Gleanings…

Are you happy with how your life has turned out?  Satisfied?  Content?  Or do you, like so many others, feel there is something missing?  Marketers and manufacturers would have you to believe that, indeed, you are dissatisfied with your life as you are currently living it.  Furthermore, they also want to convince you that they have just the thing to relieve your dissatisfaction and give you joy.  Any guesses as to what it might be? 

Our society is able to sustain a growing economy by constantly telling us that we cannot be happy with anything less than the newest version of anything.  Fashion, electronics, transportation, and home style are a few of the areas where the best is always the next model or style.  Manufacturers and service providers also want us to believe that our happiness hinges on being the first to possess the newest and best whatever.  The minute anyone else purchases a newer model, our happiness comes to an end.  This can lead to a sense of frustration that can grow into depression.

A few years ago, I watched a movie titled, City Slickers, staring Jack Palance (Curly) and Billy Crystal (Mitch), and others, who played the parts of a grizzled trail boss and a New Yorker who has lost his joy in life.  Curly could see that Mitch had lost his joy and sense of meaning for his life.  Curly tells Mitch that he needs to find “the one thing” that is most important in his life.  When Mitch asks what “the one thing” is, Curly responds that he will have to discover it for himself.  This leads us back to the opening question: Are you happy with how your life has turned out?

One factor that is essential for creating new/stronger disciples of Jesus is a holy discontent with how one’s life is turning out.  When actions seem pointless and any improvement in the circumstances of one’s life seems unlikely, one begins to ask questions and seek alternative answers.  At that point in time, a nudge from God can provide just enough motivation to seek new answers.

I will be preaching a summer series this year drawing upon a book by Lois Tverberg titled, Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus.  As we go through the summer (14 weeks) we will look at Jesus’ teachings from the perspective of a 1st century Jew.  We will learn new ways of understanding what Jesus’ words meant to those around him and how that understanding impacted their lives.  We will also see what impact their understanding can have on our lives today.  And maybe, just maybe, we will discover something that adds a new zest for living as a disciple of Jesus.  Please share your thoughts with me about what the material teaches as we journey through these weeks.

Grace and peace,

Braxton ><>

Gleanings…

As I write this article, I am completing my sixth week of forced, limited movement.  It has been quite the experience and not one I would wish on anyone else.

If this accident has taught me anything, it is how much we need each other.  You know what I am talking about.  Times when we are broken physically or spiritually are overcome only by the grace and mercy of God, often through others.  Helping hands, comforting and assuring hands are what enable us to have the necessities of life.  Without others, we lose the ability to overcome the adversities to providing what is necessary for life.  We need one another.

Jesus speaks of our need for connection.  Using the image of a grape vine, he says we need to be connected to him.  He is the vine and we are the branches.  He supplies the nourishment and we produce fruit.  Every vine must have roots and Jesus speaks of his connection to his Father and how our fruit-bearing glorifies God.  It is one great system for feeding the world with fruit that lasts, that nourishes and sustains life in all of us.

We are each branches of the vine.  Collectively we are responsible for bearing fruit that nourishes the people in our communities and beyond.  Whether we know the people who live around us or not, we offer a source of fruit that is nourishing for their lives.  That fruit can be helping, caring, feeding, sharing, understanding, and loving to name but a few.  These are the things that people need whether they will admit it or not—whether they will receive it or not.

Those most familiar with grape production say that vines need great care.  Vines must be lifted up out of the dirt to prevent rot and enable growth.  Vines must be pruned to promote the production of fruit.  There is more to this than I can speak of, but I can see by what I do know that we are each part of the process of caring for the vine.

Our expressions of care and concern for one another serve to keep the vine lifted out of the dirt.  Sharing what God is doing in our lives serves to promote growth which leads to fruit-bearing.  It is this fruit that we then take with us to feed others.  We feed others in conversations and acts of kindness and mercy.  Our fruit is evident in the ways we respond to adversity and challenge.  It is evident in the ways we care for brokenness.  It is evident in the ways that we share our love and enable healing.  Everything we do shares the fruit that we produce through our connection to Jesus.

In the end, if it were not for Jesus and how he is present in all of us, we would not be able to bear much fruit.  The daily reminders of God’s provision for our lives—God’s gifts of healing, help, and hope—enable us to work for the best future for all.  We serve to assure others that God cares for them in their situations.  When others, who may not know God, experience mercy, forgiveness, compassion, and consolation, they taste the fruit that God so richly provides to all of God’s children.

And so, it comes down to this: I need you, you need me, and you need each other.  Together we provide nurture and care to one another.  Together we care for the vine that we might produce much fruit—fruit that will last.  Together we are responsible for carrying that fruit into the world to feed those who hunger and thirst for justice.  Together we enable this world to be the expression of God’s love realized.  Together we proclaim peace.  May it be so.

Grace and peace,

Braxton ><>

April 29, 11:00 a.m.

Everyone is welcome to join this special service of worship and praise through music.

Enjoy homemade soups, salads, and desserts and fun fellowship following the worship service.

Gleanings…

Imagine you have just come home from being away.  Tired, you pick up the mail, let yourself into your home, and flip on the lights.  Settling into a chair to look at the mail, you notice that one envelope is not a bill and not an advertisement, and it feels thicker than most letters.  Addressed to you in a personal hand, there is no return address.  Opening the letter, a number of pages fall out.  Picking them up you read,

My Dearest Child,

I have wanted to write you for so long.  I have watched you as you have dealt with challenges and trials, struggled with making a way in this world, and been battered by events you could not have foreseen or avoided.  I am proud of the way you have persevered.  Though it has not been easy, and many times you have felt like giving up, you did not and chose instead to try again.

You look at the other pages and you see a narrative of your life.  Moments and events you never thought anyone would ever know about, interspersed with notations of help given.  Amazed, you find that the times where something went well, things worked out, and you actually caught a break are the times when the author indicates that you were reassured, consoled, comforted, and given a bit of rest by the love and care of others.

Astounded at the amount of detail, you turn back to the letter.  After a couple of paragraphs of encouragement, the author writes,

Please know that I will always be with you.  I am always available to talk; call anytime.

Father

P.S.  I love you.  -F-

Sounds a little fanciful, but the truth is that our Father does indeed watch over us and help us in ways that seem more accidental than intentional.  Few, if any, of us live lives that are free of trials, disappointments, and brokenness.  Yet, we live on because we know the source of our strength.

As we look to be renewed with lives filled with the joy of resurrection, take some time to look around at your family, friends, and neighbors.  Who is struggling?  Who needs a word of encouragement?  Who just needs a break from the daily grind?  Can you reach out to build a relationship that allows you to share God’s love with them?  We need each other more than we like to admit.  May God lead you to where someone who needs to know his love can experience it through you.

Christ is risen!  Christ is risen, indeed!

Braxton  ><>

Gleanings…

With the closing ceremonies of last Sunday night, the 2018 Winter Olympics ended for this year.  I love to watch the athletes competing in the various sports; they are so amazing with what they have learned to do.  It is humbling to see some put so many years into training and fund raising, sacrificing personal lives for the opportunity to compete, only to wash out of competition on their first day.  Would I dare to compete knowing that it could all be over in a couple of minutes?

What makes us strive so?  No matter whether we are talking about a sports competition, an art form, or possessing the best of anything, people are constantly striving to be acclaimed as the best.  As I said for the Ash Wednesday meditation, I am not convinced that it is just for the medal or to have their team or sponsoring country honored.  I believe there is something much simpler driving the athletes to compete; I believe many compete just for love of the game.

What does that say to us?  As followers of Christ Jesus, just as for the Olympic athletes, we find there are many temptations to personal power, influence, or possessions.  All of these have the potential to direct our efforts in ways that have nothing to do with transforming hearts.  We must always guard against letting our efforts showcase what we can do lest we close the door on a personal encounter with the one who makes it possible to overcome our brokenness and failings.  Only Jesus can lead people to know there is healing for past decisions, help for present difficulties, and hope for moving forward.

So, what should we do?  What steps can we take to protect us from acts that put ourselves forward?  First, I believe we need to stay connected to a community of Christ followers who will challenge us to grow spiritually.  Such a group would help us examine our motives behind what we do, say, and think.  Such a group, whether a small group or a congregation, would stress the need to love God most of all, and love every person, place, and thing that God has made.

Because this can be so difficult, we need to expect that same group to help us live this way continuously.  Remembering that it was God’s love that turned our lives around, we will better be able to share the truth that only God’s love will help those around us.  Thus, we cannot be a Christ follower and expect accolades.  If we are not doing this for the love of Jesus, our hearts are in the wrong place and God’s love is not in us.

As we continue through this season of Lent, let’s ask God to surround us with dedicated Christ followers who can help us to grow more and more in love with him.  May Jesus’ name be praised in every aspect of our lives.

Grace and peace,

Braxton ><>

— JOIN THE CHALLENGE! —

We invite you to join us for our 2018 Lent Challenge.

We invite the community to join us
by doing 40 acts of kindness during Lent.
Feb. 14 – March 31. 

Help us share God’s love and kindness in our community! 

You are invited to the – He Chose the Nails Bible Study!

Each Sunday beginning February 18th at 10:00 AM

Gleanings…

Welcome to February, the month where we begin to lose our fascination with cold weather and begin looking at seed catalogs and vacation options.  February is also the month of Valentine’s Day which, for the first time that I can remember it happening, falls on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  A word to the wise: Do not get the idea that this lets you off the hook for surprising your sweetheart with flowers and candy.  Instead, you will be able to further demonstrate your deep love and affection for each other with ashes on your foreheads.  Imagine the witness you will be when you go out to dinner later!

Lent is for the spirit what breaking up the ground is for a garden.  Lent gives us the opportunity to prepare our hearts to remember the gifts of Holy Week and Easter.  Remembering our Lord’s journey to the cross and to resurrection enables us to share God’s love with people who are suffering with shame and doubt.  The journey to Golgotha, and through the tomb to the resurrection, removes every doubt whether God knows our pain and has suffered as we do.  Indeed, God is with us in every matter.

Years of little more than egg hunts and bunnies has dulled the Easter message of God’s love for creation.  As we enter the season of Lent this year, let us ask God to grow a new message of hope in us.  Participate in a Bible study, spend time reading devotional materials, share what God has done and is doing in your life with a trusted group of friends.  In this way, remember and rehearse the love of God so that you will be able to share it when someone asks you about Easter.  And, above all else, pray that God will enable you to sense the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you are directed to those who need to hear the message of God’s love for them.

Easter comes at a beautiful time of the year.  Let’s get ready for it by preparing our lives to be beautiful expressions of God’s love throughout this year.

Grace and peace,

Braxton ><>

Looking for a new way to serve in the community this year? 

We partner with Burks UMC and St. Alban’s Episcopal Church to provide a meal and serve the homeless in our community.  All are welcome to join us.  Meet at First Baptist Church downtown the 2nd Thursday of each month at 5:30 p.m. to prepare the food and 6:00 p.m. to serve the meal and then clean up after the meal.  This is a wonderful way to reach out a share God’s love and kindness with those in need.