From the Pastor...
Sunday evening we had an amazing time visiting with the good people of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church . That congregation, now having been to “our house” and we to their house, are starting to be familiar names and faces. I like walking in somewhere and having people say, “Hello, Pastor Furr. Great to see you again!” Our choir did a splendid job, the spirit was wonderful, and I believe a special friendship between the city and the suburbs has happened. As I watched so many of you pour out of the bus and cars and see the overwhelming turnout for the evening, I was grateful. I am so proud of my church. Many others were unable to come but if they could have, they would have made the numbers even larger. What a great time! Thank you, choir, members, one and all for the gift of your presence. I was walking around, listening to the laughter, the conversations and the children playing, and thinking, “If this once was a place of pain and sorrow, it feels like heaven tonight.” Way to go, church.
Messianic Banquet
In a few weeks, we will welcome our friends once again for the Messianic Banquet. This is always a delightful time for our church. To our new members especially I would issue an encouragement to come and help out. All of the ministries in the city to which our church is connected come and have dinner with us, along with a building full of activities for children and gifts to all. It is a way to personalize our connection to ministries we support year-round. No prerequisites to attend—just show up and offer yourself.
Stewardship Emphasis Concludes This Week
This week as we conclude a sermon series about critical stewardships for our time, I would like to recognize that stewardship is the critical question of our time. We are facing it on a global scale that is unprecedented. How do we care for, account for, and manage the rich and plentiful but not endless resources on this planet? How do we treat our global economy?
While most of us will never be in a position to change the whole, the collective decisions and choices of us all add up like raindrops turning into a mighty river to a force that reshapes the world. If your small bit doesn't change the world, it is a part of a movement that can.
Those choices will not embed themselves in our lives, though, if we are not motivated to keep on with them, whatever we see around us. Like a New Year's diet and exercise resolution, it turns from resolution to resignation. Only if we are motivated and energized by an inward strength and vision of life can we patiently endure and persist.
“Christ in you, the hope of glory,” is how Paul put it. The Christian vision of life is one of perspective and certitude that present moment is always set in the light of eternal victory. That is why we give in the midst of economic uncertainty and volunteer in our crowded lives. Without the inward motive, the service itself will only become one more “demand” in our crowded inner life.
It is not abundance that enables stewardship—not of time, money, or other resources. It is the inward disposition that focuses our choices. I once read this quote in Leadership journal: “The problem with our giving is that we too often give the widow's mite, without the widow's spirit.” That is the call of our time—lives that are focused, resting in Christ, centered in the Word of God, aimed at the kingdom of God, empowered by the Spirit of God. In such a life, no distress destroys us and no fear defeats us. |
