This Sunday we're going to be considering a passage from the Gospel of John in which Jesus begins to shed light on the impending outcome of his ministry.  He's breaking the news to his dense disciples and putting the best face on it.  In this passage Jesus compares himself to a seed.  The value of a seed is in what it produces. Using the metaphor of math, we consider death the ultimate subtraction, but, according to Jesus, death is actually a form of multiplication.  Or it can be.  It ought to be.

And the sort of death that multiplies isn't something we can only experience when we stop breathing. We get opportunities to die all day long, don't we?

And we get to see the things we bury for Jesus spring up and bear fruit for Jesus!

When, instead of cherishing and protecting my privacy, I allow it to be buried I can see that the selfless act of inviting someone into my life and home bears fruit that would have been stillborn in the cold womb of my "privacy." I'm really mixing the metaphors here, but you can see where we're going with this.

Call to Repentance

Luke 14:27 (page 1623)

Call to Worship

Psalm 71 (page 907)

OT Reading

Isaiah 49:1-7 (page 1138)

NT Reading

1 Corinthians 15:35-45 (page 1790)

Message

Planting Instructions

John 12:20-26 (page 1671)

The Angel's Empty Hands

This Sunday I'm going to be preaching on an aspect of the temptation in the wilderness that is intriguing and which sets the stage for the season of Lent.

In the wilderness Satan tempts Jesus to leap off the temple's highest point, calm in the assurance that the angels would bear him up in their hands.  It must have been very tempting.  Jesus was being treated poorly for a human, much less for the Son of God.  It would have been very gratifying to make this dramatic gesture and have the expressions on all their faces change from sneers and disgusted frowns to looks of regretful astonishment.

But Jesus resisted the temptation and the angels hands were left empty.

There are several important lessons for Jesus' disciples to take from Jesus' example.

Call to Repentance

Hebrews 10:30-31 (page 1874)

Call to Worship

Psalm 91 (page 930)

OT Reading

Job 19:23-29 (page 811)

NT Reading

Matthew 4:1-11 (page 1499)

Message

The Angel's Empty Hands

Matthew 4:6 (page 1500)

Who Are We To Judge?

This Sunday we'll be considering James' challenge to us to avoid speaking poorly of fellow Christians or passing judgment on them. There's no doubt that when we do pass judgment and when we're free with our criticism it takes the joy out of belonging and hands ammunition to Satan, inviting him to open fire on us.
If holding our tongues and reserving judgment feels risky ("if I don't point out the truth then he's going to get away with it") we are betraying a lack of confidence in the Holy Spirit. The real risk is to ourselves when we decide to impersonate God and hope that he will not mind our presumption or that Satan will not take advantage of it.

Fresh Take On An Old Challenge

For hundreds of years believers have been using some version of the Wesley Covenant Service to start out the new year.  It's a good time to take stock of where we are in our devotion and to resolve to order our lives in such a way as to reflect our convictions.  Too often we act like this world is of paramount importance, despite what we believe about the world to come.  Too often we take our orders from the world while calling Jesus Lord.

The first Wesley Covenant Service took place in  1755 and believers have been making use of it ever since.

This business of being double-minded makes our devotion an unpleasant chore and makes us unconvincing and tiresome to others.  So the covenant service is a good spiritual discipline and means of grace for those of us who would like to grow into our salvation.
We are going to do a version of the Covenant Service that will make the old words fresh.  You will receive a packet and will be directed to go through the contents of the packet in your pew as we progress through the covenant, with each step of the covenant requiring you to prayerfully take some action in your seat.
Believe me, there is no better way to start the new year than with a renewed resolve to grow into your salvation.
To prepare for the service consider meditating on 1 Peter 1:3-6, 8-9, 2:1-3.

O Come Let Us Adore Him!

     At 7:00 on Christmas Eve we will be gathering to celebrate the incarnation. The service will be simple and sweet. We will hear from the Prophet Isaiah and sing ancient songs in good company.
     We'll celebrate communion in our pews for a change, and there's a reason for that.
If Jesus was not who he said he was there's no reason to celebrate his birth and Christmas is a bizarre occasion. If Jesus isn't who he said he was then millions of people devote a month out of the year to gifts, calories and parties to mark the birth of a lying, delusional Jewish carpenter who died two thousand years ago.
     But, on the other hand, if Jesus is who he said he is then what we're celebrating isn't really the sweetly iconic manger arrangement. We celebrate the discovery of Jesus in a manger for the same reason that Abraham would have celebrated the discovery of a ram in the thicket. Before Jesus could be lifted up on a cross he had to be laid down in a manger, and it is the cross that gives the manger whatever significance it has.
     Christmas is incredibly humbling because I have to admit that there's something unseemly about my celebration. Basically what I'm saying at Christmas is "Let's have a party because I'm off the hook for my sins: God's willing to avoid killing me even though I deserve it by killing his own son even though he doesn't. And if that doesn't call for eggnog I don't know what does."
     In that light, the whole affair starts to look ugly and shameful.
     But if Christmas is humbling, it's also incredibly uplifting. It's uplifting because neither the Sacrificer nor the Sacrifice were the least bit reluctant about the whole thing. In fact, the Sacrifice undertook the project "for the joy set before him." And my relief and joy at the prospect of salvation, even a salvation coming at so great a cost, is right and proper because God invited me to feel this way. He sent his angels that night to set things straight, to make sure we knew it was alright to be happy about this. "Do not fear," they said. "Do not be weirded out. Do not be conflicted. God's doing this on purpose. He wants to save you. Go crazy."
     So we'll take communion in our seats, as passive about the bread coming to us as the world was about Jesus coming two thousand years ago. And in the act of eucharist we will shorten the distance between the manger and the cross to the width of a piece of bread.
And we'll dim the lights to light our candles and sing Silent Night and wonder at the sweet gravity of it all.  I can't wait.

     And Sunday morning (Christmas morning) we will be worshiping together at the regular time of 10:00, but it will be a very casual service and a little briefer than normal. Come as you are (even if it means pajamas) and worship the newborn King.

Providential Seats for Grateful Saints

Monday I hitched a ride up to Plattsburgh with our District Superintendent, Pastor Paul, who took the opportunity to drop a lot of church leadership wisdom on me.
Near Plattsburgh I picked up a U-Haul and followed him the rest of the way to a Wesleyan Church in Plattsburgh that has closed and I backed the truck up to the door and began the bitter-sweet process of looting a defunct church.  Sweet because there was much there that will be of great use to us as we move to the new location in Pittsford.  Bitter because it is a sobering, chastening thing any time a church must close.
Church's have lifespans and sometimes it is necessary that the "kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies" so that its death will produce many new kernels, "a plentiful harvest."  But even when the death of a church is so evidently an answer to our prayers it is still not a cause for celebration.
A couple of hours later the truck was full to overflowing and I drove home with scarcely room in the cab for the driver.  Chairs, a lectern, tables, and other sundries belonging to the district but available for our use.  My heart was the only thing more full than that truck.
Job and I unloaded all the chairs yesterday at the new location in Pittsford.  I had been told that there were about 120 chairs and we didn't bother to count as we loaded them up.  But Job and I counted 142 chairs at the unloading.  And there are 9 other chairs and some other assorted items that Ed Elliott will be bringing back for us this weekend.  A total of about 150 chairs!  What an answer to prayer.
And the best part was seeing those new chairs that God has already provided, in the building that he is in the process of providing, and imagining them filled with people that he will provide.
People I haven't even met yet will have the good news of salvation made clear to them while sitting in those seats.
What a privilege to be part of this!  What a thrilling thing it is to be at the intersection of providence and effort!