Generosity

"I'm grateful you're here to worship with us this morning," Pastor Brad began. "What would you like to be known for as a community? One of the things I'd like to be known for is generosity. When our name comes up -- New Life Covenant Church -- what is it that you would like people to say about us? Generosity is important not only because God was generous, but it says something about who we are as a people."

Announcements
1. First CHIC fundraiser will be the "Stockholders Dinner" November 2. Buy tickets in  the back of the church after the service.
2. Darlene is putting together a church choir. Practice will begin first week of November.
3. Work day yesterday was outstanding. The next two weeks are critical because there's a lot of labor needed to hang walls, etc. Wednesday and Thursday we'll need help, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. plus next Saturday. Thank you to all who have given time to help.
4. Next Sunday will be one of our semi-annual meetings after church.

Darlene's intro featured "As the Deer" and "Holy, Holy, Holy" in a medley of worshipful ascension, a nice entry into our corporate worship time.

There were some painful prayer needs lifted up, and some wonderful expressions of thanks given.

Generosity

Brad began by commenting on the show Storage Wars. People have storage lockers because they can't fit all their "stuff" in their houses. We accumulate stuff, but then have to maintain it, store it, figure out what to do with it.

We always say our material goods aren't important to us, yet there is an incredible pull to accumulate things.

Jesus said, "Beware, a person's life does not consist of how much stuff he has."

The parable is told about the man who had accumulated so much wealth he decided to build even bigger silos.... and God says, "You fool. Tonight your life will be taken from you."

He then read Acts 4:32-35.

Brad brought up a principle about how certain things that are good lead to other spin-ffs that are also good. Eating meals as a family together has other good consequences. Exercise also.

Generosity is this kind of activity. It leads us into other positive by-products. Relationship-building. Awareness of needs besides our own. And other good that comes of it.

The generosity of the early church was an entirely new thing. And it caught peoples' attention. The result was that they enjoyed the good favor of the people.

Jesus actually talked a lot about money. Of 30 parables that Jesus told, 19 were about money. Money tends to enslave us. It also skews the way we view others. We often measure people by how much money they have.

Do you think today we're more or less inclined toward materialism and consumerism than 2000 years ago? It's more. Based on the world we live in, money is a trap.

Generosity is the core of who we are. Life is not about our stuff. Yet our desires lean in that direction.

In the early church, the attitude was that "All I have is God's." It's not mine. The result is that when you do not "own" your things, you find what you really put your trust in.

The thing about generosity is that it strikes at the heart of our core sin. Adam and Eve's sin was a desire to own, to have, something that didn't belong to them.

The idea of owning more and more, and never being satisfied with what you have, is contagious.

Brad ended with this: "God so loved the world that He gave..." From beginning to end we see that our God is a generous, giving God.

SCENES FROM ACROSS THE STREET

Generosity

Our Breakfast Roundtable meetings continue to produce thought provoking conversations. The first question we explored today was this one: What are the normal and natural ways people come to Christ, grow in Christ, indentify & deploy their spiritual gifts.

We explored the role of preaching in developing faith, the role of community, the role of children's ministies. Brad shared the difference between the Believe-->Behave-->Belong model of church as opposed to creating a sense of Belonging first. This concept intrigued us and led to further discussion on what a church is and can be. As regards our own church family, we were asked the question, "Do I feel confident inviting my friends to church?"

Brad noted that there's a characteristic of our church that he has noticed... our resistance to being formulaic. A perceptive observation.

The Service
Our weather this past week has been unusually hot, but what a change in the weather since last night. The autumn breezes blew in with a vengeance, disrupting plans for an outdoor gathering at Cresman's after the service. The announcements began, then, with a reminder to this effect, that our potluck would be here in the fellowship area downstairs. Alas.

Other announcements after the opening greeting by Pastor Brad included:
1. The Harvest Festival at Twig Town Hall is coming soon. September 12 we will be meeting and sharing ourselves with the local community.
2. There will be a council meeting Tuesday.
3. Volunteers are still needed for the rummage sale.
4. Sue Deloach is seeking volunteers who can serve as judges and helpers this coming weekend for the National Bible Bee. Judging involves listening to children relate Scripture to life. The event is Sept. 28.
5. Joanne mentioned the need for Sunday School teachers, as the Fall season is coming soon.
6. There will be an open house this Thursday from 5:00-8:00 p.m. at the Hallfrish's new home on Orange Street, courtesy Modest Home Makeover. Check out the new digs and enjoy a meal to boot.

Today's introit and worship was followed up with special music by Dan Moore who contributed a number of short God-honoring songs, during the offering and preceding the sermon. The Scripture reading today was from Hebrews 11:29-12:2.

Generosity

"I think one of the most amazing moments in the development of a human being is when he or she utters that first words. Parents wait for the those words with baited breath." Mothers hope to hear "mama" and fathers "dada". The next word, though, is not so thrilling. "No!"

Many psychologists will say this is a necessary stage in a child's development, though most who say this have never had a small child of their own. But it happens, around this time, that kids pick up another word that they use a lot. "Mine!" Some people say this to their graves. My room, my toys, my games, my food, my time. It's on their checkbooks and their house and car and on their time.

Ultimately the day will come when each of us will come face to face with God and say one of two words, mine or yours. God will accept either but the choice is ours. The consequences are eternal.

Today's message focused on the champion of saying "Yours" to God. A close inspection of the record shows that on many occasions David indeed messed up royally. But one thing he got right, David had a generous heart. David loved to give, loved to share.

What does a generous heart look like? Today's message explored this theme by citing several in David's later life.

1) Moved more by needs of others than by one's own discontent.
I Samuel 30 deals with the story we heard last week about how the Amalekites came and destroyed their village while David and his army were away on a raiding mission. David and his men are led to pursue the Amalekites, but having already fought a long day's work the hard march proves too demanding for about 200 of the men who are utterly fatigued. David has them watch the supplies while they continue the chase, ultimately wiping out the Amalekites and retrieving their wives and children along with the other goods that had been absconded.

When David's army is reunited, many of those who had gone the extra mile were annoyed with those who had pooped out and claimed the plunder as theirs. David, however, reveals his generous heart by having everything shared with everyone. David's gratitude to God is central to David's generosity. His automatic response when it came to finances was to call to mind how gracious and generous God had been to him, and to be the same toward others.

The world we live in works differently. Accumulation, keeping up with the Joneses is the order of the day. "Don't play this game," Brad said. In God's economy the winner is not the one who collects the most goods, rather it is the one who gives the most.

2) Generous hearts look for opportunities to give.

II Samuel 24 has the lesson here. David wants to make a sacrifice to God after a devastating plague that has ravaged Israel. He has been instructed to go to the threshing floor of Araunah to make this sacrifice and Araunah offers to provide the oxen for the sacrifice. David, however, instead of allowing this insists that he pay for the oxen. His response is a model for all of us. "I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing."

Giving sets in motion a spiritual dynamic, Brad said. It not only impacts the giver, but also the recipient, as well as those who see it. Giving is a powerful act, because it is so contrary to human nature.

3) Generous hearts increasingly experience joy in giving

It was David who brought the ark back to Israel and brought about peace for Israel in the midst of her enemies. His earnest desire was to build a temple for the ark in Jerusalem. But God scratched this plan because David had too much blood on his hands. He had been a great warrior, but it would be his son Solomon who would build the temple. For David, the next best thing was to generously contribute to this end, and I Chronicles 29 tells the story.

With a joyful heart he declares the extent of what he desires to give from his personal coffers to build the temple. In verse 5 he asks, "Who of you will follow my example?" The leaders of the people responded not grudgingly but willingly. In verse 8 the people rejoiced in the generosity of their leaders.

"It's not my stuff," Brad said emphatically. All we have is from God, for God, and will return to God. What God is looking for in us is a willing spirit. God loves a cheerful giver, Paul wrote in the New Testament.

God has given His all for us. Now it is our turn.

What if.... What if we got so fired up that others saw it. We want a church that is stronger for the future so that our children will see what even we do not see.

After the service we shared a potluck meal with fresh brats, burgers and generous portions for everyone.

His Character and Competence

Despite the dreary weather, the church was filled this morning with warmth in abundance. Pastor Brad Shannon opened with a few comments about faith, fear, hope, renewal and risk, then welcomed us, saying, “I’m delighted you’re here to worship with us.”

Chuck and Darlene sang Hide Me In Your Holiness to usher us into a time of worship.

JoAnn Winship then shared some observations from a gathering at Mission Covenant Church in Poplar the past few days. JoAnn and Pastor Brad were there on behalf of New Life Covenant. JoAnn shared how the testimonies of men and women getting ordained were all so powerful. Whether simple or dramatic, each had a story of how God’s hand had touched them, how they responded to the Lord’s call.

The highlight, she said, was Veritas, a Greek word that means truth. The goal for each congregation is to become a Healthy Missional Church. Healthy means we are individually pursuing Christ. Missional means we are pursuing Christ’s priorities in the world.

The Scripture readings this morning, by Leonard Armstrong, were from Acts 7:55-60 and John 14:1-14.

His Character & Competence

Pastor Brad began by drawing a construct for us in an attempt to make the abstract ideas in his message more comprehensible and tangible. He drew three circles, side by side from left to right on a sheet of large paper. The circles were not touching one another.

The first he labeled “Stable.” It refers to the stable orientation of our status quo situation, which is reliable and certain. The second circle was referred to as De-stable, and represents uncertainty and chaos.

He noted that there is anxiety in between these circles. We much prefer the safety of stability over the insecurity of change. Moving from the first circle to the next involves risk as we go from the known to the unknown.

People react in different ways to this transition. Many, instead of moving to the third circle, called Re-Orientaton, move back to the first circle where they felt secure and comfortable. This move backward is called the Doom Loop.

The message today, based on insights from Psalm 31, centered in part on this passage in verse 4: “Keep me from the trap that is set before me.” The Doom Loop is such a trap.

The pastor then told a story about a couple who went on a balloon ride together with another couple The railings were lower than he expected and the experience of being a thousand feet in the air was both exhilarating and terrifying. Especially problematic was the apparent inexperience and background of the balloon pilot. His character and competence were to some extent questionable.

By way of contrast, for Christians, the character and competence of God are unquestionably reliable. The psalmist is able, therefore, to declare that he is “in the hands of Him who will not fail me.”

I want to go where God wants to lead. It involves change, risk, times of insecurity. But we can trust Him.

Paul, in the book of Acts, in response to the Spirit, changed his plans and went to Macedonia on one of his journeys. In addition to a change in where he went, he also had to change the normal pattern which he had developed in his missionary journeys. There was no synagogue in Philippi.

It wasn’t long before an altercation occurred which resulted in him and his friends getting beaten and thrown into prison. (You can check out the full story in Acts 16.)

Years later, Paul wrote a powerful to these Philippian believers. It was written during a time of extreme uncertainty in Paul’s own personal life. He had been in prison awaiting trial, a trial that would very possibly result in his execution. Yet, when writing the Philippians, a church characterized by suffering and poverty, he writes a letter filled with joy. And he writes with pride of their generosity toward other churches.

The pastor then shared a video about a man who told the story of his walk around a lake with his one year old son on his back. When he reached the furthest part of his walk away from the cabin, the rain came, followed by thunder and his son’s cries.

The story revealed the relationship of God our Father with each of us, His children. In all lives, rain must fall at times. When the rain and storms come, God is not indifferent to our cries. As the Scripture repeatedly reminds us, God does not ignore the cry of one who is afflicted. He is close to the broken-hearted.

It is a myth that Christians are supposed to have it all together. In point of fact, Jesus’ call is specifically to the weary and heavy laden. We’re called to Christ in our need, not when we have solved all our problems.

What the child in the video did not understand was that his father would do anything to get him home safe. The last mile, with his infant son close to his breast, the father repeated continuously, “I love you. We’re going to make it. I love you.”

Pastor Shannon closed by reminding us of God unwavering promise: “I will never fail or forsake you.”

NOTE: CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

Transformation

This 2nd Sunday after Epiphany included the special treat of a Chili-Dog Dinner after the service to help raise funds for our Wednesday night Adventure Club. To this end Darlene and Cheryl performed an original drama that was most entertaining and despite the chilly weather hearts were warm, pews were full and the sunlight was dancing in the aisles.

Today's Scripture readings:

Isaiah 49:1-7

I Corinthians 1:1-9

Pastor Shannon's message this week focused on the theme of character transformation, which is directly related to leadership. Whether in our communities, in the workplace or in the home, there is a need for leaders who reflect the character of Christ. This message dealt with the process of becoming a model of what Christ wants us to be.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that transformation is some kind of mystical experience that just "happens" to us. The truth is that we each have a role to play in our transformation.l God has done His part for us on the cross. We participate in revealing His grace by doing our part.

Becoming like God means reflecting His likeness. No, we are not called to become all-powerful or all-knowing like God. Rather, we share in and reflect His character. It is character that leads.

Pastor Brad outlined three journeys we undertake as Christians, the development of virtue, generosity and wisdom.

Virtue

Conflict is going to be part of the process of becoming virtuous, not because we don't know what God wants. We usually know what God expects or desires of us, but too often we are busy weighing the consequences of obedience. What we lack then is courage to do what is right.

Citing the example of Joshua, we note that he was much like us. He received instruction from the Lord, but was held back by his fear.

6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." ~ Joshua 1:6-9

The Angel of the Lord would not have said "Do not be terrified" if Joshua had been enthusiastic and confident. Joshua had been given direction, but needed something more to follow through. He needed courage. It is as if God is saying to us here, "Do not be afraid. Obey and trust."

We don't rely on evaluating consequences. Rather, rely on God, moving forward regardless of the outcome.

Generosity

God wants us to be crazy about giving our lives away. But it is hard to be generous without wholeness in our lives. Wholeness is not an end in itself. Instead, we become whole to give it away.

Pastor Shannon cited the incident that took place at the house of Simon, a pharisee.

36Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. 37When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner."
40Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Tell me, teacher," he said.
41"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"
43Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."

"You have judged correctly," Jesus said. ~Luke 7:36-43

Re-telling this parable with a modern setting (VISA card debt) and following it with another story from his youth, Pastor Shannon underscored that generosity flows out from an attitude that is born in us when we recognize how much the Lord gave for us.

Wisdom

How do we achieve wisdom? Perseverance is the process. James 1:2-5 outlines this for us. Trials are necessary for our growth.

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ~ James 1:2-5

This is the reason we consider trials to be "all joy" because when we are experiencing a trial, we know we will soon see God break through. Trials produce opportunities for us to see God's faithfulness in action. All too often we lower the bar, expect too little of ourselves or of our God.

In Psalm 119:32 we read, "I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free."

God wants us to know freedom, to run free. Leaders do not pre-occupy themselves with the question, "How much more do I have to give up?"

Character always leads. If we settle for mediocrity, we're not going to lead this church to become all it's meant to be. Are you going to hang around, or run forward and free? Run free!

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

After the service we enjoyed chili-dog feed featuring the wonderful handiwork of Don Walters. Don Walters’ career has included years of service on large boats such as the St. Clair and the Roger M. Kyes of the American Steamship Co. fleet. A native Duluthian, Walters earned the nickname “Chili Don” during his time on the Great Lakes the 1980’s.

If you were here, you know it was yummy. If you were not... you missed something really good.

Above: Don Walters stirs the chili.

Right: 1980's newspaper story features Don's Great Lakes experiences and skills.

click on photos to enlarge