Day 23: Congregational Excellence
Posted: May 16, 2013 Filed under: 40 Day Walk With God, Bishop's Blog | Tags: annual conference, bishop mcalilly, Epistle to the Philippians, god, jesus, lord, paul, philippians, Prayer, TNUMC 1 Comment
Philippians 4:11-13
I’m not saying this because I need anything, for I have learned how to be content in any circumstance. I know the experience of being in need and of having more than enough; I have learned the secret to being content in any and every circumstance, whether full or hungry or whether having plenty or being poor. I can endure all these things through the power of the one who gives me strength.
Balance is always a problem because there seems to always be more of something than something else. Paul was able to find balance where ever he found himself planted…even when he is under arrest.
He reminds us that he has had plenty and he has had nothing. Finding that balance is important, and Paul was able to find balance between his relationship with Christ, the people he loved, and his situation.
In our congregations, it has been my experience that those Christ followers that manage to find a balance between jobs, families, culture, worship, prayer life and concerns have the ingredients to cause the kingdom to become closer at hand.
So, how does one or a group of “ones” find that balance?
I believe that the key to finding this balance, which was exemplified by Paul’s state of contentment, is by putting first things first.
Let us seek first the kingdom of God, let us pray continuously, let us do what it takes to balance our spiritual lives with our physical lives…let us be healthy, as both individuals and congregations, so that we are able to love God and love the neighbors Christ has given us.
Prayer: Lord, help us to focus, and help us to set our priorities to bring balance to our being. Amen.
The Rev. Stephen Webb
Chairperson, Fellowship of Local Pastors & Associate Members-Memphis Conference
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REFLECTIONS FOR THE DAY | Use a program on your computer, a traditional journal, or feel free to use the comment section of this blog post to record your reflections as a conversation with others…
READ – What spoke to me as I read today’s meditation?
REPENT – Where is God showing me that I have failed to be obedient to the call to discipleship today?
RECEIVE – What words of redemption and grace is God offering to me?
REMEMBER – Who and what is God calling me to remember in prayer related to today’s reading?
RESPOND – How is God calling me to respond today?
RESOURCES:
> DOWNLOADS – 40 Day Walk prayer guide (.PDF), 40 Days of Doodles kids journal (.PDF)
> CLICK HERE for sermon starters/suggestions
Day 22: Pastoral Excellence
Posted: May 15, 2013 Filed under: 40 Day Walk With God, Bishop's Blog | Tags: annual conference, bishop mcalilly, christianity, god, hebrews, jesus, TNUMC 4 Comments
Hebrews 10:24
“Let’s also think about how to motivate each other to show love and to do good works.”
For a couple of years I volunteered to be an adult mentor to children in a local elementary school. Many of the children I met with on my weekly visits lived in the Settle Court housing project, which used to be one of most dangerous places to live in Nashville. Every Tuesday I would leave my office and drive to the school and spend two hours talking with children and reading to them.
One of the children I met each week was a little boy named Daniel. Daniel had unruly blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes and an unpredictable personality. Daniel could be cheerful or he could be angry and disagreeable; he was often sent to the principal’s office for misbehaving. But over the weeks of meeting with him we developed a bond of trust.
One Tuesday Daniel bounced into the office, saw me and said, “I knew you would come; you always keep your promises.” There were many Tuesdays when I was too busy to go to the school and I would start to make mental excuses for staying at work, but I would hear Daniel’s voice in my head saying, “I knew you would come.” Those words always motivated me to get in my car and drive to the school.
The world in which we live is broken and in need of healing. The world is in need of the transforming love of Jesus Christ. The world does not need a church that is perfect; the world needs a church that can be counted on to show up, a church that is motivated to show love and do good works.
Prayer reflection: Pray for the places in your neighborhood that could be transformed by the love of Christ. Consider a prayer walk through your church’s neighborhood.
The Rev. Ken Edwards
Chairperson, Order of Elders-TN Conference
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REFLECTIONS FOR THE DAY | Use a program on your computer, a traditional journal, or feel free to use the comment section of this blog post to record your reflections as a conversation with others…
READ – What spoke to me as I read today’s meditation?
REPENT – Where is God showing me that I have failed to be obedient to the call to discipleship today?
RECEIVE – What words of redemption and grace is God offering to me?
REMEMBER – Who and what is God calling me to remember in prayer related to today’s reading?
RESPOND – How is God calling me to respond today?
RESOURCES:
> DOWNLOADS – 40 Day Walk prayer guide (.PDF), 40 Days of Doodles kids journal (.PDF)
> CLICK HERE for sermon starters/suggestions
Day 21: God’s Transforming Presence – Offering Christ to a Hurting World
Posted: May 14, 2013 Filed under: 40 Day Walk With God, Bishop's Blog | Tags: 40daywalk, annual conference, bishop, bishop mcalilly, god, holy spirit, jesus, memphis, tennessee, TNUMC 1 Comment
John 14: 25-26 (Read verses 15-27)
I have spoken these things to you while I am with you. The Companion, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I told you.
We begin our Christian journey, as we respond to the invitation of Jesus to “Come, follow me.” Each of us in our own way responded, “Yes, I will follow you.” We never know where our simple response to the call of God in Christ will lead, or what it will offer to us in terms of challenge and fulfillment.
Jesus, who had compassion for the crowds, does not add another layer of “you should” to the invitation to follow him. For the invitation is first to “Come follow and come receive.” The promise is that through the power of the Holy Spirit we will be guided, taught, empowered, and sustained in every step we take with Jesus. So we claim our full inheritance as children of God and begin living a life of trust and fulfillment. The Incarnation is made real in us as we become a holy chalice to carry the Transforming Presence of God everywhere we are called to go.
The invitation of Jesus to every disciple is, “Come follow and together we will go where the wounds are.” That’s where Jesus always goes and there the Transforming Presence will heal wounds, and reveal God’s Kingdom. The invitation is “Come, walk with me, and see what the power of God can do when we walk together.” Our response? “I will follow you and share the Transforming Presence of God wherever you lead me, for I am yours.”
In Your Time of Prayer: Remember, reflect upon and give thanks for your call to follow Jesus. Give thanks for God’s love for you and desire to live with you and within you as you ask where God is leading you today. In joyful gratitude offer your life anew to God in Christ as you decide again to walk with Jesus for all time and wherever God leads.
Write and record your response and commitment so it will be remembered.
Bishop Reuben Job, Retired
Author and Leader in Spiritual Formation and Prayer
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REFLECTIONS FOR THE DAY | Use a program on your computer, a traditional journal, or feel free to use the comment section of this blog post to record your reflections as a conversation with others…
READ – What spoke to me as I read today’s meditation?
REPENT – Where is God showing me that I have failed to be obedient to the call to discipleship today?
RECEIVE – What words of redemption and grace is God offering to me?
REMEMBER – Who and what is God calling me to remember in prayer related to today’s reading?
RESPOND – How is God calling me to respond today?
RESOURCES:
> DOWNLOADS – 40 Day Walk prayer guide (.PDF), 40 Days of Doodles kids journal (.PDF)
> CLICK HERE for sermon starters/suggestions
Greater Things Are Yet To Be Done 