November 21, 2011
I have been reading those familiar words in Mark 13: "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come (verses 32-33)."
Those words seem crystal clear to me. Jesus seems to be direct and to the point. You would think the entire topic of the Second Coming of Christ would be a closed case. No need thinking about it too much. No matter how many clues you might find in Daniel or Revelation, no one is going to figure it out. Even though the Mayan calendar ends in 2012, it doesn’t mean a thing.
Instead, we need to spend our time being “on guard” and “alert.” I’m not supposed to be counting the days when Christ returns. I am not supposed to be examining the geopolitical ramifications of Israel. That’s not being on guard or being alert.
Being on guard means I should protect my quiet and prayer time with the Lord jealously. Being on guard means I should mold my will to the will of my Father in heaven. It means reading the Bible and doing what it says – extending grace at all costs.
When I am alert about spiritual matters, then I should be able to see evidence of Christ’s presence all around me each and every day. When I get asked by my small group “where have you seen Christ this week?” I should be able to come up with several examples, way more than I have time to share.
In his explanatory notes about the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew, John Wesley writes this about “Thy Kingdom Come:” “May your kingdom come quickly and swallow up all the kingdoms of the earth! May all people receive You, O Christ, for their King and truly believe in Your name. May they be filled with righteousness, peace, joy, holiness, and happiness till they are removed into Your kingdom of glory to reign with You forever.”
Some powerful insights to consider – here’s just a few. “May your kingdom come quickly …” What a wonderful notion that it. Can I be so alert and on guard that from every fiber of my being could I declare to the Lord to “come quickly”? I am moved by his words “May all people receive you.” Do we really mean ALL people? That gives the notion of “open doors, open hearts and open doors” some deeper meaning.
Of course, in the world I live in, Jesus’ words do not stop the speculation. Instead, many people are consumed with picking the day, the moment, the year when Christ returns. I suppose someone might get it right eventually. My concern is that we lose focus on the message of Christ to every believer. We ought to be on guard and stay alert, to pray for the needs of others.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Re-Discover the Christ Child!
November 22, 2011
For the Journal-Review
By Gary Lewis
Pastor, First United Methodist Church
As I write this, I’m busy making last-minute preparations for our first vacation trip to our newlywed daughter and husband in New York State. It occurred to me that when I return our community will be decked out in Christmas trimmings.
Of course, there already seems to be a lot of Christmas decorations in many stores. Perhaps that is a sign of a tough economy with stores desperate to entice shoppers to buy now in their annual push for sales during this all-important time of the year for them. Or, maybe it is simply a symptom of corporate greed. Whatever the circumstances might be, Christmas is coming.
December 25 will soon be here and it is so tempting to simply let it come without much spiritual preparation. I hope you won’t do that this year. Because Christmas is not the lighting of the Christmas tree, or a Shopping Frenzy, but a very, very, old story of a loving creator who brought us a beautiful gift in the form of an infant boy.
One of the highlights of my ministry is when parents of newborns invite me to the hospital for a visit. Several years ago, a family greeted me in a quiet hospital room in Anderson, Indiana. Jack and Angie allowed me to hold their newborn son, Jadin, just hours after his birth.
I must tell you that I wasn’t prepared to be part of such a special moment. The elevator I was riding in got stuck on the way to Angie’s room. I had to be freed by a very uninterested maintenance man (I thought they called the rescue squad when someone is trapped in an elevator!) after a maddening 30-minute wait.
After stumbling upon her room, still fuming over the elevator ordeal, I realized how special that mid-morning visit had become. A beaming mother and a proud father, and doting grandmothers and sisters, all had gathered to take part in a very special moment.
And after just a few minutes in the room, they asked me if I wanted to hold the baby!
That’s the way Christmas comes to most of us. We stumble through the season with all of its trappings and stumble into a holy moment still fuming over what we’ve had to go through to get there. But when we take the time to take hold of it all, we find ourselves suddenly changed. A long look into the eyes of a newborn baby wrapped in swaddling cloths will do that.
As we celebrate Christmas in the year 2011, I pray that you, dear reader, will find yourself in many holy moments. Christmas has come in the form of a helpless baby to meet the needs of a helpless world stumbling to find its way. Together, let us set our eyes upon Jesus so we can experience God’s transforming power.
I want to close this column with some excerpts from my Christmas Eve prayer. If you are looking for some holy moments this Christmas, I invite you to our 11 p.m. candlelight service on Christmas Eve. If it all works out, you will be walking out the door a few ticks after midnight – just in time to welcome the real reason for season.
“O God … We praise you for the mystery of Christ: Son of God, yet our brother, born of Mary; the Eternal Word, yet a speechless child; clothed in glory, yet wrapped in cloths; the Lord of lords, yet laid in a manger; strong in his weakness, and mighty to save.
“We remember this night the manger, the sign of your Son’s humility and rejection. Help us to seek and find him in the unexpected places of life. Pour upon your Church the Spirit of lowliness and love, that we may never despise any child of yours, however weak; but help us to honor and care for all people, for his sake, and to share with them the life and blessings which you have given for the use of all. … Forgive us our maddening cries which drown the song, and teach us to be still and to know that you are God. … All these things we ask in the name of your Child, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”
For the Journal-Review
By Gary Lewis
Pastor, First United Methodist Church
As I write this, I’m busy making last-minute preparations for our first vacation trip to our newlywed daughter and husband in New York State. It occurred to me that when I return our community will be decked out in Christmas trimmings.
Of course, there already seems to be a lot of Christmas decorations in many stores. Perhaps that is a sign of a tough economy with stores desperate to entice shoppers to buy now in their annual push for sales during this all-important time of the year for them. Or, maybe it is simply a symptom of corporate greed. Whatever the circumstances might be, Christmas is coming.
December 25 will soon be here and it is so tempting to simply let it come without much spiritual preparation. I hope you won’t do that this year. Because Christmas is not the lighting of the Christmas tree, or a Shopping Frenzy, but a very, very, old story of a loving creator who brought us a beautiful gift in the form of an infant boy.
One of the highlights of my ministry is when parents of newborns invite me to the hospital for a visit. Several years ago, a family greeted me in a quiet hospital room in Anderson, Indiana. Jack and Angie allowed me to hold their newborn son, Jadin, just hours after his birth.
I must tell you that I wasn’t prepared to be part of such a special moment. The elevator I was riding in got stuck on the way to Angie’s room. I had to be freed by a very uninterested maintenance man (I thought they called the rescue squad when someone is trapped in an elevator!) after a maddening 30-minute wait.
After stumbling upon her room, still fuming over the elevator ordeal, I realized how special that mid-morning visit had become. A beaming mother and a proud father, and doting grandmothers and sisters, all had gathered to take part in a very special moment.
And after just a few minutes in the room, they asked me if I wanted to hold the baby!
That’s the way Christmas comes to most of us. We stumble through the season with all of its trappings and stumble into a holy moment still fuming over what we’ve had to go through to get there. But when we take the time to take hold of it all, we find ourselves suddenly changed. A long look into the eyes of a newborn baby wrapped in swaddling cloths will do that.
As we celebrate Christmas in the year 2011, I pray that you, dear reader, will find yourself in many holy moments. Christmas has come in the form of a helpless baby to meet the needs of a helpless world stumbling to find its way. Together, let us set our eyes upon Jesus so we can experience God’s transforming power.
I want to close this column with some excerpts from my Christmas Eve prayer. If you are looking for some holy moments this Christmas, I invite you to our 11 p.m. candlelight service on Christmas Eve. If it all works out, you will be walking out the door a few ticks after midnight – just in time to welcome the real reason for season.
“O God … We praise you for the mystery of Christ: Son of God, yet our brother, born of Mary; the Eternal Word, yet a speechless child; clothed in glory, yet wrapped in cloths; the Lord of lords, yet laid in a manger; strong in his weakness, and mighty to save.
“We remember this night the manger, the sign of your Son’s humility and rejection. Help us to seek and find him in the unexpected places of life. Pour upon your Church the Spirit of lowliness and love, that we may never despise any child of yours, however weak; but help us to honor and care for all people, for his sake, and to share with them the life and blessings which you have given for the use of all. … Forgive us our maddening cries which drown the song, and teach us to be still and to know that you are God. … All these things we ask in the name of your Child, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Becoming a River of God's Grace
Journal-Review
October 19, 2011
By Pastor Gary Lewis
First United Methodist Church of Crawfordsville
I have been leading our church in a study about what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. It’s a question many folks will want to answer quickly. For some, it means saying the right words, praying the right prayer or following all the right rules. Yet, when you study the Bible, Jesus pulls no punches.
Being a follower of Jesus means you have to get comfortable with the narrow road. It is not the easy-to-navigate avenue. It means making the shift from being a container of God’s blessing to being a conduit of God’s blessing.
It means instead of being a reservoir of God’s grace, a follower of Jesus becomes a river of grace. We move beyond not just your personal response to God’s love to our responsibility to share God’s love. Once you have tasted the sweet, liberating, joy of God’s love you cannot help but begin to share it.
Take a look at 1 John 4:8: “Anyone who does not love does not know God for God is love.” The reverse is also true. If a person does know God then the obvious result is they will become a more loving person. The natural by-product of a person entering into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is that they become a more loving person.
According to this passage, if your life is devoid of love – you have little or no compassion for people – the conclusion is your faith isn’t what you think it is. Your faith is fiction. St. Augustine once wrote, “Love slays what we have been that we may be what we are not.” As a Christ-follower, we begin to look at life differently and through the lens of God’s love.
When you grasp God’s undeserved grace, you cannot help but become a different person. When God’s love invades your life, you begin to see other people differently as well.
One day when Jesus was asked, “What’s the greatest commandment of all?” He said the greatest commandment has two components to it. Number one: we are to love God completely with all our heart. Number two: we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. In fact, the implied truth is that you cannot love God without loving people.
So to get a picture of how God wants us to love other people we will go straight to Jesus. What Rembrandt is to painting Jesus is to love. In Luke 13:10-13 is a short healing story that is a masterpiece portrait of what love is all about.
“On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues. A woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for 18 years. She was bent over and couldn’t straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her he called her forward and said to her, ‘Woman, you are set free from you infirmity.’ Then he put his hands on her and immediately she straightened up and praised God.”
I want to share with you two challenges from the brief but powerful encounter that will change how you live this week. It could change how you live the rest of your days on planet earth.
1. Look around.
Many people were attracted to Jesus’ teaching. Crowds showed up each day, the Bible says, because people were drawn to him because he taught differently. So one day in the synagogue this woman appears from the crowd. The Bible says she had been crippled and bent over and unable to stand up straight for 18 years.
As Jesus is teaching somehow his eyes locked on hers and the Bible says Jesus saw her. He saw her! He noticed her. His eyes locked with hers and he was moved with compassion.
How many people do we notice? How many hurting people do we pass over each day without even noticing them? While we may not be able to physically heal them, we can certainly reach out to them. We can take the time to hear their stories and pray for them.
2. Take a risk.
In this passage the Bible says Jesus saw her and then he took a risk to speak to her. He called her forward. This was very risky socially. This was not proper protocol. This was not in the order of service. This would have been very unconventional.
Think about how embarrassing it must have been for her – crippled over for the last 18 years. It was probably tough enough just for her to be in public. Now this rabbi teacher calls her to the front.
When you choose to demonstrate the bold, reckless, radical love of Christ sometimes it will be risky. It is worth the risk. Generally, our temptation is to want to play it safe. Who do you need to love that is in your world and that it is not easy for you to love? Let your heart dream for a minute.
What would it look like to take the risk to say loving things to the people around us? Imagine if we unleashed an army to cover this community with loving deeds?
Our church’s mission is to make disciples for Jesus Christ. We seek to relate people to Christ, connect people to the body of Christ, and reach out in love and concern to the world. I invite you to our two worship service each Sunday. At 9 a.m. we offer a traditional worship service in the Sanctuary. At 11:10 a.m. we have a contemporary worship service in our Fellowship Hall, located in the lower level. Sunday school classes for all ages begin right after our 9 a.m. worship service at about 10 a.m.
Our 9 a.m. worship service is broadcast on TV each Sunday morning live at 9 a.m. and then on tape-delay at 10:15 a.m. on Comcast cable channel 3 and Accelplus cable channel 2.
By Pastor Gary Lewis
First United Methodist Church of Crawfordsville
I have been leading our church in a study about what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. It’s a question many folks will want to answer quickly. For some, it means saying the right words, praying the right prayer or following all the right rules. Yet, when you study the Bible, Jesus pulls no punches.
Being a follower of Jesus means you have to get comfortable with the narrow road. It is not the easy-to-navigate avenue. It means making the shift from being a container of God’s blessing to being a conduit of God’s blessing.
It means instead of being a reservoir of God’s grace, a follower of Jesus becomes a river of grace. We move beyond not just your personal response to God’s love to our responsibility to share God’s love. Once you have tasted the sweet, liberating, joy of God’s love you cannot help but begin to share it.
Take a look at 1 John 4:8: “Anyone who does not love does not know God for God is love.” The reverse is also true. If a person does know God then the obvious result is they will become a more loving person. The natural by-product of a person entering into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is that they become a more loving person.
According to this passage, if your life is devoid of love – you have little or no compassion for people – the conclusion is your faith isn’t what you think it is. Your faith is fiction. St. Augustine once wrote, “Love slays what we have been that we may be what we are not.” As a Christ-follower, we begin to look at life differently and through the lens of God’s love.
When you grasp God’s undeserved grace, you cannot help but become a different person. When God’s love invades your life, you begin to see other people differently as well.
One day when Jesus was asked, “What’s the greatest commandment of all?” He said the greatest commandment has two components to it. Number one: we are to love God completely with all our heart. Number two: we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. In fact, the implied truth is that you cannot love God without loving people.
So to get a picture of how God wants us to love other people we will go straight to Jesus. What Rembrandt is to painting Jesus is to love. In Luke 13:10-13 is a short healing story that is a masterpiece portrait of what love is all about.
“On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues. A woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for 18 years. She was bent over and couldn’t straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her he called her forward and said to her, ‘Woman, you are set free from you infirmity.’ Then he put his hands on her and immediately she straightened up and praised God.”
I want to share with you two challenges from the brief but powerful encounter that will change how you live this week. It could change how you live the rest of your days on planet earth.
1. Look around.
Many people were attracted to Jesus’ teaching. Crowds showed up each day, the Bible says, because people were drawn to him because he taught differently. So one day in the synagogue this woman appears from the crowd. The Bible says she had been crippled and bent over and unable to stand up straight for 18 years.
As Jesus is teaching somehow his eyes locked on hers and the Bible says Jesus saw her. He saw her! He noticed her. His eyes locked with hers and he was moved with compassion.
How many people do we notice? How many hurting people do we pass over each day without even noticing them? While we may not be able to physically heal them, we can certainly reach out to them. We can take the time to hear their stories and pray for them.
2. Take a risk.
In this passage the Bible says Jesus saw her and then he took a risk to speak to her. He called her forward. This was very risky socially. This was not proper protocol. This was not in the order of service. This would have been very unconventional.
Think about how embarrassing it must have been for her – crippled over for the last 18 years. It was probably tough enough just for her to be in public. Now this rabbi teacher calls her to the front.
When you choose to demonstrate the bold, reckless, radical love of Christ sometimes it will be risky. It is worth the risk. Generally, our temptation is to want to play it safe. Who do you need to love that is in your world and that it is not easy for you to love? Let your heart dream for a minute.
What would it look like to take the risk to say loving things to the people around us? Imagine if we unleashed an army to cover this community with loving deeds?
Our church’s mission is to make disciples for Jesus Christ. We seek to relate people to Christ, connect people to the body of Christ, and reach out in love and concern to the world. I invite you to our two worship service each Sunday. At 9 a.m. we offer a traditional worship service in the Sanctuary. At 11:10 a.m. we have a contemporary worship service in our Fellowship Hall, located in the lower level. Sunday school classes for all ages begin right after our 9 a.m. worship service at about 10 a.m.
Our 9 a.m. worship service is broadcast on TV each Sunday morning live at 9 a.m. and then on tape-delay at 10:15 a.m. on Comcast cable channel 3 and Accelplus cable channel 2.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Reflections from the Father-of-the-Bride
Journal-Review
September 10, 2011
By Pastor Gary Lewis
First United Methodist Church of Crawfordsville
God willing, by the time you read this column my only child – our daughter Sarah Jay – will have been married to Aaron Wesley Miller. The ceremony was scheduled for last night.
I guess I am using the word “scheduled” because there is a part of me that doesn’t want to let go. Sarah Jay met him early in her college career. Aaron, who is six years older than Sarah, has been very patient. I know he loves and adores her. I know I am so blessed to have a man of faith and integrity as a son-in-law. You can’t get much better than an Eagle Scout! I have had Friday, Sept. 9, 2011, circled in my heart for a long, long, time.
You would think a pastor with some 20 years of experience in performing wedding ceremonies would have loads of advice for his daughter about the meaning of marriage. After 27 years of marriage experience, you would think I would have something profound to say. Yet, it is the Gospel that comes to my mind. It all comes down to Jesus.
Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-38) In marriage, you have the privilege to do this together.
I have been thinking about what I would say to Sarah as she approaches the altar. I have chosen to be the “father of the bride” instead of clergy at Sarah’s wedding. I am so glad I made this decision. The pressure of wedding planning is a much heavier load than I imagined. I don’t know if I could have handled the logistics of presiding at the ceremony. My prayer is that I – and especially my wife – will be able to experience a peaceful, tender, night at our daughter’s wedding.
So, if you don’t mind dear reader, I am going to write in words what I probably won’t be able to say in person.
I am so proud of you Sarah. I have seen you take on an academic load that has taxed you severely. Yet, in your style, you have not blinked in the face of adversity. At the age of 24, you have kept your faith in Jesus Christ intact. We have drifted apart politically, but I know you have Jesus in your heart. A father cannot ask for any more than that.
I am proud of the way you have handled the pressure your mother has been under these past few weeks. I have seen you encourage her. I have seen you embrace her. I have seen you two laughing together and crying together. Even when tempers flared, you always managed to put it behind you.
I am proud of the way you treat others. I beamed when I heard all the reports about the way you handled yourself at the wedding shower our church so graciously hosted for you. My little girl is a wonderful young woman.
Do you remember all those jokes about preacher’s kids the laity would lay on you and me? Well, I wonder what they would say about you now. You are going to become a great wife because you know what it means to be a great friend.
I am so happy you have been able to fulfill so many of your dreams. You have traveled afar several times – sometimes for school and sometimes for pleasure. I marvel at your deep interest and enjoyment of Ireland. I am happy you did not cave in to my fear and my wanting to limit your wings that wanted to fly. Even though I felt abandoned at times, unable to figure out Skype, or keep in touch the way I wanted, you persevered.
I’ll never forget the unauthorized trip you took to Toronto. I can laugh about it now, but back then I wasn’t in a laughing mood. Perhaps you were right. Maybe you needed that trip more than you needed to attend those classes. You and I don’t like to give in, do we?
You told me once that when you were little you thought I was the smartest man in the world. Now that you know me better, you undoubtedly know that was never the truth. I will never forget those precious years watching you grow up.
I remember just waiting for the day when you could talk. I was fascinated to hear you speak and I remember fondly thinking about having a conversation with you. Still, today, I enjoy hearing your voice and talking to you about education, politics, faith, the church, the Cubs and the Colts.
I really am going to miss you. A friend gave me a better perspective about the reality that you will be living your life 1,000 miles away from me. She said you and Aaron will now have the opportunity to truly “leave and cleave.” It is right that you leave our home and it is right for you to cleave to your husband. You two will have to rely on each other more and more. I suppose that is one of the benefits about moving so far away to begin your new life together.
I know you are up for it! It is going to be more difficult than you ever imagined. Yet, day by day, you will begin to see the benefits of your new home. What seems so foreign will one day suddenly come into familiar focus. What you will be doing is building a life. And you will be leaning on God to get through it.
I was so thrilled when you told me about the churches you have already visited. So little time together at your new place and yet my girl took the time to worship the Lord in a new community not knowing a single person. Now that takes courage. The Lord will be able to use you and Aaron in so many exciting ways.
Friends have said to me “you are not losing a daughter; you are gaining a son.” I do finally understand this expression, although it took me awhile to get my head around it. We have shared many holidays and visits together with Aaron. It has been inspirational to see Aaron thrive in this tough job market. I watched him pick himself up off the floor and find a job in his field of study.
I close with a portion of a famous Irish blessing. May this blessing be true to all who read these words: “May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face. And rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.”
September 10, 2011
By Pastor Gary Lewis
First United Methodist Church of Crawfordsville
God willing, by the time you read this column my only child – our daughter Sarah Jay – will have been married to Aaron Wesley Miller. The ceremony was scheduled for last night.
I guess I am using the word “scheduled” because there is a part of me that doesn’t want to let go. Sarah Jay met him early in her college career. Aaron, who is six years older than Sarah, has been very patient. I know he loves and adores her. I know I am so blessed to have a man of faith and integrity as a son-in-law. You can’t get much better than an Eagle Scout! I have had Friday, Sept. 9, 2011, circled in my heart for a long, long, time.
You would think a pastor with some 20 years of experience in performing wedding ceremonies would have loads of advice for his daughter about the meaning of marriage. After 27 years of marriage experience, you would think I would have something profound to say. Yet, it is the Gospel that comes to my mind. It all comes down to Jesus.
Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-38) In marriage, you have the privilege to do this together.
I have been thinking about what I would say to Sarah as she approaches the altar. I have chosen to be the “father of the bride” instead of clergy at Sarah’s wedding. I am so glad I made this decision. The pressure of wedding planning is a much heavier load than I imagined. I don’t know if I could have handled the logistics of presiding at the ceremony. My prayer is that I – and especially my wife – will be able to experience a peaceful, tender, night at our daughter’s wedding.
So, if you don’t mind dear reader, I am going to write in words what I probably won’t be able to say in person.
I am so proud of you Sarah. I have seen you take on an academic load that has taxed you severely. Yet, in your style, you have not blinked in the face of adversity. At the age of 24, you have kept your faith in Jesus Christ intact. We have drifted apart politically, but I know you have Jesus in your heart. A father cannot ask for any more than that.
I am proud of the way you have handled the pressure your mother has been under these past few weeks. I have seen you encourage her. I have seen you embrace her. I have seen you two laughing together and crying together. Even when tempers flared, you always managed to put it behind you.
I am proud of the way you treat others. I beamed when I heard all the reports about the way you handled yourself at the wedding shower our church so graciously hosted for you. My little girl is a wonderful young woman.
Do you remember all those jokes about preacher’s kids the laity would lay on you and me? Well, I wonder what they would say about you now. You are going to become a great wife because you know what it means to be a great friend.
I am so happy you have been able to fulfill so many of your dreams. You have traveled afar several times – sometimes for school and sometimes for pleasure. I marvel at your deep interest and enjoyment of Ireland. I am happy you did not cave in to my fear and my wanting to limit your wings that wanted to fly. Even though I felt abandoned at times, unable to figure out Skype, or keep in touch the way I wanted, you persevered.
I’ll never forget the unauthorized trip you took to Toronto. I can laugh about it now, but back then I wasn’t in a laughing mood. Perhaps you were right. Maybe you needed that trip more than you needed to attend those classes. You and I don’t like to give in, do we?
You told me once that when you were little you thought I was the smartest man in the world. Now that you know me better, you undoubtedly know that was never the truth. I will never forget those precious years watching you grow up.
I remember just waiting for the day when you could talk. I was fascinated to hear you speak and I remember fondly thinking about having a conversation with you. Still, today, I enjoy hearing your voice and talking to you about education, politics, faith, the church, the Cubs and the Colts.
I really am going to miss you. A friend gave me a better perspective about the reality that you will be living your life 1,000 miles away from me. She said you and Aaron will now have the opportunity to truly “leave and cleave.” It is right that you leave our home and it is right for you to cleave to your husband. You two will have to rely on each other more and more. I suppose that is one of the benefits about moving so far away to begin your new life together.
I know you are up for it! It is going to be more difficult than you ever imagined. Yet, day by day, you will begin to see the benefits of your new home. What seems so foreign will one day suddenly come into familiar focus. What you will be doing is building a life. And you will be leaning on God to get through it.
I was so thrilled when you told me about the churches you have already visited. So little time together at your new place and yet my girl took the time to worship the Lord in a new community not knowing a single person. Now that takes courage. The Lord will be able to use you and Aaron in so many exciting ways.
Friends have said to me “you are not losing a daughter; you are gaining a son.” I do finally understand this expression, although it took me awhile to get my head around it. We have shared many holidays and visits together with Aaron. It has been inspirational to see Aaron thrive in this tough job market. I watched him pick himself up off the floor and find a job in his field of study.
I close with a portion of a famous Irish blessing. May this blessing be true to all who read these words: “May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face. And rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.”
Sunday, July 24, 2011
The Secret of True Satisfaction
May 5, 2011
For the Journal-Review
By Rev. Gary Lewis
First United Methodist Church
Crawfordsville, IN
We were planning to spend a few days away during Spring Break. Train tickets were purchased. (I have never traveled on a train before, so this was supposed to be my maiden voyage.) Hotel rooms were booked. All was set in motion until we both became sick with a deep, disturbing, cough, headaches and general misery.
All we wanted to do was stay in bed. So instead of a fun-filled few days away, we spent a miserable week together confined in Crawfordsville. Except for a trip to see my physician, all we could do was rest.
If I could just take a cruise to some warm, tropical, paradise, then I would find happiness. Isn’t this what the world would have us believe? If I could take 12 months off and travel the world, then I would be happy. Isn’t that what the TV commercials would lead us to believe?
Mother Theresa, who spent her life caring for the hungry and thirsty in India, would often say those of us in America are starving spiritually. So many people today have a spiritual hunger inside them. The confusing thing is that we don’t want to call it a spiritual hunger. We use phrases such as: “My life is empty.” Or, “I’m bored.” “I’m restless.” “Something seems to be missing in my life.” “There must be more to life than this.”
Even when things are going good, even when things seem to be OK in life; there’s this gnawing feeling on the inside – something is missing. The Rolling Stones gave the baby boomer generation a theme song: “I can’t get no satisfaction.” If this becomes the theme of your life then that is a pretty sad outlook.
I believe Jesus knew something about our human tendency to want more and more while at the same time we become less and less satisfied. Everyone must fight this trend to self-destruct. The Bible says no matter how much we see we’re never satisfied: no matter how much we experience, we are never content. Jesus puts it this way in Matthew 5:6, “Happy are those who are hungry and thirsty for true goodness, for they will be truly satisfied.” (J.B. Phillips translation)
“Satisfaction guaranteed” is a common promise of many manufacturers. They are convinced that their product will exceed all of our expectations. But is that really true? Twice as many products are available today than were available 10 years ago. Are people twice as happy? I would venture to say “no.”
We cannot find happiness in pleasurable experiences such as vacations, or in possessions. They will only leave us empty. That’s because no matter how great the vacation might be, or how wonderful our possessions may be, we still have to deal with ourselves.
A few years ago, we went to a movie and decided to go out for supper afterward. We played this game: “Honey, where would you like to go to get something to eat?” My wife says: “I don’t know.”
“What are you hungry for?” I don’t know. Have you ever played that game? You know the game I’m talking about, the where-do-you-want-to-go-I-don’t-know game? A lot of people spend their lives that way. They really don’t know what they want in life.
My question for you, dear reader, is this: How is your spiritual appetite these days? Do you hunger for the things of God? Do you really want to know God?
One of the most powerful ways to seek true happiness is to be on the outlook for God moments in your everyday life. Truly, God is around us at all times. We need to have our spiritual eyes to see them. They often come in ordinary packages but are expressed in extraordinary ways.
Here is the secret of true satisfaction: “Seek your happiness in the Lord and He will give you your hearts desire.” (Psalm 37:4, Good News translation) Notice it says, don’t seek happiness … seek God. If you make happiness your goal in life, you are going to miss it. The only path to happiness is in seeking God. When we seek God, happiness is a natural by-product of that search.
I know I need some time to get away from my normal, hectic, schedule. Vacations do have a way of refreshing our lives. Setting some time to be with my wife is precious to me. Yet, I know that no matter where we go or what we do such experiences do not create happiness.
Seeking God is what will give me satisfaction. “Jesus said, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty … if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever!” (John 8:35, 51, New International Version)
The Good News is we can seek God no matter where we happen to be – in Cancun, or in dear, ole’ Crawfordsville.
For the Journal-Review
By Rev. Gary Lewis
First United Methodist Church
Crawfordsville, IN
We were planning to spend a few days away during Spring Break. Train tickets were purchased. (I have never traveled on a train before, so this was supposed to be my maiden voyage.) Hotel rooms were booked. All was set in motion until we both became sick with a deep, disturbing, cough, headaches and general misery.
All we wanted to do was stay in bed. So instead of a fun-filled few days away, we spent a miserable week together confined in Crawfordsville. Except for a trip to see my physician, all we could do was rest.
If I could just take a cruise to some warm, tropical, paradise, then I would find happiness. Isn’t this what the world would have us believe? If I could take 12 months off and travel the world, then I would be happy. Isn’t that what the TV commercials would lead us to believe?
Mother Theresa, who spent her life caring for the hungry and thirsty in India, would often say those of us in America are starving spiritually. So many people today have a spiritual hunger inside them. The confusing thing is that we don’t want to call it a spiritual hunger. We use phrases such as: “My life is empty.” Or, “I’m bored.” “I’m restless.” “Something seems to be missing in my life.” “There must be more to life than this.”
Even when things are going good, even when things seem to be OK in life; there’s this gnawing feeling on the inside – something is missing. The Rolling Stones gave the baby boomer generation a theme song: “I can’t get no satisfaction.” If this becomes the theme of your life then that is a pretty sad outlook.
I believe Jesus knew something about our human tendency to want more and more while at the same time we become less and less satisfied. Everyone must fight this trend to self-destruct. The Bible says no matter how much we see we’re never satisfied: no matter how much we experience, we are never content. Jesus puts it this way in Matthew 5:6, “Happy are those who are hungry and thirsty for true goodness, for they will be truly satisfied.” (J.B. Phillips translation)
“Satisfaction guaranteed” is a common promise of many manufacturers. They are convinced that their product will exceed all of our expectations. But is that really true? Twice as many products are available today than were available 10 years ago. Are people twice as happy? I would venture to say “no.”
We cannot find happiness in pleasurable experiences such as vacations, or in possessions. They will only leave us empty. That’s because no matter how great the vacation might be, or how wonderful our possessions may be, we still have to deal with ourselves.
A few years ago, we went to a movie and decided to go out for supper afterward. We played this game: “Honey, where would you like to go to get something to eat?” My wife says: “I don’t know.”
“What are you hungry for?” I don’t know. Have you ever played that game? You know the game I’m talking about, the where-do-you-want-to-go-I-don’t-know game? A lot of people spend their lives that way. They really don’t know what they want in life.
My question for you, dear reader, is this: How is your spiritual appetite these days? Do you hunger for the things of God? Do you really want to know God?
One of the most powerful ways to seek true happiness is to be on the outlook for God moments in your everyday life. Truly, God is around us at all times. We need to have our spiritual eyes to see them. They often come in ordinary packages but are expressed in extraordinary ways.
Here is the secret of true satisfaction: “Seek your happiness in the Lord and He will give you your hearts desire.” (Psalm 37:4, Good News translation) Notice it says, don’t seek happiness … seek God. If you make happiness your goal in life, you are going to miss it. The only path to happiness is in seeking God. When we seek God, happiness is a natural by-product of that search.
I know I need some time to get away from my normal, hectic, schedule. Vacations do have a way of refreshing our lives. Setting some time to be with my wife is precious to me. Yet, I know that no matter where we go or what we do such experiences do not create happiness.
Seeking God is what will give me satisfaction. “Jesus said, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty … if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever!” (John 8:35, 51, New International Version)
The Good News is we can seek God no matter where we happen to be – in Cancun, or in dear, ole’ Crawfordsville.
The Power of Story in Living a Life of Faith
For the Chimes Newsletter
By Pastor Gary Lewis
During our “One Month to Live” spiritual growth campaign, I have been reminded of the many conversations I have had with terminally ill persons and their families. One of the first things that come to mind is the importance of story. Many times, I have been privileged to sit with someone and listen to the story of his or her life.
We need to tell our stories. We need time to reflect, to think about the things that have mattered most to us. We need to give thanks for those we have loved and those we have received love from during the course of our days. This is the way we make meaning in life.
The one constant theme I have learned from “One Month to Live” is that we don’t have to wait. Each of us is terminal so the decision we need to make now is to really start living. The way to do that is to tell our stories. I have been encouraging our church leaders to share their testimonies of faith with us. I envision a time when worship will include moments of sharing. What has God been doing in your life? How has God’s grace, mercy and care been made real to you?
We are benefactors of a long history of God’s providential grace and care. I came across a sermon title the other day I really liked: “Why Windshields are Larger than Rearview Mirrors.” While a rearview mirror is mandatory by law, seeing what is in front of us is infinitely more important. Yet, knowing the story of where we have been gives us encouragement to face an uncertain future.
People remembering the mighty acts of God in the past are also encouraged to persevere and hope, even in the midst of present difficulty. When we remember the powerful hand of God at work in the past, we are encouraged to trust in God. Rehearsing the mighty acts of God offers assurance that the future is secure in God’s hands as well.
As we begin the season of Lent (March 13), we are encouraged to remember our story as Christ-followers. There are many stories to tell. There are the stories of Old Testament figures that testify to God’s love and deliverance. We hear the stories of Daniel, Nehemiah, Deborah, and Jonah—and they become our story. There are the stories of the New Testament, and encounters with God’s Word made flesh. We hear the stories of the disciples, of the Gerasene demoniac, of the lepers, of the paralytic, and of Mary and Martha—and they become our story. We hear the stories of the early church in the book of Acts, and the stories of each church that has proclaimed the truth of Christ since the day of Jesus’ resurrection - and they become our stories.
We all have stories to tell. We remember all the blessings we enjoy. We think about the things we have accomplished through the power of God at work in us. We give voice to the things that have mattered most to us. We give thanks for those we have loved and those we have received love from during the course of our days. This is the way we make meaning in life. This is the way we prepare to celebrate the greatest gift we have ever received - the body of Christ given for us so that we might live.
During these 40 days in Lent, let’s spend time sharing our stories. I believe that if we listen closely, we will hear the good news of God’s amazing love, being poured out for us in ways large and small.
By Pastor Gary Lewis
During our “One Month to Live” spiritual growth campaign, I have been reminded of the many conversations I have had with terminally ill persons and their families. One of the first things that come to mind is the importance of story. Many times, I have been privileged to sit with someone and listen to the story of his or her life.
We need to tell our stories. We need time to reflect, to think about the things that have mattered most to us. We need to give thanks for those we have loved and those we have received love from during the course of our days. This is the way we make meaning in life.
The one constant theme I have learned from “One Month to Live” is that we don’t have to wait. Each of us is terminal so the decision we need to make now is to really start living. The way to do that is to tell our stories. I have been encouraging our church leaders to share their testimonies of faith with us. I envision a time when worship will include moments of sharing. What has God been doing in your life? How has God’s grace, mercy and care been made real to you?
We are benefactors of a long history of God’s providential grace and care. I came across a sermon title the other day I really liked: “Why Windshields are Larger than Rearview Mirrors.” While a rearview mirror is mandatory by law, seeing what is in front of us is infinitely more important. Yet, knowing the story of where we have been gives us encouragement to face an uncertain future.
People remembering the mighty acts of God in the past are also encouraged to persevere and hope, even in the midst of present difficulty. When we remember the powerful hand of God at work in the past, we are encouraged to trust in God. Rehearsing the mighty acts of God offers assurance that the future is secure in God’s hands as well.
As we begin the season of Lent (March 13), we are encouraged to remember our story as Christ-followers. There are many stories to tell. There are the stories of Old Testament figures that testify to God’s love and deliverance. We hear the stories of Daniel, Nehemiah, Deborah, and Jonah—and they become our story. There are the stories of the New Testament, and encounters with God’s Word made flesh. We hear the stories of the disciples, of the Gerasene demoniac, of the lepers, of the paralytic, and of Mary and Martha—and they become our story. We hear the stories of the early church in the book of Acts, and the stories of each church that has proclaimed the truth of Christ since the day of Jesus’ resurrection - and they become our stories.
We all have stories to tell. We remember all the blessings we enjoy. We think about the things we have accomplished through the power of God at work in us. We give voice to the things that have mattered most to us. We give thanks for those we have loved and those we have received love from during the course of our days. This is the way we make meaning in life. This is the way we prepare to celebrate the greatest gift we have ever received - the body of Christ given for us so that we might live.
During these 40 days in Lent, let’s spend time sharing our stories. I believe that if we listen closely, we will hear the good news of God’s amazing love, being poured out for us in ways large and small.
'5-Minute Rule' to be Enforced at Worship
For the Chimes Newsletter
By Pastor Gary Lewis
The final five minutes in each worship service will be reserved for our guests. At a recent seminar, author and church assimilation expert Gary L. McIntosh said churches have found a “Five Minute rule” to be extremely helpful in welcoming visitors to church.
This is how it works: the five minute clock begins immediately after worship concludes. Your job is to find someone you don't know and welcome them to our church. Most of us spend this valuable time talking to someone we know.
Don’t know if they are guest or long-time attendee? There’s an easy fix. Plus, you will get to meet a new friend. Say this, “Hi, I’m (say your first name) I don’t believe we have met. (Then shake their hand.) How long have you been attending here?”
If they have only been attending a short time, say a word of welcome. For example, introduce them to someone else standing nearby you know. If they have been attending here a long time, then tell them it is great to meet them. Either way, you can’t lose.
So instead of finding someone familiar, spend five minutes looking for someone new. When the five minutes have concluded – then you are off the hook! McIntosh said many churches completely forget about guests AFTER the worship service ends. Many times, newcomers will want to leave quickly. This is why it is important everyone spends five minutes greeting others they may not know.
I will be reminding you from time-to-time by saying to you all “Remember the 5-minute rule.” This might serve as a conversation piece because someone might say “What is he talking about?” You’ll get to inform them on our little secret.
Please pray for our ministry of hospitality to those who visit us. We have had several people visit our worship services once and then disappear. I need your help to fix this problem. I believe our church has a lot to offer someone searching for a church home. Do you believe that is true? Then, join me in enforcing the “five minute rule” on Sunday morning!
By Pastor Gary Lewis
The final five minutes in each worship service will be reserved for our guests. At a recent seminar, author and church assimilation expert Gary L. McIntosh said churches have found a “Five Minute rule” to be extremely helpful in welcoming visitors to church.
This is how it works: the five minute clock begins immediately after worship concludes. Your job is to find someone you don't know and welcome them to our church. Most of us spend this valuable time talking to someone we know.
Don’t know if they are guest or long-time attendee? There’s an easy fix. Plus, you will get to meet a new friend. Say this, “Hi, I’m (say your first name) I don’t believe we have met. (Then shake their hand.) How long have you been attending here?”
If they have only been attending a short time, say a word of welcome. For example, introduce them to someone else standing nearby you know. If they have been attending here a long time, then tell them it is great to meet them. Either way, you can’t lose.
So instead of finding someone familiar, spend five minutes looking for someone new. When the five minutes have concluded – then you are off the hook! McIntosh said many churches completely forget about guests AFTER the worship service ends. Many times, newcomers will want to leave quickly. This is why it is important everyone spends five minutes greeting others they may not know.
I will be reminding you from time-to-time by saying to you all “Remember the 5-minute rule.” This might serve as a conversation piece because someone might say “What is he talking about?” You’ll get to inform them on our little secret.
Please pray for our ministry of hospitality to those who visit us. We have had several people visit our worship services once and then disappear. I need your help to fix this problem. I believe our church has a lot to offer someone searching for a church home. Do you believe that is true? Then, join me in enforcing the “five minute rule” on Sunday morning!
Faith for Tough Times
For the Chimes Newsletter
By Pastor Gary Lewis
Easter Sunday is a message of hope in tough times. The disciples were scattered and afraid after Jesus’ crucifixion. For three long days it seemed their world had crashed down all around them. Even Peter, the designated leader, “the rock,” had denied even knowing Christ. In fact, he denied Jesus three times.
Cowering in fear, there’s very little doubt that the followers of Christ were looking over their shoulders for the authorities. If they crucified a sinless Jesus, it was a sure thing they would be crucified too. Matthew 28 is one of the four Gospel accounts of that first Easter Sunday.
Some women, who were followers of Jesus, show up at the tomb. They come there expecting to find the body of Jesus. They arrive with anointing oil and spices and they were going to prepare the body for long term burial. There wasn’t anything highly unusual about this trip. Although it was a somber ritual, it was a way for them to show their love for Jesus.
When they arrived the massive stone at the entrance to the tomb had been rolled away. There was an angel outside. This is where the story picks up in Matthew 28:5: “Then the angel spoke to the women, ‘Don’t be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He isn’t here. He has risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come see where his body was lying.’”
The first thing the angel said was “Don’t be afraid.” Scholars have concluded there are about 365 references in the Bible to “don’t be afraid” or “fear not.” Why did the angel say that to these early followers of Jesus? Well, if you went to a tomb expecting to see a body and the body wasn’t there all sorts of things would probably cross your mind. And most of those thoughts would send a chill down your spine. So there’s a practical reason why the angel said “don’t be afraid.”
If you go back three days prior, though, there’s another reason. On Good Friday, Jesus, the Lord, was arrested. In just a matter of a few hours, he was arrested, tried, crucified, dead and buried. Now, these women at the tomb might have thought their life was in danger at that very moment. So this angel said – “don’t be afraid.”
Don’t be afraid because the resurrection had changed everything. Easter teaches us a powerful lesson about having faith in tough times. A casual look at the economy, the on-going conflict in Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq and the unfolding disaster in Japan tells us we are living in a period of tough times. We need a strong dose of faith to overcome our fears.
Think about it. The Bible tells us the resurrection transformed the lives of the early church. Peter goes from being a denier of Christ to become the pillar of the new Christian church. The resurrection can change you, too.
Maybe you are facing some tough times. In the weeks following Easter we are going to look at where can I find faith to stand when things go sour? How do you face doubt with faith? How do you faith failure with faith? How do you face illness with faith? And then ultimately, how do you face death, itself, with faith?
Maybe you need an infusion of Easter faith in your life. This is going to be a great time to invite your friends, family and neighbors to Easter at First United Methodist Church. Make an effort to show God’s amazing love to the people you care about. Invite them to worship and I promise to share with them the Good News that ordinary people like us can overcome adversity in tough times. The story of Easter still resonates with a clarion call of hope.
By Pastor Gary Lewis
Easter Sunday is a message of hope in tough times. The disciples were scattered and afraid after Jesus’ crucifixion. For three long days it seemed their world had crashed down all around them. Even Peter, the designated leader, “the rock,” had denied even knowing Christ. In fact, he denied Jesus three times.
Cowering in fear, there’s very little doubt that the followers of Christ were looking over their shoulders for the authorities. If they crucified a sinless Jesus, it was a sure thing they would be crucified too. Matthew 28 is one of the four Gospel accounts of that first Easter Sunday.
Some women, who were followers of Jesus, show up at the tomb. They come there expecting to find the body of Jesus. They arrive with anointing oil and spices and they were going to prepare the body for long term burial. There wasn’t anything highly unusual about this trip. Although it was a somber ritual, it was a way for them to show their love for Jesus.
When they arrived the massive stone at the entrance to the tomb had been rolled away. There was an angel outside. This is where the story picks up in Matthew 28:5: “Then the angel spoke to the women, ‘Don’t be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He isn’t here. He has risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come see where his body was lying.’”
The first thing the angel said was “Don’t be afraid.” Scholars have concluded there are about 365 references in the Bible to “don’t be afraid” or “fear not.” Why did the angel say that to these early followers of Jesus? Well, if you went to a tomb expecting to see a body and the body wasn’t there all sorts of things would probably cross your mind. And most of those thoughts would send a chill down your spine. So there’s a practical reason why the angel said “don’t be afraid.”
If you go back three days prior, though, there’s another reason. On Good Friday, Jesus, the Lord, was arrested. In just a matter of a few hours, he was arrested, tried, crucified, dead and buried. Now, these women at the tomb might have thought their life was in danger at that very moment. So this angel said – “don’t be afraid.”
Don’t be afraid because the resurrection had changed everything. Easter teaches us a powerful lesson about having faith in tough times. A casual look at the economy, the on-going conflict in Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq and the unfolding disaster in Japan tells us we are living in a period of tough times. We need a strong dose of faith to overcome our fears.
Think about it. The Bible tells us the resurrection transformed the lives of the early church. Peter goes from being a denier of Christ to become the pillar of the new Christian church. The resurrection can change you, too.
Maybe you are facing some tough times. In the weeks following Easter we are going to look at where can I find faith to stand when things go sour? How do you face doubt with faith? How do you faith failure with faith? How do you face illness with faith? And then ultimately, how do you face death, itself, with faith?
Maybe you need an infusion of Easter faith in your life. This is going to be a great time to invite your friends, family and neighbors to Easter at First United Methodist Church. Make an effort to show God’s amazing love to the people you care about. Invite them to worship and I promise to share with them the Good News that ordinary people like us can overcome adversity in tough times. The story of Easter still resonates with a clarion call of hope.
Becoming a 'Contagious Congregation'
For the Chimes Newsletter
By Pastor Gary Lewis
Dr. George G. Hunter wrote a book in 1979 with the title “The Contagious Congregation: Frontiers in Evangelism and Church Growth.” He is now the chair of Christian Evangelism and professor of Evangelism and Church Growth at Asbury Theological Seminary. He has probably written several dozen new books since then. Yet, I find this book to still be relevant today.
What I find most challenging is the title “The Contagious Congregation.” When we think about the word “contagious” we usually associate it with some sort of disease. When someone is contagious we want to wear masks and gloves to avoid being exposed. In the Christian context, though, being contagious means to be like Jesus. When non-Christians come into contact with a local church they should be exposed to Christ-like love and actions.
Would you consider our congregation “contagious” about its faith? Or do we put on masks and gloves (in a symbolic way) to avoid being exposed to those who struggle with faith or may have no faith at all?
I don’t know about you, but I want to be “contagious” for the Lord! Yet, I don’t always know how to go about doing that. That’s why we are in this together. We need to spend some time in prayer asking God to show us some ways to become more contagious. For Hunter, prayer means we take the time to “wait to receive power.” After all, it is really the Holy Spirit that does the real work of evangelism.
Let me be clear: I look at our attendance reports each week with a keen eye. I am well-aware of our ups and downs in both services. I care deeply about our outreach. Someone taught me a long time ago that when it comes to ministry “people vote with their feet.” Yet, this desire to be contagious for Jesus has nothing to do with the institution of our church. It is not about numbers. It has to do with being faithful to Jesus. I have this compelling drive within me to share the Good News.
How about you, dear reader, do you have such a compelling drive?
Most non-Christians are convinced that Christianity is an otherworldly enterprise far outside the real world concerns that occupy most thoughtful human beings. This is why the message our church brings must be relevant to those who do not embrace the Christian faith.
The message must be unambiguous. Often times, pastors and lay people simply speak a different language that cannot be understood by non-Christians. A similar problem with clarity involves saying too much. The message must be reduced to meeting a particular question or need at a particular moment.
This is why the message we share must be Biblical. The church is built on a book and people are interested in what Jesus proclaimed and taught. They are not interested in private opinions about our concept of Christianity. What matters the most is our relationship with others.
Hunter puts it best: “It is not necessary that one always (or even usually) verbalizes the gospel; the Christian has not ‘failed Jesus’ just because he has not mentioned his name. The essential purposes of presence ministry are to know people, to be known by them, to identify with them, and to demonstrate a caring interest in them, to build the friendships which can become the bridges of God.” (Page 135)
A key to all of this is that God’s workers must be intentional in their efforts. Every conversation, every contact, is an opportunity for evangelism. This is what it means to become a “contagious congregation.”
By Pastor Gary Lewis
Dr. George G. Hunter wrote a book in 1979 with the title “The Contagious Congregation: Frontiers in Evangelism and Church Growth.” He is now the chair of Christian Evangelism and professor of Evangelism and Church Growth at Asbury Theological Seminary. He has probably written several dozen new books since then. Yet, I find this book to still be relevant today.
What I find most challenging is the title “The Contagious Congregation.” When we think about the word “contagious” we usually associate it with some sort of disease. When someone is contagious we want to wear masks and gloves to avoid being exposed. In the Christian context, though, being contagious means to be like Jesus. When non-Christians come into contact with a local church they should be exposed to Christ-like love and actions.
Would you consider our congregation “contagious” about its faith? Or do we put on masks and gloves (in a symbolic way) to avoid being exposed to those who struggle with faith or may have no faith at all?
I don’t know about you, but I want to be “contagious” for the Lord! Yet, I don’t always know how to go about doing that. That’s why we are in this together. We need to spend some time in prayer asking God to show us some ways to become more contagious. For Hunter, prayer means we take the time to “wait to receive power.” After all, it is really the Holy Spirit that does the real work of evangelism.
Let me be clear: I look at our attendance reports each week with a keen eye. I am well-aware of our ups and downs in both services. I care deeply about our outreach. Someone taught me a long time ago that when it comes to ministry “people vote with their feet.” Yet, this desire to be contagious for Jesus has nothing to do with the institution of our church. It is not about numbers. It has to do with being faithful to Jesus. I have this compelling drive within me to share the Good News.
How about you, dear reader, do you have such a compelling drive?
Most non-Christians are convinced that Christianity is an otherworldly enterprise far outside the real world concerns that occupy most thoughtful human beings. This is why the message our church brings must be relevant to those who do not embrace the Christian faith.
The message must be unambiguous. Often times, pastors and lay people simply speak a different language that cannot be understood by non-Christians. A similar problem with clarity involves saying too much. The message must be reduced to meeting a particular question or need at a particular moment.
This is why the message we share must be Biblical. The church is built on a book and people are interested in what Jesus proclaimed and taught. They are not interested in private opinions about our concept of Christianity. What matters the most is our relationship with others.
Hunter puts it best: “It is not necessary that one always (or even usually) verbalizes the gospel; the Christian has not ‘failed Jesus’ just because he has not mentioned his name. The essential purposes of presence ministry are to know people, to be known by them, to identify with them, and to demonstrate a caring interest in them, to build the friendships which can become the bridges of God.” (Page 135)
A key to all of this is that God’s workers must be intentional in their efforts. Every conversation, every contact, is an opportunity for evangelism. This is what it means to become a “contagious congregation.”
Amazing Easter, SC, Youth Sunday Notes
For the Chimes Newsletter
By Pastor Gary Lewis
I am still in the “Easter Sunday” zone, so I can’t sit still enough to write a column this month. So, instead of a column, I decided to share with you some interesting facts, figures and projects God has put into my path.
We had an amazing Easter Sunday. I want to express many thanks to those “behind the scenes” folks who do so much each and every week to make things happen! I’m talking about the sound-TV-video-ushers-greeters-hospitality table people (depending on which worship service you attend.) When you have 254 at the Sanctuary service and 166 at The Gathering – you really appreciate all those unsung heroes who make things happen.
I want to say a special word of appreciation to all of our musicians who did an incredible job on Sunday (and every week). The song selection was excellent and fit our theme for the day “Faith for Tough Times.”
***
Did you make it to the Good Friday service? “Messages from the Cross” was our first attempt among the five “downtown” pastors to do a combined worship service.
From all accounts, the service was well-received. It was an honor to serve together with colleagues in ministry.
The 6:15 p.m. service at the First Church of the Nazarene attracted 148 people. Thanks so much to those of you from FUMC who attended. I got to have the final word at the service … it was pure joy.
Churches represented at the event included:
First United Methodist Church, First Christian Church, Wabash Avenue Presbyterian, Christ Lutheran Church and First Church of the Nazarene.
***
We have 26-30 people tentatively scheduled for the 24th annual mission trip to the Sea Islands of South Carolina. The group leaves June 10 and returns June 19.
This year, the group will be “sharing the load” with a shared leadership structure.
Transportation team leader is Mark McBee; kitchen team leaders are Peg Rose and Bev Bannon; mentor leader Ed Stuffle; devotion team leader is Monte Thompson; hotel team leaders are Sue Ann Ford and Karen Thada; t-shirt leader is Deb Zurawski; affirmation leader is Peg Rose; prayer leader is Jenny Lewis; thank you note leader is Carol Myhre; first aid kit team leader is Tiffany Issacs; corrugated procurement leader is Bev Bannon; coordinating leader is Cynda Mellish; construction leader is Bruce Whitehead.
So far, there may be 10 high school students making the trip this year. Three “first-timers” may also be on the team.
***
Three new members joined the church Easter Sunday at The Gathering. Sean and Chrissy Smith and Wilbert Falconer joined the First United Methodist Church family by confession of faith!
***
Do dogs go to heaven? Check it out on Youth Sunday, May 8, (Mother’s Day). The skit “Stairway to heaven” is featured with a dog, snake, hyena, vulture, squirrel, lion and lamb. The skit was created and written by the Middle School class. Each adult woman attending that day will receive a special gift. It should be a fun and memorable day with the youth.
***
Rainbows & Rhymes is completing its 18th year of ministry on May 13. There are 95 students enrolled. Age ranges include one year to age 4. Summer parents day out begins June 2. The pre-school is going bowling at C’ville Lanes in early May.
By Pastor Gary Lewis
I am still in the “Easter Sunday” zone, so I can’t sit still enough to write a column this month. So, instead of a column, I decided to share with you some interesting facts, figures and projects God has put into my path.
We had an amazing Easter Sunday. I want to express many thanks to those “behind the scenes” folks who do so much each and every week to make things happen! I’m talking about the sound-TV-video-ushers-greeters-hospitality table people (depending on which worship service you attend.) When you have 254 at the Sanctuary service and 166 at The Gathering – you really appreciate all those unsung heroes who make things happen.
I want to say a special word of appreciation to all of our musicians who did an incredible job on Sunday (and every week). The song selection was excellent and fit our theme for the day “Faith for Tough Times.”
***
Did you make it to the Good Friday service? “Messages from the Cross” was our first attempt among the five “downtown” pastors to do a combined worship service.
From all accounts, the service was well-received. It was an honor to serve together with colleagues in ministry.
The 6:15 p.m. service at the First Church of the Nazarene attracted 148 people. Thanks so much to those of you from FUMC who attended. I got to have the final word at the service … it was pure joy.
Churches represented at the event included:
First United Methodist Church, First Christian Church, Wabash Avenue Presbyterian, Christ Lutheran Church and First Church of the Nazarene.
***
We have 26-30 people tentatively scheduled for the 24th annual mission trip to the Sea Islands of South Carolina. The group leaves June 10 and returns June 19.
This year, the group will be “sharing the load” with a shared leadership structure.
Transportation team leader is Mark McBee; kitchen team leaders are Peg Rose and Bev Bannon; mentor leader Ed Stuffle; devotion team leader is Monte Thompson; hotel team leaders are Sue Ann Ford and Karen Thada; t-shirt leader is Deb Zurawski; affirmation leader is Peg Rose; prayer leader is Jenny Lewis; thank you note leader is Carol Myhre; first aid kit team leader is Tiffany Issacs; corrugated procurement leader is Bev Bannon; coordinating leader is Cynda Mellish; construction leader is Bruce Whitehead.
So far, there may be 10 high school students making the trip this year. Three “first-timers” may also be on the team.
***
Three new members joined the church Easter Sunday at The Gathering. Sean and Chrissy Smith and Wilbert Falconer joined the First United Methodist Church family by confession of faith!
***
Do dogs go to heaven? Check it out on Youth Sunday, May 8, (Mother’s Day). The skit “Stairway to heaven” is featured with a dog, snake, hyena, vulture, squirrel, lion and lamb. The skit was created and written by the Middle School class. Each adult woman attending that day will receive a special gift. It should be a fun and memorable day with the youth.
***
Rainbows & Rhymes is completing its 18th year of ministry on May 13. There are 95 students enrolled. Age ranges include one year to age 4. Summer parents day out begins June 2. The pre-school is going bowling at C’ville Lanes in early May.
Finding Focus in a World of Random Dots
For the Chimes Newsletter
By Pastor Gary Lewis
I have been trying to take a few more steps into the online world in recent weeks. The steps have been uncertain and shaky at times, but I am trying to persevere. It seems to be coming together all at once. I made Facebook the home page of one of my search engines and that has helped me to keep up with our church family. To be honest, though, I sometimes don’t know what to say. (And if you know anything about me this is very rare in real life.)
I updated my twitter account and my blog. You can find me at twitter@PastorWGL. So far, I have only one “follower.” (Thanks to my daughter Sarah.) My blog address is www.garylewis05.blogspot.com.
So what this means is that on one computer screen, I can now log into my Facebook account, read my e-mail, post my written work to my blog and figure out what a “tweet” is supposed to be all about!
Not bad for someone still trying to master the art of chewing gum and walking at the same time.
I have found the key to being able to do many things at once is not brilliance or electronic wizardry or even terrifying efficiency – the key to that ability is focus. And what is focus? Author/futurist Leonard Sweet calls it “the integration of peripheral vision.”
Peripheral vision means achieving a sharper focus of the world around us. In the 1990s, “Magic Eyes” books were very popular. Although I’m not very good at it, those seemingly random dots can become highly focused three-dimensional images. Once you “get it,” a whole new world of experience opens to you. No matter what you think you’re seeing or how well you think you’re seeing, there is more to be revealed.
Another term to describe this focus is vision – the ability to see what could be within the realms of the here and now. Jesus did this all the time. He had amazing focus through peripheral vision. He brought into focus the smallest and the least even while addressing the cosmic concerns of his ministry.
In the midst of serving an anxious, pressing, crowd he could feel the touch of the hemorrhaging woman and focus on her needs. In the midst of teaching his chosen disciples, he could connect with the tiny children running underfoot and focus on their needs. In the midst of preaching to and healing a huge throng of people, he could hear the hungry rumblings of empty stomachs and focus on that need.
It is my belief that we can capture such a vision. The choice is ours. We can go through life looking at random dots and flat surfaces. Or, through patient observance of prayer and Christian fellowship, we can experience three-dimensional images of hope and ministry to others.
My prayer is that each of us will be able to see with the deep vision of faith in God. Look deep and hard, with a confident faith in God. Together, we can find ways to bring the Good News of God’s love to a seemingly flat and hurting world full of random dots.
By Pastor Gary Lewis
I have been trying to take a few more steps into the online world in recent weeks. The steps have been uncertain and shaky at times, but I am trying to persevere. It seems to be coming together all at once. I made Facebook the home page of one of my search engines and that has helped me to keep up with our church family. To be honest, though, I sometimes don’t know what to say. (And if you know anything about me this is very rare in real life.)
I updated my twitter account and my blog. You can find me at twitter@PastorWGL. So far, I have only one “follower.” (Thanks to my daughter Sarah.) My blog address is www.garylewis05.blogspot.com.
So what this means is that on one computer screen, I can now log into my Facebook account, read my e-mail, post my written work to my blog and figure out what a “tweet” is supposed to be all about!
Not bad for someone still trying to master the art of chewing gum and walking at the same time.
I have found the key to being able to do many things at once is not brilliance or electronic wizardry or even terrifying efficiency – the key to that ability is focus. And what is focus? Author/futurist Leonard Sweet calls it “the integration of peripheral vision.”
Peripheral vision means achieving a sharper focus of the world around us. In the 1990s, “Magic Eyes” books were very popular. Although I’m not very good at it, those seemingly random dots can become highly focused three-dimensional images. Once you “get it,” a whole new world of experience opens to you. No matter what you think you’re seeing or how well you think you’re seeing, there is more to be revealed.
Another term to describe this focus is vision – the ability to see what could be within the realms of the here and now. Jesus did this all the time. He had amazing focus through peripheral vision. He brought into focus the smallest and the least even while addressing the cosmic concerns of his ministry.
In the midst of serving an anxious, pressing, crowd he could feel the touch of the hemorrhaging woman and focus on her needs. In the midst of teaching his chosen disciples, he could connect with the tiny children running underfoot and focus on their needs. In the midst of preaching to and healing a huge throng of people, he could hear the hungry rumblings of empty stomachs and focus on that need.
It is my belief that we can capture such a vision. The choice is ours. We can go through life looking at random dots and flat surfaces. Or, through patient observance of prayer and Christian fellowship, we can experience three-dimensional images of hope and ministry to others.
My prayer is that each of us will be able to see with the deep vision of faith in God. Look deep and hard, with a confident faith in God. Together, we can find ways to bring the Good News of God’s love to a seemingly flat and hurting world full of random dots.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Faith Lessons from a Fishing Pole
March 25, 2011
For the Journal-Review
The dew was still on the ground and my pants were wet from walking down the hillside to the spillway. A mist was coming from the water and you could hear the tiny rushing sound as the stream was full of bubbling water.
A glob of night crawlers was impaled to the hook and a red-and-white bobber was attached to the line. The rig kurplunked neatly on the water and the bobber stood tall. It floated gently downstream as my Dad adjusted himself on a rock.
It’s the anticipation that makes fishing so much fun. What’s going to happen? Will the bobber go down, detecting a bite? I remember the feeling in my throat as I looked at my Dad, hoping he would catch the first fish today.
I was talking to a friend about the joys of fishing. He didn’t get it. What happens when you catch one, he asked. What’s the big deal? What’s the point? I’m not going to reach my hand into that water. In fact, he witnessed a good-size catfish being caught right near his lakeside home. As a result, for him swimming has become a hazardous activity.
I realize not every reader is going to get it. Maybe I am a country boy at heart. For me, fishing is a concrete expression of fulfilling a dream. Years ago, a division of Paramount Studios would begin each movie with a half-moon in the sky and a Tom Sawyer figure sitting on the curved end, fishing pole in hand, and a bobber in the water.
I can’t think of a better description of dreams than the joy of fishing. Because it is the anticipation that counts – it is the hope of something biting that hook, playing it out, and reeling it in. For the past several years I have been a catch-and-release fisherman. I now prefer to release my catch. So I get the added bonus of watching that fish regain its strength and dash into the deep. Talk about a thrill!
You see, that’s what dreams do. It brings joy to our hearts. Every time I cast my line into the water I am committing an act of faith. I truly believe that my bait, my lure, my “presentation” as the experts call it, is going to trick a fish into biting. And when it happens, it brings joy.
Faith is a bit like fishing. All that God wants to do in your life, God does on the basis of faith. Someone once said, “Faith is to the Christian life what a mainspring is to a watch.” It is indispensable. Everybody has faith. Even an atheist has faith. The only difference is what you put it in and the amount you have.
Faith is such an important concept; you cannot describe it in simply one word or one definition. Faith is like a diamond. It has many different facets to it. It has many different shapes and sides.
Yet, it is important to have a working definition of faith. Why is faith important? What’s the point? What to do you do with it once you have it? How does it apply in my life?
Faith always begins with a picture, a mental image, a dream, a vision and an idea. God gave Abraham a picture. God came to Abraham one day and said, “Abraham, I’m going to make you the father of a great nation. You’re going to have a lot of children.” For Abraham, that was hard to believe.
So God gives Abraham a picture. He took him outside and said, “Look at the heavens. Count the stars, indeed, if you can count them! So shall your offspring be. That’s how may descendants you’re going to have.” God starts by stretching our imagination, by giving us a dream, a vision.
In Mark 5 there is a story about a woman who had been sick for 12 years. Her excessive bleeding made her ceremonially unclean in Jewish culture. That meant she had no social life. She couldn’t be out in a crowd.
One day she heard that Jesus Christ was coming to town. She said, “If I could just touch his robe I’ll be healed.” So she took the initiative and did something daring. She went out into the crowd and pushes her way through and comes up behind Jesus and touches the back of his robe. She is instantly healed.
Jesus recognizes the touch of faith. He says, “Who touched me?” People are pressing in all around him in the crowd. No one knew. But Jesus knew the difference in this touch. The woman comes in front and she says, “I did, Lord.” And he says, “Daughter, your faith has made you whole.”
She took the initiative. She broke the rules. She went beyond the boundaries. She pressed ahead, worked her way through the crowd, and because she took the initiative found the healing she so desperately needed. Faith is the solution to procrastination.
I know not everyone is going to get it. Just like fishing, people have different ideas on how to enjoy God’s gift of nature. I do believe though that God wants to give someone in Montgomery County a message of hope in tough times.
Don’t be afraid to stretch your imagination. Don’t be afraid to dream. This is what faith means. And, don’t be afraid to take the initiative. Don’t be afraid to make that first step even if seems unconventional in your world.
There is no greater thrill in life – even fishing pales in comparison – to a renewed life found in Jesus Christ. He beckons each one of us into a life full of anticipation, hope and fulfillment.
For the Journal-Review
The dew was still on the ground and my pants were wet from walking down the hillside to the spillway. A mist was coming from the water and you could hear the tiny rushing sound as the stream was full of bubbling water.
A glob of night crawlers was impaled to the hook and a red-and-white bobber was attached to the line. The rig kurplunked neatly on the water and the bobber stood tall. It floated gently downstream as my Dad adjusted himself on a rock.
It’s the anticipation that makes fishing so much fun. What’s going to happen? Will the bobber go down, detecting a bite? I remember the feeling in my throat as I looked at my Dad, hoping he would catch the first fish today.
I was talking to a friend about the joys of fishing. He didn’t get it. What happens when you catch one, he asked. What’s the big deal? What’s the point? I’m not going to reach my hand into that water. In fact, he witnessed a good-size catfish being caught right near his lakeside home. As a result, for him swimming has become a hazardous activity.
I realize not every reader is going to get it. Maybe I am a country boy at heart. For me, fishing is a concrete expression of fulfilling a dream. Years ago, a division of Paramount Studios would begin each movie with a half-moon in the sky and a Tom Sawyer figure sitting on the curved end, fishing pole in hand, and a bobber in the water.
I can’t think of a better description of dreams than the joy of fishing. Because it is the anticipation that counts – it is the hope of something biting that hook, playing it out, and reeling it in. For the past several years I have been a catch-and-release fisherman. I now prefer to release my catch. So I get the added bonus of watching that fish regain its strength and dash into the deep. Talk about a thrill!
You see, that’s what dreams do. It brings joy to our hearts. Every time I cast my line into the water I am committing an act of faith. I truly believe that my bait, my lure, my “presentation” as the experts call it, is going to trick a fish into biting. And when it happens, it brings joy.
Faith is a bit like fishing. All that God wants to do in your life, God does on the basis of faith. Someone once said, “Faith is to the Christian life what a mainspring is to a watch.” It is indispensable. Everybody has faith. Even an atheist has faith. The only difference is what you put it in and the amount you have.
Faith is such an important concept; you cannot describe it in simply one word or one definition. Faith is like a diamond. It has many different facets to it. It has many different shapes and sides.
Yet, it is important to have a working definition of faith. Why is faith important? What’s the point? What to do you do with it once you have it? How does it apply in my life?
Faith always begins with a picture, a mental image, a dream, a vision and an idea. God gave Abraham a picture. God came to Abraham one day and said, “Abraham, I’m going to make you the father of a great nation. You’re going to have a lot of children.” For Abraham, that was hard to believe.
So God gives Abraham a picture. He took him outside and said, “Look at the heavens. Count the stars, indeed, if you can count them! So shall your offspring be. That’s how may descendants you’re going to have.” God starts by stretching our imagination, by giving us a dream, a vision.
In Mark 5 there is a story about a woman who had been sick for 12 years. Her excessive bleeding made her ceremonially unclean in Jewish culture. That meant she had no social life. She couldn’t be out in a crowd.
One day she heard that Jesus Christ was coming to town. She said, “If I could just touch his robe I’ll be healed.” So she took the initiative and did something daring. She went out into the crowd and pushes her way through and comes up behind Jesus and touches the back of his robe. She is instantly healed.
Jesus recognizes the touch of faith. He says, “Who touched me?” People are pressing in all around him in the crowd. No one knew. But Jesus knew the difference in this touch. The woman comes in front and she says, “I did, Lord.” And he says, “Daughter, your faith has made you whole.”
She took the initiative. She broke the rules. She went beyond the boundaries. She pressed ahead, worked her way through the crowd, and because she took the initiative found the healing she so desperately needed. Faith is the solution to procrastination.
I know not everyone is going to get it. Just like fishing, people have different ideas on how to enjoy God’s gift of nature. I do believe though that God wants to give someone in Montgomery County a message of hope in tough times.
Don’t be afraid to stretch your imagination. Don’t be afraid to dream. This is what faith means. And, don’t be afraid to take the initiative. Don’t be afraid to make that first step even if seems unconventional in your world.
There is no greater thrill in life – even fishing pales in comparison – to a renewed life found in Jesus Christ. He beckons each one of us into a life full of anticipation, hope and fulfillment.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Kingdom Work is our Primary Mission
Journal-Review
December 15, 2010
By Pastor Gary Lewis
First United Methodist Church of Crawfordsville
We often use special words in the Church to describe certain efforts and events. For many, though, such words might leave them scratching their heads. For example, on Nov. 28, we began a new season in the church year known as “Advent.”
Advent is from the Latin word adventus meaning “coming.” It is the beginning of the Christian year and refers to a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of Christmas. The Latin word adventus is the translation of the Greek word parousia, a common word used in reference to the second coming of Christ.
In other words, as we anticipate the coming of Christ to the nativity scene in Bethlehem we are also keeping our eyes open for the return of Christ in the final days of the world.
Another word, or phrase, we often hear about in the Church is the “Kingdom of God,” or the “Kingdom of heaven.” When you read the Gospels (the first four books of the New Testament), it seems this is the only thing Jesus wanted to talk about. In fact, some 120 times in the Gospels, in one way or another, he refers to that Kingdom.
This is exactly what Jesus came to do: to establish the Kingdom of God, “on earth as it is in heaven. “When the disciples came to Jesus saying “Teach us to pray,” Jesus tells them to pray for this, that God’s kingdom would come, that God’s will would be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
A seminar speaker once suggested to some church leaders, “Each one of us has a few strengths and many weaknesses. Identify your strengths and work hard to hone them and don’t spend time bringing your weaknesses up to the level of mediocrity.”
I like what the late John Wooden, a hall-of-fame basketball coach, once said about weaknesses: “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
I have been thinking quite a bit lately about the future of the Church. “What are the strengths of our congregations? How can we own them and hone them?”
I have been reading the book “When the Sand Castle Crumbles,” by Jim Somerville, pastor of First Baptist Church of Richmond. In it, he describes how the church needs to get back to its primary task of Kingdom work.
“This is what I think the church of Jesus Christ ought to be doing – bringing heaven to earth – and the more I think about it the more I think the Lord’s Prayer is a perfect reminder. It’s the kind of prayer a soldier might pray before going onto the battlefield, the kind of prayer a missionary might pray before going onto the mission field.”
If the churches in Montgomery County would view Kingdom building in such a light, imagine how it could change things. “As a result, church begins to happen everywhere, all the time, and not only in our building (on Sunday morning).”
Here’s how to do it. Somerville writes, “Just look around for anything that doesn’t look like heaven and then roll up your sleeves and go to work.” Perhaps one person will see a need to help feed the hungry at the FISH food pantry, another to serve at the weekly soup kitchen, or share the gospel with people who don’t know Jesus.
Some might volunteer to work with Bud Rose at Habitat for Humanity. Some people might visit those in the nursing homes, others will make time to have coffee with a friend in need, still others will teach children in Sunday school.
Somerville makes this declaration: “Let’s stop counting how many people happen to be in church on Sunday morning and instead start counting how many times church happens between one Sunday and the next.”
The Christmas season is a perfect time to begin practicing Kingdom work. The world is going to be all anxious and in frenzy mode; the newsmakers will be talking endlessly about what’s wrong with the world.
Are you willing to roll up your sleeves and go to work – to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth?
For 2011, I plan to conclude every staff meeting and every church meeting I attend with these amended words of the Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done IN CRAWFORDSVILLE as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
December 15, 2010
By Pastor Gary Lewis
First United Methodist Church of Crawfordsville
We often use special words in the Church to describe certain efforts and events. For many, though, such words might leave them scratching their heads. For example, on Nov. 28, we began a new season in the church year known as “Advent.”
Advent is from the Latin word adventus meaning “coming.” It is the beginning of the Christian year and refers to a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of Christmas. The Latin word adventus is the translation of the Greek word parousia, a common word used in reference to the second coming of Christ.
In other words, as we anticipate the coming of Christ to the nativity scene in Bethlehem we are also keeping our eyes open for the return of Christ in the final days of the world.
Another word, or phrase, we often hear about in the Church is the “Kingdom of God,” or the “Kingdom of heaven.” When you read the Gospels (the first four books of the New Testament), it seems this is the only thing Jesus wanted to talk about. In fact, some 120 times in the Gospels, in one way or another, he refers to that Kingdom.
This is exactly what Jesus came to do: to establish the Kingdom of God, “on earth as it is in heaven. “When the disciples came to Jesus saying “Teach us to pray,” Jesus tells them to pray for this, that God’s kingdom would come, that God’s will would be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
A seminar speaker once suggested to some church leaders, “Each one of us has a few strengths and many weaknesses. Identify your strengths and work hard to hone them and don’t spend time bringing your weaknesses up to the level of mediocrity.”
I like what the late John Wooden, a hall-of-fame basketball coach, once said about weaknesses: “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
I have been thinking quite a bit lately about the future of the Church. “What are the strengths of our congregations? How can we own them and hone them?”
I have been reading the book “When the Sand Castle Crumbles,” by Jim Somerville, pastor of First Baptist Church of Richmond. In it, he describes how the church needs to get back to its primary task of Kingdom work.
“This is what I think the church of Jesus Christ ought to be doing – bringing heaven to earth – and the more I think about it the more I think the Lord’s Prayer is a perfect reminder. It’s the kind of prayer a soldier might pray before going onto the battlefield, the kind of prayer a missionary might pray before going onto the mission field.”
If the churches in Montgomery County would view Kingdom building in such a light, imagine how it could change things. “As a result, church begins to happen everywhere, all the time, and not only in our building (on Sunday morning).”
Here’s how to do it. Somerville writes, “Just look around for anything that doesn’t look like heaven and then roll up your sleeves and go to work.” Perhaps one person will see a need to help feed the hungry at the FISH food pantry, another to serve at the weekly soup kitchen, or share the gospel with people who don’t know Jesus.
Some might volunteer to work with Bud Rose at Habitat for Humanity. Some people might visit those in the nursing homes, others will make time to have coffee with a friend in need, still others will teach children in Sunday school.
Somerville makes this declaration: “Let’s stop counting how many people happen to be in church on Sunday morning and instead start counting how many times church happens between one Sunday and the next.”
The Christmas season is a perfect time to begin practicing Kingdom work. The world is going to be all anxious and in frenzy mode; the newsmakers will be talking endlessly about what’s wrong with the world.
Are you willing to roll up your sleeves and go to work – to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth?
For 2011, I plan to conclude every staff meeting and every church meeting I attend with these amended words of the Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done IN CRAWFORDSVILLE as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The Body of Christ is Always Better Together
When it comes to ministry there is one important truth I have learned: We can do it better together. Two is always better than one. No matter what the community need might be, Christians make more of an impact when they work together.
The Bible calls it the Body of Christ. I am grateful for the churches in Montgomery County that have combined efforts to share the love of Christ with a hurting world. I have witnessed the formation of the www.montcares.org website. I have seen the development of Hub Ministry, where volunteer case workers gather to better serve the needy. In cooperation with Trinity Mission, a transient housing ministry may soon be launched. The food pantry has expanded from three to five days per week.
Six churches are working together to send a Basic Utility Vehicle (BUV) to the Congo. This simple, sturdy, high-mileage-per-gallon vehicle can be used to transport children to school, gather fresh water and haul supplies. It could literally change the lives of an entire community in the Congo. Our goal is to raise $5,000 to purchase and ship the BUV to Africa. On Oct. 31, a fund-raising event is planned near the Habitat for Humanity headquarters on Jennison Street.
The Body of Christ is an image of being spiritually connected. Over and over again the Bible calls the church the body of Christ. Romans 12:5 says in the Living Bible: “Just as there are many parts to our bodies, so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of it and it takes every one of us to make it complete for we all have a different work to do. So we belong to each other and each needs all the others."
This one passage is full of spiritual truths. Here are four:
1. First, notice the Apostle Paul acknowledges we are all different. Each of us is unique. God doesn't want you to be like anybody else. Often, folks resist cooperating with other believers from other churches because of our differences. What matters is what we hold in common: faith in Jesus Christ.
2. We all have different roles to play, different work to do, different niches to fill. In a body not everything does the same thing. Can you imagine if all the parts of your body did the same thing? Imagine if every part of your body did the digestion. It would be redundant and uncomfortable because our body does more than digest food. All of us have different roles to play in the body of Christ.
3. Everyone is needed to make the body complete. The hand cannot say to the foot, "I don't need you," and the ear cannot say to the nose, "I don't need you." We are all needed in the body of Christ. While some parts are small, they are still needed. Have you ever damaged one of your little fingers? Few people realize how important your little finger is until it is injured. Even the most insignificant part of your body plays a role. If it gets hurt you notice. There are no insignificant people in the body of Christ. At night, the most important light in my home is not the big chandelier in the dining room. It is the little night light that keeps me from smashing my toe. Everyone has a role to play in the body of Christ.
4. We all need to be connected with each other. The Christian life is not just a matter of believing. It means being connected to each other. When we become disconnected our effectiveness wanes. Community needs are far too great for one church to tackle alone. When our ear becomes detached from the body, it no longer functions. Unless it is attached to a body it is no good. What good is a foot if it becomes detached from a body? A foot cannot do anything unless it is connected to a body. Why did God choose the body as an illustration of what the church is to be? Because in a healthy body all the parts grow together - they grow in harmony.
Our most important connection is to Jesus Christ. The second most important connection is to get connected to the body of Christ, the local church. And when local churches work together to tackle community needs, our witness as a light in a dark world is strengthened considerably. As Jesus told Peter, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18, ESV)
The Bible calls it the Body of Christ. I am grateful for the churches in Montgomery County that have combined efforts to share the love of Christ with a hurting world. I have witnessed the formation of the www.montcares.org website. I have seen the development of Hub Ministry, where volunteer case workers gather to better serve the needy. In cooperation with Trinity Mission, a transient housing ministry may soon be launched. The food pantry has expanded from three to five days per week.
Six churches are working together to send a Basic Utility Vehicle (BUV) to the Congo. This simple, sturdy, high-mileage-per-gallon vehicle can be used to transport children to school, gather fresh water and haul supplies. It could literally change the lives of an entire community in the Congo. Our goal is to raise $5,000 to purchase and ship the BUV to Africa. On Oct. 31, a fund-raising event is planned near the Habitat for Humanity headquarters on Jennison Street.
The Body of Christ is an image of being spiritually connected. Over and over again the Bible calls the church the body of Christ. Romans 12:5 says in the Living Bible: “Just as there are many parts to our bodies, so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of it and it takes every one of us to make it complete for we all have a different work to do. So we belong to each other and each needs all the others."
This one passage is full of spiritual truths. Here are four:
1. First, notice the Apostle Paul acknowledges we are all different. Each of us is unique. God doesn't want you to be like anybody else. Often, folks resist cooperating with other believers from other churches because of our differences. What matters is what we hold in common: faith in Jesus Christ.
2. We all have different roles to play, different work to do, different niches to fill. In a body not everything does the same thing. Can you imagine if all the parts of your body did the same thing? Imagine if every part of your body did the digestion. It would be redundant and uncomfortable because our body does more than digest food. All of us have different roles to play in the body of Christ.
3. Everyone is needed to make the body complete. The hand cannot say to the foot, "I don't need you," and the ear cannot say to the nose, "I don't need you." We are all needed in the body of Christ. While some parts are small, they are still needed. Have you ever damaged one of your little fingers? Few people realize how important your little finger is until it is injured. Even the most insignificant part of your body plays a role. If it gets hurt you notice. There are no insignificant people in the body of Christ. At night, the most important light in my home is not the big chandelier in the dining room. It is the little night light that keeps me from smashing my toe. Everyone has a role to play in the body of Christ.
4. We all need to be connected with each other. The Christian life is not just a matter of believing. It means being connected to each other. When we become disconnected our effectiveness wanes. Community needs are far too great for one church to tackle alone. When our ear becomes detached from the body, it no longer functions. Unless it is attached to a body it is no good. What good is a foot if it becomes detached from a body? A foot cannot do anything unless it is connected to a body. Why did God choose the body as an illustration of what the church is to be? Because in a healthy body all the parts grow together - they grow in harmony.
Our most important connection is to Jesus Christ. The second most important connection is to get connected to the body of Christ, the local church. And when local churches work together to tackle community needs, our witness as a light in a dark world is strengthened considerably. As Jesus told Peter, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18, ESV)
Character Counts Series: Fairness
CHARACTER COUNTS SERIES: FAIRNESS
For the Journal-Review
October 19, 2010
By Rev. Gary Lewis
First United Methodist Church
Fairness: A person of character is just and impartial, listens and is open to differing viewpoints.
When evangelist Billy Graham was asked to do the invocation at President Bush’s inauguration, he cited this quotation by George Washington: “America stands on two great pillars – faith and morality. Without these, our foundation crumbles.”
Fairness is morality in action.
When we choose to be just and impartial, when we choose to really listen to others, we become a person of character. Fairness is one of the bedrocks of a civilized society. We often quote the phrase, “life isn’t fair.” This is true.
After all, we live in a dog-eat-dog world. Tragedy often strikes. People we love die. Accidents happen and rob the many joys in life we cherish. All we have to do is to scan the headlines on any given day and we quickly conclude this world we live in is not heaven. However, no one said being a person of character would be easy.
Why should I be fair? While we might enjoy the company of someone who has character, when it comes to the challenges of life we often want to take shortcuts. It’s OK for someone else to fight fair, but for me and my needs, I am going keep it simple and fight. Period. Everyone else had better get out of the way.
While life is difficult at times, a person of character overcomes those difficulties by having an attitude of fairness. We need people who will listen and be open to various viewpoints. For our society to thrive, it requires people who are fair in their dealings with others. Without fairness, our democracy will crumble. Commerce certainly depends upon individuals who are willing to be just and impartial. Our political system needs a new infusion of fairness. We desperately need people who will listen and be open to various viewpoints.
Here are some ideas about why fairness, one of the bedrocks of character, is important:
1. I will reap whatever I sow.
The Bible tells us in Galatians 6:7: “Do not deceive yourselves: no one makes a fool of God. A person will reap exactly what he plants (Good News Translation).” When the Apostle Paul wrote this, he was being very certain about the consequences of choices we make in life. He didn’t say most of the time, or some of the time, but “A person will reap.” It is a law of the universe. If I plant apple seeds, I’ll grow an apple tree, not a peach tree. If I plant corn seed, I’m going to harvest corn, not potatoes.
Whatever we give out in life is what we are going to get back. If I choose to be a cheater, then I’m going to get cheated. If I take advantage of other people, then someone is going to take advantage of me. I will reap whatever I sow.
If I refuse to listen to the viewpoints of others and I insist on my view then there will be fewer people who will give me an audience. If I am overcritical of others, then I am going to suffer the consequences of criticism.
On the other hand, if I choose to be a person of character, a person of fairness, then more people will be fair in their dealings with me. If I desire to be a good listener, then there will be more people in my life willing to listen to me. (A good listener doesn’t mean to wait until it is your turn to speak, but to maintain eye contact and really make an effort to hear the other person.)
Fairness is an important character trait because it leads to a lifestyle of grace. What this world needs, especially with the push back from those consumed with greed, are more people with an attitude of fairness. When we choose to be a person of fairness, other people will notice.
If you are a parent, you know you are being closely watched by your kids. Values are caught not taught. What is my lifestyle communicating to my kids? Am I living a lifestyle that says character counts and fairness matters?
The Bible tells us to “let your light shine so people can see your good works and praise your Father in heaven.” There are people in your life right now who may not like your personality and they may disagree with your politics or your faith, but they will respect your character if you choose to be fair and impartial in your dealings with them. While the TV shows may not show it, a person of character is noticed when he or she walks into a room. Being fair is a positive witness to the world. “The Lord sees what happens everywhere; he is watching us, whether we do good or evil.” (Proverbs 15:1, Good News Translation)
2. God rewards fairness.
“God is not unfair. He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for him in the help you gave…” (Hebrews 6:10, Good News Translation) In this life and in eternity, fairness is rewarded. Fairness leads to a full, happy, life. While the reward may not always be immediate, in the long term it is more than worth it.
When you don’t have any heavy burdens because of those you have treated unfairly, life takes on new meaning. While there may be some short-term benefit in unfairness, the long-term damage is not worth the temporary gain.
President Ronald Reagan told this story that has to do with character and fairness: “In one of the conflicts that was going on throughout the past year when views were held deeply on both side of the debate, I recall talking to one senator in my office. We both deeply believed what it was we were espousing, but we were on opposite sides.
“And when we finished talking, as he rose, he said, ‘I’m going out of here and do some praying,’ And I said, ‘Well, if you get a busy signal, it’s me there ahead of you.’”
Thankfully, we serve a God that has no busy signals. God is always present for us and our needs. May each of us, with Gods’ help, strive to be persons of character, exhibiting fairness in all of our relationships.
For the Journal-Review
October 19, 2010
By Rev. Gary Lewis
First United Methodist Church
Fairness: A person of character is just and impartial, listens and is open to differing viewpoints.
When evangelist Billy Graham was asked to do the invocation at President Bush’s inauguration, he cited this quotation by George Washington: “America stands on two great pillars – faith and morality. Without these, our foundation crumbles.”
Fairness is morality in action.
When we choose to be just and impartial, when we choose to really listen to others, we become a person of character. Fairness is one of the bedrocks of a civilized society. We often quote the phrase, “life isn’t fair.” This is true.
After all, we live in a dog-eat-dog world. Tragedy often strikes. People we love die. Accidents happen and rob the many joys in life we cherish. All we have to do is to scan the headlines on any given day and we quickly conclude this world we live in is not heaven. However, no one said being a person of character would be easy.
Why should I be fair? While we might enjoy the company of someone who has character, when it comes to the challenges of life we often want to take shortcuts. It’s OK for someone else to fight fair, but for me and my needs, I am going keep it simple and fight. Period. Everyone else had better get out of the way.
While life is difficult at times, a person of character overcomes those difficulties by having an attitude of fairness. We need people who will listen and be open to various viewpoints. For our society to thrive, it requires people who are fair in their dealings with others. Without fairness, our democracy will crumble. Commerce certainly depends upon individuals who are willing to be just and impartial. Our political system needs a new infusion of fairness. We desperately need people who will listen and be open to various viewpoints.
Here are some ideas about why fairness, one of the bedrocks of character, is important:
1. I will reap whatever I sow.
The Bible tells us in Galatians 6:7: “Do not deceive yourselves: no one makes a fool of God. A person will reap exactly what he plants (Good News Translation).” When the Apostle Paul wrote this, he was being very certain about the consequences of choices we make in life. He didn’t say most of the time, or some of the time, but “A person will reap.” It is a law of the universe. If I plant apple seeds, I’ll grow an apple tree, not a peach tree. If I plant corn seed, I’m going to harvest corn, not potatoes.
Whatever we give out in life is what we are going to get back. If I choose to be a cheater, then I’m going to get cheated. If I take advantage of other people, then someone is going to take advantage of me. I will reap whatever I sow.
If I refuse to listen to the viewpoints of others and I insist on my view then there will be fewer people who will give me an audience. If I am overcritical of others, then I am going to suffer the consequences of criticism.
On the other hand, if I choose to be a person of character, a person of fairness, then more people will be fair in their dealings with me. If I desire to be a good listener, then there will be more people in my life willing to listen to me. (A good listener doesn’t mean to wait until it is your turn to speak, but to maintain eye contact and really make an effort to hear the other person.)
Fairness is an important character trait because it leads to a lifestyle of grace. What this world needs, especially with the push back from those consumed with greed, are more people with an attitude of fairness. When we choose to be a person of fairness, other people will notice.
If you are a parent, you know you are being closely watched by your kids. Values are caught not taught. What is my lifestyle communicating to my kids? Am I living a lifestyle that says character counts and fairness matters?
The Bible tells us to “let your light shine so people can see your good works and praise your Father in heaven.” There are people in your life right now who may not like your personality and they may disagree with your politics or your faith, but they will respect your character if you choose to be fair and impartial in your dealings with them. While the TV shows may not show it, a person of character is noticed when he or she walks into a room. Being fair is a positive witness to the world. “The Lord sees what happens everywhere; he is watching us, whether we do good or evil.” (Proverbs 15:1, Good News Translation)
2. God rewards fairness.
“God is not unfair. He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for him in the help you gave…” (Hebrews 6:10, Good News Translation) In this life and in eternity, fairness is rewarded. Fairness leads to a full, happy, life. While the reward may not always be immediate, in the long term it is more than worth it.
When you don’t have any heavy burdens because of those you have treated unfairly, life takes on new meaning. While there may be some short-term benefit in unfairness, the long-term damage is not worth the temporary gain.
President Ronald Reagan told this story that has to do with character and fairness: “In one of the conflicts that was going on throughout the past year when views were held deeply on both side of the debate, I recall talking to one senator in my office. We both deeply believed what it was we were espousing, but we were on opposite sides.
“And when we finished talking, as he rose, he said, ‘I’m going out of here and do some praying,’ And I said, ‘Well, if you get a busy signal, it’s me there ahead of you.’”
Thankfully, we serve a God that has no busy signals. God is always present for us and our needs. May each of us, with Gods’ help, strive to be persons of character, exhibiting fairness in all of our relationships.
What We Need is 90% Effort and 110% Faith
I was interviewing for a job once when the city editor said something about journalism that I found rather interesting. As I mulled over his words a few days later, I found that insight to be beneficial in just about all that we do – including the church.
He told me that he did not expect his reporters to give 100 percent or 110 percent all the time. He said that eventually leads to burnout. There is so much to do at a newspaper that it’s easy to begin in frenzy mode. To track down every lead, to write every angle, to uncover every nugget of information …it is just not possible to keep up that pace.
Instead, this editor told me he expects his reporters to give 90 percent effort ALL the time. He wanted his news staff to have something left on a continuous basis. The question my editor had for me in my days as a journalist was always, “What do you have for me today?” It didn’t matter that I had three stories on page one yesterday. There was always something more to do.
Life is truly a marathon. When I look back at my ordination class of about 11 persons – seven of them are no longer involved in full-time pastoral ministry. Life is a struggle. Being a follower of Jesus Christ does not immunize us from the challenges of life. We may want to think the Christian life is a cakewalk, but it is often far from it. Some people are frustrated because they think life ought to be easy. It is not easy. There are no shortcuts.
I am reminded of that great chapter known as the faith hall-of-fame. Hebrews 11 serve as witnesses so that we are never alone in this marathon race known as life. These are the heroes of faith:
By faith Able offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death. By faith, Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark.
By faith Abraham, even though he was past age – and Sarah herself was barren – was enabled to become a father. By faith, Moses’ parents hid him for three months. By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.
The 11th chapter of Hebrews is full of examples of how people of the faith responded to the struggles and challenges of their day. I ask you, dear reader, to take a few moments and consider in your life those witnesses watching you this very day. Those people who have represented a belief in an eternity – an eternal presence with God through Christ Jesus.
Maybe it is your father or mother, or a brother, sister, aunt, uncle or other relative. Maybe it was a close friend in the past. Think back to the times when you were new to the faith. Who was there to inspire, comfort and lead you into a deeper spiritual commitment?
There are many witnesses in my life. A high school teacher who led the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes group; the director of the FCA camp where I worked; my pastor at Freedom Baptist Church; the three pastors I’ve know at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church; my wife. All of these people, and many more, stand on the sidelines cheering me on in my spiritual journey.
What we have got to remember is a marathon is a long struggle of endurance. It takes patience, persistence and stamina to finish. So often we go along for a time at full speed. We’re enjoying the fellowship, learning more about God’s word, seeking ways to serve God until we run into a brick wall. We find ourselves reaching a limit. We begin to slip. We find ourselves out of step in the spiritual journey. Troubles overwhelm us.
We must remember to pace ourselves at all times. What matter the most is not so much the speed but the direction we are taking. In Hebrews 12, we are told to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
Allow me to list some of those weights that hold us back in the marathon race of life:
Tomorrow – a weight no Christian needs to carry. And yet, we spend so much time anticipating what might be. Jesus said, “Be not anxious for tomorrow.”
The unforgiven wrong – no matter what side you are on – is a weight no Christian needs to carry. Forgive it, or ask for forgiveness. A grudge is a dead weight.
Suspicion – no, everyone is not talking about you. They are too busy talking about themselves.
Temper – so many of us have a terrible temper. Our kids know it, our spouses know it, and certainly God knows it. The problem with a temper is it leaves a trail of terror in those we love the most.
Make your own list of weights that you need to throw off in order to run the race of life. Let them go. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)
He told me that he did not expect his reporters to give 100 percent or 110 percent all the time. He said that eventually leads to burnout. There is so much to do at a newspaper that it’s easy to begin in frenzy mode. To track down every lead, to write every angle, to uncover every nugget of information …it is just not possible to keep up that pace.
Instead, this editor told me he expects his reporters to give 90 percent effort ALL the time. He wanted his news staff to have something left on a continuous basis. The question my editor had for me in my days as a journalist was always, “What do you have for me today?” It didn’t matter that I had three stories on page one yesterday. There was always something more to do.
Life is truly a marathon. When I look back at my ordination class of about 11 persons – seven of them are no longer involved in full-time pastoral ministry. Life is a struggle. Being a follower of Jesus Christ does not immunize us from the challenges of life. We may want to think the Christian life is a cakewalk, but it is often far from it. Some people are frustrated because they think life ought to be easy. It is not easy. There are no shortcuts.
I am reminded of that great chapter known as the faith hall-of-fame. Hebrews 11 serve as witnesses so that we are never alone in this marathon race known as life. These are the heroes of faith:
By faith Able offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death. By faith, Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark.
By faith Abraham, even though he was past age – and Sarah herself was barren – was enabled to become a father. By faith, Moses’ parents hid him for three months. By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.
The 11th chapter of Hebrews is full of examples of how people of the faith responded to the struggles and challenges of their day. I ask you, dear reader, to take a few moments and consider in your life those witnesses watching you this very day. Those people who have represented a belief in an eternity – an eternal presence with God through Christ Jesus.
Maybe it is your father or mother, or a brother, sister, aunt, uncle or other relative. Maybe it was a close friend in the past. Think back to the times when you were new to the faith. Who was there to inspire, comfort and lead you into a deeper spiritual commitment?
There are many witnesses in my life. A high school teacher who led the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes group; the director of the FCA camp where I worked; my pastor at Freedom Baptist Church; the three pastors I’ve know at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church; my wife. All of these people, and many more, stand on the sidelines cheering me on in my spiritual journey.
What we have got to remember is a marathon is a long struggle of endurance. It takes patience, persistence and stamina to finish. So often we go along for a time at full speed. We’re enjoying the fellowship, learning more about God’s word, seeking ways to serve God until we run into a brick wall. We find ourselves reaching a limit. We begin to slip. We find ourselves out of step in the spiritual journey. Troubles overwhelm us.
We must remember to pace ourselves at all times. What matter the most is not so much the speed but the direction we are taking. In Hebrews 12, we are told to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
Allow me to list some of those weights that hold us back in the marathon race of life:
Tomorrow – a weight no Christian needs to carry. And yet, we spend so much time anticipating what might be. Jesus said, “Be not anxious for tomorrow.”
The unforgiven wrong – no matter what side you are on – is a weight no Christian needs to carry. Forgive it, or ask for forgiveness. A grudge is a dead weight.
Suspicion – no, everyone is not talking about you. They are too busy talking about themselves.
Temper – so many of us have a terrible temper. Our kids know it, our spouses know it, and certainly God knows it. The problem with a temper is it leaves a trail of terror in those we love the most.
Make your own list of weights that you need to throw off in order to run the race of life. Let them go. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)
Remembering James J. Hughes
Our family has another hole in its heart. The death of Jenny’s dad, Jim, is a welcome relief in many ways. He just hasn’t been himself the past several months. The hospitalizations, the doctor visits, the fatigue associated with his health finally took its toll. I’m well aware many of you know what I am talking about. I am so grateful his walk with Jesus was so sure and certain. He valued the Christian faith and made sure his family knew the importance of Jesus Christ as Savior, Guide and Friend.
Because he meant so much to me, I want to take some time and space in the Chimes to tell you about him. Among the churches we have had the privilege to serve, you knew him the least. The few times he was able to attend he really wasn’t feeling all that well. Knowing him like I do and how I know you, I believe you would have really enjoyed him. He had easy, engaging, way with others. Jenny dearly loved him and so did I.
I first met Jim before I knew his daughter. I was a reporter for the local newspaper and he was a member of the Syracuse, Indiana, Town Board. When I covered those laborious meetings, Jim was always there. I rarely could quote him because he didn’t say a whole lot. I would learn later that is a Hughes’ trait. Jim, in some situations, was a man of few words.
Yet, Jim would quietly take in all the proceedings around him and carefully considered the issues at hand. He was calm and thoughtful. Besides, at that time, the president of the town board did nothing but talk. Each board member was assigned to a particular department in the town. Jim was assigned the Park Department. In those days the Park Department was small and governed by a group of volunteers. It was an easy place to cut funding and support. Jim, though, had a way of keeping the department alive. He did not waiver from his duty.
Something we recently learned about Jim since his death reveals a lot about his character. He invited a local physician to attend Sunday School with him many years ago at our home church, St. Andrew’s United Methodist. Dr. Jack P. Clark wrote a wonderful letter about how grateful he was to be invited to church by Jim. That one invitation was a spark that ignited many years of faithful service to Christ. Dr. Clark went on to become one of the most dedicated adult teachers I have ever met. I am reminded about the story of Andrew – my home church’s namesake – the brother of Peter, who invited his brother to meet the Lord. When Peter became one of the disciples of Jesus, it changed the world forever. Dr. Clark went on to become one of the most dedicated adult teachers I have ever met. We never know how powerful a simple invitation might mean to the cause of Christ. This is a perfect example of how Jim operated in his life. He was a faithful, quiet, and effective man.
Like so many of the “Greatest Generation,” Jim is one of the many World War 2 veterans who have left us. Each year, the United States loses thousands of veterans from that perilous time in U.S. history. Because he was a college graduate, he was pressed into duty as the second-in-command of a minesweeper known as the U.S.S. Salute in the South Pacific. He was aboard the ship when an explosion took the lives of several sailors below deck. The explosion caused the ship to sink. Jim, though, escaped injury.
I remember the tears that formed in Jim’s eyes when he recalled that fateful day. A reunion of his shipmates occurred in 1987. The wound ran deep, but the survivors and family members pulled together to support one another. Again, in his own quiet style, Jim rose to the occasion as co-organizer of those annual gatherings.
When I received my call to ministry, I was really looking for some guidance from family and friends. In fact, I was expecting them to say something such as “You are crazy!” Instead, Jim’s response was short and brief. “I wondered how long it was going to take before you figured this out,” he said.
Of course, I will always remember Jim. He sang in our wedding. He gave of himself in countless ways to support us in our marriage – especially during those early years. In fact, he single-handedly (I was of no help) built an addition to the only home we ever owned. He did all that work just to watch us sell it later so I could pursue a seminary education. I never heard him complain.
These are just a few of the many qualities I admired about Jim. He was Jenny’s father, but in many ways he was my father too. (Thanks Sue Ann for reminding me of that.)
Because he meant so much to me, I want to take some time and space in the Chimes to tell you about him. Among the churches we have had the privilege to serve, you knew him the least. The few times he was able to attend he really wasn’t feeling all that well. Knowing him like I do and how I know you, I believe you would have really enjoyed him. He had easy, engaging, way with others. Jenny dearly loved him and so did I.
I first met Jim before I knew his daughter. I was a reporter for the local newspaper and he was a member of the Syracuse, Indiana, Town Board. When I covered those laborious meetings, Jim was always there. I rarely could quote him because he didn’t say a whole lot. I would learn later that is a Hughes’ trait. Jim, in some situations, was a man of few words.
Yet, Jim would quietly take in all the proceedings around him and carefully considered the issues at hand. He was calm and thoughtful. Besides, at that time, the president of the town board did nothing but talk. Each board member was assigned to a particular department in the town. Jim was assigned the Park Department. In those days the Park Department was small and governed by a group of volunteers. It was an easy place to cut funding and support. Jim, though, had a way of keeping the department alive. He did not waiver from his duty.
Something we recently learned about Jim since his death reveals a lot about his character. He invited a local physician to attend Sunday School with him many years ago at our home church, St. Andrew’s United Methodist. Dr. Jack P. Clark wrote a wonderful letter about how grateful he was to be invited to church by Jim. That one invitation was a spark that ignited many years of faithful service to Christ. Dr. Clark went on to become one of the most dedicated adult teachers I have ever met. I am reminded about the story of Andrew – my home church’s namesake – the brother of Peter, who invited his brother to meet the Lord. When Peter became one of the disciples of Jesus, it changed the world forever. Dr. Clark went on to become one of the most dedicated adult teachers I have ever met. We never know how powerful a simple invitation might mean to the cause of Christ. This is a perfect example of how Jim operated in his life. He was a faithful, quiet, and effective man.
Like so many of the “Greatest Generation,” Jim is one of the many World War 2 veterans who have left us. Each year, the United States loses thousands of veterans from that perilous time in U.S. history. Because he was a college graduate, he was pressed into duty as the second-in-command of a minesweeper known as the U.S.S. Salute in the South Pacific. He was aboard the ship when an explosion took the lives of several sailors below deck. The explosion caused the ship to sink. Jim, though, escaped injury.
I remember the tears that formed in Jim’s eyes when he recalled that fateful day. A reunion of his shipmates occurred in 1987. The wound ran deep, but the survivors and family members pulled together to support one another. Again, in his own quiet style, Jim rose to the occasion as co-organizer of those annual gatherings.
When I received my call to ministry, I was really looking for some guidance from family and friends. In fact, I was expecting them to say something such as “You are crazy!” Instead, Jim’s response was short and brief. “I wondered how long it was going to take before you figured this out,” he said.
Of course, I will always remember Jim. He sang in our wedding. He gave of himself in countless ways to support us in our marriage – especially during those early years. In fact, he single-handedly (I was of no help) built an addition to the only home we ever owned. He did all that work just to watch us sell it later so I could pursue a seminary education. I never heard him complain.
These are just a few of the many qualities I admired about Jim. He was Jenny’s father, but in many ways he was my father too. (Thanks Sue Ann for reminding me of that.)
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Thanks to your Generosity....
Thanks to Your Generosity ….
There is something special about the sound of children … especially when the children are trying to “raise the roof” at Vacation Bible School (VBS). They stood together in ragged rows, punctuating the air with their movements. They swayed, they twitched and they squirmed. They sang out boldly, trying to outdo each other. Miss Jill wanted loud and she got it! To call the presentation “music” may be stretching the point, but to call it a joyful noise was right on target. The spirit of the children was joy and love. A parent seated next to me turned, smiled, and said, “Isn’t this precious?” Truly, love abounds because the roar of their voices rose to the ceiling and beyond. I began to wonder if someone walking outside in the parking lot really could hear them. Do you know what I think? I think the Lord heard that special choir, and said, “It is good!” Because of your generosity, about 50 children got to experience the thrilling ride we call faith. Thank you for caring about children to make our annual VBS experience possible. Without your help, we could never fulfill the mission God has given us. Our mission extends even to the children who are learning new songs to sing in this world. They are learning about God’s unconditional love and our church is sowing seeds of faith into these precious lives. Your financial support to our church is so very important so we can continue to reach out to achieve our mission to “make disciples for Jesus Christ. We seek to relate people to Christ, connect people to the Body of Christ and reach out in love and concern to the world.”
There is something special about the sound of children … especially when the children are trying to “raise the roof” at Vacation Bible School (VBS). They stood together in ragged rows, punctuating the air with their movements. They swayed, they twitched and they squirmed. They sang out boldly, trying to outdo each other. Miss Jill wanted loud and she got it! To call the presentation “music” may be stretching the point, but to call it a joyful noise was right on target. The spirit of the children was joy and love. A parent seated next to me turned, smiled, and said, “Isn’t this precious?” Truly, love abounds because the roar of their voices rose to the ceiling and beyond. I began to wonder if someone walking outside in the parking lot really could hear them. Do you know what I think? I think the Lord heard that special choir, and said, “It is good!” Because of your generosity, about 50 children got to experience the thrilling ride we call faith. Thank you for caring about children to make our annual VBS experience possible. Without your help, we could never fulfill the mission God has given us. Our mission extends even to the children who are learning new songs to sing in this world. They are learning about God’s unconditional love and our church is sowing seeds of faith into these precious lives. Your financial support to our church is so very important so we can continue to reach out to achieve our mission to “make disciples for Jesus Christ. We seek to relate people to Christ, connect people to the Body of Christ and reach out in love and concern to the world.”
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Is Your Faith a Load or a Lift?
Journal-Review
July 7, 2010
By Pastor Gary Lewis
First United Methodist Church
One of the real blessings about vacation is the thrill I get from visiting other churches. I really enjoy the time I get to spend seated with my wife at a worship service. I get to be a member of the congregation instead of serving as the pastor. We were warmly greeted by people in both churches – one in Arkansas and the other in Indiana.
At the church in Arkansas, a beloved pastor was preaching his last message to the congregation. At the Indiana church, the pastor (a colleague in ministry) was about to lead her first worship service at a new appointment. Each pastor did an excellent job saying “goodbye” and “hello” in their different contexts.
I know by experience it was not an easy thing to do. Yet, you could see their faith in Christ in action. It was as if Jesus Christ gave them the lift that they needed to get through such a trying circumstance. I found it to be an inspiration to see them display such certainty.
With the deadline for this column looming ahead, I began to think about how what I witnessed is a perfect example of what all Christians should experience. Yet, for some reason, many do not.
Allow me to share an old preacher’s story to help illustrate this point. Once upon a time, a person who was a total novice at flying asked the Southwest Airlines agent at the Indianapolis International Airport, “How long does it take to get from here to Chicago?”
The agent responded, “One of our flights leaves at 7:10 a.m. and gets to Chicago at 7:15 a.m.” The silence was long and uncomfortable. Finally, the agent asked, “Would you like me to book you on one of our flights?” The measured response of the first-time flyer was, “No, I think I’ll just stay here and watch that thing take off.”
One of the misconceptions about the Christian faith is the assertion that a one-time Christian experience does it all. We get the idea that the journey from takeoff to destination can be accomplished in one experience. We fail to take into account that true faith involves some time for real joy in the journey. Sure, at times it is time-consuming, difficult, with plenty of trials-and-errors.
But we don’t arrive in five minutes! We tend to overlook the jet-lag, the time-zone realities between our first taste of God’s love, which we call justification, and that much later state of grace called “sanctification.”
For many of us, we have this sense we have already arrived at our spiritual destinations. We’re like a good baseball glove, well-worn and comfortable in all the right places. Many have become fulfilled in their faith. All that is left is the drudgery, the day-to-day niceties of Christianity.
The Apostle Paul warned the early church about such thinking. In his letter to the church at Corinth, he reminds us that we are all part of one body. “For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and we were all made to drink of one Spirit …Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:13, 27, NRSV)
There’s the rub. We treat our faith as a load we ought to lift ourselves instead of allowing others to come along side and help us. We each have different gifts to share. We each have unique strengths. This is what it means to be a part of the body of Christ. So, I ask you, dear reader, “Is your faith a load or a lift?” It is rather easy to become a stick-in-the-mud. When our understanding of faith becomes stagnant, when we go to God in predictable ways, we carry a heavy load rather than being an inspirational lift.
Sanctification is not supposed to be that way. It is supposed to be a slowly evolving state of grace, a constant maturing of our faith-life. The most wondrous aspect of it is that we become softened, more tolerant, less judgmental, less brittle, more forgiving and, yes, less cocksure that we have all the answers.
The Christian faith is not having all the answers to life’s questions. Rather, Christian faith is supposed to enable us to better live with the questions … the questions of being human in this world. We need to find within ourselves a vision, a God-inspired vision of our life and our place in it. Sometimes, all we see about ourselves and others are the inferior parts.
But God has so composed the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior part, that there may be no discord in the body of Christ, Paul writes. When the apostle writes about Christ in 1 Corinthians 12, it is not the name of an individual, Jesus, but of the community of believers derived from the individual.
Just as in the Old Testament Israel could serve as the name of an individual and of a people, so in Paul the name of Christ is used both for the individual and for the Christian community. There is a unity to the Christian community. Like a human body, there are multiple parts. So it is with the Church. Each gift we bring to the Church benefits the body.
Yet, many of us languish in our roles. We become a hindrance because we have lost our vision. One way to describe vision is “imaginative wisdom.” It is not accumulated fact, but the intelligence to see what no one else sees because we know that in God’s wisdom what we see must be there.
Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10, NRSV) This abundant living, abundant life, is a life that see the joy, that sees the lift found in Christ Jesus. If there is one central theme in this portion of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, it is this: you can make a difference. You and I, through Jesus Christ, can make a difference. Each of us is called through varying gifts, through various means, to be a part of the body of Christ.
A television station in Minnesota several years ago called together a group of community leaders to discuss the station’s news coverage. And during that meeting, one person said, “Your reports do a fine job of finding the news, of doing investigative reports on many topics. We would all say you do an excellent job. But if all you do is report what is happening around us in the community, all you’ll do is depress us. What we need, after reporting the news, is for you to tell us what to do.”
Indeed, we can make a difference in the life of others. By our putting into practice the vision, the imaginative wisdom, we can see ourselves as a positive, active, part of the body of Christ. So ponder this question one more time: “Is your faith a load or a lift?” I truly believe the answer will make a difference in your life, in the life of the community we share and in the life of the Church, the body of Christ.
July 7, 2010
By Pastor Gary Lewis
First United Methodist Church
One of the real blessings about vacation is the thrill I get from visiting other churches. I really enjoy the time I get to spend seated with my wife at a worship service. I get to be a member of the congregation instead of serving as the pastor. We were warmly greeted by people in both churches – one in Arkansas and the other in Indiana.
At the church in Arkansas, a beloved pastor was preaching his last message to the congregation. At the Indiana church, the pastor (a colleague in ministry) was about to lead her first worship service at a new appointment. Each pastor did an excellent job saying “goodbye” and “hello” in their different contexts.
I know by experience it was not an easy thing to do. Yet, you could see their faith in Christ in action. It was as if Jesus Christ gave them the lift that they needed to get through such a trying circumstance. I found it to be an inspiration to see them display such certainty.
With the deadline for this column looming ahead, I began to think about how what I witnessed is a perfect example of what all Christians should experience. Yet, for some reason, many do not.
Allow me to share an old preacher’s story to help illustrate this point. Once upon a time, a person who was a total novice at flying asked the Southwest Airlines agent at the Indianapolis International Airport, “How long does it take to get from here to Chicago?”
The agent responded, “One of our flights leaves at 7:10 a.m. and gets to Chicago at 7:15 a.m.” The silence was long and uncomfortable. Finally, the agent asked, “Would you like me to book you on one of our flights?” The measured response of the first-time flyer was, “No, I think I’ll just stay here and watch that thing take off.”
One of the misconceptions about the Christian faith is the assertion that a one-time Christian experience does it all. We get the idea that the journey from takeoff to destination can be accomplished in one experience. We fail to take into account that true faith involves some time for real joy in the journey. Sure, at times it is time-consuming, difficult, with plenty of trials-and-errors.
But we don’t arrive in five minutes! We tend to overlook the jet-lag, the time-zone realities between our first taste of God’s love, which we call justification, and that much later state of grace called “sanctification.”
For many of us, we have this sense we have already arrived at our spiritual destinations. We’re like a good baseball glove, well-worn and comfortable in all the right places. Many have become fulfilled in their faith. All that is left is the drudgery, the day-to-day niceties of Christianity.
The Apostle Paul warned the early church about such thinking. In his letter to the church at Corinth, he reminds us that we are all part of one body. “For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and we were all made to drink of one Spirit …Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:13, 27, NRSV)
There’s the rub. We treat our faith as a load we ought to lift ourselves instead of allowing others to come along side and help us. We each have different gifts to share. We each have unique strengths. This is what it means to be a part of the body of Christ. So, I ask you, dear reader, “Is your faith a load or a lift?” It is rather easy to become a stick-in-the-mud. When our understanding of faith becomes stagnant, when we go to God in predictable ways, we carry a heavy load rather than being an inspirational lift.
Sanctification is not supposed to be that way. It is supposed to be a slowly evolving state of grace, a constant maturing of our faith-life. The most wondrous aspect of it is that we become softened, more tolerant, less judgmental, less brittle, more forgiving and, yes, less cocksure that we have all the answers.
The Christian faith is not having all the answers to life’s questions. Rather, Christian faith is supposed to enable us to better live with the questions … the questions of being human in this world. We need to find within ourselves a vision, a God-inspired vision of our life and our place in it. Sometimes, all we see about ourselves and others are the inferior parts.
But God has so composed the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior part, that there may be no discord in the body of Christ, Paul writes. When the apostle writes about Christ in 1 Corinthians 12, it is not the name of an individual, Jesus, but of the community of believers derived from the individual.
Just as in the Old Testament Israel could serve as the name of an individual and of a people, so in Paul the name of Christ is used both for the individual and for the Christian community. There is a unity to the Christian community. Like a human body, there are multiple parts. So it is with the Church. Each gift we bring to the Church benefits the body.
Yet, many of us languish in our roles. We become a hindrance because we have lost our vision. One way to describe vision is “imaginative wisdom.” It is not accumulated fact, but the intelligence to see what no one else sees because we know that in God’s wisdom what we see must be there.
Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10, NRSV) This abundant living, abundant life, is a life that see the joy, that sees the lift found in Christ Jesus. If there is one central theme in this portion of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, it is this: you can make a difference. You and I, through Jesus Christ, can make a difference. Each of us is called through varying gifts, through various means, to be a part of the body of Christ.
A television station in Minnesota several years ago called together a group of community leaders to discuss the station’s news coverage. And during that meeting, one person said, “Your reports do a fine job of finding the news, of doing investigative reports on many topics. We would all say you do an excellent job. But if all you do is report what is happening around us in the community, all you’ll do is depress us. What we need, after reporting the news, is for you to tell us what to do.”
Indeed, we can make a difference in the life of others. By our putting into practice the vision, the imaginative wisdom, we can see ourselves as a positive, active, part of the body of Christ. So ponder this question one more time: “Is your faith a load or a lift?” I truly believe the answer will make a difference in your life, in the life of the community we share and in the life of the Church, the body of Christ.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Be a Fool for Christ
Journal-Review
May 27, 2010
When you think about homelessness, Crawfordsville is probably the last place that comes to mind. Few would consider that Montgomery County would be included in a conversation about homelessness. Yet, I have had the homeless come to my study door seeking assistance. Each time, I had to refer them (and in some cases transport them) to facilities in Lafayette, Greencastle or Indianapolis.
A working family, after losing their home, lived in tents under a county bridge. Others find temporary shelter on a couch of a friend or relative. Eventually, the stress of such living arrangements becomes too much to bear.
No, we don’t have the homeless living on the streets. But we do have a homeless problem. Thanks to the work of Trinity Mission, there is hope that something can be done. On Wednesday, June 2, at 10 a.m., in room “C” of the Crawfordsville District Public Library, a public meeting is scheduled to inspire, inform and invite the community to come along side Trinity in this important work. Volunteers are needed to staff the temporary homeless shelter, serve on a local advisory council and provide financial support. Such an effort needs to be saturated in prayer. Trinity hopes to get the homeless shelter operational by late summer in the former county home on Whitlock Street.
Why is this effort to help the homeless important? A section of our church’s mission statement says “we seek to relate people to Christ, connect people to the Body of Christ and reach out in love and concern for the world.” With the guidance of Trinity Mission, our church’s involvement with the shelter will help us to complete our mission. Each resident of the shelter will have the opportunity to grow in their faith and to take steps to improve their lives. By supporting the shelter, local churches will be able to reach out with the love of Christ to a hurting segment of our community.
Homelessness is often a spiritual problem in addition to being a physical one. The loss of a place to call “home” often unleashes various mental and emotional issues. Trinity Mission promises more than a hot meal and a warm bed. With our help, persons in need of temporary housing will find a place to find healing because the Lord’s presence will be experienced there.
The Bible identifies with the homeless. The Apostle Paul, one of the Bible’s most prolific writers, compared the Christian life to being homeless. In a letter to Christians in Corinth, (1 Corinthians 4:11) he writes “To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.” In quelling a controversy in the church, he makes an appeal for the church to act with humility, even when it seems foolish to the world. I ask you, dear reader, to join in this foolish cause for Christ!
Words associated with meeting the need of others appear everywhere in the Bible. When an expert in Jewish law asked Jesus “who is my neighbor,” the Lord tells the story of a man who is helped by a Samaritan. This story, known as the “Good Samaritan,” is our marching orders. “‘Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’ Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise.’”
One of the most striking references to helping our neighbors comes from the Great Commandment in Matthew 22. “‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbors as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hand on these two commandments.’”
When it comes to meeting the needs of our neighbors, the Bible convinces us that giving to the needy must continue until the needs are met – not until desires are satisfied. This is why it is my policy, when it comes to helping the needy, to never give cash. The temptation to fulfill desires is just too great.
The June 2 meeting is just a beginning. Please consider attending and getting involved. It is an honor to be a fool for Christ in this community.
May 27, 2010
When you think about homelessness, Crawfordsville is probably the last place that comes to mind. Few would consider that Montgomery County would be included in a conversation about homelessness. Yet, I have had the homeless come to my study door seeking assistance. Each time, I had to refer them (and in some cases transport them) to facilities in Lafayette, Greencastle or Indianapolis.
A working family, after losing their home, lived in tents under a county bridge. Others find temporary shelter on a couch of a friend or relative. Eventually, the stress of such living arrangements becomes too much to bear.
No, we don’t have the homeless living on the streets. But we do have a homeless problem. Thanks to the work of Trinity Mission, there is hope that something can be done. On Wednesday, June 2, at 10 a.m., in room “C” of the Crawfordsville District Public Library, a public meeting is scheduled to inspire, inform and invite the community to come along side Trinity in this important work. Volunteers are needed to staff the temporary homeless shelter, serve on a local advisory council and provide financial support. Such an effort needs to be saturated in prayer. Trinity hopes to get the homeless shelter operational by late summer in the former county home on Whitlock Street.
Why is this effort to help the homeless important? A section of our church’s mission statement says “we seek to relate people to Christ, connect people to the Body of Christ and reach out in love and concern for the world.” With the guidance of Trinity Mission, our church’s involvement with the shelter will help us to complete our mission. Each resident of the shelter will have the opportunity to grow in their faith and to take steps to improve their lives. By supporting the shelter, local churches will be able to reach out with the love of Christ to a hurting segment of our community.
Homelessness is often a spiritual problem in addition to being a physical one. The loss of a place to call “home” often unleashes various mental and emotional issues. Trinity Mission promises more than a hot meal and a warm bed. With our help, persons in need of temporary housing will find a place to find healing because the Lord’s presence will be experienced there.
The Bible identifies with the homeless. The Apostle Paul, one of the Bible’s most prolific writers, compared the Christian life to being homeless. In a letter to Christians in Corinth, (1 Corinthians 4:11) he writes “To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.” In quelling a controversy in the church, he makes an appeal for the church to act with humility, even when it seems foolish to the world. I ask you, dear reader, to join in this foolish cause for Christ!
Words associated with meeting the need of others appear everywhere in the Bible. When an expert in Jewish law asked Jesus “who is my neighbor,” the Lord tells the story of a man who is helped by a Samaritan. This story, known as the “Good Samaritan,” is our marching orders. “‘Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’ Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise.’”
One of the most striking references to helping our neighbors comes from the Great Commandment in Matthew 22. “‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbors as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hand on these two commandments.’”
When it comes to meeting the needs of our neighbors, the Bible convinces us that giving to the needy must continue until the needs are met – not until desires are satisfied. This is why it is my policy, when it comes to helping the needy, to never give cash. The temptation to fulfill desires is just too great.
The June 2 meeting is just a beginning. Please consider attending and getting involved. It is an honor to be a fool for Christ in this community.
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