Midweek Moment

This week the Annual Conference of the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church will be gathering in Lakeland. What a mouthful huh? We boil it down to just Annual Conference. For anyone that may be unfamiliar with Annual Conference, this is the one time that we gather as a Conference to conduct business, set goals, fellowship, and celebrate victories. Every clergy that is a member of the Florida Conference is required to attend, whether they are appointed to a church in Florida, an extension ministry in Florida, or anywhere across the globe. In fact, if you cannot attend you must explain your absence to the Bishop and seek approval. Each church in the Florida Conference is also entitled to send lay delegates, with the number dependent on the size of the church. For our congregation, we are entitled to one delegate and this year that is Carole Newlin. Therefore, this is a very important time in the life of the church. But what makes this year unique, is that we will have a new presiding Bishop for the first time in a decade. I am very grateful for the wonderful community Bishop Whitaker created and lead during his time with us and I wish him a wonderful retirement. However, I am also very excited to see what Bishop Ken Carter will bring to our Conference and our DNA.

One of the exciting things we will continue this year at Annual Conference is participating in a mission project. The year we are partnering with the agency, Stop Hunger Now. This mission of Stop Hunger Now is “to end hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-saving aid to the world's most vulnerable and by creating a global commitment to mobilize the necessary resources.” There will be meal packaging stations setup at Annual Conference and the goal is to package 100,000 meals with volunteers on Wednesday and Thursday before the business sessions begin. This is just a part of the Florida Conference goal to pack 1,000,000 meals during this calendar year.

As you can see, this gathering is more than just business, it is exploring how we can be a better church, a more faithful church. With that in mind, I ask for your prayers. As Carole and I represent Druid Hills, and as other clergy and laity the Conference over represent their churches, pray for us all. Pray for the Holy Spirit to move within us, pray that we will follow God’s direction, and all the events and decisions made will enable us to continue building God’s Kingdom here on earth.

Have a great week and I will see you Sunday!

Lessons from the Life of David - True FriendshipI Samuel 19:1-7 and I Samuel 20:12-17

Bible Challenge 06/09 - 06/15

Greetings All!

This week we finish up the book of II Chronicles and begin with the first chapter of Ezra.

In II Chronicles we finish up the history of the kings of Judah to the time of exile. There are just threehistory books left before turning to the books of poetry. And actually the books of Ezra and Nehemiah used to be one book in the Hebrew Bible before being separated. Both of the books deal with the return of the Israelites from captivity in Babylon.

The Book of Ezra consists of ten chapters. Chapters 1-6 cover the period from the decree of Cyrus the Great allowing the first return of exiles (about 538BC) to the completion and dedication of the new temple in Jerusalem (about 515BC). This part of the book is largely told in third person, as if someone is retelling what has been told to them. But chapters 7-10 are largely told in third person (presumably by Ezra himself), dealing with his mission to Jerusalem (about 465BC) and his struggle to purify the Jews from their inter-marriage with non-Jews.

Here is the schedule:

09, Sunday: II Chronicles 10-13

10, Monday: II Chronicles 14-17

11, Tuesday: II Chronicles 18-21

12, Wednesday: II Chronicles 22-25

13, Thursday: II Chronicles 26-29

14, Friday: II Chronicles 30-33

15, Saturday: II Chronicles 34 - Ezra 1

May God add His richest blessings to the reading, the hearing, the understanding and most importantly the living out of His holy word. Amen.

Friday Fives

Statue of King David just
outside his tomb in Jerusalem.

1. Preaching Series - This Sunday we are continuing our preaching series entitled, Lessons from the Life of David. As one of the most beloved characters in Scripture, David can be a great source of hope. David is not portrayed as a perfect, obedient servant. But rather, we get to see his humanity play out from the time we meet him as a young, all the way to his death. We can experience how David separates himself from God, through his thoughts and actions, and identify with those situations in our own lives. But we also get to see the grace of God shine forth as David is continually redeemed and forgiven. These life lessons will allow us to find ourselves in David's story and see how God's grace was not just for David, but it is for all of us. This weekend our focus will be on uncovering the aspects of true friendship, not only amongst ourselves but with God as well. I encourage you to invite a friend and I hope to see you there!





2. Annual Conference - Next week is Annual Conference in Lakeland. I am asking that everyone please be in prayer, for the leaders, clergy, and laity, as we gather to plan, discuss, and shape the direction of the Florida Conference. If you would like more information about Annual Conference, please read my Midweek Moment that will come out this Wednesday, right here on the blog.





3. Sources of Information - If you are looking for good information about our church, its activities, and/or our denomination, you can always go to our church website. On our website we have the weekly bulletin, monthly newsletter, pages about our ministries and outreach groups, and we have just added two new pages about Relay for Life and our Connectional Life. If have never been to the website, just click here. If it has been awhile, come back and see what's new. This is a great tool to keep us all connected, so click on over and discover something new!





4. Prayer Chain Coordinator - Last week, after seven faithful years, Mary Lou Welsh stepped down asour Prayer Chain Coordinator. Mary Lou did an exceptional job getting our prayer requests out to those who pledged to be our prayer partners. She was always faithful to this ministry, doing everything she could to make sure it was done properly. Mary Lou, thank you so much for sharing your gifts with this congregation through our Prayer Chain. Therefore, we now have a new Prayer Chain Coordinator, Jenny Hosey. I am so grateful to Jenny for graciously stepping into this role to make sure we can continue to lift up one another in prayer. If you have a request for Jenny, please send it to her email address listed in the Church Directory. Thank you Mary Lou!! Thank you Jenny!!

5. Bishop's Offering - Bishop Ken Carter has selected three programs to equally share in the proceeds given at Annual Conference this year; Stop Hunger Now, Wesley Foundation at FSU, and Leadership development for young clergy of color. I invite you to consider giving an extra gift to this cause. You can do so by placing your gift in the offering plate, designate it Bishop's Offering, and we will cut one check and give it during Annual Conference this year. If you would like more information, there is an insert in this weeks bulletin or you can visit our Conference Website by clicking here.






Have a great weekend and I will see you Sunday!

Midweek Moment

Good Afternoon all.

I want to thank you! We put out the request and you all responded. To date we have raised $230 to send to UMCOR to aid the efforts for the people ravaged by the storms in Moore, OK and the surrounding areas. So…thank you!

As we have watched, this tragedy keeps growing. These storms were not confined to one day or a small area. In fact, these storms struck again and their resulting devastation were felt as recently as this past weekend. The clean-up will take months, if not years. The emotional scars will be much worse. The loss felt by the people in Oklahoma, and their relatives and friends around the world, will never be filled.

So once again, thank you. Thank you for praying. Thank you for lifting up those people in their time of need and asking God to be with them in this darkness. Thank you for contacting me and asking for the UMCOR advance number so we could start collecting donations as soon as possible. Thank you for caring so much, about people you do not know, simply because Jesus taught you that was what we are to supposed to do for each other. Thank you for the grace you have extended to our brothers and sisters, as they try and bring order into intense chaos.

I am still amazed at how people try and say this was perpetrated by God. That God somehow caused this storm out of anger, punishment, or to create a teaching moment. I am so grateful that we serve a God of love. That our God will walk with us through those tragedies of life and bring redemption, even in the darkest of circumstances. I am humbled to see how people, the world over, send money, teams of people, and most importantly prayers to those faced with the destruction of these natural disasters. I am proud of you in how you have stepped up to the challenge to let the people of Moore, OK know we care and that in the name of Jesus Christ we love them.

The grace and mercy you all have shown in this hour, through your prayers and gifts, demonstrate how we are trying to be the heart, the hands, and the feet of Jesus Christ to another. I urge you to continue to walk this path, to continue to find time with God, to continue to allow the power of the Holy Spirit transform you from the inside out. In this moment, I can hear God saying to you, “well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

Have a great week and I will see you Sunday!

Lessons from King David - Slaying our GiantsI Samuel 17:32-37 and 38-50

Bible Challenge 06/02 - 06/08

Greetings All!

This week we finish up the book of I Chronicles and begin our journey through II Chronicles. The rest of I Chronicles contains a history of the reign of King David. The book of II Chronicles details the reign of David's son King Solomon in chapters 1-9, before beginning to chronicle in chapters 10 and following, the history of the kings of Judah down to the time of the exile.

For many people, history can be a bit boring at times. For me it's always been fascinating. Especially the history of the Bible. These are our spiritual ancestors and their story is a part of ours. While we may not be the ACTUAL kings or queens of Israel and Judah, the Bible tells us that we share in Christ's inheritance as sons and daughters of the King. And from their example we can see the importance of making choices and how our choices affect those around us.

Here is the schedule:

02, Sunday: I Chronicles 11- 14

03, Monday: I Chronicles 15-18

04, Tuesday: I chronicles 19-22

05, Wednesday: I Chronicles 23-26

06, Thursday: I Chronicles 27 - II Chronicles 1

07, Friday: II Chronicles 2-5

08, Saturday: II Chronicles 6-9

May God add His richest blessings to the reading, the hearing, the understanding and most importantly the living out of His holy word. Amen.