Vol 6 No 5 - More than a Day

I hope and pray you were able to be blessed by worship on Christmas Eve and on this past Sunday, whether you were in town or if you were off visiting friends and family somewhere.  Going through Advent can be physically and emotionally draining work due to the logistics of getting everything done; somehow, the music and liturgy of Christmas Eve and the oft-overlooked First Sunday of Christmas serve as a joyful reminder of the saving work that God initiated on Christmas morning so long ago.

Speaking of being reminded of the saving work that is embodied in the new-born King, I am issuing you a pastoral challenge this day.  One of the campaigns launched every year during Advent in some circles is a move to "Keep CHRIST in CHRISTmas!"  I couldn't agree more.  As the people of God, however, I want to push you to go one further, and be sure to order your lives in such a way as to keep Christ not only in CHRISTmas, but also the other 364/5 days a year.

In this, the last Mid-Week Message of 2010, let this be a challenge for you, and for all of us, to spend 2011 keeping Christ in EVERY day of the year, not just the one that has his name in the title.  Then, we might catch another glimpse of what it means to truly be the church.

See You Soon!

Lamar

Vol 6 No 4 - It Never Gets Old

Earlier this month, a dear friend of mine made the observation, "I can't imagine having to be a preacher this time of year.  C'mon, man, you and I both know you're going to read the same stories on the same Sundays and wind up at the same place each year.  Tell me, how do you not rip your hair out trying to make this interesting and relevant each year?  How do you not see December coming and go, 'O, geez, NOT AGAIN!'?"

I laughed hard at this question because the guy is a very active layperson, committed to his God and his local congregation, and was, in some respect, just calling to mess with me.  He has got me thinking, though, a lot harder about this over the past couple of weeks, and I think I've gotten the response.

Let me put the question to you - how do you get excited again and again each year about hearing the same stories over and over?

My answer is simply this:  This season is about the continual reminder that, through Christ, God fulfilled his promise.  God fulfilled his promise to send the people a savior.  God fulfilled his promise to deliver one who would be Emmanuel, God with us.  The continual reminder part is important, because unless we keep things at the front of our thinking, we can easily forget.

May we never forget God's grace, peace, and love given to us through the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace.  May we never tire of hearing the same ol' story, for it is the one story we cannot ever afford to forget.

So, come and worship, come and worship, come and worship Christ the new-born king.  

Erin and I look forward to being with you on Friday night @ 6:00 or 11:00 for our Christmas Eve Candlelight Services, and I look forward to celebrating the Christmas season with you during worship on Sunday morning at 10:00.

See You Soon!

Lamar

Vol 6 No 3 - Do We HAVE to Pray?

Most of you know that I'm a "get to the point" kind of guy, so I'm not going to beat around the bush here - I need your help with one of the most important tasks we have as a church.

Quite frankly, I need you to pray.

Looking over the past year in the life of our congregation, indeed over the past four and a half years we have shared the journey of life together, we have seen some truly great and glorious things.  God has done some truly awe-inspiring stuff around here, and it has been an honor to participate in these things.

As we go forward in our shared journey together, it is time for us to rededicate ourselves to prayer.

Prayer specifically for me as your pastor, that I might be the kind of teacher, preacher, counselor, administrator, and all the other things that are expected and required in the sacred office to which I have been entrusted.

Prayer specifically for the leadership of this congregation, that the men and women whom you have entrusted as your leaders will make none but wise and faithful decisions.

Prayer specifically for the worshiping life of our congregation, that our attitudes towards our central time together are attitudes of hopeful expectation for what God has in store for us on any given Sunday, trusting that no matter what is said or sung, prayed or read, God is speaking and we listen with ears tuned by the Holy Spirit.

It is my firm belief that God has great things in store for our life together, and I am looking forward to the shared journey with you as we discover what all God is going to do.

To do our part in this journey, let us pray.  Let us always remember that Christ was very specific that our prayer should be for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Let us trust that God's will is much bigger than our imaginations, and let us be faithful to following him wherever we may be led, realizing that where we may be led may be a totally different place than where we want or where we think we should.

Then we have captured the essence of what it means to be the community of faith.

See You Soon!

Lamar

Vol 6 No 2 - It Matters

"We are Christian because somehow in Christ - through the sacraments, through prayer, through our suffering, through the words of our neighbors, or through the encounter with strangers - we have, in Christ's name, been touched and even transformed by God." - Luke Timothy Johnson in The Creed: What Christians Believe and Why it Matters

The words from the above quotation have been percolating in my mind over the past couple of weeks as I prepare to work with members of our staff-parish relations committee to evaluate how we as a church have lived out our calling over the past year and as we seek to discern where it is God is leading us in the next year of our lives.

What I keep coming back to over and over as I prepare to enter into these conversations is the word transformation.  That is to say, can it be said that we, the people of this congregation, truly give testimony that God, through Christ, has transformed our lives?  Does being a part of Christ's church really mean anything to us, or it just, to use a phrase I heard recently, a "social presence?"  Do we live lives that exhibit being touched by God, or do we practice what is referred to as "functional atheism?"

Rather than go into a lengthy article about how this quote is influencing my thinking, allow me to simply say that our expectation should be that Dr. Johnson's words ring true in us, as individuals and as a community.  We must be about being touched and transformed by God.

The scary thing is, when we open ourselves up to this, we give up control of the process and outcome.  And that, simply, is a a question of faith.  Is our faith strong enough to trust God to take us where we need to be, even if that is not what we think we want or maybe doesn't look like we think it should?

See You Soon!

Lamar

Vol 6 No 1 - Getting Ready for Christmas?

"So, getting ready for Christmas?"  For just a few weeks each year, it replaces "How 'bout this weather?" as one of our society's favorite "How do I make interesting small talk?" lines.

I submit to you that far too often, we don't think enough about the deeply theological implications of this question.  Instead, when we ask/are asked this question, it is usually in the context of gift-buying, travel plans, dinner menus, or navigating the quite delicate matters of family/relationship politics.  Realistically speaking, for us to look at this question, either from an asking or answering mode, in these ways is to, intentionally or not, minimize completely what we as the people of the Kingdom of God, should be doing to get ready for Christmas.

When we are asked this question, we who are the church, we have a very solid answer with deep roots that go back centuries; our answer to the question is, "Of course.  I'm joining with the church past, present, and future in observing Advent."

While it may seem to be the simple and obvious answer, take a minute to look at your schedule for today and the rest of the month.  How much of this day/month will be spent engaged in shopping, cooking, family politicking, etc.?  How much of these activities are going to prepare you for deep spiritual and theological reflection on the implications of Christ's arrival in the world and help you anticipate his second coming?

"So, getting ready for Christmas?"  May we lead lives in such a way that the answer is, "Yes."  Make time to attend the Advent Luncheons/Bible Studies on Wednesdays from 12:10-12:50 (starting today).  Make time to be in worship every Sunday morning, gathering as one with the people of God to worship the Divine.  Make time to attend the Night in Bethlehem hands-on family experience this Sunday evening starting at 5:30PM.  Make time to attend the other events on our Advent calendar.

After all, Advent is about far more than different decorations in the sanctuary and different colors on the altar.  Christmas is far too important for us to not prepare for it properly by immersing ourselves in the Advent activities of the church.

See You Soon!

Lamar