Pulpit Swap Sunday!

Justice Will Prevail

This week, I am excited to be at the Summerhill Campus. I will miss everyone at Lake Deaton, but I know you will be blessed with a great message from Pastor Harold. As you meet with your Faith Formation Group this week I encourage you to spend some time reflecting on how your year has started and share where you see God is working within your lives.  

I also encourage you to take time to open yourselves up as a group and dialog on the following Wesley Challenge question:  Do I go to bed on time and get up on time? (Pages 67-70 in The Wesley Challenge)

Love Is Series: Week Five

Not Rude or Irritable 

This week, while you meet with your Faith Formation Group you may want to reflect on our Scripture passage by reading Mark 2:13-17 (printed below) and discuss the questions from the Scripture and Sermon as a way to begin a conversation. 

Mark 2:13-17

Mark 2:13    Then Jesus went out to the lakeshore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him. ¹⁴ As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed him.

Mark 2:15    Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) ¹⁶ But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?”

Mark 2:17    When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

Questions for Consideration:

1. After reading the story, take turns sharing what sticks out to you as important or significant.
2. Why do you think Jesus ate with “sinners?”
3. How does our church open itself to those who are “sick?” Or, are we only available for those who are “healthy?”  
4. What does this passage show you about not being rude or irritable? How can we implement lessons from this passage to become a more loving community?

As you meet this week, we encourage you to also take time to open yourselves up as a group and dialog on the following Wesley Challenge question:  Am I honest in all my actions and words, or do I exaggerate? (Pages 113-116 in The Wesley Challenge)

Special Guest Speaker, Len Sweet

A Special Sunday with Len Sweet

We are so excited to have Len Sweet with us this Sunday for worship. 

Len is the author of more than 60 books and 1500 published sermons. His most recent publications are Mother Tongue: How Our Heritage Shapes Our Story and The Bad Habits of Jesus: Showing Us the Way to Live Right in a World Gone Wrong.

For almost two decades, Len has served as the E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. Currently he is a Visiting Distinguished Professor at George Fox University in Portland, Oregon, and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas. He also has just become the Charles Wesley Distinguished Professor of Doctor of Theology Studies at Evangelical Seminary in Myers, Pennsylvania. He is President Emeritus of United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, and he is the founder and chief contributor to the online preaching resource, preachthestory.com. Len often appears on the “Most Influential Christians in America” lists, and issues a podcast called “Napkin Scribbles,” sponsored by Portland Seminary of George Fox University. His microblogs and blogs on Twitter and Facebook are ranked as some of the most influential religious sites in the world of social media. He conducts monthly webinars on semiotics and preaching that are open to everyone. 

Len lives on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands (Washington State), where he frequently conducts two-to-three day campfire conversations in his home, Dolphin Cay (www.the-salish.com). He calls them “advances,” not “retreats.”   

Here is a short video interview with Len (from Youtube) that is a great introduction to his passion and style:

This week as you meet in small groups we invite you to take time to reflect on Len's message and share your key take-a-ways. 

As you meet, we also encourage you to take time to open yourselves up as a group and dialog on the following Wesley Challenge question:  How do I spend my spare time?  (Pages 79-84 in The Wesley Challenge)