New Covenant UMC Blog

On Sunday, April 19 I will be away from the congregation where I serve as pastor to preach at Grace United Methodist Church in Burlington. This is a special church to me because this is the church where I was baptized and gave my life to Christ Jesus. It is the congregation where I first gave my testimony and preached my first sermon. It was this body of believers that nurtured me and guided me as I answered the call to ministry as I began my journey to ordained ministry in 1972. The last time I was with this congregation was when I was present for the funeral of my stepfather, Beamon Wyrick.

My presence at Grace Church on Sunday will be a bittersweet experience. On the one hand, it will be good to see some old friends and awaken old memories particularly as I move toward retirement from full time ministry in a few months. On the other hand, I know that I will feel some sadness because Grace Church is closing this summer. Many of the persons who were members when I was a child and a teenager have either died or moved away. The community has also changed as communities always do. The congregation has dwindled to less than two dozen people.

As a pastor, I have found myself with countless people who were dying. As a family member, I have found myself at the bedside of people that I loved as their son and grandson. I always knew the words to say on those occasions. On Sunday, April 19, I will find myself at a church I dearly love that is dying and I am not sure what to say. Yet, I remember that when I stood before that congregation for the very first time, someone in the church shared with me this verse of scripture from Mark 13:10-11 which says:

¹⁰ And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. ¹¹ Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit gave me the words to say when I spoke to that congregation for the very first time, and the Holy Spirit will give me the words to say when I speak before that congregation on April 19 for the very last time. That Holy Spirit will give you the words to say too. Have a joy-filled week.- Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER: Loving and living God, thank you for all the ways that are still speaking in the world today. Through the power of your Spirit, help me to speak in ways that are faithful to you and responsive to the occasion in which I find myself; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 15 is the deadline for filing without penalty your federal tax returns each year. For those who have been procrastinating filing your taxes, the time is nigh. When you are married to a professional tax preparer like I am, April 15 is a day of celebration. We read in Luke 20:20-26 about a time when Jesus had to wrestle with the question of taxes. Listen to this story:

²⁰ Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.²¹ So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. ²² Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” ²³ He saw through their duplicity and said to them, ²⁴ “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. ²⁵ He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” ²⁶ They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.

While the image of Caesar was on the coinage of the day of Jesus, the image of a President is often on the coinage that fills our wallets or our pockets. Therefore, every year we render to our government the taxes due. Whose image is stamped on you? While the image of a President might be printed on the money we spend or even save, there is an image on each and everyone of us and it is the image of God. As we give our monies to our government at tax time, let us give our lives to God all the time. Have a joy-filled week.- Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER: Holy God, thank your creating us in your image and for redeeming us through the love of Jesus Christ. Help us to live our lives in a way that would be pleasing to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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On Sunday afternoon, April 12, I will have the chance to baptism Cooper Towe. Cooper talked to me a few weeks ago about faith, and he has decided that he wants Jesus Christ to be his Lord and Savior and live in his heart. A few years ago, I had the priviledge to baptize his sister, Abby.

While some Christian denominations only baptize by immersion, the United Methodist Church recognizes all modes of baptism as valid. The three modes of baptism that the Church practices is sprinkling, immersion, and pouring. I have had the priviledge to baptize persons using all three modes of baptism.

Some of my Baptist friends are surprised that Methodist do immerse. I have had the honor to immerse persons in rivers, creeks, lakes, baptistries, and swimming pools. Cooper has chosen to be immersed like his sister, Abby, was. A scriptural basis for immersion can be found in Romans 6:1-10 where we read:

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. ⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sinmight be done away with,^[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. ⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

What a powerful message. As a person is immersed under the water, they die a death to sin and rise out of the water into a new life in Christ. In these post-resurrection days, let us claim that newness of Christ that is ours in Christ. Let us remember our baptism, and be thankful. Have a joy-filled week.- Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER: Lord and God, thank you for the sacrament of baptism and what it means not only to me, but to the Church. Through the power of your Holy Spirit and the power of your forgiveness, help me to die to sin and rise to new heights in serving you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I was saddened to hear the news last week about the death of Rev. Dr. Robert H. Schuller. While few of you might have worshipped at The Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California , I suspect more of you watched the “Hour of Power” television program that he hosted or read one of his many books.

What you might not know is that before there was an “Hour of Power” television program or a Crystal Cathedral that Robert H. Schuller founded the Garden Grove Community Church in 1955. The beginnings of that church were in a drive in movie theatre. (If you do not know what a drive in movie theatre is, ask your parents or grandparents to explain it to you.) The story goes that Dr. Schuller and the organist would be located on top of the drive in movie theatre snack bar and Dr. Schuller would preach, pray, and read scripture using the drive in theatre sound system as worship participants hung the speakers on their car windows and listened to the worship service. A few years later, additional land was purchased and a building built in a way that gave people the option to either walk into the building to worship or stay in their car and worship in “drive in movie theatre fashion.” What a creative and novel idea it must have been 60 years ago for a church to meet in a drive in movie theatre. Yet, that is how Robert Schuller began his ministry in Garden Grove, California.

Robert Schuller is one of thousands of followers of Christ Jesus through the ages who used new and innovative ways to share the gospel. Early Methodist George Whitfield preached not in a drive in movie theatre, but at the entrance to England’s coal mines as the miners emerged from a day’s work. Early Methodist leaders Charles and John Wesley used familiar tunes used for songs in English pubs for some of their early hymns. In John 3: 1-8, we read these words:

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” ³ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.^{[a 4} “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit^b] gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^[c] must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”^[d]

Like Robert Schuller and countless others, we must search for new and innovative ways for sharing the gospel today without compromising the gospel message. We must “be born again” to new ways to share the eternal message of Christ. Have a joy-filled week.- Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER: Holy God, thank for the new life that is ours in Easter and in the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, lead your Church to find new ways to share the love of Christ Jesus with a new generation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the four gospels in the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the synoptic gospels because there are similiarties in what material you find there. John, however, is a gospel of a different sort. It tells us stories we don’t hear in the other gospels about people like Nicodemus, Thomas, and the woman at the well. On Maundy Thursday, many Christians gather to worship and share the Lords Supper remembering how Jesus shared a meal with his disciples that night. We hear the story of the Lords Supper in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John, however, tells us an important detail about the meal that night that the other gospels don’t share. Listen to these words from John 13:1-5,13-16:

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.² The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴ so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him………. ¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.¹⁷ Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

John tells us that on that Maundy Thursday night, Jesus washes their feet and took on the role of a servant. It was a foretaste of what Jesus did on Good Friday. When Jesus died on the cross, he took on the role of a servant and washes away their sins. As followers of Jesus, service is not just something you attend. No, service is also something you are called to do. Have a joy-filled week.- Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER: Praise and honor, glory and thanksgiving, be to you, O Lord, for the death of Christ Jesus on the cross for my sins. I give you thanks that Christ Jesus gave his life as a ransom for my sins. As Christ served, help me to go and do likewise; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

One of the things that has caught my attention in the news in recent months has been the story of ISIS (which stands for Independent State for Iraq and Syria) and Christians. There are numerous news sources stating that ISIS is destroying churches and persecuting Christians. Listen to what some of the news sources are saying: CBS news reported recently that more than 125,000 Christians in Iraq have been forced to flee their homeland because of this persecution. In February, it was reported that 15 Christians had been executed by ISIS. Just a few days ago, “60 minutes” showed a piece on its weekly broadcast about the persecution of Christians and the destruction of churches and church artifacts that ISIS has been doing.

The purpose of this blog is certainly not to re-hash the news you hear on television or read in your newspaper. However, it is important that “we connect the dots” and see the connection between our faith and what is happening in the world. The late William Barclay used to say that a Christian should read the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other hand. During these days of Holy Week as Christians ponder the death and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on the cross, it is well for us to remember that there are Christians around the world who face persecution and even death in these days for following Jesus.

During Holy Week, we will hear again the stories of how Peter denied Jesus three times and how the other disciples fled to places of safety and security hoping they would not be arrested. How about you and I as disciples of Christ Jesus today? Would we be willing (as Christians in Iraq and Syria have been even in these days) to offer up our very lives for this Christ Jesus who gave his all that we might be forgiven for our sins? Where do we stand regarding this one named Christ Jesus? Have a blessed week.- Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER: Living and loving God, I thank you for your wondrous love for me and for the whole world. I thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, who lived and who died for my sins. I remember this day those brothers and sisters around the globe who are facing persecution and even death for following you. I am humbled by their faith and obedience to you. Lord, through the power of the Holy Spirit make my life a living sacrifice for you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

I try to arrive at the church early every Sunday morning. As I walk through the parking lot and into the building , I often feel a sense of anticipation in this place. After opening the doors, one of the first things I do is walk the aisles of the sanctuary. This act is not physical exercise, but spiritual exercise. As I walk those aisles, I pray for our Sunday worship services… for those who will provide leadership in music, video, sound, and the like…. for regular attender and guest alike who will seat in those seats… and for myself. I share this not to be braggadocious, but as preparation for what I observed one recent Sunday morning. I noticed as I prayed and walked the sanctuary aisles how the early morning light was streaming through the beautiful stained glass window behind the choir loft. From one side of the sanctuary to the other, you could not miss the beauty and glory of the cross found in that stained glass window. Behold, the beauty of the cross.

There is perhaps no symbol that is more aligned and recognized with the Christian faith than the cross. While it is surely a thing of beauty in our church sanctuary and a item of jewelry for some when it hangs on a necklace, the cross that Christ Jesus died upon was surely not meant to be a decoration. The cross was a means of execution just like the electric chair was in another era in our country. Yet, in that item meant for persecution and execution is the power and glory of God. Behold, the beauty of the cross.

The idea that a cross could be beautiful did not make sense to the people of Paul’s day. They knew it was a method to kill someone, and wondered what was all the fuss about for Christians that Christ Jesus was crucified. Paul speaks to that issue in I Corinthians 1: 22-25 when he writes:

²² Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

In these days of Lent, behold the cross, the cross of Jesus Christ not just as a symbol of the faith or as a thing of beauty. No, behold the power and glory of the cross for the sins and the lives of the whole world. Have a joy-filled week.- Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER: Lord, thank you for the body of Christ, the Church, and for the pastors and laity who lead your Church. Help us to be the Church alive in the world by sharing with others the love of God in Christ through word and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

It will be just a few months before the members of Grace Church will gather to worship in that building for the last time. You see, the church is closing. The church began in 1956 in a new section of Burlington as the city was expanding to the east with new homes and businesses. New homes were being built in a subdivision called “Town and Country” and those people needed to know about Christ Jesus. The church met in the home of Sikes and Betty Parham and in the local National Guard Amory before the current site was purchased and the first building was built.

I am feeling sad about the closing of that church because Grace Church is my home church located in Burlington NC. In that family of faith, I gave my life to Christ Jesus and was baptized. In that place, I preached my first sermon and I gathered with the body of Christ as my Mom and stepfather transitioned from the church militant to the church triumphant. The church family has dwindled in number through the years as people have died and moved away until the number of active members they have is 14 people. I will not use this space to cast blame on a specific person or the church leadership for the closure of Grace Church. To some extent, I guess I share some blame for its closure in that I left the church community years ago when I moved away and became a pastor.

Some churches close because people have moved away from that area. Such is not the case with the community around Grace Church. There are more people living in that community now than when the church was founded many years ago. One of the reasons why Grace Church is dying is because the people there stopped doing what they did when the church was born: reaching out to share with new people the love of Jesus Christ. Are you reaching to share with new people the love of Jesus Christ? When was the last time you invited someone to attend your church for a special event, or you shared with someone how much the church and God means in your life? Remember: the church of Jesus Christ is always only one generation away from extinction. Have a joy-filled week.- Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER: Lord, thank you for the body of Christ, the Church, and for the pastors and laity who lead your Church. Help us to be the Church alive in the world by sharing with others the love of God in Christ through word and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Belated Happy St. Patrick’s Day. St. Patrick’s Day is remembered by people in different ways. Folks in New York City and Savannah, Georgia have a big St. Patricks Day parade. People wear green and engage in all sorts of revelry. What is often missed at St Patricks Day is the story behind St. Patrick. St. Patrick was a missionary to Ireland hundreds of years ago. He is remembered on March 17 because that is the day he is believed to have died. Born in England, Patrick was captured and taken to Ireland where he became a slave. Sometime later, he escaped and returned to his family in England. Sometime later, he returned to Ireland to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. As a missionary, Patrick wanted to share about God with the Irish people. To help them understand about God as Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit (the Holy Trinity), he took a shamrock and told the Irish that just as the shamrock has three leaves, so God is personified in three ways as Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. St. Patrick was not the first to use a common, ordinary thing to say something about God. Jesus did the same thing in these two parables we find in Luke 15 where we read:

³ Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. ⁸ “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins^[a] and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹ And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Part of the challenge for all who follow Jesus Christ everyday is to seek to transform the unfathomable, unspeakable riches we know from Christ in our hearts into a form that people can see, understand, and relate to in their lives. How are you doing with sharing the love of Christ with those around you in a real and practical way? Have a joy-filled week.- Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER: Lord, I thank you for St. Patrick and for all those before me who shared the love of Jesus Christ. There is a great world around me that is hungry for the love of Christ today. Give the boldness to share it, and the wisdom to share that love in a way that people can understand; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I recall a time a few months ago when I went to the gym for my routine workout. When I left the gym, I stopped at a business in the area for a routine errand. As I was making my purchase at the store, the clerk noticed that my shirt was wet with sweat and commented, “Looks like you are leaking.”

All of us have had the experience of something leaking. We notice water stains on the ceiling of our home because the roof is leaking. We notice the tire on our car that is not fully inflated because air is leaking around the tire stem or because of a tiny hole in the tire. I have been reading during this season of Lent a Christian classic, My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers. A few days ago, I read this passage in the book: “If we lose the vision, we alone are responsible, and the way we lose the vision is by spiritual leakage.”In Acts 4:31, we read:

³¹ After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly

I heard someone once say that people are filled with the Holy Spirit, but sometimes the Spirit leaks out. Are you suffering with spiritual leakage? I don’t know about you, but my regular study of the scriptures, time of daily prayer, and being a part of a faith community helps me avoid spiritual leakage. I commend those practices and disciplines to you. Have a joy-filled week. - Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER: Lord, you are as close to me as my next breath. We can never run away from my presence and your love. Forgive me for the times that I wander away from the way, truth, and the life that is found in you. Bring me closer to you and to the life that is found in your blessed Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen