Mostly Brass Small Group

Do you play a brass instrument and want to grow spiritually? Then Mostly Brass, which meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month, is for you! Mostly Brass begins with 45 minutes of practice followed by 45 minutes of Bible study and discussion. The group is meeting during the summer and will be using the Disciple I Bible Study materials beginning in September. The group plays in both contemporary and traditional worship services on a regular basis (although you don’t have to perform in order to attend meetings). You can be a regular attendee or just drop in when it works for you. Members would love to meet you and they welcome your participation! For more information, call Thomas at 720-880-5221 or talk to Jenn Dennis, Dave Overton, or Kyle Rasmussen at church!

Dinner for Eight

It's not too late to participate in a Dinner for 8 Group in 2011! Interest is high enough for one more new group. Three spots are still available. Dinner groups meet monthly for an agreed-upon length of time, with members taking turns hosting. The first meeting will be in August. This is a great way to get acquainted and make friends! Contact Thomas at 720-880-5221 or thomas.cross@broomfieldumc.org to register.

Ready….set….serve!

Longtime BUMC member Doug sent us the following testimony and we just knew we had to share it with the community.

You never know when God is going to give you an opportunity to serve, and you always have to be ready! So when Pastor Ken ended his sermon early last week with a challenge to serve, right now, we jumped at the chance. Ken saw Nellie and said “The group putting together health kits for Haiti is almost out of supplies; would you and your Sunday school class go get some?” Nellie talked to members of our Homebuilders class. They liked the idea, and decided to take a collection, and send us shopping. Ok, not much time. It was like a game show…get as many useful items with one hundred dollars…and get back to the church in time for everyone to use them to stock the bags. Let’s see…Target, the Dollar Store or Big Lots? Turn left. Let’s go to Big Lots. 10 o’clock. The doors are just opening. There are the hand towels…and the washcloths, but where are the toothbrushes, and the soap? So little time. Get this. Put that back. This one’s a better buy.

We filled our buggy and made it to the register in ten minutes. Ring it all up. 12 hand towels, 34 washcloths, 72 combs, 3 nail file kits, 40 4 oz. soap bars, 25 toothbrushes…she scanned them all individually…the clock is ticking…and 440 bandages. We made it back to the church while Ken was still preaching in the 9:45 service. The look on the faces of the people organizing the Haiti kits made it all worthwhile. The supply table was looking pretty sparse, so this was a real help. We filled a need. We were blessed to be a blessing, and reported back to the class with our long sales receipt and smiles on our faces!

You have to be ready to serve wherever, whenever, however—even shopping during Sunday school! God uses our gifts in so many awesome and sometimes unexpected ways.
To God be the glory!

Ephesians 6: 7-8 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he/she does.

Career Transitions Small Group

Lori Payton, leader of the Career Transitions Small Group, let us know that she created a group on LinkedIn "so that we can stay better connected. We are also posting job openings as we hear about them. Please feel free to join and post jobs whenever you hear about them."

You will need to be a registered user of LinkedIn to access the group, but joining is fast and free. The Career Transitions group meets every other Wednesday (mark your calendar for the next meeting on February 24 at 6:30 p.m.) and has "graduated" a few attendees after they landed new jobs. In this economy in particular, that's a success rate worth noting!

Processing the Message

When I was a student at CU-Boulder back in the early 1980’s, I attended Bethany Baptist Church. I heard on the radio that the congregation dissolved recently, but in those days, Bethany was a vital community of faith. Jim Cessna was the pastor at the time and I learned a great deal from his expository sermons. Volunteering with the youth group there was actually one of my first steps into ministry. The youth group, I’m pleased to report, is still meeting. It became community-based and is now a separate non-profit that engages many Boulder students.

One aspect of Bethany’s ministry that I greatly enjoyed was a sermon discussion group. Bethany had three services each Sunday, and during the last service, a large group of us met to discuss the morning message. Generally, the pastor that wasn’t preaching led the conversation. It was extremely helpful to me to have that opportunity to process and personalize the message each week. The group also helped me get acquainted with other members of the congregation in a meaningful way. I will never forget it!

During our Small Groups “Blue Sky Day” planning retreat last month, a similar idea arose from our coaching team, and it was greeted with much enthusiasm. As a result, the Sermon Chat was born. Three fine leaders have stepped forward to facilitate the discussions – and they are excited by the possibilities. The informal Sermon Chat will take place each Sunday at 11 a.m. in room 203 starting November 22. It’s open to anybody who wants to join the conversation. No preparation is required; just come and share your insights and reflections upon the morning Scriptures and message. I believe this will be a valuable way to make the message your own – and to get to know your brothers and sisters in Christ!

-- Thomas

Who Is the Real Prodigal?

If you’re like me, you’ve heard some sermons on the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). This is one of my favorite parables, but not for the reasons you may suspect. In many discussions of the parable, the focus is on the younger son and his redemption, but there is much more going on in the parable. For starters, there is the peculiar behavior of the father, who surrenders a third of his estate to the younger son just for the asking. If the meaning of “prodigal” is “extremely generous,” who is the real prodigal in the story? Another aspect of the parable that is often overlooked is the reaction of the older brother, who withdraws from his father after he receives his younger son back with open arms.

Both sons seem to be less concerned with loving their father than their personal desires. The older son ends up grieving his father as much and the younger son. Yet the father doesn’t give up on either of his children. For folks like me who are already in the Father’s house, it is important to consider what Christ is saying to the older brother. His character represents a lot of us who are already in churches, who may think we’re more deserving of God’s love because we’ve been obeying God all along. But are we?

During October, we’re going to explore this fascinating parable in worship and some special small groups, using some materials from Timothy Keller, a pastor in New York City. I invite you to participate. We’ll host some small groups you can join to consider and discuss this parable in greater depth. And you won’t want to miss our sermon series! If you’d like a preview, I invite you an introductory meeting on Monday, September 21 at 6 p.m. here at BUMC. I’ll show you an intriguing DVD message from Tim Keller.

Please share your insights on the parable, and let me know if you are interested in leading or participating in a small group. Thanks so much!

-- Pastor Thomas