1 June 2008—9 Ordinary Time/Kingdomtide

Faith-in-the-Grove a/k/a faithPoints—Our Invisible Helper

focusPoints:

Marathon runners often talk about "hitting the wall." Somewhere between the 18th and 22nd mile of the twenty-six mile race, they often run out of steam. The question becomes for them, will they be able to finish the race or not. In life, we have times when we "hit the wall" so to speak. We come to the end of our resources and wonder if we can keep on. We need a resource. (Fookes: Stockwell UMC Worship Message, 1 June 2008)

forwardPoints:

Christ has promised us that as Christians we have an "invisible helper" available to us, and that if we are humble enough to ask, the Holy Spirit will provide the necessary resources to see us through.

In John's Gospel, chapter 15, we learn that the Holy Spirit is at work both INSIDE the church and OUTSIDE in the world. The Holy Spirit
--guides believers into all truth (verse 13),
--declares to us the things to come (verse 13), and
--will "take what is mine and declare it to you (verse 15).”

fellowshipPoints:

The Holy Spirit also has a mission outside the church. The Holy Spirit confronts the world with truth, often the kind of truth the world does not want to hear:
--convicts the world about sin.
--convicts the world about righteousness.
--convicts the world about judgment.


findingPoints:

In Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations (2007), Missouri Conference UMC Bishop Robert Schnase asks us to consider each others’ “bundles of hopes and anxieties, desires and discomforts” that we carry.

He notes that we (believers/unbelievers, Stockwell UMC members/non-members) are members of Jesus’ family, “and Jesus wants us to treat one another as we would treat Jesus himself if he were here.”

“What would be the quality of the welcome, the efforts to ease the awkwardness? What would be the enthusiasm to help, to serve, to graciously receive and support and encourage? Taking Jesus seriously changes congregational behavior (Schnase, 13).”

So, what is the Holy Spirit’s role to change our behavior and implement the five practices: Radical Hospitality, Passionate Worship, Intentional Faith Development, Risk-Taking Mission and Service, Extravagant Generosity? Some real-world situations:

Chris Madison, Senior Pastor First UMC, Wabash, recently posted on a the North Indiana Conference listserv, “I once asked someone to whom a certain church belonged. The answer was, "It belongs to me, my husband, my friends, etc." My response was, "No, I'm asking a theological question." The Church belongs to Jesus. It always has. It always will. And if we belong to Him, too, and we are part of His mission, the money will be there.

In what ways do we engage the Holy Spirit in so our church reflects belonging to Jesus and disengage the Holy Spirit reflecting belonging to someone else or not knowing to whom we belong?






David Springstead, Community UMC (Virginia Beach, VA) Worship Leader, recently posted on Methodist Musicians listserv, I had a discussion about the polity of the church, and how things could be run (and all decisions made) by a small cabal with the blessings of the pastor. One of the UMC Elders in this group kept bringing up the fact that the UMC isn't a "Congregational" run organization. We don't take church wide votes to make decisions, and the pastor of the church is the one responsible for what form worship is offered. Who are we doing worship for? I understand the primary purpose of worship is to praise God and offer up thanksgiving. If it makes some folks uncomfortable so be it... it's not about us.

How would the Holy Spirit instruct in resolving such dichotomies: Is being laid back an excuse for being unprepared? Is being passionate an excuse for not being patient? Is excluding people with divergent viewpoints an alternative to exploring similarities within differing opinions?




faithPoints:

Like polymer added to water to create a solid, what do I need to add to my life to make a solid Holy Spirit Connection? Like salt added to the polymer-water-created solid turns it back to water, what do I need to keep out of my life so as to not disconnect the Holy Spirit and keep my shape and form? How will I measure results? What will be the outcomes the Holy Spirit’s influence within my life?