Burden

Ever since last Sunday's Sermon on Psalm 55 ("Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved." v.22), where I shared the story of the Strawberry Plains Lenten Burden Cross, I've been burdened by something. I shared that Gincy and I cast our burden, prayed, and in a couple weeks time our prayer had been answered. What I only shared briefly was that this had been a burden we had carried for two years (longer if you count the discernment process on whether God wanted us to adopt at all). I also shared three points: 1) Cast your burden (based on the Psalm 55); 2) Change your burden (based on "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28); and, 3) Carry each other's burden (based on "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2). Anytime you try to organize something (even a sermon) you run the risk of coming across as, "If you follow these 3 steps ... or these 4 points ... God will do this ... or your life will turn out like ... or money will reign down on you from God. It doesn't happen that way. God cannot be limited to 3 steps or 4 points.

I've not received any negative feed back from my sermon to cause my reflection. It just hit me that with a topic like burdens, which we all have and struggle with, I might come across as overly simple. It has also hit me in a couple of other ways (the way God usually works in my life). This week our staff is studying "Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God" by Francis Chan. There it was, he states on page 41:

When I am consumed by my problems -- stressed out about my life, my family, my job -- I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God's command to always rejoice. In other words, that I have a "right" to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsibilities.
Worry implies that we don't quite trust God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what's happening in our lives.
Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, or lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control.
Basically, these two behaviors communicate that it's okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional. Both worry and stress reek of arrogance. They declare our tendency to forget that ... in the context of God's strength, our problems are small, indeed.

Wow, I'm glad I didn't say that on Sunday morning! And, then again this morning during my Centering Prayer Time -- big shout out to my Centering Prayer Buddies at First Broad Street and my Centering Prayer Buddies at First Farragut (yes we have an underground movement) -- from The Morning Psalm from The Morning Office:

O God, when you went forth before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, The earth shook, and the skies poured down rain at the presence of God, the God of Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel. You sent a gracious rain, O God, upon your inheritance; you refreshed the land when it was weary. Your people found their home in it; in your goodness, O God, you have made provision for the poor. The chariots of God are twenty thousand,
even thousands of thousands; the Lord comes in holiness from Sinai. You have gone up on high and led captivity captive; you have received gifts even from your enemies, that the Lord God might dwell among them. Blessed be the Lord day by day, the God of our salvation, who bears our burdens. He is our God, the God of our salvation; God is the Lord, by whom we escape death. (Psalm 68:7-10, 17-20)

BIT: I know, this has been a blog on the burden of preaching a sermon on burdens. It is no easy thing. But, I stand behind Cast, Change, Carry. We'll take up Lenten Psalms Part II this Sunday, "Amazing Love" -- hey, maybe that has something to do with burdens ...

We Had Faith!

It is the Monday after a fantastic Sunday (even if it was long -- two worship services, celebration lunch, ice skating, and confirmation class). It was a glorious day! Worship attendance was up and the Rev. Dr. Bernice Kirkland, former associate pastor of First Farragut and currently serving as the Executive Pastor at Cascade UMC in Atlanta, GA, delivered an inspiring and "anointed" message (anointed being her second step in her sermon). She truly put an exclamation point on our Stepping Stones to the Future Debt Reduction Campaign. It was great to finally meet Bernice and her wonderful husband Darryl.

It was also a special day of homecomings as the Rev. Richard Edwards and his family were in attendance at the 11:00 am service. He gave us quite a "good word" after our time of commitment, which was our "step" for this Sunday. Our Celebration Meal was incredible. [The cake above, made by Jason Yarbrough, was a part of this extravaganza]

Stepping Stones has been a time of homecomings as some members whom we had not seen in a while came back. And, Stepping Stones is currently a time when new people are visiting and joining with us. We celebrated 3 births this week and still have one on the way. Through our devotional book and centering times we have grown spiritually as individuals. Through worship and making contacts we have grown together as a congregation. Stepping Stones to the Future has truly been a time of moving forward!

So, now for what you are wanting to know ... I did not even fall once ice skating on Sunday afternoon with the kids. I don't know that I would have called it Speed Skating (as was advertised in worship), because there were far too many inexperienced skaters around me. You mean that's not what you wanted to know? ...

Here's how we did ... In our first Sunday of receiving estimate of giving cards, we have surpassed our Faith Goal of $750,000! And, we stand very close to our Hope Goal of 1 Million! When we get a little over $100,000 more we will reach this goal. We still would love to make our Love Goal of 1.6 Million. We will have cards available this Sunday or you can mail your cards in to the church.

BIT: It's sometimes a little scary standing there by the basket as people come forward to make their commitment. That lurking question, "what if we don't make it to our goal?". Knowing that many people have put in a lot of time and energy and resources to make this happen. However, I felt no such fear this Sunday as people stood to come forward with their gifts. The Spirit that has been moving through this campaign had calmed my anxiousness. I had faith we would reach our Faith Goal. I am excited because I know how much this is going to help us to move boldly into the preferred future God has for us as First Farragut. Now, let us move on to to Faith & Love!