Back in
February, 2011, I walked into this room, and for the first time, I saw the
beauty of the sunlight, shining into this space: After a moment, I realized
that the lights had not been turned on, and that it was only God’s light
shining in. I didn’t understand why at
the time, but something told me that that was an important moment...with
significance beyond the windows and sunshine.
Over weeks and months that followed, as I prayed about that experience,
I grew in an inner conviction, which I believed was God imparted: and that was
this:
· That God had chosen to do something new & wonderful here:
· That just as the sunlight and has
shined through the windows here for 200 years, so He had chosen this place and this time to SHINE THE SPIRITUAL LIGHT OF HIS LOVE IN A NEW!!!!
WAY!!!! ;
· That God wanted this to be a church
for both the young
and the old, for both those who loved this church, and those who needed healing from
institutionalized religion; for
both the rich & the poor; for both the lonely and the
loved; for both believers and skeptics, all who would
come through these doors. because
they would be attracted to the Light of Christ’s love shining through this
place.
My sense
then, as now, has been that God is rebooting our church into something that is different from many others:
1.
A
church which is full of warm people, who forgive one another, who reach out to
one another, who welcome, embrace, and include all visitors and guests,
especially families with children. That the fellowship would be so strong here,
that new friendships would be made, and old ones renewed.
2.
Secondly,
that God wanted a church where people
joyfully worshipped Him with their hearts, and not just their lips; a
church that would understand that worship is telling God that we love Him,
because He loved us first.
3.
And
thirdly, that God wanted this to be a church where all are free to grow in
their spiritual lives, without judgment, but with acceptance and support, because growing in discipleship is not about
academic knowledge, but it is all about love.
So, Jesus said, if you want the world to know that you are my disciples,
then you must blank one another.
So, to make
a long story short, at my final interview with your Vestry I shared what I
believed to be God’s Vision, or God’s purpose for this church ; and low and behold,
I found that the Vestry had a similar vision.
So, God opened up a new door for
all of us.
During the
past year and a half, we HAVE SEEN GOD BLESS OUR SUNDAY WORSHIP. To begin with, there are more of you
worshipping here now. I was told that prior to my arrival, the average Sunday
worship attendance was 35 or so. Today, our average Sunday attendance (not
including the summer) runs an average of between 90 to 105 !!
· Isn’t that wonderful? I think we need to offer Jesus a clap
offering.
· As our music ministry has grown and
blossomed in 2012, you all are worshipping with greater enthusiasm in the service. The English word
for enthusiasm comes from the Latin term, “en theos,” which literally is translated
as “in God.” When you worship God with
your heart, they joy flows froth from here all the way to heaven.
As our congregation
has grown, so has our opportunities to make and renew friendships. In a couple moment, Mike Gibbons will share
with you some of his personal reflections on fellowship here. You know, every church claims to be a
friendly church—even those which are snake pits. But
our fellowship is growing beyond just being friendly, but to being
friends—friends in Christ, who are growing to trust and to care for one
another.
And it is in
the context of such friendship, that many of us are growing spiritually in
Christ. I do not know if you know the wide diversity of spiritual beliefs and presences
in this congregation, but it is there. But unlike some churches, we are not
fighting to make everyone the same. Instead, we are taking time to listen to
one another, to learn from one another, and to accept one another as part of
our family in Christ. And you know, the
more we grow in Christ, the more we discover that our religious differences become less
important, when we share receive ad share the love of Jesus Christ. We are
learning that some of us are important to God, right? We all are important to God. And if everyone is important to God, then
everyone here ought to be important to us, right?
It seems to
me that our growth in worship, fellowship, and discipleship is occurring not
because of some plan that came from Rick Warren, or from the Vestry & or even from me. No, God is leading us and we together are
choosing to follow and live out His
purposes, that He is abundantly blessing
all of our offerings. So, today, on this Sunday before Thanksgiving, we have
the opportunity to really show God that we are thankful for all his blessings. Nobody likes to eat Turkey on Thursday more
than me, but real thanksgiving is where we give back to God. And we will have
that opportunity is a couple minutes. To
speak about this, let us welcome Vestry Member Mike Gibbons to the pulpit, wont
you?
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Organized
religion means we are supposed to be "organized" and for the last few
weeks we have heard the importance for the Vestry to be able to plan and present a
budget in 2013. After all, how else are we going to be able to tell our
own resident parish “Mr. Softee”, Michael
Baw lick, how much ice cream he can buy for the church machine?
So that's
what's in it for the Vestry. What are
the advantages of pledging for you?
· We have all learned as adults that it is better to
give than receive. I would like to
suggest that being a cheerful giver thru
a pledge is a multiplier of that good feeling experienced
when you give and that it is extremely satisfying.
· There is a progression that takes place as you decide
you want to become more involved in the church. For many
it starts when we see the benefits our children experience as they receive a Christian education administered in a safe
and fun environment. Pledging
fosters the sense being involved and of belonging to our church
community which we call "fellowship", or “new friendships.”
Or so, I
have found that my growing commitment to
Christ &this church helps me to
focus more clearly on the priorities of
faith and family and is a terrific stress reducer. This is because our Christian fellowship here creates a place
where many of us, including me, find that
we can be ourselves, encourage
each other, support each other, forgive each other, speak the truth, admit our
weaknesses and respect our differences. This all happens because your support enables us to pay the clergy
& staff, who help us all in building up the
love and strength of this church.
Again - for
those of you who have pledged in 2012 we thank you.
For those of
you have not previously pledged, we ask you to consider supporting Christ
Church in this way. We have a great
group of people here at Christ Church, and want you to join us. So jump on in, the water's fine. thank you,
amen, whew?
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Hundreds of
years before Christ, people would bring their offerings to the temple, which
were then taken by the priests and placed upon the altar. The problem was, the people were never
allowed access to the altar. Indeed,
they couldn’t ever see it because it was hidden behind door and curtains and
the temple police. But when Jesus came,
he eliminated that. Now, you sit in the presence of the
altar. You part take of the sacrificial
meal at the altar. And today, you can come and place your pledge offering on
the altar—giving it right to God, by passing the ushers, by passing the
acolyte, and by passing the rector. Previously this church has offered the opportunity
for people to voluntarily undertake this act of personal devotion and gratitude
to God, and we will offer you that chance in couple moments. After we sing a song of offering, you will be
invited to bring your pledge card up, with any family members present, and
place it in the offering plate. You can
then depart through the side exits. However, please remain up around the altar
rail, where once everyone has finished,
we will offer a prayer and exchange the peace.
· If you have not yet filled out your pledge card and would
like to offer it today, please feel free to do so during this next song.
· If you do not wish to offer your
pledge this way, then you may place it in the offering plate.
· Also, if you are not making your pledge today and/or
you are still thinking about it, then we will invite you to join us up here for
the peace. Everyone here is important to
God and we want all to share in the joy of the Lord.
Remaining
seated, let us open our bulletins to page 6, and offer to God all our hopes and
dreams, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Father God
It is through your kindness
And through your love
That we thank you
For the gift of
This parish church.
Today we offer to you
A portion of our bounty.
We pray that you will bless this offering
That in the year ahead
That we would grow and serve you
According to plan
That the light of your love
Would shine through us
And into the world
In the Name of Jesus.
Amen. Alleluia!
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