Citizenship

4th of July is upon us.  Time for fireworks, cookouts, and honoring the greatest nation in the world, our home on earth, America.  

All of us at one time or another have taken the pledge of allegiance - whether it's at school, boy scouts, girl scouts, or in a local civic club.  We should all know it by heart.  It goes:  "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation under God....."  One nation under God.  It clearly states, we are UNDER God. He is our authority.  

So I ask all of us:  we recite the pledge of allegiance, yet where is our primary allegiance?  Is it to God, our Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord?  Or is to our country?  Is it to political power or a political party?  Where does your primary allegiance lie?  

I'm thankful I'm a citizen of this country.  I hope you are too.  Yet do you have citizenship in heaven?  Do you realize you are here for a season of your eternal life and will one day depart for (hopefully) your home country.  We can easily fall into the trap of this time, place, and country being our true home.  It is not.  Heaven is.  

Our preaching series right now is:  "Alternate Reality - life by the Spirit."  Believing and living like heaven is your true home is living in an alternate reality to many here and now.  Yet it is to this that we are called.  We can only live in this reality through Jesus Christ, "in Him we have our access in one Spirit to the Father.  So then you are no longer strangers and aliens , but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household" Ephesians 2: 18-19.  In Christ, you gain a new citizenship, a new home, and begin living in a new, BETTER reality - life in the Holy Spirit.

This Sunday, 4th of July weekend, we'll talk about where our true citizenship lies, if we have it, and how to get it.  I hope you'll be able to worship with us and invite someone who needs to see the love of Christ and the power of His Holy Spirit.  

May God bless you and this great nation we're blessed to live in, until we journey to our true home.  

Alternate Reality

One of my favorite all time TV shows is LOST.  I really miss the creativity, mystery, and character development that show had.  Nothing has matched it since.  In its last season, one of the plots (not giving anything away) was there was a potential "alternate reality" the main characters were living in.  As they got glimpses of this different reality, they soon realized the world they thought they lived in might not be the real world.  

It's also interesting to me that there are now many "popular" books by people who study physics and astronomy that purport the possibility of alternate realities in the universe.  Now, I was never good at science or math, and I probably would not even be able to read these book, yet the very idea is fascinating.

I say all this because:  if we believe in the resurrection of Jesus, what that means for our eternal lives, and have the Holy Spirit living in us, then I believe we live in an alternate reality in the here and now.  It's what Christians mean when we say - "we are in the world, yet not of it."  If the Holy Spirit lives in us, we are part of a different world, an alternate reality.  How?  

As Paul writes in Galatians 5:  19-21, the world we live in is:  "the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."  

Then, Paul goes on about the alternate reality, the life of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5: 22-24 - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  Not those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." 

The more I grow in Christ, the more I realize the real world, the real life, is the life in and of the Holy Spirit.  And the world we think is the real world, really isn't.  At Bellwether we want everyone to know this different world, this alternate reality, and live in it.  

For the next month, we'll be preaching about the real world.  The sermon series is:  "Alternate Reality - Life by the Spirit."  We hope you can be there to see this alternate reality, this different world.  Even more, we hope you will make a decision to live in it.  

Have a great day, and hope to see you Sunday.  

If you died tonight, where would you go?

Many of us have heard this question.  Some so much so we've gotten tired of it, or it's lost it's impact for us.  I mean really, how many people take such a question seriously?  You know you won't die tonight....right?  You know your spiritual house is in order....right?  Is it?  

The fact is, this is an honest, serious, and needed question.  Unfortunately, some Christians and churches have communicated it the wrong way - a way that has led to fear and rejection of the Church.  

It's a question we all need to ask ourselves.  Is our spiritual house in order?  Do we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?  Is the Holy Spirit alive in our hearts?  Are we trying to grow in our walk with Christ?  Are we....are you....truly saved?  

We will ask this question of us all Sunday morning.  We do so as we continue the series:  GRACE - what is It?  The sermon Sunday is "the Grace that Saves us."  It is the grace of Jesus Christ that saves us, and only that alone.  Have we received it into our lives?  If you haven't, this Sunday, as every Sunday, you will have an opportunity to know where you will be for eternity.  I hope you can join us for worship on this special Sunday.  Even more, we hope you'll invite someone who needs to hear the message of life saving grace in Jesus.

Sunday will be special and different for two reasons:  

1) We are moving our regular 10:30am worship service back to 11am.   This is because we will be leading worship at 9:30am at the United Methodist Mississippi Annual Conference at the Jackson Convention Center.  We'd love for you to also worship with us there if you are able!

2) It is Pentecost Sunday.  This is the Sunday in the Church calendar 40 days after Easter.  It is the day which we remember Jesus' Ascension to heaven and the Holy Spirit coming down to earth.  As the Holy descended onto the disciples, we hope and pray you will allow the Holy Spirit to invade and live in your hearts - this Sunday and always.

Have a great day, and hope to see you at church!

GRACE that Seeks, Saves, and Raises

We hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend.  If you were traveling, we hope the time with friends and family was relaxing and that you took time to remember all those who have allowed us to worship our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ freely.  May we always remember these men, women, and families who make this tremendous sacrifice.

This Sunday, we begin a new series at Bellwether.  It essentially is a bookend to our FAITH series because it is on GRACE.  What is grace?  We here it talked about, as Christians we're supposedly saved by it.  Yet can we define it?  Do we know it when we see it? Do we give it out to others?

In fact, GRACE is more important than faith?  Ephesians 2: 8-9 tells us:  "By grace you have been saved through faith; and not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of work, so that no one may boast."  It is the GRACE of God - as a gift - which saves us.  We must have faith in this un-merited, un-deserved GRACE.
Sunday, we begin this 3 part series on GRACE - What is it?  We'll look at:  the Grace that Seeks, the Grace that Saves, and the Grace that Raises.  We hope you'll be with us to understand grace, and to accept His Grace into your life.  As we get into the summer, we hope you'll be with us when you're in town and continue to invite others who need to hear, experience, and find God's grace.

Also:  please forward this newsletter to others in the church who may not be receiving it.  They can sign up for it on our website at www.bellwetherchurch.org.

And, please remember Patrick and Jennifer Johnson and their family as they leave this week for a mission trip to Guatemala. We'll hear more about this effort, when they return, yet please pray for safety and fruitfulness in mission!

Thank you, have a great week, and hope to see you Sunday!