Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Three Things I Learned
Three THINGS I LEARNED
By Fred Wurtzel
“. . .First pay attention to me, and then relax. Now you can take it easy—you’re in good hands.”
Proverbs 1:29-33
The mission of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Lansing, Michigan is to recognize all people as children of God. In serving Jesus Christ as our Savior, we will proclaim, teach, and witness to the loving grace of God.
As you all know, last week we lost a friend. Roger Wilson now sits with all those who have gone ahead to Heaven. I am cautioned not to judge, but I will take a risk on this one: Roger is definitely in Heaven.
These days in our media and around in most places, people may be heard talking or shouting or lecturing about what it means to be a patriot, a citizen or a neighbor. Mostly, I turn around and head the other way when I hear such dogma or puffery or blathering nonsense. When I heard Roger Wilson talk I listened. First, I listened because he had a most compelling voice. What a voice he had. It was a voice suitable for the stage or screen.
Once Roger got my attention with his voice, he kept my attention by his words. He sometimes proclaimed the rules of the road to live by and these words were worth listening to. I found his values compelling and instructive.
It was not these words that caused me to think or reconsider my thoughts or ideas; it was his stories. Anyone can recite a rule or tell another how they should live. Such things are often even worth listening to. I really think that a person’s stories really reach our hearts. Roger’s stories could fill many pages, possibly volumes.
Among the many messages of wisdom that I received from Roger are the following:
1. Love God and proclaim and witness this love to the world.
2. Don’t feel ashamed of showing your emotions, especially when talking about the Lord.
3. Love the life god has given us and include everyone in this celebration, including friends, family and strangers.
Really, these are all the same lesson about embracing God’s love and freely sharing it. Roger would engage strangers and bring them into his life through humor: even if they weren’t expecting it: especially if they weren’t expecting it. Roger enjoyed God
‘S gifts in the form of eggs, sausage and gravy. He loved to share these gifts with others and explain the ecstasy of these indulgences.
Roger’s stories of his family life would make a wonderful sit-com. It would be one of those heart-warming and hilarious programs where funny things happen and the end of every episode would be filled with love.
What I learned from Roger was how to be a God-loving person who loves life and is very comfortable witnessing through open, uninhibited and genuine unpretentiousness. Roger, I will miss you and I will smile often when I think of you.
Beyond my awareness of these valuable ideas was the feeling of our collective experience as a congregation. The sounds, feelings and demonstrations of love that took place within the walls of our humble church last week drove home the reason we “congregate” as Christians. I never tire of relearning the importance of every person whom God has allowed me to meet and get to know. Our congregation is God’s family growing, sharing and living out His will on earth as in Heaven.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Shining Our Light In Groesbeck With Easter Eggs
Shining our Light In Groesbeck
By Dawn Epstein
Our coalition of Churches in Groesbeck, including Plymouth Congregational, Asbury Methodist and First Christian have teamed up to present National Night Out, Trunk or Treat, and Christmas Caroling. Our next collaborative neighborhood event will be an Easter Egg Hunt in Slater Park Saturday, March 28, 11 AM. The event will include crafts and other activities under the pavilion with the egg hunt throughout the park.
Each church will provide the following items. Please consider how you may participate and support the event. We need volunteers the day of the event, food and supplies and your help in publicizing the Easter Egg Hunt.:
Can you help with the following?:
Candy to fill 350 eggs
2 crafts for about 100 kids each
refreshments to include coffee, water (bottled or cups), donut holes, cups and napkins for about 50 people.
Volunteers the day of the Easter Egg hunt (Saturday March 28 at 11:00)
Flyers promoting the Easter Egg Hunt will be distributed to schools in the area and will be sent home with children.
Another way you may help this event be a success and shine God’s light in the greater Groesbeck area is to join with your fellow members to promote the event. Please use Facebook, tweets, church websites, church newsletters, Groesbeck newsletters and word of mouth to spread the word. Your network is the very most effective way to get The Word out..
Thank you for your love and energy.
Shining our Light In Groesbeck
By Dawn Epstein
Our coalition of Churches in Groesbeck, including Plymouth Congregational, Asbury Methodist and First Christian have teamed up to present National Night Out, Trunk or Treat, and Christmas Caroling. Our next collaborative neighborhood event will be an Easter Egg Hunt in Slater Park Saturday, March 28, 11 AM. The event will include crafts and other activities under the pavilion with the egg hunt throughout the park.
Each church will provide the following items. Please consider how you may participate and support the event. We need volunteers the day of the event, food and supplies and your help in publicizing the Easter Egg Hunt.:
Can you help with the following?:
Candy to fill 350 eggs
2 crafts for about 100 kids each
refreshments to include coffee, water (bottled or cups), donut holes, cups and napkins for about 50 people.
Volunteers the day of the Easter Egg hunt (Saturday March 28 at 11:00)
Flyers promoting the Easter Egg Hunt will be distributed to schools in the area and will be sent home with children.
Another way you may help this event be a success and shine God’s light in the greater Groesbeck area is to join with your fellow members to promote the event. Please use Facebook, tweets, church websites, church newsletters, Groesbeck newsletters and word of mouth to spread the word. Your network is the very most effective way to get The Word out..
Thank you for your love and energy.
Taking Stock
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
-Luke 4:18
NKJV
The mission of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Lansing, Michigan is to recognize all people as children of God. In serving Jesus Christ as our Savior, we will proclaim, teach, and witness to the loving grace of God.
This past Sunday we had our annual congregational meeting. This meeting serves many purposes. Among those purposes is that of “taking stock.” We take time to hear from our various leaders those things, which were accomplished, and what we may expect in the upcoming year. There are written reports available and I encourage anyone who is interested in finding a way to serve the Lord through our Church to read these reports. Our members work hard and volunteer uncounted hours of their lives to help build a community of believers to “proclaim, teach, and witness” God’s call to us here at First Christian Church. Luke’s Gospel message above is scary and daunting. We have signed up for a mighty mission. The Good News is that we each are only expected to do our very best and give according to our gifts. God will not expect more from us than the ways He has already blessed us.
One of our duties is to use God’s gifts boldly. The parable of the talents clearly tells us that God does not respect those who sit on the assets of His kingdom and not use those gifts to their maximum.
I wish to call on us, as a body, to look around at 1001 Chester Road and take stock. Look at the floors, the furniture, the walls, the ceilings, the roof, the lawn and the natural things around our church. After you do that, forget everything you thought and then take a second and even a third look. Look around as if you are seeing things for the first time.
As a member of our Church, do you feel we are using every square inch to proclaim, teach, and witness God’s Word to each other and our Community? If so, that is great: you are doing what God wants. If, however, you see even the smallest way to leverage God’s gifts to us to improve our means to proclaim, teach, and witness, then your duty is to work to help us to make better use of our wonderful inheritance. We are just the most recent people charged with this mission. Many people came before us and sacrificed so we can enjoy our beautiful facilities and membership.
Take notes. Write a list. Talk to others. Let your board, Pastor and committees know your ideas. Better yet, join with others to proclaim, teach, and witness God’s word from our church. Whether it is the use of our education wing, our kitchen or the energy of our children we need to use these gifts to proclaim, teach, and witness here in Lansing and throughout the world.
Here are some places where our leaders asked for help in the upcoming year:
The Wednesday Boys who do a huge service to our church need people to volunteer to do tool things. You could be all thumbs or a master craftsperson. You may be young or old. You may be male or female. There is a place for you. If you like to eat doughnuts and talk tools you will be in glory.
If you are about to be the next Jukebox Hero and not a Shooting Star, our Praise band needs you. Our Jazzy, rootsy, Rock band of eclectic musicians are about to break out. The world is waiting to discover our unique and talented musical ministry. Bring a guitar or most any other instrument and there will be a place for you: kicking out the Jams and hymns for the Lord.
Our Caraway Street Ministry needs you closet theater folks and Broadway superstars. If you love the spotlight, like to ham it up, wish to hear the applause and enjoy the adulation of the audience you can join our puppet ministry to spread God’s word to our young people through the dramatic arts.
If you consider yourself a computer nerd, or if you don’t know a pixel from a pickle, we need your help to build and maintain our social media presence. We now have a robust, if not underfed, website, which is flexible and able to spread our word to the world through bits and bytes. If you enjoy the excitement of being on the cutting edge of communications and raising our social media profile, we have a place for you. All we need is your willingness to learn and help.
These items are just a small sample of the kinds of ways you may serve our Church. Every person can, and is welcome to, carve out a niche where God leads you. We want your thinking, your hands and your prayers. We need you to dig up your talents and put them to work. They serve no one, there, buried in the ground. Begin by looking around our building and grounds to see new ways to use our property to serve our community. We are waiting for your gifts of imagination, creativity, stick-to-itiveness and love to move us ever onward.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Invest In Each Other
KEEP INVESTING IN EACH OTHER
By Fred Wurtzel
11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are
Doing.
-- 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (New International Version)
Invest -- To devote morally or psychologically, as to a purpose; commit:
Invest -- To endow with an enveloping or pervasive quality: "A charm invests a face/Imperfectly
beheld" (Emily Dickinson).
The Sun is warm on my face; the breeze keeps me comfortable, no not comfortable, in a state of heightened awareness and contemplation as I float over Lansing in the basket of my hot air balloon. Below are a large church with a lot of flags moving lazily in the breeze, to the left is the Lansing Mall and the Meijer store and all those strip malls and chain restaurants. There is another very small church with an empty parking lot and a neatly trimmed lawn near Waverly High School down there on West Michigan. Further to the right there is a very large sprawling church to the South.
The downtown capitol Mall with the Modern Hall of Justice building as a reflection of the 19h century Capitol building to the East, each standing as monuments to hope and faith from their respective centuries. Just to the North of the Capitol are many older churches varying in size from demi-cathedral to cozy. The Grand River sparkles as it meanders through town. Eastern High School and Pattengil Middle School bookend Lansing Catholic highs cool creating an architectural, philosophical and educational timeline from the early 20th Century to the early 21st.
Through my binoculars I finally locate one of my favorite spots. First Christian Church on 1001 Chester Road. There are people on the green area to the West of the church apparently harvesting vegetables from the garden. Kids scurry about brandishing carrots and others carefully and lovingly place firm, plump bright red tomatoes into containers and put them on a scale. The scene is so vivid: I can almost hear the laughter of the children, smell the pungency of the tomato vines, feel the rich nourishing garden soil between my fingers and taste the cool goodness of a purloined baby cucumber plucked from a vine. It is suddenly clear that what I am seeing is a microcosm or fractal of all the sites I have just passed over. A community of various generations playing and working together for a purpose. Eager impatience along with patient understanding, learning and reflecting, racing ahead and cooling down after a long effort in the good race. It is all there before me a dazzling lesson from God about His will for His work on His Earth.
During this year our members have sold hot dogs, tended a Parade of Homes site in Okemos, raised a community garden and provided fresh food to our community, invited people into our church for a flea market and barbecue, among all the many events and activities here at 1001 Chester. Life is never a straight line between the beginning and end, the hope and fulfillment of a dream, or the Cross and His Return. We are challenged daily to hear God’s will for each of us, meet the challenges of doing His will while living a reverent, thankful and fulfilling life as part of a Christian community of believers such as First Christian Church.
Your Stewardship Committee is calling on you, our membership, to invest in each other. Investments are future oriented endowed with hope and promise. In financial terms our Church has a legacy of investment. Those who came before us invested their money, their dreams and their faith in our church. We must now continue their efforts. Our pledge campaign will begin this weekend with a Potluck after church. Our committee will ask you to join with us to gather ideas for investing in each other through our mutual efforts to increase revenues to support our many projects and programs. What ideas do you have to create a cohesive Jesus centered group of believers who truly want to invest in our congregation and our community. We want to reach out to individuals and families to share God’s promise and encouragement.
For those of you who are statistically minded, we are collecting more than 107% of what you pledged. This is wonderful and please feel free to take a bow. Unfortunately, the cost of running our Church is nearly $20,000 more than what is being pledged. We have cut staff and staff hours. We have decided to turn off the heat in the West wing during the week. We have installed energy saving equipment as we can do so. We have had fundraisers such as the Parade of Homes, Lugnuts Concessions, the Heere Piggy, Piggy Barbecue (approximately $100 profit), a community flea market and other similar events.
Please pray, pray with your spouse, consider the value of our congregation in your life and our community, then, complete a pledge form and turn it in by placing it in the box in the narthex. Pledges are strictly confidential, not I, nor Pastor Rick nor anyone except Penny Ascroft knows anyone’s pledge. We guard this information carefully.
So, fix a dish, come to the potluck, pray, complete a pledge form and bring your ideas to invest in each other. With God’s grace, along with your time, talent and treasure, we will be a light for Jesus in Lansing.
By Fred Wurtzel
11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are
Doing.
-- 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (New International Version)
Invest -- To devote morally or psychologically, as to a purpose; commit:
Invest -- To endow with an enveloping or pervasive quality: "A charm invests a face/Imperfectly
beheld" (Emily Dickinson).
The Sun is warm on my face; the breeze keeps me comfortable, no not comfortable, in a state of heightened awareness and contemplation as I float over Lansing in the basket of my hot air balloon. Below are a large church with a lot of flags moving lazily in the breeze, to the left is the Lansing Mall and the Meijer store and all those strip malls and chain restaurants. There is another very small church with an empty parking lot and a neatly trimmed lawn near Waverly High School down there on West Michigan. Further to the right there is a very large sprawling church to the South.
The downtown capitol Mall with the Modern Hall of Justice building as a reflection of the 19h century Capitol building to the East, each standing as monuments to hope and faith from their respective centuries. Just to the North of the Capitol are many older churches varying in size from demi-cathedral to cozy. The Grand River sparkles as it meanders through town. Eastern High School and Pattengil Middle School bookend Lansing Catholic highs cool creating an architectural, philosophical and educational timeline from the early 20th Century to the early 21st.
Through my binoculars I finally locate one of my favorite spots. First Christian Church on 1001 Chester Road. There are people on the green area to the West of the church apparently harvesting vegetables from the garden. Kids scurry about brandishing carrots and others carefully and lovingly place firm, plump bright red tomatoes into containers and put them on a scale. The scene is so vivid: I can almost hear the laughter of the children, smell the pungency of the tomato vines, feel the rich nourishing garden soil between my fingers and taste the cool goodness of a purloined baby cucumber plucked from a vine. It is suddenly clear that what I am seeing is a microcosm or fractal of all the sites I have just passed over. A community of various generations playing and working together for a purpose. Eager impatience along with patient understanding, learning and reflecting, racing ahead and cooling down after a long effort in the good race. It is all there before me a dazzling lesson from God about His will for His work on His Earth.
During this year our members have sold hot dogs, tended a Parade of Homes site in Okemos, raised a community garden and provided fresh food to our community, invited people into our church for a flea market and barbecue, among all the many events and activities here at 1001 Chester. Life is never a straight line between the beginning and end, the hope and fulfillment of a dream, or the Cross and His Return. We are challenged daily to hear God’s will for each of us, meet the challenges of doing His will while living a reverent, thankful and fulfilling life as part of a Christian community of believers such as First Christian Church.
Your Stewardship Committee is calling on you, our membership, to invest in each other. Investments are future oriented endowed with hope and promise. In financial terms our Church has a legacy of investment. Those who came before us invested their money, their dreams and their faith in our church. We must now continue their efforts. Our pledge campaign will begin this weekend with a Potluck after church. Our committee will ask you to join with us to gather ideas for investing in each other through our mutual efforts to increase revenues to support our many projects and programs. What ideas do you have to create a cohesive Jesus centered group of believers who truly want to invest in our congregation and our community. We want to reach out to individuals and families to share God’s promise and encouragement.
For those of you who are statistically minded, we are collecting more than 107% of what you pledged. This is wonderful and please feel free to take a bow. Unfortunately, the cost of running our Church is nearly $20,000 more than what is being pledged. We have cut staff and staff hours. We have decided to turn off the heat in the West wing during the week. We have installed energy saving equipment as we can do so. We have had fundraisers such as the Parade of Homes, Lugnuts Concessions, the Heere Piggy, Piggy Barbecue (approximately $100 profit), a community flea market and other similar events.
Please pray, pray with your spouse, consider the value of our congregation in your life and our community, then, complete a pledge form and turn it in by placing it in the box in the narthex. Pledges are strictly confidential, not I, nor Pastor Rick nor anyone except Penny Ascroft knows anyone’s pledge. We guard this information carefully.
So, fix a dish, come to the potluck, pray, complete a pledge form and bring your ideas to invest in each other. With God’s grace, along with your time, talent and treasure, we will be a light for Jesus in Lansing.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Easter
It appears that I gave up blogging for Lent. Though this is not technically true, it is clearly what happened, no matter the cause. I will consciously redidicate myself to improvement on this endeavor.
It is difficult to come up with anything new to say about Easter. It is renewal.Of course, we talk about the "new covenant," as opposed to the old covenant after the flood symbolized by the rainbow.
When i think about the new covenant, I almost have a feeling of relief. I am not good with rules, routine or consistency. Anyone who knows me is sometimes painfully aware of this character trait of mine. Some of my more disciplined brothers and sisters have difficulty understanding my lapses. There have been many difficult and turbulant experiences in my life due to my personality. It seems simple to people who are disciplined to simply do stuff. They do not understand that if I could change this I would, or at least reduce its occurances to those with less gravity and effect on others. This sounds like rationalization, who knows? I just know I struggle with circumstances, a lot. So, when Jesus came to die for me and I learn from Him that I cannot "earn" my way into Heaven, I am relieved. If it depended on me, I might as well break out the hotdogs and marshmallows and get ready for the great, long barbeque.
Fortunately, for me, jesus is here for me. not just me, of course, but for me personally, not my family, not our congregation, not americans, for me personally. This is profound. It is, to me, the most profound of all truth.
If I did nothing but sit in my new La-Z-Boy for the rest of my life, this truth would still apply. If I sold all my possessions and made a promise of poverty and found a cave and spent my days in solomn prayer, this truth would apply. If I moved to some remote area where no one had heard of jesus and converted everyone to Christianity and gained millions of followers for the Lord, the same truth would apply.
So, what is the incentive? Why should I write this blog entry? Why should i wake up and go to church? Why serve in leadership in our church? After all, the result is the same. Jesus came to save me and his position as the Son of God, who came here and died and rose from the dead, gives me the ticket.
My favorite Bible passages are the 23rd Psalm and Mathew . I am reassured. Also, I learn that sin is sin. My sins are like everyone's sins. i cannot do anything to make up for my sinfulness. I also learn that I have the power to do all that jesus did and more. now that is something to contemplate. i am told not to worry, since the birds and flowers are taken care of and so why won't the Lord take care of me? Now that is an insurance policy!
So, how does and Elder respond to Easter? My first reaction is gratitude. I am so grateful that my salvation and relationship with Jesus is not dependent on me. To become the change we want to see, I need to react in kind. Not to secure salvation, but because of gratitude. I need to give back. understand, this is my response to Easter. Another person's response is between them and jesus. Though I will fail and struggle, I will continue to try. I will get out of the recliner and walk over to church. I will talk to my brothers and sisters and work to be of service. I will listen to find opportunities to teach the story of our Lord and his mercy.
I hope members of our church call upon me to be of service. I can be a little dense, sometimes. it is good to spell things out to me in plain words.
So my renewal is to rededicate myself to doing good, praying, loving the Lord, listening to the Holy Spirit and trying to pick up on the cues and follow the path which jesus has blazed for me, personally.
It is difficult to come up with anything new to say about Easter. It is renewal.Of course, we talk about the "new covenant," as opposed to the old covenant after the flood symbolized by the rainbow.
When i think about the new covenant, I almost have a feeling of relief. I am not good with rules, routine or consistency. Anyone who knows me is sometimes painfully aware of this character trait of mine. Some of my more disciplined brothers and sisters have difficulty understanding my lapses. There have been many difficult and turbulant experiences in my life due to my personality. It seems simple to people who are disciplined to simply do stuff. They do not understand that if I could change this I would, or at least reduce its occurances to those with less gravity and effect on others. This sounds like rationalization, who knows? I just know I struggle with circumstances, a lot. So, when Jesus came to die for me and I learn from Him that I cannot "earn" my way into Heaven, I am relieved. If it depended on me, I might as well break out the hotdogs and marshmallows and get ready for the great, long barbeque.
Fortunately, for me, jesus is here for me. not just me, of course, but for me personally, not my family, not our congregation, not americans, for me personally. This is profound. It is, to me, the most profound of all truth.
If I did nothing but sit in my new La-Z-Boy for the rest of my life, this truth would still apply. If I sold all my possessions and made a promise of poverty and found a cave and spent my days in solomn prayer, this truth would apply. If I moved to some remote area where no one had heard of jesus and converted everyone to Christianity and gained millions of followers for the Lord, the same truth would apply.
So, what is the incentive? Why should I write this blog entry? Why should i wake up and go to church? Why serve in leadership in our church? After all, the result is the same. Jesus came to save me and his position as the Son of God, who came here and died and rose from the dead, gives me the ticket.
My favorite Bible passages are the 23rd Psalm and Mathew . I am reassured. Also, I learn that sin is sin. My sins are like everyone's sins. i cannot do anything to make up for my sinfulness. I also learn that I have the power to do all that jesus did and more. now that is something to contemplate. i am told not to worry, since the birds and flowers are taken care of and so why won't the Lord take care of me? Now that is an insurance policy!
So, how does and Elder respond to Easter? My first reaction is gratitude. I am so grateful that my salvation and relationship with Jesus is not dependent on me. To become the change we want to see, I need to react in kind. Not to secure salvation, but because of gratitude. I need to give back. understand, this is my response to Easter. Another person's response is between them and jesus. Though I will fail and struggle, I will continue to try. I will get out of the recliner and walk over to church. I will talk to my brothers and sisters and work to be of service. I will listen to find opportunities to teach the story of our Lord and his mercy.
I hope members of our church call upon me to be of service. I can be a little dense, sometimes. it is good to spell things out to me in plain words.
So my renewal is to rededicate myself to doing good, praying, loving the Lord, listening to the Holy Spirit and trying to pick up on the cues and follow the path which jesus has blazed for me, personally.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Abundance: The Grace of Christ, The grace of the Law
Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon. There the Lord will display
his glory, the splendor of our God.
Isaiah 35:2
From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. [Or received the grace
of Christ rather than the grace of the law
John 1:16
What a great Worship Service we had this morning! The music was truly magnificent. The choir, the Beeber family, Meggan and Alex on the piano were all so Heavenly. I love our Music Ministry. We have Bluegrass, Classical, Blues, Rock and even more. The amazing thing is that they all sound wonderful.
Well, here is one of my favorite topics: God’s abundance. Rick’s message this morning on the Advent Love theme focused on the parable of the workers who, no matter how much they worked during the day were all paid the same amount. Abundance, equity, love: what do they have in common?
To me, this is a core message of Jesus. I like the teaching I heard on the Lord’s Prayer. “Give us, this day, our daily bread.” This was explained to mean that we may expect that our needs, today, will be met, today, and that tomorrow’s needs will be met, tomorrow. So if we Elders are working together, I will, most likely, not make decisions on the basis of fear, of shortage, or calamity or other such crisis. I believe that we, the Church, need to model faith and to practice faith.
This morning Rick gave the congregation a bowl of 36 bows (ribbons for gifts). He said members could give a bow to someone who has served the Church this year. Of course, more than 36 people have served us this year. Some people “regifted” their bow to another who had also served. This is certainly an example of how God leverages his resources and provides abundance in blessings. Those 36 bows recognized many more than 36 people and more than 36 people made statements about gratitude. What a beautiful lesson.
People were recognized who put in hundreds or thousands of hours of work in our Church. Others were recognized who are new or who had a less time-consuming job. All the work was important. Every minute of effort added to God’s work. I am certain, that everyone who contributed was not recognized in this way, this morning. Everyone was compensated. I am a believer in all those worker rights kinds of issue. “Equal pay for equal work in the workplace,” and all that. It is right that people be compensated for their work to support their family and build our community. This is man’s way of seeing things, perhaps a little simplistic. The child care worker barely gets a wage to watch over our most precious resources, our children, while others are paid obscene amounts to create inequities amongst us all (An example of grace under the law.).
God’s equity, emanating from His Love, is more precise. Give us, this day, our daily bread. Why do we need more than that? I cannot say what the right amount is for anyone. What you need this day is most certainly different from what I need. I certainly have more than I need every day. God loves every one of us. God does know our needs. If we listen, we will know His will. He has sent the Holy Spirit to help us learn and grow.
I hope we, as Elders, can practice, what I believe, is God’s abundance. After all, our Father is the owner of the universe. Why shouldn’t we expect that He will provide what we need in carrying on His work here in Lansing and beyond? We must work to banish fear and embrace love and abundance in our leadership and stewardship of the gifts and mission before us. God is with us. He will bless our efforts to serve Him and His people.
his glory, the splendor of our God.
Isaiah 35:2
From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. [Or received the grace
of Christ rather than the grace of the law
John 1:16
What a great Worship Service we had this morning! The music was truly magnificent. The choir, the Beeber family, Meggan and Alex on the piano were all so Heavenly. I love our Music Ministry. We have Bluegrass, Classical, Blues, Rock and even more. The amazing thing is that they all sound wonderful.
Well, here is one of my favorite topics: God’s abundance. Rick’s message this morning on the Advent Love theme focused on the parable of the workers who, no matter how much they worked during the day were all paid the same amount. Abundance, equity, love: what do they have in common?
To me, this is a core message of Jesus. I like the teaching I heard on the Lord’s Prayer. “Give us, this day, our daily bread.” This was explained to mean that we may expect that our needs, today, will be met, today, and that tomorrow’s needs will be met, tomorrow. So if we Elders are working together, I will, most likely, not make decisions on the basis of fear, of shortage, or calamity or other such crisis. I believe that we, the Church, need to model faith and to practice faith.
This morning Rick gave the congregation a bowl of 36 bows (ribbons for gifts). He said members could give a bow to someone who has served the Church this year. Of course, more than 36 people have served us this year. Some people “regifted” their bow to another who had also served. This is certainly an example of how God leverages his resources and provides abundance in blessings. Those 36 bows recognized many more than 36 people and more than 36 people made statements about gratitude. What a beautiful lesson.
People were recognized who put in hundreds or thousands of hours of work in our Church. Others were recognized who are new or who had a less time-consuming job. All the work was important. Every minute of effort added to God’s work. I am certain, that everyone who contributed was not recognized in this way, this morning. Everyone was compensated. I am a believer in all those worker rights kinds of issue. “Equal pay for equal work in the workplace,” and all that. It is right that people be compensated for their work to support their family and build our community. This is man’s way of seeing things, perhaps a little simplistic. The child care worker barely gets a wage to watch over our most precious resources, our children, while others are paid obscene amounts to create inequities amongst us all (An example of grace under the law.).
God’s equity, emanating from His Love, is more precise. Give us, this day, our daily bread. Why do we need more than that? I cannot say what the right amount is for anyone. What you need this day is most certainly different from what I need. I certainly have more than I need every day. God loves every one of us. God does know our needs. If we listen, we will know His will. He has sent the Holy Spirit to help us learn and grow.
I hope we, as Elders, can practice, what I believe, is God’s abundance. After all, our Father is the owner of the universe. Why shouldn’t we expect that He will provide what we need in carrying on His work here in Lansing and beyond? We must work to banish fear and embrace love and abundance in our leadership and stewardship of the gifts and mission before us. God is with us. He will bless our efforts to serve Him and His people.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Transitions, Brunch and the Holy Spirit
“And a second reminder, dear children: You know the Father from personal experience.
You veterans know the One who started it all; and you newcomers—such vitality and
strength! God's word is so steady in you. Your
fellowship with God enables you to gain a victory over the Evil One.”
John 2:13
This morning was the annual Elder’s brunch hosted by the Lipsy’s. Thank you to them for their generous hospitality. As usual with any food event at our church the fare was wonderful. I am still full from my voracious pleasure from the many sweet, savory and satisfying dishes.
We held our transitional meeting with incoming (me) and outgoing Elders. We selected Kris as our Chairperson for 2010. This is a wonderful choice. He is a spirit-led guy with a servant’s heart. Our Church will benefit from his leadership.
Now, I said that this blog will not be minutes of the meetings. The above could be seen that way. The food and fellowship is symbolic, to me, of Christ’s vision of His people. Communion is a fundamental and central feature of First Christian. The warmth and camaraderie are also hallmarks of our congregation. For the Elders to have a meal together to mark the transition from one Elder’s Board to the next honors the out-going Elders and welcomes the incoming members. Such celebrations add texture and richness to our relationships.
The selection of a new leader, such as Kris, provides insight into our priorities. To me, we have declared our intent to be Spirit led. Lest anyone wonder, I strongly believe that any of our Elders could have led us well. We are blessed with a wonderful group of loving, Spirit filled individuals.
Though, not too profound, this blog entry is the kind of reflection I hope will, over time, collect into a picture of the Elder’s work and my part in that work. Hopefully, others will make comments that will add more breadth and depth to this picture.
You veterans know the One who started it all; and you newcomers—such vitality and
strength! God's word is so steady in you. Your
fellowship with God enables you to gain a victory over the Evil One.”
John 2:13
This morning was the annual Elder’s brunch hosted by the Lipsy’s. Thank you to them for their generous hospitality. As usual with any food event at our church the fare was wonderful. I am still full from my voracious pleasure from the many sweet, savory and satisfying dishes.
We held our transitional meeting with incoming (me) and outgoing Elders. We selected Kris as our Chairperson for 2010. This is a wonderful choice. He is a spirit-led guy with a servant’s heart. Our Church will benefit from his leadership.
Now, I said that this blog will not be minutes of the meetings. The above could be seen that way. The food and fellowship is symbolic, to me, of Christ’s vision of His people. Communion is a fundamental and central feature of First Christian. The warmth and camaraderie are also hallmarks of our congregation. For the Elders to have a meal together to mark the transition from one Elder’s Board to the next honors the out-going Elders and welcomes the incoming members. Such celebrations add texture and richness to our relationships.
The selection of a new leader, such as Kris, provides insight into our priorities. To me, we have declared our intent to be Spirit led. Lest anyone wonder, I strongly believe that any of our Elders could have led us well. We are blessed with a wonderful group of loving, Spirit filled individuals.
Though, not too profound, this blog entry is the kind of reflection I hope will, over time, collect into a picture of the Elder’s work and my part in that work. Hopefully, others will make comments that will add more breadth and depth to this picture.
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