Word on the Street

This past weekend I attended three very different worship experiences. Most weekends I attend four unique worship services at Grace Avenue but this was different in that I did not lead at any of the services I attended. I came away renewed by each experience.

The first worship service was Saturday evening in Ennis, TX. It was the wedding of our Co-Youth Minister Christopher Vaughan and his beautiful bride Caitlin. Often we forget that a marriage ceremony, in the Christian context, is first of all a service of worship. Christopher and Caitlin did not forget. Instead they chose to honor God and begin their life together with prayer and praise. Dr. Jim Moore did a beautiful job of leading the service and the most touching part for me came when we all walked to the front of the sanctuary and were served Holy Communion by the bride and groom.

Sunday morning at 9:09 am (that is the starting time, not the time I arrived just in case you were wondering) I attended a new worship experience at St. Andrew UMC called The Well. It too was prayer and praise but with an ultra contemporary style. Those who led the worship were all in their 20's and their passion for their faith in Jesus was extremely evident. Although different from what I am accustomed to, I felt very much welcomed and in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Rev. Arthur Jones preached a terrific sermon called "Storage Wars: the battle for our hearts" in which he spoke about the passage from Matthew 6:21 which says "where your treasure is there will your heart be also." Yes friends, even the ultra contemporary talk about stewardship and the proper uses of God's resources including money in church. I was blessed by the whole experience.

By 11:00 am I was back home; at Grace Avenue. Here I was blessed to be involved in the baptism of an eight month old child. Then I was able to sit where you sit, sing where you sing and pray where you pray. It was an amazing experience. Joe Stobaugh's sermon from Job about the presence and wisdom of God brought it all together for me.

It reminded me that every week, actually every day, God is worshipped in a variety of styles, languages and places. We would do well to remember that the Lord's Prayer does not begin with the words: "My Father" but rather, "Our Father". I thank God that we can express our love for God in so many ways.

 

Where and how will you be expressing your love for God this week?

Word on the Street

Do you ever find yourself wishing you could trade places with someone else? It is easy sometimes to look out on the lives of others and declare: "Well sure I could do what they do if I had what they have." With such beliefs, envy and jealously soon creep into our lives. We become bitter and believe that the inequity of life is some kind of cosmic cruelty toward us.

At other times we count our blessings on the troubles of others. We say; "Life is not all I want it to be but at least I'm not having the problems of some others I know." With this approach we often become fatalistic. We wonder when will it be our turn to experience misery and suffering.

 

The bottom line is that we cannot live someone else's life. This is why Jesus taught us not to judge others (Matthew 7: 1-5) and to "Seek first the Kingdom of God." (Matthew 6:33). We must be faithful to the course that God has charted for us.

 

When Albert Einstein was making the rounds of the speaker's circuit, he usually found himself eagerly longing to get back to his laboratory work. One night, while driving to yet another dinner, Einstein mentioned to his chauffeur (a man who somewhat resembled Einstein in looks and manner) that he was tired of speechmaking.

"I have an idea, boss," his chauffeur said. "I've heard you give this speech so many times, I'll bet I could give it for you."

Einstein laughed loudly and said, "Why not? Let's do it!"

When they arrived at the dinner, Einstein donned the chauffeur's cap and jacket and sat in the back of the room. The chauffeur gave a beautiful rendition of Einstein's speech and even answered a few questions expertly.

Then a supremely pompous professor asked an extremely esoteric question about antimatter formation, digressing here and there to let everyone in the audience know that he was nobody's fool.

Without missing a beat, the chauffeur fixed the professor with a steely stare and said, "Sir, the answer to that question is so simple that I will let my chauffeur, who is sitting in the back, answer it for me."

Who's life are you trying to live this week?

Word on the Street

For the past several weeks we have been very excited to see the progress on the outside of the new building. It is beautiful outside and we are thrilled with the way it looks when people drive by or onto the property. You may, however, be wondering about how things are progressing on the inside. This weekend at church you will have an opportunity to see firsthand the great progress that is being made on the inside of the new building.

The building committee of Grace Avenue United Methodist Church will be hosting tours of the inside of the new building this weekend. Tours will be Saturday night before and after the 5:30pm service and Sunday morning continuously from 8:15am-12:30pm. The tours will be guided by members of the building committee. Please check in for your tour in the learning center lobby. Each tour should last around 15-20 minutes.

While on your tour, you will have opportunities to see the various rooms in the new building, ask questions about the new building and continue to see opportunities of furnishings that the new building will need. If you have not yet made your from the heart commitment, brochures and commitment forms will be available. Please be reminded that on many of our furnishings, we have several weeks of lead time for ordering those items, therefore, the sooner we can get commitments for our furnishings, the sooner they can be ordered.

I want to thank the building committee for their hard work on this great project and for volunteering to lead these tours. What you see on the outside is just a glimpse of how great everything is and how wonderful it is on the inside. Join us for guided tours of the new building this weekend!

Word on the Street

Last week in worship we continued to talk about The Divine Check Up. Proverbs 3 offered us a "prescription" for spiritual health. The prescription included: Trust God, Honor God and Keep the commandments.

We were reminded that trusting, or leaning on God is not a crutch, but instead is the thing that gives us true freedom and wholeness.

Dave Nash offers Seven Beatitudes of a Growing Faith. They are:

Blessed are those who have daily dialogue with God.
Their faces will shine like the sea.
Blessed are those who depend upon the Lord.
They shall throw away their crutches.
Blessed are those whose faith moves them to compassion.
They will warm our hearts and teach us to love ourselves.
Blessed are those who persevere.
Their courage will give us hope; their patience will calm our fears.
Blessed are those who trust in the living God.
Their joy in worship will light our path.
Blessed are those whose love of the church reveals deep faith.
They shall see the living God.
Blessed are those whose faith erupts in mission.
Their witness will show us the power of God.

Have you filled the prescription yet?

Word on the Street

Wisdom is the application of knowledge. In some respects wisdom comes with work. Wisdom is not a magic potion or something you buy off a shelf. It is a desirable commodity but it is not a pre-packaged instant mix product.
Migan McKenna tells this great parable about the wise process of getting the things we desire.
"Sometimes, good advertising is a matter of planting good seeds, as did the woman who wanted peace in the world and peace in her heart, but was very frustrated. The world seemed to be falling apart. She would read the papers and get depressed.
One day she decided to go shopping, and she went into a mall and picked a store at random. She walked in and was surprised to see Jesus behind the counter. She knew it was Jesus because he looked just like the pictures she'd seen on holy cards and devotional pictures. She finally got up her nerve and asked, Excuse me, are you Jesus?

I am.

Do you work here?

No, I own the store.

Oh, what do you sell here?

Just about everything, Jesus said. Feel free to walk up and down the aisles, make a list, see what it is you want and then come back and we'll see what we can do for you.

She did just that, walked up and down the aisles. There was peace on earth, no more war, no hunger or poverty, peace in families, no more drugs, harmony, clean air, careful use of resources. She wrote furiously. By the time she got back to the counter, she had a long list. Jesus took the list, skimmed through it, looked up at her and smiled. No problem. And then he bent down behind the counter and picked out all sorts of things, stood up and laid out the packets. She asked, What are these?

Seed packets, Jesus said. This is a catalog store.

She said, You mean I don't get the finished product?

No, this is a place of dreams. You come and see what it looks like, and I give you the seeds. You plant the seeds. You go home and nurture them and help them to grow and someone else reaps the benefits."

What are you doing with the seed packets Jesus is offering you?

Word on the Street

The signs of growth are everywhere at Grace Avenue. Our beautiful new building is a constant reminder that things are changing. In the last four weeks we have received 51 new members to our congregation. At our last Discipleship Council meeting it was confirmed that we would move from four to six worship services in 2013 once the new building is finished and the current Worship Center is renovated. New Bible studies and increased mission opportunities are springing up everywhere and right around the corner our Pumpkins on the Prairie will celebrate its 10^th anniversary.

The companion to this kind of growth is also the addition of new staff members. The Staff-Parish Relations Committee of our church has been working for almost a year to prepare for these important new additions. I would like you to help me in welcoming these newest staff members to Grace Avenue UMC.

Bill Ball is joining our staff as the Adult Minister. Bill is currently a first year seminary student at Perkins School of Theology and will be working on our staff part-time. He has experience in a variety of great churches including Tarrytown UMC in Austin, Highland Park UMC in Dallas and Suncreek UMC in Allen. Bill is a graduate of Centenary College and has a masters from SMU. Bill has a son who is in the third grade. Bill will be working to coordinate aspects of our GROW ministries as they relate to adults. This includes Adult Sunday School classes, Bible Studies, small groups and other adult education opportunities. Bill started at Grace Avenue September 4.

The Rev. Joe Stobaugh is joining the Grace Avenue staff as the Minister of Worship and Arts. Joe is a graduate of University of North Texas and Perkins School of Theology at SMU. He is an ordained deacon in the United Methodist Church and is currently serving at Argyle UMC. Joe is married to Sarah Stobaugh and has two children who are in PreK and 2^nd grade. Joe will be working to design and oversee the six worship services that I mentioned above. He will be working with a variety of groups and ensembles including vocal groups, instrumental groups and worship implementation groups. Joe will begin working at Grace Avenue on October 8.

I am asking you to do two very important things as these changes occur: 

1. Please pray for our new staff members and welcome them in the wonderful spirit of Grace Avenue.
2. Please take time to say thank you to our current staff who continue to do a fantastic job of helping us fulfill our mission to "make disciples and make a difference through Jesus Christ." They continue to lead us as we move into the future of Grace Avenue.

As we move into this new era of the church, the SPRC will continue to examine and fulfill future staffing needs. I am grateful for these wonderful new additions, but most importantly to be part of such a great church.

Word on the Street

This weekend we begin a new message series based on the book of Proverbs in the Bible. Proverbs is considered Wisdom Literature in scripture. This creates within me the question: "What is wisdom? And how do we acquire it?"

The philosopher Socrates once said: "Wisdom begins in wonder."

Hundreds of years later Ralph Waldo Emerson conjectured: "The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common."
 

Proverbs 9:10 declares that, "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."

I've come to believe that we cannot experience true spiritual health without wisdom. Maybe it is time for a check-up. That is what we will be about the next 4 weekends at Grace Avenue; "The Divine Check-Up." Plan to join us as we take and intriguing look at the book of Proverbs.

Are you ready to get healthy?