This Week's Sermon

This week's sermon is now available. You can find it online here.

Thanks to Cathy Roznovsky, you can also find hard copies of all of John's and my sermons every week in the glassway.

If you have any questions or comments, e-mail me or post a response to this post.

Emily

We welcomed a new girl into the family a few months back. My niece, my youngest sister's daugther is named Emily. Now Emily, the niece, hasn't been to Corpus yet. I think I would be much happier to see her the Hurricane Emily. Looks like she may visit Mexico instead.

peace,

will

Young Adults

We had a great group of young adults last night at the parsonage. Thanks to everyone who came and especially to Pete who took over the cooking duties!

We will meet again next Thursday, 7:30 at the parsonage. We will be talking how we, as Christians engage the media.

Have a great weekend.

peace,

will

Sabbath Revisited

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about sabbath and the importance of resting in God. Whenever I talk about sabbath, it always raises questions. As grace would have it, Interpeter Magazine, a publication of United Methodist Communications has an excellent article this month called "Reclaiming Sabbath." You can read it online here.

Let me know what you think.

Grace and Peace,

will

I'm Back - What a Weekend

I had a wonderful weekend at the boy's Chrysalis. Thank you to everyone who worked, helped and prayed this weekend and in the week's leading up to it.

If you are a youth and want to know more about Chrysalis, go here. If you are and adult and would like to know about the Walk to Emmaus, go here. And of course, I am always glad to answer questions or talk more about it. Also, if you have been on a Chrysalis flight or journey or a Walk to Emmaus and have questions or are seeking guidance in continuing your spiritual journey, please feel free to contact me.

Blessings on your week!

will

I haven't skipped town

My lack of entries shouldn't imply that I have skipped town. I am at the boys Chrysalis Flight this weekend. I can actually post from my cell phone, but I haven't quite gotten comfortable with that. I will still be at the flight on Sunday, so John will be your solo host on Sunday.

I will be back next Sunday talking about gardening.

peace,

will

Young Adults

I am firing up the grill and inviting the young adults to the parsonage tomorrow (Thursday) evening at 6:30. If you are 18-30ish (we won't check your I.D.) drop me an e-mail so we are sure to have enough food and chairs and come on by. I will e-mail you back directions if you need them.

We are just going to have some food and fellowship and talk about what sort of things we might plan for the future.

If you are not in the age group, pass the word along to someone who is. Or, if you are interested in helping with young adults ministries at Grace, let me know. We will take all the help we can get.

Grace and Peace,

will

Inch by Inch, Row by Row

Inch by inch, row by row
Gonna make this garden grow
All it takes is a rake and a hoe
And a piece of fertile ground
Inch by inch, row by row
Someone bless these seeds I sow
Someone warm them from below
'Til the rain comes tumbling down

Name the tune, who sang it, or the show it was sung on and win. (Once again, I have no prize.) Name the album it was eventually on and you get double points.

This song popped into my head as I was working on a sermon on the parable of the sower for the 17th while also thinking about my lawn (which is starting to turn green) and the flower beds behind the parsonage that need some serious tlc.

Happy singing and gardening,

will

Sunday Worship

I was happy to see lots of people in worship Sunday even though it was a holiday weekend. I think the energy in worship is really wonderful at Grace. So many people who come on Sunday seem genuinely glad to be there. Trust me, that is not something to take for granted!

I love to hear feedback on the entire worship experience. If you ever have comments on the services or even questions, feel free to post them, or e-mail me.

A note about posting. Anyone can post a comment. You don't have to be a member of the blogger community. I always maintain editorial control. I rarely delete any posts. However, if I find anything inappropriate for any reason, I will just remove it. If I ever delete your post, please don't take it personally, or assume I don't think you comment is important. Feel free to e-mail me and I will explain why. With that said, comment away!

I hope you got a little extra time this weekend to rest and enjoy God's creation.

Grace and peace,

will

Sacred Space

One of the things I will try to do on the weblog is point out things online that I find useful, or at least interesting. The site I want to point out today is Sacred Space. You can find it at http://www.sacredspace.ie/

The site is run by the Irish Jesuits and is really quite and impressive ministry especially given the number of languages they translate it into. The method of prayer is loosely based the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.

If you are looking for some direction in your prayer life or are just interested in some different modes of prayer, I highly suggest you check this out. If you just aren't comfortable praying in front of your computer, they also offer a book on the website.

Grace and Peace,

will

Sabbath? Is that really a commandment?

I try my best to model God's commandment that we take sabbath and rest. See Exodus 20:8-11. (Notice what a long commandment it is!)

Most people traditionally consider Sunday the Sabbath, but pastors don't get all that much rest on Sundays. So, Thursday is sabbath for me. You won't see me around the office much or find me returning many phone calls.

You will hear me talk and write about sabbath and our need for rest in general. I hope you find some time this week to rest in God's presence. As for me, tomorrow I will be fishing and napping.

peace,

will

The Grace the Surrounds Us

I have mentioned to many of you in person, but I had yet to write anything here about how much Alisha and I appreciate the warmth of the welcome we have received. From the moment we pulled up to the curb in front of the house we were made to feel welcomed and appreciated. We can't says thanks enough for all the hard work everyone did to get the parsonage ready. We were also grateful to receive food and drinks and snacks to sustain us while we unpacked.

It wasn't just a one day welcome either. In the last couple of weeks we have enjoyed your hospitality in the form of food, more help with the house, warm welcomes and even a chance to see the Hammerheads play their final game of the regular season. Just this morning I received a new, more suitable chair for my office.

Your hospitality toward Alisha and I tells me about the kind of wonderful place this is. The gospel calls us to radical hospitality. It is at the center of the message if grace. I witnessed that with our arrival and have already seen many instances of it toward others.

Hebrews 13:1-2 reads:

Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Thank you all for being active participants in the grace that surrounds us all!

Grace and Peace,

will

This Week's Sermon

Alright, I figured out a way to post my sermons for anyone who wants to look at them. They are hosted on a separate blog found at http://gracesermons.blogspot.com. I have turned off the comments option on that site. If you have a comment or question, come back to this page to post it.

This week's sermon is up and can be found here.

I apologize in advance for typos, mistakes, or things that I said in worship that are not in the manuscript.

If you were in worship today, I hope that through the message, the music, the scripture, the prayers or just through being with other believers, you were able to deepen your relationship with God.

Grace and Peace,

will

A shot from the work crew at Wesley UMC. 

Some photos pastor John took at a Sea City Work Camp site. Name all four campers and win a prize. OK, the only prize is that I get to post them here on the blog. :~)  

Getting ready for Sunday

This Sunday will be my third here at Grace, but it will be the first time that I preach. In some ways, I feel like I am getting back from vacation. At my last appointment, I preached every week during our evening service. Some Sundays I would double up and preach morning and evening, usually with different sermons. So, the last couple of weeks have seemed pretty easy.

I will be preaching this week from Mark:1-8. I will be revealing a bit about myself and how I got to where I am. This week's message focuses on the excitement of the Gospel. I get really excited about the message God has for us and I am going to try and share that excitement.

I hope to see you Sunday!

Grace and Peace,

will

Here We Are To Worship

If you do nothing else in relation to the Sea City Work Camp, you ought to come to worship in the evening. The worship is really powerful and you can feel the energy begin to build as the teams begin to grow closer together. I think we can all use a few extra chances to worship. Sunday morning is great, but as God truly becomes the center of our lives it really makes sense to want to be in worship a little more often.

peace,

will

What a way to get started

It is quite a blessing to have Sea City Work Camp coincide with my first couple of weeks here at Grace. If you haven't heard about Sea City, you can read more about it the website.

It was really a privilege to be part of opening worship last night. The excitement and energy in the room was totally uplifting. This is the type of enthusiasm that should pervade all we do as Christ's church. Sure we can't be that excited every moment. But if we are bored or lethargic, if we are not excited about coming to church or using our gifts to serve the church or in mission, then it is time to think more about what we are doing. It is time to try and reconnect with the power of the Spirit that draws us together in the first place.

We will be talking more about this topic on Sunday morning. I hope to see you there!

Grace and Peace

will

I am catching up a bit on photos. This is a picture taken by John Wright of my commissioning on June 4th. That is Bishop Joel Martinez performing the commissioning.  

First Sunday

Today was the first Sunday for John and I at Grace and everything went wonderfully. It is a bit nerve racking to lead worship at a new church since you are the one in a charge and the one who has been there the shortest amount of time.

More soon

will