No More Teachers, No More Books...

It is truly a wonderful thing to be done. I emailed my very last piece of course work to my seminary professor today, bringing to end this stage of my educational career. I won't receive my diploma until May of 2005, but it is wonderful to not have to worry about classes and papers for a while.

I hope to see you tonight in worship!

will

Scripture This Week - A Prophet in His Home Town

Here is the scripture we will be talking about this Sunday:

Mark 6:1-6 New Revised Standard Version
Mark 6:1-6 The Message

Take a look and feel free to post any thoughts or questions!

See you Sunday,


will

Changing the World with Coffee

In a sermon a few weeks ago I talked about how even the decisions you make about what coffee to buy can have an effect about poverty around the world. Fairly traded coffee allows for coffee growers to actually make enough money to stay out of poverty.

I was reading today about one coffee distributer who is taking this idea one step further. Not only does this company pay fair trade prices for the coffee they sell, they are also sharing their profits, returning more money to the farmers. This money can make a huge impact in the areas that are growing the coffee and is another step toward ending the cycle of poverty. Read more about it here: Dean's Beans New Profit Sharing Program.

This is not necessarily an endorsement of Dean's Beans, though I really like their coffee and find them very reasonable. I just wanted to show you another way the purchasing decisions that we make can have a positive impact on the world.

peace,

will

Scripture this week

This week we are going to read one of my favorite sections of Mark's gospel. Here is the text:

Mark 5:21-43 New Revised Standard Version
Mark 5:21-43 The Message

It may seem like a long passage. Actually it is. However, it is not one that I can easily chop up. You will notice when you read it that there are two stories. One begins, the second one interrupts and then the first one finishes. I have pointed out this sort of thing before in Mark and it will happen again. I like to think of it as sort of a sandwich. When the gospel writer does this, I like to think there is a reason and that the two stories somehow play off each other.

Let me know what you think.

Peace be with you,

will

Worship 10.17.04

Another wonderful night! It is starting to get dark earlier and the sanctuary looks beautiful with all the candles! I had a wonderul worship experience and I hope you did to.

We had a few people pick up posters. If you know somewhere you can hang a poster promoting the service, let me know and I will get you one to hang.

As always, comments on the service and welcome!

Stay tuned for this week's scripture. It should be up today or tomorrow.

Blessings on your week.

will

Helping you help someone else

Do you know someone who you would just love to invite to worship, but you just haven't figured out how to do it. Perhaps you know how much you God could change their lives and that this kind of service might be a way to open the door.

Well the best way is always a personal invitation, but I know that sometimes we are not ready to do that. In the meantime, we can help. Drop me an e-mail with their address, and I will drop them a postcard telling them about the service.

I hope to see you tomorrow for worship. We'll have great music and a visit from Homer Simpson!

Blessings upon you!

will

Basis 101 - Join us this week!

Basis 101, our new small group study for young adults (18-30) is up and running. Here's a little bit about this week's lesson from the website (www.cometogetheraustin.org/basis101).

This week we’ll be looking at the story of Hagar and Sarah whose troubled situation could easily land them a spot on the Jerry Springer Show. This story has everything, adultery, sexism, racism, ageism; quite frankly it’s pretty racy even by today’s standards. What amazes me is even amidst all this “stuff” God is still working in there somewhere. So join us this week as we talk about a story in the Bible that most people in their right minds would avoid.

Why not stop by this week, say hi to Bryan and check it out!

peace,

will

Scripture this Week - I hope you like demons

My wife has put up the Halloween decorations at the house and I am glad. I really think they go well with this week's text! We have a graveyard, a man in shackles and chains, demons and crazy pigs. I tell you Quentin Tarantino ought to think about making this into a movie.

Here is the text:

Mark 5:1-20 New Revised Standard Version
Mark 5:1-20 The Message

I would love to hear your thoughts on the passage. Once you read them, you may agree, this week's sermon may be a challenge to write.

Blessings upon you!

will

Worship 10.10.04

If you are reading along at home, we have completed chapter 4 of the Gospel of Mark. We had another uplifting worship experience this week. Thanks to all and came out and joined us. Special thanks to those who helped out in the service. We were a little shorthanded this week and there was a lot of extra effort on the part of our setup folks. Thanks!

I hope you are telling people you know about the service. People who haven't been to church for a while might find the service a place where they can reconnect. You could really make a positive change in someone's life by just letting them know about the service.

Last night was also the first session of Basis 101, a new group for young adults (18-30ish). Bryan Bellamy is leading it. They meet right after evening worship in room 206 of the adult ed building. You can get more info at cometogetheraustin/basis101.

I love to hear comments on the service. Post them or e-mail me!

Blessings on your week!

will

Double Duty

Since our other two pastors are out of town this week, I will be pulling double duty on Sunday. We will still be covering Mark at 6 p.m., but I will preach a seperate sermon from the Gospel of Luke at 9 and 11:15. The text is Luke 17:11-19.

If you have lots of free time on Sunday, I hope to see you at both!

will

Basis 101

This week we are starting a new small group for young adults (18-30). The group is going to meet right after worship at 7:15 in room 206 of the Adult Education building. Bryan Bellamy is going to lead the group so I hope you take the chance to check it out.

Here is a quick blurb about this week's lesson from Bryan:

Everywhere we look there is someone or something telling us the importance of diversity. It’s on billboards, on TV advertisements, on T-shirts, even the Methodist Church is celebrating the importance of diversity. This week in Basis 101 we’ll be looking at Genesis 11:1-9, the “Tower of Babel,” the “first” account of diversity in the Bible. We’ll look at this old story and talk about how diverse we really are in the present.

The lessons for each week will be posted on the website: www.cometogether.org/basis101.

Grace and Peace to You!

will

Scripture this Week

This week we will finish off chapter 4 of Mark's gospel. We will look at the disciple's adventures at sea:

Mark 4:35-41 New Revised Standard Version
Mark 4:35-41 The Message

I would love to hear your initial thoughts and comments of the the scripture!

I will see you Sunday!

will

Websites from Sunday's Sermon

Someone asked for the websites I listed during Sunday's sermon. Here they are:

The Society of St. Andrew - www.endhunger.org
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) - www.umcor.org
Fairly Traded Coffee from Equal Exchange - www.equalexchange.com

If you are interested in purchasing fairly traded coffee locally, you can find it at Sun Harvest on Lamar and Wheatsville Co-op on Guadalupe or Sun Harvest on Lamar. I am always on the lookout for stores that sell fairly traded coffee and coffee houses that serve it, so let me know if you know of any.

will

Worship 10.4.04

Were you in worship this week? If not, you missed a really spirit filled experience. The music was really moving and we got to here more from my favorite gospel writer, Mark. If you are reading along at home, we are about to finish chapter 4. I will post this week's readings later in the week.

This week we talked about action and the seeds we sow that God can grow into God's kingdom. If you missed the sermon, it is posted on the website. I would love to hear about some of the things people are doing, large or small to plant seeds. Maybe it is something you do with the church or something you do outside the church. How are you planting the seeds of the Kingdom of God?

May God Bless Your Week!

will