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“All the believers were united and shared everything.” Acts 2:44 There is something very special about being together. Whenever our family has been able to take a vacation the part I enjoy the most is being together. We have had the privilege to go to many wonderful places for vacation like Asheville, New York, Washington D.C., Costa Rica, and a Disney Cruise. No matter where we have gone the best part was having family time—together. There is something special about being together with people you love and enjoy. This is the best part of the second chapter of The Acts of the Apostles. The picture that is painted is one of togetherness. They were together in purpose, message, and mission. All the believers were on the same page. They were sold out to the mission of spreading the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When I read this portion of Scripture I am amazed, every time, at how central their faith is to their entire life. They ate together. They prayed and studied together. They pooled their resources and met each other’s needs together. They met in the temple courts and from house to house—you guessed it—together. The Apostles and early believers knew that they were better together. The principle for us to learn here is that we make a difference when we are all together. We accomplish more when we are all together on mission to help people experience God’s grace through a growing relationship with Jesus. We make a difference when we are all together in serving the church and the community. When we take all of our unique spiritual gifts, talents, and abilities and use them together we accomplish much more. When we go together and serve we truly make a difference. We are better together! Who are you going to serve with? Remember when we go together to serve we make a difference for Christ. It was never intended for us to do it alone. So, seek out ways to serve together through a ministry of the church, a mission partner in the community, or another organization in the community. Just don’t try and do it alone. Go together and make a difference! This weekend we will continue the message series Make A Difference! We will discuss the importance of working together. I hope you will join us. I can’t wait to see you in worship. #makeadifference #bethelight Looking for a way you can serve together? Be a part of our Make a Difference Serve Weekend on October 27-28. Register today at SAUMC.NET/BeTheLight

“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.’” John 20:21 CEB One of the most unusual things about being a United Methodist Pastor is what is known as the Itinerant System. In this system the Ordained Elders in the church are appointed by Bishops to serve in churches. Also, in this system the Ordained Elders agree to itinerate, or move, whenever the Bishop believes they are more needed somewhere else. In other words, as an Ordained Elder in The United Methodist Church I agree to go wherever the Bishop sends me. Of course, I also believe that the Bishop is being led by the Holy Spirit to send those who are called to itinerate. This is true of some other lines of work as well. We all have friends in the military who are sent by their superiors to different locations as needed over the course of their career. For most, however, this is not something they are used to. In my understanding I believe there is something very special and unique about being sent. Even if this is not the reality in your line of work—it is EVERY believers reality to be sent. You may never be asked to go to another location for work. If you are asked, you probably have the ability to say no. Inevitably, we all have the ability to say no through moving to another job, employer, career. This is true of our spiritual life as well. We are sent by God, through the leading of the Holy Spirit, to use our gifts, talents, and abilities to serve and make a difference. We can say no, but it usually does not turn out well at all—see Jonah. Whether we are asked to move in our work or not, we are all asked to move in our faith. We are called by Jesus to love God, love neighbor, and go. In the Scripture verse above from The Gospel of John Jesus says, “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” There are two very important realities for us to consider in this portion of Scripture. First, God, the Father, sent Jesus, the Son. It is important to remember that Jesus was sent. God knew that humanity could not save itself. We were doomed in our sin and God loved us enough to make a way. The way that God made was to send Jesus—to offer God’s one and only Son as an atoning sacrifice for all of creation. God was willing to put it all on the line to save humanity. This is how much God loved us that while we were yet sinners God sent God’s only Son to die for us. God sent Jesus is the first reality to consider. Second, Jesus, the Son, was sent by God, the Father. I know…this sounds super similar to the paragraph above. So, here’s the difference—God did the sending, but Jesus was the One who was sent. God made the decision to send His only Son to sacrifice His life for all of humanity. That was a huge sacrifice. But, Jesus had to agree to go. This is the decision/sacrifice that Jesus was called to make—see Philippians 2 . Jesus had to say yes to be sent. Jesus knew the Father was calling him to leave the company of heaven and humble himself to become in human form as the Savior of the world. Jesus had to say yes to being sent. Jesus was sent is the second reality to ponder. We serve a living God who both sends and is sent. God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit calls us to live out a life of being sent that was modeled so perfectly in the Trinity. Which leads me to ask, “Where is God calling you to go?” Where are you being sent? What are you being sent to do? Which all leads to the biggest question of all— Will you go? If you are sent, you must go! You are still sent if you do not go, but no fruit will be produced, you will wither on the vine and you will die—spiritually. This is why Jesus says, “I am sending you” and also “go, therefore, into all the nations…” We are sent AND we must go! You are sent! Will you go? Will you go and make a difference? This weekend at all four worship services we continue the message series Make A Difference . Saturday night we will have over 80 preschool families joining us at the Five14 worship service as their kids receive a Bible. I invite you to come and experience this incredibly powerful moment and service. Make A Difference is also the theme of our stewardship campaign as we prepare for our 2019 ministry needs. This weekend we will discuss how our passion meets the needs of others and God sends us to make a difference in that place. We also will have another terrific testimony on how God started a fire in one of our members and how the Holy Spirit has been moving in her life. I hope you will join us this weekend and every weekend. The best is yet to come for St. Andrew’s. I can’t wait to see you in church! #makeadifference #bethelight

"I thought, I’ll forget him; I’ll no longer speak in his name. But there’s an intense fire in my heart, trapped in my bones. I’m drained trying to contain it; I’m unable to do it.” Ephesians 5:14 CEB As a kid I was fascinated by fire. I would watch my grandfather start fires in the fireplace at our family cottage totally mesmerized by the process. I would watch my dad start fires in the fireplace of our home in Michigan with the same wonder and enthusiasm. It amazed me how the process of stacking the wood just so, adding the kindling and starter material, and then lighting the match would create such an intense result. I would love to sit and watch the fire with the flames dancing and warmth emanating. My interest was not in the destructive power of fire. Rather, I was truly interested in how it worked and how certain adjustments could make the fire even stronger and warmer. It really fascinated me. The one day it happened. My dad asked me if I wanted to help build the fire. OH MY! Did I ever! He showed me how to stack the wood and how to build the kindling and starter material. Then he handed me the match and let me start the fire. It was the best fire any human being had ever made to that point in human history. I was that much more amazed. After that I was able to build and start more and more fires for the family—under the close supervision of my parents. There are several observations I would like to make about the fires I have experienced in my life and the Scripture for this week. First, fire is incredibly powerful. The prophet Jeremiah writes, “But there’s an intense fire in my heart, trapped in my bones.” Just like the fire we can build in the fireplace, there is an even more intense fire the Holy Spirit sends into our very being. It has the power to warm our spirit and ignite in us a passion. This Holy Spirit fire both gives us power and is a powerful force in guiding and directing our activities. Second, the fire we create in a fireplace is one we work hard to contain. Fire is great when it is contained and controlled. The prophet Jeremiah is saying the opposite is true of the Holy Spirit fire. When we try to contain this fire, it drains us completely. In other words, it is futile to try. The Holy Spirit fire is meant to be shared and catch other people on fire. Finally, we can feel a little bit like a fire master when we build fire in fireplaces or firepits. It is actually a little bit of a false appearance of control. The Holy Spirit fire is uncontainable, which is humbling. It’s humbling to know that there is something incredibly powerful dwelling within you which you are unable to contain. This is the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through us. So why do we not experience more of this Holy Spirit fire in our life? The way the Holy Spirit fire is released in our life is through two things: 1) Awareness and 2) Service. When we are aware of God’s Holy Spirit and in tune with the leadings of the Holy Spirit the fire is released. God will not force this fire on us and make us release it unknowingly. God calls us to stay close to Jesus, listen to the Holy Spirit, and respond. The closer we are to Christ the more we see the world and people the way Jesus sees them. When we listen to the power of the Holy Spirit in our life we develop passion. When we respond we do so in service. Finding the place where your passion and service intersect will do more to release the Holy Spirit than anything else. You will not be able to contain it! So, are you ready? Will you be a Holy Spirit fire source? Stay close to Jesus and have the mind of Christ. Listen for the leading of the Holy Spirit to ignite the passion within you. Respond in service to Christ and the people around you. This is something we do daily to make sure we are spreading the warmth, power, and light of the Holy Spirit fire in our world. Go be a fire starter today! Go spread the fire and share the light! Go make a difference! This weekend at all four worship services we continue the message series Make A Difference . This is also the theme of our stewardship campaign as we prepare for our 2019 ministry needs. This weekend we will discuss how we can start and spread fires. We also will have a terrific testimony on how God started a fire in one of our members and how the Holy Spirit has been moving in her life. I hope you will join us this weekend and every weekend. The best is yet to come for St. Andrew’s. I can’t wait to see you in church! #makeadifference

"Everything that is revealed by the light is light. Therefore, it says, Wake up, sleeper! Get up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:14 CEB The banging on the door didn’t always work. Sometimes there was loud, blaring classical music from the room next door. There was almost always yelling at a very high decibel level. Over the years they tried almost every trick in the book. It just rarely seemed to work. It must have been frustrating to have someone remain unresponsive no matter what you tried. The last resort usually came into play after several other attempts. Barging into the room holding something with which to make noise, a lot of noise, the person would shake the bed, rip off the covers, and bang on the noise maker. Simultaneous to all this commotion was the loud singing of a song which may have gone something like this— It’s time to get up, it’s time to get up, it’s time to get up in the morning! All of this was simply an attempt to get a teenager to awaken. Have any of you been there? Maybe you were the teenager. Perhaps you were, or are, the parent who was trying to awaken your teenager from a long winter’s nap. The sleeping person I was referring to above may or may not have been me. I have always been a very heavy sleeper and I have never been a morning person. This combination made for many very frustrating experiences for my parents. Don’t worry though, I have been paid back a little bit by my daughters. Some of us are a little bit more difficult to awaken than others. I believe it is the same way in our spiritual life. It is possible for some of us to walk through life a little sleepy in our faith. It takes more to awaken some people than others. The goal for all of us should be to be wide awake—spiritually. We must be ready to hear, sense, and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in our life. To make a real difference in the world we must be awake to what God is calling us to do and to be. The most difficult factor in being awake to the movement of God in our life is familiarity. When we experience the same routine, the same people, the same everything in our life we can be lulled to sleep. We can cease to see the new things God is doing around us and miss the opportunity to act. In a way, it is like sleeping through the alarm. We don’t see or hear the leadings that God is giving us. The question becomes—do we want to be lulled to sleep or do we want to be awakened? For me the answer is—I want to be awakened! I want to experience the fullness of what God has in store for me. I want to be fully aware of where and when the Holy Spirit is leading me. I want to be fully awake! Don’t you? When you are fully awake you see all of what is happening. When you are fully awake you experience more of the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. When you are fully awake you are fully engaged with Jesus. How can I say this gently...WAKE UP! This is what Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesus… "Everything that is revealed by the light is light. Therefore, it says, Wake Up, sleeper! Get up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Wake up—today! Be fully awake and fully engaged in the work of Christ through your life today. Every moment, every interaction, every conversation, every project is an opportunity to be fully awake. May the Holy Spirit awaken in you the passion to make a difference for Christ today. This weekend at all four worship services we begin a new 6-week message series Make A Difference . This is also the theme of our stewardship campaign as we prepare for our 2019 ministry needs. This weekend we will discuss how easy it is to be lulled to sleep and how crucial it is to be awake. I hope you will join us this weekend and every weekend. The best is yet to come for St. Andrew’s. I can’t wait to see you in church! #makeadifference

“My very being longs for, even yearns, for the Lord’s courtyards. My heart and body will rejoice out loud to the living God.” Psalm 84:2 CEB An eager, urgent desire or longing for something or someone. This is the definition of yearning. We don’t use this word very often in our everyday speech. When someone asks what we would like for lunch we do not usually respond, “I have a yearning for a chicken sandwich.” So, this word stands out a little bit when we see it. When the psalmist writes that his “very being longs for, even yearns, for the Lord’s courtyards” it gives us pause. Why does he long for the courtyards of the Lord? Why does the psalmist have this eager, urgent desire to be in God’s courtyards? The psalmist writes that his yearning is so strong that his “heart and body will rejoice out loud to the living God.” This is a visceral reaction to the presence of God in the courtyards of the Lord’s house. Have you experienced this type of yearning? A yearning where your very being experiences an urgent, eager desire to be somewhere or with someone. I remember when Debbie and I were first dating she had to travel to New Jersey for two weeks of training. The longer she was away the more I truly yearned to be with her when she returned. Of course, I still yearn to be with her but the feelings were more intense in those first months of being together. Perhaps you have someone, someplace, or some moment for which you still yearn. What a blessing to have such strong, urgent feelings leading us. It is my belief that we are missing this yearning in our culture when it comes to Jesus. I have spoken with people over the years who long for spiritual experiences. I have spoken with people over the years who have desired a sense of purpose in their life. I have also spoken with people over the years who believe there is something greater than themselves but cannot come to believe it is Jesus. I believe that what we need in our church, and all churches, is to remember what it is like to yearn for Jesus. I believe we need to have an urgent, eager desire to be with Jesus. I believe we are in need of realizing our need for Jesus. Most of us do not have a need for more food, shelter, clothing, or other material goods. We can provide for our basic needs pretty well. Do we fully realize just how much we need Jesus? Another way of saying this is to ask the question, “If you were to lose your house, your car, your money, your job would you feel the same about Jesus as you do now?” I believe most would not. I believe most people, given that situation, would find that they need Jesus more than they could have ever imagined. I believe that their very being would long for, even yearn, for Jesus like never before. The psalmist was most likely writing the 84th Psalm as a praise to God who dwells among the people. God, and the temple, were central to the story of Israel. The people of God had experienced exile, oppression, suffering, and shame. The psalmist longed to be in the one place that Israel was certain that God resides. This desire demonstrated how much Israel, the people of God, needed God. It should be the same with the followers of Jesus today. We should long to be in the presence of God every moment of every day. And when we come to weekend worship we come with an eager, urgent desire to be in the dwelling place of the Lord of heavenly forces. We are so excited that our hearts and bodies rejoice in loud praise to the Lord! Do you have an eager, urgent yearning to experience the presence of Jesus today? Today is the day to fully realize how much you need Jesus! Without Jesus we are all sinners lost in our sin. With Jesus we are saved, forgiven, and free. We are all sinners in need of a Savior. When we fully realize our need for Jesus we will yearn to be in his presence. Do you have that yearning for Jesus today? I pray that we all experience that yearning in our heart and life today! This weekend we have a guest speaker, Rev. Beth Bostrom, who will be delivering a message entitled In Search of Home . Beth is the Director of Spiritual Formation for Metropolitan Ministries in Tampa. I look forward to having Pastor Beth with us and hearing the message God has given her for us. I hope you will join us this week and every week. The best is ahead for St. Andrew’s. I can’t wait to see you in church! #insearchofhome

“Many Samaritans in that city believed in Jesus because of the woman’s word when she testified, “He told me everything I’ve ever done.” John 4:39 CEB Last Saturday following the Five14 worship service Debbie and I went to dinner. We tried a new place we have not been to before. It is a nice Mexican restaurant that featured good typical food, live music, and friendly staff. Usually on Saturday night we spend a good amount of time deciding where we would like to eat dinner. This particular night Debbie knew right away where she wanted to eat dinner. I asked her why she wanted to go there, she said several people had recommended the place and we should give it a try. Because of the testimony of a few people we ended up giving the restaurant a visit. We liked it and may go back. This is the way businesses have gotten business since the beginning of businesses. Most businesses cannot afford big expensive ad campaigns. So, they rely on word of mouth advertising—you and me talking about how much we enjoyed our experience and telling others they should go. In our case, it worked. This is similar to the story of the woman at the well with Jesus. She had this incredible, and supernatural, experience with Jesus at the well. He told her things about herself that he couldn’t have known naturally. Through his divine nature, as fully God and fully human, Jesus knew that she had five husbands previously and was with a man to whom she was not married. Jesus then tells her that he is the Messiah. He knows more than she can imagine. Because of this revelation, she runs into town and begins telling people to come with her to meet Jesus—the Messiah. One of the most incredible word of mouth ad campaigns in all of history. People went out to meet Jesus in great numbers and believed in Jesus. It says in the verse above, many of them “believed in Jesus because of the woman’s word when she testified.” All she had to do was tell them what happened, Jesus did the rest. She testified, and Jesus justified—made them right with God by God’s grace and through their faith in Jesus as the Messiah. One woman’s testimony about Jesus led to a bunch of people believing in Jesus. Still more believed because they heard Jesus in person. This is what it should be like for anyone who has encountered Jesus. We should be so moved and changed by the work of Jesus Christ in our heart and life that we cannot stop from telling others. Spreading the light of Christ is the work of Jesus followers. A true disciple of Jesus tells anyone who will listen about what Jesus did for them. We have been talking about having a heart at peace—seeing others as people with needs, fears, and desires as real as our own. If we are seeing people as children of God and people of worth we must make sure everyone knows about Jesus. The person at the grocery store, the person at work, the other parents of my kid’s sports team, the parents of my kid's dance team, my neighbors, my extended family—everyone. Once you have good news you want others to have it also. This is what it means to spread peace—the peace that passes all understanding. Will you spread peace today? Will you share the love of Christ? You can help others begin to see people as people by having a heart at peace. When you see people the way God sees people, you will begin to treat people the way Jesus treated people. This is your testimony. I am reminded of the words of a song by Big Daddy Weave: “If I told you my story, you would hear hope that wouldn’t let go. And if I told you my story you would hear love that never gave up. And if I told you my story, you would hear life, but it wasn’t mine. If I should speak then let it be of the grace that is greater than all my sin, of when justice was served and where mercy wins, of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in. Oh, to tell you my story is to tell of him.” Go tell your story! Go spread peace! Go and testify about Jesus! This Sunday we conclude the message series The Heart of Peace . We will discuss what it takes to spread peace from a heart at peace. I hope you will join us this week and every week. The best is ahead for St. Andrew’s. I can’t wait to see you in church! #theheartofpeace

"The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I will never be thirsty and will never need to come here to draw water!’”    John 4:15 CEB There are times in life when we know there is something a little off, something missing, and things are just not clicking. In automotive terms you could say things are just not firing on all cylinders. The feeling we are having is real and powerful and yet we are not able to fully identify what it is that is missing. Over the past several months, and probably much longer than I had realized, I had been feeling this way. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but I knew something was off. About a month ago I had another person recommend a particular book to me, again. The book was The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict, by the Arbinger Group. I had heard many of my colleagues talking about the book and it had even been recommended by our bishop. So I decided to order the book and read it. Can I tell you that almost immediately upon beginning this book I knew the content was what I was missing. What I had been missing, what was off, was the need for a greater sense of peace in my life. This book helped me understand that. I am not talking about inner peace in my faith life. I am talking about peace in the midst of conflict. In our current culture conflict seems ever present. There is conflict in political circles, conflict in relationships, conflict in beliefs, and conflict on television and the movies. People are killing each other both literally and figuratively. Conflict seems to be fairly pervasive in this particular moment in life and history. Yes, there is even conflict in churches. So, what I was lacking and what I was longing for was peace. Don’t you long for peace, too? The book The Anatomy of Peace came to me at exactly the right time in my life. I was like the woman at the well who longed for a new reality. You see, this Samaritan woman was longing for renewal and a new start. She was a social outcast who was drawing water at noon. She was tired of having to draw water from that well alone. This is why she is excited about Jesus telling her there was living water. She jumps at the chance to experience what was lacking in her life, that for which she thirsts. This is what is so wonderful about her response to Jesus. She says, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will never be thirsty and will never need to come here to draw water.” As much as Jacob’s well signified a part of the history of her people, it also represented for her a place of shame and social stigma. If she received the water Jesus offered, not only would her thirst be quenched forever (receiving that which she lacked), but her shame would be removed (never having to return to that well). What do you thirst for? What are you lacking in your life? Your heart? What is missing for you? What makes you come to the well at noon? We all have moments of shame and guilt that cause us to feel disconnected to people. We don’t have to remain that way. Jesus offers fresh, living water to everyone who will receive. Water that transforms our shame and water that quenches our thirst forever. Jesus knows what our sin and shame is and what we thirst for in our life. This is not generic water from a community well. Jesus offers personalized water to quench our thirst and to wash away our shame. The water is available to all and yet very personal to each person. This is why the woman requests of Jesus, “Sir, give me this water.” Are you thirsty? Today is the day to ask Jesus to give us this water. Today is the day to set aside our shame and seek forgiveness. Today is the day to receive that which we lack and that for which we long. Today is the day we can receive peace. Jesus offers this water freely to everyone. Will you receive? Will you drink? Transformation is just one decision, one question, away. So, let’s drink deeply of the living water Jesus offers. Let’s find peace, find forgiveness, find joy, and find intimacy with Jesus. Today is the day! This Sunday we continue the message series The Heart of Peace . We will discuss how easy it is to move from a heart at peace to a heart at war. I hope you will join us this week and every week. The best is ahead for St. Andrew’s. I can’t wait to see you in church! #theheartofpeace

"The woman said, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one who is called the Christ. When he comes, he will teach everything to us.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I Am—the one who speaks with you.” John 4:25-26 CEB It had been an extremely rainy week. Because of all of the rain it made our work difficult. Most of everything we were being asked to do was outside. There were not many, and sometimes no, options for getting out of the rain. A group of folks decided that they would not try and fight the rain. Instead, these folks went with it. They embraced the rain and developed ways to incorporate the soggy, muddy conditions into their work. On the last day of the week, when the work was done, they planned to embrace the conditions to their fullest. We had been working to put on Vacation Bible School for impoverished kids in four different neighborhoods in San Ramon, Costa Rica. One group was assigned a neighborhood that was on a very steep hillside. The pathway that led up the hillside was dirt and by the end of the week it was pure mud. Not Florida mud but Costa Rican mud. They planned out a morning of having fun going down the biggest mudslide ever. They created an environment of play. They turned a rainy, messy situation into a lot of fun for everyone. Of course, when the bus came to pick them up to take them back to the mission they were a mess. Several of them were covered from head to toe in thick Costa Rican mud. They had to sit on garbage bags before the driver would let them on the bus. They were nasty. When they got back to the mission we all agreed they needed to hit the showers first. After the shower, what was filthy and dirty was now clean and presentable again. They were a mess, but they cleaned up well. I believe there are two lessons to learn from this group of missionaries. First, we can create an environment of fun and redemption anywhere. It is largely up to us to look for and create places where we can be at peace. Places where others can be at peace as well. Just because situations in our life look like a total wash doesn’t mean they are. Maybe you are in a relationship that is strained and you don’t see how it will ever be restored. You can create a space for yourself to be at peace about the relationship. You can invite the other person to be at peace about it as well. You cannot change another person, but you can invite them to change. The environments we create and choose to enter into are important when it comes to being at peace. The missionaries could have been stressed, upset, frustrated, and spent their time focusing on the negative. Instead, the missionaries chose to be at peace with the situation and create an environment where peace and fun could flourish. It is possible to create an environment where peace will thrive. Second, if we are the mess we can clean it up. Improvement doesn’t depend on others. The missionaries were a complete mess, but they didn’t spread that mess on anyone else. They also didn’t ask anyone else to clean the mess off. They knew they could clean themselves up and in turn clean up the mess. How often do we forget this about our life? When it comes to having a heart at peace or a heart at war, if you are the mess—you can clean it up. Having our mess cleaned up, or choosing a heart at peace, will allow us to see things clearly and see others as people. If you are the mess, you can clean it up. The fact is we are all a mess. We all need an environment of redemption. We all need to be cleaned up. Because of the pervasive nature of sin, we are not able to clean up our own sin mess. We are sinners in need of a savior. This is the point of the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. She had sin in her life. She knew there was something wrong which forced her to come to the well at noon. She longed for the water that Jesus offered precisely because of her sin. She knew there was more to life than she was experiencing. This was the reason she had a heart at war toward Jesus. Jesus disarms this and creates an environment for honesty and truth-telling. Jesus sees her as a person. When she tells him she knows the Messiah is coming, Jesus reveals who he is. Jesus says, “I AM—the one who speaks with you.” Jesus creates the environment and offers to cleanse her soul. All she has to do is respond. Are you a mess today? Do you desire a heart at peace? The Good News is you can be clean! You can do the work today to get in the right environment for peace and redemption. You can do the work of cleaning up by asking Christ to cleanse you and make you right. You can choose to have a heart at peace. You can choose to begin to exert influence toward peace instead of provocation toward war. The choice is yours. This Sunday we continue the message series The Heart of Peace . We will discuss what it takes to move from a heart at war to a heart at peace. I hope you will join us this week and every week. The best is ahead for St. Andrew’s. I can’t wait to see you in church! #theheartofpeace

“Many Samaritans in that city believed in Jesus because of the woman’s word when she testified, “He told me everything I’ve ever done.” John 4:39 CEB Last Saturday following the Five14 worship service Debbie and I went to dinner. We tried a new place we have not been to before. It is a nice Mexican restaurant that featured good typical food, live music, and friendly staff. Usually on Saturday night we spend a good amount of time deciding where we would like to eat dinner. This particular night Debbie knew right away where she wanted to eat dinner. I asked her why she wanted to go there, she said several people had recommended the place and we should give it a try. Because of the testimony of a few people we ended up giving the restaurant a visit. We liked it and may go back. This is the way businesses have gotten business since the beginning of businesses. Most businesses cannot afford big expensive ad campaigns. So, they rely on word of mouth advertising—you and me talking about how much we enjoyed our experience and telling others they should go. In our case, it worked. This is similar to the story of the woman at the well with Jesus. She had this incredible, and supernatural, experience with Jesus at the well. He told her things about herself that he couldn’t have known naturally. Through his divine nature, as fully God and fully human, Jesus knew that she had five husbands previously and was with a man to whom she was not married. Jesus then tells her that he is the Messiah. He knows more than she can imagine. Because of this revelation, she runs into town and begins telling people to come with her to meet Jesus—the Messiah. One of the most incredible word of mouth ad campaigns in all of history. People went out to meet Jesus in great numbers and believed in Jesus. It says in the verse above, many of them “believed in Jesus because of the woman’s word when she testified.” All she had to do was tell them what happened, Jesus did the rest. She testified, and Jesus justified—made them right with God by God’s grace and through their faith in Jesus as the Messiah. One woman’s testimony about Jesus led to a bunch of people believing in Jesus. Still more believed because they heard Jesus in person. This is what it should be like for anyone who has encountered Jesus. We should be so moved and changed by the work of Jesus Christ in our heart and life that we cannot stop from telling others. Spreading the light of Christ is the work of Jesus followers. A true disciple of Jesus tells anyone who will listen about what Jesus did for them. We have been talking about having a heart at peace—seeing others as people with needs, fears, and desires as real as our own. If we are seeing people as children of God and people of worth we must make sure everyone knows about Jesus. The person at the grocery store, the person at work, the other parents of my kid’s sports team, the parents of my kid's dance team, my neighbors, my extended family—everyone. Once you have good news you want others to have it also. This is what it means to spread peace—the peace that passes all understanding. Will you spread peace today? Will you share the love of Christ? You can help others begin to see people as people by having a heart at peace. When you see people the way God sees people, you will begin to treat people the way Jesus treated people. This is your testimony. I am reminded of the words of a song by Big Daddy Weave: “If I told you my story, you would hear hope that wouldn’t let go. And if I told you my story you would hear love that never gave up. And if I told you my story, you would hear life, but it wasn’t mine. If I should speak then let it be of the grace that is greater than all my sin, of when justice was served and where mercy wins, of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in. Oh, to tell you my story is to tell of him.” Go tell your story! Go spread peace! Go and testify about Jesus! This Sunday we conclude the message series The Heart of Peace . We will discuss what it takes to spread peace from a heart at peace. I hope you will join us this week and every week. The best is ahead for St. Andrew’s. I can’t wait to see you in church!

"The woman said, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one who is called the Christ. When he comes, he will teach everything to us.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I Am—the one who speaks with you.” John 4:25-26 CEB It had been an extremely rainy week. Because of all of the rain it made our work difficult. Most of everything we were being asked to do was outside. There were not many, and sometimes no, options for getting out of the rain. A group of folks decided that they would not try and fight the rain. Instead, these folks went with it. They embraced the rain and developed ways to incorporate the soggy, muddy conditions into their work. On the last day of the week, when the work was done, they planned to embrace the conditions to their fullest. We had been working to put on Vacation Bible School for impoverished kids in four different neighborhoods in San Ramon, Costa Rica. One group was assigned a neighborhood that was on a very steep hillside. The pathway that led up the hillside was dirt and by the end of the week it was pure mud. Not Florida mud but Costa Rican mud. They planned out a morning of having fun going down the biggest mudslide ever. They created an environment of play. They turned a rainy, messy situation into a lot of fun for everyone. Of course, when the bus came to pick them up to take them back to the mission they were a mess. Several of them were covered from head to toe in thick Costa Rican mud. They had to sit on garbage bags before the driver would let them on the bus. They were nasty. When they got back to the mission we all agreed they needed to hit the showers first. After the shower, what was filthy and dirty was now clean and presentable again. They were a mess, but they cleaned up well. I believe there are two lessons to learn from this group of missionaries. First, we can create an environment of fun and redemption anywhere. It is largely up to us to look for and create places where we can be at peace. Places where others can be at peace as well. Just because situations in our life look like a total wash doesn’t mean they are. Maybe you are in a relationship that is strained and you don’t see how it will ever be restored. You can create a space for yourself to be at peace about the relationship. You can invite the other person to be at peace about it as well. You cannot change another person, but you can invite them to change. The environments we create and choose to enter into are important when it comes to being at peace. The missionaries could have been stressed, upset, frustrated, and spent their time focusing on the negative. Instead, the missionaries chose to be at peace with the situation and create an environment where peace and fun could flourish. It is possible to create an environment where peace will thrive. Second, if we are the mess we can clean it up. Improvement doesn’t depend on others. The missionaries were a complete mess, but they didn’t spread that mess on anyone else. They also didn’t ask anyone else to clean the mess off. They knew they could clean themselves up and in turn clean up the mess. How often do we forget this about our life? When it comes to having a heart at peace or a heart at war, if you are the mess—you can clean it up. Having our mess cleaned up, or choosing a heart at peace, will allow us to see things clearly and see others as people. If you are the mess, you can clean it up. The fact is we are all a mess. We all need an environment of redemption. We all need to be cleaned up. Because of the pervasive nature of sin, we are not able to clean up our own sin mess. We are sinners in need of a savior. This is the point of the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. She had sin in her life. She knew there was something wrong which forced her to come to the well at noon. She longed for the water that Jesus offered precisely because of her sin. She knew there was more to life than she was experiencing. This was the reason she had a heart at war toward Jesus. Jesus disarms this and creates an environment for honesty and truth-telling. Jesus sees her as a person. When she tells him she knows the Messiah is coming, Jesus reveals who he is. Jesus says, “I AM—the one who speaks with you.” Jesus creates the environment and offers to cleanse her soul. All she has to do is respond. Are you a mess today? Do you desire a heart at peace? The Good News is you can be clean! You can do the work today to get in the right environment for peace and redemption. You can do the work of cleaning up by asking Christ to cleanse you and make you right. You can choose to have a heart at peace. You can choose to begin to exert influence toward peace instead of provocation toward war. The choice is yours. This Sunday we continue the message series The Heart of Peace . We will discuss what it takes to move from a heart at war to a heart at peace. I hope you will join us this week and every week. The best is ahead for St. Andrew’s. I can’t wait to see you in church!

"The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I will never be thirsty and will never need to come here to draw water!’” John 4:15 CEB There are times in life when we know there is something a little off, something missing, and things are just not clicking. In automotive terms you could say things are just not firing on all cylinders. The feeling we are having is real and powerful and yet we are not able to fully identify what it is that is missing. Over the past several months, and probably much longer than I had realized, I had been feeling this way. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but I knew something was off. About a month ago I had another person recommend a particular book to me, again. The book was The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict, by the Arbinger Group. I had heard many of my colleagues talking about the book and it had even been recommended by our bishop. So I decided to order the book and read it. Can I tell you that almost immediately upon beginning this book I knew the content was what I was missing. What I had been missing, what was off, was the need for a greater sense of peace in my life. This book helped me understand that. I am not talking about inner peace in my faith life. I am talking about peace in the midst of conflict. In our current culture conflict seems ever present. There is conflict in political circles, conflict in relationships, conflict in beliefs, and conflict on television and the movies. People are killing each other both literally and figuratively. Conflict seems to be fairly pervasive in this particular moment in life and history. Yes, there is even conflict in churches. So, what I was lacking and what I was longing for was peace. Don’t you long for peace, too? The book The Anatomy of Peace came to me at exactly the right time in my life. I was like the woman at the well who longed for a new reality. You see, this Samaritan woman was longing for renewal and a new start. She was a social outcast who was drawing water at noon. She was tired of having to draw water from that well alone. This is why she is excited about Jesus telling her there was living water. She jumps at the chance to experience what was lacking in her life, that for which she thirsts. This is what is so wonderful about her response to Jesus. She says, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will never be thirsty and will never need to come here to draw water.” As much as Jacob’s well signified a part of the history of her people, it also represented for her a place of shame and social stigma. If she received the water Jesus offered, not only would her thirst be quenched forever (receiving that which she lacked), but her shame would be removed (never having to return to that well). What do you thirst for? What are you lacking in your life? Your heart? What is missing for you? What makes you come to the well at noon? We all have moments of shame and guilt that cause us to feel disconnected to people. We don’t have to remain that way. Jesus offers fresh, living water to everyone who will receive. Water that transforms our shame and water that quenches our thirst forever. Jesus knows what our sin and shame is and what we thirst for in our life. This is not generic water from a community well. Jesus offers personalized water to quench our thirst and to wash away our shame. The water is available to all and yet very personal to each person. This is why the woman requests of Jesus, “Sir, give me this water.” Are you thirsty? Today is the day to ask Jesus to give us this water. Today is the day to set aside our shame and seek forgiveness. Today is the day to receive that which we lack and that for which we long. Today is the day we can receive peace. Jesus offers this water freely to everyone. Will you receive? Will you drink? Transformation is just one decision, one question, away. So, let’s drink deeply of the living water Jesus offers. Let’s find peace, find forgiveness, find joy, and find intimacy with Jesus. Today is the day! This Sunday we continue the message series The Heart of Peace . We will discuss how easy it is to move from a heart at peace to a heart at war. I hope you will join us this week and every week. The best is ahead for St. Andrew’s. I can’t wait to see you in church!

“If possible, to the best of your ability, live at peace with all people.”    Romans‬ ‭12:18‬ ‭CEB‬‬ It was a pretty normal day on the playground. Everyone was playing on the equipment, hanging out and talking, or playing an organized game. There was a group of kids playing four square. The game was getting competitive as time went on. Tempers were beginning to flare and one kid in particular was starting to trash talk—as much as a fifth grader can trash talk. This is what got me in trouble. I didn’t read the situation correctly. He was actually really mad about something, I now know it probably had nothing to do with four square. As he did his trash talking I was cracking jokes about it. The next thing I knew I was on the ground with the trash talker on top of me getting ready to hit me. This is how my first fight began. I remember the teachers breaking us up and leading us both to the principal’s office. The principal of Angling Road Elementary School began to lecture us. He told us our behavior was unacceptable. For the record, I certainly agree that fighting isn’t the answer—it wasn’t that day. The entire focus was on our behavior. Fighting was unacceptable and that behavior needed to be corrected. The approach was punitive in correcting our behavior. There were consequences and a price had to be paid. We were punished with the elementary school equivalent of work crew. I never had a fight again in elementary school. The behavior was corrected, for both of us, but we were not fundamentally changed because of the incident. The other kid still had a quick temper and everyone else learned to walk away. I still cracked jokes, but I learned how to better read situations. I believe the real problems were underneath all of the behavior. I tended to use other people to get a laugh. The other kid took out his problems on others through his anger and aggression. The behavior changed but the two individuals were not really any different.  How would the outcome have been different if the principal had sought to know what was really going on? (He was a great principal by the way.) The real problem was that we both were seeing other people as objects and not people. The heart of peace is about seeing the real story beneath the behavior that is presented. I have seen this time and time again in my life. The way we see people really matters. A heart at peace sees people as people with desires, needs, and feelings as real as our own. How do you see people? How is your heart toward others? As the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Rome, “If possible, to the best of your ability, live at peace with all people.” This weekend we will start a new message series entitled The Heart of Peace . I am excited to share this message with you. I hope you will join us Saturday night or Sunday morning as we discuss the fact that peace is possible. I can’t wait to see you in church! #theheartofpeace