Traveling to Shreveport, Louisiana (and a bit of Washington State)

This Sunday in worship, we will be traveling to Shreveport Louisiana.  I am excited to tell you about a woman I met there by the name of Donnie Brook.  Donnie has led an amazing, indeed heroic life but you would never know it at first glance. 

Donnie is a reminder that many people around us have phenomenal stories. There is always more to those around us. 

Though I am getting ahead of myself, I was reminded of this when I was in Bellingham Washington in my travels.  While there, I stopped in to see my wife Lynn's sister and her husband Rand.  As I was visiting with him in his living room, I told him about my travels, and about listening to people's stories all around the country.  He then handed me a big thick green binder, and told me that this was his story.  In fact, it was his recently completed manuscript of a book he was writing.  Rand is a Professor of History at Western Washington University in Washtington state and had just completed this draft of his account of what it was like to grow up in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham, Alabama, in the thick of the battles.  His father was an American Baptist Pastor and served as one of the leaders in conjunction with Dr. Martin Luther King and others.  As a result, Rand had a very hard childhood. He was ostracized in schools and churches again and again because of what his father did.  For the rest of the journey, I read his 500 page manuscript, understanding for the first time what it was like to grow up in the extreme racism of Birmingham Alabama in 1962.  At the end of every chapter, I would simply close the book and say to myself, "I have known Rand for 30 years and I never had any idea..."

Everybody has a story and they are typically more powerful than we think.  They are also not as well known to others around us. 

Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  As such, he reminds us that our faith is not just for our own private enjoyment.  Ultimately, it is there to send us out as salt and light.  This weekend, we are going to talk about how critical it is to learn to share our stories and our faith in a more public environment.  To be sure, many have done that poorly before us, but that doesn't change who we are.  It is important that we learn to share our stories in a way that encourages others.  Let's talk more about this as we go to Shreveport Louisiana on Sunday!  See you in worship,

In Christ,
Pastor Pete
I found myself thanking God for Rand and for his willingness to tell his story.  I found spiritual power and encouragement.

Lessons From the Road: Jacksonville Beach

This Sunday in worship, we are going to be traveling to Jacksonville Beach Florida.  We are continuing with our sermon series entitled "Lessons from the Road" and I am looking forward to introducing two women to you.  When I was at Beach United Methodist Church in August, I was invited to a special baptism service.  After the regular Sunday morning worship, the church left the sanctuary, walked two blocks, and prepared for a baptism service at the beach for 72 people!

As we were making their way to the water, a huge thunderstorm broke loose.  The beach patrol closed the beach and we all went running back to the sanctuary in pouring rain.  The church had to postpone the baptism for two weeks, but that gave me the opportunity to listen to some incredible stories.  As it poured outside, for three and a half hours, I met with Liz and Kelly in the church youth room.  They told me of painful childhood stories, but how in their later years, their faith pulled them through.  In those early years, seeds of faith were sown that came to life years later.  Today, the two of them are leading an incredible and transformational ministry with children in poverty.

Time spent with them was a reminder that we need to pay attention to the children.  Seeds sown now form little lives and even sprout to make fruit in the decades to come. 

Sometimes we get so busy, we simply drift through our time with the children.  This weekend, as we look to the Scriptures and as we listen to miraculous stories from Florida, I pray that all of us can remember that time spent on the children, is spiritual time well spent.  See you in worship!

Pastor Pete

This week in worship, I will be beginning a new sermon series entitled "Lessons From the Road".  For the next five weeks, we will be traveling around the country together, listening to stories from folks all around this nation.  Together, we will journey to Conyers, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida, Shreveport, Louisiana, the West Coast, Detroit, and New York City.  Each location will offer what I am calling a "lesson from the road".  The lesson will be based on a Scripture and will be something that I pray all of us can take home.

This weekend, we will be traveling to Conyers, a town outside Atlanta Georgia.  This was a remarkable visit, and I met incredible folks.  One by one, they told me their story and I was impressed by the way a consistent theme ran through all of them.  Simply said, each one of these persons were loved by the folks in this church.  Some were deailng with alcohol, others struggling marriages.  But many instances, simple acts of love changed their lives.  Those seemingly simple acts of love literally brought them into the kingdom of God. 

To be sure, love is the central building block in this kingdom and we will be talking more about this.  But at the same time, sometimes we make this love very complicated.  Together on Sunday, we will be speaking to how sometimes, the simplest things, offered to another, can make all the difference. 

I hope you will come and join us as we begin this journey.  Please join me in praying that all these "Lessons From the Road" will be encouraging and inspirational for all of us as they have been for me! 

See you in worship!
Pastor Pete