In the NRSV, Psalm 20:9 reads: “Give victory to the king, O Lord; answer us when we call,” or in the Message, “Make the king a winner, God; the day we call, give us your answer.” I think you see the problem: Whether King George or King Charles is on the throne, after 1776 it was highly unlikely anyone in the United States would be praying for the king!

Prayer does nothing to turn back the clock, but it does help me sort things out, set my agenda, reduce stress, solve problems,  and a host of other benefits. But really, it’s not about the benefits as much as it is about the relationship. We say our mission is “Loving God . . . Loving Others.”  If you love someone, you’re going to spend time with them - quality time, not just “punching the timecard” time. Prayer is the primary way we build a relationship with God.

Worship changes us. Prayer changes us. Nineteenth century theologian Soren Kierkegaard wrote, "Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays," and C.S. Lewis echoed the same thought when he wrote, “I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God. It changes me.” 

Could God rule this world more efficiently without us? Absolutely! But that’s not the way he has chosen to work. God works in us and through us, and in making us fellow participants in his redemptive work. God entrusts his creation to us. “Our little worlds” (to borrow from Bob Ross) begins with our own hearts and then stretches out in all directions around us to embrace our families, our friends and co-workers, our communities, our nation and out to the world beyond. 

From the very beginning the rule of this world was always a joint project between God and humans. In Genesis 1 God says, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion . . .” and this commission is echoed in Psalm 8, where we read: “You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet.” As N.T. Wright has pointed out, “God is a power-sharing God: he wants to work through human beings.”And that’s where prayer comes in. 

Although we don’t believe that words are things, we do have magic words that are very effective. Abracadabra might not really work, nor “hocus pocus” (which also comes from a real Latin phrase, but you can look that one up yourselves), nor “Presto!” (which is Italian for “Quickly!”). But we all do have words that can magically open doors for us, make people smile and even restore broken relationships. Not necessarily magic words, but certainly simple ones: Please. Thank you.  I’m sorry. I love you. It’s kind of amazing when you think that by the time you’re Olive’s age you’ve learned the most essential vocabulary of life! 

Happy birthday! It’s not your birthday, you say? Well, it is . . . sort of. Sunday is Pentecost, which is often called the “birthday of the church.” It was on Pentecost that God breathed his Spirit into the church, making it the living, dynamic, many-membered Body of Christ on earth.

The New Testament scholar, N.T. Wright, when asked what he thought would surprise the apostle Paul the most if he were to visit the church in the 21st century, said, “That the church is so divided and that it doesn’t seem to bother us.” But if we look at the New Testament, it’s pretty clear Christianity is a team sport. In the world of the New Testament, the Greek philosophers tended to look inwardly, and as modern Americans, we pride ourselves about individualism and pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps . . . but Christianity is about forgiveness and generosity and taking care of the needs of others – it has a very outward focus. When we get too self-focused, with too much spiritual navel-gazing, we end up like the old  cliche “too spiritually minded to be of any earthly good.” 

E pluribus unum: out of many, one. That’s the traditional motto of the US, and it envisions our country as a melting pot where a variety of peoples, cultures, or individuals assimilate into a cohesive whole. It’s a beautiful dream . . . but instead of melting, our country seems bent on smelting, the process of separating. One of the great triumphs of the gospel is that the church is one family, regardless of background. Christian unity doesn’t get the attention it deserves, but when you think about all the divisions in the world today, can you think of a more important message?

Last week I invited you to get a little nerdy with me,  but  it’s more than just being nerdy. I believe this is the way Jesus wants us to read the Word. After all, Jesus told his disciples in Mark 4:24, “Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get . . .” Pay attention. Look for clues that point beyond the surface level of a story. Listen for echoes from the past. . . 

here’s a difference between reading the Bible and studying the Bible. When I’m reading the Bible, I’m going for the story, the bigger picture. Reading the entire Bible in a year gives us the eagle’s eye view of the Bible and allows us to see the overarching story of God’s love for His creation. First, and this sounds obvious, but a Bible study is a study of the Bible. Over the years, I’ve looked at lots of studies that were anything but! 

These three little words – grace, joy, thankfulness – should be the basic plot of our lives. We’ve all experienced God’s grace in more ways than we can ever number. Thinking about the many ways we experience God’s grace, following Paul’s words to the Philippians should be natural: “Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, rejoice!” (Phi. 4:4) And then, with hearts overflowing with the joy that comes from experiencing God’s grace, we should always be thankful.

I remember one early Easter Sunday, before dawn, in Kentucky. This service was held in our sanctuary, and my apartment was just a block from the church. As I was walking down the alley between my place and the church, I heard something I’d never heard in town before: a rooster crow. And immediately I thought about Peter on that first resurrection morning.

Sin divides. Christ unites.  Ageism, sexism, racism, schism of any sort  . . . the only “ism” in the church should be evangelism, because from a Christian perspective there are only two categories of people: those who are in Christ and those who are not. According to II Corinthians 5, God has entrusted us with the ministry of reconciliation, so our goal is to eliminate the second category and make sure that everyone is in Christ!And once we’re in Christ, Christian unity is important because it shows the world a way of living peacefully together they cannot know on their own. 

This week we have a guest! Kim Elliott told me about  something she was teaching in her Bible class that I thought was perfect for Lent. I asked if she would write about it for our Pastor’s Note this week. Enjoy! 

When we see certain individuals, do we immediately assume things about them? We look at people whose eyes are different from ours, or their skin is a different shade, and we make certain value judgments about them. Human tendency is to categorize people and then judge them based on that category – and leave the rest of their humanity by the wayside. But in Christ, we are no longer free to do that. To look at an individual, a person, not as a person but as a category, is anti-Christian.

The first name we chose for our congregation was “Christ Church of North Alabama: A Wesleyan Congregation.” We dropped the Wesleyan part because of associations with an established Wesleyan denomination and also with a new group forming from some who disaffiliated from the UMC which used “Wesleyan” in their name. But we didn’t drop our beliefs.

One of my frequent houseguests told me that he ran across a picture of himself from decades ago with an ashen cross on his forehead. He said he kept it like one would keep a vaccination card – he’s one and done; no need to ever do it again!I told him that’s not the way that it works.