Blogging/Preaching Experiment IV: The Work of Christ

For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the HolySpirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and became truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

Last week we took a look at the person of Christ (who he is). Now we turn to the work of Christ (what he has done for us). The Nicene Creed gives a very short summary of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection and puts it all under the heading of “for us and for our salvation”. When we speak of the work of Christ we’re speaking of how he has saved us. Whatever you believe about what Jesus has done for you is called your theory of atonement.

I’ve taken the part of the Nicene Creed that deals with the atoning work of Jesus Christ and I’ve underlined the five major statements it makes about what Jesus did.
- Do all of these events play a role in how Jesus saves us? If so, how?
- What does the creed say about Jesus’ life and ministry? Does anything seem to be missing?

How do you believe that Jesus has saved (atoned, redeemed, justified, etc.) you?

This sermon will be preached on July 5th !
Remember to comment and discuss either by blog, email (beib185@verizon.net) or by paper (“Q&A box” in narthex)

Feel free to comment/discuss on the questions and scriptures posted for the sermon next week. That information is still online and posted on the Narthex bulletin board.

Scriptures
Matthew 20:20-28 John 1:29 Romans 5:6-11 Romans 6: 1-11

Hebrews 2:7-15 Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-10 1 Peter 2:20-25

REMINDER: If you do not have a blogger or gmail or aol username - you can use the username "faithaccokeek" and the password "faithumc" -

the image above is what many archeologists and historians believe to be the earliest depiction of the crucifiction of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Preaching/ Blogging Experiment, part III:

“We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made…
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and became truly human.”

The second part of the creed speaks of Jesus Christ. There are two major important facets of our understanding of Jesus Christ who he is (the person of Christ) and what he has done (the work of Christ).

For now, let’s focus on the person of Christ. Who is Jesus, what is his nature? Is he God, or just another dude? This is what the ancient church had to figure out – in fact they argued about it so much that they had to form a creed about it…

1- Take a look at what the creed says about who Jesus is. What does it tell us? Can you restate it in your own words?
2- What the heck is the difference between “begotten” and “made”?
3- We just got over talking about how God the Father is the creator…how is it then that it is through the Son that all things are made?
4- What does it mean for Jesus to be truly human?
5- Why is it significant that Jesus be both fully human and fully God?

This sermon will be preached on June 28th !
Remember to comment and discuss either by blog (link is on church website – see cover of bulletin) email (beib185@verizon.net) or by paper (“Q&A box” in narthex)

Feel free to comment/discuss on the questions and scriptures posted for the sermon next week. That information is still online and posted on the Narthex bulletin board.

Scriptures
John 1:1-5, 14-18 Philippians 2:1-11 Isaiah 9:1-7
Colossians 2:6-10 Hebrews 1:1-8

Blogging / Preaching Experiment part II - God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth

Okay, so maybe not as much input as I had hoped so far...
But I know you all can do it! I BELIEVE IN YOU (no pun intended).

So here is our next topic that will be preached on June 21st!

“I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.”

The first part of the creed talks about God the Father who is the creator of everything.

Now there’s a lot I could say about the Father in regards to the Trinity. I’m going to skip that for now. Rather I’d like to focus on two basic questions…

1- Theologically and personally, what does it mean for us to call God “Father”?
a. If there is a special relationship between Jesus and the Father, does this have any
significance for us who also call God Father?
b. Personally, do you refer to God as Father in prayer and your devotional life? Does calling
God Father touch your heart in any special way; does it have special meaning for you?
or does the idea of God as Father disturb or upset you in anyway? Is it hard for you to
call God Father?

2- What is the significance of God being the creator of “all that is seen and unseen”?
a. Orthodox Christian belief states that God created “ex nihilo” which means “out of
nothing”. This means that God created the entire universe out of nothing. God didn’t have
all the parts necessary for the planets and stars and everything else and assembled them,
God made everything out of nothing. How is this significant?
b. The creed states that God is creator of both earth and heaven. Typically when we think
of creation, we think of the ocean, the sky and mountains, maybe even ourselves, but
what about the things we don’t see? What about the angels and heaven?
c. When we think about creation, we tend to think about the first two chapters of Genesis
(“In the beginning…”), but God is still creating. God is constantly bringing new things into
existence. Does this challenge or expand your thinking of God as creator in any way?

Another thing to consider…
- Is God necessarily male? Many well-meaning and faithful Christians have wanted to change the way we refer to God from “Father” to ‘Father/Mother God” or “Mother God” (interchangeable with “Father God”) or simply wish to remove any reference to gender in respects to God. What do you think of this?

Scriptures to ponder...
Genesis 1 – 2
Psalm 8
Isaiah 63: 7-16
Isaiah 64: 1-9
Matthew 5:43- 6:15
Luke 11:9-13
Ephesians 4:4-6
1st John 3:1-3

Blogging / Preaching part 1: “I BELIEVE"

The first part of the Apostle’s Creed that we will look at are the very first two words; “I believe”. A Creed, after all, is simply a statement of belief.

So before we enter into the content of what it is we believe, let’s look at just what belief is and how it is we believe. Here are a few questions/discussion starters to get us going.

1) What does it mean to believe something?
2) Is belief the same thing as faith, or is it different? How so?
3) How does what (or who) we believe in affect how we believe?
4) How does a person come to believe in God? (How did YOU come to believe in God?)
5) Any suggestions for hymns or acts of worship?

6) Most importantly...so what? How does this have any meaning for your life, change the way you live or transform the world?

Any other questions or comments that you have – please post or e-mail or put in the question box at church.

Naturally, I'm not asking you to answer all the questions above - they are only posted to get your brains going.

Some scriptures to look at (two or maybe three of these will be used in worship)
Genesis 15:1-7, Exodus 3:7-14, 4:1-9, Numbers 14:1-11
Matthew 21: 18-23, Mark 9:17-24, Mark 16:9-16, Galatians 3:21-25,

Do you have any suggestions for other scriptures? Please let me know!

This topic will be preached on June 14th

Homiletical Blogging.

Hey! Remember that thing I said I was going to do last month?
No?
Wait…you didn’t read my blog last month?
You’ve NEVER read my blog!?!?

all kidding aside, here’s what we’re doing. Yes, WE.

I am posting some general information/reflection/discussion questions about some of our basic beliefs as Christians. Soon (I’m thinking two weeks from now) I will be preaching on the subject.

However, what is going to determine the shape of the sermon and the worship are YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS.

So I either would like you to do one of the following.
1) Post a comment to this blog
2) Leave a comment in the ‘Question and Answer” box on the table in the narthex at church.
3) E-mail me your comment (my e-mail address is on the church website and printed on our Sunday bulletins)

Your comment can include any or all of the following
1) whether you agree or disagree with what I have said about the topic
2) things that you think I have missed
3) questions you have about this topic
4) hymn suggestions
5) Suggestions for prayers or liturgies or anything of the like.
6) Things you have heard from other preachers/ sermons about this
7) How this topic is relevant to your life
8) Anything else pertinent to the discussion

You need not only comment on what I have said. Read the comments of others and respond to them as well!

I pray that we will all enter into this little experiment and see wonderful things arise from it!

The Peace of Jesus be with You!
- Pastor Mike

Holy Week at Faith UMC!

Above are several pictures detailing some notable events from Holy Week (April 9th through the 11th, plus Easter Sunday).

The first is a large wooden cross that I made (all by myself!) with some cannibalized lumber from some old bookshelves from the parsonage basement. I had a lot of fun making this, it felt good to put something together with my own two hands. I used this cross in two different worship services during Holy Week.

On Good Friday, we had a small, short and sweet afternoon service. It culminated in a time of silent confession where each person there wrote a confession of some kind (and no, I did not read any of these besides my own – so I don’t know what people wrote) and proceeded to nail it to the cross. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the passion story that we forget why Jesus died. It was for me, for you and for all. It was to save us from our sins.

2nd Corinthians 5:21 - God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We nailed our sins to the cross to symbolize how Jesus took on the sin of all humanity so that in his death all sin is destroyed.

After the service I took the cross and tried to find a place to set it during our sunrise service on Easter morning. I found a large tree stump on the side of the parsonage with a hole in it. The cross fit perfectly, but as I stuck in there I evidently chased a young blacksnake out of its hiding place and it crawled up into the azalea bush next to the stump.

That really made me think.

God has dealt with sin through the cross of Christ. In the Old Testament, a sin offering was made not to appease God, but to chase sin out of the community by placing the sins of the people on a sacrificial animal that was led away from the city and away from that community. Christ was the sacrifice that chased sin out of the community that is all creation, His sacrifice on the cross chased sin out of existence. And here I was chasing a serpent out of its hole…with a big ‘ol cross.
Hmm….

Anyways on Easter Sunday, during our sunrise service we set the cross in that stump as we burned away those “sins” that we wrote down, symbolizing God’s forgiveness. We then proceeded to “flower” the cross to represent the new life that we now have in Jesus Christ, our crucified and risen savior!

Romans 6:4 (NASB) Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

A Lenten Reflection...sweet...

So I'm getting ready for Good Friday and Easter and I'm getting pretty excited!

I mean, it's my first time doing all this stuff! I pray that it all goes well.

I pray that the Holy Spirit really moves Faith UMC as we gather in worship and fellowship.

One thing that I think is a really Spirit filled activity is the Easter Egg hunt.

Yes, Holy Spirit filled.

Come on! Lil' kids running around trying to find colorful plastic eggs filled with candy?

All the while the adults are watching and laughing and enjoying one-another.

Being a community.

Dare I say, loving one-another as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ?

Any-hoo, I decided to grab some candy to put in these eggs. And as I browsed the shelves, I see why some folks are wary of the commercialization of Easter. They should be, the amount of candy on these shelves was ridiculous...and oh so tasty looking (drooooool...)

As I beheld the image that's posted above, I remembered Jesus and the disciples in the garden, and how Jesus told them "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." (Luke 22:40)

I'm diabetic, if you didn't know. So my parents had to carefully portion my Easter treats (which kinda takes the fun out of it). I'll tell you, to do the same now as a grown-up...it is an exercise in resisting temptation - - and yes, sometimes I fail to do so.

And it happened today, after I came home from the store. No, I didn't eat the candy - that's for the kiddies. It was a pastry...OK it was a Pop Tart. It wasn't even worth it! I traded my health for a cheap and tawdry Pop Tart! But it had that delicious looking strawberry icing and....

...sprinkles.

I didn't even bother to toast it.

I could hear the voice of Jesus say "Pray that you will not fall into temptation."

And I could hear my inner-voice say "quiet, Jesus! I'm too busy pigging out on a Pop Tart to listen to you!"

How should the story end? "And the Lord smoteth Pastor Mike with a diabetic coma, and it was good." or "His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your Pop Tart? Curse Kellogg's and die!" (if you know that Kellogg's makes Pop Tarts it makes that joke funnier - also read Job chapter 2)

Nope. My blood sugar before dinner was 97.

God is good. Sometimes God let's me suffer the consequences of my sin (even little ones like eating a Pop Tart). But often, I find myself reprieved. Forgiven.

I've fallen to temptation before, and to things much more poisonous and degrading than a Pop Tart. I've ignored my Lord too may times when he has said "Pray that you will not fall into temptation."

Good Friday is a day away. When I'm leading services, when I'm talking about what Jesus did on the cross. Will I remember that it's my sin he took from me and took to the cross?

Lord, help me remember my Pop Tart. In fact help me remember all the Pop Tarts. Help me remember all the cheap tawdry things I've turned to, when I could have turned to You.

Don't let me turn away from Jesus when I see him on the cross.

Give me the strength my soul needs to look at him and to listen.

God, too often I've turned away when Jesus has said

"Pray that you will not fall into temptation."

Do NOT let me turn away when he says

"Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:24)