Practice Supporting Your Church Financially   As United Methodists, we believe in supporting our church financially.  The biblical understanding of giving is the tithe which is an Old Testament teaching about the law given through Moses requiring the Israelites to give a tithe or one-tenth of the produce of their land and livestock to support the Levitical priesthood (Leviticus 27:30-33). Today, we view giving not as a rule, but as a way of living with the understanding that God teaches us that a generous life is the best life to live.  Giving is about acknowledging that God is the source of all things, including our possessions.  In a consumer culture, this is especially important to understand.  To give is about faith.  It is about growing in our trust of God, even with our finances.  To begin to give, choose a percentage and give it consistently. If you share your finances with a partner, talk to them about your desire to give and come to a consensus that you are both comfortable with.  Allow God to challenge you when it is time to increase your giving.  Malachi 3:10 says, “Bring the whole tenth-part to the storage house so there might be food in my house. Please test me in this, says the Lord of heavenly forces. See whether I do not open all the windows of the heavens for you. ”   What you will learn when you give is that you cannot outgive our God and this act of giving will help you grow in your faith and feel closer to your God.  #connectionalchurch #faith #giving

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another… Hebrews 10:24-25 I recall a science fiction movie back in the early 1980’s which featured a fictional company where everyone in the entire organization was named John. Suffice it to say, it made for a very confusing atmosphere. You can almost say the same thing about the organization of the United Methodist Church, where it seems that everything is called a “conference.” A conference can refer to a geographical area, a body of people or an actual event. Let me explain. A local church, like St. Andrew’s is part of a group of churches organized in a geographical area called a district. A District Superintendent (DS) is an appointed clergy that provides administrative and spiritual leadership for the churches for that district. We have a wonderful DS in Rev. Emily Hotho. All the districts in a particular geographical area make up an annual conference. We are a part of the Florida Annual Conference, which includes all the state of Florida, except the panhandle. And this is where it gets a little confusing because “annual conference” can refer to either the geographical area that makes up the grouping of local churches or to the annual meeting of lay and clergy members within that geographical area of the annual conference. A bishop presides over an annual conference. Our current bishop is one of the best, Rev. Tom Berlin. The reason that I am giving you this quick tutorial of the UMC organization is that on June 6, we are in the midst of the Florida Annual Conference event in Lakeland, which started Thursday and ends on Saturday, June 7. This is a time when an equal number of lay members and clergy members gather to conduct the business of the conference organization. Yet the conference is more than just a business meeting. It is a time to worship together, pray together, hear the achievements of the many agencies and ministries that make up the Florida Conference- its youth ministries, associated colleges and seminaries, mission work, and initiatives. It also is a time to ordain new ministers, celebrate church anniversaries, announce church appointment changes, remembering those who have passed, and honoring those who are retiring. Including me, this year. For the United Methodist Church is said to be a connectional organization. Connectional simply means that all United Methodist churches are linked to all other United Methodist churches by organization and by purpose as they go about the work of making disciples. The structure of the UMC encourages conferencing. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, considered Christian conferencing among the spiritual disciplines through which God’s grace may be made known to us. Conference may seem to be an overused term in the UMC, yet we understand as we conference together, serve together, worship together, and fellowship together, we can more fully experience and realize the grace of God that is offered to us through His son, Jesus Christ. What a blessing this is! #FloridaConferenceUnitedMethodistChurch #connectionalchurch #faith

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NIV Although not an official season of the church calendar, I have also felt that May was the official “fatigued” season of the church year. It’s the end of the church programming year -- the time when events are drawing to a close, studies are concluding, small groups are stopping for the summer. And if you are like me, living in a society where we over-commit to everything – it’s the season of the year when you are downright exhausted, burned out. You can’t wait for the summer to start so you can get some rest. Summer is a time when you get a new attitude and get refreshed for the new season – albeit to say that each year the summer seems to go by so fast. But it is the end May – and we are running on fumes, just trying to get through this month. I read something recently (on the Internet as usual) that caught my attention. In ancient times, when people visited a shaman because they were sick inside, the shaman asked four things: 1. When in your life did you stop singing? 2. When in your life did you stop dancing? 3. When in your life did you stop being enchanted by stories, and particularly by your own story? 4. When in your life did you start being uncomfortable in that sweet territory of silence? We may be exhausted from all the activity, but when we lose that passion in our lives and try to answer these questions, we may notice that it happened when our devotional life transformed into busy work and routine. It happened when we moved away from God and toward hustle and bustle activities. Maybe it’s time for a re-orientation. Let this time before summer starts to be a time for new energy and not an energy zapper. Take time to get oriented toward the Christ who has come, the Christ who is here, and the Christ who will come again – toward the living Christ. #rest #sabbath #play #faith

If you attend a traditional service at St. Andrew’s, you may have noticed that the paraments on the altar and pulpit have been white since Easter. No, we haven’t forgotten to change them. The colors of the paraments change depending on the church calendar season. Right now, we are in the season of Eastertide which is white. Eastertide is the period in the Christian liturgical calendar that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, beginning on Easter Sunday and lasting until Pentecost which is June 8 this year. On that day the paraments will switch to red for one Sunday celebrating the day the Holy Spirit came and filled a room of Jesus followers, and they were changed forever. Whenever we are in Eastertide, I always wonder about what the followers of Jesus were thinking those 40 days before Jesus ascended into heaven. Individual disciples, family, and even two strangers on a road called Emmaus had encounters with Jesus. Once a group of about 500 saw him and another time He showed up in the middle of a locked room where the disciples were hiding. For about 40 days Jesus kept appearing and disappearing until one day He told them He had to leave them so the Holy Spirit could come to them. Strangely, this is the good news of Jesus leaving. Because if Jesus goes, the community of believers will grow because of the arrival of the Holy Spirit. The believers will also have an even closer relationship with Jesus and will go great things in His name for the kingdom of Heaven. John 14:12 says this, “I assure you that whoever believes in me will do the works that I do. They will do even greater works than these because I am going to the Father.” Still, I bet they were scared and confused as they watched Him disappear into the clouds. Aren’t we always a bit unnerved by change. Even when we know the change is for a good reason, we can still feel uncertain and afraid. Maybe that is a good time to remember we never go through change alone. Jesus left the disciples physically so He could eternally live within them and they in Him. The same is true for us. Regardless of any change in our lives, we are never outside of the presence and comfort of Jesus. #Eastertide #PentecostSunday #HolySpirit

In the book of Luke there is a short, but powerful story that is probably familiar to many of you and one that may stir up an emotional response. You can read it yourself in Luke 10:38-42. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem when he stops at a home in an unnamed village for dinner. He has been greeted and welcomed into the home of Martha who is probably the head of her household. She then busies herself with the task of hospitality, an important part of the Jewish faith and tradition. Martha appears to understand that Jesus is more than a teacher by her address of “Lord” to him. She is certainly honoring her guest with a heart of servitude as she prepares the meal. Her sister Mary, on the other hand has neglected her duties, as a woman in the 1st century. Mary’s place would not have been at the feet of Jesus listening to him teach as Martha scurried around in the background doing her work as well as sister’s. Only men would have filled that role as student, sitting and listening to the radical teachings of Jesus. Yet instead of Jesus praising Martha for her heart of servitude he appears to reprimand Martha when she asked Jesus to get her sister to help her. I cannot ever hear this story without thinking about my baby sister. I have a sister who is extroverted and funny. She has always entertained us with her stories. She also wasn’t required to help in the kitchen when we had company because she would be busy entertaining all the guests in the living room while the rest of us were working in the kitchen. I was angry about that for a long time until I began to understand that God made her that way and I had other and different gifts. I bring that history to this story because I know many other people have similar experiences they too bring to this story. If fact the story of Mary and Martha is often dismissed all together. I would like to challenge you all to hear this story differently today. I would like you to first acknowledge if you struggle with this story and then open your hearts to hearing again, but maybe in a little differently. Let’s begin with the gift being offered to Martha and Mary. As we have already said, the Jewish tradition along with the Roman culture of the first century was a patriarchal system. Women were not given the same rights and opportunities as the men. Women were not educated. The culture of that period did not embrace women as equals nor did they think they could have the understanding and wisdom that men held. Now Jesus, in a radical stance, stands in their home and invites both women to come and learn from his teaching, but Martha is tied to the tradition of the culture and instead of receiving the extravagant gift being offered to her, she chooses to instead maintain a false picture of herself. That false picture is that she is defined as a woman by her ability to be a gracious hostess. Mary on the other hand, wisely chooses to not worry about how others defined her, even her sister, and instead she chooses to be defined by her true self, as a child of God. This story should challenge us to consider where we are limiting God in our lives. Do we see ourselves as a member of God’s family or do we only see ourselves through the lens of our mistakes or our limitations? Maybe we can learn from Mary and allow ourselves to enjoy time with Jesus simply as He sees us as His children. #MaryandMartha #hospitality #grace

Peter responded, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about!” At that very moment, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered the Lord’s words: “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And Peter went out and cried uncontrollably. Luke 22: 60-62 In the last days of Christ’s earthly life, we read about the disciples of Jesus, those followers who were the closest to him, that looked to Him as their leader. These are the ones that followed Jesus’s examples, listened to His teachings, saw the miracles He performed. Jesus showed them the path of obedience, but let’s look at the actions of His so-called followers in these events of the Holy Week. At their last meal together, the topic of discussion was which of them was the greatest. Later they fell asleep when Jesus asked them to stay up with him as he tormented over what was about to happen to him. One follower wanting to protect Jesus, drew his sword and cut off the ear of one of the crowd who came to arrest him. All ran away when Jesus was arrested. Another denied even knowing how Jesus was, not once but three times. And another betrayed him to the very ones that wanted him dead. Sometimes we look back at these events and wonder how the disciples could defy and turn their backs on Jesus. However, we too claim to be Jesus’s followers, yet we act out of jealousy and competition. Sometimes we are like the well-meaning man who cut off the ear. Under the appearance of defending Christ, we harm others by dreadful means. Like Peter we proclaim with our words that we will follow Jesus even to prison and death. But in the shadow of the flames, we deny knowing him. Our denial takes the form of unkind words, hateful acts and taking advantage of the weak and marginalized. Like his followers on that Friday morning long ago, we huddle around the fires fearful of one another rather than loving one another. We too are followers, but far too often we follow from a distance. On this Good Friday, we too crucify our Lord. In what ways do we deny Christ, follow at a distance, hurting others in the name of the Lord? Pray that Christ will give us the faith and spirit to be a true follower. #HolyWeek #MaundyThursday #GoodFriday #Easter #ResurrectionSunday

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. - Romans 8:1-2 NIV When speaking of the guilt of our sins, I believe that there are two kinds of people. One type is totally consumed, burdened down when they do wrong. Overcome with remorse and guilt. Martin Luther, the 15th century theologian, the father of the Reformation would fall in this category. Luther was a man consumed by guilt for the sins he had committed. He was constantly in confessional, worried that he would die with unconfessed sin lingering. As soon as he finished his confessional who would remember something else he had done and back to the confessional he turned. Then there is another group of people that are on the opposite spectrum in dealing with the guilt of their sins. And this group you could say is unhealthier than the overly remorseful group. These are the ones that soon forget about the wrongs that do. They seem to get over the guilt very quickly. They shrug it off. We excuse away our guilt, justify it, “it couldn’t be helped.” God’s grace will cover everything. There is no need to feel remorse. Why be burdened by guilt? Life is too stressful anyway. For those who too easily write off our sins we should look back to the Old Testament and what the Hebrew people had to do to receive forgiveness of their sins. What if we had to do the same? If every time we sinned, we had to go to the temple and sacrifice one of our livestock, maybe we would pause to consider what damage these sins are causing, before we do them again. We are causing damage to our relationship with God. I say this, not so that you will be overcome with guilt and remorse. But I say this to show you how extravagant, how compelling is the forgiveness that Christ offers us through His death on the cross. We are not worthy of such mercy. We have not earned it. But God offers it to us anyway, through Jesus Christ. And brings us into a new life, a new freedom through the one who was raised from the dead. You cannot make amends on your own. But only through Christ are we forgiven, redeemed through his dying on the cross. Looking through these eyes can we try to grasp and understand the extreme sacrifice Jesus suffered for us – that we might be dead to sin so that we can be set free. #Lent #repentance #forgiveness #love #grace

Holy Week is almost upon us. As a United Methodist, I love this week. I did not practice Lent growing up. Only the Catholics in our neighborhood gave up sweets for Lent and meat on Fridays. Now it is one of my favorite times of the year as it properly prepares me for Easter morning. On Thursday, April 17, we will sing, have a devotion by David Moscrip and celebrate the communion just as Jesus broke bread with his disciple’s. On Friday, April 18, we will have the Service of Darkness with beautiful music and the pageantry of the youth stripping the altar. I had someone recently tell me they did not like Holy Week because it was too painful. Good Friday service was overwhelmingly sad. I had never thought about that before. They are not wrong. Then I got to remember what I was taught as a Chaplin for Advent Health. People don’t want to feel their feelings. Sure, we all love joy and happiness, but it is normal to avoid the hard emotions. In my devotion by Kate Bowler today she reminded us that Jesus fully understood what was coming when he entered Jerusalem on a donkey the last week of his life. Sure, it started out with the waving of branches, but Jesus knew what was coming and still moved towards what is hard. That is what love does, it moves towards what is hard. Love stretches us way past what we think we can handle, and it always asks more of us than we want to give. Still, we do the hard thing, and we give all that we have. That is what Jesus teaches us during Holy Week. To love Him means that sometimes we must move towards the hard thing. In the moment, it never feels worth it, and it often feels unfair. I quickly move to anger when I am trying to do the hard thing. You may respond with sadness or even despair. We are all different, but we all hate the hard parts of life. Yet we must remember, it never stops there. Jesus’ week ends with an empty tomb. Even the hard parts of life will eventually come to an end. Take time this weekend to read Matthew 21:1-11 to get ready for Palm Sunday.

“Laying the Foundation for Lifelong Learning” “Teach children how they should live, they will remember it all their life.” Proverbs 22:6 Have you heard? St. Andrew’s has one of THE BEST preschools in town! We know this not only from our school families’ feedback, but our licensing and accrediting agencies and inspectors all agree that our program is of the highest quality. The Preschool Board has approved changing our name to St. Andrew’s Academy which will be reflected on the new sign. Why? We are adding a Kindergarten program, so as we grow beyond “preschool” we want our name to reflect this growth. The Academy also created a new logo depicting the beautiful signature arches of St. Andrew’s campus. We are in conversations with Trustees about the long-term viability of our facility. As the need for quality faith-based schools in the community increases, we have expanded into more classrooms in the Children’s Center. As growth dovetails with facility needs, we have begun to seriously consider a building plan for the future. This shall be done with prayers for God’s guidance and blessing. All of this exciting growth brings great opportunities for St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church’s strong presence in the community. Next year our school will serve 101 young families every day of the week. We strive to find ways to connect them with our wonderful church and its ministries. You will be part of this journey, so we ask for your prayers and support as we move ahead. Sincerely, Kathy Grant Director, St. Andrew's Academy #StAndrew'sAcademy #school

“Don’t even begin to think that I have come to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I haven’t come to do away with them but to fulfill them. I say to you very seriously that as long as heaven and earth exist, neither the smallest letter nor even the smallest stroke of a pen will be erased from the Law until everything there becomes a reality." Matthew 5:17-18 CEB As we journey through this season of Lent, we are challenged to look at our lives. Yet if we were to truly look at our lives in the light of Jesus, it should be more like a glaring light that makes us squirm. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Chapters 5-7 of the Gospel of Matthew, a section known as the Sermon on the Mount, that we studied last week in my “Mondays at Two” group. They are challenging words. If you truly sit down and absorb these words, you are going to be mad, or you feel shamed, or you may just think that Jesus didn’t really mean what he is saying. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus goes against the grain of our prevailing way of life. It shakes us up. And that is the whole aim of the sermon. Much of what Jesus is referring to are the laws that were handed down from the Old Testament. Jesus didn’t change the laws of the Old Testament. In fact, he put them on a higher level. They are more stringent than we first thought. The true test is not whether we commit acts outwardly, the true test is if we commit the crime inwardly, in our thoughts and our hearts. There is no difference in doing the crime and thinking about doing the crime. Are you squirming yet? If you are looking for a nice, comfortable religion that doesn't call for too many demands on your life and makes you feel better when you're down then you probably shouldn't try to be one of Jesus' disciples. He is demanding. He has the crazy notion that his followers should serve others rather than themselves. He expects them to show integrity when no one is looking. And he expects them to love. Even those people that stir our anger. Jesus expects us to love our enemies. With discomfort brings change. For Jesus is challenging us not so that we can feel bad about ourselves. The intent of these teachings is to spur us on for transformation. Don't follow Jesus unless you're ready to experience some discomfort. And change. #Lent #grace #discipleship

"The Lord is for me—I won’t be afraid. What can anyone do to me?” Psalm 118:6 CEB Today I am happy. It is interesting what makes us happy at different times in our lives. When I was young, Fridays always made me happy. Anticipating the weekend, what fun adventure I might have. Fridays still make me happy but for different reasons. On Friday I work from home, writing a sermon and doing laundry. It is a relaxing day, and I enjoy writing sermons. This Friday I am also in Michigan, staying with my dad while my sister heads out to a conference this weekend. My dad had a stroke a couple of weeks ago and still cannot drive. Being here in this house makes me happy because this is where I feel closest to my mom who died 5 years ago. This makes me happy. I also just heard from my oldest daughter that we are finally going to meet the boy she has been dating since fall. That makes me overly happy. Yet it is not realistic to be happy every day. Some days are hard and thankless. Somedays we long for a change or an end to something that is dreadful. Scripture does not promise us endless happy days. So, what do you do with bad Fridays? Psalm 118 is a chapter that talks about God’s faithfulness to His people. Verse 6 speaks to me personally. “The Lord is for me[a]—I won’t be afraid. What can anyone do to me? (Psalm 118:6.) My favorite part of this verse is the beginning. The Lord is for me. That is all we need to know. We serve a God who has our back. He is a God who wants the very best for us and our lives. He is not a God who is waiting for us to mess up so He can judge us. The opposite. He is a parent who crosses oceans for His Kids. He is a parent who can’t wait to hear from them when they pray. He is a God who delights in us and will help us endlessly. While I may still have really bad days, it does give me peace to know that God has my back, and peace leads to something better than happy. Peace leads to joy. Whatever you are feeling on this Friday today, just remember that God is for us. That is worth a smile right there. #Lent #joy #peace #grace #unconditionallove

‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Luke 18:10-13 Lent is the forty days before Easter, which is the time where we seriously examine our lives. It is intended to be a special time for prayer and reflection, a time for spiritual growth and discipline. Historically, Lent was a time for penance for those who have committed grave sins who had applied for reinstatement into the church. Because it became a season where one dwelt on and lamented over their sins, the season of Lent sometimes takes on a somber and dismal mood. It goes against the grain of everything we seek in our world, and we find ourselves almost screaming out “Don’t go there.” Why dwell on the things that bring us down. Focus on those things that build us up. Everyone needs to have a healthy self-esteem by focusing on the good points, practicing positive reinforcements, and combating that critical inner voice. There is power in positive thinking, not negative thinking. Nothing good can come out of facing our mortality and our sin. Why must we focus on the bad things in our lives? Besides, we find ourselves saying, OK, I’m not perfect; I have some things I need to work on. Well, I’m not as bad as that guy. Isn’t that what the Pharisee was saying in the story from Luke? Even the most despicable of persons can find someone who is more despicable than they are. So, I’m not the one who needs to examine myself, it’s that other guy. Yet the whole motive for dwelling on our faults and our sin that we are to be focused on during the season of Lent is not to make us feel so miserable and so worthless but is to allow us to be freed from the things that hinder our relationship with God. To be conformed to the image of Christ, who is himself “the image of the invisible God” by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is to remind us that God is not with us simply to console, affirm, heal and love us yet is with us to challenge our illusions and confront our personal idolatries. God is in the business of remodeling and is constantly calling us to reorient ourselves. “Return to me with all your heart” the Lord says according to the prophet Joel. Lent is a time to return to God with all your heart. Lent is a time to remind us that we are not God, yet mortals. The world does not revolve around us. It is a time to say to the Lord God, "I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence"(Psalm 51:3-4) God knows exactly what you've done, even after years of running and hiding. Even when every impulse we have says “don’t go there.” It’s OK to “go there.” God is big enough to handle it, even though we may not be. For God's not interested in locking you up. No, God wants only to free you up. Free you through forgiveness. #Lent #repentance #forgiveness #grace #unconditionallove