tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-173885882024-03-07T21:40:44.283-06:00Waldron United Methodist Church<center>Located at the Corner of 71B and Hwy 80, PO Box 279, Waldron, Arkansas <br> email: waldronumc@yahoo.com
Phone: 479-637-3734 <br> Pastor Robert Lyons<br>
<BR>
Sundays: Small Group Classes-9:45am <br>Worship-11am "Worship with us as we celebrate God through Jesus Christ" <br> <br>Mondays: Narcotics Anonymous-6pm<br>Men's Prayer Breakfast 1st and 3rd Wednesdays,6:30am <br>Thursdays: Weight Watchers: 4:30pm</center>
<BR>Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.comBlogger126125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-1723484243535737292008-05-03T14:00:00.001-05:002008-12-11T11:03:04.435-06:00Lord, Hear our Prayers<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt6pVoU7YBvE_ZOddHS_k6lZlXtZS2vsUkEQNsKFbljE7cEmYEKBC59X172u0mm2itL5dnnEq6RHIyDwZlMYw76Nd0EfBVKo8L8qh9L3ccbO6dKeY9ppOo6vph5_HxOsAz-6QZ/s1600-h/prayer.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158146130972326354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt6pVoU7YBvE_ZOddHS_k6lZlXtZS2vsUkEQNsKFbljE7cEmYEKBC59X172u0mm2itL5dnnEq6RHIyDwZlMYw76Nd0EfBVKo8L8qh9L3ccbO6dKeY9ppOo6vph5_HxOsAz-6QZ/s400/prayer.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />As a community of faith, we regularly pray for one another. Please keep the following persons in your prayers.<br />Mark Smith and family, Kathy Hunt, Joy Newberry, Jerry Hunt, Eloise Lankford, Jamie Wright, Cheryl (Elkins) Arnold, Beth George, Leon Richmond, Eunice Zenz, Pat Wendorff, Don Frost.<br /><br />If you desire prayer or would like to add someone to the prayer list, please contact the church office at 637-3734 or e-mail the church at <strong>waldronumc@yahoo.com</strong>Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-52520459352229681312008-05-03T13:47:00.002-05:002008-05-03T13:58:03.227-05:00Angel Food Ministries Distribution DayWhat a blessing this ministry has been! In three months time we have seen many people in our community take advantage of Angel Food and we look forward to continuing this ministry for a long time to come.<br /><br />On Saturday, May 17<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span> distribution of the May Angel Food orders will take place from 10:30 a.m. until 12:00 noon at the Fellowship Hall. As a host site, we are still learning how to best get the orders out quickly and efficiently. As a help to our volunteers, please try to bring your receipt when you pick up your order and don't forget a big box, tub, or laundry basket to place your food items in.<br /><br />We hope to have some of our student athletes from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">WHS</span> assisting us in carrying your orders to your car. On distribution day you may also place your Angel Food order for the following month.<br /><br />This ministry has proven to be as fun as it is helpful and we are blessed to be able to provide this for our community. For more information about Angel Food you may contact the church office at 479-637-3734.Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-40373444203724964492008-02-27T13:29:00.001-06:002008-12-11T11:03:04.672-06:00Daylight Savings Time Begins<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG6enUZjWgBkPQJDfg2CKOJNKi8S-JcLciOxO0Zpil8Q6xtGmiFvtcVqVfak-9qqpJebrENXAeVePwq4Nlo3M4G1O2cMM-HqVSRFS_aQwzgyuJIbcOCK_VZYNpbLwHtGmOSNP-/s1600-h/2016000885.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171744671556116194" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG6enUZjWgBkPQJDfg2CKOJNKi8S-JcLciOxO0Zpil8Q6xtGmiFvtcVqVfak-9qqpJebrENXAeVePwq4Nlo3M4G1O2cMM-HqVSRFS_aQwzgyuJIbcOCK_VZYNpbLwHtGmOSNP-/s320/2016000885.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Don't forget to set your clocks forward one hour on March 9th.</div>Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-62777515539711940852008-02-10T14:48:00.000-06:002008-02-10T14:58:21.801-06:00Lenten LuncheonsThe community Lenten luncheons will begin this Wed., Feb. 13th. Our church will host the first luncheon, which will begin at 12:00 noon in the Fellowship Hall. Let's share our hospitality and love with our community as we gather to feed both body and spirit.<br /><br />The schedule for remaining Lenten luncheons are:<br />Feb. 20...St. Jude's Catholic Church<br />Feb. 27...First Baptist Church<br />Mar. 5....Assembly of God Church<br />Mar. 12...To be announcedWaldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-12930703687956838862008-01-30T08:50:00.000-06:002008-12-11T11:03:04.833-06:00The Season of Lent: The Significance of These 40 Days<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2xAKS_zDpUGmUfLlTgwwwZbaRF53p6tBjbKGnPDPTycsyzJjPg_NQxtlBTmgDsZSwihIzNX5DVNgvc2sCoNv0IkDATrcg6tgbWFFa1JCOcW61_p6jDxw-shtk9XaFpmXirrJE/s1600-h/lent.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161289121617656226" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2xAKS_zDpUGmUfLlTgwwwZbaRF53p6tBjbKGnPDPTycsyzJjPg_NQxtlBTmgDsZSwihIzNX5DVNgvc2sCoNv0IkDATrcg6tgbWFFa1JCOcW61_p6jDxw-shtk9XaFpmXirrJE/s320/lent.bmp" border="0" /></a><br /><div>As United Methodists we observe Lent as a special time in the church year. But for those new to the faith or for those who have never really understood Lent, the following may add understanding and appreciation for this sacred season.<br /><br />Lent is a time of repentance, fasting and preparation for the coming of Easter. It is a time of self-examination and reflection. In the early church, Lent was a time to prepare new converts for baptism. Today, Christians focus on their relationship with God, often choosing to give up something or volunteering and giving of themselves for others. The forty days represents the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan. Sundays in Lent are not counted in the forty days because each Sunday represents a "mini-Easter" celebration of the Jesus' victory over sin and death.<br /><br />Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent. It is a day of penitence and remembrance of our sins of the past and our ultimate mortality. Palm branches are usually burned and the sign of the cross is placed on the forehead using the ashes. Sometimes a small card or piece of paper is distributed on which each person writes a sin he wishes to be rid of. The cards are then brought to the altar to be burned along with the palm branches. The ash cross is an outward sign of our sorrow and repentance for sins. </div><br /><div align="center"><strong><em><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:180%;">We invite you to join us for the </span></em></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><em><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:180%;">Ash Wednesday Service</span></em></strong></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong><em>on February 6th at 6:30 p.m.</em></strong> </span></span><br /><br />As we embark on this season of Lent, let us take time to ponder it's meaning in our lives. If you would like more information on Lent, please visit <a href="http://www.gbod.org/easter/">www.gbod.org/easter/</a></div>Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-22921956592154168622008-01-21T21:41:00.000-06:002008-01-21T21:52:53.727-06:00Coming Soon...Angel Food MinistryA planning meeting was held to discuss a new opportunity for ministry and outreach in our community. Angel Food Ministries is a non-profit, non-denominational organization dedicated to providing grocery relief and financial support to communities throughout the United States. Angel Food is available in a quantity that can fit into a medium-sized box at $30 per unit. Each month's menu is different than the previous month and consists of both fresh and frozen items with an average retail value of approximately $60. Generally, one unit of food assists in feeding a family of four for about one week or a single senior citizen for almost a month. The food is all the same high quality one could purchase at a grocery store. There are no applications to complete or qualifications to which participants must adhere. Angel Food Ministries also participates in the U.S. Food Stamp program, using the Off-Line Food Stamp Voucher system.<br />Those attending the planning meeting were excited about this ministry and voted to apply to become a host church for Angel Food. Paige Bethel has completed the necessary paperwork to become a host church, so now it's just a matter of time until we can begin. Tell your friends and if you would like more information regarding Angel Food Ministries or to take a look at a sample menu, go to <strong>www.angelfoodministries.com.</strong>Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-71979656536712260232008-01-21T21:22:00.000-06:002008-12-11T11:03:05.083-06:00Boys and Girls Club Banquet<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuCfwjIib_rlgoShDPcWCdddBJnYuss2EzF9XkAWUOsOB92H_ZoOUZ_MRoIO0nsTRqjo6OCp9n8jGxiWJdPmHEYlV8cBT-9R4aTitgYzJcBA2UCu4OUT_YzLrJaE4FTEmLsx-D/s1600-h/boys+and+girls+club.bmp"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuCfwjIib_rlgoShDPcWCdddBJnYuss2EzF9XkAWUOsOB92H_ZoOUZ_MRoIO0nsTRqjo6OCp9n8jGxiWJdPmHEYlV8cBT-9R4aTitgYzJcBA2UCu4OUT_YzLrJaE4FTEmLsx-D/s400/boys+and+girls+club.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158139310564260274" /></a><br />The annual Boys and Girls Club Banquet will be held Saturday, February 9 at 6:00 p.m. The church has 5 tickets still available at the "Methodist" table. If you do not have a ticket and would like to attend, contact the church office at 637-3734. Our church is proud to support this organization and the positive influence it offers our community!<br />Check back for more information.Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-6901276189238723822008-01-21T21:10:00.000-06:002008-01-23T10:28:31.002-06:00Potluck/Church Council Meeting Jan. 27thLet's get together and share in fellowship and good food. Once we have enjoyed lunch and the company of our church family, we will conduct the first Church Council meeting of 2008. Your Waldron UMC Church Council for 2008 are:<br />Cliff Daily, Robert Lyons, Diane Miller, Joe Don Rogers, Harvey Bates, Aldon Hughes, Harold Bergmann, Jack Bethea, Roger Simon, Peggy Catron, JoAnn Black, Darla Dozier, Laurie Richardson, and Karan Rogers.Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-46688019365833920792007-11-01T20:18:00.000-05:002007-11-01T20:29:52.091-05:00Hurry Less, Worry Less at Christmastime<div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">The Young & Restless Class is beginning a study using the book, </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>"Hurry Less, Worry Less at Christmastime" </em>by Judy Pace Christie. </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">It offers tools for having the 'holiday season you long for' and 'helps busy people learn to celebrate more joyfully, peacefully, and deeply' during this most holy and hectic time of year. </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">If you yearn for the simple pleasures of this special season and long for a more meaningful and spiritual holiday, then we invite you to join us beginning Sunday, Nov. 4 at 10:00 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall (first door on the left as you enter).</span></div>Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-40197363938261224882007-10-03T08:29:00.000-05:002008-12-11T11:03:05.275-06:00Fall Fun!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrKF4Ut2zCWcktuYRYCP6KXzgL3svX0LuolGmXeMdbbmPoMlMAIIxD36BAFGVdNqaBRbV8xZcZikgjSn3EY-xWcLi28F6sdSpXbaa4VczFc4sGEfdRg3gfdCJ7sc1Aqtlu8OlF/s1600-h/images.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5117103913940919474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrKF4Ut2zCWcktuYRYCP6KXzgL3svX0LuolGmXeMdbbmPoMlMAIIxD36BAFGVdNqaBRbV8xZcZikgjSn3EY-xWcLi28F6sdSpXbaa4VczFc4sGEfdRg3gfdCJ7sc1Aqtlu8OlF/s320/images.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;">When fall is in the air what do you think of? </span></div><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Is it football, or maybe the brilliant colors of changing trees? </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Perhaps it's the smell of burning leaves and roasting hot dogs </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;">over the open flames. </span></div><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;">On <strong>October 27, Marvin and Peggy Franklin</strong> are hosting a bonfire and wiener roast. The church family is invited to come and enjoy the sights and smells of fall and the festivity of joining with friends for a time of fun,</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;">food, and fellowship. Watch your bulletin for further information and directions to the Franklin home.</span></div>Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-21314573696977207212007-10-03T07:47:00.000-05:002008-12-11T11:03:05.422-06:00Vision for the Future!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwcUzLqDSP4QNoFd5_WswESRPjrZerDJ3QySzBOOA3cooA7KItj1a5Hv8A2RzGVbRgdfxdkj_4RVgRe9LeMXxk11rKVGfALev0ma18_nLKm8R0h_vN1vQ3m2iFgGgqqNBDx0ue/s1600-h/Kids__Computers_0005.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5117101087852438690" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwcUzLqDSP4QNoFd5_WswESRPjrZerDJ3QySzBOOA3cooA7KItj1a5Hv8A2RzGVbRgdfxdkj_4RVgRe9LeMXxk11rKVGfALev0ma18_nLKm8R0h_vN1vQ3m2iFgGgqqNBDx0ue/s200/Kids__Computers_0005.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Kids_Computers_0005"></a><br /><br /><div>On September 15, 2007, JoAnn Black and Ann Crossett attended a workshop sponsored by First United Methodist Church in Springdale entitled, <strong>"Children's Ministry for a New</strong> <strong>Generation."</strong> One segment, hosted by Chris Dodson, Doug Reeves and Ken Whelan, spoke on "<strong><em>Technology on a Budget</em></strong>" and the process of setting up a computer lab for children.<br />We all know that today's generation of young people are very technologically minded and utilize computers in many aspects of their education, as well as their recreation time. The goal of a computer lab is to provide an additional tool to teach children about God's Word in a way that makes it fun and interesting.<br />So how do we get started? We are asking the congregation for your help! If you have recently upgraded your computer system, but your old computer is still relatively current (Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 98 Second Edition, PII 650 or higher, 17" or larger monitor), think about donating it to the church. <em>If you have no idea what system you have or whether it would be suitable, please contact <strong>Roger Simon </strong>at </em><a href="mailto:ras@idcomm.com"><em>ras@idcomm.com</em></a><em> with any questions or concerns.</em> If you would like to make a monetary donation, please earmark the donated funds for "new PC purchases."<br />The vision for the church is 4 computers with monitors, printer, and hub. If purchased new the cost would be around $2700.<br />Please prayerfully consider this request. </div></div>Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-11471376038538272592007-09-05T11:30:00.000-05:002007-09-05T11:32:07.627-05:009.2.7 NO EXCUSESNO EXCUSES<br />LUKE 14: 18-20<br />This week I came across the following somewhat humorous re-telling of the story of Noah:<br />And the Lord said unto Noah: “Where is the ark which I commanded thee to build?” And Noah said unto the Lord: “Verily, I have had three carpenters off ill, Lord. Plus...the gopher wood supplier hath let me down—yea, even though the gopher wood hath been on order for nigh upon twelve months. What can I do, O Lord?” And the Lord said unto Noah: “I want that ark finished even afer seven days and seven nights.” And Noah said: “It will be so.”<br />But it was not so. And the Lord said unto Noah: “What seemeth to be the trouble this time?” And Noah said unto the Lord: “Mine subcontractor hath gone bankrupt. And—the pitch which Thou commandest me to put on the outside and on the inside of the ark hath not arrived. To maketh matters worse, the plumber hath gone on strike. This is not to mention the fact that Shem, my son who helpeth me on the ark side of the business, hath left to form a hip hop group with his brothers Ham and Japheth. Lord, I am undone.” And the Lord grew very angry and said: “What about the animals, the male and female of every sort that I ordered to come unto thee to keep their seed alive upon the face of the earth?” And Noah said: “They have been delivered unto the wrong address but should arrive on Friday.”<br />And the Lord said: “What about the unicorns, and the fowls of the air by sevens?” And Noah wrung his hands and wept, saying, “Lord, unicorns are a discontinued line; thou canst not get them for love nor money. And fowls of the air are sold only in half-dozens. Lord Thou knowest how it is.” And the Lord in His wisdom said: “Noah, my son, I do knowest. Why else dost thou think I am causing a flood to descend upon the earth?”<br />Now—might I venture to sayest that thy grins comest so readily because this story hit-eth home?<br />Sure it does—I mean, just like the Noah in this story, we human beings have been making excuses for ignoring or even disobeying God’s loving laws from the very beginning when Adam and Eve excused the first sin by blaming each other.<br />THE VOW<br />When someone joins a United Methodist church they are asked a series of questions. The last question was, “Will you faithfully participate in the ministries of this church by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, and your service?”<br />We are called, as Christians and as members of this church, to a life of service to the Kingdom of God through the ministries of this church. <br />This is only fitting when we consider what Jesus did for us:<br />“He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day we rose from the dead.”<br />The host of the feast, who represents Jesus, was a generous man who went to great expense for his guests. He didn’t have to! <br />THE EXCUSES<br />In the face of such generosity we find some pretty lame excuses. To this day people make shallow and ridiculous excuses such as these in verses 18-20. Let’s have a look at them.<br />1. “I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.” (The theme is: I did this; I must do this; excuse me.)<br />The Promised Land was the gift from God given to each family. Selling it in Jesus’ day was frowned upon. <br />In biblical days there were certain prescribed procedures for purchasing. One went out and walked over the entire property with the current owner. We did not have a better business bureau at the time and it was important to make sure that you’re getting the best value for the money. One did not buy property, and then go have a look at it. This was unheard of and a very lame excuse.<br />This does beg another point though. We can let the material things of this world get ahead of God. We want more, more, more and when we get it we look and say, “It’s mine! All of it is mine!” The problem with that is that everything you have is a gift from God.<br />We must always be seeing about this and that. But what must we do about the things of God. What about that, your greatest possession. In Matthew 6:19 we find Jesus saying:<br />"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.” (The Message)<br />2. “I just bought five teams of oxen and I really need to check them out. Send my regrets.” (The theme is: I did this; I must do this; excuse me.)<br />Back in the days of my pastorate in Kentucky, there were several coon hunters in our little church. They bought some expensive dogs that were well trained. When a man wanted a trained dog he would go out with the current owner and they would watch the dog hunt coons. Oftentimes they did this for several nights in a row. You wanted to make sure the dog would hunt before you paid good money for him. <br />The same is true of this excuse. Five teams of oxen costs about $20,000 in today’s dollars. You took them out and worked them thoroughly before you paid good money for them. This too, was a lame excuse.<br />Sometimes, as Christians, we let work get in the way of our walk with Christ. We are too busy with work to go to church regularly. We are too busy with work to be involved in the ministry of his church.<br />For some, our work is too important to take time away from it for the things of God. Let me ask you a question. What is more important than your relationship with God? When you stand before him in judgment, what will he say about your stewardship of your time, talents, gifts, and service?<br />There will only be two choices. The illustration is in Matthew 25. To the servant who made good use of what the boss gave him he said:<br />“Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.” (v. 23)<br />To the one who simply squirreled away his gifts he said:<br />“So take the money from him, and give it to him who has ten thousand.” (v. 28 paraphrase)<br />3. The third man said, “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.” (Change in theme: I did this; so I must do this; I cannot come.)<br />The first thing we have to note here is that this man did not get married recently. Villages were small and there were few special occasions. Had there been a recent wedding, the host would not have scheduled a banquet so soon thereafter. Hence the man did not have a valid excuse.<br />This is the rudest shun of the three. Middle Eastern society maintains formal restraint in speaking of women. In Aramaic, the language of Jesus’ day, the words for women, sacred, and forbidden are all from the same root. Even in the nineteenth century a man away from home, if he had only daughters at home, would address a letter to the son he hoped to father. To address a letter to a woman would be improper. Middle Eastern men were, and often are, extremely reluctant to talk about the women in their family.<br />More than that, this was the main meal of the day. It would have come in the middle of the day. This guest is saying: “Yesterday I said I would come, but this afternoon I am busy with a woman, who is more important to me than your banquet.” <br />This excuse would be rude in any society. It is intensely rude in the Middle Eastern world and totally unprecedented. The time away from home would have been, at most, a few hours. Soon he would be back in the arms of his bride. Lastly, he does not even ask to be excused! This excuse was carefully tailored to insult and infuriate the host.<br />Conclusion:<br />Clearly the man throwing the banquet is God or Jesus. His invitation is for us to come in and dine with him. We are invited to partake in his work and ministry. Sometimes our excuses are just as lame. Do you think you have a good excuse for not serving God?<br /><br />The “No Excuses” Litany<br /><br />Noah was drunk…<br />Abraham was too old…Jacob was a liar…<br />Leah was ugly<br />Joseph was abused<br />Moses was a stutterer…<br />Gideon was afraid…<br />Sampson had long hair and was a womanizer…<br />Rahab was a prostitute…<br />Jeremiah and Timothy were too young…<br />David had an affair and was a murderer…<br />Elijah was suicidal…<br />Isaiah preached naked…<br />Jonah ran from God…<br />John the Baptist ate bugs and was fashion-challenged…<br />Peter denied Christ…<br />The Apostles fell asleep while praying…<br />Martha worried about everything…<br />The Samaritan woman couldn’t get an annulment…<br />Zacheus was too small…<br />Paul was too religious…<br />Timothy had an ulcer…<br />And Lazarus was dead!<br /><br />My favorite sermon illustration is one I heard from D. James Kennedy, the founder of Evangelism Explosion. He tells of a Chinese farmer who purchased a new plow. His neighbor came over to ask permission to borrow the plow. The farmer replied, “No, my wife is combing her hair with it.” “Combing her hair?” the neighbor asked. “Well, no she isn’t,” answered the farmer. “But I don’t want to loan it to you and one excuse is as good as another.”<br />We all have our excuses why we don’t do more in ministry. We call them reasons but they are merely excuses. D. James Kennedy defines excuses as, “a fruit whose skin is a reason, but whose meat is a lie.”<br />We are to live our lives without excuses. Romans 1:20 says that in the judgment we will be without excuse. <br />I would like to share with you the words of an unnamed African pastor whose level of faith and commitment can teach us a lot. <br /><br /><br />“I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of his. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.<br />I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.<br />My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of my enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.<br />I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till he comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till he stops me.<br />And when he comes for his own, he will have no problem recognizing me.”<br />We issue an invitation to follow Christ in his ministry and his lordship in your life. What’s your excuse?Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-9613886786769735692007-08-31T14:37:00.000-05:002007-08-31T14:39:32.452-05:00Sermon 8.26.7: Thermostats Not ThermometersThermostats Not Thermometers<br /><br />Everything you have is a gift from God! Your life, health, family, salvation, the air you breathe is a gift from God. Now, some of you are sitting there and saying to yourselves, “Hey, I worked hard for the things I have.” But God gave you life and he gave you the energy to work for them. He gave you good sense to save your money to be able to buy them. He gave you the ability to count. These are your blessings!<br />The question for us is, “what will we do with what we have?” We are called to be good managers of our resources. The biblical word for that is “stewardship”. We are to manage the things God gives us well. That includes our opportunities, intelligence, relationships, and resources.<br />Christians are to use these to influence our world. The Cambridge Dictionary defines influence as:<br />“The power to have an effect on people or things, or a person that is able to do this”<br />Everyone is an influence. What we have to decide is, “What, and how, I will influence my world?” God commands that we be an influence on our world. In Matthew 5:16 we find:<br />“Let your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do, and will praise your Father in heaven.”<br />Jesus says, “Let your light shine”. Don’t waste your influence. Be a thermostat. Don’t hide it.<br />One of the first songs we teach the little children in Sunday School is “This Little Light of Mine”. We teach them and they sing it. They love it so they sing it with gusto. They sing it loudly and proudly. We smile with pride when we hear them sing it. But we do not sing it as adults. We forgot about our light!<br />He then says, “You are the salt for the whole human race.” He calls us to be salt because of what salt does. Salt seasons, preserves, and improves. God wants you to season the world. He wants you to preserve the world. He wants you to improve the world. God expects you to use your influence for good in the world. <br />Jeremiah 15:19 says:<br />“You are to influence them; do not let them influence you.”<br />Christians often get this reversed. We are too often influenced by the world, rather than influencing the world. We let the world take the salt out of us. We are thermometers, not thermostats. A thermometer measures temperature. A thermostat sets the temperature.<br />Every contact we have with anyone can set a temperature. When you smile at someone; you set a temperature. When you speak to someone, you set a temperature. When you cut someone off in traffic, and they give you that strange gesture; you set a temperature. Every contact you have; sets a temperature. You are the thermostat.<br />Everyone email you send; sets a temperature. Every note you write; sets a temperature. Everything you do; sets a temperature. You are the thermostat.<br />We need to recognize our influence. There is no doubt as to the fact we have influence. The question we must ask is: “How will I influence my world? Will I be for Christ, or against Christ? What is the setting on my thermostat? Will my influence be positive or negative?”<br />The bible says that God wants you to consider how you use your life and how you use your work for him? We are to make the most of our opportunities to set the thermostat in our world. People watch you and associate your behavior with your church and with your God. The rock group got it right back in 1995 when they sang:<br />Every breath you takeEvery move you makeEvery bond you breakEvery step you takeIll be watching youEvery single dayEvery word you sayEvery game you playEvery night you stayIll be watching you<br />Every move you makeEvery vow you breakEvery smile you fakeEvery claim you stakeI’ll be watching you<br />Our church was founded by a man of great influence. John Wesley was a man with a heart for God. For years he focused on growing in grace in Christ. He gathered a small band around him at Oxford. They called themselves “The Holy Club”. They focused on growing in grace in Christ. In his journals, he called this: “The First Rise of Methodism”. We got the name “Methodist”, not as an honor. It was one of the many derisive terms used about the Holy Club. It was the one that stuck.<br />After a few years Wesley asked himself what good it did for one to grow in grace if that did not affect his world. After much soul searching he set off on a trip to America. He determined to “save the heathen Indians”. This trip was known as the “Second Rise of Methodism”. It was a failed adventure that ended with Wesley sneaking out of Georgia to avoid arrest.<br />He returned to England a broken man. That brokenness made possible the experience at Aldersgate. It was there that he felt his heart “strangely warmed”. It was there that he truly found God. Wesley’s truly became a thermostat that day.<br />He now determined to do everything in his power to make others into thermostats. The Anglican priests of his day would not let this “fanatic” into their pulpits and he had no venue to spread the word. It was then that George Whitefield invited Wesley to come up north and help him in a revival by preaching in the fields. This was an unheard of thing to Wesley. The Word of God was so sacred that it should only be proclaimed in his hallowed house. Still, his thermostat was changed and he took a chance. Through his preaching, God changed hundreds from thermometers into thermostats that day. They met Jesus through the preaching of John Wesley. The Holy Spirit changed thousands from thermometers into thermostats through the influence of John Wesley.<br />When you die they will probably read a thing called an “obituary” at your funeral. That brief description is a summary of who you are and what you have done. It will tell others what kind of person you were. It will tell them whether you were a thermostat that set values for others and kept those values firm. Or it will tell them you simply reflected the values of everyone else. Will your obituary say you were a thermostat?Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-28736493464636942642007-08-06T08:44:00.000-05:002007-08-06T08:48:16.237-05:00Message August 5, 2007Almost Persuaded<br />Numbers 13:16-14:44<br />1. Introduction—the setting<br />It was the end of a forty year journey. Now in the Bible anytime you see the number forty that is “Bible speak” for “a long time”. You all remember the story from Sunday School. YHWH (God) forced Pharaoh to change his mind about keeping the people of Israel in slavery. Then when they got started on their journey, Pharaoh changed his mind again and went after them. Then YHWH managed to mire down the Egyptian army and drown them. <br />Next YHWH fed, watered, and clothed a people while they wandered the Sinai Peninsula for “forty years”. Oh and they were cantankerous! If you left them alone for a few days they would create their own god. He lost his patience with them a time or two and some of them did not live to regret it.<br />Now here they are on the verge of having everything they had been looking for. Here they were at Kadesh Barnea, just across the river from the Promised Land. They were on the verge of greatness. They were just across the river from the “land that flowed with milk and honey.” Now, again, that’s “Bible speak” for “fine.” It was to be the culmination of all their hopes and dreams.<br />2. The scouting party<br />No military expedition can commence until one does proper reconnaissance. Moses picked a man from each of the twelve tribes, one of which was his personal assistant, Joshua, to do the recon. They set off to be gone for a long time (remember 40) to do a thorough reconnaissance.<br />The instructions from Moses were very specific. Go up through the Negev into the hill country (what today is known as the Golan Heights) and see what the land looks like. Are there a lot of people in it or just a few people? Are they strong or weak? What is the soil like? Is it fertile or poor? Are the cities fortified? Are there trees on it or not? Bring us back some fresh grapes. <br />3. The report<br />The contrasting reconnaissance reports were interesting. The spies returned with a cluster of grapes big enough that it required two men to sling a pole between them to carry it. There was some other fruit. They stood before all the people and said “Mo, that land is finer than frog hair split four directions. But there are guys living there that would be first round draft picks in the NBA. Their legs are bigger than most NFL linemen and we personally do not have the gumption to face them. Those guys will rip our heads off.”<br />4. The argument<br />Caleb and Joshua silenced the panicky people and said, “You boys need to grow a little hair on your chest. We can do this thing.<br />“‘We thought surely God promised us the land,” the ten replied. “But we did not expect to have to fight for it. We supposed God would just give it to us without any fighting or trouble on our part.”<br />“Oh, no, God never promised Canaan without a battle,’ Caleb replied. ‘But He will help us fight, then we shall properly appreciate both God and Canaan and the fighting will make us stronger.”<br /><br />Then the people lost what little vestiges of faith they had and the situation degenerated into a general panic. These people whom YHWH had brought out of Egypt with a series of miracles. These people for whom YHWH had fought. These people whom YHWH had fed and clothed. These people wanted the land of their Fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob returned to them without their having to do anything for it.<br />The people had no faith. Faith believes, and doubt does not believe. One is the opposite of the other, just as heaven and hell are opposites. Considering doubters more closely, we find that doubters believe; but they believe the opposite of what they should believe. Doubters believe the wrong thing. A doubter is one who could and ought to believe facts, but for some reason or other cannot bring himself to do it. Instead, he believes another set of things, which appear to be facts but are not.<br />Faith and doubting is a little like a set of twins. One was born an optimist, the other a pessimist. They were so extreme in their views that the parents consulted a psychiatrist. After much counseling and many thousands of dollars, the psychiatrist was in a quandary. No progress was made. He finally settled on a course of action and informed the parents that for their upcoming birthday they should give the optimist the worst gift they could think of. The pessimist was to receive the most wonderful gift he could imagine.<br />Not being able to stand his curiosity the good doctor went to their house on the given day. Out front, he found the little pessimist with a wonderful bicycle. It was state of the art and had all the bells and whistles. When asked about his beautiful gift, the little boy replied, “It’s not the right color and I will probably break a leg or crush my skull on it if I ride it.”<br />Disheartened, the doctor found the little optimist out back. The boy was sitting in the middle of the yard with a shoebox full of horse apples. The doctor asked him about his present and the little optimist replied, “It’s wonderful! I got a pony; I just haven’t found him yet.” That’s the way this scouting party was. Two had faith. Ten did not have faith.<br />5. On the verge of greatness—rebellion<br />The people, on the verge of greatness, rebelled against their leaders and their God. A mob mentality ensued and the people spoke of stoning Moses, Aaron, Caleb, and Joshua. To Moses they said, “Why didn’t you and YHWH just leave us alone back in Egypt? We were slaves but at least we were alive!” They continued to rant like petulant children. <br />God became upset and was content to blast all but these men and their wives and children. He would then raise a whole new nation to have the benefit of his promises. A new nation from these men would be the ones to inherit the Land of Promise; the land of their Fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.<br />“As surely as I live and as surely as the glory of YHWH fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times, not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.”<br />6. Loss and wandering<br />So they turned and retraced their route. They wandered in the desert for another long time. They had been on the pinnacle of greatness. They were there where they could have received their promise. They were SOOOOOOOOOOO close, and they missed out. Not just for now but forever.<br />God wants a people who will believe in him. He wants a people who will trust in him. If you think about it, these people were very much like babies. They were little tyrants whose hand was always out. They always expected YHWH to meet their every need. They were content as long as he would meet their every need. It was when he required some effort on their part that the trouble started. We parents will do that for our children until they are able to do for themselves. At that point most of us can let go.<br />Today, we can go to Fayetteville and watch the Hogs play. It’s entertaining to sit in the stands and watch Darren McFadden run the ball. I never understood the entertainment of NASCAR but some find it entertaining. Sometimes it’s entertaining to go to church.<br />The difference is that this business of Christianity is not a spectator sport. We have no business “going to church” to be “entertained”. God send his son. They called him Jesus. He came to love, heal, and forgive. He lived and died to buy our pardon. This is a time for us all to search our hearts. The business of having God do all the work is a dangerous one.<br />We stand on the ground of Kadesh Barnea. God calls us to go over and be about the business of “being” Christians. He calls us to go forth and conquer. He asks for great risks to be taken in faith. He offers great reward. It requires us to get off the couch. You men will have to put down that remote. We must be about the business to which he calls us. Will you cross over the Jordan, or will you go back to the desert? There was so much that could have been. There is so much that could be. It is a choice each of us must make.Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-73710536564123871572007-08-03T22:34:00.000-05:002007-08-03T22:37:27.419-05:00Have A Whale of a Good Time!<div align="center"><br />Swim Party<br />August 7. from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.<br />Sodie Davidson Park Pool<br />Free Snacks/Drinks provided at "Jonah's Snack Stand"<br />Lifeguards will be on duty<br /><br /><br /><br />This "cool splash" is for children, youth, (and any brave parents who want to join in the fun). Kids, invite a friend!<br /><br /> Adults who prefer to be "landlubbers," we suggest that you bring a lawn chair to relax by the pool.<br /><br /><br />Thanks go to JoAnn Black and Darla Dozier for organizing this event!<br /> </div>Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-24598223371979115552007-08-01T05:18:00.000-05:002007-08-01T05:20:47.221-05:00Message July 29, 2007Waldron Methodist Church July, 29, 2007<br />On the Road to Emmaus<br />Luke 24: 13-33<br />Humans are fascinated by journeys. From the shenanigans of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby on the roads to Rio and Morocco, something about traveling grips us. Willie Nelson can't wait to be on the road again, Nat King Cole gets his kicks on Route 66.<br />Have you ever noticed that the saddest words in the English language begin with the letter “d”? There’s: death, disappointment, doubt, despair, defeat, discouragement, despondency, depression. I have no doubt that if you were to ask Cleopas and his companion how they felt that day, their reply would have included all of these words.<br />1. Everyone will go to Emmaus:<br />If you live long enough you will make it to Emmaus. It is that place we have all visited or will visit. It is the place we come to when the hurt is enormous, the pain is too great. We get there when all hope is lost and life doesn’t turn out like we planned. It is that place we journey when we have known great loss and only the greatest of disappointments.<br />A. We go to Emmaus when we are angry, bitter or irritated:<br />Emmaus is not far away. It’s about the distance between Waldron and Needmore. In our heads Emmaus may be even closer than that. Some who come to Emmaus are irritated, angry, and bitter. The news was not good on that Sunday morning. The previous week leading to the time of the Feast of the Passover, was one in which hope abounded. This is just a scant few days from Palm Sunday and the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Remember the story? In Luke 19 we read:<br />“As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near to the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples joyfully began to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:<br />‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!’<br />‘Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’<br />Jesus himself said, ‘if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out’”<br />Boy those were the days. It was to be the culmination of all their hopes and dreams. His followers just knew that the glory of God was about to break loose and all these Romans were leaving. Man things were exciting.<br />Now it was all gone. He was dead. His closest followers were hiding out. Everyone else had scattered. Where there was once great joy, now there was sorrow. Happiness and joy was replaced by pain. One of their own betrayed him. Now he was dead. It was over. <br /> B. We go to Emmaus when it is hopeless:<br />“Jesus of Nazareth was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.” “We had hoped he was going to be the one to redeem Israel.” Cleopas said, “We had hoped.” Emmaus is that place you go when your hopes are dashed. Cleopas thought that Jesus was to throw off the yoke of Roman oppression. I personally have no doubt that Judas felt the same way. He hoped to force Jesus’ hand by bringing in the Romans. Surely Jesus would break forth in combat when they showed. The conflict could then begin. <br />Eugene Land was a self made millionaire. According to a Parade magazine article he was invited to speak to 59 sixth-grade students in East Harlem. What could he say to inspire these children who were the poorest of the poor? He wasn’t sure he could even get the predominantly black and Puerto Rican students to look at him. He scrapped his notes and spoke to the students from the heart. “Stay in school,” he admonished, “and I’ll help pay the college tuition for every one of you.” At that moment their lives changed. One boy said, “I had something to look forward to, something waiting for me. It was a golden feeling.” Nearly 90% of those students graduated from high school and most went on to college. Eugene Land took them out of Emmaus.<br />Some on the Road to Emmaus are in denial. Jesus tells them they are “slow of heart.” Jesus never intended to be a militaristic messiah. He made that plain in his teachings. His disciples, “just didn’t get it.” They wanted to be free of Rome and here was a man with the power, charisma, and wisdom to make that happen. Our emotional programming is such that we seldom hear what we do not want to hear. Cleopas and his companion had visions of grandeur, and that is what they heard in Jesus’ teaching. Now they were sad.<br />Still others on the road to Emmaus are worried. “Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said (empty), but him they did not see.” Those were the ones who were worried about the body. What had happened to it? These particular disciples were probably the only ones to even venture outside. The others were in hiding. They were afraid for their lives. What a difference a week makes. This is Emmaus.<br />Emmaus is that place where:<br />You wake up face down on the pavement.<br />You call Suicide Prevention and they put you on hold.<br />Your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles.<br />You turn on the news and they’re showing emergency routes out of the city.<br />Your twin forgets your birthday.<br />Your boss tells you not to take off your coat.<br />The bird outside your window is a buzzard.<br />Your income tax check bounces.<br />Your wife says, “Good morning, Bill”, and your name is George.<br />2. Even if you don’t see him, Jesus is on the road with you:<br />Keep in mind that the whole time they were discussing all that had happened with the stranger, they didn’t recognize him. It did not seem to occur to them that if the report of the empty tomb was true, then the report of his resurrection might also be true. He was right there with them and they had no clue.<br />3. When you get to Emmaus leave! Do not get a room there:<br />Whatever brings you to Emmaus, there is something important you should know. Do not get a room there. Do not give in to the depression, despair, doubt, disappointment, defeat, despondency, or discouragement. Fight it with every fiber of your being. Do not give in to it one iota. As the poet Dylan Thomas wrote, “Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Our text says, “But they urged him strongly, ‘Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.’” <br />I know a woman who suddenly lost her husband to a heart attack. He was only forty-seven. For the last five years she has stayed in Emmaus. She is still angry at him for being gone. She is still bitter at her world. She still cries herself to sleep at night over him. She is still in Emmaus.<br />They clung on to the one person who gave them hope. They were insistent that he stay with them. In their heart of hearts, they sensed the hope that could burn again inside. “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”<br />4. Seven miles from Emmaus is the place to be (but only for a short time):<br />Jerusalem was the place where life was going to happen. Jerusalem, not Emmaus, is the place to be.<br />“They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem there they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, ‘It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace is with you.”<br />Jesus appears and they are startled and frightened. They think he is a ghost. Unbelief continued to reign in the face of incontrovertible evidence.<br />He calmed them by allowing them to touch him. Jerusalem, not Emmaus is the place to touch Jesus. Seven miles from Emmaus they not only saw Jesus but could touch him. Yet there is one more thing we need to remember. Even Jerusalem is not a place of permanent abode. It is simply that place we go to prepare to get back out into the world. We get there and sort things out and the healing can begin. More importantly, we can begin to get the power to go on and do our work.<br />5. Stay seven miles from Emmaus only until you get your marching orders:<br />Jesus opens their minds in order that they may learn the true meaning of his teaching, life, death, and resurrection. He then tells them to stay in the city only long enough to receive his power and leave. <br />We would all like to stay close to Jerusalem. That’s a comfortable place. We can sing songs; read the Bible; pray; and generally have a “feel good, touchy, feely” thing going. The trouble with that is we are not doing what we are to do.<br />Airplanes are made to fly. They last longer when they fly. An airplane that is always on the ground will deteriorate more quickly than one which is in use. I think Christians are a little like that. If we are not about the business of doing what God has called us to do, we are deteriorating. We are not living up to our purpose.<br />This story of the road to Emmaus is a symbol of the Christian life. It’s about ordinary Monday morning drudgery and ordinary despair. It is a story to tell us that the risen Lord gives hope and joy. Without seeing him all we will know is disappointment, discouragement, and despair. When we see him as a part of our life this world is not just a place of death, decay and defeat but is a place that groans towards God’s final victory. It’s a story about everyday life. <br />The changes to the disciples were described like this:<br />“Their lives prior to this moment were like a smoldering fire that gives no light, just smoke to cloud things up. But once they came into the presence of the Risen Lord their hearts were ablaze! A burning fire gives light for all to see, and they saw, understood and believed! All because of the Risen Lord! Jesus’ victory became their restoring hope. It became the anchor of their lives.” (Author unknown)<br />That stranger that comes up to us when we are hurting or lonely is Jesus. Come away from Emmaus and back to Jerusalem.Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-3280231588836361842007-07-23T09:15:00.000-05:002007-07-23T09:16:33.185-05:00"Showdown at the O K Corral"Waldron Methodist July 22, 2007<br />“Showdown at the O K Corral”<br />1 Kings 16:23-17:6, 18: 22-46<br />We begin with Ahab:<br />After the death of Solomon, Rehoboam took over as the king of Israel. A minor court official named Jeroboam led the northern tribes out of the nation and called themselves Israel. The rest of the country, including Jerusalem, is called Judah.<br />The writers of 1 Kings, have almost nothing good to say about the kings of Israel. They were the leaders of the renegade tribes. Jeroboam was said to have done nothing good during his reign. He led the nation of Israel into sin and degradation. He worshipped the Canaanite fertility god known as Baal, and the fertility goddess known as Asheroh. We’ll talk more about them later.<br />As king succeeded king in Israel their crimes grew worse. The worst of the worst was Omri. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, Ahab becomes king. He was Omri on steroids. First he married a foreign woman, Jezebel, who led into Baal worship. In verse thirty one we find that he “considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat.” He became worse by building a temple to Baal in Samaria. He then set up an altar for him in the temple. He also made an Asherah pole and, “did more to provoke YHWH(Yahweh), the God of Israel, to anger than did all of the Kings of Israel before him. In modern language that means he was worse than the rest of the kings all “put together”.<br />Continue with Baal:<br />We give you Baal. He was the Canaanite fertility god. They believed that his death and resurrection annually brought prosperity to the fields. They also believed he controlled the rain. He was seen as a direct rival to YHWH (Yahweh) the god of Israel.<br />It was believed that Baal and Asherah was a fertility couple that was so powerful, YHWH could not keep up with them. Most importantly, it was believed that Baal controlled the rain from heaven. In the time of Ahab, their worship became prevalent. There was a real possibility that the worship of YHWH in Israel would cease to exist.<br />The reason was Jezebel:<br />She was the Queen of Israel. She brought her court prophets and sought to convert the nation of Israel. Now that proved to be a relatively easy proposition. You see the worship of Baal and Asherah provided for human intercourse with concubines. They believed that as their gods watched this, he would find favor and the land would be more fertile.<br />The other way Jezebel sought to win the war over YHWH was to openly persecute his prophets. What that really means is if she could get her hands on you she would kill you. Worship of YHWH in his temple was allowed but few came out of fear of Jezebel.<br />Now we have Elijah:<br />In the midst of persecution he was the prophet who dared to profess the word of YHWH or God. Keep in mind that Jezebel was trying to catch and kill him in chapter 17, verse one, he appears before the king to say, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor ran in the next few years except at my (Elijah’s) word.”<br />Elijah then does the first sane thing we know about him. He left town. In fact, he left the country by crossing the Jordan and hiding in a ravine. <br />The heat was on and now we begin the story:<br />While Elijah is hiding out near one of the few sources of water for miles around, God was feeding him by means of ravens. Those really were a form of crow in modern language. The drought continued and his water source dried up.<br />He then headed north and stayed out of the nation of Israel. He went to the city of Zarapeth in Sidon, Jezebel’s country, and stayed with a widow and her son. Through the providence of YHWH, he is fed and watered along with the widow and her son. The boy died and Elijah takes the time to raise him from the dead.<br />Throughout all this time Ahab is scouring the countryside looking for Elijah. He is even threatening the neighbors if they harbor him. He wanted to get a hold on Elijah, torture him, and end the curse.<br />After three years of this arrangement YHWH speaks to Elijah. “Elijah,” he said, “it’s time to get this show on the road.” He tells him to go see the king, who is pretty fired up after three years without rain due to Elijah’s word, and tell him that we want an audience with the country. <br />Now in the days before radio, television, newspapers, organized sporting events; the people had nothing to do. They could not work because nothing was growing in the fields. It hadn’t rained in three years! The king sent runners to the ends of the kingdom and tells everyone to show up on Mount Carmel. They did!<br />Now I need you to remember something. Everyone thought Baal controlled the rain. Everyone thought Baal controlled the fertility of the fields and earth. YHWH through Elijah is about to bash Baal in the mouth and maybe put an end to this heresy once and for all. The place for the showdown was Mount Carmel.<br />Mount Carmel (in Hebrew it means the garden of God), juts out into the Mediterranean Sea in the northwestern part of Israel. It was usually the first place to get rain in the country. It’s about halfway between Jezebel’s Sidon and Ahab’s Samaria and was the perfect place for a confrontation. It contained an altar to YHWH which had been torn down. On top was a natural amphitheater in which the battle would rage.<br />Elijah stepped onto the floor and addressed the people, “how long will you waver between two opinions? If YHWH is God follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”<br />The rules are set. Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets and they will go first. Each side will have an opportunity to take a bull; cut it into pieces; put it on the wood of the altar. But they cannot set it afire. Their God must do that.<br />So began the prophets of Baal. They prayed, danced and shouted from morning until noon. “Baal, answer us!” But there was no response; no one answered. At noon things began to heat up. Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said, “Surely, he is a god! Maybe he’s off meditating or sleeping. Yell louder to wake him up.”<br />They danced, and danced. They shouted and danced. Nothing happened. In keeping with their worship they began to shout louder and slash their skin. The blood flowed. Sunset was coming. “But there was no response, no one answered, and no one paid attention.”<br />Elijah tells the people, “Come here” The altar of YHWH is repaired. A trench is dug, he cut the bull into pieces and lays it on the wood. Then he drenches the offering and the wood three times. At sunset he stepped forward and called:<br /> “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, YHWH, answer me, so these people will know that you, YHWH, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”<br />The mighty fire of YHWH fell from heaven and burned up the sacrifice, wood, the huge rocks of the altar, and the ground. The water in the trench turned into steam and disappeared.<br />This was, for the nation of Israel, what a redneck would call a “come to Jesus” moment. They fell to the ground and screamed at the top of their lungs, “YHWH is God. YHWH is God. YHWH is God.”<br />Elijah was a gracious winner. Remember that Jezebel had killed every prophet of YHWH she could get her hands on. Elijah was happy to return the favor. They seized the tired, exhausted, bleeding prophets of Baal and slaughtered them.<br />Then Elijah turned to Ahab and says, “You better eat, drink, and go home early because the rain that’s coming now will stick your chariot in the mud.”<br />A small cloud began to form on the horizon. It looked about the size of your hand. Then the sky grew black with clouds, the wind raged and heavy rain pelted Ahab as he rode off to Jezreel. YHWH is God.<br />This is the tale of a life and death struggle. What lessons can we learn from this? First, Jesus says the greatest commandment is to “love YHWH your God, with all your heart, with your soul, and with your entire mind.” I believe what Jesus was saying to us here is that we should love and serve God with everything we have. He must be at the center of our being, our heart. We walk for God with our entire life force. Walk for God with our entire understanding.<br />In this passage we learn that you are either serving YHWH; or you are serving another god. There is really no neutral ground. We also see that this is a war. People were being killed as a result of their beliefs. You had an enemy.<br />Some things do not change. The enemy is one of them. He may look different or disguise himself differently but he is still the enemy. He would like to make us complacent because that keeps us neutral. But we are in a war.Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-68394499874177733432007-07-22T14:42:00.000-05:002007-07-22T14:54:54.980-05:00Upcoming Committee Meetings<strong>Wednesday, July 25</strong>...<strong>The Finance Committee</strong> will meet at 7:00 pm in the Fellowship Hall. Members of that committee are: Chair-Aldon Hughes, Marilyn Hicks, Clifford Daily, John Paul Davidson, Cindy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Frankin</span>, Libby Goddard, Joe Don Rogers, Harvey Bates, Jack <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Bethea</span>, Dewey Frazier, Ann <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Crossett</span>.<br /><br /><strong>Thursday, July 26</strong>...<strong>The Committee on Lay Leadership (Nominations)</strong> will meet at 6:00 pm in the Fellowship Hall. Members of this committee are: Cindy Franklin, Linda <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Goodner</span>, Donald <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Goodner</span>, Harvey Bates, Jack <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Bethea</span>, Mary McKinley, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Karan</span> Rogers, Kevin Floyd.<br /><br /><strong>Saturday, August 11...The Worship Comm., the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">SPPR</span> Comm., the Finance Comm., and the Board of Trustees </strong>will all be meeting with Robert to make plans and set goals for the coming year. The meeting will begin at 10:00 am in the Fellowship Hall and will conclude around noon, followed by a light lunch. Those serving on these committees are respectively expected to attend.Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-40141675617149520342007-07-16T19:18:00.000-05:002007-07-16T19:39:51.122-05:00"Goodnight Irene"<span style="font-family:arial;">Sermon for July 15, 2007<br />Robert Lyons, Pastor<br /><br /><em>Sermon Text: Philippians 4:4-8</em></span><em><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></em><em><br /><br /></em><span style="font-family:arial;">The church at Philippi was a beautiful one. There were no stately steeples or anything else to mark its grandeur. Their beauty was from the heart. As a class, the people of the church were the dregs of society. They were the lower class. A Pharisee would have characterized them as “tax collectors and sinners”. They owned no gold jewelry, had no fine clothes, they did not sleep in mansions. They were poor.<br />While they did not have enough money to pay attention, they did support Paul’s missionary work. In fact, their contributions were among the only ones he would accept. They were a paradoxical mix of poverty and open-handed support of Paul’s mission to people they would never know. They were very attached to Paul and he to them.<br />And yet they still had some of the same difficulties we have today. In chapter 4, verse 2, Paul asks two of the women in the church to quit bickering and get along. His final words to them are some we can live by. The title of this message is “Goodnight Irene”. The Greek word for peace is Irene (åéñÞíç). In this day and age of many creature comforts, many have no peace in their heart. Irene has left their building. Paul writes to them about things we might be missing in our lives.<br />The practice of living in peace and without worry requires a focus. In chapter 4 and verse 4 he gives them his focus. A current paraphrase might be to “dance a jig for Jesus.” Oh, and do this ALWAYS! Then, in case they didn’t get the message he takes up precious paper and writes it again! REJOICE!!!<br />There is a simple principle involved in the human brain. We can only think about one thing at a time. Just one! Another simple principle is that we can choose what we think about. Paul encourages us to make that choice our God. Chapter 2 of this letter contains one of the oldest passages in the New Testament. It was a hymn sung by the earliest Christians. We know this because the Greek style here is very different from the style in the rest of Paul’s writings. Beginning with verse 5 he writes:<br />Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.<br />So he writes to his church to remember what God did for them.<br />Next he tells them to put on a mindset. In verse 5 of chapter 4 Paul tells his people to let their “gentleness” be evident to all. The word translated as “gentleness” is one of the most difficult in the entire New Testament for us to understand. That is because we do not have an exact English equivalent. If we did it would be something like: your good natured, sweet spirited, easy to get along with-ness. And he tells them to let that aspect of their personality stand out like the hood ornament on a Mack truck.<br />“Don’t worry about anything.” Worry is a nasty thing. The word itself is a derivative of an old Anglo-Saxon word that means “to grab you by the throat and choke the life out of you.” In the Matthew 6:25 and following, Jesus indicates that worry was prevalent in the human condition. We know this because he addressed it:<br />Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet the heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.<br />He then tells his people to give up worry for communication. We have two different words here. The first is prayer. Now, that’s not exactly prayer the way you and I know it. It’s more of the type of thing that I do when I have a lot on my mind and I am driving, or walking, or otherwise engaged. It is that internal conversation one has with God on an ongoing basis.<br />Then we come to “petition”. That is the sort of thing one does on their knees or in a prayer meeting. Petition is for those times when we stop for a conversation with God. Those conversations must be a dialogue to be effective. Paul tells us to simply turn these things over to God.<br />He inserts a wrinkle to prayer that we seldom hear from the TV preachers. He says “but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”<br />He then tells us in verse 7, that by following the above steps: that if we rejoice in the Lord, keep a good natured spirit, do not worry, pray, petition God, that a peace will come over our life. The peace of God will arrive. Oh, and it’s one of those things we cannot understand. That’s how encompassing it is. This peace guards our hearts like armed bodyguards around a Mafioso meeting or the doorkeeper in a club.<br />Finally he tells us to exercise a little mind control. If it’s good, think on it. If it’s noble, think on it. If it’s right, think on it. If it’s pure, think on it. If it’s lovely, think on it. I think you get the picture.<br />Do all these things. Then, the åéñÞíç (peace) of God will be with you. It will be with you forever and ever, Amen.<br /><br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span>Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-7692161134031710172007-07-16T19:14:00.000-05:002007-07-16T19:35:33.752-05:00In Memory of "One of the Good Guys"<div align="left"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Service of Death and Resurrection July 14, 2007 </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Jack Wengert </span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><div align="left">Robert Lyons, Pastor<br />1 Thessalonians 4:13 </div><div align="left"><br />Emma called me early Wednesday morning. “Jack passed about 3:30 this morning,” she said.” I knew it was coming but something about it didn’t seem right. To tell you the truth, something about this still doesn’t seem right.<br />Emma said it best, “Jack was one of the good guys. He had his head on straight.” Jack was one of the good guys. People like Jack Wengert are rare. He had a heart bigger than Texas.<br />Jack retired from the forestry service. In the course of my lifetime, I have been blessed to call more than one forester a friend. One thing I do know about them. They are tough. Early on in their marriage there were no good jobs available. Every day Jack took a bus up into the mountain. He spent the day shoveling snow around the trees so the sawyers could cut trees during the winter. It was tough work but he was a tough man.<br />In spite of this toughness, he was one of the most wonderful people you would ever meet. Brent told me that he has always looked people in the eye and, with pride, told them he was Jack’s boy. Jack loved his children. He was devoted to his family. He was a loving grandfather who loved his grandchildren so much they, indeed, considered him grand.<br />Jack was a giver. He was devoted to this church, the Boys and Girls Club, Lion’s Club, the Men’s Prayer breakfast, and generally to helping others. Things would get fixed around this place and no one would know who did it. “It must have been Jack,” people said. Jack loved projects and fixing things. He liked to make trailers of all kinds. He enjoyed making duck blinds and inventing things. His greatest pleasure was finding new uses for objects that no longer had use. Jack liked to work on everything. It was important to him that everything on his place be in “good working order.”<br />Jack understood the truth of James 2:14-18<br />“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith and has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by actions, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.”<br />You see Jack believed that talk was cheap. Actions, in his book, spoke louder than words. He believed the truth contained in James 1:22, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says!”<br />Jack treated everyone the same, like people. Larry told me his favorite Jack story yesterday. When they were in Florida, after a Hurricane Andrew, they had a small catering outfit setup for relief workers. Civilians ate well and the military was eating MRE’S. A general came in to inquire if his men were welcome to eat. Jack told him, “yeah.” The general then said he wanted his men to have a reserved set of tables. Jack objected to this and the general went on his way. A few days later the general saw things Jack’s way and the soldiers were able to mingle with their civilian coworkers.<br />If I think there is the remotest possibility that I might find it necessary to conduct another’s funeral, it is important that I know their spiritual condition. In those affairs, one never assumes. The first Monday I was here, I went up to the hospital for the second time. Emma was kind enough to allow a few moments alone with Jack. I was able to ask him two questions that are of vital importance. “Jack, do you know for sure and certain that if you died tonight, you would go to heaven?”<br />“Well, yeah,” he replied.<br />“Jack,” I said, “if you did die tonight, and stood before God, and he said, ‘why should I let you into my heaven?’ What would you say?”<br />He replied, “cause I’m Jack!” Then he smiled. He waited for a few moments to sweat the new preacher, then he said, “and then I’d tell him, ‘also because I know your boy.’”<br />You see, Jack did a lot of good things. Only one of them got him into heaven. He accepted Jesus, the Son of God, as his savior to forgive him his sins. After that, everything else was mere icing on the cake.<br />I want to take this occasion to say that if you cannot, truthfully, answer these questions in the same way Jack did, talk to me. Right now is the only thing we are guaranteed. We never know if we will have time.<br /></div></span>Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-90835402595849967172007-07-08T10:03:00.000-05:002007-07-08T10:09:55.243-05:00All Things<div align="left">Robert Lyons, Pastor July 8, 2007<br />ALL THINGS<br />ROMANS 8:28<br />It was April 19, 1995 and a normal workday for me. I lived in Oklahoma City and was an account executive for FedEx. At that time there was no office in the station for me and I worked out of my home. This was a telephone day for me and I sat down to make phone calls from 8:00 A.M. until 9:00 A.M... I then went in and started the shower to let the hot water warm up. I disrobed and stepped into the shower at exactly 9:02 A.M. The house shook violently and rattled the windows so hard that I thought the water heater must have blown up. <br /><br />Hastily, I ran down the hall, threw open the door to the garage, turned on the lights, raised the garage door and opened the water heater door. There was nothing there but a normal water heater. There was no smoke and no fire. Puzzled, I shut the door and turned to discover all the stay-at-home moms of the neighborhood were gathered in the street in front of the house. You see, in my haste, I hadn’t taken the time to grab a robe. <br />Soon, thereafter, the world knew what shook my house. A deranged war veteran, Timothy McVeigh, had blown up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building located in downtown Oklahoma City. It was the offices of many of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents who stormed the Waco compound two years before. It was intended as a retaliatory strike against those agents.<br />The devastation was horrible. Over one thousand people were wounded. One hundred and sixty eight people were killed and many of those were in the daycare that was in front of the truck that contained the bomb. Still more sustained injuries that would have sent them to emergency rooms in normal times.<br />There was a man in our church who did not show up for work that morning. After twenty four hours he went on the missing persons list. It was only after this that his wife found his datebook in the study. He had an appointment to sign up for Social Security benefits at 9:00 A.M. at the Murrah building.</div><div align="left"><br />I could tell you dozens of stories about that day. When all is said and done one simply has to admit, sadly, that this was a terrible tragedy. Most of us in Oklahoma City were affected either directly or indirectly. All knew someone that did not come home that day.<br /><br />I can still remember a trip to the site the following Sunday night. It was dark, except for the work lights from the rescue crews at the sight. Crowds stood outside the fence that was erected around the block. They stared in numbness and in awe. A choir, holding candles, walked down the street singing “Amazing Grace”. You could definitely feel a spiritual presence at this place.</div><div align="left"><br />READ TEXT. Many pastors, well intentioned, quoted this passage from the pulpit on the following Sunday. Most of them made a careful delineation. Not everything that happens in this world is good. There is evil. There is an enemy. He wants us dead and in this case, he won. This was a tragedy pure and simple. I can honestly say that in the coming days we found more blessings than we did bodies.<br /><br />You see, many were spared that should have been dead. The other FedEx Account Executive in Oklahoma City had a 9:00 A.M. sales call at the building across the street. She was late because the pricing department in Memphis held her proposal too long. The conference room she was scheduled to be was thus empty and no one was injured by the glass shards which destroyed the table, chairs and wall.<br /><br />Another friend of mine lived in the apartment building that was in the direct path of the blast. At 9:00 A.M. he got out of bed to take a shower. He ran back into the bedroom after the explosion to look out the window only to discover that the window had ripped the mattress to shreds he had been laying on. You see, my friends were not Christians at the time. Had they died that morning they would have spent an eternity without God in a place of unimaginable agony.<br /><br />Our text does not say that everything that happens in God’s world is good. It does not say that everything that happens to us is good. The entire Book of Job is wisdom literature from the Old Testament of the Bible. Its purpose is to determine why bad things happen to good people. The entire forty two chapters deal with the topic. You see, Job was a good man. According to God’s words he was, “blameless and upright”. God says of Job, “there is no one else like him.” Job feared God and shunned evil.<br /><br />Job lost it all. First it was his stock. Then it was his precious sons and daughters. His body was then wracked by painful sores. His wife and best friends admonished him to “curse God and die!” In chapter fourteen and verse one he replies that a man who is born of woman has a life that is short and full of trouble. Job never cursed God, but he did question him.<br /><br />Finally in chapter thirty eight, God deigns to speak. He tells Job that he really does not have a clue how things are run. His words from the next four chapters are best summed up from the book of Isaiah 55:8 where God says that you don’t think like I do and you don’t act like I act. You see we do not have a clue when it comes to the ways of God. They are so far above us that we cannot hope to know more than a small portion of them.<br /><br />Back in my seminary days I had the privilege of working as a chaplain in an alcohol treatment center. There is a particular passage from the “Big Book” that still sticks with me today. It is simply called “Page 442” and it says:<br />“And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation—some fact of my life—unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God’s world by mistake.”<br /><br />This passage means a lot to me because it is a pattern by which I live my life. A lot of bad things have happened to me in fifty-one trips around the sun. Most of them were due to bad choices I made. I became a lot less mad and a lot more glad when I incorporated these words into my personal philosophy. <br /><br />What happened to our beloved friend Jack Wengert was a terrible and unnecessary tragedy. I do not know why bad things happen to good people. I do not believe it was caused by my God any more than I believe he will run over a child to get his drunken father’s attention. This much I do know, “and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him…” <br /><br />I long ago gave up on the asking of “why?” That is a luxury I can no longer afford because I find that using it leads only to misery. Now I have learned to accept that bad things happen. Things happen regularly that I cannot control. Until I accept the situations, such as this one with Jack, as being exactly the way they are supposed to be at this point in time, I am usually angry and upset. When I get like that I just want to punch someone in the mouth. That doesn’t really relieve the frustration and it doesn’t help the hand.<br /><br />As I close this morning I want to share a little ditty that I learned while working with alcoholics:<br />The past is history.<br />The future is a mystery.<br />All we have is today, it’s a gift.<br />That’s why it’s called the present.<br /><br />When we live in the past and want to change it we hang on to a lot of questions we have no business asking. It’s the past and you cannot change it. When we worry about tomorrow we simply are giving in to fear and worry. If you are giving in to either of these two temptations, you are not at home in today. Today is all we are really guaranteed. </div>Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-83880617860795892202007-07-01T14:29:00.000-05:002008-12-11T11:03:05.627-06:00Getting To Know You<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkAYSVA8liESk9TIhhB_GQhasYSLNhUZ-zmsZ2NQSKLQNqmK-_kOgdxgw7t0srC7kxQoxPlBr1yUcW1MEj-g7R3zwXBGNlLPhNG-crLPaqR1XL4VqAsNtrrnH5ac8_Ort9RTzY/s1600-h/images%5B8%5D.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5082313799863949778" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkAYSVA8liESk9TIhhB_GQhasYSLNhUZ-zmsZ2NQSKLQNqmK-_kOgdxgw7t0srC7kxQoxPlBr1yUcW1MEj-g7R3zwXBGNlLPhNG-crLPaqR1XL4VqAsNtrrnH5ac8_Ort9RTzY/s320/images%5B8%5D.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">In an effort to become better acquainted with the congregation, Robert would like to invite you to an informal group meeting. The congregation has been divided into groups of about 10. These small groups will meet on Tuesday and Thursday evenings throughout the month of July. You will be receiving a card with your date, but if you have a preference or if the date chosen is inconvenient for you, please contact the church office at 637-3734.</span></div>Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-48061555540505150862007-07-01T13:43:00.000-05:002007-07-01T14:01:50.074-05:00July 1, 2007 Sermon "I Don't Know, But..."<span style="font-family:arial;"><em><strong>Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 2: 1-5</strong></em></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">(First sermon to the church)</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"><br />Ladies, one of the hardest things for a man to admit is that I don’t know. Maybe it's so hard for me because I say it so often. I honestly believe that I have made the statement, "I don’t know", more often this week than I have in the past five years:<br />"What's the phone number here?"<br />"I don’t know."<br />"What's your new address?"<br />"I don’t know."<br />"Preacher, what can I do to help?"<br />"I don’t know."<br />"What will happen in the Jack Wengert situation?"<br />"I don’t know."<br />What pains me so much about most of my replies is that I need to know and I need to know now! Maybe that’s the reason I appreciate Paul so much, because he was honest and humble enough to willingly say, "I don’t know" even when he was faced with important questions that needed answers. READ TEXT.<br />When we look at this text, we must remember that the church at Corinth was going through some hard times, faced with internal struggles and external vices. In their desperation they remembered Paul, the founder of their church, who had personally led many of them to Christ. He was their spiritual leader, and it was natural that they should turn to him for guidance.<br />In these challenging, uncertain moments, it's natural to look to the past for comfort and strength. You’ve had some good pastors here. You had Deedee who knew how to work with the Conference offices and get such programs as Igniting Ministries started. You had the bright, young and exciting Nathan. You had the gentle and laid back Lynn McClure. Each of your previous pastors brought their own strengths and each touched you differently. Some of you would be so comforted to reach out to those familiar leaders who know this church and would surely have the answers.<br />Instead, here I am. Most of you are looking at me and wondering "What is he going to be like? Does he have any answers? Is he going to be a flake?" It may or may not help you to know that I am wondering the same thing! You see, WE WANT CERTAINTY!<br />Please imagine how surprising these words from Paul were to the Corinthians. Instead of saying, "Yeah buddy, those were the days!" Paul reminds them how it had really been. "Don’t you remember?" he asked. "When I first came to you I was very weak and afraid; why I trembled at the mere thought of speaking to you. And even when I did talk, it wasn't anything profound…why, it was just my own words." "No," Paul said, "don’t build me up. I didn’t know what to say then and I’m not sure I do now. Your problems were so big, your needs were so great that I didn’t know how to answer your questions. That’s why I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified!"<br />Maybe you don’t identify with those words, but I do. It has been my pleasure to meet so many of you this week. Many of you flatter me with your kind comments and high expectations. Inside, I still feel like Paul did. I have not come to you with eloquence, superior wisdom, or a thorough knowledge of the programs, polities, or procedures of the Arkansas Conference. I do stand before you today with fear and trembling. I know there are great challenges ahead and my efforts alone will never be enough to move us where we need to go. I say to you today, along with Paul, "I resolve to know nothing while I am with you but Jesus Christ, and him crucified!"<br />At times I feel like the blind man in John’s gospel, chapter 9. Perhaps you remember the story. There was a man sitting outside the Temple, a man who had been blind from birth. Imagine how limited his world was. They had no Braille, Seeing Eye dogs, or white canes then. There was no disability insurance or Medicaid. One must earn their living or they did not live. He couldn’t enjoy the beauty of this world for there was no beauty in his utter darkness. He didn’t have the freedom of going where he wanted. He had to, necessarily; take a well ordered path through life. It may have been something like: 50 steps forward from the house, turn right 100 steps along the stone wall, dodge the chariots…..well you get the picture. He could do nothing except beg. There was no "up side" to his life.<br />Then Jesus came. He mixed a little clay with a little spit and pushed it into the man’s eyes. He washed it off and his eyes were opened! He could see! His whole life was changed. I hazard to say that life, as he knew it, ended that day. HE COULD SEE! HE WAS FREE!<br />For those who desired a well ordered world, this was a problem. No one could figure it out and the neighbors couldn’t believe the change: "I don’t know how this can be the same man!" The whole event caused an uproar. Some of the neighbors refused to believe it was the same man. Others said it was. The Pharisees got involved. Anyone who would admit that Jesus was the Christ was to be excommunicated. In a society that believed God controlled everything, it was akin to a death sentence. They called the man’s parents. The parents rolled over on their son. They said, "He’s a big boy, you ask him."<br />The Pharisees asked of the man whether Jesus was the Messiah. The formerly blind man said, "You’re asking me questions I don’t know the answer to. Let me tell you what I do know. I know neither how he did it nor do I care. Then I was blind. Now I see."<br />He didn’t have to know how it happened. He simply accepted the fact that it did. His eyes were opened but so was his heart. He gained the courage to stand up to the Pharisees (v. 30). He now recognized Jesus as THE MAN!<br />This is where ministry begins, when we say along with the recovered blind man and with Paul, "There are a lot of things I don’t know….but I do know Jesus the Christ, who overcame Satan, and stormed the gates of Hell." The Romans took their best shot and killed him. Still he beat them, for one day the Empire would become Christian. His Kingdom survived the empire. I say along with the blind man, Jesus changed me!" That affirmation propels me back into full time ministry and will send us all out to do ministry. When we decide to be a church that points the way to Jesus Christ; when we determine to know Christ and to love Christ and to rely on Christ and to be led by Christ; life will change and ministry will flourish!<br />In the book of 1 Peter 2:9-10 we find, "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you might declare the wondrous deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous life. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have." You and I who have been so touched by Jesus Christ now have a chance to touch others with that same message of grace. People NEED grace.<br />Sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the world around us is our opportunity for the future. "Declare the wondrous deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous life." Think of the people who will walk through these doors in the coming years. There will be beautiful babies and children. Others will be couples starting out in life. There will be youth who want a place to be taken seriously; men who are disillusioned, women who’ve given up.<br />Our great purpose is: to share with them the good news that Jesus the Christ is calling and leading us out of darkness and into his beautiful light. His message is one of comfort to the young mother of the colicky baby who is working on three days with little sleep. It offers hope to the man who has established himself in life only to find he still has that hole in his gut. And the great thing about this message is that it's the gift that keeps on giving. It not only offers a better life here but another after the undertaker has you.<br />The song writer, Brad Paisley, got it right you know:<br /><em>When I get where I'm going</em><br /><em>on the far side of the sky.</em><br /><em>The first thing that I'm gonna do</em><br /><em>is spread my wings and fly.<br />So much pain and so much darkness</em><br /><em>in this world we stumble through.</em><br /><em>All these questions I can't answer</em><br /><em>So much work to do.<br />But when I get where I'm going</em><br /><em>There'll be only happy tears.<br />I will shed the sins and struggles</em><br /><em>I have carried all these years.</em><br /><em>And I'll leave my heart wide open</em><br /><em>I will love and have no fear.</em><br /><em>Yeah when I get where I'm going</em><br /><em>Don't cry for me down here.<br /></em>Some might call this a fallback position but it IS the hope that Jack and Emma have right now. You will never hear me knock organizations such as the Civitans or Rotary, for they do many good things. But they just don’t cut it when in the end it is the gospel that matters, and that is what WE have to offer.<br />I know this is a wonderful church. I am privileged to be your pastor. Over the years, you have touched the lives of hundreds or thousands of people by sharing the good news in a darkened world. For these many years God has used this church to touch lives and help people. You have a proud heritage. I must tell you something today: "You can have an even greater future! Your best days are ahead. Your greatest victories are yet to be won. Your greatest deeds are yet to be done. I will do all that I can to help you move into what can be your greatest times ever. There can and will be a time in which Waldron United Methodist Church proclaims the gospel of Jesus the Christ boldly and proudly. Lives will be changed by God’s Spirit through Jesus Christ.<br />No planning committee can do this until; no program can do this until; no project can do this until; no pastor or preacher can do this until we are willing to put our selfish ways behind. We are called to lay our lives at the cross and commit ourselves fully to the challenges God puts before us.<br />This is, indeed, a day of new beginnings! Will you accept this challenge to commit yourself fully? Jesus throws down the gauntlet to you today. It involves change; it takes the same courage as that required of one involved in combat. We are in a battle. We are in a war. We are in a dogfight. We do have an enemy. He does want us dead. We are the people of God, chosen by God. You are a holy nation. Let’s go out and take it to the enemy that his blackness will never cover us. That he will not overcome us. That our light will never go out. We are not a people of darkness, we are THE people of light. Let us go out and be the church! </span><br /></span><div align="center"></div>Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-71352059088737797112007-06-28T21:45:00.000-05:002007-06-28T22:01:24.462-05:00Welcome to Robert LyonsWe welcome our new pastor, Robert Lyons to Waldron UMC. Robert is a native Arkansan who moved here from El Dorado where he served as pastor of Jack Mayfield Memorial UMC at Huttig, Arkansas.<br /><br />Robert received a B.S.E. from Ouachita University and a M. Divinity from Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.<br /><br />After serving as a pastor for 10 years in other churches, Robert was appointed to the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church. In addition to his pastoral duties, he is also finishing a twenty-year career in marketing and sales.<br /><br />Robert is the proud father of two children, Jennifer Hart of Sallisaw, Oklahoma and Robert Lyons, Jr. of North Little Rock. He is also the very proud grandfather of three beautiful granddaughters, Katie, Karlee Jo and Karaline Hart. We are also pleased to welcome Robert's mother, Etta "Mama" Lyons.<br /><br />Robert's first Sunday with us will be July 1. He looks forward to his appointment to Waldron UMC and to ministering to the community. Please join us in welcoming Robert and "Mama" to Waldron by worshiping with us this Sunday and we invite you to remain following the worship service for a potluck dinner in the Fellowship Hall.Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17388588.post-71497924380514716302007-03-07T08:20:00.000-06:002007-03-07T09:16:55.695-06:00LENTEN EVENTS AND HOLY WEEK SERVICES<strong>Sunday Evening Bible Study: <em>Spiritual Disciplines</em> will be offered during Lent @ 6:30 p.m.</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Lenten Study</strong>: <em>On The Road Again-A Lenten Journey</em> offered each Tuesday morning of Lent at 10:00 a.m. and each Wednesday evening of Lent at 7:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall.<br /><br /><strong>Lenten Lunches</strong>: sponsored by the Waldron Ministerial Alliance<br />Wed., Feb. 28 12 noon @ Waldron Assembly of God<br />Wed., Mar. 7 12 noon @ Waldron First Baptist<br />Wed., Mar. 14 12 noon @ Waldorn United Methodist<br />Wed., Mar. 21 12 noon @ Waldron Church of the Nazarene<br />Wed., Mar. 28 12 noon @ St. Jude Catholic Church<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><strong><em>**Easter Sunrise Service will be held at Waldron First Baptist Church with Pastor Lynn Bean, of Waldron Church of the Nazarene, leading the service. </em></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><em>This service begins at 7:00 a.m.</em></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><em></em></strong></div><div align="left"><strong>Holy Week Services</strong>:</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><strong>April 1 Palm Sunday @ 11:00 a.m. Worship </strong>.....a special service commemorating Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem that will begin in the sanctuary and end in the Fellowship Hall with the serving of traditional Hot Cross Buns.</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><strong>April 5 Holy Thursday @ 6:30 p.m.</strong>.....a service of Communion with a special drama presentation, <em>"Lord Is It I?" </em>Hear the disciples question Jesus if they are the one who will betray Him.</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><strong>April 6 Good Friday @ 6:30 p.m.</strong>.....<em>a Tenebrae Service: A Service of Darkness</em>. This service retells of the passion of the Christ. In this service we use increasing darkness to dramatize the increasing sadness of Holy Week.</div><em></em><br /><em></em><strong>April 8 Easter @ 11:00 a.m. Worship</strong>.....we invite you to join us for the most sacred day of the year as we celebrate the risen Lord!Waldron UMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079369062898851302noreply@blogger.com0