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Bragging is not healthy

This morning I am reading for my seminary class, “The Bible in Youth Ministry as Spiritual Guide for Adolescents” and I was doing it I was reading the story of Joseph and his brothers. I think we can all acknowledge one thing.

Joseph was kind of a punk.

Joseph the Dreamer has been having very interesting dreams and whenever he has a dream Joseph in all his wisdom and LOADS of humility shares his dreams with his brothers in which this is usually what happens:

Hey brothers! I just had another dream and in the dream I learned that one day I will be your master and you will all serve me.

Kind of a punk.

We all knew this bragging wasn’t going to end well, and in fact it doesn’t. Joseph’ brothers put him in a hole in the ground and at first just want to leave him there, but then they get a better idea. Hey! let’s sell Joseph into slavery. Let this dreamer be someone else’s problem. That is just what they did.

I think we all can relate to all the people in this story. We have all been that annoying 6th grader that lives to push every button that every has to get a rise out of them, and we all have been annoyed by said 6th graders. I think the story of Joseph teaches us a great lesson in humility.

Is it bad that Joseph has dreams and that God has chosen me, absolutely not! It’s amazing that God is using Joseph in the way He is. Let us remember that we are all human and there is nothing that we could ever do to earn God’s love and grace and there is nothing we didn’t do to earn it either. We are all in the same boat and yet God loves each of us just as we are. We must remember always to see the world and our neighbor as God sees them and additionally not raise ourselves above our neighbors but love them as Christ loves each of us.

The only being that ever existed that had great evidence to raise himself above everyone else, Jesus Christ humbled himself and died on the cross. So what does it say that Christ could have raised himself and yet chose humility?

Additionally what does say about ourselves that we do the opposite at times?

Let us always seek to model the example of Christ.

Amen.

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Don’t Pull A Homer

 

When I was younger and even now I was a big fan of a certain TV show, The Simpsons. The Simpsons have been on television since December of 1989, for the majority of my life. For those of you who do not know the Simpson are an interesting family. Homer and Marge Simpson are the parents and they have three children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. As I have grown in age my love for the show hasn’t changed but I have. Homer is one of comedic aspects of the show, but as I have grown older this character has become somewhat of a cultural norm for us.

Homer is what the world expects of us. He is who we are comfortable being, or maybe not. I am not comfortable with my life being like Homers. So, today we are going to analyze who Homer is, where he is going, and why he is going there and through this we will see hopefully that there is a better way.

A week in the life of Homer J. Simpson is a bleak one. He drinks, a lot, goes to work which is pretty much a joke to him which is quite telling, because Homer works at a Nuclear Power Plant, where if he pushes the wrong button the whole community could have a nuclear explosion. When he is not at work he is at the Bar, Moe’s Tavern where he is drinking with his buddies, usually coming up with a terrible scheme to get more money or fame, which always ends badly.

To answer the question Homer isn’t really going anywhere and being anyone.

Hey, from our end its funny. Sort of, until this becomes our life.

Parents, how many of y’all want your kids to grow up to be a Homer? Not many of you. The most telling of this entire thing is Homer goes to church, but you wouldn’t be able to tell, because he is like many of the current state of the church. Not transformed. Just present in a pew, physically present anyway.

His life is not changed however by his presence at church because He is not really there. His being at church is not a decision on his part but one where Marge, his wife has said we are going to church. Going to church doesn’t make you a disciple just like a car just being a garage makes it a GTO. Our lives are not changed by a presence of osmosis, but by a decision, a commitment, a covenant with God.

God wants so much for us, so much more abundance and we see Christmas’ go by every year and we set New Years resolution and fail them time and time again. Jesus wasn’t bored to tears in heaven; His coming may the most intentional creation that God has done in the history of everything. He meticulously designed this great moment and has been leading to this moment and every part of this moment screams to all of creation who God really is or more importantly who He is not!

He chooses Mary and Joseph, the Shepherds, Wise people from across the world and a stable to reveal Himself to the world. All will be a part of this story and in this very action God is saying all are welcome in my kingdom and in this abundant life.

Mary today is possibly the best image for what we do now. “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be with me just as you have said.”

No negotiations, no complaints, just faith and surrender. I am sure she thought of all the doubts, the concerns, and all that would happen.

Mary continues on in verse 46 by praising God:

“Mary said, “With all my heart I glorify the Lord! In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior. He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant. Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored because the mighty one has done great things for me. Holy is his name. He shows mercy to everyone, from one generation to the next, who honors him as God. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations. He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty-handed. He has come to the aid of his servant Israel, remembering his mercy, just as he promised to our ancestors, to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.””

Listen to something similar from John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Movement:

I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you,
Praised for you or criticized for you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service.
And now, O wonderful and holy God,
Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, you are mine, and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
Let it also be made in heaven.  Amen.

Who are you and I? We are Gods children, we are no longer slaves to fear and doubt but at our core we belong to God and He to us.

Where are we going? Where He leads us and we are going there because He is good and worthy of our trust and faith.

Don’t let this season of renewal in Christ go by without saying Yes to the life that God deeply wants for you, so much that He gave His own Son. Let us transformed from the inside out so that through us we can partner with God in transforming the world.

Don’t just exist in the life that God has for you, LIVE that LIFE with ABUNDANCE.

Amen.

 

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Jurassic: Old Habits Die Hard

At First Cleburne Student Ministry we  are officially in Christmas Break with our programming but in just a couple of weeks, we are starting a new sermon series that I am really excited about. On January 6th, we are beginning a three-week emphasis on Habits with a series entitled, Jurassic: Old Habits Die Hard.

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Teenagers have lots of habits, but some habits go way back and they are destructive, so destructive it’s like a T-REX is attacking you spiritually and further separating you from the abundant life in Christ. Each week we will hear a message about a habit that most teenagers can relate to and how we are called to let this habit die.

Week One: Creating Drama – Following our own selfish desires will eventually cause drama in our relationships.

Focus scripture: James 4:1-12

Week Two: Dating to Find Self-Worth – Don’t look to find your identity in a dating relationship, find it in Jesus.

Focus Scripture: John 4:1-30

Week Three: Lying and the Misuse of Social Media – The new life we receive through Jesus should change the way we engage with others in person and online.

Focus Scripture: Ephesians 4:17-32

Additionally, with this series, we will take on a 21 day Habits Challenge. This challenge will involve Adults and Students alike for 21 days, where we will challenge ourselves to daily do the follow things:

1. Hang Time With God – Spending 5-10 minutes reading scripture or spending time in prayer with God.
2. Accountability – Once a week meet with a close friend or mentor and discuss how things are going in your life.
3. Bible Memorization – Make reading and remembering the Word a priority.
4. Involvement – Get involved with the ministries of the church. Help in the office, pray in the prayer room, there is so much you can be doing.
5. Tithe – Give a tithe or a monetary or time-based gift to the church
6. Study Scripture – Pick a scripture and study it over and over and see what God does.

So why is this important and why am I sharing this with you? Simply because prayer works and I believe in its power. So I ask that you pray for all the students of First Cleburne Student Ministries and the Student Ministry Leaders (Staff & Volunteers) as we journey together through this series.

If you are interested in this series and more like it I would highly recommend Ministry Pass. Jurassic is a series that was originally created by them. It’s a great resource!

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Thank You God

Youth Ministry is just like any other job in our world, it has good days, great days, bad days, and awful days. Then you get a day like yesterday, where God shows up and blows you off your feet. I need to rewind back to August right quick to explain what happened yesterday. In August or September, I can’t remember which really we had a Student Leadership Retreat. At these retreats we gather together and put everything on the table for the students to know about, in this case, I showed the team what 2015 – 2016 looked like for the Student Ministries, at First United Methodist Church. Conversations that day were great, we were thinking and re-thinking, but there has always been an event that was hit or miss. Our Student Ministries Christmas Party. Last year at our party we had a whopping 55 students show up and the plan for the right was a progressive dinner and a white elephant gift exchange.

  1. Have you ever done a Progressive Dinner with 14 vehicles? Well, I wouldn’t recommend it.
  2. Have you ever done a white elephant gift exchange with 55 students!? Again, definitely, wouldn’t recommend it.

So, we had a quandary and a good one at that. We had more students than we expected to show up, so it was time to rethink how we celebrate Christmas as a Student Ministry. There are moments in student where I am immensely proud of my students. In response to this Christmas party experience, they decided this year in lieu of receiving gifts to give back to the volunteers of the student ministry. Last night was our Volunteer Ministry Awards Night, our very own VMA’s, and it was filled with great fellowship, a fun game show and incredible worship.

During worship our speaker, Will Whitworth, who is a junior of Cleburne High School said very eloquently this:

“If youth are the hands and feet of Christ and they are as we all are, but volunteers you are the arms and the legs. The hands and feet can’t function without the help of the arms and legs. We are connected in one body.”

What a powerful image of God and the ministry we have been called to do. We are all connected, and while we don’t do all the same things in the community we all connect all these things to the Kingdom. I am beyond blessed to walk the walk of faith with such as these. Thank you, God for all that you have given us and that you, in fact, are Immanuel. You are with us!

Can’t wait for 2016 VMA’s!

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Advent: A Practice of Learning How to Wait

Advent is here and the waiting and sense of expectation are upon us. Tonight I begin a two week Advent series entitled, “Waiting” for our Wednesday Night gathering at First Cleburne Student Ministry. As I have been preparing the messages for this series, I have spent a lot of time thinking about waiting in our current culture. Surprisingly we don’t have wait in our culture, in fact, we are encouraged almost every moment of every day NOT to wait.

I am exposed to this more times than most by working with young people. Marketing loves our youth; they are big consumers, and they have the marketing all but perfected in how they encourage them to consume. It seems in the 21st century however we consume a lot of things, but not things that sustain us, build us, and help us live an abundant life.

We consume, yes, but the question is what do we consume?

I had an interesting experience with Verizon Wireless as of late. Verizon gave me a call and informed me in this call that I was due for an early upgrade, here is how the convo went down:

Verizon Salesperson: (VERY EXCITED VOICE) Mr. Alexander I am calling to inform you that you qualify for an early upgrade on your phone! 
Me: Really? That’s interesting. I was under the impression that I was due for an upgrade on November 29th. Is that not the case? 
Verizon Salesperson: Mr. Alexander, yes that is when your upgrade is due, but you can early upgrade right now! 
Me: Well, why would I do that? What is the benefit to getting a new phone right now? 
Verizon Salesperson: The price would be the same so the only benefit is getting a new phone, but if you do it right now I will throw in a new case and external battery! 
Me: No thanks I will wait until I am set for the upgrade. I am a man of my word and when I say I will sign a two year contract I will do that full two years. Thank you for the offer, but I will wait.
Verizon Salesperon: Ok…just so you know there is no charge to upgrade now. It will be a free upgrade.
Me: I understand that, but I will wait. 

The salesperson didn’t know what to do with that. The conversation ended very awkwardly, but it ended nonetheless. Additionally Verizon called me two more times in the month of November, and I had the same conversation, and I also received many text messages as well. They simply didn’t know what to do with the idea of waiting or delayed satisfaction.

As Disciples of Christ a majority of the time we are waiting. It is all in God’s perfect time.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a well-known German theologian from the 1930 and 40’s, once said about advent that: “celebrating Advent means learning how to wait. Waiting is an art which our impatient age has forgotten. We want to pluck the fruit before it has had time to ripen. Greedy eyes are soon disappointed when what they saw as luscious fruit is sour to the taste. In disappointment and disgust they throw it away. The fruit, full of promise rots on the ground. It is rejected without thanks by disappointed hands.

I love the imagery that Bonhoeffer uses by saying we want to pluck the fruit before it has had time to ripen. We don’t need what we think we need. Our inability to wait always leads us to a place of emptiness and bitterness, and God wants for us a fulfilling life! A life that is joyful, loving, and full of grace. An abundant life in Christ!

When we wait on God and follow His timing, we are always led to a place of fulfillment and joy! In John 10:10 Jesus as an full fledged adult talks about that He came to give life and give it abundantly. Let us consider further in closing what Bonhoeffer says about Advent:

“The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come. For these, it is enough to wait in humble fear until the Holy One himself comes down to us, God in the child in the manger. God comes. The Lord Jesus comes. Christmas comes. Christians rejoice!”

Advent and Waiting go hand in hand, and with them we are compelled to REJOICE as we wait! REJOICE!