God's Desire for Community

With blue skies and a summerlike Sunday morning the sanctuary was filled with light as Brad welcomed us.

Announcements
1) Gail shared that $1175 was raised in yesterday's rummage sale and $221 through the bake sale

2) Brad shared that Dorothy Thiery passed away. Her service will be this Friday. Visitation at 10 a.m. and funeral at 11 a.m. We had a minute of silence to remember her and show respect for this longtime member of our church family.

3) Pam came forward to share information with the congregation from the Pastoral Relations Committee regarding the transition that is taking place as Pastor Brad heads off to serve at the Adventurous Christians ministry near Grand Marais.

Selecting a new pastor is not a quick process. It usually takes a minimum of six months. It is a tie of careful consideration and prayer as a church takes steps to move forward. The Conference will work to find an interim pastor, though this will also take a little time, most likely till August. The council will seek fill in people to preach until that time. A search committee will be formed to find a new pastor, working with the Conference.

4) Because the Shannons are leaving, an appeal went out to find a person who will step up to lead VBS.

FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Summer hours will begin next Sunday, Memorial Day weekend. Worship will begin at 9:30 a.m. next week and through the summer.

Darlene & Chuck ushered us into worship with a duet about God's peace and then we all sang four songs from the blue songbook. An offering was taken, and then we had a tie of prayer.

God's Desire for Community

Do you ever think about the fact that Jesus genuinely had friends?

Brad shared a story about a man who was trying to share Jesus with someone and the person replied, "You don't want to know me, you just want to get me saved."

Brad made the point that Jesus didn't treat everyone like a "project" he was working on.

Jesus invited the disciples to join Him, to form a community. His followers got called, shaped, formed and sent out. But it happened in an ordinary way with ordinary men who did an extraordinary thing. The had arguments, they had jealousies, but they also learned to love each other.

After He left this world, He said, "Wherever two or three of you are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst of them." It is a unique kind of community.

Brad shared the manner in which charcoal briquettes create heat together, but a briquette isolated from the fire will quickly lose its heat.

The question he asked that stumped him has to do with why community is so hard for us, even though we all enjoy community activities. So, what is it that

What we long for is authentic community, real community, life-giving true community.

Fake community, pseudo-community is one that focuses on being superficial in order to avoid conflict. Conflict avoidance is death.

So, how do we go from Fake Community to Real Community?

There is risk involved. Someone has to be courageous enough to ask hard questions. It's like going into a tunnel where you enter but don't know where it's going to come out on the other side.

Jesus modeled real relationship first by initiating it.  In Matthew 4 He invited the first disciples, starting a community. We have to do the same. We have to take the first step ourselves.

In real community you get challenged. This building was built through people who were in genuine relationship. They addressed issues, experienced both joy and exasperation.

The disciples had conflicts, including one time arguing about who was the greatest (of themselves.) Jesus caught them and turned it into a teachable moment. "Hey, guys. What are you talking about?"

Brad noted that another feature of community includes admonishing one another. But you can't do this when you don't know one another. "They won't care what you know till they know you care."

His last point had to do with being vulnerable. Brad said that what he found most amazing about Jesus was that although he was full God and fully man, He was so very vulnerable.

We live in a culture where image management is so important. But all it does is isolate us from other people.

When the Holy Spirit fell and the community of faith grew, it was not because of connections and money and PR. It grew because people saw this community where rich and poor, slave and free, male and female all participated in life together.

These kinds of communities are still changing the world today.

A Family Matter

Rosie Peterson

The grey skies couldn't dampen the enthusiasm that seemed present in the sanctuary as we gathered for worship this morning. Pastor Brad welcomed us warmly, and said he would be talking about family business and unity in the church. The thoughts he wanted to share today had to do with small groups and the way it helps foster church unity.

Announcements
1. Next week we will be worshiping at Walt and Gwen's... Bring a lawn chair and expect to stay for a pot luck afterwards.
2. Fall kickoff we will be worshiping at the Town Hall. It will be something of a tailgate party as this is also the opening weekend for NFL football.
3. Progress is being made across the street.... Check it out after the service.

Darlene ushered into worship after our traditional greeting.... a beautiful piece of music, sensitively rendered.

Bruce and Rosie Peterson, who have spent their lifetime in ministry at Covenant Pines Bible Camp in McGregor. Rosie was invited forward to lead us in some songs. She shared how she remembered Brad coming to camp when he was in second grade. Rosie's enthusiasm was energizing as she led us in a number of songs from the silver songbook. "Music does something to the soul," she shared, pointing out a number of written passages we'd likely never noticed before.

Steve Allison was a guest at our church this morning and was invited to make a presentation for the Covenant Trust Company. Steve reminded us that the Bible has a lot to say about "our stuff." The trust company is designed to help people manage their resources and make important financial decisions.

Following the offering and a time of prayer Pastor Brad began his message.

A Family Matter

Psalm 133
A song of ascents. Of David.

1 How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!

2 It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe.
3 It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore.

Brad began by reading Psalm 133, pointing out that David was the author of the small psalm with wide applications. David seems to be saying, "How can I communicate how good unity is? Each image in the psalm is designed to convey this message as regards how good unity is.

Paul, too, in his letter to the Ephesians, also cites the value of unity, and how we need to preserve it once we have it.

As Brad reflected on his life this week, and perhaps because Rosie and Bruce were here, he said, "Most of the best things I've learned about church I learned at camp." Here were five lessons he wished us to take to heart this morning.

1) Encouragement 
The encouragement that took place occurred because they were a community together. The things they shared in prayer time would lead to friends inquiring about your concerns later. "How's your dad doing?" showed that you weren't carrying this weight alone.

2) Good Speakers
There were lots of good speakers at camp, with a lot of interaction afterwards. Small group dialogue was invaluable as you wrestled with the practical issues of working out what your heard and applying it to real life.

3) Confession of Sin
This happens when you have established trust, the essential ingredient in relational glue.

4) Accountability
Having people whom we can be accountable to will help keep us moving on the right track.

5) Value of Small Groups
Being part of a small group is something that is helpful on many levels. It is especially helpful for those times when we need help discerning God's direction for our lives.

If you're willing, begin by getting together with other couples and getting to know one another on deeper levels. We need a relational glue beyond being Sunday acquaintances.

HERE ARE A PAIR OF PHOTOS SHOWING THE PROGRESS ACROSS THE STREET

Look for dramatic, visible changes in the weeks ahead. 

Fellowship

The first week of Sunday School drew a healthy turnout. The adult class is watching segments of a video series on Christian Atheism, about people who "believe in God but live as if He doesn't exist." Pastor Brad led a discussion, exploring aspects of the ideas that there are different levels of knowing God.

Sunday School for all ages begins at 9:00 a.m. and the worship service resumes at our regular 10:15 a..m. hour. After greeting us, Brad stated that he would be talking about community, and the importance of being connected.

Announcements began with a thank you letter from Cindy Anderson, who now has a new set of lungs and moving into a healthy full recovery. The letter included a reminder to live each day as if it were your last. An insert in the bulletin noted that Girls Art Club will be starting up again soon. One a month Susie Newman will be leading art projects for all girls ages 9-15. Adult women are welcome as well. The art club will be held on the last Sunday of each month (Sept. 29th this month.) Contact Susie if you are interested so she can bring enough materials for everyone. Bring a bag lunch.

After the offering was taken and a time of prayer, Chuck shared from his heart and sang a duet with Darlene before leading us in songs from the silver song book.

Fellowship

Brad's message today focused on demonstrating that community is at the heart of what we believe. He began by reading from Mark 1:14-20. It is the beginning of Jesus' ministry, a journey that leads to the cross. The first task that he undertakes is to gather his team, a community of followers. When Jesus ascended after His resurrection, he did not leave assets or buildings, only His circle of friends.

Christianity is not a self-study initiative. It is a community who of people, intersecting circles of commitment and intimacy. To illustrate, Brad had us picture what happens at a bonfire when you roll a log out of the fire. It usually goes out.  The writer of Hebrews stated that we are not to forsake meeting together.

Community helps prevent spiritual drift. Proverbs 27:17 states, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Jesus never talked about going to church. He called people to community.

Christian community is the one place where it's safe to take off our masks. In Paradise, before the fall, Adam and Eve "were naked and not ashamed." After the fall, Adam's guilt and shame led him to hide from God. It is our tendency to hide from one another that needs to be dispensed with. James 5:16 says that we need to become more transparent: "Confess your sins to one another." The reason is that you can only be loved to the extent that you are known. You can only be fully loved when you're full known. This kind of depth takes time.

Community is the place where we learn to love as Jesus loves. In His last hours with the disciples, Jesus repeatedly told them to love one another. (John 13:35, John 15:12 and 17)

Community is not easy. When you read the list of disciples you find some interesting backgrounds. One of these called ones was Simon the Zealot. A Zealot was the modern equivalent of a terrorist. The zealots were politically motivated Jews in Jesus' day who by a hatred of Roman occupation of Palestine which they found incompatible with monotheism. They had even taken an oath to kill anyone working in concert with Rome, which would include people like Matthew who was a tax collector. There economic differences between some of the other disciples. But in Jesus' circle none of these differences were to make any difference at all in the new community.

Pastor Brad concluded by encouraging us to take further steps to strengthening our community by signing up for a series of "Friendship Dinners" that we'll be having over the coming months. All who sign up will be grouped in sets of eight, so we can get to know one another in a more intimate setting... our homes.

Communion, Not Competition

We've finally adjusted to our summer schedule and a sunny summer morning it is. The red sash on the cross, hung there last week as a reminder of Pentecost, seemed especially vibrant this morning with the sunlight streaming in the window.

"Good morning!! I’m grateful you’re here today," Pastor Brad said in his opening remarks. "As it is the first Sunday of the month, we will be celebrating communion… instituted by Jesus, who said, 'Do this in remembrance of Me.'"

Announcements were several.
Elsa 1: Bonfire one week from today at Borndal’s 7:00 p.m.
Elsa 2: I have need of containers, bins and things for youth group project. They will be returned.
Ruth Ann:  The Bloodmobile will be here July 8, parked out back. July is a month when blood is especially needed….
Brooke 1: Baby shower after church.
Brooke 2: VBS starts a week from tomorrow. Asked to bring items we buy from the dollar store. Volunteer orientation next Sunday 11:00 a.m.
Dwayne thanked the congregation and Brad for all the help and support as his mother was passing away.

Traditional greeting set us in the direction of worship, initiated by Chuck and the quartet. “And I know, yes I know, Jesus’ blood can make the vilest sinner free.”

The worship songs today were from the silver song book. During the offering, the quartet proceeded to sing “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder” a capella.

Today's Scripture reading was taken from John 3:1-17, the story of Nicodemus.

Before prayer it was pointed out that Muriel is now 94 and we sang “Happy Birthday” for her. We lifted up many needs, spoken and unspoken.

Communion, Not Competition 

Brad began by reading I Corinthians 13. “And now I show you the most excellent way…”

Have you ever looked at a catalog for a Christian college or larger church? The back part is information about the classes or the financial statements. Usually it is quite dry. The front part is put together by PR people who show pictures of green hillsides with kids playing soccer, or students sitting on the grass with their teacher, all listening attentively, smiling.

The aim of these the images is to show us more than just a college or church. If you come here, you will be part of a community. Folks come to church looking for community. Another word for community is church.

Paul’s letter to Corinthians is a letter to a community, a community of believers. He states that these people are quite talented, gifted. But gifts by themselves do not bring community. Gifts are valuable but it is the wrong focus to focus on our gifts. Love is the basis of community.

“What do you mean by love, Pastor Brad?”you may ask.

The word here is agape, which has nothing to do with emotion. Paul is talking about a mindset, an act of your will… a determination that I will seek that person’s highest good. I will not return evil for evil.

I Corinthians 13 is about love in action: Love is patient, love is kind. It reflects the God we worship. God does not deal with us according to our sins…

Other aspects of love deal with the nature of community. Love does not envy.

To illustrate the way envy works, Brad shared a legend about some people who were trying to get a holy hermit to sin. First, they appealed to his lusts, without success. They then attacked his doubts and other areas of weakness. No luck. Then the devil got in the act and went to the hermit and said, “Did you know that your best friend has just been elected to be Bishop of Alexandria?” The holy man’s face showed that he was crestfallen, a look of envy in his eyes.

Brad cited examples of envy from all walks of life, including pastors. Envy latches on to the differences between us. But love is not this way… Love sees people as people, not cars, houses, retirement income.

It was pointed out that when we think that we want to swap places with someone with goods or the rest, you have to swap everything. Not just what we see, but everything, including the children, the cancer, the hidden pressures they carry. An example of this is found in the poem Richard Cory by Edward Arlington Robinson. People in that town thought the respected Richard Cory was living the ultimate good life, but they couldn't see the whole picture.

We were reminded to remember that whatever gifts we have come from God.

Brad then told the story of his friend who was a pastor, and how a church a mile away grew to a thousand members and Brad’s friend was jealous... until one day while in prayer the Lord showed him that this church was an answer to his own prayers. He had been praying for God to reach unbelievers and needy in their neighborhood. This church was attracting people who his own church was not attracting. Instead of seeing that church as competition, he understood that it also had a purpose in God's plan and he even gave a financial contribution to that ministry.

"If God gives you something, accept it with a grateful heart. But boasting puts us in competition, not communion."

I have a friend who died last summer, Jim Hawkinson. Jim, who was known for his bluntness, said, “God has given you some good gifts.”

“Thanks,” Brad said.

“What are you thanking me for?”

“That seemed like a nice compliment.”

“I wasn’t complimenting you. I was complimenting God.”

The message was brought to a culmination by a story about William Carey's remarkable humility in light of all that he achieved in India. Love is not puffed up. Love is not proud. We're not to be like cotton candy, all fluff and no substance.

One problem with knowledge is that it puffs people up. Love builds up. All too often we look down on people who don’t know as much as we do.

Love does everything it can to preserve community. The mark of the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life is how you love people.

Here's a prayer for you today: Lord, show me myself as I really am. And above all, show me who You are.

We ended the service by sharing the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

Not Gonna Do It?

With the sun illuminating the sanctuary, Pastor Brad welcomed us in his usual warm fashion. Today, he said, the theme would be about saying "yes" to God's call. His message would address five objections that we often raise, but this was the main point he planned to make: The ultimate reality of who we are is no longer defined by our limitations. Instead of focusing on what we can't do, our focus needs to be on God and what He can do in us and through us.

Announcements:

1. Be sure to sign up for the Valentine Sweetheart Banquet if you plan to come. (Editor's note: if you are not planning to come, you should.)

2. Susie stood and pointed out the new wall hanging that the children created in Adventure Club, noting that every picture tells a story. Be sure to ask the children of our church family what their stories are about.

3. Building committee meeting Thursday evening.

4. The Christmas ornaments were fun to make and Paula said they will be doing them again on February 21st here at the church.

Chuck then read a moving passage from Matthew that closes with the statement, "All who touched Him were healed." It was a special lead in to the quartet singing "He Touched Me" followed by a very nice worship time.

Pastor Brad read from Exodus 3 and 4 to prepare us for the message.

Not Gonna Do It?

Brad began by sharing what he considered one of the most profound statements about the human condition by someone he admired from the first time he saw him. Most of us know him. He loves to sail, is in tremendous physical condition and eats unbelievably healthy food. His name is Popeye the sailor man. Not sophisticated or educated, just a pipe smoking, tattooed sea faring sailor.

When he was sad, or when he made a mistake, or when he felt inadequate... or when he was called on to do something he didn't feel capable of doing, he always said the same thing. "I yam what I yam, and that's all that I yam." It's the sad lament of the human race. In other words, don't get your hopes up.

After sharing his own shortcomings, Brad said it would be easy to excuse one's inadequacy by saying, "I yam what I yam." But God doesn't let it rest there. He has a purpose for our lives. This becomes Brad segue into the story of Moses.

Moses had fled Egypt and was living on the backside of the desert when one day he noticed a burning bush. The bush caught Moses' eye whereupon he turned aside to check it out. Moses could have walked past and missed it. But as a result of this turning aside, history was changed.

How about you? How are you at turning aside? That is, how do you do when it comes to turning aside to listen to God? Whether at home at the office, we can "turn aside" to appreciate moments of listening to God during the day.

In Exodus 3 God shows Moses His heart. God says he has heard Israel's weeping and seen the suffering of His people. And he lays out a plan with Moses at the center of it.

Moses objects. Who am I? I am not adequate. And I am a fugitive, and a murderer... I am not the guy.

God stays with it and says, "I know who you are. I created you, and I know everything about you. Your shortcomings are not the ultimate truth about you. I will be with you."

Brad noted that many of us are in the same spot as Moses. God has a purpose for us, but we have objections. One of our shortcomings is that we do not understand God's grace. Often we're still beating ourselves up for past failings. God says, "I know who you are and it doesn't matter."

After Moses encountered God in the bush his next question was "Who are you?" God replied, "I am who I am." There are no layers of bureaucracy with God. God desires to be known and invites us to know him.

Next, God turns Moses' staff into a serpent, then tells Moses to grab it by the tail. Despite Moses' natural inclination to run from a snake, at God's command he takes hold of it and it turns back into a staff. There are two Hebrew words that could be used that mean grab or take hold of. The first describes a somewhat calm action. This is the verb God used. The second means to snatch it with force. Exodus records that Moses grabbed it in this latter manner, not exactly what God intended.

Then Moses was instructed to put his hand underneath his cloak, which when pulled out was leprous. God restores the hand, and seems to be saying, "I will do amazing things with these simple things."

Pastor Brad showed how this has always been God's way. A few loaves and fishes feed five thousand. Five talents are multiplied extravagantly. A mustard seed fills the whole earth.

So, what's in your hand?

Moses still was not ready, however. "Whoa, I have never been eloquent," Moses told God. But God replied, "Who made mouths, Moses? I made your mouth. I can fill it with amazing words."

Brad said this exchange seemed to foreshadow the spiritual gifts of the New Testament. Are you using your gifts?

Moses still balked. "Please pick someone else," Moses said. God showed mercy by bringing in his brother Aaron to go along. This is a picture of the value of community. We do God's work together.

Who's your Aaron?

An interesting thing about the story here is that while Moses goes on to liberate his people, you never find out what happened to the burning bush. You find out what happens to Moses and Israel, to Pharaoh and his soldiers, but what happened to the burning bush. Pastor said, "I believe it's still burning... and God is waiting for people who will turn aside. I think God is waiting for that right now.

The celebration of the sacrament of Communion followed.