“What Kind of King?” (November 25, 2018)

from John 18:33-37

Who or what are the little kings you have set up on the thrones of your life to serve and protect the kingdoms of your desires, your pursuits, your opinions, your comfort or your convenience?  How are those little kings serving you?  Have they proven weak yet?

What happens when your little kings and kingdoms begin to collide with the kings and kingdoms of those around you?  We tend to live in this perpetual state of conflict with the world around us and feelings of being unfulfilled with our own life.  Surely this can’t be all that Jesus had in mind.

What if instead of fighting against the reign of Christ in your life, you lived a life submitted to Jesus as King.  What if by losing yourself you found what life is meant to be?

w/ Vern Collins

“Summer Reading-John: Jesus Did Many Other Things” (August 19, 2018)

from John 21:15-25

John ends his Gospel with this curious last sentence: “Jesus did many other things as well.  If everyone of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”

What is it that makes, “many other things,” possible?  Work harder?  Delegate more?  Accomplish more?  Sleepless nights?  Saying, “yes,” anytime you are asked to do something?  Sure, these are all possible elements to accomplishing many other things, but what if it begins by saying, “yes,” to a meal?  What if it begins by saying, “yes,” to relationship with Jesus?

And what if we allow Jesus to take us deeper?  What if we allow Jesus to ask more, rather than to work so hard to become what the world is suggesting we ought to be?

w/ Vern Collins and Jeff McClain

“Summer Reading-John: Revelation in the Routine” (August 12, 2018)

from John 21:1-14

What does the resurrection of Jesus mean to you?  There is no denying that it is the the pivotal event on which the faith of Christians for generations continues to be built…it is the hope on which the church stands, and we mark it each year when we celebrate the resurrection at Easter.

But too often, we think of the resurrection as just that-an event.  Something that happened.  Something that can be marked at a point in time and is completed.  When we view the resurrection as simply an event, however, it becomes difficult to live in the hope that is made possible through it.

What if the resurrection is so much more than an event?  What if the resurrection is an eternal reality with significant implications in your every day life?

What if Jesus, truly does meet us in the routine with new revelation of Who He is?

w/ Vern Collins

“Summer Reading-John: Priority in Prayer” (August 5, 2018)

from John 17

In a life spent trying to follow Jesus well, we know that prayer should be a priority.  Why is it, then, that something that is so vital to our connection with God often seems to difficult to grasp?  Am I praying correctly?  Am I asking God for the right things?  Are my prayers too small?  How can I “pray without ceasing” when I can’t remember to give thanks for a meal?

What if part of the issue is not that prayer isn’t enough of a priority, but what the priority of our prayer is?  In John 17, we find that Jesus gives an example of prayer that might just change our perspective on what a life of following Him could look like.

w/ Vern Collins

“Summer Reading-John: I Am The Vine” (July 29, 2018)

from John 15:1-17

What is your life oriented around?

There is a saying often used in the business world that states, “All organizations are perfectly designed to get the results  they are now getting.  If we want different results, we must change the way we do things.”

While your life is not an organization or a system, the same truth is applicable.  If Jesus says that we are to bear fruit for His Kingdom, it begs the question: what kind of fruit are you bearing?

What if our primary focus isn’t the fruit, but what our lives are rooted in?

w/ Vern Collins

“Summer Reading-John: I Am the Resurrection and the Life” (July 8, 2018)

from John 11:1-44

To be sure, the raising of Lazarus from the dead is one of Jesus’ most spectacular displays of power over the course of His ministry.  But for those who are familiar with the story, is it possible that we allow the miracle to overshadow the proclamation made by Jesus when He states, “I Am the resurrection and the life?”

Certainly there are tombs we need to be called out of, but in making this statement, what is Jesus speaking in to our present…what is Jesus speaking into all of our “IF ONLY” statements?

w/ Vern Collins

“Sumer Reading-John: I Am the Light of the World” (June 24, 2018)

from John 8:12-20

Imagine what could change about the way your life and the world around you if you lived into the truth, that while things may seem dark now…the promise is that darkness not only will not endure, but has been swallowed up in Light!

w/ Jeff McClain

“Summer Reading-John: The Bread of Life” (June 17, 2018)

from John 6:35-59

“Desire” is not a word we use often in the church…somehow it has come to mean something bad…after all, isn’t it our desires that lead to sin…that lead to choosing things that are less than what God wants for us?

In our passage this week, Jesus isn’t challenging the crowd on having desire, rather calling them to consider that perhaps their desire is simply misplaced.

We spend a great deal of time and energy trying to satisfy our need to be fulfilled with things that at the least will only leave us hungry for more, and at worst will steal life from us…but what if we could find our desires fulfilled in something or Someone Who will not only satisfy us, but give us life?

“Come and eat and be filled…”

w/ Vern Collins

“Summer Reading-John: Nicodemus” (June 3, 2018)

from John 3:1-18

Have you considered what coming face to face with the Good News of the Gospel of Christ might truly mean for your life?

It has the power to shape the way you view your life, understand your purpose.  It has the power to change the way you view others.  It has the power to define who you are.

In this, Pastor David Hockett’s last Sunday with us, he proclaims a powerful, hopeful, and inviting message that is at the core of who we are invited to be as individuals, and who we are called to be as the church.

w/ David Hockett

“Summer Reading-John: Prologue” (May 27, 2018)

from John 1:1-18

Do you ever stop to think of the power of your words?  Words have the power to create, and they have the power to destroy.  Words have the power to uplift and they have the power to tear down, to heal and to wound…

As we begin our “Summer Reading” series through the Gospel of John, we are invited to encounter the power of One Word in particular…the fullness of the wisdom, and knowledge, and purpose, and creativity of God wrapped up in the flesh…Jesus.

What does it mean that this Word was spoken into the darkness?  What does it mean that this Word is spoken into YOUR darkness?

w/ Vern

“What You Believe” (April 8, 2018)

from John 20:19-31

What you believe determines how you live.  How you respond in a given situation is dictated by the set of beliefs upon which you’ve built your life.

What you believe about love determines who you are in a relationship.  What you believe about time determines how you use the time you have.

The same is true for what you believe about Who Jesus is…it impacts everything about how you live your life.

If Who you believe Jesus to be determines how you live, then what you have experienced in your walk with Jesus determines what you are living for.

w/ Vern Collins

Easter “Hope Beyond Fridays” (April 1, 2018)

from John 20:1-18

We have a great tendency to hope for things that will not last.  Sure, like the end of the week, they may bring relief or rest for a brief period of time, but ultimately they are as fleeting as Fridays.

What if, instead of hoping for temporary newness, and the wrong kind of resurrection…you dare to believe that Jesus brings lasting hope and a new life that will not spoil or fade?

Imagine the possibility.

Jesus is RISEN!

w/ Vern Collins

“You Asked For It: How Do I Interact With the World?” (September 11, 2016)

from Matthew 5:13-16

ou’ve likely heard that Christians should be, “in the world, but not of the world.”  This saying comes from something Jesus says in the 17th chapter of John’s Gospel as he is praying to His Heavenly Father on behalf of His disciples.  While this saying is not incorrect, too often we have a tendency to view it as the finish line when in reality, Jesus meant for it to be the starting point.

What if you began to think of being set apart as having purpose, rather than thinking about it as simply being sequestered from the rest of the world?  Imagine what your life, leveraged in every situation for the sake of the Gospel, might begin to look like!

w/ Vern Collins

“You Asked For It: How Do I Deal With Fear?” (September 4, 2016)

from 1 John 4:7-21

There is plenty to be afraid of in our world today…perhaps it is the headlines recounting terrorist attacks, or it is racially driven hate crimes in our own communities…regardless, it seems that the world is more on edge than ever before.

And if those aren’t the things you are afraid of, then perhaps it’s the recent report from a doctor visit or worry about the future, or concern over the lives of your children…or maybe you’re just afraid of spiders…

While fear is not always a bad thing (it can keep us safe in some instances), at times it can feel crippling, and yet we are told in John’s letter that perfect love drives out fear.  This can feel like a trite Christian pat on the back that doesn’t really address what you may be dealing with.

What if John is not saying, DON’T have fear, instead suggesting that once you come face to face with the depths of God’s love for you, there is simply no longer room for fear to take up residence in your life?  Perhaps your outlook would change, and your desire for others to know the same freedom would move you to share that love with those around you…

w/ Vern Collins

“New Life: Fragile” (April 17, 2016)

from John 15:1-11

A mark of maturity is independence.  Whether it is making decisions on your own, setting your own curfew, paying rent, buying a car, owning a home, attaining a job, trying something new, or starting a career, the ability to think, act, care for oneself shows independence…which translates to this world as a sign of maturity.

The problem comes when that thinking or that value system begins to affect our understanding of life with Jesus.  No matter how much we accomplish, we are all fragile people living fragile lives.

What if, your maturity in Christ weren’t about exercising your independence, but becoming more deeply dependent on Jesus?  In John 15, Jesus calls that, “remaining,” or, “abiding,” in Him.

What would it look like for you to embrace your fragility, rather than try and cover it up with all that you are chasing or accomplishing?

w/ Vern Collins

“New Beginnings: The Best” (January 17, 2016)

from John 2:1-11

How would things change if you knew you had not yet seen the best that God has for your life?  How would it change your perspective?  How might you live differently knowing that the best was yet to come?

Now, what would God’s best for you look like?

What if it has little to do with what God wanted to do for you, and more with what God wants to do THROUGH YOU?

w/ Vern Collins

“New Beginnings: Identity” (January 10, 2015)

from Luke 3:15-18, 21-22

You often look at the start of a new year as an opportunity to examine your life and make changes toward becoming the person you really want to be…

Whether that is to be a healthier person, a kinder person, a more patient person, a more prompt person, a stronger person…whatever the case, a new year tends to mean a fresh start…a chance to make a change.

The question becomes, why is making a change so important?  Why do we spend so much time and energy and money toward making these change?  Because for so many people, identity is found in how one performs, how one perceives self…how one is perceived by others.  The problem is, this can be an exhausting roller coaster of self love and self loathing, of being sure of who one is and in the next moment have more questions than answers when it comes to self.

The reality is, we are all a mess…and yet there is a truth we find and embrace in baptism that calls us to the end of our search for identity…because in baptism, you are invited to embrace the truth that before you acted-good or bad, you are the beloved of God.

*NOTE-in this week’s recording we have chosen not to edit out the invitation to baptism and remembrance of baptism.  Normally, the audio would not include the invitation to respond (be it to prayer, communion, or in this case-baptism), as it is to receive something tangible for those who are gathered on Sunday morning.  However, it seems appropriate given the message to include the invitation…it is an invitation to all, to remember that you are the beloved of God, or to embrace for the first time the truth that you are the beloved of God…may you find your identity in that hope!

If you would like to speak with one of our pastors you may do so by finding us online at www.booneumc.org

w/ Vern Collins

“Expectations: Pointing the Way” (December 20, 2015)

from Luke 1:57-80

Have you ever thought of yourself as a tour guide?  While you may not make a living directing sightseers, you are living a life that people are watching.

With that said, the question becomes: what is the life your living pointing to?  In the way you spend your time, energy, finances…the passions you pursue…what does your life point to as being of utmost importance?  Is it truly worth pointing others to?

What if, in this Christmas season, you began living a life pointing to Jesus?

w/ Vern Collins

“Foundations: Connect” (November 8, 2015)

from John 15:1-17

How is it that we’ve boiled Christianity, that is, what it means to be a follower of Jesus, down to NOT doing the things we shouldn’t do, and being sure to do the things we should?

The invitation of Jesus is to life…a full life to be more specific.  Yet, we have somehow bought in to this idea that life with Christ is little more than behavior modification.

In this week’s foundation of Connecting, we consider that what we DO for God is simply not as important as how we are WITH God through our connection in our relationship with Jesus.  Perhaps the fruit, or what we “do” comes as a byproduct of abiding in Christ as He calls us to do in John 15.  Not only in relationship with Jesus, but in relationship with one another do we find that God is able to bear fruit in and through our lives that is beautiful in His sight.

Rather than focusing on, “doing and achieving,” what if your focus became, “abiding, and being?”

w/ Vern Collins

“Foundations: Worship” (November 1, 2015)

from Revelation 7:9-16

Silent Mediation.  Old Hymns.  Traditional.  Contemporary.  Praise and Worship.  There are as many different opinions about what worship should be as there are people worshiping…or as there are people in church.

As we begin our “Foundations” series by looking at both foundations of the faith and foundations of who we are as a church and how we accomplish our mission of, “Loving our Community and inviting all to discover life in Christ,” we begin with worship as being a vital piece of that identity.

What your worship were not a matter of preference of style, but was the, “True Worship,” Jesus refers to in John 4, and that we catch a glimpse of in the vision of the throne in Revelation 7?

 

w/ Vern Collins