Sunday Preview

Sunday Preview
Sunday, December 31^th 2006 (First Sunday of Christmas)
Wesleyan Covenant Service

I have never been one for New Year’s Resolutions. I have never been very good at choosing things to resolve and I have never been very good at sticking with them. I am much better at New Year’s Rededication. I like to take time at the beginning of the year to think about what is important in my life and rededicate myself to that.

I believe what needs to be most important in my life is God. If God is at the center, all those resolutions that I don’t make have a way of taking care of themselves. Through the year, it is pretty easy for God to slip from that top spot, so I think it is important, at the threshold of a new year, to rededicate myself to God.

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement shared this belief and developed a service for this purpose called The Covenant Renewal Service. It has been traditionally held on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.

I hope you will join me at any of our three services this Sunday, 8:30, 9:45 or 11:00 to worship, give thanks, and rededicate yourself to God on the eve of 2007.

peace,

will

What Should a Billionaire Give – and What Should You?

I just read an amazing article from the Sunday New York Times Magazine by Peter Singer a professor of bioethics at Princeton. Singer combines some of my favorite subjects, philosophy, economics and the need to end extreme poverty in the world.

What Should a Billionaire Give – and What Should You?
By PETER SINGER
Published: December 17, 2006
A philosopher’s case for donating more than you’re comfortable with.

Here is an exerpt:

Few people have set a personal example that would allow them to tell Gates that he has not given enough, but one who could is Zell Kravinsky. A few years ago, when he was in his mid-40s, Kravinsky gave almost all of his $45 million real estate fortune to health-related charities, retaining only his modest family home in Jenkintown, near Philadelphia, and enough to meet his family’s ordinary expenses. After learning that thousands of people with failing kidneys die each year while waiting for a transplant, he contacted a Philadelphia hospital and donated one of his kidneys to a complete stranger.

The article is pretty long, but worth the read.

peace,

will

Sunday Morning

I am wondering as I prepare worship for the fourth Sunday of Advent, Christmas Eve morning, if I can expect many worshippers to join me. Christmas Eve is one of the biggest services of the year and John and I thought for a long time about what to do with the morning services. Some churches have cancelled or combined services but we opted not to. Here was our reasoning: First, we believe that the season of Advent is a really important time. We really need this time of preparation for Christmas to mean all that it can mean. We didn't want to skip the last Sunday of Advent. Second, a more practical reason, it is hard to get the word out when you change services. Say that our church decided to have one morning service at 10:00. Say that we spent weeks telling everyone in the congregation about it to make sure they would come at the right time. Then say someone we have never seen before wakes up on Christmas Eve morning and decides to go to church. Say she has been by the church before and thought about it and jotted down the service times. Perhaps she looked in the yellow pages. Maybe she even cut out our ad a few weeks ago from the newspaper when she was thinking about going to church. Say she decides to come to our 8:30 service and we were not there. We would like to think that she would go home and come back at 10, but realistically and statistically, she wouldn't. I would rather be here. Just in case she comes.

peace,

will

The Longest Night

We will be hosting a special service this Thursday night at 6:30 called "The Longest Night." The service is especially for people who may have trouble celebrating at Christmas. There are a lots of things that happen in our lives that make things especially hard at Christmas when everyone else seems to have so much to celebrate. Bring someone along and join us as we try to experience Christmas in a different way, looking for the word of hope in Christmas, even when hope seems far away.

peace,

will

Blog Slacking

Apologies to my regular readers. Two funerals and a one day trip to Austin have gotten me off my blogging track. I am now prepping myself for the week before Christmas. Christmas in the life of the church was a little odd last year with Christmas falling on a Sunday. It is even stranger this year with Christmas Eve falling on a Sunday. That means we will have three services Sunday morning and four services Sunday evening, which will make for sort of a long day. I believe it is totally worth the work though. We all know there is something about Christmas that inspires people who have been away for a while or who have never been to church to come and see what all the fuss is about. We want to make sure we have plenty of room.

Peace to you in this last week of Advent!

will

Live from my office... it's Monday night!

Monday night is not a time I usually spend in my office. It is either meetings or at home. But this is a busy week. In an unusual turn of events I am presiding over two funerals this week. Funerals take a lot out of me. They are hard, but not for the reason many people expect. I have learned to deal with the sadness of being around people suffering loss. I won't say that goes away but, as a pastor, you need to find some way to deal with it in a healthy manner.

What gets me is the pressure and the pressure comes directly from me. I believe that funerals and memorial services are part of an incredibly important process. It is not just the service itself. There is so much possibility of healing and reconciliation that takes place all around those moments that follow the death of a loved one. I get the honor of being a part of that and I take it about as seriously as I can without being either self-centered or completely burned out.

When it comes to the service itself, I ponder every word, every piece of scripture, every song. I never get it perfect, but I try to do my best. Those who have left us and those who are left behind deserve nothing less.

peace,

will

Sunday Preview

Sunday, December 10^th 2006 (Second Sunday of Advent)

Scripture: Jeremiah 33:14-16

Even for someone like me from Western New York, it is starting to feel a bit like Christmas. The cool weather and my neighbor'’s Christmas lights (mine aren'’t up yet) are helping me to get ready for one of the most joyous celebrations of the year.

The four Sundays of Advent are the church's way of preparing for the arrival of GodÂ’s most precious gift, Jesus Christ. This week, the choir is going to help us prepare by offering us the gift of music as they present, Night of Wonder, A Cantata for Advent or Christmas. At all three services, they will present this offering of choruses and readings that will trace the journey from the Advent prophecy to the annunciation of Mary and from the birth of Jesus to the heavenly host proclaiming, "“Glory to God in the highest!"” I hope you will consider inviting your friends and family to experience the wonder of Christmas celebrated in music!

peace,


will

The rough times...

There are times in life when things are just too much to bear. There are others when things are so good that we make up things to be aggravated about. As I was sitting at my desk working on a sermon series for January, I became aggravated when I realized that I left the house today without my iPod headphones and the Pop-Tart I had intended to snack on this afternoon. When something like that is the largest aggravation of the day, life is pretty good. Though I am still missing that Pop-Tart.

peace,

will

It's cold, leave me alone.

The little cold snap has left Bodhi a little lazy and a little stubborn. In case you can't tell from this picture, Bodhi is not allowed on the furniture. Although, we just got that chair a few weeks ago when one of our neighbors moved, so no one has told him specifically to stay off that chair.

peace,

will

You Don't See This Much Here

Notice the bottom two numbers on this picture of the clock in my office. On the left, just above the date is the inside temperature, a cool 69 degrees. On the right, just above the day is the outside temperature, a cooler 45 degrees. It is pretty rare here in lovely, tropical Corpus Christi that the number on the right falls lower than the climate controlled number on the left.

Welcome Winter! Enjoy your brief stay in the Coastal Bend.

peace,

will

What would you suggest...

It is that time of the year when pastors answer lots of questions and fill out lots of forms for the church the district and the conference. Here is one of the questions on one of those forms:

What resources would you suggest to colleagues to help restore emotional or spiritual health?

My answer:

Take a Sabbath, every week. Be lazy, take a nap or go fishing and forget to take bait.
And get a dog, not a little dog, but a real dog, like a lab or a pit bull or something.
And watch House, Tuesday nights at 8 on Fox and GreyÂ’s Anatomy, Thursdays at 8 on ABC.
And when you hear a cool song on one of the above shows, download it from iTunes and put it
on your iPod.
And call someone younger than you and ask them what iTunes and iPod mean.
And read books, fiction and non-fiction. Read a lot of them. There are a lot of books out there.
They print new ones faster than I can read the old ones.
And do something that scares the ______ out of you. Mountain climbing, sky diving, or foster-
parenting all count.
And convince at least one person that they are worth being loved by the creator of the universe
And experience something every year that makes your jaw drop and tears come to your eyes. It can be good or bad. Many of the things above will facilitate this.

peace,

will

Not what I thought it would be...

I just finished George Barna's Revolution (Carol Stream Illinois: Tyndale House Publishing, 2005). It didn't take long at 144 pages. It really wasn't what I was expecting. George Barna and the Barna Group he created are renowned for their research within and outside the realm of religion. In this book, the author makes the point that his research is showing a radical shift in Christianity to something that is happening more and more outside the walls (physical and otherwise) of the institutional church. I believe that his theory may be correct, however, what Barna does not share is the research that backs it up. He also does quite a bit of theologizing of his own. Perhaps some of it based on research, but there is no way of knowing.

There is a lot of good in this book, I think Barna can help the local church see how it can be part of the changing landscape of Christianity and can help people who feel out of place in the local church see that they are not alone. However, the helpfulness of the book can be a little hard to get at as it is somewhat buried in the author's still emerging conservative faith. There are times when I couldn't tell if his personal understanding of spirituality was pushing us forward to something new, or simply pulling us back to the way it used to be (in other words, toward another type of fundamentalism.)

So, you can read it for yourself and see what you think. Or you can wait for the review of the book I am reading now, Christianity for the Rest of Us, by Diana Butler Bass, which seems to be a little more on target.

peace and happy reading,

will

Life Underwater

Alisha, my sister, my brother law, my niece, Joshua and I went to the aquarium on the day after Thanksgiving. The Aquarium is truly one of Corpus Christi's treasures. They also have one of the best playgrounds on the planet, complete with that cool rubbery surface covering the ground which provides for very little crying even when little boys fall down.

peace,

will

This Week's Sermon - Text and Audio

Sermon 33 is posted in text an audio form:

Sermon 33 - What Kind of King - Text Version
Sermon 33 - What Kind of King - Audio Version

Your thoughts and questions are always welcomed!

peace,

will

Live from my office... It's Saturday Night!

I don't often find myself working late on Saturday to finish a sermon for Sunday, but here I am. It is not that I got a late start or that Thanksgiving put me off schedule. I wrote a sermon early in the week and was just planning on polishing it Wednesday evening before my sister and he family got here Thursday morning. When I read it Wednesday it was fine except... I didn't really believe it. Occasionally, in my effort to read scripture and deliver a message, something goes awry and I end up with a finished product that just isn't right. I think people can tell when the pastor doesn't really believe what they are saying. For me it is more than that. I can't bear to stand up there and proclaim something that I don't believe. So, if you are in church tomorrow morning or if you read or listen to the sermons online, you get a whole new sermon tomorrow. This one I believe.

peace,

will

Some "not so light" reading

I just finished Kevin Phillips latest, American Theocracy, The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money. This goes on my list of the top five books of the year. However, I am not going to recommend it for all readers. Most people just don’t care enough about economics, politics, and theology to tackle four hundred pages of fairly dense, although well written, text.

Phillips book is critical of the Republican Party and the conservative Christian coalition which will displease some who follow that party or group. However, he is deeply historical, tracing patterns that have led to the downfall of other superpowers, and very insightful toward economic data as it paints of picture of the state our nation.

If the book does nothing else, it does an amazing job of showing the complexities and interrelations of economics, politics and religion. What we believe, what we empower our leaders to do and what we participate in simply by our unknowing has serious consequences on every single citizen of our country and every person attached to our world economy.

If you are into this sort of stuff, it is actually a fun read.

peace,

will

For I was suffering from low food security and you gave me food?

Check out this editorial from this morning's New York Times:

Brother, Can You Spare a Word?

It seems that the annual government hunger report (which showed a small amount of good news this year) has dropped the word hunger in favor of "suffering from low food security." I guess it is a lot easier to sleep at night with a lot of people suffering from low food security than with a lot of hungry people.

peace,

will

Rob Bell Revisited

I wrote a review a couple of weeks ago about the book Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. In case you missed it, just click on the title in the last sentence and you can read it. I bring it up again because I visited the website of Rob's Church, Mars Hill. (www.mhbcmi.org) First of all, what a great website! Second of all, all of Rob's sermon are available for download. I downloaded one at random last week and put it on my iPod. Rob is a great preacher. He is not a great preacher of the variety that is incredibly exuberant, or entertaining, or funny. He just really knows his stuff and can translate it in such a way that anyone can understand.

Rob follows the trend of many modern preachers, a trend that seems to buck conventional wisdom, he preaches very long. The sermon I listened to last week clocked in at just over an hour. (And some people complain when pastor John surpasses the 20 minute mark.) Preaching long certainly doesn't seem to be hurting his church, Mars Hill is one of the fasted growing churches in American history.

I know a few people who like to listen to other sermons besides the ones on Sunday morning, which is great. However, there is a lot of bad theology out there. So, might I suggest downloading one of Rob Bell's sermons to your computer or iPod. Be prepared to be engaged and learn a lot.

You can go directly to the audio sermons page:

http://www.mhbcmi.org/listen/index.php

I started with the September 10th sermon, "Jesus Wants to Save Christians." The title is deceiving, it is a great sermon.

peace,

will

Newsletter Column

I know a lot of folks who read the blog don't read (or don't get) the Grace newsletter. So, here is my column from this week:

I haven’t had a chance yet to formally thank everyone for the abundant outpouring of love and support upon the arrival of our foster son Joshua. Alisha and I have truly been moved by the love shown through diapers, toys, gift cards, and offers for babysitting.

I cannot begin to tell you what a joy it has been to open our home and share our love with one of God’s beloved children. It is my prayer that the love we share will give him a chance at a truly full and abundant life.

It is also my prayer that Joshua’s presence among us may inspire someone else to hear God’s call to foster parenting. I realize that such a ministry is a big step and one not to be entered into lightly. I also realize that there are some people who are truly equipped and called to such a ministry and that there are many children who need them.

On Thursday, December 7^th, at 7 p.m. in room 143, I will host Robyn Detert of the Corpus Christi Outreach office of Methodist Children’s Home along with Rhonda Dyer from the San Antonio office for an informational meeting about Methodist Children’s Home’s foster care program. This meeting will, of course, in no way obligate you. So, even if you are just a little curious about the program, please come. If you have any friends or family members who have thought about foster care, please bring them along. The meeting is open to anyone who wants to learn more about what MCH is doing to place children in need in loving homes.

If you have any questions about the meeting, about foster parenting, or about Methodist Children’s Home, please feel free to contact me directly at pastorwillrice@gmail.com.

peace,

will

Live from San Antonio... This Week's Sermon!

The audio version will have to wait until I am back in Corpus Christi, but here is the link to the text version of this week's sermon. If you were at the 11:00 worship service this week, it may seem a little different since we didn't have communion this week at that service.

Sermon #32 - What Do You Want?

peace,

will