Click here for audio
Scripture Reading:
KJV
Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people
perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
NIV
Luke 4:14 Jesus returned to Galilee
in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole
countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone
praised him. 16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up,
and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood
up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to
him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim
good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and
recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to
proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
A frog
goes into a bank and approaches the teller. He can see from her nameplate that
her name is Patty Whack.
"Miss
Whack, I'd like to get a $30,000 loan to take a holiday."
Patty looks
at the frog in disbelief and asks his name. The frog says his name is Kermit
Jagger, his dad is Mick Jagger, and that it's okay, he knows the bank manager.
Patty
explains that he will need to secure the loan with some collateral.
The frog
says, "Sure. I have this," and produces a tiny porcelain elephant,
about an inch tall, bright pink and perfectly formed.
Very
confused, Patty explains that she will have to consult with the bank manager
and disappears into a back office.
She finds
the manager and says, "There's a frog called Kermit Jagger out there who
claims to know you and wants to borrow $30,000, and he wants to use this as
collateral." She holds up the tiny pink elephant. "I mean, what in
the world is this?"
The bank
manager looks back at her and says, "It's a knickknack, Patty Whack. Give
the frog a loan. His old man's a Rolling Stone."
(You sang
it, didn't you? Yeah, I know you did.)
Never
take life too seriously.
I quote
that famous line in a movie about spirits, “they’re back.” Bonnie and I have
returned from this year’s Annual Conference and I can tell you, I am full of
spirit and desire to move us from where we are to where God wants us to be. The
Bishop as always was full of spirit as she tasked us with moving out into the
world around us to witness to the power of God. She said as she often does,
that her God, which is our God, is a God that there is nothing that cannot
happen, cannot be done and cannot be fulfilled with the power of God in the
Holy Spirit, Amen! The Bible tells us that where there is no vision the people
perish. They do not just disperse, they perish. In other words, death comes to
those who choose to move through life without a vision. Not just any vision
mind you, but the vision that God gives us for the future. God’s vision! Vision
is discussed 108 times in the Bible and in almost every instance; the vision
that is received is from God about sin, about living correctly and about moving
in a direction that glorify God. I wonder what would happen if we here at
Sydenstricker, instead of trying to figure out what we want, should take the
time to ask God what God wants. What would happen if we took seriously the idea
of intentional prayer and asked God what God desires of us. I honestly believe
that we would hear the voice of God and would then begin to live into that
voice and hundreds of people in our community would come to know God. I believe
that with all my heart.
In 2016,
Bonnie and I arrived here. However, before we got here I was already listening
to you. I talked to every leader and chair and asked them four basic questions.
1.
What are your hopes and dreams for
Sydenstricker/ function?
2.
What is going well?
3.
What is not well?
4.
How can I best assist you?
I still
have the results of that survey conducted in May 2016. This is what I heard.
We need
to grow (number one response)
Younger
people and families
Better
communication
We want
the Sydenstricker spirit back
When we
arrived, I began to listen to the various committees to hear what you had to
say about the church. I encountered a welcoming congregation that needed to
focus on how to be more radically hospitable. I encountered people who honestly
acted like, talked like and seemed like they were in a place of depression or
shell shock. I encountered loving, caring mission ministry. I inherited a lay
leadership team that was very interested in Discipleship and Vision, which are
my passions. The District Superintendent asked me to learn who our neighbors
are and determine if Sydenstricker’ s future was viable as a standalone church
by December of 2016.
Therefore,
having heard from you we went to work. We began to explore a path to
discipleship together in class and conversation. We began to use tools like strength
finders and discipleship surveys that shared valuable information about who we
are. We completed a Gallup assessment survey that shared important information.
That information was then shared with all of the leadership of the church.
During this time the DS went from concern to excitement and invited us to join
an elite study called Next Level Innovations which we have now completed a full
year. We have laughed together, cried together, lost some of our saints and
gained some new ones as we have grown from 200 average worship attendance to
278 as of this week. We have worked on defining staff positions and filling
them with the best and the brightest. We have a ways to go but what an awesome
start.
Jesus
said that He was sent and anointed by God to bring the good news to the poor.
That He came to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. He came with vision of
what the world should look like and how we are supposed to love one another,
interact with one another and support each other. He came as an example of what
perfection in human skin should and could look like. Yet, they nailed Him to a
tree. Even there, in death, the awesome power of the Holy Spirit shines
through. For even death could not hold Jesus. In the resurrection, He brings
that awesome power to our fingertips, to our feet and to our hearts. It is up
to us then to trust God and follow in the footsteps that God sets before us. I
saw a cartoon the other day, Jesus is telling someone that He walks beside him,
when there are only one set of footprints then that is when Jesus is carrying
him and when the path in the sand is there, it is when He dragged him forward
where he did not want to go. How many of us have drag marks when we look back
at our path. I do!
I am told
there are four major concerns about the vision and direction of the church. One
of them seems to be that the Leadership team has the knowledge and the rest of
you do not. Some of that concern comes from baggage long before my time here.
Nevertheless, let allay your fears. We do and will not operate in a vacuum in
decisions about the church. I do use the Leadership team as a sounding board to
help me clarify the vision of God I perceive. With the Next Level Innovations,
I have made sure that a copy or two of every resource I have been asked to read
is available to you. We have had town halls to share information. We may not
have been as transparent as we hoped but we are trying. I am open to hearing
you and have been working towards scheduling and listening to all who would
share their dreams and concerns.
Some are
concerned whether or not we have the funds to move forward with all that we are
doing. One simple answer is that we have sufficient funds to do the work we
have set before us. We have significant investments to provide upgrades on
sound and AV systems and other projects without impinging on a safe reserve for
the difficult times. The Business Manager, Financial Chair or I will be more
than happy to share those reports with you.
We are
moving too fast, so fast that I no longer know my own church. I came here with
a mandate and a vision from God that we need to be good neighbors to the 70,000
+ neighbors within our defined boundaries. We cannot do that standing still. Nor
can we live in the past and hope that if we open the doors people will come;
those days have long since passed. Interestingly enough, they were not the days
of the early disciples either who witnessed to the power of God and changed the
world. Jack Martin and I had an interesting conversation. Jack was here when we
were 50 and left here when we were 400 average worship attendance. Jack had a
big dream for Sydenstricker. We have been declining ever since with small
church dreams rather than God dreams. I have a dream where we listen to God and
reach out to the world around us just like Jack did.
Jesus was
sent to share the good news. Jesus had disciples who shared the good news.
Those disciples had disciples and eventually passed the baton to us. I believe
we can be family even in the midst of growth and change. We cannot rest on the
laurels of Jack or Ed or Ed or Lee or Jim. We cannot remember Claude or Shirley
or the Hall family or any of those who have gone on before us and not remember
that they were actively encouraging witness and growth. I have a vision in
which Sydenstricker is the center of our community, growing and sharing the
good news of the Gospel and living into the vision of God.
Tony
Campolo recounts that he is dangerous when he gets on elevators. Often the
people on elevators will not look at each other or will look serious or sad. So
he often will talk to them about how they are taking a journey together and
that they should sing. So he will start singing, usually. “You are my
sunshine”. One day he got in a crowded elevator and it was as it usually is,
everyone was quiet and sullen. So he said, we are on a journey together so let
us sing and began to sing. As the doors of the elevator opened at each floor,
the people outside the elevator were treated to “You are my sunshine.” When
Tony got off at his floor, a man got off with him. He asked the man, is this
your floor. No, he replied, but I wanted to finish the song.
Let us
finish the song together!
No comments:
Post a Comment