This blog began as documentation of my journey into formal ministry. Now that I have received a call it will continue to function as a place for me to address concerns, celebrations and anything else that might catch my fancy. Please remember to "Be A Blessing To Someone Today"! God Bless, Roy
Below please find the video for the sermon given on Sunday, May 24th. The sermon covers the entire 17th Chapter of the Gospel of John. Here we discuss not the "Lord's Prayer" but the "Lord Praying". Jesus is here praying for the Disciples and at the end praying for each one of us as well. It's a wonderful Chapter and I hope you'll take a moment and listen to the sermon. I pray that in it's rough and unpolished delivery you'll find some blessing that you can take and perhaps even share. Thank you and as always... Be a blessing to someone today! In His Grace, Roy
John 17 New Century Version (NCV) Jesus Prays for His Followers 17 After Jesus said these things, he looked toward heaven and prayed, “Father, the time has come. Give glory to your Son so that the Son can give glory to you. 2 You gave the Son power over all people so that the Son could give eternal life to all those you gave him. 3 And this is eternal life: that people know you, the only true God, and that they know Jesus Christ, the One you sent. 4 Having finished the work you gave me to do, I brought you glory on earth. 5 And now, Father, give me glory with you; give me the glory I had with you before the world was made. 6 “I showed what you are like to those you gave me from the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your teaching. 7 Now they know that everything you gave me comes from you. 8 I gave them the teachings you gave me, and they accepted them. They knew that I truly came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for people in the world but for those you gave me, because they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And my glory is shown through them. 11 I am coming to you; I will not stay in the world any longer. But they are still in the world. Holy Father, keep them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they will be one, just as you and I are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me. I protected them, and only one of them, the one worthy of destruction, was lost so that the Scripture would come true. 13 “I am coming to you now. But I pray these things while I am still in the world so that these followers can have all of my joy in them. 14 I have given them your teaching. And the world has hated them, because they don’t belong to the world, just as I don’t belong to the world. 15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world but to keep them safe from the Evil One. 16 They don’t belong to the world, just as I don’t belong to the world. 17 Make them ready for your service through your truth; your teaching is truth. 18 I have sent them into the world, just as you sent me into the world. 19 For their sake, I am making myself ready to serve so that they can be ready for their service of the truth. 20 “I pray for these followers, but I am also praying for all those who will believe in me because of their teaching. 21 Father, I pray that they can be one. As you are in me and I am in you, I pray that they can also be one in us. Then the world will believe that you sent me. 22 I have given these people the glory that you gave me so that they can be one, just as you and I are one. 23 I will be in them and you will be in me so that they will be completely one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you loved them just as much as you loved me.
24 “Father, I want these people that you gave me to be with me where I am. I want them to see my glory, which you gave me because you loved me before the world was made. 25 Father, you are the One who is good. The world does not know you, but I know you, and these people know you sent me. 26 I showed them what you are like, and I will show them again. Then they will have the same love that you have for me, and I will live in them.”
I've fallen behind on posting the sermon videos. Below please find the sermon given during our 'Live-Streamed' service on Thursday, May 21st. Be a blessing to someone today! In Christ, Roy
Luke 24:44-53 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah[a] is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses[b] of these things. 49 And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” The Ascension of Jesus 50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.[c] 52 And they worshiped him, and[d] returned to Jerusalem with great joy; 53 and they were continually in the temple blessing God.[e] Footnotes: a) Luke 24:46 Or the Christ b) Luke 24:48 Or nations. Beginning from Jerusalem 48 you are witnesses c) Luke 24:51 Other ancient authorities lack and was carried up into heaven d) Luke 24:52 Other ancient authorities lack worshiped him, and e) Luke 24:53 Other ancient authorities add Amen
Below please find my June 2020 newsletter article along with the 'Guidelines' that the Christian Council crafted for our worship times. If you have any questions, please give me a call at the Church. I am in the office every morning, please wait until 9:30 am to call however as I do the 'Daily Devotions' Livestream on Facebook at 9 am each morning. (Mon-Sat). Thank you and as always... Be a blessing to someone today! In Christ, Roy
Pastor's Ponderings – June 2020 Well, it is just about June now and we're just about to get back to worshiping in the Sanctuary once more. If you haven't heard yet our plans (at this point in time) are to worship together on Sunday, June 7th. Please join me in lifting up a loud and joy-filled word of praise!! Thank You, Thank You, Heavenly Father! Of course, coming together right now will require a few changes in our normal procedures. We have been asked by the State to implement a few precautions while gathering. Primary among these is the maintaining of 'social distancing'. Please do everything you can to maintain a distance of (at LEAST) six feet between yourselves and others. This distance of course only applies to those that you don't live with. Husbands and wives and small children and their parents can and will obviously be able to sit together and be within six feet of the other. Please, however, if you don't live with your adult children we ask that you abide by the 'social distancing' requirements. You will find in this newsletter a list of “Worship Guidelines During Covid 19”. Though we might be tempted to find some of these 'guidelines' as excessive, trust me there are others that find them far too lax and even reckless. There is no doubt that some of these 'guidelines' are inconvenient and burdensome, however, this list was adopted by the Christian Council (with input from Dr. Eric Holm, Church Council Chairperson Bill Hungate, and myself) with the goal towards practicing love and caring for all our members. The somewhat competing desires to join together and to keep our membership safe, are merged in these 'guidelines', and hopefully, these goals have been met. The Christian Council certainly understands that some will be concerned, critical, and perhaps even feel put-upon by these 'guidelines', but... please... please... please, keep your words loving and kind. Ultimately, these few rules will allow us to be together in community, in worship, and in praise... earlier than we might otherwise be able to do so. For those who remain concerned, please do know that we will continue to live-stream all the worship services on Facebook and all of the sermons will be uploaded later to my personal YouTube Channel. If you need help getting yourself set up to watch online give me a call and we will do what we can to try to get you up and able to watch remotely. So please, if you are concerned, please do remain at home. We will pray for you and we will celebrate all the more once we are together! We will be sending out a letter in the next few days going over the 'guidelines' and with a few directions as to which door(s) to enter and exit from worship. Please pay attention during worship for any and all instructions that I will be giving from the Pulpit to facilitate entering and exiting. Please note that one of the requirements is the wearing of face-masks when entering and exiting (you can pull them down or remove them once seated). If you don't have a face-mask, Kim Anderson and Dorothy Bean are busy making a supply to have available for your use. Please if you pick one up, take it home and try to remember to bring it back the next week to wear once again. If you have any concerns or questions, feel free to call me and I will try to explain things in greater detail. Remember, God is ALWAYS faithful, God is ALWAYS with you... He will NEVER leave you alone. Together, we can and will (with God's help and preservation) get through these strange and trying times. Please remember the greatest commandment... to love God, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself. In closing, I will share a saying that has been circulating online. Norma DeVries sent this to me and it encapsulates well the message I have been trying to get across in some of my recent sermons and devotions... Be a blessing to someone today!!! Pastor Roy As we start to open up...you do you, I'll do me. That's what America's about. None of us have the same circumstances (medically high-risk child/ family member or business about to go under, etc.). Let's all stay in our own lanes and keep the judgment down as we begin to reopen. No one should feel pressured either way. Just a thought... As governors are trying to figure out how to ease back into normal, please remember: Some people don’t agree with the state opening... that’s okay. Be kind. Some people believe this whole thing was unnecessary and overblown... that's okay, Be kind. Some people are still planning to stay at home... that’s okay. Be kind. Some are still scared of getting the virus and a second wave happening....that’s okay. Be kind. Some are sighing with relief to go back to work knowing they may not lose their business or their homes....that’s okay. Be kind. Some are thankful they can finally have a surgery they have put off....that’s okay. Be kind. Some will be able to attend interviews after weeks without a job....that’s okay. Be kind. Some will wear masks for weeks....that’s okay. Be kind. Some people will rush out to get the hair or nails done... that’s okay. Be kind. The point is, everyone has different viewpoints/feelings and that’s okay. Be kind. We each have a different story. If you need to stay home, stay home. Still, be kind. If you need to go out, just respect others when in public and be kind! Don’t judge fellow humans because you’re not in their story. We all are in different mental states than we were months ago. So remember, be kind. PS: Please try to do everything you can to patronize local businesses. Our friend's and neighbor's businesses have suffered unlike they have ever before. Please do everything you can to keep Lake City businesses going and thriving... they are a big part of what makes Lake City such a wonderful place to live. Be a blessing to them with your support. God bless! Pastor Roy
WOODLAWN CHRISTIAN CHURCH DOC & ABC WORSHIP GUIDELINES DURING COVID-19 1. Masks covering your mouth and nose are required when entering the church building, masks are available if you do not have your own. Once you are seated you may remove your mask, however, we do ask that you put the mask back on to leave the building. If you are able to wear the mask throughout the service, that is recommended and much appreciated. 2. The application of hand sanitizer immediately before entering the building will be required. 3. Please maintain social distancing (6' minimum) and refrain from: hugs, fist bumps, shaking hands, etc. 4. There will be a table located near the Church entrance where we kindly ask that you pick up your bulletin, offering envelope, pre-packaged communion cup (with juice & wafer), a face mask, and that you apply hand sanitizer (located on the table) BEFORE you enter the sanctuary. 5. Please leave your offering in the offering plates located near the entrances to the sanctuary. 6. There will be wastebaskets near the sanctuary doors to discard your used communion cup. 7. Fellowship prior to and following worship has been SUSPENDED during this time. Socializing after church should be done on your own, outside of the church building. 8. The nursery will NOT be available during this time. 9. Families who live together are allowed to sit in the same pew. Please only seat one family per pew. 10. Couples are allowed to sit together with one (1) couple at each end of the pew. 11. Single individuals should sit two (2) to a pew with one (1) at each end. 12. Every third pew is available. The other pews have been marked off. Please only sit in the predetermined locations in order to accommodate the 'social-distancing' requirements. 13. We will be dismissing the congregation one row of pews at a time, beginning at the back of the Sanctuary and preceding towards the front. Please remain seated until your pew is dismissed. 14. All services at Woodlawn will continue to be live-streamed via Facebook. If you remain concerned about joining us in person, you are very much welcomed to watch and participate in the service online. Pastor will continue to live-stream the 'Daily Devotions' on FaceBook until worship is back to normal. 15. There will be no Adult nor Children's Sunday School until further notice and consideration by the Christian Council. There will be no Sunday night activities until determined by the Christian Council. 16. If you are feeling ill, if you have a cough, fever, or a runny nose, we ask that you please not attend worship until you are feeling entirely well. Please allow 10 days after last known fever and if you have had respiratory symptoms, please allow for improvement in respiratory function.
The leadership of Woodlawn sincerely and graciously thanks you for your cooperation and generous understanding during this difficult and controversial time. God bless and please... Be a blessing to someone today!
Attached below please find the sermon video from last Sunday mornings 'live-streamed' worship service. God will never leave us 'orphaned', we will always have the Holy Spirit with us no matter where we travel. God 'abides' with us and within us. This is the 'promise' of the Holy Spirit. Praise be to God that He loves us so very much. Be a blessing to someone today! In Christ, Roy
John 14:15-31 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) The Promise of the Holy Spirit 15 “If you love me, you will keep[a] my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,[b] to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in[c] you. 18 “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. 25 “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Advocate,[d] the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way. Footnotes: a) John 14:15 Other ancient authorities read me, keep b) John 14:16 Or Helper c) John 14:17 Or among d) John 14:26 Or Helper
John 15:9-12 9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
Below please find the video from last Thursday night's 'live-streamed' Worship Service. At the end of the sermon, I called for understanding between those of us who don't believe the church should resume formal worship and those who are anxious to gather once more in celebration of our Lord. We need to be sympathetic to each other, our fears, our needs, our very understanding of how and why we worship. Let us do our very best to be gentle, loving, and kind to each other as we journey forward through what has become and remains a most difficult and trying time in history. Be a blessing to someone today! In His Grace, Roy
1 Peter 3:13-22 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 13 Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? 14 But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear,[a] and do not be intimidated, 15 but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; 16 yet do it with gentleness and reverence.[b] Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered[c] for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you[d] to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20 who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. 21 And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for[e] a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. Footnotes: a) 1 Peter 3:14 Gk their fear b) 1 Peter 3:16 Or respect c) 1 Peter 3:18 Other ancient authorities read died d) 1 Peter 3:18 Other ancient authorities read us e) 1 Peter 3:21 Or a pledge to God from
Below please find, the videos of our Live-Streamed "Daily Devotions" on FaceBook from May 1st to May 15th. Thank you for stopping into this little corner of the internet, may you have a richly blessed day! Be a blessing to someone today! In Christ, Roy
Below please find the sermon video from this past Sunday. I looked to the meaning of the Greek for many of the words and I felt that especially with this bit of Scripture it was very helpful. Please take a listen and as always... Be a blessing to someone today! In Christ, Roy
John 14:1-14 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Jesus the Way to the Father 14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe[a] in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?[b] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.”[c] 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know[d] my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If in my name you ask me[e] for anything, I will do it. Footnotes: a) John 14:1 Or You believe b) John 14:2 Or If it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you c) John 14:4 Other ancient authorities read Where I am going you know, and the way you know d) John 14:7 Other ancient authorities read If you had known me, you would have known e) John 14:14 Other ancient authorities lack me
