District Board Questions Part 2

Here is the last two parts of my District Board Paper for my District meeting on the 27th of August. Please feel free to comment .

How do you interpret the statement Jesus Christ is Lord?

When I think about the statement that Jesus Christ is Lord in my life, I am reminded of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for me. That sacrifice was not made in order for me to do whatever I please, but that sacrifice was made in order for me to have a closer relationship with God and to place my trust in God. The sacrifice is only possible because of Christ’s perfect state, “and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”[1]
Because of what Christ has done for me, He is the Lord of my life and I live my life to be in service to Christ. It is because of Christ’s example of serving others that I as a follower of Christ must take on the mantle of a servant and not boast in what I have done, but as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians, let my boast be in the Lord.[2]
With Jesus Christ as my Lord, I release control of my life and place my life under Christ’s authority. There is a song that we sing at our church titled “Holiness.” In the chorus of this song the prayer is that Christ will “take my heart, and form it; take my mind, transform it; take my will, conform it; to yours, to yours, oh Lord”.[3]
It is my prayer as a person who has submitted his life to Christ that every moment of my life I live fully surrendered to the authority of Christ and live in the ways that Christ has called me to live.
[1] Hebrews 5:9 NRSV
[2] 2 Corinthians 10:17 NRSV
[3] “Holiness”, Scott Underwood, 1995 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing


Explain the role and significance of the sacraments in the ministry to which you have been called.

In the United Methodist Church, we hold to two sacraments - the sacrament of holy communion and the sacrament of baptism. These two sacraments are foundational not only in the United Methodist Church, but in the church universal.
The role of the elder is to teach about and administer the sacraments. I believe that the sacraments are a means of grace that are given by God not to be chores that make us worthy, but instead are acts that we participate in that draw us closer to God and become available to the grace that is offered through the sacraments.
Baptism is initiation into the body of Christ as well as the symbolic act of the washing away of our sin. Through baptism, we are stating that we are chosen by God to be involved in bringing God’s kingdom to earth. We receive the gift of baptism because it is not our act, but it is the action of God that brings us into the church, and it is Christ’s sacrifice that washes away our sin. Because baptism is a means of grace and a gift from God, we baptize infants as a witness to the power of God’s grace and its availability to all persons regardless of age.
Holy Communion is a sacrament that binds the church together, not just the present congregations in our world today, but it connects us with the saints that came before us as well as those who will follow in our footsteps. Through the gift of bread and cup, we remember Christ’s sacrifice for us, but we don’t stop at the cross. We are reminded by the bread and the cup that Christ is with us and as we receive the elements we are reminded that we are Christ’s hands and feet to the world and we are to take Christ with us wherever we go, sharing the Good News that Christ died for us so we can have a personal relationship with God.