Pastor's Pen September 2006

 

 

 

Dear Friends in Christ,

September marks the beginning of the fall schedule of activities in the congregations. Often it can be simply a matter of starting up once again what has been done in the past. Certain programs and ministries take on a life of their own and simply repeat themselves from one season to the next. There can be some comfort and security in that repetition but it also can mean that the programs or ministries become no longer effective to communicate the gospel in ways for which they were once intended. As times and seasons change it can become the opportunity to intentionally explore the possibility that the time for change in the ministries of congregations has also come.

One example might be the area of educational ministries in congregational life. It is the belief of the Church that education and learning are essential for all of God's people. And yet much of the time and energy for this ministry emphasizes the education of children as opposed to the whole people of God. Is it possible that a model for education that served well in the last century needs to be reconsidered to address the changing circumstances of the new? Is it possible that there might be ways to not limit learning to children and youth but rather to include the many generations of God's people in a holistic approach to the life of faith?Is it time for individual families and by extension the whole family of the church to become involved in learning and growing in ways that translate into greater activities of worship and service in the name of Christ for the sake of the world?

Sometimes it can be easier to just let things continue as they always have. Sometimes easier is not that to which God's people are called if they would be faithful to the invitation of Jesus to follow him wherever he might lead. It can be challenging to rethink what has been a comfortable companion in life, but to be faithful is to be challenged everyday to as effectively as possible share the gospel with the world.

As the fall programs and ministries begin once again, take some time to think of new ways that we can all serve more faithfully and grow more completely as the people of God.

Across the pastor's desk for August 25, 2006

The signs are quite evident that another season is coming to a close. The State Fair has begun another run, soybean fields are beginning to turn golden, and stores are advertising their back-to-school specials. All too quickly the summer has fled. As much as we might want to hold on to it, it races by and a new season approaches. Such is life lived in this world, filled with change and the flight of time. In the midst of such change, it is good to be reminded that there is one constant and that constant is the love that God has for the whole of God’s creation.

It is often said with some cynicism that the only certain things in life are death and taxes. However, the most certain thing is that God is deeply invested in and connected to God’s creation. Unfortunately, God needs to use human beings to help communicate that certainty and as a result of sin and its affects, human beings do not always do well at sharing this truth with the world. All too often those who would speak for God speak of wrath and death and condemnation. One has to look very hard to find any sign of God’s love or grace in the message that is being shared.

This has certainly become more apparent in recent days with comments and predictions being made regarding the destructive conflict in the Middle East. The death of innocents on either side is not the will of God, nor part of God’s greater plan. A quest for human security and greed might be better explanations of what has been occurring. As Christians we would say that God’s greatest plan was revealed in the incarnation of the Savior and his willingness to give himself for the redemption of the whole world. It is at times like this that it would benefit all to listen very carefully to the words of Jesus as opposed to those who would so freely and vociferously speak on God’s behalf.

In the midst of change and uncertainty, whether of the seasons or the frailties of nations and peoples, there is one thing that is certain. That is that God has loved this world and continues to love it and encourages us as people of God to do the same.

 

Pastor's Pen - August 2006

Dear Friends in Christ,

Throughout the biblical story God’s people are again and again told to resist the temptation to make accommodations to the ways of the world. Those who spoke to the people on God’s behalf from the Old Testament to the New recognized the destructive results of allowing the world and its ways to become the determining factors in the lives of God’s people. The Apostle Paul encouraged the early Christians to not be conformed to this world but rather to be transformed as the people of God. He knew that to be transformed would also mean to be transforming and as a result the world would not change the people of God, rather the people of God would change the world.

We as God’s people today need to hear these words as much in our lives as any generation of God’s people who have gone before us. It is easy to allow the world to shape who we are and what we believe. It is easy to allow the values of the world to become the values of God’s people. It is easy to allow the ways in which the world measures worth and importance to become the ways in which God’s people do the same. As easy as these things may be, it does not change the fact that this is wrong in the eyes of God. Wealth and social status may be important in the world but they have no place in the Church. The beginning point for relationships in the Church is that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Each one is a redeemed child of God for whom the Savior died on the cross. Everything in the life of the Church is to be based on that reality.

No individual and no gift bestowed by the Holy Spirit are insignificant in the eyes of God. Each has purpose and place for the building up of the community of God’s people. None can be measured by the standards of this world, but rather are to be received in joy and thanksgiving for what they have been made by the hands of God. Jesus showed care and compassion for those who were in need, the weak and the powerless. Those who were strong and felt that they were without need were not the focus of his ministry. What has happened in the life of the Church that these standards are all too often reversed?

Certainly it is the result of sin, but in a more particular way it is the result of allowing the world to change the people of God rather than vice versa. Today as much as in any other time of the people of God, we need to be transformed by the power of God that we might be transforming agents for a world in need.