What a blessing it was to see a full worship team up front on Sunday. I don’t know if you felt the same way or not, but when I walked into the auditorium and heard the team warming up my spirit was lifted and I realized something new was happening in our worship. It made me want to sing. Having a full band with additional singers made a huge difference. I heard comments from enough of you to know that I’m not the only one who noticed and appreciated the difference.
Realizing that too often we don’t say anything unless there is a problem I commend Dwight and the worship team, including those who operated the sound, for a job well done. Thank you. I hope you were blessed as much as we were in the congregation. Not that the end goal is for us to be blessed. The real purpose for our worship is to bless God. But when we truly bless God we can count on it that we will be blessed as well.
Sunday I suggested that it is repentant worship that attracts the presence of God. His glory is revealed through the cracks of our brokenness, not in our pride and arrogance. David was willing to humble himself in front of the people as he worshipped God before the Ark of the Covenant with all his might. His wife didn’t think much of it. She thought he was making a fool of himself and the Bible says she despised him in her heart.
But rather than letting her judgmental attitude discourage him, David told her that he was willing to be even more foolish in praising God. David wasn’t concerned about what people thought. His focus was on praising and celebrating God. The more we get our focus off ourselves and other people and on God, the easier it is to worship in spirit and in truth.
In worship that attracts the presence of God there is no room for competition, pride, disrespect, judgment, discord, disunity, selfishness, arrogance, dishonor, haughtiness, rebellion and the like. That is the kind of stuff that got Lucifer and his followers thrown out of heaven. We must stay as far away as possible from identifying with him. Instead we must build a Kingdom culture and atmosphere of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control that will allow us to build a mercy seat for God’s presence.
This coming Sunday I want to continue our focus on worship and more specifically on why we structure our worship celebration the way we do. There may be those who wonder why we even have a structure. Wouldn’t it be better to not have any structure and just be free to let the Spirit lead? Last Sunday I compared the tabernacle of Moses (representing structure) and the tabernacle of David (representing Spirit life). What you may not know is that these two tabernacles while separate did not stay separated. You may be surprised to learn what happened when they were brought together and united.
While we believe our worship pattern is biblical, we don’t hold it up as the only right way. Churches structure their worship services in many different ways. What I will be sharing Sunday and what the worship team will be modeling is in no way intended to cast a negative reflection on how other churches may or may not do it. The purpose is to clarify the vision we believe God has given us and to explain the reason why.
So I encourage you to come early this Sunday, especially if you want to hear the whole message. For the purpose of illustration, the format will be a little different. Instead of preaching one long message with three main points I plan to preach three mini messages each with one main point. Instead of beginning the service with singing we will begin with the sermon.
The worship team will sing and play from 9:15-9:30am. At 9:30am the first mini sermon will be shared followed by a time of celebration and praise. After the celebration, the second mini sermon will be shared followed by a time of adoration and worship. And after the adoration, the third mini sermon will be shared followed by a time of exultation and response. I wanted to alert you to this before Sunday. If you usually come ten minutes after we start, this Sunday, instead of missing the celebration you will miss the first part of the sermon. I assure you, I will not be offended. Just come on in whenever you get here. You are still welcome.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
January 19th, 2010
Last evening the Ministry Council met. The Ministry council is made up of cell group and ministry department leaders. In our leadership function, rather than being structured as a hierarchy we are structured in what we refer to as circles of influence. The first circle includes the pastors, the second the pastors and lay elders (elder team), the third the pastors, lay elders and cell group and ministry department leaders (ministry council) and the fourth circle the whole congregation.
When it comes to decision making depending on the nature of the decision it is tested within the various circles of influence for counsel and affirmation. After adequate testing, the final decision may be made by the pastors, the elder team, the ministry counsel or the congregation depending on the kind of issue being considered.
Presently we are in the process of selecting a new lead pastor. This is a matter that needs to be broadly tested and the whole congregation needs to be involved in making the final decision. It is not a decision that can simply be made by the pastors, elder team or the ministry council alone. While the elder team representing the spiritual leadership for the congregation carries the primary responsibility in the process we don’t act alone. The Bible says in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
During this present interim period between pastors we formed a transition team by adding the spouses to the elder team to provide broader representation. This has worked well and the team has functioned well together. Last evening I shared an update of where we are in the process. In the last update I mentioned that we would begin scheduling interviews with prospective pastors after the first of the year.
Some who were being considered withdrew their names before we got to the interview stage so we haven’t had as many to interview as we thought we would. I announced last evening to the ministry council that both Pastor Jim and Pastor Rick have withdrawn their names from consideration and at present we are considering someone from outside the congregation. We don’t yet have a recommendation to make but we are making progress. I share this not only for your information but to ask you to pray that we will be able to discern the mind of the Lord. Even though it may not be entirely clear at this point we believe God has things under control. We just need the wisdom and the ability to discern His will in the matter. Last night I asked the ministry council to pray and now I’m asking the whole congregation to pray.
Changing the subject, last Sunday we considered the two-winged church, large group celebration and small group community. I tried to emphasize that both are important to experiencing what the first believers did. True community that includes the “koinonia” kind of fellowship that the first believers devoted themselves to requires a small group. Actually, the one another ministry so prevalent in the New Testament only makes sense in the context of the small group.
However, as important as the small group is the large group gathering is also important. It is not one or the other but both/and. The next two Sunday’s, I want to focus the messages on the worship celebration. While meaningful worship can happen in a small group it can’t compare to what happens when a large group of people join together in a corporate worship celebration.
For the next two Sunday’s I have asked all those who are part of the worship ministry to be part of the team. So instead of four or five there may be ten or fifteen people on the team this coming Sunday. I don’t usually tell people ahead of time what I plan to preach but this Sunday I plan to preach on the subject, “Attracting the Presence of God.” Hopefully it will help us to move our worship celebration to a new level and open things up for more people to get involved. We can use more instruments and more vocalists. Are you available? Pray about it
When it comes to decision making depending on the nature of the decision it is tested within the various circles of influence for counsel and affirmation. After adequate testing, the final decision may be made by the pastors, the elder team, the ministry counsel or the congregation depending on the kind of issue being considered.
Presently we are in the process of selecting a new lead pastor. This is a matter that needs to be broadly tested and the whole congregation needs to be involved in making the final decision. It is not a decision that can simply be made by the pastors, elder team or the ministry council alone. While the elder team representing the spiritual leadership for the congregation carries the primary responsibility in the process we don’t act alone. The Bible says in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
During this present interim period between pastors we formed a transition team by adding the spouses to the elder team to provide broader representation. This has worked well and the team has functioned well together. Last evening I shared an update of where we are in the process. In the last update I mentioned that we would begin scheduling interviews with prospective pastors after the first of the year.
Some who were being considered withdrew their names before we got to the interview stage so we haven’t had as many to interview as we thought we would. I announced last evening to the ministry council that both Pastor Jim and Pastor Rick have withdrawn their names from consideration and at present we are considering someone from outside the congregation. We don’t yet have a recommendation to make but we are making progress. I share this not only for your information but to ask you to pray that we will be able to discern the mind of the Lord. Even though it may not be entirely clear at this point we believe God has things under control. We just need the wisdom and the ability to discern His will in the matter. Last night I asked the ministry council to pray and now I’m asking the whole congregation to pray.
Changing the subject, last Sunday we considered the two-winged church, large group celebration and small group community. I tried to emphasize that both are important to experiencing what the first believers did. True community that includes the “koinonia” kind of fellowship that the first believers devoted themselves to requires a small group. Actually, the one another ministry so prevalent in the New Testament only makes sense in the context of the small group.
However, as important as the small group is the large group gathering is also important. It is not one or the other but both/and. The next two Sunday’s, I want to focus the messages on the worship celebration. While meaningful worship can happen in a small group it can’t compare to what happens when a large group of people join together in a corporate worship celebration.
For the next two Sunday’s I have asked all those who are part of the worship ministry to be part of the team. So instead of four or five there may be ten or fifteen people on the team this coming Sunday. I don’t usually tell people ahead of time what I plan to preach but this Sunday I plan to preach on the subject, “Attracting the Presence of God.” Hopefully it will help us to move our worship celebration to a new level and open things up for more people to get involved. We can use more instruments and more vocalists. Are you available? Pray about it
Thursday, January 14, 2010
January 12th, 2010
It looks like my expectations are being exceeded again. Last fall when we decided to have a Winter Bible School, I had a strong sense that it was something God was laying on our hearts to do. But it was a step of faith not knowing what the response would actually be. I think we had kind of assumed that we may not be able to run all the classes we were offering. Nine courses seemed like a lot. But again my faith turned out to be a little weak.
As of yesterday we have a total of 153 people signed up to attend Winter Bible School. Not only are all the classes running but most of them have more people in them than what we had anticipated. We could have probably offered more class options. Anyway, we are thankful for what God seems to be doing and grateful for the response of the congregation.
Last week I sent the information about our Winter Bible School to the Daily News Record to include in the church announcements. The church news editor called me to talk more about it. He was intrigued with the idea of having a Winter Bible School. He had heard of Summer Bible Schools but a Winter Bible School was a new concept for him and he wanted to write a feature article about it.
You may have read the article he wrote for the church page in Saturday’s paper. He did a good job with it. We appreciated the extra publicity it provided. Tonight, Tuesday, January 12th is opening night. Esther Showalter is busy today in the kitchen getting supper ready. Feeding over 100 people may be more than she bargained for but it doesn’t seem to faze her. I heard she was going to make bread. I just went back to check and sure enough it’s true. The bread is rising.
I believe the Winter Bible School will help move our congregation toward a deeper experience of the kind of fellowship the Bible says the first believers devoted themselves to. The Greek word translated fellowship is “koinonia” which comes from the root word “koinos” which is a prefix that when attached to other words, conveys the concept of holding something in common.
For instance when the prefix “koinos” is added to the Greek word translated, “living” we end up with the idea of living in community together. And that gets at the real meaning of the “koinonia” kind of fellowship. “Koinonia” is a word that was used to describe a close relationship between people in a partnership or marriage. It is not possible to experience “koinonia” by yourself. It takes being in relationship with others. What does it look like?
The best biblical picture we have is found in the “one another” passages we read in the New Testament where it says we are to be devoted to one another (Romans 12:10), honor one another (Romans 12:10), live in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16), accept one another (Romans 15:7), serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13), be kind and compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32), admonish one another (Colossians 3:16), encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11), spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24)and love one another (1 Peter 1:22).
This is what the first believers devoted themselves to and is what I believe God continues to expect of believers today. We often fall short but that doesn’t change the goal. In line with our theme for the year this is only another area in which we need to “Ascend in 2010,” where we need to mount up with wings like the eagle. We dare not become satisfied with our cultural definition of fellowship. In Christ we can do better.
God created us to live in community with Him and with one another. Sin destroyed that original community that existed in the Garden of Eden but Jesus came and died on the cross in order to restore it. We too must go to the cross allowing God to break us of our selfish ambition and pride in order to experience “koinonia” and enter into biblical community with one another. Apart from brokenness there can be no “koinonia” kind of fellowship or real community.
Blessings to the community,
Pastor Gerald Martin
As of yesterday we have a total of 153 people signed up to attend Winter Bible School. Not only are all the classes running but most of them have more people in them than what we had anticipated. We could have probably offered more class options. Anyway, we are thankful for what God seems to be doing and grateful for the response of the congregation.
Last week I sent the information about our Winter Bible School to the Daily News Record to include in the church announcements. The church news editor called me to talk more about it. He was intrigued with the idea of having a Winter Bible School. He had heard of Summer Bible Schools but a Winter Bible School was a new concept for him and he wanted to write a feature article about it.
You may have read the article he wrote for the church page in Saturday’s paper. He did a good job with it. We appreciated the extra publicity it provided. Tonight, Tuesday, January 12th is opening night. Esther Showalter is busy today in the kitchen getting supper ready. Feeding over 100 people may be more than she bargained for but it doesn’t seem to faze her. I heard she was going to make bread. I just went back to check and sure enough it’s true. The bread is rising.
I believe the Winter Bible School will help move our congregation toward a deeper experience of the kind of fellowship the Bible says the first believers devoted themselves to. The Greek word translated fellowship is “koinonia” which comes from the root word “koinos” which is a prefix that when attached to other words, conveys the concept of holding something in common.
For instance when the prefix “koinos” is added to the Greek word translated, “living” we end up with the idea of living in community together. And that gets at the real meaning of the “koinonia” kind of fellowship. “Koinonia” is a word that was used to describe a close relationship between people in a partnership or marriage. It is not possible to experience “koinonia” by yourself. It takes being in relationship with others. What does it look like?
The best biblical picture we have is found in the “one another” passages we read in the New Testament where it says we are to be devoted to one another (Romans 12:10), honor one another (Romans 12:10), live in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16), accept one another (Romans 15:7), serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13), be kind and compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32), admonish one another (Colossians 3:16), encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11), spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24)and love one another (1 Peter 1:22).
This is what the first believers devoted themselves to and is what I believe God continues to expect of believers today. We often fall short but that doesn’t change the goal. In line with our theme for the year this is only another area in which we need to “Ascend in 2010,” where we need to mount up with wings like the eagle. We dare not become satisfied with our cultural definition of fellowship. In Christ we can do better.
God created us to live in community with Him and with one another. Sin destroyed that original community that existed in the Garden of Eden but Jesus came and died on the cross in order to restore it. We too must go to the cross allowing God to break us of our selfish ambition and pride in order to experience “koinonia” and enter into biblical community with one another. Apart from brokenness there can be no “koinonia” kind of fellowship or real community.
Blessings to the community,
Pastor Gerald Martin
January 5, 2010
On Sunday morning I introduced our theme verse for the year, Is. 40:31, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not by weary, they shall walk and not faint.” The word translated wait is more accurately translated hope or trust. The meaning is not a passive waiting around but an active expectation as one steps out in faith. It’s interesting that God uses the eagle to illustrate this.
The eagle does most of its flying by catching the wind and soaring with outstretched wings rather than flapping its wings like most other birds. In this way they are able to rise above the storm clouds to great heights. We all go through times of storm. For us as a church 2009 was a stormy for us as a number of people left our church and started a new church nearby. While we chose to bless them and pray for their success we still felt the pain of loss and separation that resulted.
For you individually or as a family 2009 may have been a stormy time due to health issues, financial setbacks, relational conflicts, undesirable circumstances or hurtful situations. Whether as a church or as families and individuals the tendency is to get bogged down with the burden of it all. But victory in Christ means to transcend our circumstances rather than to succumb to them. Instead of living under the circumstances we can live above them.
I believe that both as a church and as families and individuals we can trust the Lord and as we step out in faith our strength is be renewed and we mount up with wings like eagles. I believe that is the word to us for 2010. It can actually be boiled down to one word, ascend. Ascend in 2010. Say it out loud. How does that sound? Whatever storm or difficulty you might be facing, don’t allow it to keep you bogged down but trust the Lord and ascend above it. The circumstance or situation may or may not change but the way you respond to it can. Let’s purpose to ascend in 2010. We will be amazed at the difference it makes
Already in 2010 I have been amazed. Our Christmas dinner and program last Sunday exceeded our expectations. After postponing the event two weeks ago due to the snow storm we weren’t sure how the response would be. Even though it was still within the 12 days of Christmas, it seemed a little anti-climatic to celebrate Christmas after the beginning of the New Year. But it actually may have turned out better than had we done it as first scheduled.
I guess my faith was weak. I found myself looking at all the tables that had been set up thinking that half of the 152 places may be empty. The reality was that by the time everyone arrived more places were needed in order to accommodate everyone. We figured that right at 160 people attended the event. On a Sunday not long ago the attendance was less than that at our regular Sunday morning celebration although attendance the last two Sunday’s has been 190.
I want to thank everyone who helped to make the evening special. Thanks to Esther Showalter who was the inspiration behind the idea to have a church family Christmas dinner and program. Thanks to those who did the set up and tear down of tables and chairs. Thanks to the Dale Mast family for providing violin dinner music. Thanks to Bonnie Showalter for coordinating the children’s singing and playing instrumental selections. Thanks to all those who volunteered to share their talent in the informal, unscripted, family style program. And thanks to all of you who attended, brought food and shared your love and support for our church family.
So, what is next? That’s right, Winter Bible School. On Tuesday nights for the next twelve weeks we will serve a meal at 6:00pm for the whole church family followed by a variety of class options you can sign up for. Wives, if you want to motivate your family to attend, you might consider doing what I heard one wife did. She told her husband if he wanted to eat on Tuesday nights he had to attend Winter Bible School because she wasn’t cooking on Tuesday nights for the next twelve weeks. What a woman. May her number increase!
Blessings,
Pastor Gerald Martin
The eagle does most of its flying by catching the wind and soaring with outstretched wings rather than flapping its wings like most other birds. In this way they are able to rise above the storm clouds to great heights. We all go through times of storm. For us as a church 2009 was a stormy for us as a number of people left our church and started a new church nearby. While we chose to bless them and pray for their success we still felt the pain of loss and separation that resulted.
For you individually or as a family 2009 may have been a stormy time due to health issues, financial setbacks, relational conflicts, undesirable circumstances or hurtful situations. Whether as a church or as families and individuals the tendency is to get bogged down with the burden of it all. But victory in Christ means to transcend our circumstances rather than to succumb to them. Instead of living under the circumstances we can live above them.
I believe that both as a church and as families and individuals we can trust the Lord and as we step out in faith our strength is be renewed and we mount up with wings like eagles. I believe that is the word to us for 2010. It can actually be boiled down to one word, ascend. Ascend in 2010. Say it out loud. How does that sound? Whatever storm or difficulty you might be facing, don’t allow it to keep you bogged down but trust the Lord and ascend above it. The circumstance or situation may or may not change but the way you respond to it can. Let’s purpose to ascend in 2010. We will be amazed at the difference it makes
Already in 2010 I have been amazed. Our Christmas dinner and program last Sunday exceeded our expectations. After postponing the event two weeks ago due to the snow storm we weren’t sure how the response would be. Even though it was still within the 12 days of Christmas, it seemed a little anti-climatic to celebrate Christmas after the beginning of the New Year. But it actually may have turned out better than had we done it as first scheduled.
I guess my faith was weak. I found myself looking at all the tables that had been set up thinking that half of the 152 places may be empty. The reality was that by the time everyone arrived more places were needed in order to accommodate everyone. We figured that right at 160 people attended the event. On a Sunday not long ago the attendance was less than that at our regular Sunday morning celebration although attendance the last two Sunday’s has been 190.
I want to thank everyone who helped to make the evening special. Thanks to Esther Showalter who was the inspiration behind the idea to have a church family Christmas dinner and program. Thanks to those who did the set up and tear down of tables and chairs. Thanks to the Dale Mast family for providing violin dinner music. Thanks to Bonnie Showalter for coordinating the children’s singing and playing instrumental selections. Thanks to all those who volunteered to share their talent in the informal, unscripted, family style program. And thanks to all of you who attended, brought food and shared your love and support for our church family.
So, what is next? That’s right, Winter Bible School. On Tuesday nights for the next twelve weeks we will serve a meal at 6:00pm for the whole church family followed by a variety of class options you can sign up for. Wives, if you want to motivate your family to attend, you might consider doing what I heard one wife did. She told her husband if he wanted to eat on Tuesday nights he had to attend Winter Bible School because she wasn’t cooking on Tuesday nights for the next twelve weeks. What a woman. May her number increase!
Blessings,
Pastor Gerald Martin
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