church

Making New Connections

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” 1 Corinthians 12:20-21

One of the greatest challenges that many people face today is isolation. We as a society find ourselves separated by age, wealth, education and race. Sadly, this kind of segmentation is common even in the church. Our church announcements end up sounding something like this,

“The eyebrows will be meeting in room 112b on Wednesday nights, the feet are having a luncheon at noon on Saturday, and a short-term mission trip for the toes and fingers will be leaving next Sunday afternoon.”

This sort of dissection of the body of Christ seems completely natural to us because that is what we have experienced everywhere else all our lives. And though some of these specialized get-togethers are sometimes helpful, the dangers of isolation and segmentation are nowhere more pronounced than among the elderly who often find themselves in long-term care. And even in long-term care facilities the specialization that drives further isolation has been accelerating over the last ten or fifteen years. For example, those with memory issues are locked in their own ward, others no longer able to walk are placed in a separate wing, and the list goes on. Worst of all is that these people are not only isolated, but they are also usually soon forgotten by family, friends and neighbors, and even by the church. The parts of the body of Christ that God had designed to be connected to them don’t miss them because they are busy meeting with the other toes and fingers on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Today God is calling the church to do more than hold worship conferences, youth rallies and women’s conventions. God’s heart is to go out into the highways and byways, which includes the long-term care facilities in our community. For those who sense God’s calling, I am making a short book called, “New Frontiers in Nursing Home Ministry,” available for free in its Kindle format all this week.

And in Every House!

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments 
And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Acts 2:46 KJV

"And daily in the temple...and in every house
And in every house
And in every house
And daily in the temple...and in every house
They ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ!"

Last week one of our elderly ushers had a fall and passed away not many days afterward. He and his wife Joyce have been members of our church for decades, and every Sunday as we made our way down the aisle, Hal would shake hands with us and anyone who was not too busy to pause for a moment. Though I remembered their names, I really did not know them and was amazed at how few of our friends even remembered them at all. Yet, week after week they stood out in the aisle, greeting folks and ushering late comers into open seats. Do we have a bad church? Well, yes and no. Though the preaching is quite biblically sound, we are far from a perfect church, because people like Joyce and Hal can slip through the cracks all the time. That is why our leadership emphasizes small groups. In China, they call them, “House churches”, while here in the U.S. they go by names like small groups, grow groups, life groups and many others. By early church standards, the leaders of these small meetings are pastors and the person we call our senior pastor would be the bishop. Today I wanted, not to focus on church structure, but on how we all need connection. Without connections, we are just hermits meeting together once a week, then returning to the comfort of our modern caves. We plunk away at our cell phones, laptops and iPads, but rarely have opportunities to love and be known as a part of God’s family. This week in our men’s study we finished Colossians and noted that before Paul closed, He greeted a long list of people by name. They all mattered to him and more importantly to God. One verse the stands out to me this morning is:

 Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. Colossians 4:15 NIV

Does the church meet in your house, or do we meet in someone else’s place? Without a doubt, our brother Hal is now shaking hands with Jesus and though Joyce is left alone, she knows that one day they will be reunited. We all know this, but only people close enough to them to really know them will be there to comfort, encourage and listen. Being in such fellowship makes us uncomfortable, gives us responsibilities we may not want to have and opens us up to being hurt by others. These are all valid reasons to be careful of who and where we fellowship, but none of those is valid enough to keep us isolated from the life and the love of the body of Christ. Find people you can commit to, serve with and break bread with in your community, so you can have that gladness and singleness of heart that God intends for all of His children!

Prayers That Last Generations

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For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,   Ephesians 3:14-17 ESV

I confess that usually I pray small prayers like, “Please Lord, don’t let it rain on the church picnic!” or “Father, we’re broke, please help us pay the bills this month!” Now, there is nothing wrong with those prayers. After all, Jesus taught us to ask for daily bread, and our loving Father gladly opens His hand to bless us with answers to even small needs. But I am humbled when I read this prayer of Saint Paul, recalling that he wrote it while kneeling down on the stone floor of his cell and praying for his friends to be strengthened by the Holy Spirit. Wow! In those circumstances, my first request would be, “Lord get me out of here!” Yes, Paul was human, and in other places he does talk about wanting to be released. But his deepest desire was not for God to liberate him from his situation, but for others to know Jesus. Even more amazing to me, is that Paul’s prayers are still being answered in our lives today. What about us? Are we asking blessings for ourselves or are we moved by the needs of others? Am I seeking good but only temporary blessings, or am I praying for others to know Jesus and have a love for Him in generations to come? Am I praying prayers that God’s answer will only be that the rain holds off during our picnic or am I asking for people to know the love of Christ because only that will last forever?!

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