walk along?"
   They just stood there, long-faced, like they had lost their best friend. Then one of them, his name was Cleopas, said, "Are you the only one in Jerusalem who hasn't heard what's happened during the last few days?"
 ^19-24He said, "What has happened?"
   They said, "The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene. He was a man of God, a prophet, dynamic in work and word, blessed by both God and all the people. Then our high priests and leaders betrayed him, got him sentenced to death, and crucified him. And we had our hopes up that he was the One, the One about to deliver Israel. And it is now the third day since it happened. But now some of our women have completely confused us. Early this morning they were at the tomb and couldn't find his body. They came back with the story that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Some of our friends went off to the tomb to check and found it empty just as the women said, but they didn't see Jesus."
 ^25-27Then he said to them, "So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can't you simply believe all that the prophets said? Don't you see that these things had to happen, that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?" Then he started at the beginning, with the Books of Moses, and went on through all the Prophets, pointing out everything in the Scriptures that referred to him.

FURTHER DISCUSSION:

• What are your experiences "walking with" someone else?  
• What are you experiences allowing someone to walk with you on your journey?
• Was it difficult or easy?  Why?

January Devotional

INTRODUCTION:
All four gospels have a story of a feeding of a multitude, but the story in John is a little different...  It includes a young boy central to the story.  If you place yourself in the story of the young boy, what do you see/hear/smell/taste?  What are your observations?  How do you feel?

SCRIPTURE READING:

John 6:1-15 The Message (MSG)

Bread and Fish for All

 ^1-4After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (some call it Tiberias). A huge crowd followed him, attracted by the miracles they had seen him do among the sick. When he got to the other side, he climbed a hill and sat down, surrounded by his disciples. It was nearly time for the Feast of Passover, kept annually by the Jews.  ^5-6When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy bread to feed these people?" He said this to stretch Philip's faith. He already knew what he was going to do.
 ⁷Philip answered, "Two hundred silver pieces wouldn't be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece."
 ^8-9One of the disciples—it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter—said, "There's a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that's a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this."
 ^10-11Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." There was a nice carpet of green grass in this place. They sat down, about five thousand of them. Then Jesus took the bread and, having given thanks, gave it to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish. All ate as much as they wanted.
 ^12-13When the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted." They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves.
 ^14-15The people realized that God was at work among them in what Jesus had just done. They said, "This is the Prophet for sure, God's Prophet right here in Galilee!" Jesus saw that in their enthusiasm, they were about to grab him and make him king, so he slipped off and went back up the mountain to be by himself.

 FURTHER DISCUSSION:

• What are your earliest memories of generosity or giving?  How did you feel?

Devotionals and Conversations

Hello Friends,

I am sorry for the infrequent postings the past few months.  As with many spiritual practices, there seem to be seasons of growth and vitality, and other fallow seasons.  I intentionally put blogging to the side for awhile to pick up other spiritual practices, but now am feeling drawn back to using this tool for communication once again.

I have become very interested in facilitating common conversations among the many committees, groups and ministry teams at Covenant UMC (and if it is of use for others on the 'outside' then GREAT!).  Specifically having conversations around generosity, for instance, will (I believe) have an impact on how relaxed we can feel when the subject of money comes up in the life of the church.  I am also looking for a consistent platform to emphasize the main purpose we exist as a Christian congregation - to encounter God's transforming power, and pass on the opportunity for others to also encounter God's presence and power!  Here is what I have in mind:

• Each month I will have a devotional scripture reading, followed by some suggested questions for conversation.
• You can use this as a resource for planning the time at the beginning of any of your meetings to help your gathered group to be "spiritually grounded"
• I would love to hear from group discussions, as long as permission is given and doesn't violate someone's sense of confidentiality.
• You can search for devotionals by using "tags" for the month name, and the word "devotional"

Let me know if this is helpful and what your experience of this resource is.  If it is helpful, I will keep doing it!
Peace to you all,
Gregg
Pastor Gregg