I did NOT make it to the high school I was learning how to do this….post stuff on the church website!  Hopefully I learned the lesson somewhat!

I want you to look at 1 Corinthians 13 with me. I heard this passage preached a whole new way a few years ago.  It changed how I view this passage and how I view my relationship with our Heavenly Father!  The pastor read it something like this:

                God is patient (praise the Lord because sometimes I try His patience)

                God is kind (good because some days all I need is 1 kind word)

                God is not jealous, or boastful or proud…or rude

                God does not demand his own way (He wants it though…but He wants us to willingly follow His ways)

                God does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices with truth

                God never gives up (even when we do….even when all hope is lost)

                God never loses faith and is always hopeful

                God endures through EVERY circumstance (WHICH means he is in the midst of this horrible thing or things that have happened, it means if you walk thru a valley of dark….HE will carry you thru)

I know for some of you this week was just another week.  A week where you feel you don’t fit in or a week where you think this is what true love looks like.  GOD is what true love looks like.  He is all those things above AND more!  We can rest in knowing that like in Psalm 23 that love will carry us in the midst of the pain, heart ache, or his heart will smile when our hearts are smiling!!!! 

Hope to see you at youth on Sunday….read 1 Corinthians 13 this week!

Dear Father~  We thank you for unconditional love.  We thank you for love that surpasses all understanding that we have.  We thank you for the gift of your son, for the gift of grace, and for more.  Please help us to place this passage on our hearts as our special Valentine from you.                                                                                                                      AMEN

“A Hand from Heaven”

“…So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen
you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”     Isaiah 41:10 NIV

It is great to have some helping hands as we go through life. Life is too difficult to be faced alone. All of us need help to live life abundantly. The good news from God’s Word is that there is help available from heaven for each of us. God stands ready to give us the help we need to live faithful and fruitful lives. The verse above speaks to the fact that we do not need to fear because the Lord stands ready to strengthen us, uphold us, and help us with His right hand. That means you and I can count on strength from heaven. Here are some of the ways the Lord stands ready to give us help and Scriptures we can claim as promises for that help.

 The Lord will help us by forgiving our sin.

“If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 

 The Lord will help us by helping us grow.

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation…” 1 Peter 2:2

The Lord will help us by providing for us.

“My God will meet all of your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

 The Lord will help us by guiding us.

“He [the LORD] guides me in paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake.” Psalm 23:3

The Lord will help us by causing all things to work together for good for us.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

The above is not an exhaustive list of the ways God wants to help us. However if we will pray these promises and meditate on them I believe each of us will receive a “helping hand from heaven.” 

All for Jesus,

Pastor Tim

Amzd2t@live.com

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
- St. Paul, Philippians 4:8 NLT

What do you think 2012 will bring to you, your family, and AUMC? Will it be a year filled with blessing or difficulties? Will this New Year bring fresh victories or defeats? Will it be a year of plenty or lack? Will 2012 be a year of joy or sadness?

The truth is that in the New Year each of us will experience some blessings and difficulties, victories and defeats, times of plenty and lack, health and sickness. Each year that passes is a mixed bag filled with both joys and sorrows.

I believe the key to getting through our mixed bag years as “more than conquerors” has to do with our minding our thoughts. What
we allow our minds to “fix” on will either help us or hurt us, bless us or curse us. We need to learn to mind our thoughts.

Our thoughts are powerful. They shape the course of our lives. Many of us live far below our God given potential because our thinking has limited our ability to trust God, trust others, and believe that God could use us in Kingdom enlarging and enhancing ways.

In a book entitled Power Thoughts Joyce Meyers has a quote that reminds us how powerful our thoughts are…

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”
- Anonymous

So brothers and sisters are you minding your thoughts? I confess that this last year I didn’t always do a good job of minding my own thoughts. As a result, I struggled inwardly at times. I know that in 2012 I need to do a better job guarding against a negative mindset that limits my ability to partner with the Lord in what He is doing in me, my family, AUMC, the community and the world.

St. Paul urges us in the verse from Philippians quoted above to “fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure…” One way to do that is to spend time meditating on and filling our minds with the promises of God as recorded in Scripture. You see it is not enough to avoid negative thoughts we must fill our minds with good thoughts. Spending time in prayer, praise, thanksgiving, and Scripture are powerful ways of minding our thoughts.

I urge you for your own sake, for your family’s sake, and for the sake of the kingdom to mind your thoughts in 2012!

All for Jesus,
Pastor Tim

• The faithful gathered outside the temple praying while Zechariah visits unexpectedly with the angel Gabriel.
• Mary submitting to God’s plan for her life, which is the essence of worship.
• The baby John leaping with joy in his mother Elizabeth’s womb at the presence of Mary and her unborn Son.
• Elizabeth being filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaiming loud praise when Mary shows up on her door.
• Mary’s breaking out in a song of praise in response to Elizabeth’s recognition that she was the mother of the Messiah.
• Zechariah, after naming John, found he could once again speak and his first words were words of praise to God.
• Angels filling the skies around Bethlehem with praise and song while announcing the good news of Jesus’ birth to the shepherds.
• The shepherds praising the Lord after finding Jesus lying in a manger.
• Simeon praying and then blessing Mary, Joseph, and Jesus upon meeting them in the temple.
• Anna giving thanks to God for Jesus when she comes upon Him in the temple
• The Magi bowing down and worshipping Jesus when they found Him with Mary in Bethlehem.
• Mary pondering and treasuring all these things in her heart.

The Christmas story is in large measure the story of God’s people passionately worshiping. In the story, they
each demonstrate a willingness to draw near to God and passionately worship.

This Christmas season will we take time to draw near to the Lord? Will we take time to passionately worship the Lord? As we draw near and passionately worship the Lord, God can use us each to bring His Son into the world afresh.

All for Jesus,
Pastor Tim

Over the past few weeks, I have been amazed at the power of connecting. Life and power come from connecting with God and each other. Here are some examples of the power of connecting…

Aimee Simons, our new Children’s Director, has developed a team of more than a dozen individuals who are willing to work in the Nursery during our Sunday morning services. Aimee made contact with these folks and asked them to help. There’s power in connecting!

Tracey Zimmerman, our Youth Director, had a “holy nudge” to have a prayer service after the tragic accident, which took the lives of the four young men from our community. Tracey put a blurb about the prayer service on Facebook and the next evening AUMC’s Sanctuary was filled to overflowing with hurting folks who wanted to gather to pray and remember these young men. There’s power in connecting!

A group of guys got together recently and made some repairs on the house of one of our widows. The materials were paid for by one of our Sunday School classes. Because of those repairs, the house will now be winterized by a federal grant. There’s power in connecting!

A few days ago, we were in need of a lot of breakfast food to feed around 100 hungry college students who had gathered for Christian Campus House. We sent out an e-mail and made a plea for help during service and you provided enough food to feed all those students. There’s power in connecting!

This past Sunday at a Pie Auction after the Carry-in there were 75 donated pies auctioned off by Gary Crum and Walt Krohn. Over $ 5,000 was raised which will go to help pay for the Bell Choir’s bells to be refurbished. There’s power in connecting!

At our Unity Service, five young people confessed their faith in Jesus as their Savior and Lord.  They wanted to make their confession because of the investment of family, friends, Sunday School teachers, and Youth team members, which God used in a powerful way in their lives. There’s power in connecting!

Because there’s power in connecting, it is important to ask ourselves a couple of questions…

1.)   Have I connected to God today through worship, prayer, and being in the word? (We serve others best when we are serving out of the overflow of what God is doing in our own lives.)

2.)   Who is God calling me to connect with in a life giving, life transforming way? (There is someone God is calling each of us to connect with and we will be missing out on some of the joy God has for us if we miss the connection.)

Brothers & Sisters let’s remember there’s power in connecting!

All for Jesus,
Pastor Tim
Amzd2t@live.com

The renewed emphasis on these practices has been life giving to me. I think God is using these practices to help us all get on the same page with Himself and each other.

I have also spent some time recently thinking about Advent and the Christmas story. I think we can see each of the Five Practices demonstrated in the Christmas story and at this time of year. However, two of the practices really stand out to me in relationship to the Advent and Christmas- Radical Hospitality and Extravagant Generosity. Let me explain…

Radical Hospitality is demonstrated in a variety of ways in the Christmas story. The most important is that God sent Jesus to be God with us and in doing so issued an invitation to all of us , an invitation to a relationship with God.

What are some practical ways you and I can prepare the Lord room this Advent season? Here are some suggestions. We can prepare the Lord room by….

· …spending time in prayer and reading the Bible every day of Advent. If this isn’t your usual practice and you faithfully spend personal time with God all of Advent you’ll wind up establishing a new habit in your life.

· …coming to worship each Sunday. This will allow the Lord to speak to you and help you center on Jesus, who after all is the reason for the season..

· …committing acts of kindness and blessing throughout all of Advent. The Lord wants to use us as His hands, feet, and lips to bless others. Ask the Lord to give you eyes to see how you can be a blessing to others this season.

· …give a gift to someone in need or to an organization helping those in need in addition to giving family and friends gifts this season. (Deb is encouraging our family to tithe our Christmas this year. We will get a tithe of what we usually spend on each other for Christmas to give in a way that will be a blessing to others. Then each of us will share how we used the tithe on Christmas day.)

You are creative enough to come up with all sorts of ways of your own to make room for the Lord this Advent season. I want to hear what you come up with. E-mail me, phone me, or see me at church and tell me your story. May we all be preparing the Lord room this Advent!

All for Jesus,

Pastor Tim

Amzd2t@live.com

With all the talk about the Five Practices it is important that we remember that when we talk about our church engaging in Passionate Worship we are talking about you and me being passionate worshippers. In other words, if AUMC corporately is going to be living out the Five Practices you and I as individuals need to live out the Five Practices. Here are some ways you and I can be living out the Five Practices in our daily lives….

Passionate Worship: This is worshipping the LORD with all we’ve got within us. To do so let’s…

· …be worshipping daily through spending time in prayer, praise, and the Word.

· …be praying regularly for the coming Sunday services. (I often pray that we will all find ourselves on holy ground on Sunday mornings)

· …read & meditate on the next Sunday’s Scripture throughout the week. (You can find that Scripture in your bulletin.)

· …pray for those around you at church to experience God’s presence and power during worship.

Radical Hospitality: This is going the extra mile to invite and welcome people into a relationship with Jesus and AUMC. To practice radical hospitality let’s….

· …greet everyone with a smile and a warm handshake. If our church is to be a friendly church it will be friendly as you and I are willing to reach out to those we may not know in a proactive way.

· …invite family and friends that are not going to church anywhere right now to come to AUMC. God is doing wonderful things at here and you will be doing your non churched family and friends a favor by inviting them to become a part of what God is doing.

· …do all we can to make sure the building and the facilities are clean and welcoming. If you notice that there is something that needs to be cleaned go ahead and lend a helping hand.

· …open up your home for a small group or discipleship class. (This takes work but the growth that takes place is well worth it.)

Intentional Faith Development: This involves engaging in the spiritual disciplines that cause you to grow in Jesus and helping others to do the same. To practice intentional faith development let’s….

· …make time each day for the Lord by having a quiet time where we engage in praise, prayer, and being in the Word.

· …find a Sunday School class or a small group where folks know your name and care for your soul and where you can grow together.

· …be willing to serve as teachers, small group leaders, hosts for small groups in our homes, and or helpers. God can use you to help someone else develop in their faith walk. Are you willing to let God use you?

Risk-taking Mission & Service: This is being willing to extend the love of Jesus by going and engaging even when we would rather hold back. It is using your gifts and talents to be a blessing to others. Let live out this practice by…

· …deciding you are going to find a place to serve on a regular basis. You could serve within the four walls of the church or help out with a ministry beyond the church’s four walls. (For example serving at the Soup Kitchen or as a mentor at Cahoots.)

· …acting on those “holy nudges’ we receive from the Lord to go and engage even when it means moving out of our comfort zone.

Extravagant Generosity: This is giving sacrificially of our time, talent, and treasure so that the Kingdom will be enlarged and people will be helped. Let’s be extravagantly generous by…

· …deciding to either tithe (give 10%) or begin to grow to a tithe in the regular giving of our income to what God is doing at AUMC. (I would ask that everyone at AUMC pray about starting to give on the basis of a percentage of your income. It will help you grow in your faith.)

· …sharing generously of our time, treasure, and talent with those in need. You and I will find that we can never out give the Lord.

I am convinced that God is calling us as individuals and corporately to be living out the Five Practices. As we faithfully do so we will find that we are increasingly becoming fruitful disciples and a fruitful congregation. May the Lord help it to be so!

All for Jesus,

Pastor Tim

Amzd2t@live.com

However, as I have been out on the various courses, I have learned some principles that I think, if consistently practiced, will make a difference not only in our golf game but in our daily living.

Here are some of the principles I am trying to apply not only when I am on the golf course but as I go through life…

You have to play the ball where it lies. There are plenty of times on the golf course when I wish I had it the ball farther, straighter, and not into the woods, the pond or the sand trap. But to play golf correctly you don’t get to play the ball from where you wish it was resting. Instead you have to play it where it lies.

There are some things that I wish were different in my life, my family, and our church. However things are what they are and I have to do my best, by God’s grace, where I find myself. So do you! The key to beginning to see significant change is being willing to start from the situation you find yourself in and work from there to where you need to go.

Keep your eye on the ball. If my dad has told me once he has told me a hundred times; “Keep your head down and your eye on the ball.” The truth of the matter is focus is a vital part of hitting the ball. One can rarely hit what one is not looking at.

Focus is vital in life as well. Amazing things can be accomplished if you and I focus in on two or three areas where we are gifted and can make a difference. It is amazing what a group of people can accomplish when they pool their talent, resources, and energy. As a church it is when we focus on pleasing God and ministering God’s love to others that Kingdom enlarging and enhancing things will happen.

Be persistent. One thing I have learned (being the hacker that I am) is that if I just keep hitting the ball I will hear the satisfying ker-plunk of the ball falling into the cup.

Often I think we miss out on what God and life has for us because we give up far too quickly. There will always be the temptation to give up on the dream, school, the relationship, work, the church, prayer, or even on life. Don’t give up! Be persistent in doing what is right.

Just some helpful lessons I’ve learned around the course!

All for Jesus,
Pastor Tim