|
|
Bob's |
|
April 5, 2008 Do you have an
iPod? Do you ever download podcasts to listen to later? Well, Stroudsburg
United Methodist Church has some big news! The weekly sermons are now
available as downloadable podcasts! That's right, you can subscribe
to this podcast and then have your iPod automatically download each
week's sermon whenever you sync your iPod to your computer or laptop.
Click here to subscribe: I have subscribed to several podcasts for awhile now. Two of my favorites are Nikonians Podcasts: For the ambitious photographer and imaging professional AND Ginghamsburg Church Audio Sermons. I subscribed to both of these podcasts and have been listening to them for well over a year now. It is great to be able to take such great information with you as you travel, drive in your car, or wait for an appointment. This is a great tool that allows the user to take a lot of audio and even video content with you if you have the proper iPod or mp3 player. And now Stroudsburg United Methodist Church is utlizing this technology to get our weekly sermons out there into the cyber community. It is just one more tool that allows us to reach out into the community and spread the gospel message of Jesus Christ with the rest of the world. To date, no one has written a review on this new podcast webpage, but hopefully as more people subscribe to and hear the sermons we will get some feedback. I hope they aren't too critical of my sermons! I thoroughly enjoy the technology that is around us these days to promote the message of Jesus. We need to get the word out there to those in search for the truth. If you have an iPod, I hope you will subscribe to this new podcast. More importantly, I hope you tell your friends, neighbors, colleagues, and anyone else you know that SUMC now has an official podcast. Get them to subscribe and hear the story of Jesus through their iPod. It can be a great evangelistic tool as we continue to make disciples for Jesus Christ! Bob
|
|||
|
March 20, 2008 We are smack dab in the middle of Holy Week. Some clergy and church members bemoan the fact that this week is so busy and full of activites. We have more worship celebrations this week than in any other week on the Christian calendar. But you know, I find Holy Week to be exciting and invigorating! After all, this is the reason for our salvation. This week of all weeks, is the one to celebrate. Holy week is full of twists and turns. It starts off on the right foot with Palm Sunday. The crowd was cheering for Jesus and shouting "Hosanna" as he came into town riding on a donkey. We just celebrated all this three days ago. But things turned quickly for Jesus that week. Thursday was the last time he spent with his disciples. They ate a meal together and he instituted Holy Communion for the very first time with the words, "This is my body and this is my blood." The went up to the Garden of Gethsemene where Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Later Peter would deny even knowing Jesus. Good Friday is coming. But don't travel through this week too quickly. Take one day at a time. Reflect on the events of each day and attend worship to help you re-live the final week of Jesus' life. This is Holy Week, the best week of the Christian year. Walk through it slowly and methodically. Jesus did--and he did this all for you! Bob |
|||
|
March 7, 2008 Spring Training is underway for Major League Baseball now and many of us are hoping that spring is just around the corner. It's been a long winter in Poconos! Just as the professional baseball players have to prepare themselves for the regular season, we Christians need to prepare ourselves for the stark reality of life that gets thrown into our face day after day. We have to prepare for the daily grind. Preparation is critical. And we have to be ready for the curve balls that life throws our way! This week we will be starting a new sermon series on the topic of "Building Faith." This is a critical subject for many who will eventually have to lean on their faith to get through a hardship or difficulty in life. My favorite definition of faith is found in Hebrews 11:1: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (NRSV) Many people assume that one is expected to have enormous amounts of faith, but this is inaccurate. Jesus said that even a tiny faith, the size of a mustard seed, is enough to move mountains! Are you conent with your faith right now? Or do you have some faith-building to do? How does one build faith? How much faith is enough? Well, come out to worship over the next several weeks and we will learn how to build faith. Spring Training has begun. We are in training! Are you ready to step up to the plate and grow in your faith? Bob
|
|||
|
February 21, 2008 There are some days when everything seems to go right and all the pieces just seem to fit together. Then are days when not one thing goes right! Well, what do you do with those challenging days? Do you throw your hands up in utter disgust and just give up? Or do you pray? Hmmm. It seems I could do a little better at remembering this for myself. In the midst of a frustrating day I, too, forget to offer up my frustrations to God, figuring I can fix it all by myself. The season of Lent is one of prayer. We should be praying prayers of confession during this season. Lent is a time of preparation--preparing us for Holy Week and Easter. Many of us would prefer to skip the dreadful events of Holy Week and Lent altogether. But perhaps it does us good to witness the frustrating days that Jesus had toward the end of his earthly life. Somehow this seems to put our own frustrations into perspective. When you're going through a struggle where you don't know how or if the pieces in your life are going to fit together, remember that Jesus had those kind of days, too. He prayed to God in the Garden of Gethsemene and even asked if God would take away some of his troubles. We can learn a lot from Jesus! Remember to pray, especially when things aren't going right. Thankfully, the good days far outnumber the bad days. And if we can overcome the obstacles that life throws at us, we can keep moving forward in a positive direction. Don't give up! God loves you and will provide wisdom and insight to help you put the pieces of your life together! Bob
|
|||
|
February 15, 2008 Idenitfying our strengths and developing them will go a long way in helping us to accomplish our goals. This past month I was at a conference at Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church in Tipp City, OH. I was introduced to a concept refered to as "Strength-Based Ministry." The fundamental idea of this approach to ministry is for each staff member to identify his or her strengths and work on developing them, rather than worrying about areas of weakness. If we could focus on our strengths and utilize them more frequently, we could achieve more and be more productive. We also would be less stressed out. My guess is that many of us are not able to easily identify our own individual strengths or talents. This is a shame because until we can do this we will not be able to celebrate the real person God made us to be. Just today I discovered my top 5 strengths using Strength Finders 2.0. My top 5 are: Strategic, Ideation, Self-Assurance, Activator, Maximizer. I now am equipped with identifiable strengths that I can develop in my professional and home life. It was amazing to discover these strengths in the report that was on my computer screen. I found myself thinking, "Yep, that sure is me!" or "Wow, how did they know that about me?" I recognize that I am not the traditional type of pastor that many people have been used to having in their church. I see things differently and do not feel tied to tradition or things we've always done in the past. I recognize and push for new ways of doing things because I believe the future of the church is dependent on this! We cannot keep doing church the way we always have in the past. I am sometimes seen as being impatient, but my strength of Activator sees no value in talking and talking about an issue. Too many times we talk an idea to death. My strength is to do something! I can and do get bored easily. By keeping active I can help the church move on the issues of importance. Besides, we've been sitting around quietly for too long. It is time that we stop talking and start doing! Don't you think? -Bob
|
|||
|
February 11, 2008 This past week we started the 40 Days of Purpose. This will be our theme for Lent at The Connection worship celebrations and in Jeff Weber's Adult Sunday School Class. 40 days doesn't sound like a long time until it rains for 40 days and nights, or you are in the wilderness being tempted every day for that period of time. Forty days is long enough for new habits to be formed and adequate time for each one of us to discover our purpose in life. Do you know why God made you? Do you know your purpose in this life? If you do, that's great! But my guess is that most people do not have a sense of purpose in their lives that adequately fulfills them. Our culture has all kinds of answers to any and all problems. Success, as defined by the world, is not the answer. These 40 days could change your life! At the very least, they should change your perspective. We need to be more about fulfilling our God-given purpose rather than fulfilling what feels good in the moment. Are you discovering your purpose? It's not too late! Join us at The Connection worship experiences at 4:30pm on Sunday so you can discover your God-given purpose! -Bob
|
|||
