A Great Next Step

Sunday I announced I was going to offer a four week survey course on the Bible. It is a class intentionally designed for adults who know nothing about the Bible. I said Sunday no one is allowed in the class if they have any basic knowledge of scripture. That is because there really are many who do not know the Bible. There are many reasons why. But what those people fear the most is that others will make them feel foolish in class.
I want a class where people can feel safe to ask any question knowing everyone else in the class doesn’t know the answer either. I want a class where people can relax and just begin to explore the basics of the Bible. The truth is, there are more in the church who do not know the Bible than those who do. It is time to create space where all can come and begin a wonderful journey in the Bible.
The class is easy to take, assumes you know nothing without being insulting or acting as if you are to blame for what you do not know. I am excited to tell you 10 people signed up for the class since Sunday. I am so proud of them for taking such an important step!
If you want to join us, we begin on Thursday, October 29th at seven p.m. We will meet for four weeks ending the week before Thanksgiving. Let me know and I will be thrilled to have you with us.

Get Ready to Worship

So how is your worship preparation going for Sunday? Our conversation on passionate worship raised the correlation between our personal spiritual preparation and experience of meaningful worship. Prayer life, scripture study, Christian fellowship are ways we enter into the presence of the Lord before worship. If those are part of what we carry into worship, then doesn’t it make sense we will be more sensitive and ready to the movement of the Spirit during worship?
As you get ready for worship this Sunday, let me share something with you. I asked three members of the church to share their stories with the congregation. Tonight, we met to talk about what they felt God was laying on their hearts to share. I can honestly tell you I was blessed and humbled as I listened to them. It is going to be an amazing Sunday you will not want to miss.
We are also sharing the sacrament of Holy Communion Sunday. This is World Wide Communion Sunday, a day when the global church comes together at the table of the Lord. I hope you are prayerfully considering what to bring with you to the table and what to leave there with the Lord. Think about the image of the global church making space for you at the table where the grace of Christ is given through his body and blood. Prepare to worship. Come to be blessed and to receive God’s grace.
That is a recipe for passionate worship. Don’t miss out.

Surprised in Worship

Did you hear what happened at the 611 service on Sunday? It was the first time the newly formed youth band of our church led worship. They were fantastic!!! Not only did they sound great, their joy and passion for playing came through and touched us who were worshipping.
Also, Greg Martin pulled a fast one on me. The theme for this opening series is mentoring. Earlier this summer Greg asked if I would be willing to be interviewed in worship on this past Sunday and talk about those who mentored me in my young faith. The first was my home town pastor Dalton Bishop. He took time to listen to me, befriend me and help me discover the call of Christ in my life. It was under his guidance I was able also to hear the call of God for me to enter full time ministry.
The second was Jerry Stewardson. Jerry was Professor of Religion at Adrian College. He was the one who invited me to visit a Wesley Fellowship meeting on campus. He was the advisor and when you are a freshman it makes a difference when someone notices you and invites you anywhere. Jerry quickly became my favorite professor, though he was hard as nails on all of us. He invited me into his home and his family became my second family. Jerry encouraged me, supported me, and pushed me. He deepened my faith and prepared me for the next step on my path, seminary.
I spent a few minutes telling those at 611 about Jerry last Sunday. At the end, Greg was supposed to wrap up the message. Instead, he said: “We have heard from Rick about the influence Jerry Stewardson had on his life. Now let’s hear the other side of the story.” To my great and total surprise, Jerry came in from the back of the room. He came up front, embraced me and then Greg talked with him about being a mentor to me. I was totally blown away!
Sometimes worship is anticipated, expected and normal. Those moments may seem boring to some and offer comfort and security to others. There are other moments though, when a moment in worship takes you by surprise. Moments when you are blown away in a way you do not expect. It may be a song or hymn moving you to tears. It may be a thought in a sermon making you think about something in a new way. It may be a prayer that touches and changes you heart. Those moments of surprise are precious. When was the last time you were surprised by God in worship?

Finding Hospitality

Where do you go to find hospitality?  A great deal of our conversation about Biblical Hospitality has focused on the hospitality we can share with others.  This is a natural focus.

The Biblical word though is as equally dedicated to an understanding of the hospitality we are given.  God created the world and welcomed us into it.  God gave us dominion over it.  What could be a greater act of hospitality than giving a guest the mortgage to the house?  God invited us into a special holy relationship.  Eventually, God came to us in human form and in the ultimate act of sacrificial love, died so we might have life and life eternal.  God from the beginning has been working to prepare a place for us.  How radical is that?!

To be able to give hospitality you first have to receive it. To understand how to give it you have to know what it feels like to have it offered to you.  That is true both from God and other believers.  In a world, where we often have to fight to create our space, we need to also find holy spaces where we know we will be welcomed, accepted and loved.  That is one of the reasons we need the church.  It is why we need Christian friends who love us because Christ has loved us first.

As we focus on how to extend radical hospitality, give thanks to God for the places and people how give it to us.  Take time to find peace and rest in those special places.  Those are holy moments to treasure and nurture our soul. 

Not Us or Them

Why do we get the impression some of the Pharisees and Scribes were angry at Jesus?  They are the symbolic leaders of the Jewish community in Palestine during the time of Christ.  Why would they want to reject one so holy, so connected to God?  There are several reasons.  But perhaps the most visceral one is Jesus’ openness to others.  He would praise a single act of faithfulness on the part of a sinner and demand repentance of them.  He celebrated the giving of a small amount by a poor woman rather than praise the wealth they gave to the offering.  Jesus even told them the first shall be last and the last first, which meant they would be bringing up the rear.  Such behavior angered those who assumed their superiority of holiness.

Jesus demonstrated what the Kingdom of God is about.  Acts of integrity, compassion and humility are honored more that long time attendance.  Newcomers are not only welcomed with open arms, but included and nurtured.  Jesus did not turn his back on anyone seeking to be faithful  He did not care more about the newcomers and less about those who had been part of the faith community.  He simply put such distinctions aside.  Jesus removed a caste system of who was important and replaced it with a singular designation.  Those who confessed him as Lord and sought to serve God were counted all the same. 

Radical hospitality demands all are loved and treated equally.  All who confess Christ are counted the same as loved children and disciples.  Those who have not yet accepted Christ are loved unconditionally with the hope and trust grace will be sufficient to win them over.  The only ones who become objects of judgment are those who stand on seniority and assume superiority over others.  Of course, such behavior does not offer hospitality because it reflects closed hearts.

The church is called to love each other with the transformational power of Christ’s love.  That same acceptance and love is then offered to others without filter or distinction.  Thanks be to God we can offer such a gift to each other and all we encounter.

 

Hospitality as a Power

Hospitality may sound to some as a passive act of polite manners.  It is more than that.  When hospitality is offered, others are honored, empowered and included.  Hospitality demands respect be given unconditionally to those who receive it.  Hospitality creates a holy space between the giver and receiver.  Hospitality is radical.

 It is also becoming causality of our culture.

The language in our world today is divisive and alienating.  Differing viewpoints are treated with scorn.  Rudeness and hostility is becoming a fact of public and private speech.  Several public events come to mind. 

·        The disrespect of a Representative Joe Wilson towards the office of the President of the United States when he shouted out, “You lie!” from the floor of the U.S. Senate is inexcusable regardless of political preferences. 

·        When Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swifts acceptance speech at the MTV awards by taking the microphone out of her hands and protesting that Beyonce Knowles should have won instead, he was booed.  But the damage and disrespect was already done. 

·        When a cross was burned on the lawn of a family in our area and a mural in town vandalized with obscene painting, the lack of respect was brought home.

These acts perhaps are not the norm.  But they are symptomatic of a greater social illness.  The ability to discern differences and offer respect at the same time is an act of radical hospitality in defiance of the social malaise.

The world often sees religion as a great divider and source of hostility and prejudice in the world.  Those in the “faith” are deemed as worthy and those outside judged and damned.  The only way those outside can be redeemed is to conform to the behavior and opinions of those who are already in.

But that is not the way of Jesus Christ.  He came to redeem and save all.  This includes those who are in and out, up and down, near and far, the familiar and stranger.  When we as a church or individual disciples offer hospitality, we do so in the knowledge we all stand equal in the presence of Christ.  The most radical act of Christ was his unconditional acceptance of all.  It is what gave hope and blessing to sinners of all kinds.  It is what gives hope to each one of us.  It is also what got him killed.

When we talk about radical hospitality in the church, we are talking about more than politeness.  We are demonstrating personal humility, mutual respect and surrender to Christ.  When we see the world not as them and us, but as children of the living Lord called to come together for worship, mission, and service, we will be able to practice radical hospitality.  

 

Welcome Back!

This Sunday is the beginning of the fall schedule.  It means worship times change to 9 and 11:15 a.m. and 6:11p.m. on Sundays.  There are programs picking up from last spring and many new ones launching I am excited about.  But mostly, it is the family of believers coming back together to worship, learn, serve and witness the Good News of Jesus Christ.  For me, the fall is a homecoming where loved ones reconnect and the church family is reunited in love and grace. 

This fall we come together around the theme of the 5 Practices of Fruitful Congregations.  All the information you need to join in the study and sharing on these 5 Practices is found elsewhere on the church web site.  I encourage you to get into a small study group or start one.  Read the book and let your voice be heard in this conversation.  The 5 Practices will cause us to reflect and (I hope and pray) embrace more deeply the Core Values of our congregation.  I am looking for this time together to be a launching pad for the direction of our ministry in the next several months and for years to come. 

This Sunday Pastor Reed and I will share in a dialogue sermon on the Practice of Radical Hospitality.  The next few days I will be writing about this topic and asking you to begin to consider what Jesus taught us about hospitality. 

I look forward to seeing you in church on Sunday.  The family is gathering and I can’t wait. 

 

A Holy Night

I am so proud of this congregation.  Many of you turned out for the prayer service at St. Daniels Catholic church Tuesday night.  It was an amazing witness of presence and prayer to reclaim the power of the cross as a symbol of reconciliation and peace.  The coming together of the church last night was a reminder of the power of the church to mobilize and allow God to create blessing out of human brokenness.  To God be the Glory!