For the last year and a half our worship has been centered on the larger questions EPUMC is facing. Last year it was, “How do we become a more Missional Congregation?” We came out of last year with the thought that EPUMC is a gift from God that is meant to be shared.
This year we are exploring: “Finding our Place in God’s Story….By becoming Servants of Jesus Christ.” We are learning to replace the “V” word (volunteer) as we discover what it means to be servants of Jesus Christ.
Beginning June 12, we will start a summer-long sermon series entitled: “Leaps of Faith.” “Leaps of Faith” is about how we grow into our experience of faith by being attentive to a few things that take us to a new… deeper level.
I’m a visual person and when I tried to imagine what this might look like I began to think of different moments when people experience being suspended between heaven and earth. When I started to talk about this with our worship design team, the most common thing we thought of was swinging on a swing. It’s that moment when you are not really going any higher but also have not started back down. It’s the moment when you give yourself over to something that you do not totally control and is not really predicable.
We are going to spend most of June and July on this topic. Today I wanted to let you know that unlike many sermon series, this longer one is not as sequential as others have been. Just saying, I thought that might be a good idea for a summer sermon series. Leaps of Faith include: Reading Scripture, Prayer, Worship. These Leaps of Faith are first of all not just things we talk about. Leaps of faith are things we do, practices that we can develop and well… practice… like a golf swing or cutting the grass.
You can try out these leaps of faith yourself during the week wherever you find yourself this summer. This is why a lot of people call these “Disciplines.” I balk at that word every time I hear it, knowing that one reason I am hesitant is that there is something important God is trying to say to me.
The point in practicing these disciplines is not how well or consistently we do them. The point is that we attempt an intention to grow in our relationship with God. I hope this summer as we attempt to practice the important parts of our faith that we will more fully become the servants of Jesus Christ our community needs.
This year we are exploring: “Finding our Place in God’s Story….By becoming Servants of Jesus Christ.” We are learning to replace the “V” word (volunteer) as we discover what it means to be servants of Jesus Christ.
Beginning June 12, we will start a summer-long sermon series entitled: “Leaps of Faith.” “Leaps of Faith” is about how we grow into our experience of faith by being attentive to a few things that take us to a new… deeper level.
I’m a visual person and when I tried to imagine what this might look like I began to think of different moments when people experience being suspended between heaven and earth. When I started to talk about this with our worship design team, the most common thing we thought of was swinging on a swing. It’s that moment when you are not really going any higher but also have not started back down. It’s the moment when you give yourself over to something that you do not totally control and is not really predicable.
We are going to spend most of June and July on this topic. Today I wanted to let you know that unlike many sermon series, this longer one is not as sequential as others have been. Just saying, I thought that might be a good idea for a summer sermon series. Leaps of Faith include: Reading Scripture, Prayer, Worship. These Leaps of Faith are first of all not just things we talk about. Leaps of faith are things we do, practices that we can develop and well… practice… like a golf swing or cutting the grass.
You can try out these leaps of faith yourself during the week wherever you find yourself this summer. This is why a lot of people call these “Disciplines.” I balk at that word every time I hear it, knowing that one reason I am hesitant is that there is something important God is trying to say to me.
The point in practicing these disciplines is not how well or consistently we do them. The point is that we attempt an intention to grow in our relationship with God. I hope this summer as we attempt to practice the important parts of our faith that we will more fully become the servants of Jesus Christ our community needs.
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