Pray for Mission in Columbia

This week we pray for Michael Joseph, who serves as a missionary in Columbia.  Michael works with the Council of Evangelical Churches to offer pastoral support to church leaders and church members in dangerous or threatening situations.

You can read more about the mission to Columbia here, including his report on the continued efforts to find peace in the war-torn country.

There are Christian missionaries serving on our behalf in 70 countries around the world.  Each week, Global Missions highlights one of these missions and asks the wider church to pray for its continued vitality in spreading the Gospel.

Coming Up Sunday, September 30

This Sunday, we will continue our fall sermon series, "If We Are the Body...", by comparing the metaphorical body of Christ -- the church -- with the resurrected body of Christ described in the Gospel of John.  Taking the familiar story of Doubting Thomas, we will focus our attention on how Jesus is described, rather than considering Thomas' faith at that moment.  It seems important that the resurrected Christ still bears the discernible marks of the crucifixion, namely the places where the nails held him to the cross and the spot where his side was pierced by a spear.

If this is how the resurrected body of Christ is described, how then should we imagine Paul's metaphor of the church as the body of Christ?  In "Scarred, Not Broken," we will consider some of the visible marks on the church over the centuries, from instances of persecution to self-inflicted wounds of misconduct and exclusion.    And we'll consider how that continues to impact the broader Christian community.

September 23 Worship: "Mystical Union"

On Sunday, we experienced a moving worship service on a beautiful autumn morning.  We recognized our Sunday School teachers and we enjoyed a wonderful song from the choir, among the other music.

We also continued our sermon series, "If We Are the Body...", turning our attention specifically to Jesus' place within the body of Christ.  After talking about Paul's description of Jesus as the head of the body of Christ -- where other Christians are hands, feet, etc. -- we turned to his treatment of the issue in Ephesians 5, where he compares the relationship between Christ and Christians to marriage.  I suggested that this was an effort to suggest a more elevated role for Christian believers -- that our relationship with Christ elevates us above mere servants or slaves.  This is possible only through love, as Paul highlights.

If you missed Sunday's sermon, if you'd like to hear it again, or if you'd like to share it with someone else, you can find an audio recording here.

Pray for Mission in Haiti

This week we pray for Jeanette Salley, who serves as our missionary to Haiti.  Jeanette serves with CONASPEH (the National Spiritual Council of Churches in Haiti) as an assistant for disaster preparation and response and as a teacher at St. Andrew Seminary.

You can read more about the mission to Haiti here, including her description of a recent tropical storm that offered significant damage, but will not prevent CONASPEH from opening a new school building (with space for 1300) this fall.

There are Christian missionaries serving on our behalf in 70 countries around the world.  Each week, Global Missions highlights one of these missions and asks the wider church to pray for its continued vitality in spreading the Gospel.

Coming Up Sunday, September 23

This Sunday, we will continue our sermon series, "If We Are the Body..." and we will recognize those who help with our Christian Education activities.  Having spent the past two weeks focusing on our role as part of the body of Christ -- and on how we understand our membership, we turn our attention this Sunday to Christ's presence in the body.  Drawing from a famous passage in Ephesians 5, we will consider the "Mystical Union" of Christ with the church, which Paul explicitly compares to the married union of a husband and a wife.  We will consider how we should understand and appreciate such a relationship with Christ and how it should impact us.

September 16 Worship: "Health and Wellness"

During our worship on Sunday we continued our fall series on Paul's image of the church as the body of Christ.  We looked at the third part of Paul's extensive description in 1 Corinthians 12, where he reminds us that we have responsibilities to each other.  In "Health and Wellness," we considered what some of these responsibilities are, including sharing money, time, talents, and prayers with each other.

If you missed Sunday's sermon, if you'd like to listen to it again, or if you'd like to share it with others, you can listen to an audio recording here.

Prayer for Mission in Fiji

This week we pray for Aaron Wiggins, our missionary to the Pacific island of Fiji.  Aaron works with advocacy and education surrounding issues of global warming and nuclear testing for the Pacific Christian Council.

You can read more about the mission to Fiji here, including the hands on work of making God's abundance present through building labyrinths and gardens.

There are Christian missionaries serving on our behalf in 70 countries around the world.  Each week, Global Missions highlights one of these missions and asks the wider church to pray for its continued vitality in spreading the Gospel.

The Meaning of Holy Days

Rosh Hashanah, which marks the Jewish new year, begins at sundown this Sunday.  This is the beginning of two high holy days in Judaism that occur in a ten day period near the beginning of the autumn season -- the second is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

I was reminded of the Jewish calendar a couple of weeks ago in a "Faith Walk" column in The Kansas City Star.  The essay, "Yearning for High Holidays' Renewal," is a wonderful personal statement of how important holidays can be for us.  The writer, Mike Goodman, explains some of the expectations -- and the hopes -- that he has for these observances this year, partially due to some challenges and griefs this summer.

We each bring expectations to the holidays -- looking forward to spending time with family and friends, having a chance to be off work or out of school, enjoying large meals, giving and receiving presents.  Sometimes these expectations are met; sometimes not.  But I think we get the most out of holidays when we set our expectations aside and just try to be open to the special celebration itself.

Goodman explains his appreciation of this with regard to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, describing how the worship becomes meaningful for him: "The standing and sitting and standing and sitting and mumbling through songs and prayers is one thing, but actually declaring the prayers and exposing yourself raw to them is the true gift of Yom Kippur."

I found great hope and comfort in Goodman's honest reflections.  If you didn't see the column in the paper a couple of weeks ago, I hope you take this opportunity to read it.

Coming Up Sunday, September 16

This Sunday, we will continue our fall sermon series, "If We Are the Body...", on Paul's image of the church as the body of Christ.  This week, as we finish up looking at Paul's lengthy description in 1 Corinthians 12, we will focus on maintaining the body in a sermon called, "Health and Wellness."  Having considered how we can be part of one body -- through the power of the Holy Spirit in our baptisms -- and having recognized the differences among members, Paul talks about the relative equality of the members of the church.  No one, in Paul's eyes, has the power to push someone else out of the body, or to minimize their place and importance in the body.

If this is true -- and I think it is clear that most churches have always struggled with this idea -- how should we talk about each other as Christian brothers and sisters?  How should we treat each other?  How can we make sure that our body -- our congregation -- is physically and emotionally fit?  This is what we'll consider on Sunday.

September 9 Worship: "E Pluribus Unum"

On Sunday, we had a wonderful service spotlighting our young people and their gifts as we began the 40-day prayer vigil Light a Candle for Children.  After lighting a candle for each of those children present, we also honored the adults that have trained to serve as storytellers and greeters in our Children Worship & Wonder program for the year.

The sermon continued our "If We Are the Body..." series, focusing on the second part of Paul's longest description of the church as the body of Christ.  In "E Pluribus Unum," I tried to focus us on how Paul continues the argument beyond simply saying that all Christians become part of one thing through the power of the Holy Spirit in baptism.  After all, baptism doesn't make us all the same height or the same age.  So how do different people, through one spirit, become part of Christ's one church?  As I said, I think it has to do with each person wanting to be a part and others in the church not letting us go when we get discouraged or disillusioned.

If you missed Sunday's sermon, if you'd like to listen to it again, or if you'd like to share it with someone else, you can find an audio recording here.

Light a Candle for Children Prayer Vigil Begins Today

Today marks the beginning of the 40-day prayer vigil Light a Candle for Children.  I hope that you will join with other faithful people in praying for protection and nurturing of the children in our communities, our country, and around the world.

A group of pastors have prepared a daily devotional to encourage those praying in the vigil.  You can find the daily meditations online at lightacandle.blogspot.com.

Prayer for Mission in Venezuela

This week we pray for Carmelo Alvarez, our missionary to Venezuela.  He serves as a consultant and professor for the Latin American Evangelical Pentecostal Commission and the Evangelical Pentecostal Union of Venezuela.

You can read more about the mission to Venezuela here, including a description of the General Assembly of the Evangelical Pentecostal Union of Venezuela the last week of August.

There are Christian missionaries serving on our behalf around the world in 70 countries.  Each week, Global Missions highlights one of these missions and asks the church to pray for its continued vitality in spreading the Gospel.

Unconventional Worship?

Over the summer, I've thought a lot about a congregation as a community.  What does that mean for us?  What should it mean for us?  In particular, I've been thinking these past several months about a general hunger in our culture for community, which I've noticed as a prominent theme in popular television shows and movies over the past couple of years.

Imagine my surprise when I read about "Worship at the Water," a Sunday morning church service held at an ocean-front bar on the Alabama/Florida state line.  While it sounds like a typical honky tonk bar, in a very untypical and beautiful setting, on Sunday mornings an average of 450 people gather to worship God.

Perhaps it was the informal dress that caught my eye -- I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Rick Warren, who preaches in comfortable (and usually loud) Hawaiian shirts.  At Worship at the Water there is a pastor who wears shorts, a t-shirt, sandals, and Mardi Gras beads to lead the service, which sounds like an even better Sunday morning dress code.

But beyond that -- though we should not discount the real appeal of being able to go to a worship service wearing laidback clothes -- I wonder what we can learn about this approach to worship.  Perhaps it is a flash in the pan, but any new congregation that attracts 1100 people for Easter is probably doing some things right.  More than a few people probably attend the service on a lark -- church in a bar? -- but most of these people come back because they want to -- not because their parents or their spouse drags them, not to look good, not because they always have.

The first Christians to gather in churches came together on Sundays, which was a challenge.  They had to get up even earlier for morning prayers and then they gathered after a long work day for a communal meal.  They made the effort because they wanted to.  They wanted to be with each other, and they wanted to worship God together.  Sometimes I feel like congregations live up to this, but more often it seems that we gather because we think we're supposed to meet on Sunday mornings, not because we really want to.  And, even if we really do want to go to church, we usually apologize to others about our participation, so that they don't think we're one of those wacko religious zealots.

What if we were proud of our religious communities?  What if we didn't apologize?  What if we really wanted to be there on Sunday mornings?  Maybe the unconventional setting has allowed Worship on the Water at the Flora-Bama bar to answer those questions so strongly, but I think that we can too, in our own place and in our own way.

Coming Up Sunday, September 9

This Sunday, we will have special celebrations of the role of children in our faith community.  September 9 marks the beginning of a 40-day prayer vigil, Light a Candle for Children, that encourages Christians to pray for the needs of children among us and around the world.  We will mark the day with a special ceremony during the service.  Also, we will celebrate our Children Worship & Wonder program, which teaches children ages 4-10 about faith through a special worship experience.  After the service there will be an open house where we will re-dedicate the children's worship space for the coming year and offer highlights of the program.

Also, my sermon series, "If We Are the Body...", will continue our exploration of Paul's image of the church as the body of Christ.  Continuing on through Paul's description in 1 Corinthians 12, we will think about how any unity is possible among so many different people.  The sermon is titled, "E Pluribus Unum," the motto famously appearing on US currency, and will reflect on the roots of that motto.

Rev. Josef Walker to be Honored for Interfaith Work

This morning I came across this story from The Kansas City Star about one of my ministerial colleagues, who is close to the heart of several in the Eastgate community.  Rev. Josef Walker, who currently is serving as interim minister at Westwood Christian Church, was previously the pastor of Ridgeview.  On Saturday, he will be honored by the Crescent Peace Society, a local Muslim organization, for his ecumenical and interfaith work.

You can read the article here, but you can also read Joe's full responses to four important questions about interfaith work here.

This is important work for our community and our church.  We live in a culture with many religions and we can either choose to withdraw and keep to "our own" or we can interact with our neighbors.  It is harder to go outside of our comfort zones, but in the end, the relationships that are built across the many things that can divide us -- including religious differences -- strengthen our neighborhoods, our schools, our workplaces, and our churches. 

And, lest someone start insisting that Christians have an obligation to stand up for the one true faith, I would simply point out that Jesus not only said, "I am the way, the truth, and the light...", he also taught and served in an interfaith environment -- sometimes in ways that scandalized "proper" Jews. 

September 2 Worship: "In One Spirit, Baptized"

While I cannot put my finger on it exactly, I left worship very energized on Sunday.  Perhaps I was pleased with the sermon, or excited to sing during communion, but I also think that I was moved by the spirit of the congregation on Sunday.  As we approach Fall, I am excited for our shared ministry at Eastgate, and I do not believe I am alone in that excitement.

In many ways, Sunday's sermon was a reflection of my hope and excitement.  It was the first of a 7-part series called "If We Are the Body..." looking at the image of the church as the body of Christ.  Sunday's sermon started where the Apostle Paul begins his presentation of the image in 1 Corinthians -- baptism.  Paul highlights the role of the Holy Spirit in baptism, and I used this to look at the role of the Holy Spirit in the church as demonstrated through our baptisms into Christ's church.  In an age where some are worried about being a "card-carrying member" of a large organization -- and the church is among the largest of organizations -- this imagery can offer direction and hope.

If you missed Sunday's sermon, if you'd like to listen to it again, or if you'd like to share it with someone, you can find an audio recording here.

Prayer for Mission in Laos

This week we pray for Xuyen Dangers, our missionary in Laos.  She is a social worker in the southeast Asian country, supervising six centers and also serving as a Social Work advisor for the National University of Laos.

You can read more about the mission to Laos here, including the story of how an off-handed comment by a third grader led to an outreach project for an entire village.

There are Christian missionaries serving on our behalf around the world in 70 countries.  Each week, Global Missions highlights one of these missions and asks the church to pray for its continued vitality in spreading the Gospel.