08/22/2023
Thankfulness is the Mother of Nearly All Good Things
Of all places, I came across a quote from the Roman Senator, Cicero, on the business website, Forbes.com. He said, back in Julius Caesar’s time, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” That was the gist of what Bishop Trimble said to us from the pulpit. ‘Thank you’ is not only a beautiful prayer, it is the well spring from which love, grace, and Christian living flow. When it becomes clear that God has accepted me for who I am, forgiven my dumb and hurt decisions, loved me in spite of my unloveliness I am so filled with gratitude and joy that I want to pay it forward. I am motivated to accept, forgive, and love others for Christ’s sake.
I hope you joined us in worship on Sunday. What a day of celebration. We had Bishop Trimble, our Conference Superintendent, Saneta Maiko; the President of United Theological Seminary, Dr. Kent Millard; former pastor Patti Napier, and a variety of other distinguished guests. We all had special pride in the graduation ceremony we held for Pastor Daisy, as she prepares to return to Sierra Leone. And our Bishop’s preaching was outstanding. (And don’t forget my role…standing up there looking as dignified as I could muster at various points.) I thought my wife Sue, who coordinates worship for us, was going to collapse Sunday afternoon. So many pieces in play, especially when you realize that Pastor Jessica both preached and served communion at a significantly different 10:30 service.
Kick Off Sunday was such a thrill under the big top out in the parking lot, and Daisy’s graduation and hosting the Bishop was such an honor and pleasure, I’m afraid that you all are going to get bored with plain old Tim for the next several weeks.
Pastor Daisy will go on to do great things for God and you should find satisfaction that you made her education and credentialing possible through your generosity to our church budget as well as its missions ministries. The number of volunteers who played important roles in transporting Daisy, helping her adjust to life in the U.S., and being there for her when she needed a helping hand—they are just too many to list. As we say goodbye to Daisy, she will leave a hole in our staff and in our hearts, but at the same time it fills me with great gratitude to be the pastor of Carmel UMC.
Archived Posts
Back and Forth with Chat GPT
Many of you know that I’ve found a new consultant to bounce my ideas off in regard to preaching. My good buddy Chat GPT and I sometimes disagree—often miscommunicate—but usually come up with some fruitful illustrations.
One More Thing About Becoming Wholly Human
I was talking Sunday about the work of Hare and Woods and their idea of ‘the survival of the friendliest.’ Essentially, they conclude that “our greatest evolutionary advantage wasn't that we could do everything ourselves. It was that we could do things together.”
Here’s a preview of our congregation’s Core Values
In the coming weeks we will be exploring the importance of presence, prayers, gifts, service, witness, and growth in grace. These are at the heart of what we commit to when we join a Wesleyan grace-led church like ours. But we choose to broaden them out and state them in a new way…
The Biblical prayer we don’t know what to do with
Psalm 137 is written by people who have experienced catastrophic loss.
They have been conquered...
Patience and Trust
Sunday, in my benediction (which traditional folks did not hear) I talked about the Marshmallow Test. The original results of that test with children was that those who could delay gratification did better in life than those who could not.
Gandhi and the Sugar
I wasn’t preaching Sunday, Reverend Jackie Chandler was. And she talked about the power of influence you get when you practice what you preach. This famous illustration came to mind. It fits Jackie’s points quite well. Enjoy!
Not Just for Parents
Our current sermon series is about How To Talk Parent, but it doesn’t require any of us to be parents to appreciate the bits of wisdom OUR parents shared with us growing up.