Vol 3 No 14 - Membership in Lenten Context

Less than three weeks! Three weeks! Can you believe that less than three weeks from now we will be celebrating Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday! O what joy! So much to do between now and then...

I had the great occasion Monday to visit about the vows of membership and what is involved in being a member of our congregation and it has gotten me thinking since then about what it does mean to be a member of this congregation and the responsibilities that come with these vows. Then I started thinking a little more about what is coming up over the next few weeks and saw that we will have the opportunity to live out all four areas that we pledge to fulfill:

1.) PRAYERS

Lent is a wonderful time to recommit ourselves to the discipline of prayer, and not just prayers for things in our lives, but also for our community of faith. As we approach Holy Week be in prayer now for those who will be attending worship with us as well as all of those leading our worship experiences.

2.) PRESENCE

In addition to our regular Sunday morning worship, we will be involved in our annual Mission Run/Walk on the 15th, our Palm Sunday picnic & Easter Egg Hunt on the 16th, Maunday Thursday communion worship, & Good Friday worship led by our music ministry, there are great opportunities to be with your brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.

3.) GIFTS

Quite simply, the Scriptures remind us over and over again that everything thing that we have is God's, given to us to bring him glory. No matter what your gifts are, the anticipation of the Easter season is a great time to ask yourself if you are bringing the gifts God has blessed you with to the ministry of this congregation.

4.) SERVICE

I know that we will need volunteers to assist with the Mission Run and with the Palm Sunday Picnic. In addition, I have been visiting with some of you about some local outreach opportunities to be involved with later this summer and a very special one around Thanksgiving - be sure to use this time of reflection and anticipation during Lent to ask yourself if you are truly carrying out with integrity the vow you took to be in service to your community of faith.

God has truly blessed us with a wonderful congregation. Let's make sure that we are continuing (or beginning again) to remember our promises to God to be a part of the Kingdom work in this special place.

See you Sunday!
Lamar

Vol 3 No 13 - Worship Priority

One of the great honors and privileges I have as a pastor is to officiate at a Celebration of Life & Service of Death and Resurrection for the saints of the church when they pass away. This past Friday, we joined together in such a service for Mrs. Elma Voisin, one of our 88-year-old saints who has gone on to the next stage of life. What is so interesting about preparing these services and homilies is to revisit their life and their faith journey, and find out about how they saw God at work in their life. I was fortunate to get to know Mrs. Voisin well through our monthly communion visits, and even had privilege of worshiping with her during the final worship service she attended a little over a year ago. What struck me most was that when we talked about it, she could not stop crying. Just bawling. This was rare for me to see, so I asked what was happening. She told me that I just didn't understand; it was such a joy and overwhelming delight to be in worship with her church, her people, in the house of God. She went on to say that she missed it so much and that she would do anything to have the ability to attend every week, just to be with the people of God in the house of God. After she talked, it made me weepy as well.

Mrs. Voisin is not the only one of our shut-ins who has these feelings about Sunday morning worship - they would give anything to be able to be a part of the worship of the saints each week as we gather, hear and respond to the Word, give thanks and participate in communion, and are sent forth as the people of God to live out the kingdom of God.

The question you and I face as we hear these stories is, 'What is my attitude toward morning worship?' Is it something that is optional - something that is not really important and I can get along without it? Or is your attitude such that I will not allow ANYTHING to get in the way of my being in morning worship every week because it is what God's will is for my life and it is what I gave my word I would do when I joined the church?

I promise you that when we put ourselves in such a position that we drift away from worship on Sunday morning we are putting ourselves in position to drift away from what God's desire is for our lives. Trust me on this one. As as been said on more than one occasion, worship is about God, not us. Not our desires, our temperaments, our personalities - it's about God.

Since the beginning of January, various things such as secular holidays, weather, and other things have been allowed to get in the way of our worship attendance - let's make sure that we take TODAY to re-orient ourselves toward a life where our week is not complete without worshiping with our fellow Christians on Sunday mornings.

See you Sunday!
Lamar

Vol 3 No 12 - Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day. Every year, a debate rages in my mind - is this holiday more about Hallmark or the diamond cartels? No matter which way I go, I come to the same conclusion. Valentine's Day is a day that I laugh at, and a day that makes me sad. I laugh at Valentine's Day because so many use it as a day to go out of their way to tell someone special how much they love them. $300 dinners, $75 in flowers, etc. The jewelery companies tell you that if you buy this pendant/bracelet/watch/ring it will show how much you care. This stuff that makes me laugh also makes me sad. I hear stories almost every year from distraught people who didn't get anything (or didn't get what they expected) for Valentine's Day and, to make a long story short, it's not good. It makes me sad to think that it is an acceptable standard to set one day aside to tell someone in a very special way how much you love them. I am convinced that if two people are truly in love, and are showing that love to each other in the way that God intends, then Valentine's day is silly and pointless, for EVERY DAY is a day to show someone you love them.

Imagine if God operated the way that the greeting card, floral, and jewelry business wants you to operate towards those you love. Imagine if God only set one day aside each year to tell you how much he loves you. I don't know about you, but i would be very disinterested in a God who only made a big deal about how much he loves me one day a year. Fortunately for you and I, my friends, we get a valentine from God each time we draw breath. Want proof that God loves you? Who's the one that allows you to live? Want proof that God loves you? Think of the hope that you have that no matter what you go through on earth, on a given day/week/month/year, there is joy in the morning. And this is not something we are reminded of just once a year. If we are serious about our faith, we realize that it's not a matter of finding those things that prove God's love toward us. No, it's the realization that there is no possible way to get away from the reality of God's love, even if it is just by something as routine as drawing a breath.

See you Sunday!
Lamar

Vol 3 No 11 - Not Supposed to Happen

This year's Super Bowl was one of the best football games I have seen in a long time, and not just because the Patriots got beat. The spirited competition, the 12-point underdogs controlling most of the game - it was just a marvelous experience all the way around. In the post-game, a number of pundits and so-called 'experts' have droned on and on about this being one of the biggest upsets of all time. How could a team that finished six games worse in the standings and had inconsistent play from so many areas beat what was supposed to be THE BEST team of all-time? Forget that they are all professionals and that on any given Sunday one team can beat another - THIS JUST WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN.

It was amusing for me to see all the chatter about this upset, for us Christians know that today, Ash Wednesday, begins our journey towards another upset that just was not supposed to happen. As we gather TONIGHT @ 6:00 for our Ash Wednesday service, we will mark the start of Lent, the season where we prepare ourselves for the most important days on the calendar, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We are preparing ourselves for what many (but not the Christian) considered the biggest upset in history - a simple man, born of a virgin in a manger in Bethlehem, who was tried, convicted, brutalized, and executed, by the virtue of his death and resurrection, defeated the evil one.

For us, it was no surprise. For us, it was the fulfillment of a promise. For us, it was the culmination of God's creating and saving work.

Don't forget to be a part of the Ash Wednesday celebration this evening, and to take part in all our Lenten activities. We are preparing to celebrate once again what the world considers the biggest upset in history. It's going to a celebration that even the Giants, with their ticker-tape parade yesterday, could not begin to imagine. Don't miss it.

See you Tonight (&Sunday)!
Lamar

Vol 3 No 10 - A Few Things

What a relief it is to be back in town! I had a wonderful time during my two trips over the past couple of weeks, but it is time to get back in the saddle again. This Sunday I am looking forward to being with you all in worship as we continue our look at Basic Christian Living by studying our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. The response I have gotten from you all so far about this series is much appreciated, and I cannot wait to see how God is going to use our time in these passages to make a difference in our lives and the life of the church. After visiting the place where it is believed that Christ preached these words on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, I can tell you that I am even more inspired by our Lord's words.

Visiting the Holy Land was a truly inspirational experience, and to share it with our Bishop and around 160 others from our conference was a blessing. There is no possible way to share it all with you in this small space, but rest assured that in the days, weeks, and months ahead you will hear about it in the appropriate areas. I brought home over 500 pictures and short videos, so there is plenty to talk about and show you.

This past Sunday, I had the wonderful opportunity to preach at one of my home churches, the church that my parents still attend just outside of Pittsburgh. To see and spend time with people without whom I would not be here today was a pure joy. Some I had not seen in almost 15 years, and catching up was just great. Even though I was suffering some major jet lag, I will not soon forget this wonderful weekend (and I didn't even talk about how good it was to be with mom, dad & sister). I was reminded once again the importance of not forgetting where you came from nor who helped get you where you are in life. Don't think for a minute that you have gotten where you are without some help from others.

Finally, I want to mention that next week marks the beginning of Lent with our Ash Wednesday service, which will be at 6:00PM next Wednesday. Our monthly newsletter, which will be mailed tomorrow, will contain a special insert about our Lenten activities - be sure to keep track of these important dates and times.

See you Sunday!
Lamar

Vol 3 No 9 - Do You Know This Guy?

A few fascinating things in the last 24 hours I am spending in Israel: Yesterday as we were coming from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, an Israeli soldier (with Uzi in hand) boarded our bus and checked our passports. This morning, as we drove into the airport, our bus (with only 10 of us on board) was stopped at security and I was asked to get off the bus and quizzed about the group and had my passport scanned and all the other stuff... The kicker was when we were going through the first perimeter of security in the terminal (yes, I said the first) and I was asked all about the group and the various activities we had done, who we were with, had we all been together the whole time, were we going to to the same place...

It got me thinking - what if we as a church were traveling together? Could it be said that we have been together? Could it be said we are going to the same place together? Could it be said that we know one another?

What's the answer and why?


Grace and Peace,
Lamar

Vol 3 No 8 - Holy Ground

Greetings from Tiberias, Israel, on the Sea of Galilee! As many of you are aware, I am here on a tour with a number of people from our conference, visiting the sites that are mentioned in the Bible, the places where it is reported that Christ our Lord lived and ministered.

Attached to this e-mail is a photo (reduced for e-mailability) of a sign that I saw at the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter. This is the site where it is said that Christ made his post-resurrection appearance to the disciples and established Peter's authority over the church. I laughed when I saw it and knew immediately that of the over 80 pictures I took today that it would be the one I put in this message. Why? Look at it.

I found it amusing because we were at the church described above and yet someone felt the need to put this sign there. As if we needed a reminder of it's message. But then again, I think that far too often we forget that this message applies to each of us wherever we find ourselves today, for we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. I wonder how our lives would look if we considered the message of this sign to apply where we are now. How would it change our actions and our attitudes if we took seriously this concept wherever we find ourselves? Would it make a difference in how you think of and react to others?

There is so much more that I could write and so many more pictures that I could share with you, but I wanted to take a moment and let you know that I was thinking of you today as we visited the Mount of the Beatitudes, the Church of the Feeding of the 5000, the aforementioned Church of the Primacy of St. Peter, Capernaum, and the Jordan River. We leave here tomorrow morning to travel to Jerusalem - I am going to miss being able to look outside my hotel room and see the Sea of Galilee. It is a truly amazing sight.

Finally, be sure to be in worship this Sunday as my dear friend John Evans is going to be with you all. John, as you are aware from his November visit, is a fine speaker and a true blessing from God.

Grace and Peace,
Lamar