Trust and Faith

   I have a place where I take our two vehicles for service.  I've been using them for three years for service and maintenance and have even purchased tires three sets of tires from them.  Everyone who has ever had the blessing of being a car owner knows that it comes with an equally weighty responsibility.  Automobiles are made of materials that break down over time and require regular attention to prevent something serious from happening.  It is a safety issue.  It is about trust. 
   Tires and brakes are the most critical components to maintaining safety.  Staying connecting to the road and being able to stop precisely when needed basically capture our must-haves when we get behind the wheel.  I desperately want to trust the craftsmanship of the parts one my car, and the skill of the technician who is doing the service work.  Every time I put pressure on the pedal to go, I am trusting that things will work as they are supposed to.  I have faith that what needs to happen, will happen.
   
   In the Hebrew Scriptures that Jesus of Nazareth grew up reading and memorizing, and later teaching from, the trust relationship between God and people was held together by faith in the other.  Two words were used most often to describe this fidelity, hesed and 'emeth, specifically translated as 'steadfast love and belief'.  One scholar has proposed that the people's very understanding of faith in God sprang from the conflicts and wars they lived through and conquered over.  The people literally had faith in God because God would show up and deliver.  Their faith was initiated by God's faithfulness.
   Could the same be said of us today?  What is our faith grounded in?  What do we believe in?  Do we believe God when he says he will deliver us?  When we are told it will be all right, in the end?  Do we believe in life over death?  What about when our spouse gets sick?  When there are complications at birth?  When we see a parent lose a child?  What is our testimony of God in the modern conflicts and wars in which we are engaged?
   Easter marks the greatest moment of God's faithfulness to us.  God delivers in a mighty way.  Along with inspiring music and great fellowship, we'll begin a new teaching series around faith,  Unwavering Faith in an Uncertain World.  I want to teach on how to face the toughest of situations with our faith not only intact, but stronger than ever!
   I have faith I'll see you Sunday!  Scott

We Must Have a Goal In Mind

   I am adamant about this; we must have an end in mind when we start a thing.  We must continually return to that goal as we move along, otherwise we will begin to veer from why we exist.  We are stewards of the resources around us and must choose wisely with every decision in order to get the most of our what we have in order to achieve what we want.
   I believe our church is about shaping and inspiring people to go into the world as followers of Jesus Christ living lives of significance.  This is our goal.  This is the hoped-for end.  This is the product our process is seeking to create: lives of significance.  Jesus called it abundant living (John 10:10).
   I offer these three examples of how we are doing:

• Jack Phillips dropped by the church office about two weeks ago to talk some about church finances.  Jack started this year as the Finance Committee Chairperson, and is doing a great job of learning and leading us.  I was coming in from a hospital visit, and he had to wait a few minutes.  After we had talked for just a short time, he explained  that he needed to leave for his next appointment, as he is a part of the American Cancer Society's Road to Recovery program.  He was carrying someone undergoing treatment to their next appointment.  While Jack is a leader within our church, he is just as committed to serving outside the church.  
• Mandy Revell spent some time with 215 dogs last weekend because it is one way she can honor her grandfather and change the world, too.  After serving as a board member for the local Relay for Life and often being the volunteer that had to turn away pets from the annual May event, she decided to organize a fundraising event that would include our "best friends" in a great cause.  The 3nd Annual Relay for Dogs held last Saturday, the event Mandy dreamed up, was another amazing chapter in a story of how to combine passion with purpose.  This is living with significance.  
• Barbara Stubbs heard about a project getting started down at Rose Hill UMC and wanted to be a part of it.  That was just over a month ago, and this past Thursday the part she played was to gather a group from Epworth UMC to prepare and serve meals to nearly 100 hungry persons who live around and/or call Rose Hill home.  Everyone was welcomed by name and given cups of hot, delicious soup, bottles of water, a bag with food for now, and another with groceries for later.  All in the name of Christ.  The best part was that it happened because Barbara inspired others to join her: lives of significance are lived in community!

   I am inspired by the abundant living I see.  May we all invest the abundance we have received into living the desires God has for us.  Grace and Peace, Scott