Brown's Daily Word 9-20-11

Good morning,
Though it is only Tuesday we are already eager for the weekend. Our oldest daughter, Janice, will be coming in this weekend with Jeremy and Ada, wile the older "grands" get a weekend with their other grandmother. We look forward to the time to be spent with them.
In the Parable that is recorded in Mathew 20:1 and following, our Lord elucidated about the mystery, wonder and even scandal of grace. Certainly, the Christian faith is supremely a religion of grace. Yet, even so, grace is frequently not well understood and often not really believed. We use the word a great deal but rarely think about what it means.
In his book, “What’s So Amazing About Grace,” Phillip Yancey points out that part of our problem is in the nature of grace itself. Grace is scandalous. It is difficult to accept, hard to believe, and hard to receive. Grace shocks us in what it offers because it is truly not of this world. It frightens us with what it does for sinners. Grace teaches us that God does for others what we would never do for them. We would save the not-so-bad, but God would save the worst. God starts with prostitutes and then works downward from there. Grace is a gift that costs everything to the giver and nothing to the receiver. It is given to those who don’t deserve it, barely recognize it, and hardly appreciate it. That’s why God alone gets the glory in our salvation. Jesus did all the work when he died on the cross.
In the end grace means that no one is too bad to be saved. God specializes in saving really bad people. Grace also means that some people may think themselves too good to be saved. That is, they may have such a high opinion of themselves that they think they don’t need God’s grace. God’s grace cannot help us until we are desperate enough to receive it.
Grace has an edge to it. It’s challenging ­ and even disturbing. If we are honest, we must admit that grace even scandalizes us. Grace is not the way we normally do things. Grace reminds us that God’s favor is a gift. Referring to the parable of the day laborers, John MacArthur put it this way, “The charge of unfairness was not grounded in a love for justice but in the selfish assumption that the extra pay they wanted was pay they deserved.”
Many of us identify with the employees who put in a full day’s work, rather than the add-on laborers who came in at the end of the day. We like to think of ourselves as responsible workers and the employer’s strange behavior baffles us. But let’s not miss the point of the story. That is, God dispenses gifts, not wages.
If it’s a wage that we want from God, the Bible says that our salary is already figured out for us. If we want to be rewarded for our merit, if we want to be compensated for our work, then Romans 6:23 spells out how we will be paid: “For the wages of sin is death…” On the other hand, if we want to receive what God wants to freely give us, then the last part of this verse offers us something far better then just compensation: “but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
In other words, God’s favor is a gift. Grace keeps us from looking down on ourselves. How many of us ever struggle with feelings of incompetence? Are we ever discontent? Do we ever wished for a greater gift or a more important status?
Think for a minute about those who were not hired until 5:00 p.m. They watched and waited while the other workers were hired. They knew that they would probably not get paid that day­ and that they probably wouldn’t be able to buy any food for dinner that night. All day long they had been passed over.
This story shows us the Lord’s passion for the forgotten. Usually the best and strongest are first picked. These workers were the leftovers,­ the least skilled, the least likely to be picked. These workers really represent each one of us. When we think about it, what do we have to offer the Lord? Does He need our intellect, our strength, or our money. Does the Lord need our good deeds? No.
Let our confidence and joy in this life be based not on what we have or do not have. May it also not be on what we do or don’t do. Rather, our confidence is on WHO we have! Grace makes us equal to everyone else in Christ. Grace offers us a fresh start. The Christian life is really a series of new beginnings. Thanks be to Jesus for this new day with fresh new beginnings with His Fresh Grace.
In His Grace,
Brown

http://youtu.be/DSKnkqAOhpA


Please pray for our upcoming ministry events:


We will be back to our Wednesday schedule, including Bible study, fellowship, and prayer, starting September 14, 2011. We meet with a meal at 6 PM, with the Bible study beginning at 6:30 PM. We began a 4 week study on the theme, "Why? Making Sense of God's Will", by Adam Hamilton. Topics include, "Why Do the Innocent Suffer?", Why Do My Prayers Go Unanswered?", "Why Can't I See God's Will for My Life?", and "Why God's Love Prevails". Following the completion of this study we will be using Rick Warren's study, "Forty Days of Love". This will lead us to the beginning of the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. More information will follow in the church newsletter.

Please mark your calendar for our prayer conference, which will begin on Friday, October 14 and continue through Sunday morning, October 16.
The Keynote Speaker: Kelly Johnson from Memphis, TN.
The Prayer Team will include: Sunita and Andy, Rob and Jenn, and Meredith from Washington, DC.

The tentative schedule follows:
Friday, October 14 at 6 PM - opening session at Union Center UMC
Saturday, October 15, 9 AM - noon - concert of prayer at UCUMC
The Prayer teams will be available to pray for people for salvation, restoration, healing, deliverance...
Saturday, 5:30 PM - banquet at First UMC, 53 McKinley Ave., Endicott
6:30 PM worship service, including an open invitation to pray at the altar following the worship service. I invite you to be a part of the prayer team during that time.
Sunday morning worship at 8:30 and 11 AM. at UCUMC Kelly Johnson will be preaching. There will be a time for prayer / a concert of prayer

Saturday, September 24 at 6:30 PM (Coffee Fellowship at 6 PM) at First United Methodist Church, 53 McKinley Avenue in Endicott.
Our youth will be attending the Word of Life Superbowl at the arena and other sites on November 4 & 5.
Our annual Thanksgiving Banquet will be held on Saturday, November 19.
The Russian Men's Ensemble will be in concert on December 3.
We are planning for a trip to the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Extravaganza on December 6, leaving here at 6 AM, spending the day in NYC, and attending the show at 5 PM. There are optional sites to visit, including the Ground Zero 9/11 Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine. The trip costs $90 per person, including the bus ticket and a ticket to the show. Anyone who wants to reserve a spot on the bus should make their check payable to Union Center United Methodist Church, memo "Radio City Christmas Extravaganza".
September 18, we will go back onto the regular schedule with services at both 8:30 and 11 AM and Sunday School at 9:50 AM. Wesley will resume meeting at 9:30 AM.
Here at Union Center- Wesley- Endicott, we focus on " World as our Parish"., We remind ourselves that we serve under a captain who has never lost a battle. Jesus Christ the Head of the Church is Faithful. We are invited to embrace 7 holy habits of Christian faithfulness. We are called to FOCUS on our prayer life, our relationship with Christ, reading the Bible, faithful worship attendance, financial gifts to Christ and His Church,, serving Jesus with our hands, and sharing the good news of His Great Redemption,with others. May Christ be praised.