First Christian Church, Flora, Indiana

November, 2009

It is almost time to get the carving knives out. Pull out the fine china and get the house ready for Thanksgiving. It might mean we pack the car and ride to a relative’s for the holiday or it might mean we stay home and cook for two or three. Or, we might be the hosts for all our family and friends. Regardless, it takes some preparation to get ready for “Turkey Day.”

How do we prepare our hearts for that day? I liked the list entitled, “I am thankful…” that appeared in Tidings earlier this month. So, why mess with perfection? I share it here as a list of suggestions we might want to be thankful for this year. It was written by Dale Schoenihg of Renwick Iowa, and I share it with you today:

I AM THANKFUL…..
…for the teenager who is not doing dishes but is watching TV, because that means he is at home and not on the streets.

…for the taxes I pay, because it means that I have a job.

…for the mess to clean up after a party, because it means I have been surrounded by friends.

…for the shadow that watches me work, because it means I am out in the sunshine.

…for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need washing and gutters that need fixing, because it means I have a home.

…for all the complaining I hear about the government, because it means that we have freedom of speech.

…for the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot, because it means I am capable of walking and that I have been blessed with transportation.

…for my huge heating bill, because it means I am warm.

…for the lady behind me in church who sings of key, because it means I can hear.

…for the pile of laundry, because it means I have clothes to wear.

…for the clothes that fit a bit too snug, because it means I have enough to eat.

…for the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours, because it means that I am alive!

Pastor Woody

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand to be our way of life.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Jesus said, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?” (Matthew 21.42)

Not long ago a friend of mine received a “pink slip.” His company was downsizing due to economic conditions. My hunch is that the possibility of a down-size or the loss of a business to a community is something that can affect eighty to ninety percent of us. While my friend had not worked for the company very long, there were employees who had thirty years of seniority who lost their positions. While my friend did not take his job loss personally, such is still a tough position to be in. Losing a job whether by outsourcing, work force reduction, or by Rejection is something to which all of us can relate. Often we may feel alone in our rejection. The Good News is we have a Savior who can relate to our rejection and accepts us, because He was rejected! As Christians, the important question is “What do we do with our rejection?”

You don’t have to be a die-hard profession basketball fan to know the name Michael Jordan. Many sports commentators name Jordan as the greatest basketball player to play the game. Those who don’t name him as the greatest player put him in the top handful of the best. At the same time, this NBA legend and former Chicago Bulls star player failed to make the varsity basketball team his sophomore year of high school.  As a child his days had revolved around basketball. For many this setback could have been an excuse to hand up the practice uniform and give up on the possibility of playing basketball in the future. During his sophomore year, Jordan approached the coach and sought out the instructions he needed to improve for the next year. Instead of defeat, his rejection became a challenge to prove to his coach and more so to himself, that he belonged on the team. Today Michael Jordan is not only a basketball legend, but also a major contributor to inner city programs that work to build self-esteem and respect among youth.

Granted very few of us have the natural athleticism of a Michael Jordan. However, we all have experienced rejection in some form or another. The real issue is not that we are rejected, but what we do with it. We have a Lord who has not rejected us, who is there to pick us up and says: “You are mine, you belong to me, and you can do all things in my strength.” (Philippians 4:13). You can do it. “Come to me and let me take your weariness, burdens and rejection and I will lift your load.” (Matthew 11:28-30) I can use you and bring others into God’s acceptance…because I was first rejected. This IS the definition of God’s grace that we will be exploring in June’s sermons. God does not give up on us. Let us not give up on ourselves because God does not give up on us.

Amen.

Pastor Sam

“The Lord taught us to pray not only in words, but also in actions.” Saint Cyprian of Carthage

“If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater: for this is the testimony that He has testified of his son.” (I John 5:9)

About three weeks ago I moved some end tables around in the living room of the parsonage. A week later it looked like I moved them just the day before. So I fluffed up the carpet spots with my hands. A couple of days later I vacuumed over the imprints. The next day the spots looked like I moved the end tables that morning. So . . . I moved the tables back to their original spots. You guessed it . . . I now have another set of imprints.

Our lives can be compared to these kinds of imprints left in the carpet. We leave imprints on other lives whether we intend to or not. We leave imprints that can be seen as both positive and negative. Such can be an intimidating thought.

A number of years ago I led a training event for Sunday School teachers. During the session these volunteers were asked to remember the Sunday School teachers they had in the past. The question was asked: how were they a positive influence to you in your Christian walk? We then talked about how each of us is to be a model for Christ and how each of us are given opportunities to make an impression on someone else for Christ. Afterwards, a “new” Sunday School teacher came to me and said “I’m not teaching to be a role model for anyone. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in the past and I know that I am not perfect. I’m not sure that I should be teaching.”

The Christian life is not about being perfect. There is only One who has ever been perfect (”without sin”). The Christian life is about following Christ, serving Christ, and striving to be like Christ. Striving to be like Jesus Christ includes accepting his forgiveness, forgiving others, and living in that forgiveness. Jesus said, “If you forgive others of their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you” (Matthew 6:14). He also said, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven” (John 20:23). The way in which we forgive others, how we forgive ourselves, and how we try to correct our sins tells the world that we are seeking to makc Christ our Lord.

That Sunday School teacher who was nervous about teaching became an excellent teacher of high school youth. Youth related and learned from this teacher. She was a good listener and deciphered well what they said. I saw in her the power of God’s forgiveness and how to turn around past failures and sins. More so, students were imprinted by the joy of being a Christian and the sincere concern the teacher had for them.

Imprints on the carpet left by furniture will eventually disappear. However, many loving Christians we have known will forever influence each of us. Everyday we too are given the opportunity to leave Christ’s imprint on other’s lives. Amen!

Pastor Sam

May 2009

A Devotional Thought for September 2008

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in hands; so the potter formed it onto another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.” (Jeremiah 18:1-2a & 4)

On vacation a few years ago, at a Kentucky State Park, my family attended a pottery demonstration. The artisan demonstrated on a potter’s wheel how to make several different types of bowls. He did it quickly, all the while speaking and taking questions. He then invited those who were interested to come up and try making a bowl using his potter’s wheel. “It’s easy,” he said. Having tried this in a college ceramics class, I know better than to believe that it was easy. This man had been doing this for years and had taught classes throughout the state. Then he said to the crowd, “I’ll help you.” He showed us how to place the blob of clay in the center of the wheel and how to work it upward. The clay was centered through the contact with the potter’s hand. However, the potter’s hand does not rest on the clay. The potter’s hand merely guides the clay with the index finger and the thumb as the wheel turns, moving the sides of the emerging pot outward. If the potter’s arm moved with resistance against the clay, the emerging container would wobble off center and the piece would either cave in or become lop sided. Because of this potter’s experience, patience and guidance, he steadied the arms of those who made clay pots. All of the participants had a nice souvenir to take home, due to his guiding hands.

In the book of Jeremiah, the prophet compares the reworking of a ruined pot into a good one by a potter, to that of God’s forgiveness and love. When we mess up (sin), God doesn’t merely “toss us away.”

During the month of September we will be examining in the Sunday sermons some of the phrases that people say that give the impression that they believe they are throwaways and not worthy to be salvaged and reworked. God’s love does not vary because of our resistance, moods, fears whims or our failures. Through Jesus Christ, God welcomes us to return to a relationship with Him by way of our confessions, that we may be reshaped into new creations of our Lord.

Constant contact with God through worship, prayer, reading of the scriptures and fellowship with other Christians changes our lives. As the potter shapes the clay, God reshapes and transforms us. Though our lives may seem at times to be spinning in busyness and confusion, Christ is ever present to shape us through his care and love.

Peace & Hope, Pastor Sam

This article originally appeared in the January edition of FFCC’s newsletter, “The Tidings.”

“Hence we can say confidently, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid; what can man do to me? Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:6 -8)

As a child I could never picture living in the 21^st century. I did wonder what it would be like. Would it be like those science fiction movies of domed cities and colonies set up on Mars and the Moon? Would we be wearing metallic clothing? Would life be like “The Jetsons” on TV? The year 2000 seemed so far off and by then I would be . . . old, so I thought. During the last year there has been so much said and writing about the rapid changes in technology just since this New Millennium began eight years ago. Journalists are still writing about tragedies and terrorist acts of the past few years and the possibilities of the unknown factors. In spite of the unknown factors, the concluding of year doesn’t seem any different from any other year. In Christian faith we have the same opportunities we have any year. We never know what the coming year will bring. It is not my intention to make light of recent tragedies. Any year can bring war, terrorism, ill health or financial hardship. For this reason I find the words of the writer to the Hebrews in chapter 13 so comforting. God’s love for us through Jesus Christ is still the same yesterday, today, tomorrow and forever. That never changes. The proof that we believe this is in the response we make in our living. As it has been said in past years, the coming year still gives us the opportunity to re-covenant our side of the promise with God, or to name anew the responsibilities we have as faith people. As in any given year we can make one of the following commitments. (From “This Year” by Ruth A. Richie.)

• Mend a quarrel
• Keep a Promise
• Apologize if we are wrong
• Find time alone with God
• Listen to another point a view
• Forego a grudge
• Think of the needs of others
• Forgive an enemy
• Say “thank you” for the small gifts
• Laugh a little
• Be kind
• Laugh a little more
• Welcome a stranger
• Seek a forgotten friend
• Introduce yourself to a guest
• Dismiss suspicion & replace it with trust
• Take a deep breath
• Thank God for the new day
• Give a soft answer
• Encourage youth
• Listen to children
• Visit someone who lives alone
• Speak with Love
• Speak with love, again.
• Whisper a prayer in the morning (and at noon and night, as well).

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17)

Peace, Joy & Hope

Pastor Sam

(Adapted from a previously published letter in the November 2007 edition of “The Tidings”)

I find it fitting that my ministry as Interim Pastor at Flora First Christian Church began in the middle of fall as the leaves were beginning to turn their vibrant colors. Due to the dry summer season, the fall foliage began their “fire- works” display much later than usual, and stuck around much longer as well. I arrived in Flora following one of our driest Indiana summers in recent years, and even in October I found myself in the middle of the changing of the seasons.
An intentional interim ministry, or transitional ministry, is quite similar to the changing of the seasons that we are experiencing here in scenic North Central Indiana. I have often heard it said that the only sure thing in life is that things will change. An interim ministry is the in-between period of two full time, permanent pastors. In recent years this period has become known as transitional ministry.

In transitional ministry, an interim pastor seeks to prepare a congregation for their next pastor, and the ministry they will share together. The Elder leadership of Flora First Christian Church set an intentional direction that this period of time will consist of training with the elders, committees, and teams in the development of some new and different skills. It is my privilege to be a part of this ministry.

I am enjoying my time of change and discovery as we explore together meaningful worship expressions, our service through outreach, study as we grow in God’s written Word, the Bible, and in the fellowship of God’s living Word, Jesus Christ.

The changing of the seasons fills us with the promise that God is with us through nature’s changes, but more so, God is present to lead us through life’s changes, challenges, obstacles, and victories. (Ecclesiastes 3: 1-10) The changing season is a visual picture of where we are as a congregation.

Change is representative of the world in which we live that calls us to discern how God would lead us to reach others for Christ.

Change is also representative of what happens to us as Christians: If anyone is in Christ the old has passed away the new has come. (II Corinthians 5:17) “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you in a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

As new creations . . . Christians . . . we are to be constantly changing or transforming into the way and image of Jesus Christ through God’s Holy Spirit. There’s a quote that has found its way to many plaques and posters that announces: “Be patient with me, God’s not done with me yet.” That should be every one of us. If we’re not transforming, we’re not growing.
In His Grace,
Sam