Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this Friday. It is going to a bountiful, beautiful day. Praise the Lord, for He has called us to be His people - redeemed, restored, and forgiven. He calls His people to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth.
Please join us those who live in the area for our weekly TV outreach this evening at 7 PM on Time Warner Cable channel 4. We will gather for our Saturday evening worship at First United Methodist Church in Endicott tomorrow at 6 PM for coffee and fellowship and we will gather for worship at 6:30 PM. Rev. William Pucky and the band will minister in music and I will be preaching from Acts 3. Join us. We will gather for worship on Sunday morning at 8:30 and 11:00 at Union Center UMC and at Wesley at 9:30. I will be preaching from Luke 17:11 ff, "Thanksgiving Before Thanksgiving".
Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Church, has called His Church to be a revolutionary force in the world. We are "revolutionary" because the church is to infiltrate the forces of darkness and bring the kingdom of the Lord to those around us in a world which often fights and resists such endeavors. We are revolutionary servants of Jesus carrying forth the mission of the Lord in the world.
Dr. William Willimon, who used to be a professor at Duke University, is one of my favorite preachers. He is now the Bishop in our United Methodist Church in Alabama. He co-authored a book years ago called, "Resident Aliens". The premise of the book is that you are and I are resident aliens, in that we are called to live in the world without being like the world. As resident aliens we are called to offer an alternative way of life to the world, one that is so attractive that the world would be attracted to living for Jesus. In other words, we are to be salt in a bland world and light in a world filled with darkness in order to show the world that there is a better way.
Second, we are servants. Most religious people suffer from a fortress mentality. We build luxurious church buildings and, because we really enjoy these buildings, we spend most of our time and our money taking care of them. We hang out together and have dinners and bazaars. There’s just one problem, and that is that Jesus did not die for buildings, potlucks, or bazaars. Have you ever noticed that when Jesus, God incarnate, came in the flesh the confrontations and assaults against him took place inside the fortress of religious institutions? From the traditional religious standpoint, Jesus often hung out in places that you would not want your children to hang out in today. If Jesus were here today, he would be probably go into bars and clubs to reach out to the same kind of friends like he had then - prostitutes and sinners. Those people didn’t see a problem in having Jesus hang out with them, but the church leaders did! It seems that the only place Jesus got into trouble for breaking the rules was in church, the religious institution.
Jesus doesn’t want us to stay in the church. He’s wants you to move out to infiltrate the territory of darkness with the light of the kingdom of God. We see that in Acts 8:1, "On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria." The Apostles were religious professionals. Look at verse four, "Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went." Is the truth of God going to get out into the world by all of you us., Serving the is the measure of faithfulness. When you walk in a cemetery, the graves are marked this time of the year with a flag and an emblem for all of the folks who served in the military. It’s amazing because they’re identified by not only their service, but when they served. You can go through and see folks who served in the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War Vietnam, and even Desert Storm. Each marker has a name, birth date and death date but most of all, they were remembered for their military service. What a thing to be remembered by: our service. As followers of God, that’s our identity. Can you imagine on your tombstone some day it will say, “ servant of Jesus.”
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoYdQa6Cprc
Saturday Evening worship services
at : First United Methodist Church,
53 McKinley Ave., Endicott.
Sponsored by Union Center United Methodist Church.
Schedule for the remainder of October:
October 9, 2010
Music by Rev. William Pucky and his team
Preacher: Brown Naik
October 16, 2010
Music: Laureen Naik and team
Preacher: Dave Hettinger
October 23, 2010
Music by Aric Phinney and team
Preacher: Rev Earle Cowden
October 30, 2010
Music by Laureen Naik and team
Preacher: Jeff Vansyckle
November 6, 2010 - ( Saturday) There will be a Thanksgiving banquet. At 5 PM a traditional Thanksgiving menu will be served, including home made rolls and pies. Chef: Lou Pasquel and team. (Reservations: Call the Church office (607)-748-6329 or email at umcgospel@aol.com
The banquet will be followed by 6:30 PM Worship
Music: Aric Phinney and the team
Speaker: Kelly Johnson from Nashville, TN.
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