Sometimes it is good to make a change. Starting next Friday, July 11, we are shifting our approach to the space in the Friday Connection we used for a devotion each week by the pastors. It turns out that we did not have many people opening and reading the devotions. Yet, the Friday connection had a very large readership each week. That means this newsletter is our primary source of information for what is happening in our community of St. Andrew’s. Going forward, we are going to use that same space to tell you more about what is occurring here at the church. All our groups and class leaders have been invited to submit articles or videos telling us about their group or ministry. Each week we will hear from a different voice about what is happening in our community. Our prayer is that this space will become another vehicle to promote community and invite others to find a group or ministry to join. It will be fun to see and hear more from the wonderful group and class leaders of St. Andrew’s. #faith #transition #ministry

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also out to love one another. 1 John 4:7,11 Love, when embraced in its purest form, has the power to transform, heal, and unite. It transcends boundaries, mends wounds, and inspires acts of kindness that ripple across generations. Love is not only a desire, but an inherent need woven into the fabric of our being. It is this need that shapes our actions, choices, and even our moral compass. The power of love lies in its ability to lead us closer to God, for God Himself is love. A group of researchers in Montreal’s McGill University were doing a study on children who were habitual liars and trying to understand their motivation. So, they took a group of these children and ran a battery of tests to catch them in the act of telling a fib. Then they read different groups a couple of stories. First one was the classic story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf —the version in which both the boy and the sheep get eaten because of his repeated lies. Alternatively, they read George Washington and The Cherry Tree , in which young George confesses to his father that he chopped down the prized tree with his new hatchet. The story ends with his father’s reply: “George, I’m glad that you cut down the tree after all. Hearing you tell the truth instead of a lie is better than if I had a thousand cherry trees.” Now, which story do you think reduced lying more? When they surveyed 1,300 people, 75 percent thought The Boy Who Cried Wolf would work better. However, this famous fable actually did not cut down lying at all in their experiments. In fact, after hearing the story, kids lied even a little more than normal. The story just scared them to become better at lying. They simply learned how to get caught less often. Meanwhile, hearing George Washington and The Cherry Tree —even when Washington was replaced with another name, eliminating the potential that a famous person might influence the kids—lying was reduced by a sizable 43 percent in kids. Why? Well, it is simple – children will do whatever it takes to be loved. God has created in each of us an innate need to be loved. This research shows that. And what makes good parents is not simply whether we abide by a set of parenting rules. But how much we show love to our children. And what makes a good Christian is not simply what roles we have in the church, what programs we are a part of, but how much we show love. For God is a God who first and foremost pours out His love to his own children, you and me in a powerful way. #GodIsLove #loveourneighbors #unconditionallove #grace

None of us have all the spiritual gifts. Through our baptism, we each our given some. One that I lack is mercy. My husband has a lot of mercy. I do not. Yet all Christians are called to be merciful. Romans 12:15 says, “Be happy with those who are happy, and cry with those who are crying.” The question then is how do I do that if I don’t have the gift of mercy? Well, you intentionally practice empathy. Empathy is simply putting yourself in the shoes of others. To do that you must learn to stop talking and begin to truly listen to another person. If you are a knower, and yes you know what I mean, you need to reshape your thinking to be a learner. As you begin to intentionally listen, you must push down your judgmental thoughts. People are smart and if you are not careful, your judgmental side will inflict personal shame on the person you are listening to. You must also try to understand the person’s feelings and then communicate your understanding to them. Just being silent can also make them feel judged. Listen with a balanced approach and set aside your judgment. Finally, be mindful of what can block your empathy. Surprisingly, expressing sympathy is the first thing that blocks empathy. The reason is you are feeling bad for someone, not with them. They need your companionship far more than your sad feelings. We also often make negative comments that we have maybe heard our whole life without understanding their impact. Questions like, “What were you thinking?” Erase that question from your vocabulary. It never helps. Diminishing their feelings by telling them, “It is not so bad” is also so much more destructive than we ever intend. We feel like those words will help. They do not. They simply add to someone’s suffering. Never gasp when someone is honest about a situation. Your gasp is only heaping on shame. Finally, never one-up someone by says, “You think that is bad…” You are only shifting your attention to yourself. None of us ever intentionally means to hurt people, but if you don’t have the gift of mercy, you probably need to take inventory of your response when someone is hurting. If no one ever shares their pain with you, it may be because of your responses in the past. We are all called to express mercy. For people like me and maybe you, we just need to work on it a bit and the Holy Spirit will gently help us improve. #innerwork #innerhealing #compassion

"Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…" Matthew 28:19 CEB This Sunday, the Sunday after Pentecost, is traditionally Trinity Sunday. You will find some churches that will focus their services on the Trinity. But not many. At St. Andrew’s we will be continuing our series on Summer At the Movies this Sunday and just highlight that the day is commemorated as Trinity Sunday. The term Trinity is fundamentally a theological term. Defining the Trinity is rather simple. It is the notion in Christianity that God is a unity of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is a way of saying something about who God is and the way we experience Him. Although the definition is simple, understanding what this means is the hard part. If it were possible to look at a portrait of God, we could see a Father, who would mirror the almighty author of creation. We would also see the Son whom the Father sent to our world to make Himself known to us as a human. And we would see the Holy Spirit who is working His invisible power, transforming us to be more like Christ. Yet what you would see is clearly one and only one God. It is sometimes easier to explain what it is not. The Trinity does not mean there are three Gods. There is one and only one God. Nor does it say that there is the Father with His subordinates, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are the same and equal in standing. Some have tried to explain the Trinity with the comparison to water. Water is water, but it can be a solid in the form of ice, a liquid in the form of water, and as a gas in the form of steam. But even this is not a precise comparison. Water cannot be ice, water, and steam at the same time, but God can be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the same time. This is why when you hear people try to explain the Trinity they always use the word ‘mystery.’ There are no words to describe precisely how it is to be understood. But it does reveal to us that God is a unique and intricate being. And it tells us of the character of God. Just as He is one being of three persons, He is a relational God, relating within Himself and desiring to relate to us. At the beginning of this devotion, I stated that the term Trinity is fundamentally a theological term. But it is really not. It speaks of our experience of God. The God we worship is a God who chooses to be known in relationship, and therefore, it is about us as well. Trinity Sunday is not about the concept of God, but the experience of God. For that, we give thanks and praise. #TrinitySunday #faith #God #Jesus #HolySpirit

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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