BE BOLD! In Your Growth

First United Methodist Church of Gadsden

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BE BOLD! In Your Growth

Intentional Faith Development

August 18, 2019 • Rev. Sam Hayes

8-18-19 Sermon Notes "Be Bold! In Your Growth"

This Sunday, we will begin a new five-week sermon series called, "Be Bold!" It is a different look at a series that has been done at our church before based on Bishop Robert Schnase's book, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations. Remember that book? In the book, Bishop Schnase highlights five practices that every "fruitful" congregation has in common:
Intentional Faith Development
Passionate Worship
Radical Hospitality
Risk-Taking Mission and Service
Extravagant Generosity
Looking at these, it is the adjectives that stand out...intentional, passionate, radical, risk-taking, and extravagant. There is a certain boldness to these adjectives! And boldness is how the Christian movement began in Acts Chapter 2. This fits right along with what our Generosity Team came up with for our fall Generosity Campaign. Be Bold! So our take on the "Five Practices" looks like:
Be Bold! In Your Growth
Be Bold! In Your Worship
Be Bold! In Your Hospitality
Be Bold! In Your Mission and Service
Be Bold! In Your Generosity
So on Sunday, I will be talking about what it means to "Be Bold" in our growth...in terms of spiritual formation. The Scripture I will be using comes from Acts Chapter 2. The Holy Spirit had just come upon those gathered in the Upper Room, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. This was the "official" beginning of the Church. Peter (the same Peter who had denied Jesus 3 times) then boldly preached the Gospel and 3,000 were added to the church that day!
So what now? They had said "Yes" to the Gospel - repented, believed... were "born" spiritually... What happens after anything is "born?" It needs to grow. Here is how the Early Church set about growing...

[42] They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
[43] Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles.
[44] All who believed were together and had all things in common;
[45] they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.
[46] Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts,
[47] praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47 (NRSV)

When I say the Early Church set about growing, I am talking about the process of spiritual formation. What does that mean? The best definition I have ever found for "spiritual formation" comes from a wonderful book by Robert Mulholland Jr. (New Testament professor at Asbury Seminary) entitled Invitation to a Journey. In this book, Prof. Mulholland says, "Spiritual formation is a process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others." (Invitation, p. 12)
You see, we are all "being conformed" by something - for better or worse. What we "devote" ourselves to, is what makes the difference between our being conformed into the image of Christ or into something else. The Early Church devoted themselves to...
Study
Fellowship and Worship
The Lord's Supper
Prayer
The Early Church had connection with God and with each other, compassion for the needs of the community, and they did all of this with "glad and generous hearts." Not only did the early Christians grow boldly in their faith, but also the number of people who wanted to be part of this joyful band of Christ followers grew boldly! "Day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved." (Acts 2: 47)

To grow boldly we must be intentional. It's about the little choices we make every day. I love how C. S. Lewis puts this:

Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature... (Invitation, p. 24)

In other words, by our intentional choices, we will start to look more and more like Christ, or whatever else we devote ourselves to. Will you join our "joyful band of Christ followers" this Sunday to hear more about this?

See you Sunday,
Pastor Sam

BE BOLD! In Your Generosity

Rev. Sam Hayes

9-15-19 Sermon Notes “Be Bold! In Your Generosity” This Sunday, we will wrap up our series, Be Bold! Even though the sermon series will be coming to an end, the theme – the attitude – the whole approach to ministry and missions will continue. Be Bold is something that will be our motto going forward! • We talked about being bold and intentional about our own faith development. I hope we’ve all accepted the challenge to partner with God in our spiritual growth. Have you joined a Journey Group yet? Maybe you could start a new one… • We talked about bold, passionate worship…and gathering to draw our attention upward to God, inward to self-awareness, and then outward to where we say, “Here am I. Send me!” Our guest singer that Sunday, Dr. Anderson, helped to create a bold atmosphere of worship. I loved it! • Then we on to talk about what it means to show bold hospitality….to welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us for the glory of God. This is an on-going challenge, and hospitality is so critical. People will often forget what you say, but they will never forget how you make them feel. • Last Sunday, Pastor Carrie and Pastor Andy talked about what it means to have bold, risk-taking mission and service. Is that kind of ministry sometimes “messy?” You bet. Is it what we are called to do as the body of Christ? Absolutely And so we wrap up this week with Bold Generosity. Here’s our Scripture… 6 Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. 8 But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, “Why this waste? 9 For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor.” 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. 11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. 12 By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial. 13 Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.” 14 Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I betray him to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him. (Matt. 26: 6-16 NRSV) When I was in seminary, I would sometimes come into the student lounge where folks would gather and eat their lunch and sometimes unwind and watch a little TV. Well, I noticed every day at the same time a group would be huddled around the TV watching a brand new Soap Opera… The Bold and the Beautiful. I never got into it myself, but more power to them. The name is catchy, though. It reminds me of what this “unnamed” woman did for Jesus on that day. What she did was bold… to come up to Jesus with a super-expensive jar of ointment, break the top off, and pour the whole thing on Jesus’ head. The disciples got mad. I guess they thought it was too bold. Or maybe, her generosity was so bold that they were reminded how little they had shown. Had they anointed his head? Even a little dab? Nope. Jesus said, “Why do you trouble the woman? She has done something beautiful, and wherever the good news is proclaimed, her bold and beautiful generosity will be told in remembrance of her.” When it comes to generosity, this anonymous woman was The Bold and the Beautiful! To make her generosity shine even brighter, let’s lay it beside it’s opposite. Let’s lay it beside the Wimpy and the Ugly. The woman’s heart beside Judas’ heart… Judas, who was the keeper of the money bag…who had his hand in the till… Judas, who complained the loudest at the “wastefulness” of the anointing… Judas, who went straight from there and said to the chief priests, “What will you give me if I betray him to you?” One person says, “Lord, I’m giving my all to you…every bit!” One person says, “What can I get out of this?” When God looks at our generosity, I pray that God sees, The Bold and the Beautiful! See you Sunday, Sam

BE BOLD! In Your Mission and Service

September 8, 2019 • Rev. Carrie Jones and Rev. Andy Yarnell

Missions and service is without doubt one of the greatest strengths of our congregation here at Gadsden First. It is extremely evident that Matthew 25 is written into the fabric of who we are as a church and as followers of Christ. Every time a need arises from an organization in our community or an individual who walks through our doors, our church seeks to feed, clothe and provide for that need. It is an absolute blessing, and an inspiration, to be among such compassion and generosity. This Sunday, Pastor Andy and I will be co-preaching, continuing Pastor Sam's sermon series and calling our congregation to BE BOLD IN MISSIONS & SERVICE. Without doubt, we have rich and fertile soil upon which to scatter the seeds of the Scripture; open and caring hearts upon which to breathe the stirrings of the Spirit. On Sunday, we will dig deeply into a very familiar text, because as we prayed asking God how He desires for us to BE BOLDer than we already are for missions and service, into the trenches with the Good Samaritan is where God led us. The Parable of the Good Samaritan Luke 10:33-35 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' When the Samaritan saw the need, he was moved with pity and responded to the need, and he did so in an extremely BOLD way. In a risk-taking way. In a messy way. The Samaritan stopped what he was doing. Took pause on his own plans. And he went to rock-bottom with the man in need. The Samaritan's clothes got dirty, and probably a little bloody. He got sweaty and tired lifting the wounded man, and then traveling the rest of the road on foot. He freely and generously gave of what he had to provide for his needs. And the most amazing thing he did -- the BOLDEST things he did -- was that he left the tab open. He pledged to help again, and help more - whatever would be needed. What does it look like for us to do Missions & Service in the church this way? In our daily lives this way? To give people an open tab on our help? An open tab on our care? An open tab on our availability? An open tab on our hearts? Will we BE BOLD like the Good Samaritan? In Christ, Carrie Jones Associate Pastor of Children & Families

BE BOLD! In Your Hospitality

September 1, 2019 • Rev. Sam Hayes

9-1-19 Sermon Notes “Be Bold! In Your Hospitality” In the mid 1990’s, my mother decided to sell our farm and move to “town,” after having lived on that farm for over 30 years. It was a tough decision, but being a widow and out in the middle of nowhere was starting to feel unsafe for her. A couple with young children bought our farm, and Mom found a house she liked in Tuscumbia, Alabama (not far from Ivy Green – the birthplace of Helen Keller). We got her all moved in, and Sunday rolled around, giving her a chance to do something she had not done in 30 years… go church “shopping.” She decided to try out several churches and make her choice when she found one that felt like “home.” One Sunday she went to a church not far from her new house, and found a seat in the pews. After she had been sitting there only a short while, a woman came up to her and said, “You’re going to have to move. You’re sitting in my seat.” Embarrassed, my mom moved to another pew. She was so taken aback by the lack of hospitality that she couldn’t really pay attention to the music and the sermon. The next Sunday morning, Mom got up and thought to herself, “Maybe that was just one rude person and maybe I shouldn’t judge the whole church by that one encounter.” So she went back to that same church, hoping to give them another chance. This time, she sat on a different side of the sanctuary, in a different pew. A man approached her, and she thought, “Great! Someone is going to welcome me!” But no... The man said to her, “You’re going to need to move. You’re sitting in my seat.” Kid you not… Needless to say, my mother didn’t go back to that church! The story has a happy ending. She found a wonderful church family who welcomed her and showed her Bold Hospitality, and she has been happy ever since. She is very active in missions, UMW, visiting shut-ins…just about everything you can think of. She is blessed, and is a blessing to others…and it all started with hospitality. It reminds me of an old saying I heard: “Some folks make you feel at home. Others make you wish you were.” What kind of Bold Hospitality are we supposed to offer? Our scripture for this Sunday lays it out for us: 7 Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. (Romans 15: 7 NRSV) Welcome others how? “Just as Christ has welcomed you!” Why? “For the glory of God!” See you Sunday! Pastor Sam