Our focus here at Barnitz and Mt. Zion is Connecting People to Christ’s Love.  I’ll be honest. It can be difficult to describe exactly what that looks like. It’s hard at times to know how to tell you, “Come and see!”  See what? We’ve been trying to clarify it with three questions: Do you know you are loved? Do you know you matter? Do you see God at work in your life?  

How do we give a picture of where we think we will be in five years? 

I believe I got a glimpse of this yesterday.  I had the privilege of attending the funeral of John Miller Scarborough.  His friends and family stood and spoke of his character. They shared how this farm boy grew up and became a country lawyer.  They shared how he was more concerned about helping people then making money. He often charged less than he could have if he charged at all.  He enjoyed the arts in the community, attending many concerts. He fought to keep the music department in the local school. He helped his son work the fields.  He watched his grandkids. He talked politics and supported anyone one and any cause he thought would help the community. It was clear there was much love for Mr. Scarborough.  It was clear he loved much too.  

Here is what I came away thinking.  This is what it looks like when someone loves their community.  

The pastor shared how Mr. Scarborough wouldn’t be too pleased to hear so much praise about his life.  Why? Because Mr. Scarborough would likely say that the way he lived wasn’t anything special. It’s just the way things “should be.”

I think Mr. Scarborough would be right.

We often lift up a life lived like Mr. Scarborough’s as the exception.  Why is that? Why can’t it be the norm to have everyone loving their community this way?  Why can’t we have everyone seeking to love their families this way? Love their neighbors this way?  Love the children in the community this way? Always looking out for others? Always learning for the purpose of making their community a better place?

I think this is a glimpse of what I hope to see in the next five years.  Where this way of living, or should I say loving, is more and more the norm and not the exception. 

Blessings,
Pastor Matt    

P.S.  Speaking of community, please consider joining us on Sunday, Nov. 24th at 5:30pm for the Community Thanksgiving Service. The service will be held at Idaville United Brethren Church located at 3590 Carlisle Road, #9672, Gardners PA.

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Jesus is King.
The Gospel is for damaged souls.
It’s about putting our faith in our Father.
God is faithful.

Here is a brief quote from his song, “God Is”

Every time I look up, I see God’s faithfulness
And it shows just how much He is miraculous
I can’t keep it to myself, I can’t sit here and be still
Everybody, I will tell ’til the whole world is healed

Go ahead and Google the lyrics for the entire song. It’s worth a read even if you aren’t sure you like rap music.

This album has created quite the excitement. Some are celebrating it. Others aren’t sure what to think. Kanye has not know the love of Jesus in this way all of his life. However, listen to the lyrics. He now wants to share it with the “whole world!” More specifically, he wants to “tell ‘til the whole world is healed.”

It reminds me of the time when the disciples came back to Jesus, seeking to “warn him.”

38 John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone throwing demons
out in your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.”

39 Jesus replied, “Don’t stop him. No one who does powerful acts in my name can
quickly turn around and curse me. 40 Whoever isn’t against us is for us. (Mark 9)

I don’t know Kanye’s story. I do know that millions of people are hearing these truths, and I want to celebrate that today.

Blessings,
Pastor Matt

P.S. Do you know that you are loved, that you matter and that God is at work in your life? We want you to be able to answer yes to those questions. That’s our focus here at Barnitz and Mt. Zion, Connecting People to Christ’s Love. Check out our times and locations and consider joining us some Sunday morning. We look forward to seeing you then!

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When we think of love, I’m thinking of how Paul, an early follower of Jesus, defines love in his letter to Christians in Corinth.

4 Love is patient, love is kind, it isn’t jealous, it doesn’t brag, it isn’t arrogant, 5 it isn’t rude, it doesn’t seek its own advantage, it isn’t irritable, it doesn’t keep a record of complaints, 6 it isn’t happy with injustice, but it is happy with the truth. 7 Love puts up with all things, trusts in all things, hopes for all things, endures all things.
(1 Corinthians 13)

Paul further down the letter writes:

11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, reason like a child, think like a child. But now that I have become a man, I’ve put an end to childish things. 12 Now we see a reflection in a mirror; then we will see face-to-face. Now I know partially, but then I will know completely in the same way that I have been completely known. 13 Now faith, hope, and love remain—these three things—and the greatest of these is love.
(1 Corinthians 13)

He paints this picture of looking in a mirror but not seeing ourselves clearly.  Paul is writing to people who had no idea what selfies are. They may have access to a bronze mirror, but there were no cameras to take the “perfect picture.”  

They didn’t have a clear picture of who they were, but God saw them clearly.  God sees us clearly too. God knows that the work of Jesus Christ on the cross transforms us, making us new.  When we are made new in Christ, we are able to love as Jesus loves.

This is hard for us to think about.  It’s hard for us to consider loving perfectly everyday.  We think, “This is not possible. I’m not Jesus.” And yet, Jesus tells us,

34 “I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. 35 This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.”  (John 13)

In other words, Jesus tells His followers, “Love as I love.”  Is Jesus teasing us here? Is he telling us to try and do something that he knows we can’t do?  That doesn’t seem too loving. It makes more sense that he is calling us to do something that he knows we can do.  It’s almost like he knows us better than we know ourselves.

Does this mean we will always love as Jesus loves?  Probably not. So what do we do when we find ourselves “not loving”?  What do we do when we find ourselves impatient, easily upset, boasting or envious of others?  

Here is my suggestion for you.  Notice those times when you are “not loving.”  Even more, be thankful that you are noticing the times when you are “not loving.”  Then offer a prayer similar to this one.

Thank you Jesus for forgiving me.  Thank you that I am aware of this in me and that is no longer who I am.  Thank you that you have given me a new heart. Thank you. I choose to see me as you see me, holy and blameless.  I choose love. 

Blessings,
Pastor Matt 

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Did you grow up in the church? I ask because it feels like this week’s post was written mostly to people who have grown up in church. However, if you haven’t grown up in the church, I believe you will find this interesting.

In the Old Testament, we see God’s people turn away from God. Their focus turns to what they want and what they think is important. They were still worshiping and believing. However, they started to worship and pay more attention to things they made, than to God, their Creator. Through His grace, God continued to speak to His people through prophets. The prophets continued to warn the people to stop doing what they were doing, but the people didn’t listen.

One prophet, Ezekiel, helps to clarify what was happening with God’s people. According to Ezekiel, one of the reasons the people turned away from God and focused on themselves is because they had what he calls, “bad shepherds.” Shepherds here could be kings, prophets, priests or other leaders. For our purposes, it’s fine to say, “They had bad leaders.”

This is what the Lord God says: As surely as I live, without a shepherd, my flock became prey. My flock became food for all the wild animals. My shepherds didn’t seek out my flock. They tended themselves, but they didn’t tend my flock. (Ezekiel 34:8, CEB)

Ezekiel says the shepherds, the bad shepherds, “tended themselves, but they didn’t tend my flock.” My concern is that as we read this verse now, many who have grown up in the church will hear, “The pastor is not doing enough. See, the pastor needs to do more.”

Specifically, this is often in the area of congregational care. For example, we often hear it this way, “Pastor ‘so and so’ never visited me. Pastor ‘so and so’ doesn’t visit enough.”

People within our congregations do need to be visited. Most have grown up with the expectation that this is the pastor’s job. However, as I read scripture, I do not see the role of the pastor as being the one who visits. I continue to be drawn to the words of the apostles who focus on prayer and proclaiming the word:

As for us, we will devote ourselves to prayer and the service of proclaiming the word. (Acts 6:4, CEB)

Paul says that good leaders are called to equip. Who are these leaders called to equip? They are called to equip the people in our churches.

11 He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. 12 His purpose was to equip God’s people for the work of serving and building up the body of Christ 13 until we all reach the unity of faith and knowledge of God’s Son. God’s goal is for us to become mature adults—to be fully grown, measured by the standard of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13, CEB)

Can you imagine what this looks like lived out? Everyone lives out their calling, and as we live out our roles within God’s Kingdom, we all are able to grow and become more and more like Christ. Or, as I like to say, we are able to love more and more like Jesus loves. This means some people in our churches are actually more called to visit other people than the pastor.

In light of the New Testament’s definition of leaders and the church, let’s look again at Ezekiel. What then is a “bad shepherd?” Bad shepherds, bad pastors, can “tend themselves” by doing more than they are called to do. This often happens through congregational care. Pastors may find themselves visiting in order to not break expectations that people have of them. In this way, they are “tending themselves” by seeking to please people and not God. Pleasing people becomes the focus, instead of pleasing God. Namely, they ignore the call to be in prayer, preach the Gospel, and equip others to live out their callings. Pastors literally rob people of their opportunity to live out their God given callings.

So the next time you feel like your pastor is breaking an expectation you have for them, ask yourself, is this something I’m calling the pastor to do, or is it something God is calling them to do?

Blessings,
Pastor Matt

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My family and I recently had the awesome privilege of visiting Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Go ahead and take a minute to Google images for the park. It is beautiful!

What is the most beautiful landscape that you have ever seen? Flowers? The ocean? Or maybe some wildlife?

Think about this beauty. How does this make you feel about God?

Heaven is declaring God’s glory; the sky is proclaiming his handiwork. (Psalm 19:1)

It is easy to find ourselves standing in awe before such beauty. We think. “This is amazing! This is true beauty! God is a wonderful Creator! It doesn’t get any more beautiful than this!” What else would you add to this list? What else do you think or feel when you see such beauty?

Now, ask yourself this question, “What does God think when He sees me?”

Do you see why you just made the list? It is easy for us to look around and see the beauty in the mountains, the lakes, the oceans, the flowers and wildlife. Unfortunately, I think we struggle to see God looking at us this way too.

God looks at you and thinks. “You are amazing! You are beautiful!”

We also visited a beautiful church in Jackson, WY, where the pastor shared a passionate message from Hebrews 2. In his message, he kept referring back to our “great salvation.” Every time I heard him speak of our “great salvation,” I kept thinking of the Grand Tetons and their beauty. I kept thinking about how all around there is a great witness to the beauty of God’s creation.

Don’t miss this. We, you and I, were created by God too. We are part of this beauty. God looks at us this way.

The Bible tells us that we were created in the image of God. John tells us later in the Bible God is love. God is love, and we were made in His image. So, we were made to love as God loves. Jesus even comes along later and tells us to love one another as He loves too.

However, sin came into this world, and this world is no longer how God created it to be. We are no longer able to love as God loves, but the story does not end there.

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)

In this same conversation, Jesus tells Nicodemus that we must be born again, made new. This is why Jesus died on the cross. He goes to the cross to defeat the power of sin, so that when we believe in Him we are made new. Paul tells us that God then sees us as holy and blameless. God looks at you, in Christ, and says, “Amazing! Beautiful! Wonderful!”

God knows how beautiful you are. Even more, He knows why you were created, to love as Jesus loves.

Blessings,
Pastor Matt

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I acknowledge this topic raises many questions.  Let’s take a look at two questions: Does sin define God?  And, does sin, specifically sin committed against us, define us?    

We believe sin came into this world.  God did not have sin in mind. However, we, humanity, brought sin in through our selfish desires.  Sin is horrific. Sin brings with it hurt, pain, sorrow, and death. Sin speaks a lie. It says we will feel better or have a better life, if we do this or have something we don’t currently have.  

The Bible says we all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.  It is only by God’s grace any of us are saved, made right before God, to be in relationship with Him. 

God is love.  God is not defined by sin.  He could’ve turned His back on all of us, but He didn’t. 
Paul writes in Philippians 2:

5 Adopt the attitude that was in Christ Jesus: 6 Though he was in the form of God, he did not consider being equal with God something to exploit. 7 But he emptied himself by taking the form of a slave and by becoming like human beings. When he found himself in the form of a human, 8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

God entered the world, a world full of sin.  He was beaten, hung on the cross and died. 

We are not defined by other people’s sin committed against us.  Christ’s love, His death and resurrection, says that we are defined by what He says about us, not what anyone may or may not have done to us.  We are not corrupted. We are not made imperfect. Christ’s love says that we are made perfect in Him. Christine Cain shares a powerful testimony to this.  You can Google her name and find it in many different places, but here is one place to watch it. Caution, she does share some details that may be difficult to hear.  

I realize this doesn’t answer all of the questions you may have on this topic.  What I hope you hear is that God doesn’t turn His back on sin. Sin doesn’t define God or put Him in a box, and sin doesn’t have to define us either.  

You are loved.  You matter to God.  God is at work through your life.

Blessings,
Pastor Matt

P.S.  How can we help you see how Christ’s love impacts all of your life? You may reach out to us with your questions by replying to this email or through the Contact Us page on our website.  

The post Thoughts on Sin appeared first on Barnitz & Mt. Zion UMC.

Our focus at Barnitz and Mt. Zion is on Connecting People to Christ’s Love. No matter if you have grown up in the church or have never been in church, we believe that Christ’s Love can and does impact your life.

Christ’s Love is the love revealed to us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We celebrate His birth on Christmas. We remember how He chose to die for us on the cross, and we celebrate His life, defeating death, on Easter.

Jesus loves you!

We want everyone to know 
that you are loved.

We want everyone to know
that you matter to God.

We want everyone to see 
how God is at work in your life.

Do you know that your life is important? Do you know you matter to God? Yes, you matter to God.  Yes, God is at work in your life.

We would love to explore this more with you. We would love to help you see how this impacts your daily living.  

Help us by replying to this email with a question or two
you would like us to explore here in these emails.  

What is something you are wrestling with? What are some of your current struggles? What would help you understand life more?   Yes, big questions, questions we will do our best to answer.  

If you are reading this on the blog, go ahead and use the Contact Us page to reply.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Blessings,
Pastor Matt

PS. Please consider joining us at our upcoming Outdoor Worship service on Sunday, July 7th.  Click here for details.

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You often hear it being reported that fewer and fewer people are attending church.  

I think one reason this is happening is because a lot of times we are focused on making people part of the church.  We want people to be active in the church.  We want people to join us in the services they knew growing up in church.  We want people to help around the church.  We want to see people in church each week.

With good intentions at heart, we have made it about the church.  The point of church isn’t to connect people to the church.  The point of church is to help Connect People to Christ’s Love.  The point of church is to help people know Jesus.

This is one reason I think it’s a great time to be connected here at Barnitz and Mt. Zion.  Our focus is on Connecting People to Christ’s Love. Our time and energy is being directed more and more towards helping people know that they are loved, that they matter to God, and that God is at work in their lives.  

There is more.  There is much more to church than “church.”  When you know Jesus, He is always with you, and His love is what transforms you.

Blessings,
Pastor Matt

P.S.  Consider joining us this Sunday as we continue to explore what it means to be a Thriving Church. Please click here to see our times and locations.

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“But, wait,” you say. “What about John 3:16?”

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life.

“It says it right there. Jesus came so that I can live forever. Isn’t that about Heaven?”

Jesus also says in the same conversation that we must be born again. We must be made new. His life, death and resurrection destroys the power of sin in our lives. When we trust in His work, we are transformed. Our hearts are made new. We are born again. We go from death to life.

Don’t be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have transferred from death to life, because we love the brothers and sisters. The person who does not love remains in death. (1 John 3:13-14)

Jesus died on the cross so that the power of sin would be defeated in your life NOW. He died on the cross so that you can love as Jesus loves NOW.

Some of our favorite hymns we have grown up singing make this really hard to understand. Consider “I’ll Fly Away,” by Albert E. Brumley.

Some bright morning when this life is over
I’ll fly away
To that home on God’s celestial shore
I’ll fly away

I’ll fly away, oh glory
I’ll fly away in the morning
When I die, Hallelujah by and by
I’ll fly away

When you sing this hymn, do you think of Heaven, or do you think of your life now? I can almost guarantee that you think of Heaven. And yet, I think Jesus thinks of our death now. We are called to die to ourselves.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in my body, I live by faith, indeed, by the faithfulness of God’s Son, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

Our lives are to be over when we trust in the work of Jesus now. We are called to die to ourselves daily. It is no longer about my life but the life of Jesus living through me. It is about me loving as Jesus loves.

Do you see what can happen? The more we do this. The more we love as Jesus loves. The more other people will do this too, loving as Jesus loves.

Heaven becomes a reality here on Earth.

Blessings,
Pastor Matt

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Instead, stories were being shared of neighbors helping their neighbors. One story tells of a family who lost everything in a fire. The next day, their neighbors were there helping to start to rebuild.

The news was filled with story after story like this, people loving people.

Wouldn’t that be great!

The good news is we do get glimpses of stories like these and what it means to love one another.

When people know they are loved, they find it easier to love others. When they know their lives matter, they find it easier to live lives focused on others. It all comes together when you see God at work through your own life. This can change you, and the community, in powerful and loving ways.

When I think of what it means to Connect People to Christ’s Love, I envision a world that is more and more like this.

We would love to have you join us this Easter Sunday. Our services are 8:45am at Mt. Zion and 10:30am at Barnitz.

Blessings,
Pastor Matt

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