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Upper Room Daily Devotional

A Note from Pastor Bill

Dear family in faith,

It began as vacation laziness and over the years has become part of my St. Luke's legacy. Struggling with figuring out some way to really enjoy a week at the beach when Sunday and a sermon loomed on the weekend horizon, I decided one summer to forego the message and instead offer folks the opportunity to pose questions to me during worship. I called the day "Ask Bill Anything" Sunday.

Response has been amazing, and the questions have been challenging, to say the least. Over the years Beth Farabee-Puckett has taken to the stool to take questions, and again this year, Jenn Stiles Williams will join me for "Ask the Pastors Anything" this week in the traditional services, and next week in the contemporary services.

Now, even though you can ask us anything, it won't necessarily mean we will answer! There was one year when I was asked "briefs or boxers?" I left a little mystery by refusing to answer that one. And then there are really good and important questions that just cannot be answered in a few minutes. You see, in order to cover as many topics as we can in the time we have, we have to choose carefully. For instance, "Why aren't dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible," is a GREAT question, but in order to answer it well, we would have to talk about how we use Biblical material, the interface between science and spiritual inspiration, creationism and evolution, and the other very good question "How long was a Biblical day?" to name just a few. That kind of an answer would take more time than we'd have, and we want to try to tackle as many questions as we can. The added benefit of having two of us sharing together is that you get to see and hear how age, gender, and theological differences shape our life together as believers.

We will receive your questions in written form during the services and choose which ones to answer. If your question is not selected (which is highly likely, given the number of persons in worship) I encourage you to make an appointment with one of us to ask in person. One summer I made the mistake of telling you to put your email address on your question and I would personally reply. I saved my vacation from sermon writing that year, but I ruined the rest of the summer and most of the fall answering all those questions!

There are no pre-set questions or ones that we "plant" in the congregation. And the answers we give "by the seat of our pants" are not always the best. Inevitably I get home after church and think, "Boy, I really messed that one up," or "Why didn't I think of saying that?" So let grace abound for Jenn and me. And one other thing, remember that the Methodist tradition encourages us to be in dialogue, in "conference" with each other. John Wesley never assumed that all of us would agree on everything, but he did assume we would love each other even in our differences and disagreements.

This year it is not my vacation laziness that prompts the "Ask" Sundays; it is a desire to have you invite your family members and friends who are not church attenders. They probably have some preconceived ideas about "church" and pastors that might change after coming with you. Maybe there is an important question they will want to ask that we can answer. We even have an easy way for you to invite them to be your guest. You can use our E-Cards we've created for ReThink Church (E-Cards page) using the message box to put in the details of what time you will pick them up and even invite them for coffee or lunch afterward. This service would be a great way to open up some conversations with your friends.

All of this is a part of our fall emphasis to have people "Re-think Church," "Re-think Life," and finally, "Re-think Christmas." Beth introduces the re-thinking of church in the contemporary services this week, and in traditional next week. The series will lift up the parables of Jesus, and the re-thinking of life follows the story of Job. Check out Proverbs 2:1-11 and Matthew 7:7 for this week.

And just in case you were wondering, yes I AM at the beach as I write this. Some things never change!

With faith, hope, and love,
Bill