I am the vine; you are the branches.

Dear Edinburg First Family,

      In late September, I gathered with a group of pastors in Kerrville, TX, for my first Residency in Ministry retreat as part of my journey toward ordination. For two days, I sat around a table with the eight other pastors working toward ordination, our two retreat facilitators, and the nine ordained mentors who will walk alongside us for the next two years. It was a room filled with folks with graduate and doctoral degrees in the Bible, theology, and ministry leadership, and if I counted the years of ministry experience in that room, it would probably exceed 200 years. As you might expect, we talked about the practical details of the program: our assignments, our schedules, and the topics we'll study together. But most of our time was filled with what you might not expect. All twenty of us shared the story of our call to ministry. 

       We heard twenty very different stories of folks with different gifts, backgrounds, and ministry hopes, but one thing was apparent. We were all people who came to experience the transformative love of God in such a way that we could think of no other way to spend our lives but in service of this transforming love. After the retreat, I drove through the Texas hill country on my way to Austin. I had never seen our Texas vineyards before! I was reminded of Jesus’s words to his disciples in John 15: "I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing." It doesn't matter how long we've been "working" for the Lord, how much we know, or how many skills we have acquired. We can do nothing if we are not connected to the love and grace of our Good God. The branches of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength wither apart from the vine of God's love.

     John Wesley and the leaders of the early Methodist movement knew this, and so they established three general rules to guide life within Methodist communities: do no harm, do good, and attend to all the ordinances of God, the practices through which God meets us. We can think of that last rule as “Stay in love with God,” and that is the name of our worship series through the beginning of Advent. But how do we stay in love with God? Together we'll explore some practices: Holy Communion, prayer, song, and Scripture, among others. If you've been around church, you might have heard of spiritual disciplines. Maybe you're like me, and you have felt a lot of pressure around these practices. What if they aren't a checklist, but invitations? What if they are ways to stay in love with God, ways to connect to the person of God?

     Any good friend or partner knows that relationships require intentionality: taking time to talk and spend quality time with each other. It's the same with God. God longs to spend time with you. This connection is the source of all that we get to do. So over the next six weeks, I invite you to choose one small practice, such as five minutes of prayer each morning or a daily psalm or putting on a worship song on your daily commute, and try it. How might you be refreshed and transformed as you abide, as you stay and make your home, in the source of all love?

Just a branch with you,

Pastor Sarah