Superbowlingmusinglisticexpeaallydocious

If you are near N.Y.C. then you will be aware that there is going to be a football game of interest taking place in New Jersey. I have no particular fondness for either team this time around, but I am glad for the annual opportunity to raise some more funds for our local Food Pantry in Freeport.

For those of you who don't know the story of how the annual 'Souperbowl of Caring'  began well... back in 1990, a Presbyterian youth leader, Brad Smith finished his youth meeting with a prayer that asked God to make them mindful of those who didn't even have a bowl of soup to eat, whilst the rest of the nation gathered to watch the game on TV. Since 1990, this fund raising drive, has spread from church to church, and community to community, and has raised more than $98 million for people in need. Which brings me to Mary Poppins and our reading for Sunday which can be found in 1 Corinthians1:18-31

A huge hit at the box office right now is 'Saving Mr Banks' inspired by the story of how the classic movie "Mary Poppins" almost never made it to the screen due to author P.L.Traver's mistrust of corporate giants like Disney. As the movie develops details of her background reveal her reluctance, whilst Walt attempts to persuade her to allow him to make a Mary Poppins movie, something he has promised his daughters he would do.

(If that isn't accurate I am taking the rather foolish step of commenting on a movie I have yet to see...but it's on pre-order at Amazon... and did you know you can order goods from Amazon through our church website and they give us some money?)

My point of contact between the movie and the scripture reading comes through the word 'foolish'. Some people would suggest that writing children's books may be a foolish endeavor. There were those who suggested such to P.L.Travers (and to J.K. Rowling). Others that drawing cartoon mice wasn't exactly the best way to invest your time. Animation was just too time consuming and expensive! It took twenty years for Walt to persuade Mrs. Travers to allow him to make a movie of her book. Some suggested that he just gave up... it was never going to happen.

In our scripture reading we find Paul writing "Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,  but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles". There were those in Paul's day who thought he had bitten off more than he could chew. People of different cultural, religious and philosophical understanding were not going to treat the message he proclaimed with any seriousness. 

Today we find there are folk who belittle folks attempts to feed the hungry and bring justice to the poor. What difference can collecting a little bit of money and saying a few prayers make? It's just a drop in the ocean. Foolishness abounds. So let me state it quite clearly. I'm content in my foolishness. As content as the kid who once dreamed he could throw a football and will on Sunday be running out to play in the Superbowl. 

To all the naysayers, detractors and negativity merchants I say ...'Superbowlingmusinglisticexpeaallydocious!' And if you wish to indulge further foolish musings, then you could be fool enough to join us in worship on Sunday morning ... or simply be part of the foolish Web conversation and reflecting.

And... finally... yes we will be singing in our Sunday service Bill Clinton's favorite country song.  Follow this link and our foolishness will be revealed!

Have a great Superbowl weekend, even if you couldn't care less about football or country music!

Church United

We begin a journey this week through lectionary passages that are from the First Book of Corinthians. Paul’s letter addresses numerous issues that plagued them then… and continue to be issues in today’s church. Amongst the themes addressed are Church Unity, the foolishness of the Gospel, the Wisdom of God, the need to dig deep into what believe, and how to make decisions in the light of all the conflicting voices in our world. We start with 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 and the topic of church unity. 

Personally I've always thought it was a total scandal that there even exists such things as denominations. What a glaring testimony to our intolerance and inability to be the people God called us to be! Jesus prayed that we may be One as He and His Father were one. End of story right there. In as much as we turn away from that ideal, we build our own little empires rather than build God's kingdom.

Of course that sounds idealistic and unrealistic . Yet... and here's the kicker... do we honestly believe that in eternity there is going to be a segregated heaven? Do we think there will be a Catholic enclave, a Presbyterian paddock and a big old building for Southern Baptists? Do we honestly believe that our different doctrinal understandings and emphasis, our structures and ways of worship, our books of order and decisions of church councils over who is 'in' and who is 'out'... are going to matter one iota?

If ... not only Jesus prayed that we may be united, but our destiny at the end of all things is to be united... shouldn't we be working towards such ends here on earth? Don't we even pray every Sunday that 'Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven?"

Yes. We know this. But then it becomes difficult. We have so much invested in our history and our buildings and our heritage. We know people fought and died to establish some of our traditions. And... to be honest... we like the way WE do things. If we wanted to sing those songs, or worship in that way... then we'd go to that church.

Meantime the world looks on and says "See how these Christians love one another. What a joke!" Our witness is compromised. The prayer of Jesus that we may be 'One' goes largely unheard. Our eternal destiny as one people of God is something we are quite happy to put off till then. 

So some questions as we approach Sunday... related to our reading from Scripture.

• Is Christ divided?
• Why is Paul thankful that he didn't baptize anybody?
• What will we do to promote unity amongst our fellow Christians?

I am so grateful to those who have not become so jaded by the disjointed church that they have lost the vision for us being together again. Some of my greatest experiences of worship have been at events where people forgot about their differences and focused on the unity they have in and through Jesus Christ. A memorable milestone in my own spiritual journey was attending the Greenbelt festival way back in 1979. (Yes.. all those years ago).

Thanks to the wonder of the internet, here is one of the performers from way back then, Bryn Haworth, singing 'We're all One'. CLICK HERE. I love the optimism of his last verse "I know that God has saved me, saved me for the day, when I'll hear the people singing, and everyone will say, We're all one..." And you just got to love that seventies fashion sense, the cars, the tents, the hair, the flared trousers...

Here's the lyrics in their totality...

WE’RE ALL ONE by Bryn Haworth

Listen to me children, Can't you hear the call
Can't you see the writing, That's written on the wall
It took so long to write it, Then they passed it through the age
Telling all creation, Everybody can be saved.                                                                                              We're all one …….

Well I was riding on the railway, I took a look around
All the different people, Couldn't find no common ground
Well we've got one Maker, And we're under one roof
And if you've got love, Then you need no other proof
We’re all one...

Crazy people fighting, Fight in other lands
How you kill for Jesus, I just don't understand
I said tell me Lord tell me, What are you gonna do
He said when you point the finger, Then the finger points at you
You’re all one...

I like to play the music, It gets me on my feet
I need to play it loud, because I want to hear the beat
And I know that God has saved me, Saved me for the day
When I'll hear the people singing, And everyone will say
We're all one...

Simply Serve!

 

 Following on from last weeks message (Character, Compassion and Conviction)  this coming Sunday (Jan 19th 2014) we continue to examine the characteristics of a Servant of God. This time we'll be looking at passages from 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 and Isaiah 49:1-7.

To paraphrase Isaiah 49:1-3, the prophet  addresses us with a word from God : – “I called you mine when you were still unborn, I knew your name before your parent’s even thought of it, I’ve guided you over the years and protected you, I have selected you for a particular purpose, and you are my servant, through whom I desire to reveal my glory”.

 This coming weekend also sees our annual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. In a famous quote (featured above) he said: "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." Isaiah encourages us to work for the fulfillment of our dreams for peace and justice in measurable steps. Just because some of them may be steps into the unknown, that doesn't mean that we should hesitate from taking them!

In both our personal lives and the life of our faith communities we are not given a crystal clear picture of where our journey may lead us. How do we deal with that? The best way is to just get on and do the things that we know. To do what servants do best. Simply serve. 

To remember that, from the prophets perspective, we are those through whom God has selected for a particular purpose and through whom God desires to reveal God's glory! Such thoughts may offer us a little extra confidence. To paraphrase an old cliche KISS... "Keep it simple stupid" and launch out in faith!

Prompted by the reading from Isaiah, here are a few questions to consider as Sunday approaches. Hopefully we'll address some of these!

• Where do we find our identity as servants of God?
• What causes us to become disillusioned in our service of God, and how do we get over those hurdles?
• How can we have a positive influence on the daily world in which we live and move and spend our treasures?

  To further stimulate (and maybe even entertain) how about some Adrian music?

Many, many, many moons ago I composed (or to speak more realistically 'plagarized'  from Dan Hicks and his Hot-Licks) a song that was titled 'Simply'. If your browser allows it then you can give it a listen here. 

"Simply you've got to love Him,
Simply you've got to care
Simply you've got to trust in Him
Without Him you'll get nowhere

Simply give your life to Him
Simply just let Him care
Simply give all your love to Him
Without love you'll get nowhere

Simply just tell Him what you think
Simply just let him know
Simply let Him take your life
That's the only way to go"

Hope you can either be with us on Sunday, or if not, then can interact through our web portals! Great to have you onboard. God Bless.

Growing into Baptism

This upcoming Sunday (Jan 12th) is 'Baptism of the Lord' Sunday. Our readings will be from Matthew 3:13-17 (in which Jesus comes to John to be baptized as He begins His servant ministry) and Isaiah 42:1-9 (in which the prophet speaks of the characteristics a servant of God... part of a section known as the 'Servant Songs').

Baptism always marks the beginning of a Kingdom relationship. In the Baptism of a child it is the beginning of a life in a Christian family. In traditions that practice adult baptism it marks the beginning of a new relationship with a particular faith community. For Jesus it was the start of His public ministry.

Following on from last weeks sermon the 'Word' (in Hebrew 'dabhar' - the creative energy of God) is very much present as a voice is heard from heaven declaring "This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased."

Martin Luther was said to have urged his congregants to 'Grow into their baptisms'. Baptism was not seen as a sign of having arrived somewhere but of having started something. How do we measure our baptismal growth? Maybe the servant song passage can help us.

One area of growth we are expected to move forward in is growth of character. We are not supposed to stay the same but be transformed by God's love. That can only happen as we become less reliant on self and more reliant on God. What marks the servant out as distinctive is the servants ability not to lift themselves up, but rather to allow God to work through them. Contrasts are made between the way of power and domination in comparison to servant-hood and seeking peace. We can ask ourselves, "How am I growing more reliant on God? How much am I prepared to let God fight my battles rather than self micro-manage every crisis?"

A second area of growth can be seen in the area of compassion. As the days go by are our hearts become harder or more tender? Endless knock backs, let downs and frustrations can cause us to become cynical and cold. Such was not the way of Jesus. Despite all the abuse and hostility He endured, He was able to look beyond the individuals hurts and prejudices, and still see His oppressors as beloved children of God. No where is this more evident than His words on the Cross 'Forgive them Father, for they don't know what they are doing!'  How are we doing when it comes to dealing with those who don't agree with us, maybe even threaten us and oppose us? How aware are we of the hurts and needs that may be driving them? Do we deal with others 'harshly' or 'gently'? Isaiah 42:3 'A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

A third area of growing into our baptism concerns conviction. The Servant is not a quitter. Many folk give up on their churches. For some their church is the last thing on their list of priorities. If something else comes along, that they feel is more worthy of their (or their families) time, talents, treasures and influence, then the 'church thing' is pushed further and further down the list or dropped altogether. To remain fully engaged with something you have to be convinced that it has value.  How deep is your conviction that Christian faith remains a pearl of great price, a treasure to be shared and the greatest hope for needy folk ... like you and me? If we are truly convinced that the gospel is good news, we'll be prepared to roll up our sleeves and get stuck into the life and witness of our churches!

So there you have it... a few thoughts to ponder as Baptism of the Lord Sunday approaches! May God help us all to "Grow into our baptisms".  See you Sunday! (Or check out the sermon online after then). Comments welcomed!

Video of John's Gospel.

The Gospel of John in video format.
Watch the first part of this for Sundays reading and prepare to reflect on 'THE WORD"

THE BLOG RETURNS!

It's 2014. So I'm thinking... why not give the Blog another fling. According to church guru Tom Ehrich the day of churches being all about worship on Sunday mornings has come to an end. To quote his article in January's Presbyterian Outlook.. 'Leaders should be blogging, nurturing small groups, looking for ways like video to reach more people and using technology to pursue 'touches' and 'leads'..."

To be honest that all seems rather daunting, but I can at least start with the first thing on the list! 'Blogging'.  So the Baldwin Presbyterian blog has returned. In it's previous incarnation this little corner of the web reflected on the previous Sundays sermon. This time, I'm thinking that maybe some pre-emptive thoughts as we approach Sunday worship may prove more fruitful.

However, if Tom is correct, and Sunday worship is no longer the BIG thing, (but rather part of a larger picture) then maybe I'm not thinking far enough out of the box as yet. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE if you are reading this, leave an occasional comment, share it on your Twitter/FB whatever spaces. One of the major reasons I abandoned this blog was the lack of response from all but a handful of wonderfully faithful folk. It seemed to take up a lot of time to reach very few people. But I'm trying again!

Our topic for this upcoming Sunday will be 'Words, Words, Words', based around the prologue to John's gospel.  "John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (Joh 1:1 NIV) 

To offer a little preview; 

"On television, on radio, chatter, chatter, chatter and on and on and on, till we get to a point where the TV is left on and the radio is left talking, but no-ones watching and no-ones listening, just a constant murmuring going on in the background.Words to songs. We sing them. We sing them again. but often they don't mean anything. As a pop tune once declared "Video killed the radio star". 

Even in church with our hymns. Some don't bother to pick up the book yet alone open their mouths. And when they are sung it is sometimes without imagination and without understanding. "Nice tune, but what's it all about?". Where there is no engagement of the mind it becomes just empty noise. 

Words from pulpits. How many words have floated over pews, but have never been received, never been chewed upon nor contemplated. The Words of the Bible. "Oh, I know that passage... but I'm not sure I like it in that translation, not sure what it means either, but I do like it."

So some thoughts to ponder as Sunday approaches:-

1. The 'Word' for John was something active, something that caused things to come into being. Incredibly creative and powerful. How can we, within our own experience, embrace such a concept?

2. The 'Word' was also incredibly tied in with John's notion that 'God so loved the world.' Love is an action, not a sentiment."The Word became Flesh and dwelt amongst us". There is a profoundly 'unphilosophical' edge to this notion. This Word gets down and dirty. The Word is not a randomly posted comment, but a personal in the flesh visitation. The challenge here seems to be that it is easy to stand by and talk about something, but to get stuck in and DO something... well that's another story altogether. One of my pet hates is our Presbyterian tendency to believe that because we have formed a committee and talked about something, the problem is therefore solved.

3. The 'Word'  is hard to capture with words.Words often let us down when we are trying to express what is most important.

So there's some thoughts to get us going. If you are not able to be in Baldwin Presby church this Sunday...or have no desire to be ... then you are still invited to be part of the conversation. The sermon is usually posted sometime Monday morning, and engagement is invited. GO HERE and click on the 'most recent sermon' link to find it after Sunday.

God Bless for 2014!