Have a Great Full Heart!

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; be thankful to him and bless his name. Psalm 100:4

As Christians, we are encouraged to make “giving thanks” a daily discipline. However, one day out of each year, Thanksgiving Day, is specifically set aside for us to count our blessings and to offer our gratitude to God with focused intentionality.

As you plan your schedule for Thanksgiving, I hope that you and your family will enjoy a fun and festive gathering that will rekindle your appreciation for God’s blessings.

If you are in Pensacola this week, consider participating in our Community Thanksgiving Service at First United Methodist Church on Wednesday evening at seven o’clock. If you are traveling, we wish you safe travels to and from your destination.

This Sunday we begin our Advent Series, Discover the Joy! After lighting the Prophecy Candle, we will hear Luke’s challenge for us to Lighten Up! (21:34-36). At the beginning of the midmorning worship service we will share in a celebration of baptism. What a great way to begin our Advent journey!

On Sunday afternoon, consider being a part of Deck the Halls and Bless These Walls. Teams will begin decorating our campus at 2 p.m. At six o’clock we will begin a brief, but meaning-filled, Advent Vespers, interpreting the meaning of our Advent décor. Join us in praying that in every event, every worship service, and every concert, each person that steps foot on our campus will hear about the “good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).

During this season of Thanksgiving, may our feasts and our festivities remind us of our blessings and encourage us to live our days with great full hearts.

I look forward to seeing you Sunday as we gather for worship and Bible study, and as we discover or re-discover the joy of knowing and following Christ.

Discover the Joy!

In a few days, the decorations of Advent and Christmas will enliven our campus as we prepare for an action-packed schedule of worship services, seasonal concerts, and ministry opportunities during the month of December.

The central message of the season is summarized in Luke 2:10-11: The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

Joy is a missing element in the lives of many…even those who are followers of Christ. If we are not careful, the challenges of daily living, the temptations of living in a highly materialistic world, and the ghosts of sins committed in the past will keep us from experiencing the kind of spiritual joy that is “indescribable.” (I Peter 1:8)

Our theme and spiritual quest for Advent this year is to Discover the Joy. God will transform our holidays into holy days as we allow our lives to be re-energized by the greatest story ever told. This season of the year presents great opportunities for those of all ages to connect with God and others through a faithful daily devotional time, active participation in worship, and involvement in serving in Jesus’ name.

The Advent Devotional Book published by our Children’s Ministry is a great tool to guide and encourage you throughout your Advent Journey. Our pre-teens will be distributing copies on Sunday November 29.

During December, get in step with the rhythm and cadence of the real Spirit of Christmas as you celebrate and share the joy of knowing and following Jesus.

Series: Discover the Joy!

Nov 29 Lighten Up! Luke 21:25-36

Dec 6 The God Who Scrubs Malachi 3:1-5

Dec 13 Swinging at the Root of the Problem

Luke 3:7-18

Dec 20 Expectations Micah 5:2-5a

(Combined Service in the Sanctuary)

Dec 24 Saying “No” to Fear Luke 2:1-20

Dec 27 Check Your Vital Signs Colossians 2:12-17 (Combined Service in Chipley Hall)

Hearing a Who?

When our nieces and nephews come to visit our home, after dumping the toy box in the middle of the floor, they inevitably end up going to the book basket and pulling out a book wanting “Uncle Barry” or “Aunt Amanda” to read to them. A favorite among most children is “Horton Hears a Who.”

When is the last time you heard an important “who” in your life? To fully become the person God created you to be and to keep your priorities in order, it’s important to stay focused on who’s who and what’s what in your life. Otherwise, life becomes an endless pursuit of ambitious fantasies.

This Sunday we are zeroing in on the Almighty Who’s Who of Revelation 1:4-8 as we worship God “who is the Alpha and Omega…who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” (v.8)

Next week we observe Wednesday on Tuesday. Our regular Wednesday night schedule is moved to Tuesday evening…Dinner, Children’s Activities, Midweek Worship, and Choir/Orchestra Rehearsal.

Don’t forget that our Community Thanksgiving Service at First United Methodist Church begins at 7 o’clock next Wednesday November 26. There will be no services or activities scheduled on our campus for that evening.

This year Advent begins on November 29, the Sunday following Thanksgiving. Our Advent Journey begins that Sunday morning with the lighting of the Advent candles, seasonal music, and the launching of this year’s Advent Series, Joy for Today’s World.

On that Sunday afternoon plan to be a part of Deck the Halls and Bless These Walls as we decorate the campus from 2:00-6:00, concluding with an Advent Vespers in Pleitz Chapel at six o’clock.

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday as we gather for worship and Bible study, and as we listen for a word from the eternal Who.

Why I Need to Go to Church

This Sunday we continue our series on The Alpha Omega Factor as we look at Hebrews 10:19-25 and think about “Reasons I Need to Go to Church.” Actually, the Bible calls us to be the church, and not just go to church. But to effectively be the church, we need to faithfully gather with the other members of the body of Christ for equipping and encouragement.

Theodore Roosevelt, the twenty-sixth President of the United States, believed in attending and participating in church. In 1917, in an interview with Ladies Home Journal, President Roosevelt offered at least ten reasons for going to church:

1. In the actual world a churchless community, a community where men have abandoned and scoffed at or ignored their religious needs, is a community on the rapid downgrade.

2. Church work and church attendance mean the cultivation of the habit of feeling some responsibility for others and the sense of braced moral strength which prevents a relaxation of one’s own moral fiber.

3. There are enough holidays for most of us which can quite properly be devoted to pure holiday making... Sundays differ from other holidays--among other ways--in the fact that there are fifty-two of them every year... On Sunday, go to church.

4. Yes, I know all the excuses. I know that one can worship the Creator and dedicate oneself to good living in a grove of trees, or by a running brook, or in one’s own house, just as well as in church. But I also know as a matter of cold fact the average man does not thus worship or thus dedicate himself. If he strays away from church he does not spend his time in good works or lofty meditation. He looks over the colored supplement of the newspaper.

5. He may not hear a good sermon at church. But unless he is very unfortunate he will hear a sermon by a good man who, with his good wife, is engaged all the week long in a series of wearing, humdrum and important tasks for making hard lives a little easier.

6. He will listen to and take part in reading some beautiful passages from the Bible. And if he is not familiar with the Bible, he has suffered a loss.

7. He will probably take part in singing some good hymns.

8. He will meet and nod to, or speak to, good quiet, neighbors... He will come away feeling a little more charitably toward all the world, even toward those excessively foolish young men who regard churchgoing as rather a soft performance.

9. I advocate a man’s joining in church works for the sake of showing his faith by his works.

10. The man who does not in some way, active or not, connect himself with some active, working church misses many opportunities for helping his neighbors, and therefore, incidentally, for helping himself.

Eighty four years have passed since that historic interview with President Roosevelt. And church attendance and participation is still vitally important to faith development and Christian service. The scriptures advise us “not to give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another, even more as you see the day of the Lord approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)

I am counting on seeing you this Sunday as we gather for worship and Bible study.

Can You Begin To Imagine What Heaven Is Like?

In the often-quoted poem in I Corinthians 13, after expounding on the virtues of love, Paul writes, ^“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became mature, I put childish ways behind me” (13:11).

When I was a child, I imagined heaven through the lenses of a child. I envisioned heaven as a place of no work and all play, of no vegetables and all candy, of no rules and all freedom, and of no enemies and all friends.

While there are a few ounces of truth in my childhood perspective, my vision of heaven continually changes as I mature. I believe that God has prepared an eternal neighborhood for his people, a heavenly community that absolutely boggles the human imagination.

I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea.²I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband.I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: "Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They're his people, he's their God. He'll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone." The Enthroned continued, "Look! I'm making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate." Revelation 21:1-5 MSG

Last Sunday, Ross Lankford kicked off our November series with a powerful message from Revelation 5. This Sunday we will be “Imagining Heaven” as we explore Revelation 21. We also look forward to sharing a prayer of commissioning for our mission team preparing to depart for North Africa.

I am writing these words from Aliceville, Alabama where I am enjoying revival services at First Baptist Church. Charlie and Jill Wilson are gracious hosts and the congregation has been welcoming, encouraging, and faithful all throughout the week. As I observe firsthand the good work Charlie is doing serving as pastor in Aliceville, I am reminded that our First Baptist family is proud of all of the young men and women God has called to ministry and to the mission field.

I look forward to getting home to Pensacola and seeing you as we gather for worship and Bible study this Sunday morning.

Visit the ROC and Share a Cup

When the new lettering was installed identifying The ROC, I was reminded that it was just a short time ago that the Paul Royal Recreation and Outreach Center was a dream. Now it is a reality.

As the vision for the ROC came together, we imagined it to be a center for recreation, a meeting place for our students, and a gathering space where church and community would come together. The café area at the ROC was designed as a Wi-Fi hot spot for internet access and a social and spiritual hot spot for building relationships and conversing about life and faith.

To help facilitate the dream of a meeting place and gathering space, we strategically placed a coffee shop called First Cup. As we were learning the do’s and don’ts of running a coffee shop, we eventually decided to partner with The Drowsy Poet, a respected mission-oriented coffee shop on Brent Lane. The Drowsy Poet purchases coffee beans directly from mission partners in Central America, roasts the beans in Pensacola, and reinvests a portion of the proceeds of all coffee products back to the mission field. This partnership enabled us to provide a fresher product, develop a creative missions connection, and broaden our visibility in the community. In other words, when you purchase a cup of coffee at First Cup, you can enjoy a good cup of java and support missions at the same time.

Several months ago I read Three Cups of Tea, the best-selling, soul-stirring book about the humanitarian work of Greg Mortenson. The title of the book is based on the hospitality customs related to business transactions in some parts of the Middle East. Haji Ali, a village chief in the Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan says that, “We drink three cups of tea to do business; the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything—even die.”

What can I do to maximize the ministry of the ROC?

• Keep making regular contributions to The ROC until we get the facility paid in full.
• Make sure your students are involved in Sunday morning Bible study, Flood, Overflow, AWANA, and UPWARD sports at The ROC.
• Get involved in Women’s Bible Study at The ROC.
• Join Body Recall
• Meet a friend or neighbor at First Cup for your next cup of coffee.
• Plan a meeting of your small group or business at The ROC.
• Commit to bring a new acquaintance for three cups at First Cup as you prepare them to join our family.

I look forward to seeing you this week at The ROC and on Sunday as we gather for worship and Bible study.