Discipling Life

I confess that I have always been time conscious during worship. I see to it that there is a clock I can always look at during worship. This started at the very beginning of my ministry when a served a three-point charge (in Methodist lingo that just means I had three churches). I had to make sure I finished one service with enough time to start the next. Be honest: we like our worship to begin and end on time, our prayers to feel familiar, and our sense of God to remain comfortably within reach. And then we open Acts 2 , and everything we thought we knew about how God works gets blown wide open. Quite literally. When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, ...

As we get ready celebrate Pentecost in our worship this Sunday, I wanted to take a look at a few verses from John’s Gospel. 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you. … 25 ”I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you. ... 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. (John 14:15-17, 25-26; 16:13, NRSVue) On the night before the cross, Jesus spoke words of comfort and promise to his disciples: “I w...

I mentioned earlier that Wesley said that there is not such thing as solitary religion. You can’t be a Christian by yourself. Life is not meant to be lived in isolation. We need people to serve and people to serve with. Our faith must be more that “me and Jesus” we are called in community to be sent forth as “the Body of Christ, redeemed by his blood” (from the Great Thanksgiving). We are created for connection, for belonging, for a shared purpose that is bigger than any one of us. Paul speaks to this deep truth in 1 Corinthians 12:3-13. He writes that “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” In other words, even our first steps toward Christ are stirred by grace that reaches for us before we ever reach back. The Holy Spirit draws us into the life of God and into the life of the community. Paul goes on to say that “there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit” (v. 4) and that “to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (v. 7) The Sp...

There are moments when love is more than a feeling. It shows up in the choices we make when no one is watching. It takes shape in patience, in forgiveness, in staying when it would be easier to walk away. We often say love matters, but Jesus invites us to live as though it truly does. In John 14:15-21 , Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Then he offers a promise: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever” (vv. 15-16). Love and obedience are not burdens here. They are signs of relationship. As we respond to Christ’s love, we are not left to figure it out on our own. The Spirit comes alongside us, guiding and strengthening us in ways we could never accomplish by ourselves. Embracing this relationship, we begin to experience the holiness of heart and life that God desires for us. Our response to God’s love is not merely passive; it requires our active participation. This is where the cooperative work of grace comes into...

Since my retirement from full-time ministry, I have been doing about one wedding a year. One thing that is common to all weddings is the celebration of a new connection. People, friends and family, gather to celebrate these two people and their decision. When the wedding service ends, those gathered celebrate with joy. It is a clear, unmistakable point of entry into a brand-new shared story, rooted in love. Just like at a wedding where a new family is announced, on the day of Pentecost, Peter announced something new: the life of Jesus was for  all people. This announcement, fueled by God’s grace set off a ripple effect that we’re still feeling today. 22  “Fellow Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know—  23  this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified an...