Welcome to St Timothy’s
You will find that St. Timothy’s is a small friendly church; a true family, rich in the relationships that matter most. We are eager to know you, and include you in our community. You will be blessed by the mysterious ways God is working among us.
Our purpose is to glorify God. Our mission is to come together to nourish our beliefs, plant the seed of the Gospel, and reach out in joy to share our faith and blessings in our communities.
Our doors are open. Our hearts are open, too. If you’ve been thinking, praying, and searching for a place to belong, we hope you will join us in discovering a deeper experience of God and a warm friendship with our church family.
Yours in Christ,
Sermons
April Message
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make a great nation of you and bless you….So Abram went…Genesis 12:1-4
What makes you anxious about your calling from God? This is the question we were asked at our last Living Waters Team meeting. Imagine how Abram felt when he was asked to give up everything he knew and set off on a journey to an unknown land.
Do you think he had butterflies in his stomach? Do you think he was restless as he slept?
Do you suppose he wondered what would happen to him?
Undertaking a spiritual journey guarantees that you will feel some anxiety. When the Lord says “Come, follow me,” you are not given an itinerary. You are simply asked to trust and move forward. You may not be prepared for all of the challenges you will encounter on your journey. Without a doubt you will be asked to go beyond your comfort zone.
About twenty years ago I was asked to help teach a class on prayer. My initial response was to say “No.” I felt inadequate to teach others how to pray. My own prayers were childlike. I had trouble saying a simple grace in front of other people and I would get anxious and tongue-tied. My pastor asked me to pray about it for a week. At the end of the week I realized that teaching the class would force me to stretch beyond my comfort zone. Hesitantly I said, “Yes.” As I helped teach the class, my own prayer life began to grow and flourish.
Going beyond our comfort zone is a fundamental aspect of spiritual growth. We may feel anxious at first, but as we gain mastery of the spiritual skills involved we do experience greater trust in God and a deepening of our spirituality. Next time someone asks you to do something that you feel unprepared or inadequate to do, consider that it may be the Lord calling you.
I wish you a Blessed Easter.
March Message
Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.”
(Matthew 18: 21)
Conflict. What do you think or feel when you hear the word? If you are like most other people, you will probably experience some discomfort. The fact is that conflict can involve uncomfortable emotions. Yet conflict is normal and healthy. We have different values, goals, principles and desires and it is not possible for us to always be in agreement.
In our Living Water training this past month we learned that conflict and conflict resolution are important spiritual disciplines. Because many of us are conflict avoidant, we may ignore issues when they are small and easily addressed and not realize that we have a conflict until it escalates. The conflict resolution model we were given identifies eight stages in conflict beginning with mild discomfort and growing to the point of total disruption. We were encouraged to recognize and respond to the earliest stages of conflict.
Once we are aware of conflict, it is important to be quick to forgive and let go of the uncomfortable emotions. Then, we are free to seek a solution to the problem. Optimally, we want a solution that fosters a positive outcome for all parties.
We decided at our congregational meeting to set a goal of growing our attendance at worship to an average of one hundred people. As we initiate new evangelism and outreach efforts, we will no doubt encounter some conflict. When you find yourself mildly annoyed, remember that Jesus calls us to forgive, not seven times, but seventy-seventimes. As the church we are called to practice forgiveness on a daily basis—forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Then get busy problem solving.
It may not be easy to be a Christian, but when we practice our conflict resolution as a spiritual discipline, the world will see that we love one another as Jesus loved us.
February Message
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. (1 John 4:1)
What does God want you to do? How can you know for sure? Do you yearn for divine guidance when making difficult decisions? How can you tell the difference between self-leading and God’s leading? Last month, the Living Water Team studied the spiritual discipline of discernment and we recommend that St. Timothy’s deepen our spiritual understanding by practicing this discipline.
The aim of discernment is to “enhance our participation in the work of God for the glory of God and the healing of the world.” No method guarantees how the Spirit will be discerned because the Holy Spirit cannot be captured in a formula. But we can learn ways to practice discernment that help diminish self-leading and promote the possibility that God’s Spirit can be known.
When we practice discernment as a spiritual discipline, we commit ourselves to being attentive to our experiences of God and learning to recognize the interior movements that indicate the presence or absence of the Holy Spirit. We act upon choices that draw us into harmony with the will of God, and deepen our intimacy with God. We reject those choices that move us away from God.
Discernment uses all of our faculties of knowing and moves us through a series of steps from identifying the decision or question that needs discernment through various forms of reflection (studying the bible, using intuition and imagination, recognizing harmony or disharmony) to actually taking a course of action.
Discernment is not complete until the decision has been acted upon and evaluated. We ask: Does the decision continue to “sit well”? Does the decision result in the presence of the fruit of the Spirit? Do we have the energy and courage to proceed? Do others confirm the decision? Over time a well-discerned decision will continue to seem like the right choice, and even become more solid.
If you yearn for divine guidance in your daily life, and if you want to help our congregation be more attuned to the will of God, I have many resources available to help you cultivate the spiritual practice of discernment. Just let me know you are interested.
