The Ministry of All Believers

I really am looking forward to worshiping with you Sunday. Our Lenten theme this year is “Rekindling the Fires of Our Faith,” and this week we will think for a few minutes about the ministry of all believers. Think of it this way – ministry is not a spectator sport. In order to grow, you have to participate. We will focus upon that biblical concept this week. To prepare for the message, I encourage you to read Ephesians 4 and mediate upon Paul’s words to the early church.

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Thanks, Dedication, and Growth!

At the close of this note, I will share some news with you about an important development for our second campus on the Westside. However, I want to begin this week’s note by thanking the Deep Waters Class for sponsoring Wednesday evening’s forum in Grace Hall on the current conflict in the Holy Land…I really am looking forward to Sunday as we continue our Lenten series entitled “Rekindling the Fires of Our Faith.” This week’s message will highlight the importance of worship for our spiritual growth. I believe it was Harry Emerson Fosdick who observed: “Within each of us there is a little plant called reverence that needs to be watered at least once a week.”

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The Holy Spirit in Us

As you read these words, I am on my way back from a conference attended by the senior ministers of the largest churches in our denomination. It has been a good time of comparing notes, sharing best practices, and encouraging one another. I come away grateful that, like our congregation at Peachtree Road UMC, the members of so many of these churches are praying for spiritual renewal – renewal of our churches, communities, and nation. Please continue to pray for the Holy Spirit to move in us and through us during these days. 

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Journey Together Through the Season of Lent

On Wednesday we began our forty-day journey known as the season of Lent in preparation for the celebration of Easter. Throughout the centuries, Christians have used these days as a time of spiritual reflection, letting go of some of the things that distract them from following Christ, and intentionally adding some new “holy habits” to their lives. Traditionally, these have included prayer, fasting, study, and service to others.

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Experience God’s Gift of Peace

We brought our mental health series to a close last Sunday, but our emphasis upon mental wellness will continue throughout the year. Over the course of the last four weeks, we looked at some of the root causes of stress and anxiety and how our faith can enable us to cope with them. I hope you found these messages helpful. I particularly want you to know that, if you find yourself struggling to maintain mental wellness, you do not have to go it alone. You can find hope and help through your friends at Peachtree Road UMC and the One Lamb Mental Health initiative team.

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Finding Comfort

On Sunday we will conclude our series on mental wellness with a message entitled “Finding Comfort in the Midst of Grief.” At some time in life, each of us encounters grief: the loss of a job, the end of a relationship, or the death of a loved one. How do you cope when grief sets into your life? That’s the question with which I want us to wrestle on Sunday. In preparation for the message, I encourage you to read Jeremiah’s words to the people of Israel as they grieved the loss of their homeland and exile in Babylon – Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7. We will sing two great hymns of the church (“All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” and “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms”), and the Chancel Choir’s anthem will be Carlton Young’s arrangement of “I Will Not Leave You Comfortless” which is based upon Jesus’ words in John 14

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His Name is Jesus

Thank you for the many emails and notes of appreciation we have received in recent days about last Sunday’s worship. As we considered Jesus’ conversation with a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, we remembered that our faith teaches us that we are made for relationships. Sometimes that means showing up for those who have experienced brokenness, loss, or great pain in recent days and offering them a listening ear, God’s blessing, and a prayer for comfort. Other times it means not isolating ourselves from others and allowing them to be our “bridge over troubled water.”

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Life Lived in Relationship

Have you signed up to join us in reading through the Bible together this year? Each morning we receive an email containing four passages of scripture – readings from the Old Testament, Psalms, Gospels, and Epistles. These are arranged thematically. Since we are currently in the season of Epiphany, each of the assigned readings offers insight into the nature and character of God – an epiphany. Some have noticed that some of the readings from the psalms are repeating. There are only 150 psalms in the book, so these naturally are repeated from time to time. I hope you are finding this approach to reading the scriptures helpful.

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Listen for the Lord’s Voice

We have made a good beginning to the new year here at Peachtree Road UMC. Our theme for the year is “Rekindle the Flame,” and, as a part of this emphasis, we are praying for spiritual revival in our community, our church, and in our own personal lives. Last Sunday I mentioned in the sermon that the early church established rituals to help new disciples leave behind their pagan ways and live into the Christian faith. In that spirit, I am encouraging us to incorporate some “holy habits” into our own life:

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Rekindle the Gift of God That Is Within You

Many of you were present two weeks ago for one of our five Christmas Eve services. The pageantry of the service, the glorious music, and hearing the story of Christ’s birth read from Luke’s Gospel warmed my heart. Most of all, I was overjoyed to see so many of your faces. Wendie and I took some time off after Christmas, and I’ve found myself humming a little chorus all week:

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