Common Table

I am really excited about this new venture that we are taking as a church. Common Table has been talked about and discussed ever since we started WikiWorship. If you will remember ---- the last time we had WikiWorship it was on Sunday Evenings. As a result of this great time of fellowship and growing with each other we have decided to begin Common Table. This is a regular gathering on Sunday evenings at 5:30pm in our new fellowship hall. This will be a very relaxed atmosphere, where you will be encouraged to have a cup of coffee and sit in the worship service. There will be singing, praying, scripture reading, but also lots of interaction. The first week will be very similar to WikiWorship. We will address a question. That question is: "If religion is supposed to preach open-mindedness and forgiveness, why are they the first ones to close their hearts and minds to the other religions?" This will be discussed in light of the passage from Luke 23.34 where Jesus says from the cross: "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." Come on out for this wonderful time to grow in our faith and to share fellowship with one another at the table. There will be a meal right after the service.

Ash Wednesday

This is an article that I wrote on Ash Wednesday. I hope this is helpful.

During the forty days leading up to Easter the church traditionally observes a time of penance and fasting. This time of preparation for Easter is commonly called Lent. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (which is March 9th this year) and ends on the Saturday before Easter. Ash Wednesday is a day that is set aside for us to remember that God created us out of the dust of the earth. While at the same time, it is to dust we shall return, like it says in Genesis 3.19: “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

An early church father, named Gregory of Nyssa, would take his students into the catacombs and show them the decaying bones. In Homilies on the Beatitudes, he wrote: “Have you not seen in the burial ground the mysteries of our existence? Have you not seen the heap of bones piled on each other, skulls stripped of flesh, staring fearsome and horrible from empty eye-sockets? Have you seen the grinning mouths and the rest of the limbs lying casually about? If you have seen those things, then in them you have observed yourself.” Ash Wednesday creates space for us to deal with our mortality. To stare into the eyes of death and see Jesus' passionate arms reaching for us from the cross.

What the church offers us on Ash Wednesday is not some quick fix—it is not some miracle drug—it is not some hair dying kit. Instead, what the church offers us is the opportunity to embrace our mortality. To look at the bones decaying and realize that we are dust—and to dust we shall return. We are not offering a picturesque stained glass Jesus or promises of the picture perfect family. Instead, the church is offering you what is real. That we all face our death, and that we all face our sin. God is the one who will make us clean—even in the midst of our death and sin. Let us find our hope in the one who overcame death and sin. The one we follow as we carry our crosses through this Lenten journey.

During Lent last year we celebrated Palm Sunday. During that Sunday we remember Jesus' triumphal entry where people waved palm branches and shouted Hosanna! For Ash Wednesday we take those same palm branches and burn them—saving the ashes that are left. Then we apply them to our foreheads—reminding ourselves of the sins that so easily ensnare us. How we participate in celebrating Jesus, while turning our backs on him when the going gets too tough. This is our calling to repent of our sins and embrace our crucified savior and Lord.

I would encourage you to attend an Ash Wednesday service this year. For it is an opportunity for us to remember that we are dust and to dust we shall return. While at the same time it helps us to remember that our hope and power come only from Jesus' victory over sin and death.

Building the Warren's Grove Sanctuary

Some Shots Inside and Out

Athanasius - John 12

This is a quote from Athanasius concerning John 12: “For it is only on the cross that a man dies with his hands spread out. And so it was fitting for the Lord to bear this also and to spread out his hands, that with the one he might draw the ancient people and with the other those from the Gentiles and unite both in himself. For this is what he himself has said, signifying by what manner of death he was to ransom all: 'I, when I am lifted up,' he says, 'shall draw all unto me.'”

John 3.14-21

This coming Sunday we will be focusing on the Mission of the Church. As United Methodists our mission is this: "The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world." Here we can see that what we are about as the church is discipleship. We are to be disciples that make disciples. This changes things ----- and not just a few things, but the entire cosmos. For we are to live into the prayer "on earth as it is in heaven." Our scripture that we will be focusing on is John 3.14-21. Here we see the nature of God. That God is a God of love ---- that loves the world. God loved the world so much that he sent his Son to redeem creation. Hence, Jesus is a missionary God, who came to reveal God's love to us. Have you ever thought of Jesus as a missionary? Does this change how we view ourselves as missionaries?

The Christian Faith

While we are remodeling the downstairs section of our building we are combining our Adult Sunday School classes. These classes will be held in the sanctuary. During this time we are going to be teaching on some of the core beliefs of the Christian Faith. You are invited to come and learn more. Here is the breakdown of the classes:

Sunday, January 8th @ 10am - Rev. Milton Hadley will be teaching on the Missional Church
Sunday, January 15th @ 10am - Jed Poston will be sharing about how the Lord has called him into the ministry and what it means to be called.
Sunday, January 22nd @ 10am - Pastor Ben Burnside will be teaching on the Atonement.
Sunday, January 29th @ 10am - Youth Pastor Colin Knapp will be teaching on Heresies.
Sunday, February 5th @ 10am - Pastor Ben Burnside will be teaching on the Trinity and the Sacraments.
Sunday, February 12th @ 10am - Youth Pastor Colin Knapp will be teaching on the Holy Spirit.

Moving the Portico Into Place 12.23.2011

Remodeling 12.21.2011

A Christmas Eve Prayer for Those Who Do Not Go To Church

This is a prayer written by Kenneth Carter. He is a District Superintendent in Western North Carolina:
"Lord, I don't go to church much. I don't go at all...Well, I go at Christmas. I'm home then. I feel drawn to it. I like the Christmas Eve service, the coolness of the air. I feel like a child again...it's surreal. I know folks make fun of people like me. What can I say? I've drifted...but there is a pull back. Are You speaking to me? I hear something in the sermon, sometimes, but mostly it's the music and the candles. What is it about those candles? And the darkness?The darkness...or maybe it's the light, I suppose. Light and darkness. I know about light and darkness. I live in both. I've got some of both in me. I'm basically a good person, I think, but I struggle...I know about light and darkness. But I want to be closer to the light. I want to light that candle and sing those words: "And in the dark street shineth, the everlasting light..." I would like to live in that light, Lord.I would like to come home. I would like to be born again."

Why Do We Worship on Christmas Eve?

This was an article that I wrote for the Courier=Times on December 17th, 2011.

This time of year I have visions of my childhood. I see candles being held by countless people. I see a sea of illumined faces singing of how silent a particular night was long time ago. I see families gathered together to lift up the name of their Lord. I see a well-worn ancient book opened to particular pages and read by people that have been shaped by the book.

These visions of my childhood remind me of the gathered church coming together on that “Silent Night” — that “Holy Night”. Some of my fondest memories growing up have to do with my family going out into the dark and cold of the night to worship the God who came in the flesh. This was a time to worship the God who was radical enough to be born like one of us. This God is Jesus Christ who is the Lord of lords and the King of kings.

In my first few years of living in Roxboro, I was shocked at how few people actually gather for worship on Christmas Eve. Countless folks would respond to my shock by saying that they were gathering together with family in different homes or out of town to do “Christmas”. I would then say: “Well, you know that they are invited to worship Jesus as well, and you know there are churches in other towns that gather for worship.”

Recently there has been a constant barrage of criticism at corporations and organizations that are attempting to be politically correct by saying: “Happy Holidays”, rather than “Merry Christmas”. I have heard this criticism emerge from the so-called Christian community. But I would ask, if we think that we are to remember that Jesus is the “reason for the season”, then I can think of no better way to remember the incarnation then by gathering together and worshiping the God who came in the flesh. This time of worship should then stir within us a desire to go and serve Jesus as the church he has called out of darkness into his wonderful light.

The word Christmas has evolved over the centuries. Christmas began as the “Christ Mass”, which was celebrated by the church over a millennium ago. This “Christ Mass” would be a gathering of the church to remember the incarnation of Jesus and then celebrate his coming in the flesh through communion.

What the “Christ Mass” has evolved into is what many churches call the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service. At this service there traditionally is the reading of Luke 2, the singing of hymns, a reflection on how we are changed by the incarnation, the partaking of the Lord's Supper, and the lighting of individual candles as everyone sings “Silent Night”.

This is a time for all of us to remember that Christmas is not about us, and it is not about our desires and wants. Instead, we remember that the God of the universe came and was born in a feeding trough.

This year, bring your whole family to a Christmas Eve Candlelight Service. If your particular church doesn't have a service then encourage your pastor to begin one. Grab a candle and gather with others as we go out into the night worshiping the God who came to us. Spend some time around the manger throne this season because we are given an opportunity to gaze in and reflect on God's great love for us.

Mary

“Now imagine the emotional state of a teenager who just found out she is pregnant and has yet to tell her parents. Not quite sure Mom and Dad bought the 'God did it' excuse immediately, if ever, and from that point on, God's blessing would only continue to bring pain into Mary's life—all the way to the foot of her son's cross.” Recently I read Mike Slaughter's book Christmas is Not Your Birthday. I really appreciated the things he had to say about the sacrifices that Mary made in preparation for Jesus' birth. As I consider that ---- I wonder what kind of sacrifices that we make in preparation for Jesus' coming? So often, this time of year we get caught up in what we want and what we need to be doing. For a moment, consider the sacrifices that need to happen in our lives in preparation for Christ coming. What is the Lord calling you to be about? What do you need to sacrifice to live into that calling?