We Have to Speak Louder: God Loves You

  I found myself having to talk a little louder. At first, I did not think much of it. But, as each new person came forward and I leaned in to share the words that God has been speaking into my heart, I began to realize how loud I needed to speak in order to be heard. 
   Music in worship was great - the choir was great and the congregational singing was great. It was not Andy’s fault that he was singing while I was trying to impart a good word. It was awesome, actually. During the 11:00 AM worship service Andy sang a song written by Phil Wickham that he chose especially for All Saints Sunday, a new song literally just released seven weeks ago. As Andy sang the words of a song about hope, to all of us who had just heard the names of men and women we knew and loved to mark their passing this year, it was all coming together. The chorus says:

There is hope beyond the suffering,

joy beyond the tears, peace in every tragedy

and love that conquers fear. For I have found redemption

in the blood of Jesus Christ.

My body might be tired but I’ll always be alive.

(Phil Wickham, When My Heart s Torn Asunder, 2013)

   On Sunday, as we stood sharing the everyday elements that Jesus himself consecrated with divine meaning, I told people, “God loves you.” As the music played, the reality sank in that in order to be heard I would need to say it louder. “God loves you.” Even before we finished passing out the grace-filled pieces of bread, then dipped into the cup that represents a new covenant with the Creator of the Universe, my eyes had been opened to what was happening.
   We live in a noisy world. We have a message to deliver. Our mandate is to offer it to every person. We are called to speak into the lives of others, “God loves you.” It was out of love that Jesus took the form of a servant and emptied himself, even to the point of death at the hands of his executioners. 
   I read the names of our honored dead on Sunday only by steeling myself from the emotions I felt welling up when I started. I knew these people. These are more than names. These were friends, mentors, and loved ones. It was altogether right to name them as saints, because they are. Not because of their own efforts, but because of the efforts of the One who makes things holy. 
   I pray that I would boldly speak the good news to every person I meet with whatever volume is required for it to be heard, and not just on Sunday mornings. “God loves you.” I pray you would do the same.
   Grace and Peace, Scott

A New Home of the Brave? Or Something Else?

My friend Luke Martin said, "If the Braves want to move to a new stadium, that's their business." Live and let live. 

I agree, but I'd go further. We're all citizens of the same planet. The rest of the story around the decision announced yesterday by the Atlanta Braves to abandon their 'home' at Turner Field and build another one 15 miles away in the suburbs makes me wonder about the other reasons that did not make it into the surprise announcement. My thoughts keep bumping into more than just the empty stadium left behind, or the memories that have been made on the two blocks the Braves have occupied since moving South from Milwaukee in '66. 

First, the Braves are free to do whatever they want as a private company. But, this move is not really that of a private company. While their initial press conference did not reveal the numbers, the AJC has since published that $450 million of the $650 million for the new project will come from public (tax-payer) money. Over two-thirds of the cost will come from the public. Yet, the public seems to have been left out of the conversation, save the representatives in government who will boldly try and sell this to their constituents at a later date. That might be a hard sell considering the chatter from Cobb County citizenry yesterday who talked of current local government-worker layoffs and teacher furloughs to make the County budget work out. Again, it seems the parties involved really did have an obligation to seek public input. 

Second, and more troublesome than the rest, seems to be something that I want to resist naming. This seems to be more about who buys the tickets and where they do and don't want to park their cars. The evidence of that comes in the few images that the Braves offered for reasons. One included a map of where ticket buyers are from. Of course, you'll make the drive closer for the north Atlanta crowd, but is there something else going on, too? At the new website to communicate information about the move, homeofthebraves.com, the Braves referenced lack of control over the development of the area surrounding their current home, Turner Field. This is about business, I know, but could it be as much about the sadder side of human nature? The new trend for modern ballparks is to surround them with other entertainment, restaurants, and something people call 'feeling safe'. The thing is, Turner Field and the main parking lots are safe. As safe as the neighborhoods we live in. Yet, there remains a resistance to attending downtown events because of perceived threats. These threats continue to pop up in the conversations around the respective homes of Braves and Falcons. This seems like white flight from downtown Atlanta. 

Finally, there is nothing wrong with the current experience of a fan at Turner Field. The sight-lines are great, and you can even get waffles while watching the game! Yet, we throw away good things that are not used up in order to get something better, don't we? It leads to eyesore junk moved to landfills and higher debt for American households, while never addressing the real cause of the discontent. People would rather spend money on buying something new than on fixing up something that is already there. People like new. It's the human condition. I just don't think it's right. The Braves say that Turner Field currently needs $150 million in infrastructure work (including seat replacement, upgrades to the lighting, etc.), none of which would significantly enhance the fan experience. If the Braves were to pay for additional projects focused on improving the fan experience, the additional costs would exceed $200 million. Instead they will spend the same amount of their own money, and borrow a half a billion from Cobb taxpayers, to build something new. 

An article appears in today's New York Times by Frank Bruni about how every segment of America is becoming tiered around the ability to pay for perks and space. He calls this the "Extra Legroom Society." Read it here at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/12/opinion/bruni-the-extra-legroom-society.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131112. The Braves are choosing keep up with the trend.

Has anyone else considered how well the Braves kept this from the public and media until the day of the Press Conference? Why? Fear that public discourse would keep them from achieving their agenda? In the end, I will go to the new stadium to see the Braves play. I've been to Braves' games downtown every year since 1980, as best I can recall. Right now, I just don't love the idea, or the underlying causes for the move.

What you talk about says a lot about what you believe

   What do you talk about? To what topics do your conversations most return? What do you brag about? The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 5 that, “For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light.” He goes on to say that being children of light should even affect what we talk about. To be light-bearers, literally those who carry the good news of what God has done and is doing in the world, means that every facet of our lives is impacted. To live as children of light affects where we go, on what we spend our money and what we talk about. 
   Can someone be sure of what you believe in based on the content of your talk? The answer is a resounding, yes. The real question is, are you content that what they hear is who you really are?
   I am talking up one of the great stories of change, goodness and success that is happening in Columbus. I said, “Yes,” last month to be a public, online champion for Open Door Community House for the upcoming Georgia Gives Day on November 13. Along with the donations that can be generated, Open Door can win additional matching funds to continue the great work they are doing. What great work you ask? Let me talk about it:

• On average, our neighbors participating in the ‘Circles in Columbus’ program have seen an 85% increase in income after just one year. In addition, their debt is down and their dependence on public assistance is down. That is success!
• The average income earned by Open Door Institute graduates, learning culinary skills, increased by $6/hr from when they entered the program.
• In 2012-2013, 100% of the children in our Mathews Promise Academy were promoted to the next grade and 100% passed the state CRCT exam.

These facts speak volumes, don’t they? Open Door is the single most important ministry in Columbus, addressing the root causes of poverty and suffering among our neighbors. They are teaching people with great content and delivering it through deep and sustained relationships; this is the best way to change lives and it is the secret to long-term success. I am honored to talk about that kind of ministry, and especially proud to know it was began through the efforts of those we know from the Hamp Stevens Memorial UMC.
   I hope you will join me in going online next Wednesday, November 13, and make a donation of any amount to support a great ministry. Then go a step further and tell someone about Open Door. Let’s show that our talk and our hearts are the same.  
Grace and Peace, Scott

Giving Thanks Throughout

We remember and give thanks.

That’s what we do in the church. We remember … and we give thanks. We remember the story, from before time was kept through our own time and forward still, and we give thanks. We remember the story of Jesus Christ - who lived and loved and showed us how to love - and we remember the gift of the Holy Spirit that gave birth to Christ's church and are thankful we can be a part of God's ongoing work.

We remember and give thanks.

On Sunday, November 3, our remembering and thanksgiving prompts a response. On Consecration Sunday, we submit Estimate of Giving cards as our humble way of remembering what God has done and trusting in what God will do. This is the stuff of faith. I encourage you to read Hebrews 11:1 through 12:3 (here is a link). I've been blessed to share biblical wisdom about trusting God with money and possessions in the teachings these past four weeks. One note: while there is no lunch served this year, we are offering fruit and pastries served in the Fellowship Hall. 

We remember and give thanks.

On November 10, All Saints Sunday, we will remember how the ministry we share now was embraced and lived by generations before us. We will remember by name those of our church family here at Epworth who in the past year entered into the Communion of Saints. Names will be read, candles lit, lives honored, and holy memories stirred. We cannot begin to capture the fullness of their lives, but we can recall their place in our congregation and the ministry we carry on from them. And, no doubt, our minds will turn to others who touched our lives with God’s grace and showed us the way of faithful living. Finally, before our service is done, we will remember the words of Jesus, who said, “Do this in remembrance of me,” and together we will share in the sacrament of Holy Communion. 

We remember and give thanks.

On the evening of November 24, we welcome the people and clergy of the churches and synagogues who are members of the Wynnton Neighborhood Network for the Thanksgiving Unity Service. It is a rich hour of worship that features participation and leadership from each congregation, and we will be blessed to serve as host for the night. Our preacher will be the Rev. Wayland Conner, from Allen Temple AME, which hosted the service a year ago. 

We remember and give thanks. May we be changed for the better by it. Grace and Peace, Scott

Seeing It Written Down Helps Me

   I am a visual learner. Many folks are like me, in this regard. I often imagine ideas or concepts drawn out on a whiteboard in my mind and, if you've ever been in a meeting with me, you know I often gravitate to a board to make lists or connect the dots. So, I won't to circle back to some of the content from Sunday so people can see it written out. Consider these Three Keys to Cultivating Contentment

1) Ask about a possible purchase: “For How Long Will This Make Me Happy?”

2) Develop a Grateful Heart in All Things

3) Return to the Question: Where Does My Soul Find True Satisfaction?

   In addition to cultivating contentment in our lives, we need to cultivate simplicity. Contentment and simplicity go hand in hand. So I talked about these Five Steps for Simplifying Our Lives

1) Set a Goal of Reducing Your Consumption, and Live Below Your Means.

2) Before a Purchase Ask Yourself, “Do I Really Need This? & Why Do I Want This?”

3) Use Something Up Before Buying Something New

4) Plan Low-cost Entertainment That Enriches

5) Ask Yourself, “Are There Major Changes That Would Allow Me to Simplify My Life?”

   This Sunday we take one more step asking, "What defines your life? Is it wealth? Belongings? Faith?" Many of us live with a scarcity mentality, worried that we must gather and hoard as much as possible, saving for some imagined “rainy day.” Or we focus on self-gratification: spend it right now. But, the Bible promises both God’s blessings and joy for those who choose to live another way. During this coming Sunday’s service, we will take action to change our lives by setting five specific personal goals to work toward over the next year. We invite you to complete a Personal Goals and Commitment card and place it in your Bible for your personal reference in the coming year. Seeing it written down helps!

   One of these five commitments is your estimate of giving for the coming year. This week, you will be receiving an estimate of giving commitment card in the mail. On a practical level, we ask our members to turn in estimate of giving cards each year so that our Finance Committee is able to set an accurate ministry budget for the coming year. This helps us be good stewards. On a personal level, the commitment card is an opportunity for you to spend time in prayer and reflection, considering what offering you would make to God through our church in the coming year. Please be watching for the mailing next week, then fill out the card and bring it with you to worship next Sunday. You will also be able to pledge online at epworthumc.com.
   Grace and Peace, Scott

I Don't Know It All But What I Do Know I Learned From Someone Else

David Bartlett, PhD

   My professor for these two weeks in Decatur is David Bartlett, well-published and brilliant professor of Preaching and the New Testament. Now retired, he is a beloved teacher.  While this is my first class with him, I can see why some have taken him over and over again. He knows his stuff.

   He does two things I like very much. First, for as much as he knows, he also talks about what he doesn't know. Our course is on Christology, the study of the meaning and the work of Jesus. Bartlett does not claim to know it all. He reminds us that we don't know what New Testament authors were thinking when they chose this word over that one. We only have the words, not the thoughts behind them. So we can be sure of some things, but not sure of others. I like that.

   Secondly, I really appreciate how Dr. Bartlett talks about the scholars and writers who have contributed to this particular topic within Christian studies over the past century. He will make reference to a writer and then very often mention the persons that they learned from. It is like he can visualize the various scholastic family trees that are at play. He sort of plays 'six degrees of separation', but tracing appearances back to Karl Barth and not Kevin Bacon (for those who get that reference). 

   I want to be known as somone who does not think they know it all and also as someone who appreciates how we are all connected. I was reminded this week of how often the Apostle Paul referred to the tradition that he passed on to the churches he was starting in the first two to three decades after the Resurrection of Christ. Paul tells the church in Corinth, on a couple of occassions, that he is passing on what he received (see 1 Corinthians 11 and 15). He reminds Timothy of the generations of faith that Timothy followed and encourages him to continue to fan that flame so it would spread (2 Timothy 1).  

   The world desperately needs to be engaged with the truth. Our call as followers of Christ is to give witness to, through our words and actions, the truth of the love God in our lives. But, along with what we know, the world would love to hear that we don't know it all. Because we don't.

   Grace and Peace, Scott 

He Leadeth Us, He Leadeth Me

He leadeth me: O blessed thought! O words with heavenly comfort fraught!

Whate'er I do, where'er I be, still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.  

   We picked the hymn for worship during Wednesday's Charge Conference from a list of great, traditional hymns that we sing in both our blended and traditional services. We sing great music. Music stirs our souls, and centers our vision. Joseph Gilmore's words from 1862 do just that. 

   My first thought is that the words to He Leadeth Me are more hoping than they are knowing. Too often it is not God who is leading. Too often, we are led by our own desires and base inclinations. My report would be remiss if I did not start there. 

   I have been slow in addressing some areas that need attention. We need to start our process for formally discerning God's vision; we need to pray and seek the words and images that capture the unique answer to the question of what does it mean to be Epworth. I have been able to ignite a sustainable emphasis in improving the efforts of our Sunday School classes in key areas. We need to be more intentional in inviting people who are not involved, to continually improve on our methods of teaching in engaging ways, to give engage in class-oriented, hands-on mission projects, and to take on the truth that our Sunday School groups are the central and best way people are connected in relationships in our church. These thing happen some, but not enough. 

   Yet, God works for good in spite of my faults. God works for good in the midst of my shortcomings. God is working for good, even now, in the midst of all of the things that our church people seem to be juggling at once. And, there are many things. God can do this because this is the way the world works. Through the power of Christ, delivered through the Holy Spirit, we become the hands and feet of the One true God. We re-present God to every person when we are in ministry. I am reminded of this through the words of affirmation that arrive throughout the year in response to the kindness shown by Epworth people. Our witness is being extended beyond just the scope of our families and our circumstances, and out in the community everyday. We are engaged in missions that call on the hands, the talents and gifts, and the monies of our people to care for the least of these around Columbus (Matthew 25). Our people, members and regular attenders, shine the very light and love of God into people's lives. It happens through our amazing ORANGE ministry with children and families, through our neighborhood-oriented events that attracts hundreds, through our ministry of hospitality with families around funerals, and through our people at work and play around town. Also, our buildings continue to see small projects accomplished have been leaps forward in how we welcome people in style. 

   Lately, the Spirit had brought me to a deep peace and assurance in knowing that there is more going on. Our ministry is more than our best or our worst. This is true in my life, too. The truth is God is leading us. This is not just a song wishing it were true. It is true. God is working in our midst. Some of our plans have not happened as quickly as I have wished. The plan to acquire property on Manchester Expressway has been stymied by things out of our control. But, God is leading. Our intention to expand parking, long overdue, is still months from completion. But, God is faithful. Offerings are lagging behind where people pledged they would be. But, we still have enough to thrive on. 

   I am so blessed to serve in the midst of God's great work through the people of Epworth. I am humbled at how supportive this congregation is, in my best and in the rest of my efforts! You care for me and for my family. You are helping Julie and me to raise our boys in a place where disciples of Jesus are on display. In addition, Epworth allows me to work every day alongside the best staff and get away a few days a year to pursue a great education in my Doctoral studies. For all of this, I say thank you.

   Grace and Peace, Scott

Build A Church That Builds Others Up

   I cherish my first remembrances of church. I remember the church, the classrooms in 
Statesboro where I attended Sunday School, from early years through high school. I remember the churches my grandfather served that we would visit on weekends and worshiping in the little Baptist church where my father grew up in Newington when we spent the day with his mother, Elise. But, something is missing. The truth is, each of those churches gave me more than I could ever return to them. They shaped me, in small and not-small ways, into the child of God I am today. These churches were established long before I came around.
   The relationship between Janet Cheraisi and the church she grew up in is a little different, though. For all that they have given her and for all of the goodness that she carries because of their efforts to raise her well, she is giving back. Samuel and Janet grew up in different parts of Kenya. They were raised in newly-started local churches that were a part of the African Island Church denomination, started by an American missionary, Peter Scott, back in 1895 (www.aickenya.org). They did not meet until they were both running track for colleges here in the US. As students at Southern Miss, Janet and Samuel became United Methodist members. Soon after she graduated, Janet started helping the church with its greatest need - more space. 
   The church Janet grew up in is not large enough. The witness of the people and the work of God in the area have reached more people than the little sanctuary will hold. It means members must stand outside during worship. So, Janet and Samuel have been helping her childhood church build a bigger sanctuary. As of this fall, the building is now in its final stages as they try to finish by next summer. Samuel visited the church recently on a trip back home and carried with him a little note of encouragement I sent to them. 
   Our core mission partners for the past two years have been local - Open Door, Wynnton 
Neighborhood Network, Rose Hill, Allen Elementary. This month we are asking that your gifts beyond our local ministry go to help Janet leave a mark on the place that has left its mark on her. The news of the terrorist attack in a public mall in Kenya last month could not have been more revealing. Kenya is in the midst of spiritual battle. Christians need all the help they can get to continue expanding the footprint of peace that God so desperately wants to win over His people.
   I want to be a part of a church that builds people up. Grace and Peace, Scott