Are Burdens Bad?

Until recently, I thought of burdens as a bad thing.  Jesus' cross was a burden - how could a burden ever be a positive thing?   It was a blog entry by Perry Noble that made me stop and think.  He writes, "You have been burdened/bothered by the Most High God in regards to what he specifically wants you to do regarding His will."  

I thought, "God is bothering me?  Like a little kid poking me to get him a juice box?  Of course not...maybe I don't know what burden really means..."  So I looked it up.  

Burden- something that is carried; duty; responsibility

So God, my Heavenly Father who loves me, has made it my responsibility, my duty, to carry out the calling He has placed on my life.  Maybe if I don't listen he'll poke me like a little kid would, but am I being a faithful disciple if I don't hear and respond?  And has God really put the right people around me to help carry my burden?  

I know without a doubt God has placed me where He wants me and continues to burden me (poking when I don't listen) with what He wills for my life.  I hope you, my friends, will help me with these responsibilities and will allow us in The Porch community to do the same for you.

What are some of your burdens?  How can we be praying for you?

-Neal

Amy H. interview on prayer

Prayer / Amy Harper from Guilford College UMC on Vimeo.

Take Away the Cup

In the upcoming weeks, The Porch is going to be looking at Jesus' prayers during the last hours of his life. Right before he gets arrested, Jesus goes into the Garden of Gethsemane and prays, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will”(Matthew 26.) It's a short prayer, but perhaps one the most powerful utterances in the whole Bible. In two short sentences, we can begin to understand the intense anguish that Jesus was under as we realize that he suffers the same way that you and I suffer. Who among us has not at one point or another prayed for God to remove our burdens?

This tells me two things. First, as long as we are on this earth, we will have to endure suffering. In fact, if we are serious about following Jesus, this means that we will follow him through the miracles, signs and wonders into the Garden and then to the cross. A call to follow Jesus is not one that takes us to a suffer-free zone, but instead one that allows us to serve a savior that was willing to suffer with us.

Secondly, God hears our prayers as a means of comforting us in the midst of our burdens. This does not imply that all of our burdens will be removed (the cup was not taken from Jesus), but it does show that God hears us. In a world that is telling us to make it on our own, Jesus' prayer in the Garden suggests the opposite. Our God is so close to us that he listens to our hearts and hears our struggles while we are in it. God is big enough to hear each of our prayers, yet close enough to listen and comfort each of his followers.

So how do you best give your burdens to God? Has God ever removed the cup for you? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

This Week at The Porch- The Lord's Prayer

The Porch will be meeting this Thursday (5/26) at 7:00 in the GCUMC sanctuary. We are continuing our Summer of Prayer series this week as we focus on the Lord’s prayer! We hope to see you there!

The Porch Returns this Thursday (5/12) at 7:00 in the GCUMC Sanctuary

Thank you to all of you who came to the Porch’s Town Hall Meeting. We made some good progress and got some great feedback as well! In case you missed it, The Porch has decided to meet on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays at GCUMC throughout the summer. During this time, we will be discerning what our next steps will be for the fall. With that in mind, we have decided to make our worship focus a “summer of prayer.” We will be taking a look at the prayers of Jesus and learning how we can incorporate these into our own lives. This will also give us some intentional time to listen and pray each Thursday as we corporately seek to discern where God is leading us. Thanks for all your hard work, and we look forward to worshipping with you throughout the summer!

We will kick things off this Thursday, May 12, at 7:00 in the GCUMC sanctuary. Hope to see you there!

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!

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?