Pastor's Weekly Notes
April 4, 2008
Greetings Hope!
Charles Dickens once
wrote: “Life is a series
of comings and goings.
That’s just the way of
it.” I always try to
keep this thought in the
back of my mind. People
come into our lives and
go out of our lives on
an almost continuous
cycle. Sometimes we
don’t even recognize
that it’s happening.
Sometimes we feel it
with all of our being.
New friendships are
forming, new romances
just beginning, while
other relationships are
drifting away or are
forcibly wrenched from
our hands. We see it in
the Bible, too. Heroes,
prophets, saints, and
sinners were on earth
for such a short time
within the Scriptures
and then they were gone.
If our existence becomes
fixed and static, it
would cease to be called
“life.” The only time
that we as humans stop
changing, growing,
adapting, and moving
forward, is when we are
called home by our
Creator. As I begin to
contemplate the
transitions that are
about to take place in
my, Sarah’s, and the
kids’ lives, including
our pending move to
Richardson Park UMC in
Wilmington on July 1st,
I think about both the
relationships that I
will be losing and the
new ones that will be
forming. I will miss all
of you so much when the
time comes to leave
Hope. Being part of a
community of faith
requires that you be in
relationship with
others. So, when the
time comes for someone
to leave, it can be an
emotional and difficult
experience. But, as
followers of Jesus this
is the natural order of
things. We are called as
disciples of Christ to
“Go.” (Just look at the
end of the Gospel of
Matthew, “Go . . . into
all the world.”) If the
church is functioning as
the missional
community that it is
called to be, then we
are bringing
people into relationship
with Jesus and our
community of faith and
we are sending
people out into the
world to share the
gospel and to expand the
Kingdom of God. It
should be natural for
people to be coming and
going from a missional
community. As the
spiritual sheep dog
(Jesus is the good
shepherd) of Hope, I
will miss you all more
than I can say and our
time together will
always have a special
place within my heart.
Remember always that
itinerancy is just a
part of what it means
for me to live out my
call to minister to the
world, and I will expect
that you all will do
what you have to do to
live out your call to
minister to the world,
even when it’s
difficult.
See you on Sunday . . .
News and Notes:
-
This Weekend’s
Worship
– This Sunday we
will continue our
sermon series for
the Easter Season.
It’s called The
Faith of a Child,
and will focus on
the questions that
we all ask about our
faith from the time
that we are young.
I’m also hoping that
during this series
can get our children
more involved in
worship in the
sanctuary. This
Sunday we’ll talk
about Jesus’ death
and resurrection.
We’ll also hear from
the Rev. Dave
Buchanan about Camp
Pecometh and
celebrate the
sacrament of Holy
Communion. Let your
inner child run free
this weekend during
our time of worship
together!
-
Hope Closet Outreach
– Tomorrow, April 5,
members and friends
of Hope UMC will be
handing out flyers
and accepting
donations for our
Hope Closet
ministry. If you’re
not able to
participate, but
will be out from
10am-3pm, please
stop by either ACME
or SuperFresh and
support our people
and our very own
Hope Closet.
-
This is your brain .
. .
– Have you ever
thought about how
your brain works?
Why you are you and
not somebody else?
How you connect with
God? How you exist
within time and
space? Take a look
at the this
fascinating talk by
brain researcher
Jill Bolte Taylor:
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/229
My hope and prayer is
that you all continue to
have a blessed Easter
season.
In Christ’s love,
Pastor Tom