Gleanings…

Though it is difficult to tell it, fall/autumn has officially arrived.  The problem is that it is still hot—summer-ish, even—for this time of year.  The fact that it has not rained for weeks does mean that I don’t have to worry about mowing the grass as it has already turned a dried-up brown.  Guess I can put the mower away for another year.  A joke from yesterday’s meeting illustrates the point: How can you tell when it is fall in the south?  People put out pumpkins for decoration.  (Nothing else has changed!  Thank you, Anne.)

We cannot say that about the church, though.  Fall brings with it a flurry of preparations for the last quarter of the year.  Charge Conferences, trunk or treat, fall festivals, Christmas cantata rehearsals, Thanksgiving, and Advent preparations for Christmas fill our calendars.  In no time at all, we turn from lazy days of vacation to franticly arranging our calendars in hope of being able to fit it all in.  (Didn’t we do this last year and say that we weren’t going to do this again?  I seem to remember that.)

That being said, what is the most important item on your calendar or checklist?  Most of us have the usual items—decorations to put up, presents to buy and wrap, holiday greetings to family and friends, special events to attend—but all of these should fall in line behind spending time with family and enjoying being together.

Think about it.  Gifts, decorations, and activities mean nothing if there is no one to share them with.  That is why regular gatherings—worship, Bible study, Sunday school, covered dish dinners, and seasonal events (to name but a few) leave us feeling joyful.  Every life has its moments of celebration and sorrow (this season can leave us missing someone).  There are more than enough worries and troubles to go around.  Yet, somehow, being with friends and family leaves us with the feeling that there is a great source of love all around us waiting to fill us and remind us that we are beloved.

So, I am offering a prayer for each one of you as we enter this season.  Take time to be with those you love even if it means allowing something else to go unfinished.  At the end, what will matter most is that you took time to be with family and friends.  Running a deficit in either of those areas?  Try being a friend to someone who you know is also missing their friends and family.  It doesn’t have to be much, just taking time to spend together and share your stories will do so much to change lonely hearts into joyful hearts.

Jesus came to help us know his father and our father better.  If there is one thing that we can agree on about creation, it is that we were created to be in relationships.  Start this holy-day season by setting aside time for being with family and friends, and be joyful.

In the love of God,

Pastor Braxton ><>

Gleanings…

How would you complete this statement: I am a Christian / believer in God / follower of Jesus because _______________? I ask because our answers can change as we live due to changes in health, relationships, occupations, and lifestyle. As our environment changes, so can our thoughts, words, and actions. Therefore, it’s good to check regularly because there may have been a change in our thinking that is not reflected in our words and actions, and vice versa.

Here are a few possible responses (though not an exhaustive list) to consider.

I love God (Jesus / Him).

God healed me (or someone I love).

God helped me (or someone I love).

my family (friends, the Bible, significant other) told me I should.

I see Him as the only hope for our world.

I don’t know (never really thought about it). Let’s talk about this one.

Whatever your answer, it is a good practice to ask yourself why that is your answer. So many things happen in our lives that can affect what we believe and why we believe it. For example, is what you believe a response to something from the past or because of something that happened recently? How is what you believe reflected in your words and actions? If what you believe has no real impact on how you spend your time and your money, do you really believe it?

Here is where this leads: Noted author, Robert Fulghum wrote, “Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.” We may have all the best thoughts and intentions, we may say all the right things, but it will be what we do that people will notice and remember. This is especially true when we identify as people who believe in God and seek to follow Jesus. Thankfully, we have help.

When Jesus told the disciples that he would be returning to his Father, he promised to send another counselor who would be with us to remind us of all that he taught us. By asking for help, we draw upon the promised resource, the Holy Spirit, who helps us to live as Jesus lived. With that assurance of help, and with our desire to draw upon that resource, we can reflect how we have experienced God’s love onto the lives of those around us.

Together, we are the presence of Jesus in the world. He is experienced by others when we live out his love, mercy, compassion, forgiveness, help, and healing. Both our living out his life, and the witness of the lives we touch, give praise to God and lead to a transformed world. So, start your day with a simple prayer for the Holy Spirit to teach you and guide you, and then go through your day with ears listening for his help in all things. I promise you, it will be amazing!

In Christ’s love,
Pastor Braxton ><>

It’s Grandparent’s Day and we’re here to say,  We love our grandparents in a major way.  So sit right down and take a seat,  enjoy your day and all the treats!

A Grandma’s heart is a patchwork of love!

Grandchildren don’t stay young forever, which is good because grandfathers have only so many horse rides in them.

The best babysitters, of coarse, are the grandparents.  You feel completely comfortable entrusting your baby to them for long periods of time, which is why most grandparents flee to Florida!

Grandparents are as necessary to a child’s growth as vitamins.

Grandma – the original “laptop”

Grandfathers are for loving and fixing things.

Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children 

—Proverbs 17:6

National Grandparents Day has more than one origin. Some people consider it to have been first proposed by Michael Goldgar in the 1970s after he visited his aunt in an Atlanta nursing home, Spending $11,000 of his own money in lobbying efforts to have the day officially recognized, he made 17 trips to Washington DC over a seven-year span to meet with legislators.

Others consider Marian Lucille Herndon McQuade, a housewife in West Virginia, to have been the main driver for the day of observance. Throughout the 1970s McQuade worked hard to educate the people about the important contributions senior citizens made and the contributions that they would be willing to make if asked. She also urged people to adopt a grandparent, not for one day a year and not for material giving, but for a lifetime of experience.

In any event National Grandparents Day was finally signed into law by President Jimmy Carter in 1978. Marian McQuade received a phone call from the White House to advise her of this event. Many people believe that National Grandparents Day was inspired by her efforts. A presidential proclamation on September 6, 1979, made this day official – it designated Sunday, September 9, 1979, (being the “first Sunday of September following Labor Day”) as National Grandparents Day.

Each year the President is requested to issue a proclamation to: designate the first Sunday in September after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day; and to call on people, groups and organizations to observe the day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

Bring your family and friends as we honor those with disabilities.

Soup and Salad Lunch after the church service.

 

Saturday, August 24, 2019 — 5:00 p.m.

Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Homemade Ice Cream and lots of goodies. 

Games, Fellowship, and Fun!  Enjoy singing with Edwin Hixson! Bring your instruments and enjoy a casual Jam session together!

All in the Community are Invited!  Come Join the Fun!

Bring a Lawn chair, your family and friend, and enjoy fun and fellowship together!

Fairview United Methodist Church

3901 Hamill Rd, Hixson, TN 37343

 

Gleanings… July 2019

Thought you might enjoy a few quotes and questions that seem to accumulate.  Here are some that have gathered on my desk.  Hope you enjoy them.

“When it comes to change, churches will always worry more about members they might lose than strangers they might bless.”

— Thomas G. Bandy

God loves you.

God is on your side.

God is coming after you.

God is relentless.

The only message of Eugene Peterson’s ministry as related by his son at his funeral.

Don’t let what you do define who you are.

Don’t smack the rock, speak to the rock.

Your focus will determine your flow.

You were created to thrive in a particular environment.

You must let go the past to embrace the future.

Don’t allow your past to dictate your future.

It doesn’t have to be either/or, but both/and.

Above All, Trust in the Slow Work of God

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.  We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.  We should like to skip the intermediate stages.  We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.

Yet it is the law of all progress that is made by passing through some stages of instability and that may take a very long time.  And so I think it is with you.  Your ideas mature gradually.  Let them grow.  Let them shape themselves without undue haste.

Do not try to force them on as though you could be today what time — that is to say, grace — and circumstances acting on your own good will will make you tomorrow.  Only God could say what this new Spirit gradually forming in you will be.

Give our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.

Above all, trust in the slow work of God, our loving vine-dresser.

Amen.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Did anything catch your attention?  Were any questions raised in your heart?  Let me know if you would like to sit and talk about any of these.  I would love to hear your thoughts.

See you Sunday if not before,      Pastor Braxton ><>

Gleanings… June 2019

Some of you may know that I go down to the mall to walk on an irregular basis.  It is a safe place to exercise and it gives me the chance to talk with people.  Actually, I listen more than I talk because most people seem to need that.  Some are widows or widowers, some are divorced, and some are single because they never chose to marry.  Most are older than me and in most cases are happy to have someone listen.  It is a blessing for me as well.

Stopped to talk with one of the older men at the mall the other day and he told me that another one of the “regulars” had just lost his wife after 60 years of marriage.  He told me, “I’m going to take him out to lunch.”  “You know, everyone needs a friend.”  And it struck me that here is the work of God being carried out right in front of me.

We lead incredibly busy lives.  We have appointment calendars at home, at the office, on our smartphones, and on bits of paper stuffed in our wallets and purses.  We then need a system to remind us when it’s time for our next activity.  In the end, we often have little extra time for the sudden opportunities that come our way.  The result of our busy-ness is that we miss opportunity after opportunity to share God’s love with others.

I preach about loving God and loving our neighbor quite often.  This comes from studying the Bible and other texts, and my personal struggle with how to get along with others, particularly those who have objections to how I do things (and I can be very hard-headed about some things).  The conversation that I spoke of earlier has caused me to reconsider my actions.  Is my schedule so important that I am willing to deny God the opportunity to use my presence by being a friend?

When Jesus told the parable of the Samaritan who helped the Jew who was beaten and left for dead (see Luke 10:30-37), his question of who proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers was answered with the statement, “The one who showed him mercy.”  We never know when we may be called upon to extend the hand of help and mercy to another.  In all likelihood, though, it will not appear on any appointment calendar.  Instead it will ask us to respond on the spur of the moment with no regard for what we might have planned.

Have you experienced something like this in your life?  Do you, like me, have a calendar that we use as a barrier to what God might want to do through us?  It is easy to avoid stopping to help the wounded all around us by looking at our appointment calendars and deciding there is not enough time.  My hope, though, is that my friend’s words will bring about a reexamination of how much we use our calendars to avoid interruptions in our lives.

“You know, everyone needs a friend.”  Lord, may we be open to risking a break with our busy schedules in order to be your response to someone who needs a friend today.  Amen.

See you Sunday if not before,

Pastor Braxton ><>

Freedom In Christ Service

Sunday   –   June 30, 2019   –   5:00 p.m.
Celebrate our Freedom in Christ!
Worship together!

Enjoy Ice Cream and Fellowship!
Choral Music, Congregational Hymns, Scripture, Prayer, and Sharing.

All are Welcome!

Fairview United Methodist Church
3901 Hamill Rd.  Hixson, TN 37343

Sunday May 12, 2016

Wishing all the ladies the love and happiness
you so richly deserve!

Proverbs 31:31: “Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”

Proverbs 31:25: “She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.”

Proverbs 31:26: “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”

We are collecting home buckets for needy people in Zimbabwe.

Hands-On Missions for Zimbabwe

The following items should be packed in a new

5-gallon bucket with a lid.

1 bottle hand sanitizer (10 oz. or less)

1 bottle toilet cleaner (24 oz. or less)

1 laundry detergent, liquid or powder (40 loads or less)

1 bottle dish liquid (25 oz. or less)

1 bottle shampoo (15 oz. or less)

1 spray deodorant  (7 oz. or less)

1 bottle antibacterial hand soap (10 oz. or less)

1 roll paper towels (individually wrapped package)

 

Please do not vary from the sizes listed above.

We will be happy to shop for you.  Place your donation

In the offering and mark the envelope – Mission Project

We estimate the items and 1 bucket will cost $18.00

Donations of any amount are appreciated.  Thank You!