As the summer winds down and we begin to experience the delightful hints of fall, changes are in the air. Well, some new changes and yet old recalling years ago are returning to First Christian. It will be happening the first Sunday after Labor Day. That Sunday is September 11 so get ready.

Our older Sunday School class will be starting at 9:15 a.m.

Karen Powers, Teacher

A young Adult class will be meeting in the Narthex starting at 9:30 a.m.

Timothy Hendricks, Teacher

Pre-school through second grade, 9:30 a.m.

Lora Schueller and Martin Schaefer will exchange teaching responsibilities every other month.

Third through Seventh grade, 9:30 a.m.

Gail Rudd, Teacher

 

Join your age-respective class or even offer to lend a helping hand when

needed.

 

Morning Worship will start promptly at 10:30 a.m.

Encourage your friends and fellow-worshipers to join you!

 

It is not too late to turn in a Pledge Card or to make a financial

commitment for 2016-2017.

For a number of years my wife and I have enjoyed feeding

hummingbirds. We usually hang one feeder right outside of our dining room

window and the other feeder we hang near the edge of our deck. It always

seems that in August the hummers become more active.

We have enjoyed the antics of the hummers over the last week or so.

To the best of our knowledge we have been able to count a least eight

hummers. Two are ruby throats and the rest are females and or their

children.

I share this because I believe that there are some significant images

regarding church relationships. You see, the feeder outside of our dining

room window has at least six feeding ports which means it would be possible

for at least six hummers to all sip nectar at the same time. Sadly, we have

only seen two hummers who are willing to tolerate each other long enough to

feed together. One hummer lands nearby to watch for others to come.

In our community life as His church, do we openly support one another

giving others a chance to serve or are we like one of these hummingbirds

ready to challenge and limit what God seeks for us to be? Let us always

remember that we have been called into the body of Christ and that we have

been called to be one.

First, I want to thank you for the vacation time. My wife and I had a

great time in Virginia and we were even joined the second half of the week

by my younger son and grandson and granddaughter. When we returned I

had a chance to kick back and relax and do some of the things that needed

to be done around the home.

While I was gone, I was made aware of a variety of concerns with some

of you here. Some of you were surprised when I would make a phone call

just to check in. A number of you said, “You are on vacation.”

This leads me to declare to all of you that God does not take a vacation.

He is with us every moment of our lives, moments when we are on shaky

ground, moments when we are having fun, moments when we are hurting

and need to experience his presence, moments when our faith has been

drained from us, moments when we are top of the mountain.

I reaffirm this with just the beginning of Psalm 139.

“O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know

when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern

my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.”

Need we have any more reassurance than this.

The Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians the following:

“Finally beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just,

whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any

excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

(Philippians 4:8, NRSV)

Two weeks ago I wrote a brief article about excellence and how important it is

to maintain the utmost of excellence in all that we do in the church and the

ministries we maintain or seek to do beyond the walls of our local building.

When it comes to excellence I want to prayerfully consider the above words

from the Apostle Paul as he wrote his letter to the Philippians. Consider first the

way in which you are addressed. You are a part of the beloved community of Jesus

Christ. Secondly, consider the attributes that Paul mentions: truth, honor, justice,

being pleasant, always regarding your fellow Christians as commendable.

How do you desire to be seen by your fellow Christians and the surrounding

community? Do you desire to be unkempt and shoddy or sharp and debonair? The

same criterion applies to the church in which we worship and from which we seek to

do mission and ministry.

Again, read the words above from the Apostle Paul and seek to absorb them

into your being and way of living.

I desire for you to focus on a very critical word in the life of any congregation.

That word is Excellence. Consider how we can become not only a people of

excellence, but a congregation of excellence.

Excellence is putting the best foot forward, attempting to see that all is done

as best as it can be done. What are the ways in which we can strive to be on top as

a congregation and demonstrate that clearly to those around us?

Many years ago I was the pastor of a congregation in another state. One of

my worship responsibilities was to offer the children a message every Sunday. One

Sunday we had a number of visiting children. When the children had come forward

and gathered on the floor in front of me, one of our visitors held up her hand. I

asked her for her name and then I asked what she wanted to ask me. She simply

said, “You have a dirty church.” This prompted me to ask what she meant. She

stood up, turned around and exclaimed how dusty her slacks were because the floor

of the Sunday School room had not been swept. She then commented about how

much in disarray the shelves. I told her that I was sorry and told her that we would

do a better cleaning job. Her comment and complaint indicates a church that is not

excellent.

Sports teams practice so that they may do the best job possible. Musical

groups also practice to be able to present the best performance. Should we expect

any less of the church?

Over the next six months or more, pastoral candidates may come to visit First

Christian. Will it be said of us that we are a church of excellence?

Near the end of the first chapter of Genesis we can read the following:

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created

him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27, NIV)

This past week our attention has been drawn to the five tragic and fatal

shootings of police officers in Dallas, Texas. My heart and prayers go out the

families and the greater community of Dallas for what they are experiencing.

Before my pastoral prayer one week ago you heard me make the following

statement: “Black lives matter, white lives matter, native American lives

matter, Hispanic lives matter, Oriental lives matter, LGBT lives matter,

Christians matter, Muslims matter, and I could go on and on.”

My dear people, all of us are beloved children of God. In some of my

recent devotional reading, I have had to think about self, more than I

probably wanted to. I invite you to try this experiment of self-love. Stand in

front of mirror and give yourself a warm and sacred hug.

Remind yourselves of Genesis 1:27. We are created in the image of

God. No, there may be parts of us that we don’t like to see—our angry

selves, our selfish selves, our hateful selves. You have the chance each and

every day to turn it all over to God and that’s all that it really takes.

Your surrender become key and critical words.

We have reached a very significant milestone or turning point in our

ministry together. I have been your interim pastor since last September. I

will continue to be your interim pastor until the next settled pastor has

moved in and is ready to begin his or her ministry with you.

Your Search Committee has been appointed and approved by the Board

and the congregation. They, myself, and your moderator met with the

Reverend Stephen Bentley, Associate Regional Pastor of the Christian Church

in Ohio. He provided us with packets that contain a congregational profile

form and other forms or information related to the Search process.

The most important item at this time is the congregational profile form.

There are questions or information that you may be asked to help supply. If

you have email, most of you should have already have received a

questionnaire from the Christian Church in Ohio asking you to rank those

qualities that you desire most from the next settled pastor.

We will be telling our story, the story of First Christian Church in

Middletown. All of the above needs to be supported by your prayers as we

seek to discern with the prompting of the Holy Spirit where God is calling us

to be.

Your Search Committee hopes to complete this congregational profile

form by early August. The Reverend Bentley will then return to meet with

committee and provide them with about fifteen profiles from prospective

candidates. I will no longer be able to be a part of this process except to

answer a question or two. Again, be in prayer!

“4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.* 5

You shall love the

Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”

The above passage is from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and it was regarded as a

directive from God through Moses regarding how God was to be respected and

honored.

We are beginning a new fiscal year in the life First Christian. We have elected

officers and leaders for the coming year or for their respective terms of leadership.

These include Moderator, Vice-Moderator, Secretary, Treasurer, Elders, and

Deacons.

The children of Israel were commanded to keep these commandments within

their hearts and spirits. Note that there is only one God. Therefore, we cannot turn

sports or other activities into a God. We cannot with a failure of commitment say to

ourselves, “I know I am to serve as an Elder or Deacon today, but someone else

will just fill in for me.” For each time we do that we have let the priority of God

being first slip away. Our commitment to our Lord tends to lag and the entire

church that our Lord brought into being tends to suffer as a result.

Let us seek to be faithful as God and His Church become our Number One

commitment.

George Bullard writes the following in one of his recent insights:

“Congregations desiring to transform cannot waste opportunities to

demonstrate or speak to the spiritual aspects of every event or process it

sponsors. They must be intentional and purposeful about everything they do.

Church is not just about being busy. It is about pointing people to a Christ-
centered faith-based lifestyle.

While the manner in which the spiritual aspects are stated or implied may at

times be subtle rather than confrontational, it should be obvious.

Congregational leaders need to pray and think through how with each event

or process the unconditional love of God might be made manifest in word and

deed.”

Many of you may know that I have a passion for spiritual formation. I

cannot agree more with pointing people to a Christ-centered faith-based

lifestyle. I believe that we often miss the mark simply because we go

through the motions without the intense prayer effort to back up the

intended results of pointing people to Christ.

We are moving into an exciting time in our journey to call a settled

pastor. Will we clearly demonstrate to prospective candidates that we are a

sincere faith-based people?

When I think of a congregation, I think of connections. Like the chain above,

we are connected. We are connected, perhaps by family relationship. We might be

connected as neighbors. The communities in which we live connect us. Age, work,

schools all provide connections.

The most important connection comes because of faith communities to which

we belong. In this case, we are a part of First Christian Church.

The chain above can be broken. Each link is important for all of the others to

exist. There is no link that is more important than any other.

Where are you as a part of the chain that God has called together as First

Christian? As we move forward, will you seek to be the strongest link possible and

not allow the chain to fail in any way?