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“I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O Lord my God, snatched me from the jaws of death.” Jonah 2:6 CEB When I was in elementary school I was privileged to go through training to become a Junior Lifesaver. We had to demonstrate our ability to swim, learn how to rescue people if they were in trouble, and learn how to do all of this without endangering ourselves in the process. Those who were running the class had us swim for distance, dive to the bottom of the pool to retrieve a dummy, and hold our breath for as long as we possibly could. They also taught us some great techniques and what to watch for around the water. One of the toughest tests they gave us was treading water. They did not have us tread water in our swim trunks. No, they had us tread water for 10 minutes fully clothed, shoes and all. At first it was pretty easy, just like treading water in your swim trunks. With every minutes that passed it became more difficult. My clothes took on more and more water until they were completely saturated. Not only were they saturated they were also very, very heavy. In fact, they started dragging me down. I had to fight exponentially more to keep my head above the water. I am happy to say I survived and earned my Junior Lifesaver status and card. I know what it’s like to feel as though you are literally sinking. No matter how hard you try, you still feel like you are sinking. Have you ever felt that way? A lot of people may not have experienced that literal sinking feeling, but almost everyone has felt that sinking feeling in another way. When we are overwhelmed with life and circumstances it can certainly give us that sinking feeling. It’s as if there is water that is rising higher and higher until it is way over our head. We have to begin treading water and with every minute we tread water it gets more and more difficult. Have you ever had this kind of overwhelming feeling in your life? Did you know that sometimes we are creating this feeling? Sometimes we are the very reason that we are experiencing this overwhelming, sinking feeling. We are trying to tread water as if the whole thing depended on our ability to stay afloat. Let me explain by asking another question … how often do we truly consult God on our agenda for the day, week, month, year, or life? We may pray, read Scripture, go to church, be in a Life Group even. Do we really bring God into the planning process for our day? So many of us shoot up a quick prayer like, “God help me follow you today.” We don’t truly seek God’s agenda, instead we invite God to be a part of our agenda. We want God to sign off on and bless what we have planned. I believe that when we do this we are resisting God’s will for our life. We are starting with our agenda and not seeking what God has in store for us. God does not want us to resist, God wants us to respond. We are to respond to the call that God has placed on our life and follow where God leads. Jonah resisted God’s call and thought he knew what was better for him. It didn’t work out for him so well. He began to have that literal sinking feeling. He thought he was doomed to death by drowning. God had a different plan. God made a different way for Jonah and saved him. God saved Jonah because he had a call on Jonah’s life. What call does God have on your life? If you are not certain about that, the first step may be looking to see if you are resisting God. I can assure you that when we stop resisting and respond to God’s call amazing things happen. I pray that we all respond to God’s call to follow after Him and avoid resisting. That’s when God’s amazing call comes to full fruition in our life. This Sunday we continue the message series on the book of Jonah. Susan Lewis will help us understand the cost of resisting God’s call. What a privilege to know that God calls us to follow and be a part of the divine plan of redemption for the world. There is no greater place to be than to follow God. God is at work at St. Andrew’s and I can’t wait to see you in church!

“The sailors were terrified, and each one cried out to his god. They hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to make it lighter. Now Jonah had gone down into the hold of the vessel to lie down and was deep in sleep.” Jonah 1:5 CEB Many years ago, about this time of year, I was facing outpatient sinus surgery. We scheduled the surgery and the date was fast approaching. This would be my first surgery and I really did not know what to expect. I remember waking up in recovery with ice on my face and the doctor telling me everything went very well. To this day I have little to no recollection of the several days following that surgery. The doctor prescribed me a very high-priced pharmaceutical pain reliever, which I was sure to take. It was such a good pain reliever that it literally knocked me out cold for several hours at a time. I would wake up about 20 minutes before I was due for the next dose and then get knocked out again. I have joked that it was the Thanksgiving that time forgot, for me anyway. There is even a Thanksgiving family picture that I slept through that year. I believe that it is possible to be so oblivious that we sleep right through some of the happenings in our life. Of course, I do not mean literally. I mean there are times where we are so comfortable with our life that we miss the things going on around us. There are times when we are so tunnel visioned that we cannot see the world in which we live. Has this ever happened to you? You are so focused on your life, or an area in your life, that you lose sight of everything else? It could be a season at work when you had to give extra hours, attention, and effort. During that time all else seems fuzzy or faded into the distance. We all have times in life where this happens. The key is to not stay oblivious. Jonah received a call to follow God and serve God. Jonah flat did not like the call and felt God had dialed a wrong number. So Jonah made plans to head in the exact opposite direction. He headed off on his plan, knowing that it was not what God wanted for him. Jonah was so focused on his plan and believed it was the best thing for him. Jonah thought his plan was way better than God’s plan. He was so sure of this and comfortable with what he was doing that he fell asleep in the middle of a huge storm at sea. In other words, Jonah became oblivious. In chapter one of Jonah it says that God sent the storm through which Jonah was sleeping. God sent the storm to get Jonah’s attention and Jonah was oblivious. He was asleep in the bottom of the ship, oblivious. We need to be on guard to becoming oblivious to God’s call to follow. God calls us to follow in many ways and many times a day, week, month, and year. We need to be alert and make sure that we are not deciding to go our own way. We need to make sure we don’t start believing that we know better than God and that our way is the better way. As silly as it sounds … we all have done this and will probably do it again. The important thing to remember is that God calls us to follow. It may not always look like the way we would choose to go, but it is the right way to go. God’s call to follow is not a call to safety and comfort. God calls us to be obedient, not oblivious. This Sunday we begin a new message series on the book of Jonah with the message "The Call to Follow." The message will help us remember that God calls every one of us to follow. What a privilege to know that God calls us to follow and be a part of the divine plan of redemption for the world. There is no greater place to be than to follow God. I look forward to sharing this message with you Sunday. God is at work at St. Andrew’s and I can’t wait to see you in church!

“But we have this treasure in clay pots so that the awesome power belongs to God and doesn’t come from us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7 CEB I have a longtime friend who is notorious for getting things for nothing. Over the decades I have known him he has won electronics, found bikes, and found hundreds of dollars (a little at a time). It seems like he is just always in the right place at the right time. I remember one time he was complaining because he didn’t have any money to go get something to eat with us. He literally took about ten steps and right in front of him on the ground was a twenty dollar bill. He just seemed to always be the one to be in the right place at the right time. Have you ever known someone like that? If you have, you probably experienced the other side to this story. What I mean is that my friend developed a certain cockiness about this unique ability of his. He began to brag about how this stuff always seemed to happen to him. To be honest - it was a little annoying at times. What my friend experienced, in his attitude, is something that we all develop in certain ways. If we are good at something, or have a particular ability that is different from others, we can begin to think it is all about us. We start to think that there is something special about us and that we are the reason we are so special. Sometimes this is called arrogance, egotism, or pride. It is a common reaction and it is one people will be used to seeing. However, is it the right reaction? Is it the right reaction for someone who claims to follow Jesus Christ? I believe it is not the right reaction and is actually something for which we should keep watch in our life. The Apostle Paul knew this. If anyone had the right to boast about themselves it was Paul. He tells us in Philippians, “If anyone else thinks he has reason to put confidence in the flesh, I have more …” (3:4). Paul was a devout follower of God and later Jesus. Besides his heritage, he had also been chosen by Jesus himself to spread the Gospel message to the Gentiles. Paul was the man. Yet, Paul tells of a thorn in his flesh that remained in order to humble him. Paul teaches that there is nothing we can boast of except our weakness, which declares God’s strength. This is why Paul wrote, “But we have this treasure in clay pots so that the awesome power belongs to God and doesn’t come from us.” We have nothing to brag about … none of the awesome power we experience comes from us. In the Christian song Not to Us composer Chris Tomlin writes, “Not to us, but to your name be the glory.” The thing is - clay pots were the least among the pot clan. Metal pots like gold, silver, and bronze were durable and could be washed out and cleaned. Wooden pots could be cleaned and salvaged as well. But in Scripture if a clay pot was defiled, the owner had to smash it and throw it away. Clay is delicate and porous and not easy to clean. So when Paul says we hold a treasure in clay pots, it is a huge contrast. We are the clay pots and the gospel is the treasure. We are delicate and hard to clean (we cannot clean ourselves) and we hold the greatest treasure the world has ever known (Jesus). What an immense privilege and honor. And yet - it is not from us! All of the treasure from start to finish is due to God’s awesome power. It is not from us! This Sunday I will share the message "Broken Vessels." The message will help us consider the importance of the treasure we carry in our clay pots. In preparation for the message I would love for you to consider these lyrics from a Hillsong Worship song titled Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace) : You take our failure, You take our weakness You set your treasure in jars of clay So take this heart, Lord, I’ll be your vessel The world to see Your life in me I look forward to sharing this message with you Sunday. God is at work at St. Andrew’s and I can’t wait to see you in church!

“What advantage do people have if they gain the whole world for themselves yet perish or lose their lives?” Luke 9:25 CEB I used to think that having stuff would be pretty cool. Then I got more stuff. I used to think that having a position and a little bit of power would be pretty amazing. Then I got a position and a little bit of power. I actually thought that being able to lead would be the reward itself and would be the pinnacle of what life was all about. Then I was asked to lead. The template that the culture in which I live had given me concerning life was flawed. It turns out the most important things in life are not stuff, they are not position or power, and the important things are not even being able to lead. Much of the time the culture in which we live tells us that these are the important things in life and when we achieve these things we will have the advantage in life. The question is, “What Advantage?” The reality is that you can have more stuff than anyone else in the world, greater position and power than anyone else in the world, and be able to lead more people than anyone else in the world and it will not give you the greatest advantage in life. This is what Jesus was saying when he asked his disciples what advantage was gained if you gain the whole world and lose your life in the process. So many people pursue that little bit more in this world. People desire a bigger house, better car, better title, bigger office, more influence, and bigger paycheck. They chase after the things that the culture says are important. Yet, they miss out on what is truly important in life. They pursue all of this things, but to what advantage? Jesus turned the way of the culture upside down. If you want to save your life lose it. If you want to experience all that Jesus has in store for you all you have to do is deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him. The way to gain the greatest advantage in the whole world is to follow Jesus. If we want to become great in the kingdom of God, in this world and in heaven, we must serve everyone. Rev. Dr. Jim Harnish wrote a great book many years ago titled, “You Only Have to Die.” In this book Jim writes, “If you forget everything else you read in this book, I hope you remember this: Hope is born when we are willing to die for the right things.” Are you willing to die for the right things? Jesus was and calls us to be. When all is said and done … are you willing to die for the right things? What are those things in your life? I pray for all of us to be willing to lose our life for the sake of Jesus Christ. I pray we will lose ourselves in serving others in Jesus’ name. I pray that we will surrender our wants and desires for Jesus’ wants and desires. Jesus longs for those who follow him to lose their life in the effort. Only when we lose our life because of Jesus will our life be saved. This is the advantage of following Christ! We follow Christ in our conduct, our character, and our commitment. This is the complete promise Christ desires and the advantage we gain. God desires a complete promise from all who follow God. Our hearts given completely to the pursuit of becoming more and more like Christ. This Sunday we will conclude the message series entitled One Faithful Promise. The message will help us consider the importance of living in complete promise to God. I look forward to sharing this message with you Sunday. God is at work at St. Andrew’s and I can’t wait to see you in church!

“But when you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:6 CEB When I was a kid I used to love building forts. I would build them out of chairs and blankets, I would build them out of snow, I would build them in trees, and I would even dig them out of the ground. I liked building forts because they created a place where I could go and no one else. The only way others were invited was if I invited them. You could say in a sense that my forts were my secret place. I believe that everyone has a need for a place where they can go and feel comfortable and quiet. It may not always be a place to be alone, but it is your place. This is, in part, what made places like Starbucks and Panera so popular. In fact, Panera Bread states part of their mission is “Food served in a warm, welcoming environment, by people who care.” For many years now I have done some of my sermon preparation a lot of weeks at either Starbucks or Panera. I have seen this principle in action. We all need a place to feel welcomed, especially a secret place. When Jesus is asked to teach his disciples to pray he gives them this advice. “But when you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in that secret place.” Jesus instructed them to get apart from everything and get with God. In essence, Jesus wanted them to build a prayer fort. There is something to be said for removing all other distractions and being alone with God. But that isn’t even what Jesus seems to be concerned about. Jesus seems to be concerned for the condition of their heart. Jesus teaches them that prayer is not a show “so that people will see” when you pray. Prayer is not about the amount of words, the quality of your words, or the sound of your words. Prayer is about connecting to God. Prayer is about being with God in that secret place where you can tell God what is on your heart and God can tell you what is on God’s own heart. This work of connecting with God is best done in that secret place. So where is your secret place? Is it a room in your house? Do you have a place at work where you can get away and be in your prayer fort? For many years my dad traveled across the state of Florida as part of his work. He always told me that his car was his prayer closet (I just made sure he prayed with his eyes open). For me I have had many prayer forts over the years. The chapel at my home church is a very special place of prayer for me. There has always been a room in every house I go for prayer. At St. Andrew’s it is the prayer room. I sneak off to the prayer room regularly to get alone with God in that secret place. Wherever your secret place, prayer closet, or prayer fort is the important thing is to visit it regularly to connect with God. We all need that secret place where God is present with us and we connect to God in prayer. God wants us all to stay deeply connected through prayer. God desires to hear our hearts and share God’s wisdom and peace with us. This Sunday we will continue the message series entitled One Faithful Promise. The message will help us consider the importance of connecting to God in prayer. I look forward to sharing this message with you Sunday. God is at work at St. Andrew’s and I can’t wait to see you in church!

57 As Jesus and his disciples traveled along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Luke 9:57 CEB One ship is sailing off into the night trying to slip away unnoticed having just kidnapped a young woman. Another ship is pursuing the first ship and seems to be getting closer. The kidnappers begin to argue about how inconceivable it is that the other ship could be gaining on them. As they continue to argue the Spaniard in the group asks the question, “I wonder if he is using the same wind we are using?” Of course, if you recognize this dialogue you know it is from the movie "The Princess Bride." This question, which is raised by the character Inigo Montoya, is an important one. The small band of kidnappers is trying to outrun the Dread Pirate Roberts. If he is using the same wind, he may be able to catch them. But I believe this is also a very important question to ask in our faith. I believe this question has great importance for our faith life … with one minor change. The change has to do with the notion of following. Most of the time through life we are following after, or pursuing, something. The question is, “What wind are we using?” Perhaps it is easier to understand in terms of a more typical life scenario. You see a coworker who is doing well, being promoted, and receiving raises. You are not experiencing the same level of success. You might ask yourself, “I wonder if she is using the same wind I am using?” We may see a situation where someone or some organization is doing well and you wonder what their secret could be. I believe we experience this in our faith life when we see someone else who seems to be a little deeper in their walk with Christ than we are. Maybe the question might be, “Do you think they are following the same God I am following?” As I have been preparing the message for this weekend I have been thinking along these lines. What is it that makes some people so deeply spiritual while others of us struggle? I believe that this scene from one of my favorite movies has actually helped me think differently about this. You see, I believe that there is a common resource available to us all and a common fault that hinders a lot of us. The common resource available to us all as Christians is the Holy Spirit. This is the wind that fills our spiritual sails and leads us in the direction of God’s will. Every believer has the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in their life. I hope you let that sink in for a moment. We all have the living, breathing power of God dwelling within us in the Holy Spirit. However, the common fault that hinders so many is choice. We have to choose to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. We have to choose to use the same wind that the deeply spiritual folks we admire use. We have to choose faithfulness to God’s leading in our life. I wonder if you are using the same wind I am using? We all must choose to follow the leading of the indwelling Holy Spirit. This is the only way we can follow after Christ’s example for us. Luke records where one person told Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answers this person by painting a picture of just how unglamorous that would be. It is as if Jesus wants the person to consider what wind they want to use. Does the person really want to use the same wind Jesus is using? It won’t be easy. I want to encourage you to use the same wind, the Holy Spirit, which Jesus used. It is the only way we will get closer to the design and desire God has for your life. That is the only way we can truly follow Jesus. God wants us all to follow Jesus Christ in everything. God desires to have everyone using the same wind, the Holy Spirit, and gaining in their faithfulness. This Sunday we will continue the message series entitled "One Faithful Promise." The message will help us think about what it means to choose faithfulness in the power of the Holy Spirit. I look forward to sharing this message with you Sunday at St. Andrew’s, and Susan Lewis will share with the folks who are at Andy Camping. God is at work at St. Andrew’s and I can’t wait to see you in church!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5 When I was a kid, my favorite TV commercials were the ones for NESTEA instant tea. Most of the commercials featured a parched actor who sipped on a refreshing glass of tea. As the sip quenched the thirst, the actor would start to fall backwards. A pool would appear out of nowhere and the actor would splash into the water, flat on his or her back and still clutching the glass of instant tea. The tagline for the commercials was “Take the NESTEA plunge!” As kids we thought this “plunge” was hysterical. We had a pool, so there were many attempts by my brother and sister and me to copy these commercials in our own backyard. Wisely our parents nixed our desires to actually carry a full glass of tea with us. I was never very good at taking the NESTEA plunge. The commercials made it look easy - you just lay backwards and fall - not a lot of style to it. But I could never just do it. I would usually start to worry at the last moment and jerk myself so that I’d land hard on my bottom instead. But my dad - he was the king of the NESTEA plunge. He could fall straight back from the diving board or the side of the pool and just lay flat out and it never looked like it hurt. I was always in awe of his performances and the fact that he just went for it. He was confident and sure and trusted that he’d splash down just fine. To be honest, I felt a little ashamed that I didn’t have that same amount of trust in my own abilities or in gravity and fluid dynamics. Plunging into new things always requires a level of trust. When you or your parents chose baptism for you, it demonstrated trust in God’s promise of forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Baptism provides you with a new identity in Christ; a covenant between you and God begins. It starts with putting our whole trust in God and His love for us despite being sinners. How amazing is it that we can put our trust in Him even though we are clearly imperfect? I am sometimes overwhelmed by the enormity of the love God has for me despite all my flaws and how much I mess up. Yet, as humans, we sometimes find it hard to trust. We have relationships with one another that don’t end well. Or we feel that we can no longer rely on people we have trusted as a result of something they’ve done. We even go so far to believe that we can’t fully trust God. We can experience fear or concern that maybe, just maybe, this isn’t really as easy as it sounds. We believe He forgives sins, but maybe we don’t quite accept that He forgives OUR sins. Or we say that we trust His love and power, but we carry on in our lives as if we are the ones in control instead of God. We struggle with our own burdens and staunchly refuse to let God shoulder some of the weight. How wonderful it would be if we constantly kept our trust in God at the center of all we do and how we live each day. Can you live out Proverbs 3:5 - pushing your own understanding aside to rely entirely on Jesus? How often do you look up to recognize that you have clung to your own understanding instead of Him? It’s so tempting to go it alone, yet plunging in our Savior’s promises is much easier. This week we are continuing our series One Faithful Promise. The message will be focused on claiming our covenant with God. I can’t wait to share with you how we can commit ourselves to pouring all of our trust in God. See you in church! Jenn Blessing

"Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." Romans 12:2a NLT In the art world there is a genre of art called appropriation art. It is the use of pre-existing objects or images with little or no transformation applied to them. Perhaps the best known of all appropriation artist was Andy Warhol who is, in part, famous for his Campbell's Soup Cans paintings from 1962. These now famous paintings hang in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. I was able to see them a couple of years ago and I have to tell you I was not that impressed. Appropriation as a genre of art has been somewhat controversial. Because the artist takes something that already exists and embellishes upon it. They are creating something new out of something already existing. It takes talent to create something new and it arguably takes talent to create something new out of something that already exists. This is a little like what the Apostle Paul is talking about in the twelfth chapter of Romans. Paul is telling the believers in Rome not to be like everyone else. Don't be a carbon copy of the world in which you live. Paul goes as far as to say that God can make something new out of something that already exists, namely YOU! The way Paul puts it, you can be transformed into a new person by letting God change the way you think. This is an amazing statement by Paul tucked into a greater teaching on the church, the body of Christ. Paul lets us know two very important things in the first part of this one verse. They are two things that I believe are important for us to consider. First, Paul lets us know that God does not want our lives to look like the world around us. Our behavior and our customs should be different. The life of a follower of Jesus Christ should be very different than that of the regular person in any culture. Jesus taught this when he said to his disciples, "but among you it should be quite different ..." (Matthew 20:26) In this teaching Jesus is letting his followers know that they are not to seek position, power, or privilege. The world around them already does a good job of that. Instead, Jesus told them, "Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant." Jesus taught his followers to think differently. Jesus turned things around and called for them to live differently than the world around them. Second, Paul lets us know that God does the transforming. I certainly would never argue that God used appropriation art in transforming us. Where I would draw the parallel is that God, the original Creator, takes what God has already created and transforms it into something new. How does God do this? God gives us a new way of thinking -- a transformation of our mind. As Paul wrote in Philippians 2, "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus." God transforms our lives by allowing us to have the mind of Christ. When we let God transform us we begin to see things as Christ would see them. God does this transformation in our life as we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit's activity in our life. God doesn't want any carbon copies of the world around us. God desires to have us be transformed into the fullness of our Created potential. This Sunday we will continue the message series entitled One Faithful Promise. The message will help us think about what it means to give ourselves to God in the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. I look forward to sharing this message with you Sunday. God is at work at St. Andrew's and I can't wait to see you in church!

"For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: love your neighbor as yourself." Galatians 5:14 It's been a very stressful week or so. The build up to Hurricane Irma was one like I have never experienced before. I have lived in Florida since 1977 and this was a storm like no other from my perspective. The news coverage was nonstop. The scenarios given were worst case. All of this together led to a lot of stress, anxiety and some fear. I think this will be a storm we all remember. Of course, Irma was a devastating storm in so many ways. The Caribbean Islands in its path were all but destroyed. Irma rode along the coast of Cuba for days battering the residents there and causing much damage. Then the landfall in Florida and the devastation of flooding, storm surge, and wind damage. We have experienced the power of Irma right here in our area as well. While we were spared the worst of Irma, there are still many with their homes flooded, without power, and lost food and possessions. I am not writing this to recall the gloom of the last week or so. Rather, I am writing to offer a glimpse into the hope that followers of Jesus Christ offer in times like this. Our church has seen the need and responded. Before the storm I had people offer to help anyone who needed assistance in getting ready for the storm. Members helped neighbors put up plywood and ready their homes. It was an amazing sight to see the people of Christ being selfless and demonstrating Christ's love through service to others. After the storm the call went out for help in our community. Again, I saw members helping others clear debris, cut up trees that had fallen, and checking on each other to make sure everyone was safe. The church was asked to be a collection site for donations to help victims of the Alafia River flooding. The church and community have stepped up. Beth Wood, our Serve the Community Coordinator, reported that as of Thursday night we had delivered three truck loads of supplies to United Food Bank, three truck loads to ECHO, a truck load to Seeds of Hope, and supported the SAUMC Food Pantry. A lot of folks have been helping including youth and adults. Beth has been doing a terrific job of coordinating it all. This is what it means, in part, to love your neighbor as yourself. I am so proud to be the Pastor of folks who always step up to whatever challenge is set before them. This is what it means to be the church. This is what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus. This is what it means to be the hope of the world, the local church. Thank you St. Andrew's for loving our neighbors! This Sunday we will start a new series "One Faithful Promise" that we were scheduled to start last week. This series will walk us through what it means to be in a covenant relationship with Jesus. I can't wait to see you in church.

“Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s armies.” Isaiah 6:5b NLT For years people had told me about it and how amazing it was. You have to see it! I understood the enthusiasm and knew that people truly believed in what they were saying. I even thought that someday I might see it and be able to understand their excitement in sharing. It ended up taking me 51 years before I was able to see it for myself. Last summer in 2016 my family and I experienced this together. I had moments of understanding why people got so excited. I, honestly, had moments of wondering why people got so excited. I could finally say, however, that I had seen what everyone had been telling me about. It was a great experience overall and I am thoroughly glad that I was able to see and experience it firsthand. The experience I am talking about is seeing and experiencing New York City. There is nothing like seeing something for yourself. I had been told about the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, One World Trade Center, the 9/11 Memorial, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, the Guggenheim, Madison Square Garden, and Times Square. All of these things I had seen in pictures, videos, movies, and the news. But there is nothing like seeing something for yourself and experiencing everything it has to offer. I loved seeing everything we saw in New York City. It was a great experience for our family and we had a great time. It is something we will be able to talk about together for the rest of our lives. I feel even stronger about my experience of “seeing” Christ! I had been told about Jesus by friends and even strangers long before I met Jesus. It had been explained to me in very vague terms about what it might look like to experience Jesus in my life. For whatever reason I never really connected or even really paid much attention. It was like looking at a bad Polaroid of the Statue of Liberty. It just didn’t measure up. I mostly saw a very dim example of the very bright light that I would later come to know as Jesus Christ. So how could I have possibly thought much about how wonderful an experience it would be to experience a relationship with Jesus Christ? Then it happened! I went to church one Sunday and through the music, the members, and the message I saw Jesus for the first time in my life. I saw him in the warmth of the members. I saw him in the passion of the music. I saw Jesus in the sincerity and hope in the message. That Sunday morning I entered into church not knowing what I was looking for and I left having seen Jesus. I left having invited Jesus into my heart and life. What a difference it made to experience a relationship with Jesus Christ firsthand. I could say with Isaiah, “Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s armies.” And he is Jesus Christ. This Sunday we will begin a new message series entitled One Faithful Promise based on the book by the same title written by Magrey deVega. The message will help us think about what it means to experience a truly intimate relationship with Jesus Christ firsthand. I look forward to sharing this message with you Sunday. God is at work at St. Andrew’s and I can’t wait to see you in church!

“The Law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” John 8:5 NLT It is feasible to think that in our current time you may be asked the question, “What do you say?” It could be that you are asked for your opinion in a work meeting. It could be that you are asked what you think about a political position. It may be that someone wants to know what you think about something someone in your circle of friends has said or done. It could also be that someone wants to know what you believe or where you stand on a faith issue. Whatever it may be, there are certainly times in our life where we are very pointedly asked, “What do you say?” There is one reality I have learned in my lifetime to be true – there is no shortage of opinions and people who are willing to share them with you. In a world where people are usually willing to tell you what they think, it is important to be able to know what you will say on a short list of crucial topics. What do you say about modern day slavery? Human trafficking? The treatment of minorities? The plight of the poor? World hunger? The persecution of Christians worldwide? There are so many issues facing the world today and someone just may want to ask you what you have to say about any one of them. It is the thoughtful person who has at least considered what they would say. As we consider the notion of what we would say, let me add another wrinkle – what do you say as a Christ follower? It is not so important what we think as some random individual, rather it is crucial what we think as a devoted follower of Jesus Christ. It is not just about what we think or say as a person – it is what we think or say as a witness to the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus taught what it means to follow after God’s own heart. What Jesus taught in word and deed was to say what God wanted him to say, to do what God wanted him to do, and to think what God wanted him to think. This is not to say that Jesus advocated for a mindless robotic regurgitation of material learned about God through Scripture. What Jesus lived was the living out of a relationship so intimate that it could be said that God, the Father, and Jesus Christ, the Son, were one. (John 17) This is what is happening in the Scripture passage in John 8. Jesus is asked, “What do you say?” At first, Jesus offers no reply. When pressed he tells them exactly what he has to say by holding a mirror up to those who bring accusation. Jesus says, “… let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone.” What Jesus had to say was important! It was a paradigm shift in terms of grace, forgiveness, love of neighbor, and the demonstration of God’s great love for all humanity. There is something here we should not miss though. Jesus is also saying to the accusers, “What do you say?” It is as if he is asking them what is more important – the woman’s sin or their own sin? Jesus seems to be telling them before you ask me what I say ask yourself what you are saying. Jesus turns their question upside down and back at them. So when it comes to accusations and judging others – what do you say? This Sunday we will talk more about this amazing story in the Gospel of John. The message will help us think about what we say as devoted followers of Jesus Christ. I look forward to sharing this message with you Sunday. God is at work at St. Andrew’s and I can’t wait to see you in church!

"Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish!" Ephesians 2:8 I just spent a week at a place called the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina. In 2017 it was recognized as being one of the top five organizations for leadership development in the world. It is a humbling experience to be chosen to participate in the Reynolds Program in Church Leadership which is a collaborative work between the Western North Carolina Conference Foundation and the Center for Creative Leadership. I was there with 24 clergy colleagues from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, North Georgia, and four of us from Florida. It is a year long program and this was the first gathering. This whole program was the idea of a businessman name Royce Reynolds. Mr. Reynolds wanted clergy in The United Methodist Church to be the best leaders possible. For the past 19 years the program has grown to cover five conferences, has graduated almost 500 clergy, and invested almost $3.8 million in the process. It was all the idea of one man, but the impact has been far reaching. As I was participating this week, and thinking about being back with you on Sunday, I couldn't help but be reminded of the Scripture above. Paul writes to remind the church at Ephesus that it's not their idea. They are not as clever as they were beginning to think they were. The whole salvation thing was God's idea from start to finish. It was out of God's immense love for humanity that the plan was designed. The reality is that without God's plan we are stuck dead to rights in our sin without a way out. God knew that and decided to do something about it. John 3:16 tells us the why and the how of God's plan. God loved us so much that God sent Jesus, God's one and only Son, to save us. It was all God's idea and we are not the major player, God is through Jesus Christ the Son. It was all God's idea. The thing is ... if you have been a part of church for even a little bit you know this. So you may be asking, "Why are you talking about this again?" I am glad you asked! I will answer with a question - Do you treasure this gift that God has given you? This gift of salvation is something to be treasured. It is not something we can take credit for or brag about. It is something we should hold as a divine treasure to which nothing can compare. Yet, often times I believe we take this amazing gift of God for granted. Considering ourselves saved and that's it. It's done. That's our idea, not God's. We are to treasure God's gift of salvation to us through Jesus Christ the Son more than anything else. Being a part of the body of Christ, the church, is the way we live out God's gift of salvation together. This week we will conclude our series I Am SAUMC with a discussion about treasuring our part in the body of Christ. We are to unify, sacrifice, pray, and treasure as members of the body of Christ. I can't wait to see you in church.