Ocala First Connection

This past Sunday was Transfiguration Sunday. Jesus goes up the mountain with his three closest disciples: Peter, James and John. Jesus is transfigured before their eyes, with his face shining like the sun and his clothes an indescribable white light. We see Moses and Elijah appearing beside Jesus.  We hear Peter asking if they should make three shrines for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. Then we hear the voice of God from the cloud – a voice Jesus heard at his baptism – “This is my Son whom I dearly love. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!”  And they head back down the mountain and Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem. In the Transfiguration story, we see Divinity shining in Jesus—showing that Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed One, and the Son of God.  The light of the Transfiguration is not ordinary, earthly light, but the light of God’s glory, the light that was before the universe was made, called the “Uncreated Light” in Christian theology.  On the moun...

On Sunday we continued working through the Sermon on the Mount. We read Matthew 5:38-48 where Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek, offer our coat, go the extra mile, give the extra money, and love our enemies.  I shared stories from the lives of Will Campbell and Saint Francis to help us imagine the life Jesus is calling us to lead.  As one commentator wrote:   We are called here to love as God loves.  Jesus is giving us a portrait of the very heart of God, one who loves the unlovable, come among us in Christ, suffers our worst and rises to forgive us. Turn the cheek, give the coat, lend the money, love the enemy because that is how God loves. If you want to follow Jesus you will be adopted into a life in which you find yourself loving this way before you know what you are doing. Maybe we can start by spending a little time reflecting on whom we consider our enemies. Then, pray for them and pray for ourselves as we seek to see them and love them as God does. W...

Check out the worship and announcements for this coming Sunday.   We are looking for some faithful individuals who are willing to serve with Meals on Wheels.   And note the important announcements about our Lenten Family Event on Feb 26, our Pre-School Fundraising Dinner and Silent Auction on March 3, and (as always) our ongoing church pictorial directory project (sign-up now!). 

On Sunday, we continued to work our way through the Sermon on Mount. We love so much of what we read in Matthew chapters 5 - 7:  the Beatitudes; being salt and light;  the Lord's Prayer; do not worry but seek first God's kingdom; ask and you will receive and knock and the door shall be opened to you. But here in the middle of chapter 5, Jesus digs into some teachings that really challenge us. You have heard it said do not commit murder, but I say to you that everyone who is angry with their brother and sister will be in danger of judgement. You have heard it said do not commit adultery, but I say to you that anyone who looks at another person lustfully has already committed adultery in his or her heart.    As Jesus shares these teachings, he is not doing away with the Ten Commandments and other Jewish laws, but pushes us into the deeper intent of the law – that we would be a holy people – a people who truly reflect the holiness of the God we follow and serve....

Check out the order of worship and announcements for this coming week!

You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its saltiness, how will it become salty again? It’s good for nothing except to be thrown away and trampled under people’s feet.  (Matthew 5:13) This past Sunday, I shared a message inspired by the best sermon I ever heard.  Dr. William C. Turner, Jr. was my preaching professor at Duke, and I vividly remember a sermon he preached in chapel on week.  He related a story from early in his ministry. He was praying at the altar rail after a particularly lively sermon when he developed a massive cramp in his hamstring.  He grabbed his leg, wailed in pain, fell backwards off the rail onto the floor writhing in pain.  He said the congregation went wild, shouting "Amen" and "Praise the Lord"  . . . their young preacher had finally "got the  Spirit!"  Thankfully, several of his deacons realized what was happening, helped him up and carried him into the back hallway.  There they gave him the common r...