August 14, 2009

Dear Messiah Congregation,
I hope you have had an opportunity this summer for less doing and more being. Amanda and I returned on Monday night from a week on Ocracoke Island, one of the barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina. Amanda grew up in North Carolina and in one of our annual trips to see her parents we discovered Ocracoke Island. It became a vacation spot for our family that we would visit every few years. Our last visit was five years ago. The island has a small village of 500 people. To get there, we take a two and a half hour ferry ride. While on the ferry, we physically, mentally and spiritually move to a new place – a place of renewal. This trip was our first without our children. One day as I was riding a bike along the harbor, I thought of the many experiences we had through the years with our children. The image that came to mind was sand trickling through the hourglass. But rather than focusing on how the sand keeps falling, ever diminishing its reserve – what happened was that I was flooded with gratitude for all the experiences we have had together. What is accumulating in the hourglass is a vast treasure. I was so overwhelmed in that moment that I stopped along the road, walked to the shore, and experienced the words of the hymn “then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee; how great thou art; how great thou art.” Thank you for allowing me to take this time to get away and be renewed by God.

My hope for you is that you have had a similar experience this summer. You don’t need to leave home to have such an experience, but what’s key is letting go of concerns and worries and letting God fill that space. Even if it is momentary, it brings renewal.

In this week’s email, I will cover the following:
1. New Series – Praying by Heart
2. Staffing change
3. Sanctuary
4. Upcoming Series

1. New Series – Praying by Heart
I'm looking forward to Sunday’s message on the Lord's Prayer. Our focus will be the phrase, "Give us this day, our daily bread." Not much there, right? Think again. Bread is mentioned more than 300 times in the Bible, and this little prayer means far more than meets the eye. I've been blessed this week as I've prepared this message and as a result I will not pray this prayer the same way again.

2. Staffing Change
Clarence Jansson has served on our church staff, providing evening security lock up for at least twenty-five years. He has volunteered his time much longer than that. Twice a day, he and in recent years Altrene have turned off lights, locked and unlocked doors, and offered hospitality to the many people who use the building at night and on weekends. With recent health concerns, Clarence and Altrene felt it was time to resign from these responsibilities. We will find a Sunday morning when we can publicly acknowledge and thank them both. Fortunately, they remain part of our church family. Tom Staehle, who often filled in when the Janssons were out of town, has agreed to serve in this role. Thank you, Tom.

3. Sanctuary
Not everyone has had an opportunity yet to experience worship in the sanctuary, however our worship attendance during July was spectacular. I give thanks that we have such worship space where we can gather and connect with God. Many many people have helped inside and out to bring the construction to completion. We are still working to improve our worship experience as we make adjustments to sound, lighting, video, and seating. We recently added video of the worship message to our website. You can watch and listen by clicking here. Please know that we will be improving the video as I learn how to better use the space in my preaching. Your comments have already been helpful.

We are looking forward to September 13 when we will thank those who served and those who did the construction and also dedicate the space. Then on the evening of October 4, we will invite our community to join us in a Concert of Hope. I hope you will save that date and plan to attend.

4. Upcoming Preaching Series
In June, I took my annual planning retreat to develop the preaching series for the next twelve months. I always look for to this week never knowing in advance what directions I will be lead. For five days, I spent twelve to fourteen hours each day praying, reading scripture, considering the prayer concerns of the past year, and the needs and hopes that you shared with me. Here’s some of what we will address in over the coming months.

- Farm Living: Lessons in Living from the Master Gardener (teachings of Jesus and the path of disciples)
- Changing Lives (in changing times, a focus on the unchanging truths that bring balance to our lives)
- First Song of Christmas (the songs that prepare the way for Jesus’ birth and that first song)
- ReThink (reaching out to young adults and others who are increasingly skeptical of church)
- The Final Week (follow Jesus through each day in his final week toward the cross and the empty tomb)
- Hatch, Match, Dispatch (parenting our children and the changes when parents age)
- Breathe (who is the Holy Spirit and how does the Holy Spirit work)
- Eyewitness (focus on the ministry of Jesus through eyewitness encounters then and now)
- Faith meets Life (a study of the book of James)

Next week I head to the farm for a couple of days to gather experiences and interviews in preparation for the upcoming series in September. On Wednesday, Darrell Kula presented me with a pair of bib overalls and a seed corn cap. I’m not sure that will make me look much like a farmer, but in September you can see for yourself. Enjoy the weekend. I hope to see you in church.

In Christ’s love,

Steve
www.messiahchurch.org

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