How to Skin Your Fear and Grant the Peace of of Christ Permission to Com...

Here's my sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church 

in Houston, Texas on May 26, 2019.



I talked about the peace of Christ, centering prayer, 

Caesar Augustus, the Pax Romano, Bowen systems theory

suggestion to maintain a "less anxious presence"

and Vital Congregations.

Facebook: Well how do you LIKE that?

Our Facebook Page number of LIKES nearly doubled in size last week.

It's amazing what happens when you ask because when you ask you shall receive.

After asking 2,200 of my Facebook Friends to Like the St. John's Presbyterian Church Facebook Page, more than 125 of them took action. They Liked the Page.

Now, when someone who lives around the church searches for us on Facebook, they will have better social proof that here is a church that is alive and active. Therefore, they are more likely to want to find out more about us.

Put into theological language, how are we making disciples?

How are we sharing the good news of Jesus Christ?
Are there other ways we could share it in addition to the ways we share it now?

While we are not held responsible for their response to our invitation, we most certainly are held responsible by God for sharing the good news. That is a responsibility we dare not shirk or cast aside.

Ask somebody. Tell somebody.

Talk about Jesus more and more to people you love and may your circle of love safely expand.

Increase the frequency of your Jesus talk because actions speak louder than words and we are more likely to get the action right if we are speaking it into being.

Shelter from the Storm

Last weekend I had a good retreat at Austin Seminary.

I was there with a dozen or so other pastors from Houston. We were dealing with leadership issues after Hurricane Harvey and how that translates to healing for communities and congregations. The theme was "Shelter from the Storm."

I was surprised at how much better I felt at this retreat than I did at the previous retreat. So I asked one of the other pastors when was our last retreat? She said it was 3 months ago. I said it felt like 3 years ago.

We are all at different stages of grief or recovery after Hurricane Harvey. Our challenges are working with one another to move forward when each of us is at a different place in dealing with the crisis.

My sincere belief is that our sanctuary will come through this process much renewed and enlivened and ready to serve as a place of worship for the next 50 years. When we take that long of a Time Horizon, we realize that the most important thing is to get it done well and to get it done right. The least important thing is to get it done fast.

That's one of the reasons last Sunday I talked about patience as a fruit of the spirit. That thought is not original with me. The Apostle Paul mentions patience as a fruit of the spirit. Go read 1st Corinthians chapter 13 and you will see that the first thing Paul says about love is that love is patient. 

Let's bear the fruit of Spirit through patience even as we continue to make progress in the recovery of our sanctuary and continue the ministry we have to the community and this city as we naturally revel in our glorious vision of what God has in store for this church for the next 50 years.

Beware the Dragons!

Before we jump forward to 2018, let's take a moment to go back in time to 1611 in England and imagine what kind of language they used to celebrate Christmas. Guess what? You don't have to imagine it. We have a written record of it. Here is a taste how people put language to the wonder of Christmas in England in 1611. Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps: Fire, and hail; snow, and vapours; stormy wind fulfilling his word: Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars: Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl: Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth: Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children: Let them praise the name of the Lord: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven. He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the Lord. (Psalm 148:7-14, King James Bible) How would you describe that language? I would say it’s eye-opening. Elegant. Interesting. Startling. Stunning. I especially love the reference to dragons. I wonder what kind of language you would use to describe Christmas? Would you include a reference to dragons in your description? Peace, Jon B. … Image attribution: Fiorentino, Rosso, 1494-1540. Small angel playing (detail from Madonna of Spedalingo), from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55412 [retrieved December 13, 2017]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rosso_Fiorentino_-_Madonna_dello_Spedalingo_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg.

A Chill Out Prayer for You

Cheers!

Making your way in the world today
takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, 
sure would help a lot.

“To find peace."
"To know where you belong.”

That is my prayer
for you today.

I pray
you may
find peace.

I pray
you may
know where you belong.

One of my favorite Bible verses
I return to again and again ...
is this:

“Whether we live
or whether we die;
we belong to the Lord.”
(Romans 14:8)

“With the Lord”
is where we belong.

Now and forever.
Amen.

Peace,
Jon B.

...

P.S. May you find yourself
at peace with the Lord today.

...

St. John's Presbyterian Church, ACTS FUND
5020 West Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77035