 Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash How many of you remember the climactic scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? If you’ll recall, Indiana has to pass through three challenges in order to reach the Holy Grail and save his father from certain death. His father, played by Sean Connery, had been researching the Holy Grail and wrote down three clues to allow for safe passage through the challenges, allowing someone to successfully reach the Grail.
Indiana makes it through because he has a book to guide him. Now, I don’t know how often you feel like you’ve had to make a Leap of Faith. For me, agreeing to be on the Peace Tree Launch Team in 2015 was a Leap of Faith. Like Indy, I’m not sure I would have made the leap if I didn’t have my book, the Bible. My first year on the Launch Team was my last year of Disciple Bible study (six years earlier when I started the Disciple series, I wasn’t sure I would get past the first year much less complete the whole series). Planting a church was not on my radar. I had no thoughts of leaving Collierville United Methodist Church. I was comfortable. Paul and I had joined Collierville UMC in 1999. We had been members long enough that we had been involved in several areas and knew many people. We liked our Sunday School class a lot. I even started to occasionally fill in for our Sunday school teachers during the summer months to give them a break. Our youngest child, Caleb, was very involved in all of the children’s programming and continued to be involved as he grew up and joined the youth program. He earned a trophy memorizing the books of the Bible and taught himself guitar so he could play in the youth praise band. Rev. Harry Durbin had invited him to be on his team in a Scrabble tournament, and he went on numerous youth trips to Mountain TOP, Breakthru, BigStuf Camps, Lake Junaluska and Lakeshore Camp. I had been intrigued by Disciple Bible Study for a while. I knew many members of my Sunday School class had taken Disciple lessons, and they all spoke highly of the courses. I had enrolled once before but I was still working a full-time job, and with the kids’ schedules it was a struggle to keep up. Finally the time came where my husband, Paul, and I could take the course at the same time. We started with over 20 people that first year. People came and went over the six years we participated in Disciple, but a core group of six made it through all six years. We formed really close friendships with those people as we studied Scripture together and prayed for each other during that time. Little did I know that as I was working through these lessons throughout the Bible and on Christian & Methodist theology, God was preparing me to take my Leap of Faith. Just getting the overview of the Bible in the first year and understanding how the Old Testament and the New Testament work together was eye-opening. By Year Six we compared the Gospels and talked about what was the same, what was different, and why. When we heard at Collierville UMC that Pastor Kristofer would be planting a church and putting together a Launch Team, I was immediately excited. But that excitement was followed by a great sense of doubt. What if I wanted to serve on this team but my husband didn’t? What if we wanted to do this but Kristofer had enough volunteers or didn’t feel he needed us? How long would we have to commit before we could return to CUMC? I am not sure how called my husband felt to this new church plant, but he agreed to join me for a face-to-face talk with Pastor Kris. I do remember telling Paul after our talk that I did not want us to be at separate churches, so if he wasn’t comfortable with moving forward then we would stay at CUMC. However, since we had built up a better Biblical foundation through Disciple, and because we truly believed Kris was answering God’s call, we decided to take the leap. Then as Rev. David Atkinson, the senior pastor at CUMC said, it got real! It became clear to us with each passing week that church planting was bigger than we realized and better than we hoped. Faith is not a one-time thing. Faith is part of the lifestyle of a disciple of Jesus Christ. Faith is trusting Him. John Wesley was particularly concerned about inviting people to experience grace and to grow in their knowledge and love of God through disciplined Christian living. He emphasized that Christian living is putting faith and love into action. Wesley believed in salvation by God’s grace but was convinced that salvation should evidence itself as faith and love in action. We each are called to take a Leap of Faith. We each must answer our own call. Your call may be the similar to someone else’s call; it may be completely different. The point is that we have a Good Book to help us get ready and to prepare for that call. The Bible is a book that will help us see the signs and recognize them. It’s a book that teaches us the correct response to God’s call. It leads us to the understanding that faith grows through our participation in the church community — a community where we are nourished and equipped for mission and service to the world. Every House Group host at Peace Tree takes a Leap of Faith when they open up their home to both church members and guests. Young people and families take Leaps of Faith when they come forward to be baptized and when they decide to join our congregation as members. Our service groups SIS and BRO have taken Leaps of Faith when they decided to organize and begin serving the people of our community with their time and energy. Our students have taken Leaps of Faith by joining multi-generational House Groups instead of joining a more age-specific children’s program or youth group. So, now the questions for you are: How is God calling you? Are you ready to take your Leap of Faith? May God bless you as you answer the call. +Lisa Junkins   Not every workplace observes Good Friday as a holiday (i.e. Holy Day), and not everyone has the ability to attend a Good Friday worship service in person. So, we've assembled these prayers, pictures, and readings for you to use on your own time. As you do so, reflect on Jesus' sacrifice, his death on a cross, and the depths of God's love for all of humanity. Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. So, let us pray: Almighty God, your Son Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross so that he might draw the whole world to himself. Grant that we, who glory in this death for our salvation, may also glory in his call to take up our cross and follow him; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (The United Methodist Book of Worship, "A Service for Good Friday") See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. Just as there were many who were astonished at him—so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of mortals— so he shall startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate. Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account. Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the Lord shall prosper. Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 52:13-53:12  Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face. Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.” Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate therefore said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.” When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.” Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus;and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says, “They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.” And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:19-30  Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.” After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. John 19:31-42 Almighty God,
graciously behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer)  It takes dozens of volunteers to make our Sunday morning Large Group worship celebrations possible each and every week. As a way of showing our appreciation to these amazing individuals, we’re taking a break from holding a worship service this Sunday. We believe it’s important to rest and to spend time abiding in God. So, we’ve assembled the following worship materials for you and your family to use in order to worship God wherever you’re spending this holiday weekend. We believe “Church Can Happen Anywhere,” and we hope you’ll invite others to join you in reading Scripture, praying, singing, and discussing the Gospel message from Luke 2:22-40. Remember to “Check In” to Peace Tree UMC on Facebook and Instagram. Every check-in will provide a Book of Hope to a child living in a persecuted or hard-tor-reach area thanks to our partnership with Causely and OneHope. And be sure to use the hashtag #books4kids so that other people will know about this month’s charitable cause. Have a safe and happy New Year’s weekend! We’ll see each of you back at the Malco Forest Hill Cinema on January 7th at 10AM as we kick off our new sermon series, “ReNew Year.” If you’d like to make donation to Peace Tree this week, you can give HERE, and if you have any prayer requests, then please share them with us HERE. God bless! +Peace and Love from Pastor Kris OPEN WITH PRAYER O almighty God, by the birth of your hold child Jesus you gave us a great light to dawn on our darkness. Grant that in his light we may see light. Bestow upon us that most excellent Christmas gift of love to all people, so that the likeness of your Son may be formed in us, and that we may have ever brightening hope of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen. (The UMC Book of Worship 1965, Alt.) READ SCRIPTURE When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. (Luke 2:22-40, New Revised Standard Version) DISCUSS TOGETHER
REFLECT Watch this music video for Francesca Battistelli’s “Holy Spirit.” Listen to the lyrics (or sing/read them below) and consider what God is calling you to do this week. VERSE ONE:
There's nothing worth more That could ever come close No thing can compare You're our living hope Your presence, Lord I've tasted and seen Of the sweetest of loves Where my heart becomes free And my shame is undone Your presence, Lord CHORUS: Holy Spirit, You are welcome here Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for To be overcome by Your presence, Lord Your presence, Lord VERSE ONE CHORUS BRIDGE (x4): Let us become more aware of Your presence Let us experience the glory of Your goodness TAG Holy Spirit, You are welcome here Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for To be overcome by Your presence, Lord (Written by Cyril Garrett Neville, Gaynielle H. Neville, Hack Bartholomew, Norman Caesar • Copyright © Universal Music Publishing Group, Capitol Christian Music Group) CLOSE WITH PRAYER May the Christ who by his Incarnation gathered into One things earthly and heavenly, fill us with the sweetness of inward peace and goodwill; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon us and remain with us always. Amen. It takes dozens of volunteers to make our Sunday morning Large Group worship celebrations possible each and every week. As a way of showing our appreciation to these amazing individuals, we’re taking a break from holding a worship service this Sunday. We believe it’s important to rest and to spend time abiding in God. So, we’ve assembled the following worship materials for you and your family to use in order to worship God wherever you’re spending this holiday weekend. We believe “Church Can Happen Anywhere,” and we hope you’ll invite others to join you in reading Scripture, praying, singing, and discussing the Gospel message from Matthew 10:40-42. Remember to “Check In” to Peace Tree UMC on Facebook and Instagram. Every check-in will provide a week of clean drinking water to a family in need thanks to our partnership with Causely and Northwest Haiti Christian Mission. And be sure to use the hashtag #givewater so that other people will know about this month’s charitable cause. Have a safe and happy 4th of July weekend! We’ll see each of you back at the Malco Collierville Towne Cinema on July 9th at 10AM as we continue our Summer at the Movies sermon series with a movie clip from Soul Surfer and a message based on Matthew 11:16-30. If you’d like to make donation to Peace Tree this week, you can give HERE, and if you have any prayer requests, then please share them with us HERE. God bless! +Peace and Love from Pastor Kris OPEN WITH PRAYER O God, you are the hope of all the ends of the earth, the God of the spirits of all flesh. Hear our humble intercession for all races and families on earth, that you will turn all hearts to yourself. Remove from our minds hatred, prejudice, and contempt for those who are not of our own race or color, class or creed, that, departing from everything that estranges and divides, we may by you be brought into unity of spirit, in the bond of peace. Amen. (Church of Scotland, 20th Cent., Alt.) READ SCRIPTURE “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” (Matthew 10:40-42, New Revised Standard Version) DISCUSS TOGETHER
REFLECT Watch this music video for Matthew West’s Do Something. Listen to the lyrics (or sing/read them below) and consider what God is calling you to do this week. VERSE ONE:
I woke up this morning Saw a world full of trouble now, thought How’d we ever get so far down, and How’s it ever gonna turn around So I turned my eyes to Heaven I thought, “God, why don’t You do something?” Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of People living in poverty Children sold into slavery The thought disgusted me So, I shook my fist at Heaven Said, “God, why don’t You do something?” He said, “I did, yeah, I created you.” CHORUS: If not us, then who If not me and you Right now, it’s time for us to do something, yeah If not now, then when Will we see an end To all this pain Oh, it’s not enough to do nothing It’s time for us to do something VERSE TWO: I’m so tired of talking about How we are God’s hands and feet But it’s easier to say than to be Live like angels of apathy who tell ourselves It’s alright, “somebody else will do something” Well, I don’t know about you But I’m sick and tired of life with no desire I don’t want a flame, I want a fire and I wanna be the one who stands up and says “I’m gonna do something” CHORUS BRIDGE: We are the salt of the earth We are a city on a hill We’re never gonna change the world By standing still No, we won’t stand still CHORUS (Matthew West, Copyright Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.) CLOSE WITH PRAYER God of grace and glory, we thank you that you judge us not by the perfection of our actions, but by our readiness to live boldly by faith. Help us, as individuals and as a congregation, to trust you and follow where you lead, that in Christ your name may be glorified in all the earth. Amen. (Ruth Duck, USA, 20th Cent.)  Jesus and Star Trek. One said, “Therefore, go…” and the other, “Boldly go…” Peace Tree has been on God’s mission since 2015. We’ve left the comfort of stained glass sanctuaries & worship halls and followed the call of Jesus’ Great Commission: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28:19). At the same time, we feel like spiritual pioneers exploring new frontiers, worshiping God in new places, and gathering on different days of the week. On August 21, 2016, we held our first-ever Sunday morning worship service at the Malco Collierville Towne Cinema. I admit that I felt a bit like Captain Kirk leading his crew into the great unknown. None of us had set up a church service in a movie theater before, let alone worship God with any congregation at the cinema! Still, our teams pulled up to the Malco at 7:30 a.m. and started hauling gear into the building, and it felt as though we were living out the USS Enterprise’s mission in some small way: “to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.” The weight of a universe-sized challenge was certainly upon us: Could we envision a new heaven and a new earth in a multiplex? Could we breathe new life into Christians who had worshiped in traditional settings since birth? Could we reach new people with the Gospel for the very first time? Will friends and families step out in faith and form a new community with us, one that lives together and follows Christ? We can’t answer many of those questions at the moment, not even 10 days later as we look back on the 21st of August. The reason we can’t answer those questions is because we aren’t building this church; Christ is the one who builds his Church. Christ is the one who will usher in the new heaven and the new earth. The Holy Spirit is the one who breathes new life into followers. God the Father is the one who touches the hearts of those who hear the Gospel for the first time. What we feel we can say is that God was with us on August 21st, and the potential to grow into a beloved community was certainly felt by all who gathered with us that day. Even though the challenge was extremely high, the invitation to our neighbors was even greater! All of our volunteers circled up at 8:55 a.m. to say a prayer, and as soon as we said “Amen” the first family was walking through the door. Children began grabbing juice boxes and bags of Cheerios, adults filled up cups of coffee and reached for donuts, and newcomers started signing up for our newsletter while flipping through our new brochure. Everyone was greeted at least 5 times before they took their seat in the theater, and you could definitely feel the love in the room. Hannah led us in singing, Tyler greeted the congregation, Susan read our Scripture passage, and I preached a sermon that reflected Peace Tree’s vision: “Church Can Happen Anywhere.” And while the message was taking place inside Auditorium 7, there were children who were playing, learning, and discussing the same passage (Acts 2:42-47) with Ms. Connie and Ms. Chris during Peace Tree Kids. There are many things we learned at our first preview worship service and there are many things we’ll be tweaking and improving along the way. But all in all, many of our volunteers and team members felt we could say that our first worship service was a success! We set up and cleaned up in the timeframe we allotted ourselves. There weren’t any major technical issues with video or sound. Infants were cared for by professionals in the nursery. And there was enough food and drink for a small army! But most importantly, 81 people gathered together to worship God in a new place & in a new way, and we did Church in a movie theater. Every time I teach or preach, I hope that the congregation can walk away learning two things: 1) How the early Christians would’ve originally heard and interpreted the passage we studied, and 2) How we can apply that original teaching to 21st century life in America. From our first worship service, I hope everyone will remember that Jesus worshiped God anywhere, because God exists everywhere! Jesus preached in fields, from boats, and on mountainsides. The first Christians met in people’s homes so that they could eat meals together, celebrate Communion, and discuss Jesus’ teachings. So what does this mean for us today? It means Church Can Happen Anywhere! Church can happen in our homes, in public parks, in local restaurants; Church can even happen in a Malco theater. Peace Tree will be worshiping at the Malco Collierville Towne Cinema three more times in 2016. The upcoming dates are September 18, October 16, and November 13. We hope you, the reader, will join us! Each time we meet, the doors will open at 9:00 a.m. for coffee & donuts. The worship service will begin at 9:30, and children are welcome to attend Peace Tree Kids at 10:00. During this season of preview services, we aim to learn as a team and to grow as Jesus’ disciples. We’ll also be praying and asking God if the Malco Collierville should be our first home as we launch a Sunday morning service. So stay tuned for news about possible weekly services in 2017. Thanks to all of our friends, families, House Group attendees, volunteers, and newcomers for making our first preview service such a success. It was an honor to share God’s Word with you that day and to worship God with you as a family. We’d love for you to join us on September 18th, and we hope we see some new faces as well! To all who have been supporting us since Day One, who have checked in on our progress, and who have prayed for our ministry: thank you, thank you, thank you. Your thoughts and prayers mean so much to us, and we definitely see God working through this faith community. God bless y’all, and remember: “Church Can Happen Anywhere.” +Peace and Love from Pastor Kris  It’s the Monday after Easter Sunday, and I’m forced to ask, “Now what?” The craziness and busy-ness of Holy Week is behind us. The Maundy Thursday communion services, the Good Friday worship services, and the Holy Saturday egg hunts have all taken place. The capstone of the entire Lenten season, Easter Sunday, has come and gone and left us with memories of packed sanctuaries, massive choirs, full orchestras & praise bands, and stirring sermons which were general enough for the twice-a-year attendee to comprehend yet also specific enough to satisfy the weekly churchgoer who religiously followed the pastor’s 6-week sermon series. So, “Now what?”
It seems as though we’ve treated Easter Sunday as the finish line. Pastors jokingly compare Easter Sunday to their Super Bowl for the year, pulling out all the stops, preaching to the biggest crowd they will most likely see (until Christmas Eve), and encouraging church staff and lay volunteers to put their best foot forward and to do everything with excellence. But, if Easter Sunday is the Super Bowl, then does that mean the season is over? The Easter story was certainly not over for Jesus. Easter Sunday wasn’t a finish line, but instead it was a new beginning, another mile marker in the long story of God’s redemption of this world. Don’t get me wrong, Easter Sunday is certainly a time to celebrate the Risen Christ, but it is also a call to ACTION! So when answering the question, Now what?, perhaps we should take a closer look at what Jesus says to his disciples in the moments following his resurrection. The Gospel of Mark contains Jesus’ words in two alternate endings, but the shorter and longer endings both echo the same sentiment: “And afterwards Jesus himself SENT OUT through them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.” (shorter ending). “And he said to them, ‘GO into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.’” (excerpt from the longer ending). Similar wording is seen in the Gospel of Matthew’s closing verses, often referred to as the Great Commission: “GO therefore and make disciples of all nations…” Likewise, the theme of being sent is found in both John and Luke’s gospels: “As the Father has sent me, SO I SEND YOU.” (John 20:21b). “And see, I am SENDING…” (Luke 24:49a) [all emphases are mine]. If the disciples in their shock and confusion, and in their elation and surprise had trouble understanding what came next, Jesus made it clear and simple – “I am SENDING you out into the whole world, so now GO and make disciples!” What shall we do after the resurrection? What happens now? Now, we receive our marching orders. Now, we are commissioned and sent out into the world. Now, we receive our disciple-making assignments. Now, we launch off the starting block of Easter Sunday so that we may continue Jesus’ ministry of love and service. Now, we work together to rebuild God’s family while focusing our eyes on Christ. Every spring, trees produce seed and pollen to be scattered by the wind so that future trees might be reproduced. Likewise, every Easter the Church should produce disciples and Christ-followers to be scattered to the wind to spiritually reproduce and multiply future disciples. We gather on Easter Sunday in order to be scattered by the wind, the same wind that hovered over the waters of Creation, the same breath which the Resurrected Christ breathed out onto his disciples, the same Spirit which drove Jesus into the wilderness after his baptism and which empowers us all in the days following Pentecost. It’s the day after Easter. Now what? Now, we get to work by being the Church, by living together as the Body of Christ, and by loving and serving everyone we meet. Now it’s time to ask ourselves, “With whom shall I share the Good News of Easter morning? Who will I help disciple to faith in Jesus?” May God bless you and send you on mission for Christ, and may you go out into the world with the peace of the Risen Savior. +Peace and Love from Pastor Kris  The following press release was written by Compassion International, an organization which exists as an advocate for children, to release them from their spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enable them to become responsible and fulfilled Christian adults. Peace Tree is providing volunteers and working alongside Collierville UMC to help host Compassion International's upcoming event. More than 1.4 billion people in developing countries live on less than $1.25 per day, facing challenges most Americans never will. Compassion International’s The Compassion Experience is making a four-day stop in the Collierville area February 19-22 and will bring visitors on a journey into the lives of two Compassion-sponsored children living in the Philippines and the Dominican Republic. The event will be hosted by Collierville United Methodist Church at 454 West Poplar Avenue in Collierville A self-guided tour will immerse visitors in the lives of the children. Through the use of an iPod, a headset and 1,700 square feet of interactive space, visitors will see the children’s homes, walk through schools and markets, and hear life-changing stories of hope—all from the perspective of a child whose life began in poverty. This free event is appropriate for all ages and is an excellent opportunity for anyone who has never had the chance to travel outside the U.S. to get a small glimpse of what life can be like in developing countries. Visitors are encouraged to make a reservation, however walk-ins are welcome. Groups of 20 or more should email changetour@compassion.com to reserve their space. For more information about “The Compassion Experience”, visit www.compassionexperience.com, @compassion_exp on Twitter, and www.facebook.com/compassionexperience on Facebook. WHO: Collierville and Memphis-area residents — all ages welcome WHAT: An interactive tour through the life of a child living in a developing country WHEN / WHERE: February 19-22, 2016 Collierville United Methodist Church 454 West Poplar Avenue Collierville, TN 38017  It fascinates me how people can have so many memories that are centered on food. We remember funny conversations during Thanksgiving dinners, favorite dishes that moms cooked for us when we were feeling blue, meals that turned out horribly and yet our loved ones grit their teeth and ate them anyways, and restaurants where we had our first date with our significant other. Friends have shared with me how they’ve remembered potlucks at their childhood church. Young people in Collierville serve breakfast on a monthly basis to individuals who are impoverished or homeless and those memories will stick with these students for a lifetime. Every week at Peace Tree, we make sure to include a meal at every House Group gathering, and we do so for several reasons, memorability being one of those reasons.
Food makes moments memorable. To demonstrate this point, here's what we ate this past week at Peace Tree: we had pasta at the Martinsburg Cv House, pizza and salads at Mellow Mushroom during Monday Night Hangout, burgers with a side of macaroni and cheese at the Winleaf Dr House, and chicken stir fry with rice at the Loeb St House. To go along with each of those locations, we’ve studied the book of Acts, shared conversations during Trivia, looked at Old Testament prophecies about Jesus, and discussed what it means to be compassionate as Christians. The food is always delicious, but we also value the discussion and the people with whom we share our meals. Secondly, sharing a meal at House Groups encourages us to live out our core values: Love All, Serve All, Live Together, Follow Christ. Good food tends to fill the room with love, and by thanking God for the food and asking God to bless the meal, we are receiving and returning love to God. For the families who prepare the meal, they are serving others; guests who come to the house also find ways to serve by pouring drinks, clearing tables, and washing dishes. There’s always room at the table so we can eat together. But perhaps the most important reason we include a meal at every House Group gathering is because it follows Christ’s model for ministry. All throughout the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry, we see Jesus eating and drinking with people. His first miracle was at a wedding reception where he turned water into wine. Time and time again, concerned Jewish leaders point out that Jesus is eating with sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes. Jesus often found the most unpopular person from the towns he passed through and invited himself over to their house for dinner. Jesus asks a woman of a different ethnicity to draw water for him at the well and then he proceeds to offer her Living Water and amazing grace. Communion was first celebrated at a meal which Christians refer to as the Last Supper, and even after the crucifixion, Christ consumes broiled fish with his disciples after his walk to Emmaus. Nowadays, it seems as though the Church has divorced its worship services from the very meals that Jesus enjoyed while on earth. If we’re serious about following Christ, shouldn’t we be eating the way he ate with the people he sought out by gathering in ordinary homes and towns where he would’ve walked? Peace Tree is serious about following Christ, so we decided at the outset of this church planting journey to bring Church to our dinner tables. What a blessing it has turned out to be! We’ve seen House Groups multiply, dinner tables extend, and menus expand to include more people. Sharing meals together at Peace Tree gatherings makes the moments memorable and allows us to live out our values, especially our core value of “Follow Christ.” This Sunday, all our House Groups are coming together for a meal and an afternoon of bowling at Funquest in Collierville. If you’re in town and would like to join us, we’d love to have you! Just be sure to RSVP to the event HERE. Similar to our House Group gatherings and every community event before this one, we will be sure to have plenty of food for everyone! (As a side note, we handed out water and pop-ice in July, grilled burgers in August at our Back to School BBQ, delivered baked goods to First Responders on Sept. 11, handed out dog treats at our Blessing of the Animals in October, roasted hot dogs at our Family Fest in November, and poured cups of hot cocoa at Carols & Candlelight in December. We’re not kidding when we say we LOVE sharing food with our neighbors!). We hope you’ll join us for a meal at one of our upcoming House Group gatherings sometime soon. Just remember that the meal is part of our worship time together when we’ll also celebrate communion, pray for each other, and read the Bible together. You can also join us this Sunday in Collierville for lunch and bowling. If you’ve never considered how a meal can be a worship service, try doing this: the next time you eat a meal with your family, go around the table and say what you’re thankful for and how you’ve seen God throughout your day. And if you’re at an established church, try finding ways that you can incorporate meals, potlucks, coffee & donuts, soup kitchens, and any other food-centric ministry into your congregation’s worship services and weekly programs. Christ set the example for all his followers by sharing meals with many different types of people. It’s time for the Church to reclaim this food-centric ministry. It’s time to make God a topic of conversation at our family dinner table. It’s time to share meals together in our church sanctuaries. It’s time to believe that Church can happen at a picnic table in our public parks, and in our dining rooms, and at the local coffee house, and in our favorite restaurants. It's time to believe that Church can happen anywhere. +Peace and Love from Pastor Kris  Families come in all shapes and sizes these days. No longer can we drive by a home and assume that a "traditional" family containing a husband, wife, and 2.5 children live inside. More and more families include a step-parent, an adopted sibling, or a foster child. And with these modern-day realities come modern-day challenges: how to visit every family on Christmas Eve or Christmas day, how to please grandparents who live hundreds of miles away, and how to coordinate schedules with an ex-husband or ex-wife who wants to see a child during the winter break.
On top of this, there are many young adults who have started new jobs this year and won't travel home for Christmas. They've formed new family groups with other young people to fill this void. Newlyweds have to determine which spouse's family they will see at worship on Christmas Eve and which family they will visit on Christmas day. There are so many obligations, appointments, and traditions to uphold during this busy time of year that we often forget to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. So this year, we plan to celebrate Christmas early on Friday, December 18th at 7:00 p.m. This week marks the end of the semester for students, but families will still be in town. Celebrating Christmas early means you won't have to worry about splitting time with another family on December 25th or navigating an unfamiliar town to attend a worship service on Christmas Eve. And celebrating under the gazebo on the Collierville Town Square means you won't have to worry about parking spots, fighting for seats, or running out of room for you and your family. "Carols and Candlelight" will be a chance to take a Christmas service down to the basics: we'll read the Nativity Story and prepare our hearts for the Christ child, we'll sing beloved carols that echo that story, and we'll gather together with neighbors who long for community and friendship. This Friday is not simply a chance to pause and celebrate Christmas on your schedule; it's also an opportunity for you to invite someone who is searching for Christ this year. Think of the co-worker who hasn't attended a church worship service in years, the neighbor who doesn't do well with large crowds, the classmate who is a spiritual person but who has no faith community. This is an opportunity to share the joy of Christmas and spread some holy-day cheer. We hope you'll join us this Friday, but we also hope you'll text or call a friend who you'll pick up and bring along to "Carols and Candlelight." With so many things happening in the world, it's easy to forget why we celebrate Christmas. "Carols and Candlelight" will provide a much needed reminder. I'm most looking forward to our final carol where each person will be invited to light their candle. It's a reminder of how Christ is the Light that came down to earth, a Light that shines in the darkness, a Light that we follow and shows us the Way. Celebrating Christmas early on December 18th reminds us that Christ is our Light, and when we share that Light with our neighbors, the world becomes a brighter place. We'll see you this Friday night in Collierville. +Peace and Love from Pastor Kris  Last Friday, my wife and I visited a “church” of sorts, a place where Americans spend more than $10.4 billion a year. We were greeted at the front door, ushered towards the room on our ticket and invited to purchase food and beverages. When we walked into the main room we saw a sea of strange faces, but we did encounter a couple of friends. We exchanged pleasantries as we walked down the aisle, then we took our seats. A type of liturgy flashed across the screen reminding us to turn off our cell phones, to limit our talking, and to be sure we knew the location of the exits in case of an emergency. Before the main event, we sat through another welcome followed by several announcements of upcoming films. And there we were, sitting in the cold, dimly lit sanctuary of the movie theater. I love movies. Anyone who’s heard me preach in a worship service expects me to reference a movie at some point in the sermon, whether it is planned or sporadic. Since Americans see so many movies a year, and since critically-acclaimed movies along with huge blockbusters have been seen by the majority of the people sitting in the pews of a congregation, it makes sense to me to draw examples out of the most popular movies of the day or classics from cinema’s past when I get up to preach. What really gets me excited about movies is when I see religious references or undertones in the storytelling. There are Hindu references in The Legend of Bagger Vance, Buddhist and Taoist influences in the Star Wars films, and Jewish and Christian archetypes permeating Superman. So you can imagine my excitement when I found a connection between Ridley Scott’s latest sci-fi thriller, The Martian, and three parables (simple stories that teach spiritual lessons) from the Gospel of Luke. Be warned that the following discusses plot points from The Martian and contains minor spoilers. If you have simply seen the trailer for The Martian, you know that Matt Damon’s character, Mark Watney, gets left behind on the red planet following an accident during an emergency evacuation. His crew believed he died on Mars, so Watney is left all alone on the desolate planet with only his ingenuity, creativity, potatoes, and disco music. He also has a home base from which to work, a rover with which to explore, and several other items from past missions, rovers, and satellites that he must seek out in order to survive. Meanwhile, on earth, satellite imagery picks up movement on the red planet which can mean only one thing: Mark Watney is still alive. The folks from NASA start discussing what to do to ensure he stays alive, what the press will do with the news, and whether or not to tell the crew who are ignorant of his survival. But in an unscripted moment during a press conference, Vincent Kapoor (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) boldly states, “We will do everything within our power to bring him home.” This one sentence became a bridge from the movie to the Gospel of Luke. Luke groups three of Jesus’s stories together in chapter 15 of his Gospel. We commonly refer to these stories as The Parable of the Lost Sheep, The Parable of the Lost Coin, and The Parable of the Lost (or Prodigal) Son. At some point in the movie, Mark Watney assumes the roles of all three lost items: sheep, coin, and son. Jesus asks a mixed crowd of supporters and haters what they would do in a certain situation: You have 100 sheep and one goes missing. Which of you wouldn’t abandon the 99 sheep to go out and find the one lost sheep? When you come home with that sheep, you’d throw a party, right? Now, there are several practical questions that must be asked, but hold onto those for the moment. Right now, I would like you to simply consider why astronauts would travel to Mars. Perhaps it is because we all have an innate animal instinct to explore the unknown, to travel out into the wilderness, and discover the undiscovered. In a way, the crew of the Ares III were like sheep who decided to leave the relative safety of their flock in order to venture out into unknown territory. Thus, Mark Watney becomes the Lost Sheep. Jesus doesn’t stop at sheep; he goes on to tell a story about a woman who has lost a silver coin which is part of a collection of 10 coins she wears in a special headpiece. The woman sweeps the room and searches diligently until she finds the coin. After recovering it, she throws a party for the neighborhood to celebrate. But here’s the kicker: the party probably cost more than the value of the coin she found! Again, there are questions regarding the practicality of such party, but for now consider this: the coin had no control in whether to be lost or found. It was an item that fell to the will of gravity, physics, space & time. The woman had to make the effort to search and retrieve the Lost Coin. Such was the fate of Mark Watney. He could not control the antenna apparatus that knocked him to the surface of Mars hundreds of feet away from his crewmates. He became the Lost Coin, an object that had no control of its surroundings, at the mercy of the elements, and subject to physics, space & time. Let’s pause for a moment and talk about the practical issues raised by these parables and by The Martian. Why would a shepherd leave 99 sheep defenseless in search of one lost sheep? Isn’t it better to cut your losses, protect the 99 you’re sure you have right now, and make sure you don’t lose another one? And the woman who found the lost coin: why throw a party valued greater than the coin which was found? It makes no economical sense to do such a thing! And as my wife pointed out in the car ride home from the movie theater: “Imagine all the good that could have been done for the hungry and the homeless, the refugee and the uneducated with all the money that was spent on trying to save one person who was lost on Mars.” I agreed from a utilitarian perspective that more good could be done with the money, brain power, energy, and time spent on a rescue mission to bring Watney home from Mars if instead those monies and resources were spent on all the people who suffer here on earth. As we drove down Poplar Ave, she continued, “Was it selfish of Mark Watney to allow all those resources and all that money to be spent on him? Is his life more important than anyone else’s life?” Jeff Daniels’s character states, “It’s bigger than one person,” to which Sean Bean’s character replies, “No, it’s not.” Is it possible to justify the use of these resources for one person? At this point in the conversation, it suddenly hit me: The Martian is a parable! It's almost as if Jesus began telling a story that started out, "How many of you after losing an astronaut wouldn't do everything within your power to bring him home?" Now, before my fellow nerds get in an uproar, yes, I know that there are many applicable skills for space travelers found in this movie, and I know that the science is pretty rock solid. But when asking the theological and philosophical question, “How big is God’s Love?” the answer will always be, “God’s Love is bigger than the universe! God will stop at nothing to bring you home!” When a non-believer says, “Explain God’s character to me,” the response of Christian believers should be, “God will use up all of God’s resources to find you, rescue you, and offer you a life that is greater than the life you are living right now.” This may not make any sense to us practically, and it may not fit our systems of logic. But it doesn’t have to. This is God we’re talking about, and our minds cannot comprehend the mind of God. God’s actions exist outside of our logic, and God’s plans are greater than our own plans. You may be asking, “So, how is Mark Watney like the Lost Son?” I’m glad you asked! The son sets out on his own, does some things he probably shouldn’t do (Luke doesn’t go into great detail, but let’s just say the words ‘squandered’ and ‘dissolute living’ show up), but at some point he comes to his senses. He realizes that life is better with his father; life is truly a life worth living when he’s back home with his family. He has to eat some nasty food and work some shady jobs before he sets off for home, but he did it all to survive. He makes the conscious decision not to die. Watney decided he wasn’t going to die on that planet. He used science to create water in a controlled environment, used human feces to act as fertilizer for his potatoes, and put his life on the line numerous times to simply survive as a castaway millions of miles from home until help arrived. But just like the Lost Son, Watney had to make the decision to survive, had to wake up to his reality, and had to put all his efforts into finding a way home. All of us get lost at some point in life whether we’re like the coin that doesn’t even realize it’s lost, or the sheep that follows its animal instinct to wander and explore, or the son who makes questionable choices before waking up to turn his life around. Or maybe you’re like the Lost Astronaut who feels abandoned and alone and thinks maybe your life isn’t worth saving. Dear reader, listen to me when I say that God’s Love for you is bigger than the universe! God will stop at nothing to rescue you and bring you home! God’s grace covers us all, but grace requires sacrifice. God’s own Son died on cross for the world to know how great God’s love is. There was no greater sacrifice than that! When we accept that love, we start making the conscious choice to change, to sacrifice, and to allow parts of our old self to die so that we may become more like Jesus. When this transformation occurs and our lives as New Creation begins, we start to see others the way God sees them, to love others the way Christ loves them, and we encounter the Holy Spirit living through our neighbors. The story of God’s rescue mission is about one person: You! God loves you so much, that God made the greatest sacrifice imaginable in order to bring you home. You may say that this makes no sense, but it doesn't need to make sense for it to be true. God loves you and there's nothing you can do to stop it. If you’re like me and you’re looking for a great movie to see this weekend, I highly recommend The Martian (a.k.a. The Parable of the Lost Astronaut). It currently has a 93% approval rating on rottentomatoes.com and it’s Certified Fresh. The Martian is rated PG-13 for some strong language, injury images, and brief nudity (i.e. Matt Damon’s buttocks). If you see any other spiritual undertones or metaphors in Ridley Scott’s The Martian, please share them in the comments section. +Peace and Love from Pastor Kris |
Peace Tree
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November 2018
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Large Group Celebrations
Sundays at 10:00 AM (doors open at 9:30 AM) Malco Forest Hill Cinema Grill 3180 Village Shops Dr Germantown, TN 38138 |
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Peace Tree UMC 875 W. Poplar Ave. Suite 23, #306 Collierville, TN 38017 |