WikiWorship - Sunday, August 1st @ 6pm

I wanted to let you all know what our next WikiWorship gathering will be about. We have some great questions coming up ------ questions like: "What are sins?"; "How do you know if you are really saved?"; "How far is too far to go with a boyfriend or girlfriend?" For the most part these questions deal with a relationship with God and can we be assured of that relationship. I have so much enjoyed the fellowship, but also the time of going deep into some very difficult questions. Last week's questions really stretched me and it was great to have so much interaction during our time together. I look forward to seeing you all then.

Next event ---- July 25th @ 6pm

Thank you to Earl Whittemore for putting together this video.

Herald Sun Article

I thought you all would enjoy reading the Herald-Sun article on WikiWorship. It was written by Dawn Baugartner Vaughan. Here is the link: http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/8836072/article-WikiWorship--Answering-questions-about-Christianity?instance=homeseventhleft

Next WikiWorship Event

For the next WikiWorship event (July 25th) we are going to be going with a theme of questions that ask what it means to be a Christian. There are some very intriguing questions in this group. Questions like: "Why is the church a place of gossip instead of worship?"; "Aren't all religions different ways of saying the same thing?"; "Is unconditional surrender possible for humans?"; "Where does God draw the line to say whether someone is old enough to know about him and believe in him?"; "Why is it so hard for Christians to see that we are called to share all we have with all of God's people?"; and finally "What is a Christian?" So we are going to be talking about things like why there are so many denominations, who goes to heaven / hell, and what does it take to be a Christian. I would like to invite all of you out on Sunday, July 25th at 6pm ----- there will be children activities, food, and a safe place to bring up the hard questions. See you there!

Thank you to all of you

These are Thank You Puppies!!! Who doesn't love puppies ;-)

I wanted to send a quick note thanking all of you that came out for our kick-off event of WikiWorship. I thought it went really well and I was so encouraged to have all of you come out. This first week we talked about a very interesting question ----- "Who made God?" We will be sharing more on the blog in the coming days what the next question will be. See you then.

Vacation Bible School

We just got done with Galactic Blast. It was awesome this year. I am so thankful for all the hard work that Karla Tuck put in. Also, for all the adult volunteers and youth volunteers. You all are an awesome group of people. The children really learned a lot this week.

Kick-off Event for WikiWorship - Sunday, July 18th @ 6pm

You are invited to our kick-off event for WikiWorship. It is going to be at Warren's Grove (www.warrensgroveumc.org) and you can get directions by clicking on the link. This will be on Sunday, July 18th @ 6pm. We will be grilling out and there will be children activities. We then will be diving into questions that are similar to this one: "Who made God?" This will deal with things like cause & effect, evolution, and Biblical authority. I look forward to seeing you all then. If you have any questions, or you need better directions don't hesitate to call or write. You can call Pastor Philip at 336-592-3400 or you can email at philipchryst@gmail.com

Getting ready for the kick-off

Hello everyone. We are getting ready for the kick-off of WikiWorship. We have gathered all the questions and we have found some unique themes and interesting questions. We are going to start out with a very popular question that goes something like this: "Who made God?" We can all see that this question deals with many different avenues. Some of those deal with evolution, the notion of cause and effect, and biblical authority. We will be gathering on Sunday, July 18th at 6pm to talk about the answer to this question. I am going to be studying hard because I am up first for the answer. But we will also open up the microphone and intentionally give space so that others can respond as well. If you have any questions or you need directions to Warren's Grove just let me know. See you all then!!!

Amos 7.7-17

This Sunday I will be preaching from Amos 7.7-17. This example of the holy life has always intrigued me. The Lord is holding a plumb line in his hand in verse 7 and asks Amos what he sees. The plumb line is a way of measuring whether something is straight, and the reason it does that is based on the fact that it points toward the center of the earth. I automatically think of the things that measure our lives. What measures our stature or our character? Is it friends? Or family? Or advertisements? Here, the passage says that the Lord is the one who measures the building to see if it straight and to see if it is centered. What would it be like for the Lord to measure us?

Galactic Blast

We are getting ready for Galactic Blast Vacation Bible School. We started setting up yesterday at Warren's Grove. We have blow up space aliens and astronauts. This is going to be an awesome Vacation Bible School and I hope that all of you can come out for it. It is going to be Sunday, July 11th; Monday, July 12th; Tuesday, July 13th; and Wednesday, July 14th. Our commencement program will be on Sunday, July 18th during the 11am worship service. This is designed for children ages 3 through 5th grade. All of our Middle School and High School students are invited to come and help lead this VBS. See you then.

Galatians 6.1-16

On Sunday I will be preaching from Galatians 6.1-16. When I read this passage the verse that sticks out to me is verse 15 that says: "For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!" The new creation that is found in Christ Jesus is everything. In this new creation God remakes the believer into a person that can authentically love and help the neighbor. This is a result of the Holy Spirit infiltrating our hearts and changing us into that new creation. Now we can actually live lives that are selfless ----- rather than selfish. That is why a new creation is everything. But now I would like to let the skeptic walk into this conversation. And as the skeptic I think we should ask ----- can someone ever authentically do something that is totally not selfish or egotistically motivated? What do you all think?