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I did a photoshoot
Several months ago I asked my friend, Erin Noll, if she would mind taking a few pictures for me. Since losing 40 pounds last year, every picture of me on our church website or here on the blog had become, “out of date.” Erin started her own photography business several years ago [which you can find here] and was gracious enough to say yes to my request.
What I did not know at the time is that we were going to do more than just take a few pictures. Erin took me on a photoshoot… complete with costume changes and everything!
I discovered that having someone take pictures of just me was a bit out of my comfort zone, but I survived.
I thought I would share with you today Erin’s work. I thought she did an outstanding job… given what little I gave her to work with!
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The Final Scene
This weekend we come to the final scene in our 24 Hours that Changed the World series. During the last five weeks, we have been looking at the moments that make up the last day of Jesus’ life. We started with the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples on Thursday evening in the upper room as they gathered to mark the Passover. We walked with Jesus as he left the city, moving towards the Mount of Olives where he paused to pray and prepare for the trial to come.
Several hours later, Judas arrived with the Temple guards and though the disciples moved to protect Jesus from this threat, Jesus rebuked their defense and surrendered himself to the men who had arrived with his betrayer. His captors had taken Jesus to the house of Caiaphas where the Son of God stood trial before the highest religious leader in all of Israel. They had convicted Jesus of blasphemy and turned him over to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor, to carry out his punishment.
Before Pilate handed Jesus over to the Roman guards, Jesus was offered one final hope of being spared from his ultimate end. Pilate offered Jesus and Barabbas to the crowds and invited them to choose one man to save. The crowds chose Barabbas.
This weekend we encounter the moment where the rejection of Jesus comes to its final end. I hope you will be with us in worship this weekend as I share three things that we see in these last hours of Jesus’ life.
Category: Resources, uncategorized
Do you want one?
Be a billboard, buy a T-shirt!
Last week, we debuted our T-shirts for The Well, our new contemporary service which meets at 11:00 a.m. in our brand new chapel space. We officially kicked that service off today. During that first gathering, I announced that we are now taking orders for anyone who would like to help advertise this new worship opportunity!
T-shirts at $15. If you’re interested in ordering one, you can either email me or leave me a comment. All I need is your size! You can give me a check, payable to First United Methodist Mansfield, this weekend or drop it by the office anytime this week.
Here’s a pic of the full logo on the front.
*UPDATE* We’ll be receiving orders for T-Shirts through this Sunday, November 1st!
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Job Session Summary
We had a great session last night over the book of Job. During our time together, we read large sections of Job and took some time to comment on what Job and his friends were seeking to express to one another. You can hear that section on the audio for last night’s session. As always, you can download the handouts below. If you have any questions, comments, or other feedback, feel free to let me know.
To listen to the audio from last night or any previous week online, please click here.
To subscribe to the Transformation Journey podcast, click here.
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Postscript to “Walking in God’s Will”
The following is the note I wrote for last week’s bulletin. When thinking about God’s will, I think this is a really important reminder to calm the anxiety we bring to this discussion.
When I was a senior in high school, I had no idea where I wanted to go to college. One of my best friends was a student at TCU, so I naturally thought that would be a good place to end up. When my parents “delicately” told me that I needed to be looking at a state school, I really did not know where to turn. I remember my Dad telling me about another friend who had decided to go to Texas A&M. That day, without knowing much about the school, I decided I would try to get into A&M as well. I got my letter of acceptance several months later, completed high school, went to student orientation (my first trip to College Station) and started the next phase of my life.
I didn’t pray about it. I didn’t spend a whole lot of time considering my decision. I just made the leap and somehow it worked out for me.
Tonight, as we look at “Walking in God’s Will,” you may have a big decision that is weighing heavy on your heart. You may find yourself at a fork in the road wondering whether to turn left or right. I hope you are praying about that decision. I hope that you are carefully considering the options that lay ahead. In short, I hope you’re doing a lot more than I did with the big decision I had to make in my life.
But don’t forget this. God can use you, bless you, guide you, care for you, be present with you anywhere. God’s ability to bless us is not limited by which direction we head, but rather by whether or not we choose to honor God with the decisions that we make. Life is filled with choices. Some we are going to get right, some we’re going to miss the boat a bit, but if we choose to honor God with the decisions that we make, God can always use a life that is surrendered to him.
So, as we talk about God’s will tonight, relax. Don’t allow the anxiety of making the wrong choice paralyze you from moving into the future. If you’re facing a tough choice, I encourage you to make a commitment to honor God with your choice. God can always bless that!
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Freebirds
If you haven’t checked out the new Freebirds at the Arlington Highlands, Anna gives it a thumbs up.
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A crisp morning
I arrived a little early for my board meeting at Glen Lake, our conference camping and retreat ministry. It’s a beautiful day here at camp.
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Still need a Mac!
I think the new “I’m a PC” ads from Microsoft that were just released are far more effective that the ridiculous ads that Microsoft was rolling out there with Seinfeld, but this is just too funny. Turns out that to create those ads, Microsoft decided to use… [seriously, click the link now]
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