Serve by Design

Did you hear about the skunk who went to church? He had his own pew! I know, I hear some of your sighing, “That’s not even funny!” Blame this bad joke on my desperate attempts to surf online for something lighthearted about church pews. How about this? What do you get when you cross a shark with a skunk? The answer is - as far as way as possible! But that’s not my goal! Image: adobe.stock.com On a serious note, I have been trying to get folks to sit in the same pew each Lord’s Day. And if the church uses individual chairs, I’m encouraging folks to sit in the same area. I recently made this audacious remark from the pulpit during our traditional service, “These are my people!”   I said this as I pointed to where my wife was sitting with a group of Sunday morning friends, and then added, “That’s the pew we are purchasing!” I have been emboldened by this suggestion to sit in a certain proximity because of a dear couple in our church who modeled this for years. And it paid dividends...

One of the things I have always enjoyed as a pastor is the variety of things that I am often asked to do. In a very real sense, the calling to pastor is the work of a generalist. The pastor is a care giver, a leader-administrator, and a proclaimer of the gospel. Of course, we are also friends, family members and citizens in our communities. Each of the roles we play are opportunities to serve. The Good Shepherd Image credit: freebibleimages.org Recently, I was asked to preach the traditional service in my home church - Springfield First UMC. One of our pastors took some much-needed time off and I had the privilege of substituting for him. Since the pastors were in a pre-Easter series on the Parables, I was assigned the one on the Talents from Matthew 25. Here is an excerpt from that message… ”This story today in verses 14-30 of the Talents , shows us the necessity of using well what God has entrusted to us. The point of this parable is not how much God has entrusted, but rather how ...