Tag: christianity

“For the Love of God”

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There are times, such as in moments of extreme frustration, when non-believers join followers of Jesus in referencing God. We use the expression “for the love of God” to express our vexation as we implore a person to act out of basic human decency or common sense. Usually the one uttering the phrase is not actually thinking theologically about love for God, or God’s love for us. Yet since February is the month we celebrate love with Valentine’s Day, now is as good a time as any to consider the implications of taking this common saying literally. What would it mean to act for the love of God in all things? 

Does it mean, for instance, that we are to act because God loves us, because we love God, or both? And how are we to act? We can find an answer to these questions in the 4th chapter of the 1st Letter of John. “God,” says the author, “is love” (4:8). 

God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. 

To act for the love of God is, therefore, to extend Christ-like love to others in response to God’s love for us. It is to seek the deepest, the truest good for others rather than our own advantage or satisfaction. It is to be patient, kind, respectful, and humble toward others. At times it means being flexible to preserve relationships. It means insisting on right-doing and truth. (See 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7). 

In the final analysis, to act literally “for the love of God” is to live out one’s life with far more than basic human decency or common sense. It is to pattern one’s life after the Incarnation of God’s love – Jesus Christ. I am tempted to say: “For the love of God, what part of Jesus saying, ‘Follow me’ don’t you get?” There is an urgency in our Lord’s words that we often miss in the context of worship or Bible study. Love, says Paul, is patient and kind, but that doesn’t rule Jesus’ disappointment when his followers fail to act for the love of God.

Pastor Derek French

Following Jesus Faithfully

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“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you”.

Matthew 28:18

These words come at the very end of Matthew’s Gospel just verses after the account of Jesus’ Resurrection on Easter morning and mark the handoff of the Savior’s earthly ministry to the disciples he has taught and trained. Jesus’ words embody both the church’s purpose and its marching orders. They are the inspiration behind our congregation’s mission statement:

“To Know Christ and Make Him Known.”

Beginning October 13, we will start a six-week worship series exploring how each of us can better fulfill our role as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Hymns, special sharing, selection of scriptures, and the sermon will all focus on a sequence of six words which we believe can help guide our spiritual growth in practical, tangible ways.

• We believe that Christ wants each of us to live a richly fulfilling life, transformed and constantly renewed by the inflowing of God’s grace. On the first Sunday, we will explore how that is possible in these busy, fractured times and find inspiration for how to receive and share God’s blessings.

• We will then explore the importance of gathering together with other committed Christians in an age of growing unbelief, loneliness, and social isolation. Themes of gathering and connecting will occupy the second two Sundays. We will learn how other members of the congregation have drawn strength and insight from their interaction with each other.

• As we move into the latter half of our series, our focus will shift from ourselves to the important work which Jesus asks us to continue on his behalf. We will see how serving in Christ’s name changes the world and provides hope for a better future and learn how our financial giving not only makes the work of the church possible but also holds its own intrinsic blessing as it teaches us to trust God.

• Finally, we will embrace the task of sharing the good news with others through invitation and example.

Highlights of the series include a service of Holy Communion on November 10 and a Cup of Covenant service on November 17. The latter will provide each of us the occasion to renew our baptismal vows “to participate actively in Christ’s church, serving God all the days of our lives.”

Learning For Life

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The next time you are around an infant observe how he or she absorbs all the world’s new sights, sounds, and experiences. Children are veritable sponges when it comes to learning. Once upon a time, we all walked in their shoes. While the dividends are great, such rapid learning is exhausting. No wonder many small children sleep upwards of fifteen hours a day. Perhaps, in combination with all the additional responsibilities of adulthood, this explains why many persons’ active learning tapers off after their school years. That’s a shame because learning keeps one’s mind nimble and one’s outlook on life youthful.

jesus children christian education

Jesus once said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:2). He was thinking of humility as the childlike characteristic which marks those worthy to enter the kingdom of God; he just as easily could have called our attention to a child’s hunger for learning. After all, one aspect of humility is not thinking ourselves wiser than we are (Romans 12:16). It’s easy to think that by a certain age one knows all one needs to know about an issue such as Christian faith.

In our infancy and youth, we learn a lot of the mechanics of daily life. That’s also true of Christian spiritual education. If we were fortunate enough to attend worship, Sunday School, or Vacation Bible School as a child, teachers introduced us to the stories of the faith. Really good teachers helped us see the application for our lives; yet their teaching was only a beginning point in opening up to us God’s wisdom for the living of our lives.

As we grow older, our context and, therefore, the application of what we have learned regarding our faith, changes. To give but a brief example: the sentence “Now Sarai was childless because she was unable to conceive” from the biblical story of Abram and Sarai (Abraham and Sarah) takes on a whole new significance when, as adults, we or our peers face the grief of infertility. Suddenly, we understand her situation in a way no child could. We may find God touching us in our own situation in ways we had not previously considered.

East Hills Moravian Church is blessed with an active body of adults seeking to learn more about their faith together. If you are not already involved in one of these opportunities for deepening your understanding of how faith relates to daily life, I invite you to consider joining an adult Sunday School class or bible study this Fall.

No matter what age you are God desires that you live an abundant life. As Einstein once noted, “Once you stop learning, you start dying.”

  • Pastor Derek French

Signs of Summer and the Lesson of the Fig Tree

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From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. Matthew 24:32

parable of the fig tree
Unmistakable signs of summer surround us. Roads clear of school buses, community pools are open, and occasionally an ice cream truck can be heard making its rounds through the neighborhood. Their message is as clear to us as the fig tree’s tender branches and budding leaves were to Jesus’ disciples. Summer is here.

The lesson of the fig tree is a call to mindfulness – a call to pay attention to signs in our lives and in the world that indicate God’s drawing near to us. Jesus shared the fig tree illustration with his followers when they asked him about his coming again on the Day of Judgment. It was an admonition to be vigilant and keep alert in preparation for Christ’s return “at an unexpected hour.”

If we are wise we will learn the fig tree’s lesson. Two understandings of the summer season, one ancient and one contemporary, inform a faithful response to Jesus.

In the agrarian society of Jesus’ day, summer was a time of work, harvest and preparation. “Make hay while the sun shines,” runs a familiar saying. Hay – dried grass used as fodder for animals – is difficult to prepare in wet weather, so this adage admonishes us to make the most of time and opportunities which God gives us. Summer’s hot, dry days are perfect for curing hay. A biblical proverb suggests we follow the example of the ant, who “prepares its food in summer and gathers its sustenance in harvest.” (Prov. 6:8)

Like hay harvesters, we should make the most of time as we carry out the work of our Lord both individually and collectively through his body, the church. As a species, humanity still needs to hear and respond to Christ’s message of hope, peace, forgiveness and reconciliation. As a church, we need others to join us in spreading this Good News (Gospel). Jesus “said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’ (Matthew 9:36) Those who attend the District Synod will be engaged in such ministry on behalf of the congregation and the broader Moravian Church.

In today’s technological society, most of us are freed from the necessity of harvesting all our own food. We more probably think of summer as a time to travel or take a vacation. Summer is a season of rest and recreation – potentially, a time of Sabbath.

Sabbath rest and recreation involve more than taking a break from work. Sabbath rest rejuvenates us, energizes us and restores us. True “re-creation” presents a chance to re-invent ourselves or “find” ourselves if we’ve lost our way, our soul, our passion or our values in the business of daily life. Summer as Sabbath season includes the serious business of reconnecting with God and our deepest, truest selves.

Pastor Derek French

Advice and a Challenge for Followers of Jesus

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Recently, I read the news online to catch up on world events; instantly I wished I had not. Have you had a similar experience? You want to be well informed, but when you turn on the television or surf the ‘net’ you find yourself awash in stories of corruption, political rancor, and human tragedy. In short order, you may find yourself either feeling numb to human suffering or depressed and resigned to the sorry state of the world.

Whatever commands our emotional and mental attention profoundly shapes our understanding and experience of life. We are what we think as much as what we eat. Our thoughts affect how we understand the world and ourselves and influence how we interact with others. That is why it is vitally important that we each be aware of our thought process and its personal, social, and spiritual implications.

This insight is not new. Two thousand years ago the apostle Paul addressed the issue when he wrote the following advice to members of the congregation in Philippi, a city named after the father of Alexander the Great.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
(Paul’s letter to the Philippians 4:8-9)

With these words, Paul urges followers of Jesus to take responsibility for their thoughts as well
as their words and actions. He understood that the vitality of the congregation at Philippi, the
effectiveness of their Christian witness, and the capacity for individual spiritual growth were all
either nurtured or hampered by whatever occupied members’ minds. The same holds true for us at East Hills Moravian Church.

Here’s the challenge:

  1. Become aware of what you think and take responsibility for your thought patterns.
  2. In your own life and in our life together as a community of faith, what is true, honorable,
    just, pure, pleasing, commendable, or excellent?
  3. If you feel comfortable doing so, why not share your awareness of these blessings with someone else?
  4. Make a commitment not to give power to negativity. Do not invest yourself emotionally or
    mentally in negative thoughts. Allow your own negative thoughts to pass through your mind quickly without judgment or comment. (When you try to resist negative thoughts actively, you may find that they get “stuck” – that is you obsess.) Extend the same grace towards others who express negative opinions. Hear them out, but neither affirm their negativity nor engage them in a struggle over it.

– Pastor Derek French

 

God Is In The Stillness

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When is the last time you experienced quiet and the absence of potential distraction? If you’re like most Americans, probably not very recently.

Scientists use the phrase “ambient noise level” to define sound pressure at a given location. Sound pressure is measured in decibels. In the wilderness, you might experience an ambient noise level of 30 to 45 decibels. In contrast, many urban areas have an ambient noise level of 85 to 90 decibels. That’s just the background noise. To that, one must add the ringing of cell phones, the volume of the television, radio or iPod, and any other noise that you or others near you might be making. We live in a noisy world surrounded by different messages competing for our attention. Often it is the loudest, most frequent, or most dramatic message which arrests our attention and shapes our worldview.

As often as not, these messages seek to manipulate us into buying a certain product or buying into a certain world-view. Some are irrelevant, some annoying, some frightening, and some harmful. Most do little to further spiritual growth or nurture our relationship with Christ. Even the greatest of prophets of a more quiet past needed times of silence and freedom from distraction to hear the still, small voice of God.

Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19: 12-13)

As Lent continues during March, now might be a good time to consider setting aside a few moments each day to spend with God. During this time you may wish to…

  • read the Bible
  • reflect on what messages are shaping your life
  • focus on aspects of your life for which you are thankful
  • ponder where and how you sensed God’s presence in your life of that of others
  • consider changes might you make in your life to be a better follower of Jesus, or simply heed the wisdom of Psalm 46, verse 10

“Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.”

– Pastor Derek French

Consecration Sunday is Coming November 5th

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Congregations approaching financial stewardship from a biblical perspective do not view money which Christians give to the church merely as a way to pay bills. Rather, they understand Christians’ financial contributions can be a significant means of growth in relationship with God – a tangible expression of one’s trust, gratitude, and commitment to the work of Christ’s church.

Our Joint Board has selected The New Consecration Sunday Stewardship Program in order to share the biblical and spiritual principles of generous giving. This program focuses on the need of the giver to give for his or her own spiritual development, rather than on the need of the church to receive.

Instead of treating persons like members of a social club who should pay dues, we will treat persons like followers of Jesus Christ, who want to give unselfishly as an act of discipleship. We encourage followers of Jesus to progress towards intentional, proportional, systematic giving in response to the question: “What percentage of my income is God calling me to give?”

On Consecration Sunday we will ask worshippers to make their financial commitment to support East Hills Moravian Church’s ministries of worship, education, outreach, and mission through its general budget. All attending will have the opportunity to voluntarily fill out an Estimate of Giving Card. During worship our guest leader will conduct a brief period of instruction and inspiration, climaxed by worshippers making their commitments as a confidential act of worship. The procedure is designed not to cause personal embarrassment should one choose not to fill out a card. We urge those who feel strongly opposed to completing a card to attend worship and listen to the message.

Since we will conduct no follow up visits to ask persons to complete their cards, we will make every effort to inform, inspire, and secure members’ commitment to attend Consecration Sunday worship at 9:30 a.m. on November 5th.

Thanks in advance for your enthusiastic participation in Consecration Sunday events.

– Pastor Derek French

A Unity Worship Service For World Communion Sunday

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Given the diversity of human personalities, perspectives, and priorities, unity in the secular world is often hard or impossible to achieve.  Yet, followers of Christ are already united with God and each other through their Savior.  Though from many different ethnic, national, and confessional backgrounds, Christians share a common identity and purpose with all others who have given their lives over to Jesus.  “There is one body (church) and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6)

world communion sunday

Jesus taught that unity in diversity was a sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit working within believers to transform their self-understanding and interactions with each other.  He prayed, “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one.  As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:20-21)  Our demonstration of living in harmony with those different from ourselves is a powerful witness to the world of the possibilities for societal as well as personal transformation inherent in the Gospel (Jesus’ teaching, action, and person).

On Sunday, October 5th we will unite in one Unity Worship Service to be held at 9:30 am in the East Hills Moravian Church Sanctuary.  As we gather together as a single worshipping body we will join millions of other Christians worldwide in observing World Communion Sunday.  I urge you to attend and to make a special effort to reach out to members of the congregation whom you may not know as well as your close friends.  Let this be your witness to fellow worshippers and to the world as together we see to make Christ known.

– Pastor Derek French