Here’s a portion of it:

What are we waiting for?
Maybe we are waiting for God to come into our lives and change our world in a powerfully new way. Maybe we are waiting for a new experience of God that will shake us up – shake up the world – awaken us from our complacency – and excite us for God’s work.

Well – if that’s the case —

What are we waiting for?

Hasn’t Christ already come?
Hasn’t God already come into our world — completely changed our world through Christ?
Hasn’t God already changed our lives?
Haven’t we already had our lives shaken up by God?
Haven’t we already been awakened from our complacency — and excited about doing God’s work?

What are we waiting for?

Friends — the truth is — we no longer have to wait.

You can read the sermon here.

While I find that young people may not be as involved in mainline churches as they were (the Church I serve is one example of many) — they are getting more involved in churches that have more contemporary worship and more hands on mission opportunities. This does not seem to be leaving the church, but leaving churches that are not meeting their needs for worship and for hands on outreach. Maybe if more mainline churches (the one I serve included) would focus on new ways to worship and new ways to reach others with the love of God the young people would not feel the need to go elsewhere.

I’d welcome comments on this!

You can read the Monday Morning Insight post here.

One major theme of Advent that I like to emphasize is preparing for Christ. Unless we repent of our sins and turn to God, the miracle of Christmas will have no real meaning for us. Just as John The Baptist preceded the ministry of Christ with a message to repent, the Season of Advent preceds the celebration of Christmas with a message to give God control of our lives and work for God’s kingdom of love, justice, and peace in the world.

This theme of Advent seems to get lost in our rush to get ready for Christmas. In fact, the commercialization of Christmas seems to have replaced the real celebration of God coming into our world through Jesus Christ. We need to try to make this Advent more spiritual — and less commercial. This is not easy — but can be rewarding!

I found a great post about Advent — with some good resources — at Monastic Mumblings . another great resource is at Advent Conspiracy.

Try to find ways to celebrate the true meaning of Advent this season!

For me, Thanksgiving is a time for family and friends — and for remembering all we truly have to be thankful for.

Here are some of the things I am thankful for:

God’s love and grace — and the salvation I have through Jesus Christ

Sally

Family

Friends

The members of Hopewell Presbyterian Church and the love they continue to show to Sally and me

Mom — who turned 88 last week and is still in great health

Here is a Thanksgiving Prayer I saw a few years back at a Monastic Mumblings :

We praise and thank You, O God, for You are without beginning and without end.Through Christ, You created the whole world; through Christ, You preserve it.You made the day for the work of light and the night for the refreshment of our minds and our bodies.

Keep us now in Christ; and may this present joy, gracious Lord, be for us a token of the great, immeasurable love with which You have sustained us in our lives and enriched us with the gift of faith and above all with knowledge of the redemption by which we are united with You both now and in the life to come. Through Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit, we offer You all glory, honor, and worship, now and for ever. Amen

If you’d like to add some of the things you are thankful for, please leave a comment.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

With all the hustle and bustle of Christmas already beginning, I share this video from “The Advent Conspiracy”.

What would happen if we all decided to worship fully — spend less — give more — and love all — this season of Advent?

Check out The Advent Conspiracy!

I ran across a post that I wanted to share. It’s written to pastors who feel like quitting — and — as he says in the post — this could include most pastors — especially on Sunday nights and Monday mornings! I know there are times it certainly includes me!

Here are his 5 reasons not to quit:

1. God called you!
2. The enemy works overtime on discouragement right before God does something awesome!
3. Philippians 1:6 — He didn’t bring you this far to let you down or watch you fail!
4. The example of Jesus!
5. There ARE people who believe in the vision God has given you!

Read the full explanations of these in his post.

I’m not sure why I post on my blog so infrequently.

It’s true that I’m busy — but I should still have time for reflection.

It’s true that I put a lot of stuff on facebook and twitter — and that my blog posts dropped off when I started using them — but the social neworks are not really meant for substantive posts that make people think — or that I have to think to create.

I believe that I am lazy. I don’t want to have to find things to blog about — or take the time to do it. I don’t want to think about or wrestle with issues — decide what I believe — and defend it.

Well, I want to chagne. I now want this blog to be what I intended it to be when I began the “new blog” a few years ago. I want it to be a place where I can share my ideas and — hopefully — some will respond and we can have dialog.

Sorry I have been lazy. I plan to post several times (at least) a week from now on — and have some things that I find interesting and that others might also.

The series has focused on a statement in Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life that God will ask us in heaven how we responded to Christ and what we did with what He gave us. Taking the Great Commandment from Matthew 22:34-40, I developed a series of sermons on how to answer these questions — and love God and others.

The 5 sermons were:

Matthew 22:34-40 God Has Questions — Do You Have Answers?

Matthew 22:34-40, Matthew 23:1-12 Can They Do As You Do?

Matthew 22:34-40, Matthew 25:1-13 Let’s Be Wise Guys And Wise Gals!

Matthew 22:34-40, Matthew 25:14-30 Don’t Waste Your Talent

Matthew 22:34-40, Luke 17:11-19 An Attitude Of Gratitude

It’s the final sermon in my Stewardship Series for this year — based on Luke 17:11-19 and entitled “An Attitude Of Gratitude”.

Here’s a portion of it:

Gratitude is rarely expressed.
A clergyman included this item in his annual parochial report: “Nine persons lost at sea.” When the congregation read it, they expressed shock and amazement. He said, “Well, eleven people came to me and requested prayers for e voyages they were taking this year. . But only two asked me to give thanks for a safe return. So I assumed the other nine were lost at sea.”
A man writing at the post office desk was approached by an older fellow who had a post card in his hand. The old man said, “Sir, could you please address this post card for me?” The man gladly did so, and he agreed to write a short message on the post card, and he even signed it for the man, too. Finally the man doing the writing said to the older man, “Now, is there anything else I can do for you?” The old fellow thought about it for a minute, and he said, “Yes, at the end could you just put, ‘P.S. Please excuse the sloppy handwriting.’”

You can read the sermon here.

Here’s a portion of it:

Use your gifts — your abilities God has blessed you with.

Let God show you what your gifts and abilities are — think about those gifts and abilities you have left buried for years — dig them up — and use them. You’ll be surprised what you will discover when you start looking for new ways to serve God. Dig up you talents and abilities from whatever you have hid them under — and use them.

If you are not sure what your talents or abilities are — or how you can use them for God’s glory and the benefit of others — pray about it — or talk to me about it. I’ll be happy to help you discover what you gifts and abilities are — and how to dig them up and use them.

Have you ever considered what we all could get done if we all used the gifts and abilities God has blessed us with?

I think we would be surprised.

You can read the srmon here.