New Covenant UMC Blog

It is Monday night, and I am just getting to writing my latest devotion.  I suppose it would be noble or even heroic  to say that I have been busy on this Memorial Day doing some important ministerial tasks but that is not true.  Ann and I went after church on Sunday to the mountains of southern Virginia.  We had dinner with some old friends on Sunday evening and  rambled around the southern Virginia countryside looking at some beautiful waterfalls.  Today (Monday),  Ann and I spent time together viewing the scenery of the Blue Ridge Parkway before spending some family time this evening celebrating my Father-in-law’s 82^nd birthday.

I shared my activities of this Memorial Day weekend not to bore you or impress you, but to point out that it is important that followers of Jesus take time to be with family members and those they love.  As important as it is to do the work of the Kingdom of God, it is also important that we connect with and spend time with family.  We have a commitment to Christ, but we also have a commitment to them.  I am thankful I chose on this Memorial Day weekend to be with good friends, my wonderful wife, and our family.   

We need to spend with friends and family now because they will not be with us  forever.  I remembered today what I was doing on Memorial Day, 1985.  On that day, I participated in the funeral of my Grandmother Perry.   20 years later on that very same day, I participated in the funeral of  my step-father, Beamon Wyrick.   Yes, go follow Jesus and do the work of the Kingdom.   However, also take time to spend  time with the people you love.  Now, enough reading this blog.  Go and hug a family member, or take time to tell them that you love them.  Have a joy-filled week.—Pastor Randy Wall  

One of the parts of our worship services  we have every Sunday here at New Covenant Church   is the “passing of the peace”.  While most of us use it as a time to speak to friends and guests alike, it is more than that.  Why, it is even biblical.   When we “pass the peace”, among the opportunities presented to us is  the chance to   “make peace” with those who we have something against before worship  (see Matthew 5:23).   It is also a chance to wish peace to those around us even as we desire for peace to be wished to us.

            Today, I find myself thinking of these words from Matthew 5:9 where we hear Jesus say, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”     It is so much easier to “pass the peace” than to “make peace”.      In a few days, we will come to another Memorial Day and will remember those who died “making peace” for us.    As we come close to Memorial Day, let us seek to not just be “peace lovers” or “peace passers” but also “peace makers”.       Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy L. Wall   

There is much that has been said about marriage in recent weeks in the press.  Most of the commentary is related to the “marriage amendment” that was on the ballot in North Carolina on Tuesday, May 8.   I have listened to the commentary pro and con on the amendment, and it occurs to me that most of the comments have focused on who one should marry instead of what marriage should be.    Whatever you think about the marriage amendment,  I think we can agree that the world is a better place when marriages can be strengthened.   

Last night, I joined some of men of New Covenant Church as we continued our study on the book of Ephesians.    There were several passages of scripture that we looked at last night that surely strengthen marriage. Here are a couple of them:  

“Do not let the sun go down while you are angry….”   (Ephesians 4:26).    Every married couples have their moments when they get angry with one another.     That is normal and natural in the course of human relationships.    Any marriage can be strengthened if couples will get over their anger quickly instead of holding on to their anger and “stewing” about it.

“Love your wives as Christ loved the church….”  (Ephesians 5:25)   Someone in our Bible study pointed out last evening  that the apostle Paul has more instructions to husbands about marriage than to wives about marriage in Ephesians 5.  Perhaps husbands need more instruction.     If I as a husband and if all husbands could love their wives as Christ loved the church, how much better marriages would be. 

There is one final final comment I would make about marriage:  pray for your spouse and your family.    I pray daily for my wife Ann, our children, my son in laws, and my grandchildren.   I also pray daily that God would help me be  the kind of husband that He would have me to be.      All of us need God’s help in our marriages, so pray for your spouse and family.      Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Many colleges and universities are holding their graduation exercises in these days.  This morning, I read in the paper about one member of the class of 2012.  His name is Gac Filipaj, and he is 52 years old.      He graduated from college yesterday with  honors.    An immigrant from war-torn Yugoslavia, he worked full time cleaning toilets and the like at Lerner Hall on the Columbia University campus.    When not working, he spent his time taking classes at Columbia graduating yesterday with a degree in the classics.    I don’t know Gac, but I think I would enjoy getting to know him.    He is a man that personifies that learning  is not just a “young folks” game.  No, learning is for a lifetime. 

I also read something else this morning- the Bible.    Hear these words I read this morning from Ephesians 3: 17-18 which say,   “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. “  

Learning is for a lifetime, folks.   Gac Filipaj certainly exemplifies that.  There is so much in this world to learn and there is so much of God I still want to know.  I invite you to join me in that learning by reading your Bible, being a part of a study group, and being a part of a church community.  Have a joy-filled day.—Pastor Randy Wall

The Book of Ruth is one of two books in the Bible named after a woman. (The other book is Esther.) We hear in the Book of Ruth of a woman named Naomi who moves to the land of Moab with her husband and two sons. Her sons marry Moabite woman, Orpah and Ruth. Unfortunately, Namoi ‘s husband and her two sons die. The story goes that Naomi decides to move back to Judah. In those days, women did not work outside the home. It seemed perfectly logical that Naomi would want to be near her own family after losing three close members of the family. When Naomi encourages her daughter in laws, Orpah and Ruth , to return their homes, Ruth balks at the idea. Listen to these words in Ruth 1: 18-20 as Ruth speaks to Naomi:

We had  our monthly fellowship meal  last evening here at New Covenant Church.   Since I had not seen many in our church family for sometime since I was out of town most of last week, it was so good to  be together and catch up with people.    

Today, I find myself thinking  how important that meals are in the stuff of life.  Meals are a central part  of  some of life’s  most joyous  and saddest events.    Meals are a central part of the Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations for many of us.    As we observe Mother’s Day in just a few days, many will gather for  a meal to celebrate  Mom.    While we gather for meals on these happy occasions, we also gather for meals on sad occasions such as before or after a funeral.

In Luke 24, we hear of some of Jesus’ disciples  walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus.     As they make their journey, they are joining on their journey  by a person they do not know.    When the disciples arrive at their destination, they invite this stranger to stay with them and share a meal with them.  As they share the meal, they realize that it is Jesus in their midst. 

One of the things that you can count on when you gather for a meal with followers of Jesus  is that no matter what the menu or what the occasion,  Jesus shows up.    Whether we gather in joy or sorrow, for a feast or for only a morsel of food , the living Christ is here among us.  Thanks be to God.  Have a joy-filled week.–  Pastor Randy Wall

We have some occupants at the New Covenant Church parsonage that you may not know about.    It seems that a bird has built a nest in one of our hanging baskets.  Yesterday, I spotted three baby birds in the nest.   The way those baby birds looked at me, I think that I was more a curiousity to them than they were to me. 

As I think of those new additions to our household, I am reminded of a passage of scripture from the sermon on the mount.  In Matthew 6:25-27, we hear Jesus say,     ²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[e]?  

It is not unusual during the week for this pastor to encounter persons who are worrying about the challenges of their life:  jobs, sickness, family, and the like.  The list of things that people worry about is long.    From time to time, I am among those who worry.    I am grateful for those birds who are temporarily dwelling at the Wall household for reminding me of the love and care of our heavenly Father for all of us and each of us.      I recall a poem I learned years ago.    While I am not sure I remember it word for word, this is what I remember:  “Said the robin to the sparrow, I would really like to know/  Why these humans worry and fret so./  Said the sparrow to the robin, It may just be/  They do not have a heavenly Father who loves them/ like He loves you and me.”    Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

 This month of April is the 100^th anniversary for the sinking of the Titanic. As he travelled from England to the United States in the northern Atlantic Ocean, the Titanic hit an iceberg on April 14 and sank on April 15. He was one of the worse maritime disasters in modern history leading to many safety improvements in passenger ships. Though I have never seen an iceberg like the one the Titanic hit, I am told that what you see only portion of the iceberg. There is so much more below the surface of the iceberg.

I believe the iceberg is a fitting metaphor for the church. What you see in the church newsletter,the bulletin, or on Sunday morning is only a small portion of what God is doing in His Church. You do not see all the prayers being said… the calls, visits, or cards sent to the sick, homebound, or those who have lost their way to church…. the Bible verses that are read… the testimonies that are shared… the kindnesses that are given to those around the block or in other places.

When folks only see a portion of what God is doing in His Church, the Church is not only like an iceberg. It is also like the Lord Jesus. I am reminded of these words in John 21:25 which says, ²⁵ Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. Have a joy-filled week, my friends.– Pastor Randy Wall