Transformation Worship
Tomorrow is the first Sunday for the Transformation Worship Experience at First United Methodist Church of Cedar falls, Iowa. Worship begins at 8:30 a.m. followed by fellowship and the opportunity to attend Bible study as part of the FUMC Sunday School program.
As part of our worship we will be sharing together in the sacrament of Holy Communion, we will sing praises together, read from the scriptures, and celebrate God’s transforming grace in our lives!
If you are in the Cedar Falls area please come be our guest for the inaugural Sunday of this new worship experience.
Transformation, Sanctification, Perfection
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2
Spiritual transformation is the goal of the Christian life. The motto of the United Methodist Church is “Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World.” Why transformation? Because transformation because doesn’t just want to forgive us of our sins, God doesn’t just want to redeem us, God wants to sanctify us and transform us.
In other words God wants us to change, grow, mature, be more like Him and His Son Jesus Christ every day. He wants us to progress and move forward. He doesn’t want things to stay the same for us leaving us in our old barren and empty lives. He was to transform our life of sin and loss into a life of love, grace, peace, and joy.
Sometimes some Christians will say words like “I was saved on…..” and then give you a day in which they what they perceive as a their first experience with Christ. Now the truth is that the day you became a professing Christian is not at all the day you had your first experience with God.
Before you even knew that God was there, before you could respond to God love, before you can move towards God he loved you and offered you his love through his Prevenient Grace. But then when you first experience the Justifying Grace of God that doesn’t end the story. No! the first time reconciled with God through Christ was only the beginning!!
Now God’s Sanctifying Grace has been working, is working, and will work to make you more like Jesus every day, to transform you life, and yes to seek to lead you on to perfection (that is the full measure of Christian maturity God wants for you.) Perfection, in a Wesleyan sense doesn’t mean you are perfect but that Christ is working perfectly in you.
When I attended my first Annual Conference of the Iowa UMC I heard the Bishop talk about “perfecting a motion.” It wasn’t terminology I was familiar with. But it was clear what it meant. That the product the conference was seeking to create could be made better, fuller, more whole, and more worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The rough draft (you and me) needs to be made whole.
It isn’t enough for a Christian to declare “I was saved on…” That’s talking about the past. The truth is that God has redeemed us, is redeeming us, will redeem us and will work on us to make us the people he created us to be.
I want to be forgiven. But I don’t just want to be forgiven. I want to be transformed!!
Transformation Worship Experience
Last night the Contemporary Worship Design Team at First United Methodist Church chose a name for our new contemporary worship experience which will begin September 5th at 8:30 a.m. The worship time will be called “Transformation.” The name Transformation was chosen because it reminds us of the transforming power of Jesus Christ to bring us His redemptive love and grace, to give us the grace to grow as Christians and to transform our lives into the kind of people God wants us to be.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2
When we begin Transformation it will be a new worship gathering, in a new location in the church, at a new time, with a new order or worship and a new and fresh opportunity for us to worship together.
I am very excited with the work that the Transformation Worship Design Team is doing and will be doing in the coming weeks as we prayerfully work to make this a gathering that will glorify God, help our church to worship the living Christ, and allow us to invite new friends into our church fellowship!
Let’s Be Transformed!
Tim Bonney
Theme Decisions
For those of you who read my blog and use wordpress.com for blogging, do you have a favorite wordpress theme? And, why is it your favorite theme? I am still trying to decide what theme I prefer. So this is a heads up that you’ll see my theme change as I’m trying different features.
I’d love to have your input as a user or a blogger as to which theme you like best and why.
Friends, Colleagues, and Ministry
A few years ago at a national pastors gathering the speaker told us that pastors often do a poor job of having and maintaining friendships. We are so busy with church activities and our church family that we often don’t take time to make close friendships, particularly with colleagues.
My experience is that you have to purposefully choose to make friends not only with the church staff you work with but also with other clergy in your community. My wife and I have tried in every community we’ve been in to make friends in the church we serve but also to have friends outside our congregations and, when possible, with other clergy in churches around us. Sometimes it has been easy to do so, other times we have found that other pastors feel too busy to take the time. We’ve been having a lot of fun starting to build friendships with our colleagues at First United Methodist!
I had the opportunity today to spend some time with some of my and my wife’s longest friendships in the ministry. We got a visit today friend the very first pastor I worked for as a seminary student and his wife. I only served at that church for three years. But the four of us have been friends now for over twenty years. And while we are now serving in very different areas, in churches of different denominations and backgrounds, we’ve enjoyed our friendship.
It is so important to have friends and colleagues in ministry as well as friendships among lay people. It helps pastors keep a balance. It helps blow off steam and stress. It allows pastors to have others who can share in their joys and concerns. And, it makes for a more well rounded person.
I would encourage my colleagues in ministry to make sure that you make time for friendships, and in particular some friendships that you hope will last. After all, we are part of the body of Christ. We have to take care of ourselves to be able to give the best service to others as Ministers of Word, Sacrament, Order and Service.
Social networking as outreach
This is an interesting set of links on Social Networking and the church. A lot of young people use Facebook messages and text more than email. We can’t ignore how younger people are communicating if we want to reach out. Facebook and Twitter are free. So the only cost is time. But, any form of outreach takes time.
Tim Bonney
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Social networking as outreach: “
Frazer Memorial UMC in Montgomery, Ala., already had an active Web presence before this summer. But the pace has picked up considerably since June 1, when the church hired a digital ministries coordinator. Brendan Harriff, a 22-year-old graduate of Asbury College, is responsible for regular updates on the church’s website and its social networking accounts.
‘We get on Facebook and Twitter dozens of times a day,’ Mr. Harriff tells Marty Roney of the Montgomery Advertiser. ‘… It allows us to get the word out about Frazer in ways that are less conventional. That’s especially important in a city like Montgomery that has such a large military community. When all the new military families get transferred here, many are looking for a church home. Facebook and Twitter are ideal for that kind of outreach.’
Mr. Roney’s article also includes comments on this growing ministry field from Mark Chaves, a professor at Duke Divinity School, and a good tip from Baptist minister John Johnston to never forget the irreplaceable impact of face-to-face contact within a congregation: ‘During difficult times and during joyous times, things like a smile, the touch of hand, just having someone to speak with, carries so much power.’
For more on the topic, visit my own story from last year.
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Attitude, Enthusiasm, Reality, and Risk
I have come to believe that our attitudes have a great effect on what we can accomplish. And I believe that is as true in the church as it is anywhere else. John Wesley is credited with say, “Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn.” People can sense the attitude of an individual by body language, verbal, and visual cues. Ideas expressed with enthusiasm are taken more seriously, noticed by more people, and enthusiasm is contagious. Conversely negative attitudes also bread negativism.
I’ve been a part of a lot of different congregations of Christians in my life. I’ve served in churches with a positive “can do” attitude. And it is amazing to watch what they accomplish and how their enthusiasm spreads and grows! I’ve also known church who had great resources and wonderful opportunities who could see nothing but black clouds no matter how many silver linings were present.
Right now I am excited that I am again a part of a congregation at First United Methodist that shares and has enthusiasm for its ministry in its community. First Church is seeking to build, to grow, to change, and to reach out. And that is being done with seriousness and forethought but also with great wonder and enthusiasm for what God has for us in the future.
Emil Brunner say that “The Church exists by mission as fire exists by burning.” Every time we share the love of Jesus with another person, every time we help a needy person in our community, every time we sing praises to his name, every time we plan and work for God’s future we help the fire of God’s spirit burn a little brighter in our lives and in our church.
Now I can almost hear someone saying, “Now Tim be a realist, churches really can’t…..” ”My church doesn’t have the resources to….” Yes it is true that we all have different abilities and resources. But it is also true that we can accomplish so much more than we are ever willing to risk. We want to appear be “realists.” We want to hedge our bets. But that isn’t what Christ calls us to. He doesn’t want us to hold anything back. He wants idealistic dreamers who are willing to give it all for the sake of God’s Holy Name. Christ is looking for people who believe that God can accomplish even more than we ask.
The truth is that our view of reality is meager, small, miserly, and empty. But God’s reality is expansive, powerful, enthusiastic, growing, changing, and challenging. And I’ll take God’s reality over mine any time!
May God grant us the wisdom, the strength, and the boldness to catch fire with godly enthusiasm!
Getting Settled In
Tomorrow will mark one month since my family and I drove up from Johnston, Iowa to spend the night here in Cedar Falls before our moving truck showed up on June 25th to move us into the First United Methodist Church parsonage.
It has been an exciting month. I’ve had opportunities to preach, share my testimony, and share at the Lord’s table both in Sunday worship and in Wednesday night Ignition. I’ve had a lot of fun getting acquainted with the wonderful church staff and church members of First Church. And I have been pleased to see that First Cedar Falls is a church on the move, looking to grow and change for the future.
It has also been a good month meeting some of my new United Methodist colleagues both here in the Northeast District and from the Iowa Annual Conference center.
My family and I are starting to feel settled into our knew home. We are seeing less boxes around the house. We are starting to find our way around the community. And we are beginning to adjust to our new a new place of ministry and service.
Sometimes change can be scary. But I believe it is best to view change as an adventure. And oh what an adventure it always is serving Christ in ministry!
Tim Bonney
Associate Pastor
First United Methodist Church
Cedar Falls, Iowa
UMNS Headlines
- 105-year-old leads hospitality ministry September 3, 2010
- At 75, Upper Room enriches spiritual walk September 3, 2010
- Hispanic caucus focuses on youth, outreach September 2, 2010
- Floods threaten ‘core of Pakistan’ September 2, 2010
- New York bishop supports Islamic center September 2, 2010
