The Lord Defend You with His Heavenly Grace

   Those words begin the prayer offered by the pastor on behalf of the church over the young people who knelt at the communion railing this past Sunday. 

   Confirmation Sunday was the capstone of one pivotal segment of the larger journey of faith for these young people. It is not the end of the journey, any more than any of us can boast we have reached complete perfection or maturity in love and grace, but it was special nonetheless. They stood before us and made commitments to God's Kingdom and to the local church where the Kingdom is being worked out, even now. I ask you to pray for each of these young people again this week that the Lord continue to defend, to bless, and to pour out his Spirit on them.

Austin Andujar

Dylan Glenn

Kyle Johnson

Elizabeth Ledbetter

Alex Mobayyeni

Payton Mobayyeni

Natalie Morris

Reese Phillips

Skylar Smith

Richmond Whittington

Trevor Whittington

Cheyenne Wilson

   The ministry of Confirmation celebrates the promise made at baptism as now being deliberately and thoughtfully received by these confirmands. We are also called on to renew our promises when we responded,

We give thanks for all that God has already done for you and we welcome you in Christian love. As members together with you in the body of Christ and in this congregation of the United Methodist Church, we renew our covenant faithfully to participate in the ministries of the church by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness, that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. 

   May the pure light of God shine around us and through us as we live out such a promise! 

   Grace and Peace, Scott

When Memory Doesn't Fade

   Bubba Watson stole the show in Augusta a week ago, and remains the darling of the sports and entertainment world. The golf-playing, bible-reading, long-haired new father who grew up in the panhandle of Florida won his first major golf tournament and captured hearts around the world. 
   For me, Jack Nicklaus remains the greatest golfer to play the game. Ben Hogan probably had the best swing ever, Arnold Palmer was the first to draw huge crowds, and Tiger Woods the first to go from top of the world to under it in the time it takes to back down a driveway. Above them all, Jack Nicklaus' career and charisma are the standards by which champions are stilled measured. So, when Nicklaus, speaking this week at a charity event in Columbus, Ohio, listed Bubba Watson's shot in the playoff hole at the Masters as one of the best all-time, I took notice. If you are one of the few who has not seen it replayed on television, the 33-year-old UGA graduate was playing the second play-off hole against Louis Oosthuizen. After hitting deep in the woods, and still 164 yards from the pin without a clear shot to the green, Watson executed a miraculous recovery shot with 40 yards of hook and stopped the ball within fifteen feet of the hole. He won and added his name to the annals of history.

   Nicklaus, now 72, was asked to compare Watson's shot from a few days ago to shots he'd hit back in the day. Just minutes after claiming that he cannot remember what happened yesterday, he has perfect recall for some of the great moments from his career. "You can still feel the shot, the way it came off your hands, 30 or 40 years later. I still have that same feeling. I haven't matched it lately. I do know that feeling, though. And it's kind of fun to know what it feels like in golf." 
   We've all had those moments when the ball was struck pure, came off the center of the club face, and went exactly where we wanted. Beyond any game or sport, every person has experienced those moments when everything is just right. When she said Yes. When the baby cries and that is a great thing. When the tests come back negative. When the speech is delivered and people stand to cheer. When the promotion comes and you got it. When the applause is for your child and afterwards they give you the thanks and credit.
   The first disciples were living in just such a moment for the forty days after Easter (see Luke 24 or John 20-21) . The risen Christ was with them regularly, again, and the teaching and fellowship would be like nothing they had ever experienced. It would not last forever. Jesus would ascend to heaven, and they'd be left with the Holy Spirit to boldly go out into a new and hostile world. But, the New Testament  tells of how they were always able to return in their minds to those sweet moments. Those early victories that made the rest possible. 
   What memories do you cherish and return to, often? What moments from your past was God's presence in your life clear and palpable? Consider drawing up a list. Putting pen to paper, draw power from times when things were right and allow it to fuel the next right moments soon to be. Grace and Peace, Scott

People Are Talking About Heaven

   People have been talking about heaven for longer than we have records to show of it. Heaven, some place or idea about where we go when we are no longer here, has been in the conversations of people of faith and those still seeking it for thousands of years.

   The conversations continue. On Easter Sunday we started a series that delves deeply into ideas of who, what, when and where about the place people are talking about. It seems what we started has picked up some national attention, as evidenced by the cover of this coming week's Time magazine for April 16, 2012.
   It was the conversation between Jesus and one of the two bandits/insurgents being crucified alongside of him that opened our conversation. According to Jesus' own words, Easter opens the door to heaven for everyone who believes. It is shocking who is included in the 'everyone who believes', because after further study it seems that the scriptures are regularly counting those the world (and religious leaders) would consider not worthy. The Good News for me, and for you, is that such an opening for persons who are 1) not worthy but who 2) believe in Jesus as Lord, is precisely where our hope is grounded. It is not by my works or any righteous I am able to conjure up myself that the doors at the gates of heaven are left open for me. It is by grace. It is by God's radical economy that says the last shall be first. It is by Jesus' work on the cross and God's power on Easter morning. 
   I want to spend one moment offering encouragement. Come be in worship. You need to hear the message of God's plans for both heaven and earth as they are laid out in the scriptures. But, bring people with you. Reach out to family and friends and invite them. What better month than on the heels of Easter when the teachings are about a topic that is featured in the national media and can be seen in every checkout line in town? 
   Our dream for Epworth is simple: we want to help move people along the journey of faith toward God's best desires for them. Our vision for making that happen is to gather people who are growing in love and going out as great neighbors who serve.
   Grace and Peace, Scott

Easter is Coming

   We’ve been waiting. For those of us who have been traveling on this Lenten Journey toward Easter weekend, anticipation has been rising as it draws closer. We believe Easter is a weekend so significant that we dare not approach it unprepared. However, I’m sort of ready for it finally to arrive. The forty days of wait is so long. That is not to say that I’m completely ready to take in the majesty of hearing the words, “the tomb is empty” or to try and keep pace with those sprinting disciples who leave the garden and run out to tell the world.  I’m just tired of waiting.
   As I read through the Gospel accounts of Jesus as he approaches Jerusalem, I cannot help but want to get to the end of the story. How many times will he tell those disciples how it all turns out? Yet they never hear him. They continue on believing that their way of doing things – which would have had Jesus force himself on people – all the while Jesus is telling them that it will actually be the people who force their way on him. He will be rejected, wrongly accused, brutally treated, and finally killed. He puts it as plain as he can to them, but nevertheless, they are oblivious.
   I’m ready for Easter to finally arrive in the biblical story, so the disciples can see all that God is doing. I want them – like myself – to be made aware of how marvelous is God’s grace, and how amazing is God’s love. But for now, we’ll join Jesus and those disciples on the Mount of Olives and join in with the singing and palm-waving, thinking that the rest is easy. It was not easy for Jesus, and will probably not be for us, but we’ll have to wait some more to learn exactly what all of that means.
   Grace and Peace, Scott