October 2008 - Come to the E-Vent!

“But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?” (Romans 10:14)

Presbyterians are not the first group that comes to mind when you hear the word “evangelism.”  We believe in the good news of God’s love to all humankind – we just don’t talk about it very much – to others or even to one another.On Sunday, October 19, our church begins a six-week “E-Vent” which is designed to make us more comfortable in talking about the good news.  Pastor John will be preaching about evangelism, and we will be reading together the book Unbinding Your Heart, recommended by our denomination.  Each Sunday evening, there will be an “Eat N’ Talk, where we will have an opportunity to ask questions and discuss the chapters of our book.

The books will be available soon.  They are free.  You may wish to donate the cost, but please take and read and come and talk to your fellow Presbyterians about what God might do with our church as we get excited about the message of salvation.

September 2008 - Stewardship Means Taking Care

“From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.” (Luke 12:48)

God has given us life.  God has given us our church and God has given us neighbors to serve. 

A “steward” is someone entrusted to take care of what has been given.  Stewardship means taking care of God’s gifts.  God is the owner; we are the stewards.   So – what are we taking care of?

First, we take care of ourselves.  We are temples of the Holy Spirit, and we need to remember to care for the place where God lives.

Second, we take care of our families, both our physical and our spiritual families.  We pray for our family and our church and we support them with our time and with our money.

Third, we take care of our world.  There are millions of people who are hungry for physical and spiritual care.  These are our neighbors, and they are our responsibility. 

So – take care of yourself (and everything else God gives you to care for)

August 2008 - Theology On Tap?

“I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.” (1st Corinthians 9:22-23)

On September 16 our church begins a new ministry.  At first glance it seems fairly typical; a dialogue on important questions that people have about God.  What is not typical is where the dialogue will take place – Cascarelli’s restaurant and tavern.

Theology on Tap will feature myself (Pastor John) and Father Ed. Scully, Pastor of St. James Episcopal Church.  We will talk to anyone interested about such things as whether God exists, whether God is good and / or powerful, whether prayer gets answered and why this world is in such bad shape, if God is good and powerful.  

Why have a Bible Study in Cascarelli’s?  Because there are those who might attend who would not come into our buildings.  Because the Church is not restricted to a building.  Because we love God and we love our neighbors.  Because Christ has commanded that we go into all the world.

Please pray much for this endeavor.  Our prayers are essential to the success of God’s mission for our church.  

July 2008 - What Shall We Do?

"Then [the crowd] said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’  Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”  (John 6:28)

Like most men, I am always asking my wife “what do you want me to do?”  I usually find out the hard way that she just simply wants me to be with her and to love her.  Many of us want to know what God wants from us.  “Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”  And God simply wants us to be there paying attention and to share in the love that God has for us.This is not to say that there is a lot for us to do.  “Faith without works is dead,” writes James.  It is to say that the most important thing to do is to spend time with God in prayer and meditation upon Scripture.  After the Ten Commandments were shared with the people, Moses and the people wrote more than 600 laws to explain them.  This not being enough, there are hundreds of volumes of explanations of those laws.

Why is it so hard for us to simply sit with God and let the Holy Spirit tell us what to do?  When will we find the time to let God love us?  God promises that if we will spend time in prayer and meditation, we will know what we should do.  It is then simply – Just do it!

June 2008 - Your Spiritual Coach

Recently, I enrolled in the Albion Senior Citizens’ group, in order to participate in the exercise room.

I was told that I had one free session with the trainer, and so made an appointment.  The first thing he asked was “What are your goals?”  Then, he began to prescribe an exercise routine based on those goals.    Reggie McNeal, in his book The Present Future, teaches that this is really what pastoral care is all about.  What are your goals?  What do you want God to accomplish in you this year?

As I announced in worship the other week, I am ready and available to all who seek some sort of spiritual coaching.  Several of you signed up to see me occasionally, and we have begun to pray and wonder together about what God might be up to in your life this year. 

All of you are invited, in fact I beg you to meet with me.  We can meet in my office, in your home or have coffee together somewhere.  God has plans for your life – and your pastor is excited about helping you to discover them!

May 2008 - Pray Without Ceasing?

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.”                                                   (1st Thessalonians 5:16-19)

There is an old story about a monk who asked his abbot “can one smoke while praying?”  The abbot said “certainly not.”  The monk pondered for a long while, then came back weeks later and asked “can one pray while smoking?”  To which the abbot replied “certainly, my son.”  This is part of the answer to the question “how in the world does one pray without ceasing?”  It is possible to pray while driving, while standing in line at the store, and while doing any number of tasks.  It is possible to pray when we cannot sleep at night, or while muting commercials on tv.It is important to have specific times of prayer, just as it is important to have specific times to worship, to eat, to sleep, and to work.  Yet we may find many and often times to pray on the run.

The key part of the verse above is “Do not quench the Spirit.”  Be creative, pray in times when you have not previously prayed – and be sure and give thanks – for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  Amen

How to be Happier

“I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  (Acts 20:35)

I was listening the other day to the news on National Public Radio and they reported an interesting psychological experiment. Scientists gave people money and asked them to spend it.  Half were asked to spend it on themselves; the others to spend it on others.    At the end of the day, each person was asked how happy he or she was.  Those who had spent the money on others were happier than those who spent it on themselves.  It did not matter whether they spent five or fifty dollars – it mattered where they spent it.Can you believe it?  Jesus knew what He was talking about.  It really is more blessed to give than to receive!  This of course is no news to those who give.  Those of you to whom it seems incredible are invited to try it.  You will find that like the rest of Scriptural wisdom, it really is true.

(PS – If you cannot figure out where to give, we pass a plate every Sunday.)

New Life For Old!

“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”

                                                                    (2nd Corinthians 5:17)

Remember the story of Aladdin’s lamp, where the crafty villain went about the town crying “new lamps for old”?  Everyone, including Aladdin’s wife rushed to trade in their old lamps. 

It is ironic that in this age of fascination with new technology and ways of doing things that we are not rushing to acquire the new life that Jesus promises.  Easter proclaims the promise of new birth, a new start, a new life.  Why are there not long lines at churches?

Perhaps it is because we instinctively know that to get a new life we must trade in our old one.  Paul writes, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2:19-20)  My problem is that I am familiar with my old life and not yet familiar with the new one.

It is a leap of faith.  It requires trust in an unseen being to give us an untried life with unknown consequences.  It is very scary, and my experience is that it is well worth the leap – the trade is well worth it.

February 2008: Give Up Complaining For Lent

Some years ago, I was involved in a seminar in which we were asked to give up complaining.  The seminar was long and emotionally grueling, but each of us did our best.   At a local restaurant, during dinner break, our table received exceptionally poor service.  When the waiter asked “How was everything?” one of us quipped “Well, I can’t complain!”

Every year, some of us think “What can I give up for Lent?”  This year, we are asking you to experiment with giving up complaining.  The song says that “They nailed Him to a tree, and He never said a mumbling word.”   Let us attempt to be like Christ.  Let us give up complaining.  This is part of a world-wide campaign.  Almost 5 million bracelets have been given away by AComplaintFreeWorld.org.  Yours is available on the table in Fellowship Hall (or call and ask for one – we’ll send it to you). 

No one will be totally successful – but we’ll do better if we try!

January 2008: The Essentials of Our Faith

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.”    Ephesians 4:4-6

Different kinds of Christians believe differently about such things as baptism, styles of worship, communion and how to interpret Scripture.

There are however, certain things that all of us hold to be true.  Most of these things are summed up in the familiar Apostle’s Creed, which we repeat often in our Sunday worship.

We shall be looking at that creed from now till Easter Sunday.  Be in prayer that we discern together those things which connect us to all who follow Jesus.  Be in prayer that these things affect how we think, how we worship and how we live. 

                       December 2007: Advent: How We Hate to Wait

"He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."  (Luke 1:54-55)

Mary's song, upon hearing that she was with child by the Holy Spirit, indicates the long wait (over 4000 years) from the promise of a messiah to the actual experience.   We do not like to wait - even 4000 seconds seems forever to most of us.  Those who make and advertise products and services are fond of words like "instant" and "now."  Imagine a product advertised "you will get this when we decide it is the right time." No one would ever buy such a product.

Yet that is precisely what Advent is all about - waiting.  Waiting for God to arrive.  Samuel Beckett parodies our dysfunction in his play "Waiting for Godot."  Of course Godot never shows up.  God, on the other hand, showed up "In the fullness of time, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children." (Galatians 4:4-5)

And so we wait.  We wait for healing in our bodies.  We wait to be made like Christ.  We wait for Christ to return to earth in the same way as the disciples saw him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11)   Waiting is not easy - but waiting is necessary.  And we wait in hope, knowing that "the promise of the LORD proves true!  (Psalm 18:30)   (For more on waiting - see Richard Foster's article - http://www.renovare.org/)

November 2007: How A Church Grows

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1st Thessalonians 5:17)

I have been a student of church growth for over a decade. I have read dozens of books and attended many workshops dealing with that subject. I have studied worship styles, leadership styles, evangelism styles and building styles.

(What do you see missing so far?)

Recently, I read with interest the results of two comprehensive studies regarding mainline churches such as ours that are growing. While each church in the study does things differently, there is one thing they have in common; they pray together. Each one of these Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran and Episcopal churches have organized prayer services.

Each one is different, but each growing church is praying. I said all that to say this: Please increase your prayer life!

You may do that in many ways - here are three:

1. Spend more of your personal time in prayer. Pray in your car, in the line at the grocery store or while taking a walk. And of course, spend some time intentionally praying.
2. Participate in the prayers during worship.
3. Come to our prayer meeting. We begin the first Friday of November (Nov 2) at 1:00. This may or may not be our regular time, depending upon what most participants want.