4.26.2011
The Porch Town Hall Meeting (4/28)
The Porch will be meeting this week in the GCUMC sanctuary at 7:00 p.m. for worship, prayer, and discussion in a “town hall” format. Bring your best thoughts, reflections, ideas and discernment!
4.11.2011
Casting Crowds
*The Porch will be meeting for the final time on campus (this semester) this Thursday (4/14) in the Guilford College Community Center at 7:00*
A funny thing happens to Jesus on his journey to the cross: the crowds turn on him in a matter of a few short days. The "Hosannas" of Palm Sunday quickly turn into "crucify him" on Friday morning. The same crowds, only days later. How can this happen?
Crowds are fickle. Crowds tend to align themselves with whatever is popular at the time. Crowds care more about the advancement of the crowd than about any one individual.
A call to follow Jesus is a call that takes us out of the crowd and instead places us right beside him as he picks up his cross to head to Calvary. Are you content to follow Jesus from the crowd?
A funny thing happens to Jesus on his journey to the cross: the crowds turn on him in a matter of a few short days. The "Hosannas" of Palm Sunday quickly turn into "crucify him" on Friday morning. The same crowds, only days later. How can this happen?
Crowds are fickle. Crowds tend to align themselves with whatever is popular at the time. Crowds care more about the advancement of the crowd than about any one individual.
A call to follow Jesus is a call that takes us out of the crowd and instead places us right beside him as he picks up his cross to head to Calvary. Are you content to follow Jesus from the crowd?
3.30.2011
A Kingdom of Kings
*The Porch will be meeting this Thursday (3/31) in the Guilford College Community Center (MPR) at 7:00. Hope to see you there... with a friend!*
At nearly every wedding I perform, I like to use the example of Jesus washing the disciple's feet to show that in marriage, sacrificial, servant-hearted love is one of the most important characteristics of a healthy marriage. If the couple is willing to put the needs of their spouse before even their own needs, then the trivial problems will be just that... trivial problems. If a marriage becomes one-sided and self-focused, then all sorts of problems can arise. This is an easy trap to fall into because if we're being honest, it's much easier to focus on our own needs than someone else's. It's easy for us to make ourselves king... king of our marriage, king of our spiritual lives, king of our work.
But Jesus shows us that in the kingdom of God, being a king doesn't amount to much. In fact, in the kingdom of God, the king is not the greatest... the king is the greatest servant. When Jesus takes off his robe to wash the disciples feet, he is taking on the task of a slave. It was dirty, it was sacrificial, it was anything but king-like. Jesus washed Peter's feet, who would later deny him. Jesus washed Judas' feet, who would just a few short hours later betray him. Kings punish people for these sorts of things, they don't wash their feet. Yet what he did was one of his greatest expressions of love: he took on the role of a servant to show that God's grace does not pick and choose favorites, it is universally available.
The foot washing is an example that points us forward to the greatest expression of Christ's love which is found on the cross. Jesus didn't come to earth to talk about love. He came to earth to show us what Love looks like in the flesh. "Not to be served, but to serve" (Matthew 20:28). And he tells us to do the same. Kingdom building starts with the acknowledgment that we are not the king, and takes us to place where we realize that the King is in fact the greatest servant of all.
At nearly every wedding I perform, I like to use the example of Jesus washing the disciple's feet to show that in marriage, sacrificial, servant-hearted love is one of the most important characteristics of a healthy marriage. If the couple is willing to put the needs of their spouse before even their own needs, then the trivial problems will be just that... trivial problems. If a marriage becomes one-sided and self-focused, then all sorts of problems can arise. This is an easy trap to fall into because if we're being honest, it's much easier to focus on our own needs than someone else's. It's easy for us to make ourselves king... king of our marriage, king of our spiritual lives, king of our work.
But Jesus shows us that in the kingdom of God, being a king doesn't amount to much. In fact, in the kingdom of God, the king is not the greatest... the king is the greatest servant. When Jesus takes off his robe to wash the disciples feet, he is taking on the task of a slave. It was dirty, it was sacrificial, it was anything but king-like. Jesus washed Peter's feet, who would later deny him. Jesus washed Judas' feet, who would just a few short hours later betray him. Kings punish people for these sorts of things, they don't wash their feet. Yet what he did was one of his greatest expressions of love: he took on the role of a servant to show that God's grace does not pick and choose favorites, it is universally available.
The foot washing is an example that points us forward to the greatest expression of Christ's love which is found on the cross. Jesus didn't come to earth to talk about love. He came to earth to show us what Love looks like in the flesh. "Not to be served, but to serve" (Matthew 20:28). And he tells us to do the same. Kingdom building starts with the acknowledgment that we are not the king, and takes us to place where we realize that the King is in fact the greatest servant of all.
3.24.2011
The Porch will be meeting in the GCUMC sanctuary for 3/24
The Porch will be meeting in the GCUMC sanctuary this Thursday (3/24) at 7:00. We will be hearing from some of our own friends about their journey, so help us spread the word!
3.16.2011
The Journey to the Cross: Stop #2 The Bump in the Road
So Jesus resists temptation in the wilderness, but the temptation didn't end there. I would imagine that one of the hardest things Jesus faced would be that those closest to him chose not to follow his teaching. John 6:66 says that "from this time, many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him." A few days earlier, there were 5,000 people following Jesus. Today? Not so many.
The road to the cross is unconventional and it is not easy. It calls us to ready our hearts for the good days and the bad days. Sometimes we will resist all of the temptations of the world only to find that the crowds have deserted us. Following Jesus takes us from the wilderness to the desert and ultimately to the cross. And there will surely be bumps in the road along the way. Jesus' disciples said "This is a tough teaching, who can accept it" (John 6:60)? The journey is tough and unconventional, and as such, reminds us that we are following in the footsteps of Christ, who suffered terribly.
So when have you encountered speed bumps in your journey? How did you deal with them?
We will be meeting this Thursday in the Guilford College Community Center at 7:00. Hope to see you there!
The road to the cross is unconventional and it is not easy. It calls us to ready our hearts for the good days and the bad days. Sometimes we will resist all of the temptations of the world only to find that the crowds have deserted us. Following Jesus takes us from the wilderness to the desert and ultimately to the cross. And there will surely be bumps in the road along the way. Jesus' disciples said "This is a tough teaching, who can accept it" (John 6:60)? The journey is tough and unconventional, and as such, reminds us that we are following in the footsteps of Christ, who suffered terribly.
So when have you encountered speed bumps in your journey? How did you deal with them?
We will be meeting this Thursday in the Guilford College Community Center at 7:00. Hope to see you there!
3.07.2011
The Journey to the Cross: Stop #1: The Wildnerness
As we enter into this season of Lent, we are reminded rather quickly of Jesus' 40 day temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). Think about this: if Jesus gives in to even one of these temptations, there is no cross. It's a deal-breaker. He resists the temptations, but the journey is just beginning. We have a tendency to think that if we can just get over the temptation hurdle, life will be easy. But the journey is just beginning, and it leads to the cross. So what are you packing in your packs to help you resist temptation along the way?
We will be meeting in the GCUMC sanctuary this Thursday at 7:00 (Guilford is on spring break), so help us spread the word!
We will be meeting in the GCUMC sanctuary this Thursday at 7:00 (Guilford is on spring break), so help us spread the word!
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