...this changes everything

Easter is the Key to understanding the Kingdom/Ream/Commonwealth  of God...

• Easter answers the early words of the Gospels: “The Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe this Good news”  

• Easter shows not just a miracle that demands our belief/trust in an all-powerful God, but actually inaugurates God’s Kingdom/ Ream/ Commonwealth into the world we live in. 

• Easter shifts the world of atoms, molecules, rocks, seas and trees, sky, stars and galaxies from our viewpoint to God’s viewpoint.  We begin to see a realm in transformation into God’s will for all creation.  

• The Question of Easter is not: “Do you believe in Easter?  ... then let Christ’s love guide you.”  BUT do you see, that whether you believe or not, God is transforming creation, and inviting you and all of creation to become Citizens of Heaven (Phil 3:20) 

Earth Sunday is a great opportunity to talk about “Creation Care”, Global Warming and the need to let God’s vision of creation guide us. 

Ps 188:14-29, “This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it”,  

Rev. 1:4-8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”, 

John 20:19-31 Doubting Thomas / Doubt and Physical fact / Faith and Doubt – Trusting in God’s Vision, not our own. 

• The first two scriptures are self-evident. The third addresses our doubt regarding what we actually see and what we are willing to trust. 

• Global Climate Change is happening and it's because we have not had the courage to "Till and keep" the earth (Gen. 2:15) nor recognize that we have been blessed with  creative love that comes from God. (Gen. 1;27)

Holy Communion and the theme of God's welcome and invitation to all people provide the powerful message for this day.

• The invitation to the table converts, forgives and transforms us as we live and participate with Christ on the  “porch of heaven”. 

•  “Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.” Mother Teresa has said. Do we see others in the same way?

• Ananias was afraid of Saul/Paul, yet trusted in God to lead him into the presence of an enemy.

• Revelations passage describes all the elders and all living things coming together in praise and worship and love.

• It's a time to explore the various words for love in greek: Agapé, Phileao, Storge, Eros, and encourage people to move from Eros & Store love to Phileo and Agapé love, (the only two mentioned in the New Testament.)

•Jesus asked each of us: "Do you love me?"

Mother's Day is always a challenge to recognize the blessings as well as the wounds that come along with giving birth and nurturing life.

It is also a time to celebrate not just our struggling and sometimes broken, sometimes joyful families, but God's hope for our families.

Each family and each home can reflect the glory that is heaven on earth.

We can learn "Parenting with Grace" as well as forgiveness, healing and reconciliation.

We can work together healing and repairing God's creation and we can welcome new love and new people into our lives. 

Tabitha, (Acts 9:40) was healed, so can we be healed and transformed into stronger followers of Jesus.  Revelations describes the "great multitude" of every nation and tribe.

We know that trust is our missing component.  How do we rebuild trust with each other?  within our families?  ...with our neighborhoods, governments and world?  How do we hear our Lord's voice and then follow?

The answer is found in accountable small groups, "Trust" groups of love and family the way God wants us to live.  Mother's day is a great day to introduce the "Small Groups Makeover" for the Local Church. 

Lonliness: the cancer that destroys our souls and returns us to the level of "Survival of the fittest." 

As our world has become more “internet connected” we've become more isolated and withdrawn.

Suspicions and envy spreads like a virus.  Misunderstanding, anxiety and fear drive us further and further away from each other. 

Peter's vision of the unclean held up by God and the reminder in Revelations that "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them;...(Rev. 21:3)

Johns Gospel (Good News of the Kingdom) reminds us that:" Glory has come to God in that through Jesus the world is being tranformed into God’s kingdom/realm/commonwealth: and the mark of that Kingdom is agapé love."

It is time to step back from the troubles of our world and of our lives and see once again the grand sweep of God's grace, love and forgiveness.  

And to see that the real and deepest need is for an authentic human love and understanding based on God's love  (Agapé and Phileao) that lifts us to a new level of caring and covenant community.   Accountable Small Groups with a mission bring the inward and outward love together. 

Heritage Sunday [Aldersgate Date on  May 24]

Connecting with people is crucial for the church today.   Religion and the Christian Church are not thought of very highly in society.

However, one area that people do talk about seriously is Heaven. 

Remember the TV shows and movies? ( "The Good Life", "Upload", "It's a Wonderful Life", "Heaven can Wait")

Heaven is referred to in jokes and comic 

And of course, it's a very present topic at death, Funerals and Memorial services.

It's one time where people in general will still listen and think about their spiritual life. 

So it's time for us to ask some questions:

• What is heaven like to you?  

• Will you be surprised at some who are there?

• What does it take to get to Heaven?

• Do you have what it takes to get there?

Heaven was a big concern for John Wesley, as was Hell. He was on a mission to share God's love and invite people into a Sanctified relationship with God.  

HIs preferred method was through Accountable Small groups. They powered the Wesleyan movement throughout the world.

Today is the Sunday to explain and present your Accountable Small Group Revolution to the church and begin sign ups around the leaders you've been training. 

Ascension Sunday and Memorial Day Weekend. 

 In our divided nation, it's a good time to ask:  

• What is worth sacrificing for?  ...Family?  ...Nation?  ...Principles? ... God? ...Your Soul?  

• What is worth committing your life, your family, your home to?   

Christianity has usually been pretty straightforward in asking for a commitment. "Pick up your cross...",  the narrow path, drop what you are doing and "follow me."   

So today is the day to "pop" the question.   Does you faith include a commitment to change?  And does your change include a plan to make it stick?    

The covenant community we call the church is the place where we come together to make our Christian faith real.  And in order to make it real, it needs to be accountable, honest, healing & transformative.  

The Acts passage talks of  the Kingdom/realm and we hear the response: "Get to work..."  

Ephesians passage speaks to "the saints who are in Ephesus", meaning all who follow Jesus are saints, citizens of heaven.  

John's Gospel sharing of the prayer Jesus has for his disciples includes unity, God's presence and a deep and abiding knowledge of God. 

 It's time for commitment and in the bulletin today (and next week: Pentecost), you can have a sign up for Small groups starting the Summer as well as in the Fall. 

 Make such a sign up a regular habit!   

It's time to build the Kingdom.

The Gift of the Holy Spirit / Holy Communion

Acts 2:16-18

 "...this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:  

 'In the last days it will be, God declares,

 that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, 

and your sons and your daughters 

shall prophesy, and your young men 

shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.  

 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,

 in those days I will pour out my Spirit; 

and they shall prophesy."

The full realization of the Kingdom/realm of God on earth is no longer to be waited on, but it is happening now!  The Holy Spirit is given to all who wish to receive it.  It will burn in their hearts and transform them.  Their lives will be forever changed.

And so, with a familiar passage and with all the glory of a major "holy-day", Pentecost  is a launching time for a season of Accountable Small Groups both over the Summer and  plans are laid for even more groups in the Fall. 

The 1 Corinthians passages adds the Gifts of the Holy Spirit to the "Tongues of fire" passage in Acts which can lead into a  class or a set of Saturday Workshops on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

A short term Accountable Small Group on Church Leadership skills would also be appropriate if you have your leadership taking office in July.   (Some churches have moved their nominations to a June annual meeting in order to match the July to June School year.  This gives the summer for leaders to prepare for a solid year of activities from August to June.)

The Summer season needn't be a "down time" for the church. Many people are still in town, especially the lonely ones living around the church. Make plans to offer Ice Cream Socials, Movies on the Lawn, Bike Rodeo's and lots of "low bar to entry" activities. 

And alternate theme would be exploring forgivenss with the John's Gospel passage, perhaps couple with a "Keys to Forgiveness" workshop like the one found here.  

We have been given a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Only after a great social upheaval does a time like this come along.

We're all tired, and our people are not only tired but anxious and worried about the future. Inflation, war, climate change, loneliness and identity issues hang over their heads. 

But let's pause, and let the holy fire of Jesus come into our lives once again.  Christ will lead the church to relevant again. It can give meaning to lives lost to consumerism and greed. 

To be the Church alive again, we need 3 things: 

• THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION
• STRATEGIC PLANNING
• TACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION

• 1st THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION

Most are theological poor in their understanding of God, Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit and the Church.   And they have little in the way that ties it all together.

They may have some memorized phrases and the know how church "works", but as to the "WHY?", they cannot adequately explain it. 

We must think together THEOLOGICALLY to understand God's Heavenly Kingdom/Realm and what it means for all our lives. 

This means relearning what the Gospel/Good News is all about, and why the 1st Century Christians were willing to die for it. 

• 2nd STRATEGIC PLANNING

Next come agreeing on a Strategic Plan for how to work together to see the Good News of Jesus Christ become evident and active in their community. 

This is where "Resurrection Families" the Accountable Small Group Revolution comes in. 

It's a Whole Church strategy that reshapes everything we do along the principles of John Wesley.

• 3rd TACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION

This is most familiar part of what we do, it's the day to day running of the church.  Except now they'll know WHY and WHAT the end goal is.  

They won't be working at cross purposes as they decided which missions and ministries to kept and how to make sure that everything they do results in the strengthening of disciples. 

See below  for a brief overview of what this looks like or call Pastor Terry at 661-717-0162 or email at terry@Agapejourneys.com for more info.

Most people attend worship to be closer to God. 

But too often it's more a concert, a lecture, a struggle with unfamiliar hymns.

Worship can be a "little part of Heaven" with every section leading flowing together so that when it ends we feel & know  we're with God.

Take time with your worship team to explore what makes worship "heavenly"?,  

a gathering of  the citizens of heaven?...

What would change?  

What would stay the same?

Be sure to leave lots of space for silence and reflection on God's word.

Let the presence of silence become sprinkled throughout the service.  It's in those times of silence that we can hear the voice of God.

Let's not be overly busy, or competing with the angry voices we hear all week.

Let the choir inspire, (and print the words to the anthem for reflection), and don't forget to reaffirm God's presence every chance you get. 

We seek the Holy, so we can take our time.

The stories of the faithful are lights in the darkness. So be sure to ask a lay person to read the scripture of the day.  

And before they read, invite them to say a sentence or two about a moment they felt close to God, Christ, the Holy Spirit in the last week or month.

Then begin the reading with: "And it is that sense of God's presence that we read the scripture today from......"

Look for a change in the congregation.  People will start looking forward to hearing about those "filled with Christ" moments. 

Generally applause is discouraged because it's usually "thanking the performer".  It's especially hard not to applaud when children sing or read.

However: 

We need to remind ourselves regularly that we are not the audience,  God is.

And that the time we spend together is sacred.

Sometimes, after a particular rousing and uplifting music, solo, organ postlude or sermon, applause is the best way to thank God.  But that is often rare. 

It's important that we regularly remind each other to respond more with a deep, inward commitment of hearts and minds rather than an outwardly show of affirmation.

The historic Christian worship is composed of two parts: The Service of the Word and the Service of the Table.

The Service of the Word is taken from our roots in Jewish worship with a focus on God's Word and our confessional preparation to hear it.

The Service of the Table is the "new" thing added by early Jewish Christians as they remember that a new day had dawned and it began with the Table our Lord that we call the "Lord's Supper." 

Both the Word, and our response with the Sacrament are crucial parts of our covenant community.  And included in our response is the offering, prayers for others, Baptism and other actions of Christian faithfulness.  

This is all a part of the people gathered in a heavenly space, thanking, praising and blessing God. 

When does worship begin?

For me, it begins when we turn into the driveway of the church.  We enter hallowed ground and we join the other saints gathering to worship our God in a sacred Sanctuary. 

Everything we see and do can either heighten our experience with God, or detract from it. 

The role of a central focus point cannot be overlooked.  The colors on the alter, a carefully crafted focal point in line with the theme, the music chosen, the way the choir and worship leaders carry themselves, all help us come together in God's presence.

Make especial note of the  attitude of all the greeters, ushers, volunteers and church staff all contribute to sense of God's presence. 

Are people rushing about with last minute details?   Or has everything been checked and double-checked 20 minutes before the service and so everyone's attention is on those gathering to be in this heavenly place together.