December 9, 2018 The Way Back Home
Will you be "home for the holidays" this year, believing that "there's no place like home"? Then you understand the natural yearning for a place of rest, a place to belong, a place where the depths of love and fellowship are unmatched - a home.
In this Sunday's scripture from the Gospel of John, Jesus comforts his disciples as he prepares for his death and resurrection. He assures them that he will not abandon them, that he is going to prepare a place for them - an eternal home.
"But Lord," Thomas asks, "how will we know the way to this home?" Jesus declares “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Have you accepted this unmerited gift of a way home to God? No other gift will ever be as valuable as the gift of salvation through Jesus. Why not pray to your Heavenly Father right now, a prayer of faith declaring that Jesus alone is your way, your truth, and your life?
Peace in Christ, Pastor Bob
- Dec 9, 2018The Way Back Home
The Way Back Home
December 9, 2018 The Way Back Home
Will you be "home for the holidays" this year, believing that "there's no place like home"? Then you understand the natural yearning for a place of rest, a place to belong, a place where the depths of love and fellowship are unmatched - a home.
In this Sunday's scripture from the Gospel of John, Jesus comforts his disciples as he prepares for his death and resurrection. He assures them that he will not abandon them, that he is going to prepare a place for them - an eternal home.
"But Lord," Thomas asks, "how will we know the way to this home?" Jesus declares “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Have you accepted this unmerited gift of a way home to God? No other gift will ever be as valuable as the gift of salvation through Jesus. Why not pray to your Heavenly Father right now, a prayer of faith declaring that Jesus alone is your way, your truth, and your life?
Peace in Christ, Pastor Bob
- Dec 2, 2018Why the World Needs the Word
Why the World Needs the Word
December 2, 2018 Why the World Needs the Word
We begin a new sermon series for Advent this Sunday based on the Gospel of John and its focus on the person of Jesus Christ. Just who was Jesus and why should he matter to me? No other questions are more important to every human being than these. In John we discover that long before he was born in Bethlehem, the Son of God was present at the very creation of the universe. Not only was He present, everything that came into existence did so through Him!
And now, having lost our way through the fall of Adam, Jesus the Savior has come into the world as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the light by which we find our way out of the darkness. He is the Bread of Life by which our very souls are nourished.
I hope you'll come each Sunday in December as we anticipate and celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world!
Peace in Christ, Pastor Bob
John 1:1-14
- Nov 25, 2018Thy Kingdom Come
Thy Kingdom Come
November 25, 2018 Thy Kingdom Come
Pastor Jeff Allen
Matthew 25: 31-46
- Nov 18, 2018Thanks Living
Thanks Living
November 18, 2018 “Thanks Living”
It's hard to believe it's just a week before Thanksgiving Day!
The days are speeding by quickly and if we're not careful we'll miss the opportunity to fully appreciate their meaning. Thanksgiving, the Advent Season, Christmas Eve and Day, the first day of a new year.... all are times to reflect and give thanks and praise to God for the gifts of life, fellowship, and hope._
I hope you will take advantage of our regular and special worship services during the coming weeks to grow your faith and devotion to God's Kingdom. We begin with this Sunday's Thanksgiving worship services in the morning and join together with area churches in our annual Community Thanksgiving Service at Mt. Sidney UMC (I'll be preaching, but don't let that keep you away!).
During Advent our Scripture lessons and sermons will focus on "The Christmas Story According to John." While Matthew and Luke are the traditional tellers of the story of Christ's birth, John's account points squarely to the purpose of Jesus' coming into the world, revealing his true nature as the Living Word, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
God is at work in our congregation and our Aisle 7 Fellowship campus. Please keep lifting up your prayers to God that we will be faithful to the mission he has given us. And as you pass the stuffing around the table next Thursday, remember to say a prayer or two (or more) of thanksgiving for God's leading, saving, and transforming grace in Jesus Christ.
Grace and peace, Pastor Bob
1 Cor. 4:13-18
- Nov 11, 2018When We All Get To Heaven
When We All Get To Heaven
November 11, 2018 When We All Get To Heaven
Election Day, November 6th
I just came into the church office after voting. Now, siting at my desk, I'm reflecting on why it was so important that I took the time to vote. Here's why....
In our nation voting is a privilege and a civic responsibility. It is the occasionally inspiring, sometimes disappointing, frequently frustrating act of fallen human beings placing their trust in a government led by their fellow fallen human beings while trusting in God's providential grace.
When I vote I am not saying I believe in the infallibility of the candidates and their parties. I am not saying that one party has all the answers or that any one party's platform can create heaven on earth. If I believed that, I would be practicing idolatry.
I vote because God has called us to be caretakers of this world we have inherited - and caretakers of each other. I vote because God in his providence has placed me in a nation where voting can bring about change, even if it is frequently slow and cumbersome and imperfect. I vote because I believe that many of the founding principles of this nation are in tune with those of God's Word, even though our history demonstrates that we often fall woefully short of upholding those principles [slavery, segregation, materialism above charity and justice, pleasure above morality, to name but a few.]
I vote hoping I will not forget that there is but one Savior and one way to true life and peace. When I vote, I pray that God will somehow use that vote to bring into this world a little less chaos and a lot more kindness. I pray for all the candidates who ran but lost and for all those elected, that they will serve with wisdom and fairness. And I pray that through our votes we will live into the vision of a nation where there is liberty and justice for all.
Especially at this juncture in our nation's history, I pray for all those in our world whose lives will be altered - for better or for worse - by our votes, including the "tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the homeless and tempest tossed (Emma Lazarus)." There are almost 70 million refugees worldwide, half of whom are children. One out of every eight persons in our world are undernourished, most of them non-adults. And twelve percent of the world's population live within 50 miles of a war zone, many of them innocent children and the elderly. Can we truly be great as a nation if we vote without considering the impact on the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable among us, from the unborn to the elderly and all in between?
Finally, as I vote, I pray that God will bless America not for our personal comfort and security, but so that we can be a blessing to all nations. I voted today and I pray that you voted, too - prayerfully and with the assurance that God's "truth is marching on!"
Grace and peace, Pastor Bob
Revelation 21:1-11;22-27
- Nov 4, 2018Their Names are Written in Heaven
Their Names are Written in Heaven
November 4, 2011 Their Names are Written in Heaven
All Saints Sunday November 4th
In my humble opinion, there is no more moving, emotional, and important Sunday in the church year than All Saints Sunday. It is a day that reminds us of the hope and promise of our Christian faith; a day that brings us together to remember loved ones - and to celebrate the fact that their names are written in heaven (Hebrews 12).
Within the church we "do not mourn as those who have no hope." We have no reason to avoid the topic of our own deaths or the deaths of those we love. For we have this blessed assurance - that Christ has died and is risen and will come again! Those who place their faith in him will meet again with all the angels and saints of Heaven before His throne!
Grace and peace, Pastor Bob
Hebrews 12:1-3; 22-24
- Oct 28, 2018How Awesome Is This Place
How Awesome Is This Place
October 28, 2018 How Awesome Is This Place!
Verona UMC is an awesome place and an awesome church family. I know, because as pastor I witness daily the untold and uncounted good works and faith-filled actions of our members. Thank you to everyone who makes this a place we should be happy to come home to, not just on Homecoming Sunday but every day of the year!
Grace and peace, Pastor Bob
- Oct 21, 2018The Risks and Rewards of Following Jesus
The Risks and Rewards of Following Jesus
October 21, 2018 The Risks and Rewards of Following Jesus
Following Jesus is risky business.... maybe that's why churches sometimes tamper down certain parts of the Gospel when trying to increase their membership rolls. We advertise that our preacher is eloquent and charismatic. Our congregation welcomes visitors warmly. Our choir sings with glorious passion. Join us and your Sunday mornings will be well-spent and your spirits lifted.
It can make following Jesus sound like a Saturday on the golf links at the local country club.
What we often don't advertise are the numerous warnings in the Bible about the inherent risks of being a Jesus-follower. Jesus often discussed these risks with his disciples, a "buyer beware" approach based on his reading of their hearts. Jesus knew that many would enthusiastically begin their journey of discipleship with him, only to grow fearful and disillusioned along the way.
Following Jesus has its rewards.... For no matter how many and great the risks, Jesus offers us peace in the midst of conflict, joy in the light of his presence, and an eternity in heaven where our tears will be dried in the very presence of God. This and so much more.
Come this Sunday morning as we open God's Word and discover the risks and rewards of following Jesus.
Grace and peace, Pastor Bob
Matthew 10:32-42
- Oct 14, 2018I Love My Church – Here’s Why!
I Love My Church – Here’s Why!
October 14, 2018 I Love My Church – Here’s Why!
There was a point in my life where I had given up on church. Brought up as a twice-on-Sunday, once-on-Wednesday church goer, I finally had had enough somewhere in my early 30's.
After moving into a new community, my wife and I were having a hard time finding a church where we felt truly welcome. I had been a Bible major for a while in college and was a life-long student of the Bible so I set a high bar for a church's doctrines and beliefs. I came to a point where I truly despaired of ever finding a church home again.
So I avoided church on Sundays for a year or so. We were living on a farm and there were lots of chores to catch up on every weekend. I even adopted the excuse used by many good men that "I can be just as close to God out in nature as I can in a church sanctuary."
Obviously (since I'm a pastor now), at some point I did join a church. Amazingly, it was a small, rural United Methodist congregation, part of a denomination that I had always assumed wasn't for me. After all, the Methodists in my hometown used to host dances for their youth - obviously they were not taking God's Word seriously!
So why did I join that particular church? What was the difference between that small United Methodist church with about 30 members and every other church in town, most with beautiful sanctuaries and programs galore? It was because we belonged there. We just knew this was where God had led us.
Yes, the church we chose (or God chose for us) had a preacher in his 70's, a dying Sunday School program, painfully uncomfortable pews used as tables for amputations during the Civil War, and a bathroom that could only be accessed by walking outside and into another small building.There was even an organist who left her bench precisely at noon each Sunday lest she miss her tee time at the golf course. (I'm serious, she would get up and leave before the final hymn if the preacher was too long-winded).
Still, this is where God had led us. Despite its many shortcomings, this church was filled with divine love. And it was in that small church that I fell in love with God and his church again. It was there that God called me to become a Pastor. It was there that God reminded me that we weren't meant to follow Jesus alone.
We all need a place to belong so that we can become the person God wants us to be. A place of love and grace where the Good News of Jesus is preached and the Scriptures heard and obeyed by the grace of God. I believe Verona UMC is such a place. That's why I love my church!
Grace and peace, Pastor Bob
Psalm 84:1-4
- Oct 7, 2018Serve Like Jesus
Serve Like Jesus
October 7, 2018 Serve Like Jesus
What does serving like Jesus look like?
My granddaughter Annie has a servant's heart. She's four years old and always wants to make sure that everyone around her is okay. I've never noticed her washing her little brother's feet, but I think she wouldn't hesitant if asked.
In John's gospel account of Jesus washing his disciple's feet, Jesus doesn't hesitate to serve Peter by washing his feet. While the disciples are still stunned and confused, Jesus instructs them that this is not just an isolated incident, a gimmick, or an attention-getting action. Serving each other is a practice that they are to adopt as a rule in their new faith community.
The world is filled with people for whom a servant's heart comes naturally. I'm not sure why some people seem to have a servant's heart from the moment they are born, nor why some are so disinterested in caring for the needs of the people around them.
But I do know this. Everything I read in the Gospel accounts (including this Sunday's passage from John 13:1-17), reminds me that I must have a servant's heart if I'm going to be a disciple of Jesus .
Perhaps you are one of those for whom serving doesn't come naturally. You've never had that impulse and pull to put others first. You've found it hard to sacrifice time and energy to serve victims of natural disasters. You don't really like the inconvenience of holding a door open for someone as they enter a store; or mowing the grass for the elderly couple next door; or helping your spouse out by taking over their chores for awhile.
But Jesus can help you. His Spirit, the Spirit he promises to all who trust in him, is a Spirit of service. Through His Spirit he will teach you and lead you into the joy of serving others, a joy that comes not out of recognition or rewards, but because you feel Christ's presence every time you serve.
Grace and peace, Pastor Bob
John 13:1-17