When I was still at home in my latter teen years, my father decided to have a

pond built that would sit almost directly behind our two car garage with

accompanying horse stalls. I marveled as the bulldozers scraped out a fairly deep

hole and piling the dirt to enable the eventual waters that would gather to be held

in place. Loads of large rocks were hauled in to line the upper edge of the pond.

Downspouts from the nearby house and the garage were rerouted to help replenish

the water supply. At least one natural spring was discovered.

It took at least a year of rain and snow to fill the pond. After a year or two,

my father had the pond stocked with blue gill and bass. Even though I was in my

latter teen years, I was like most boys. I loved to occasionally pick up a stone and

toss it into the pond.

I marveled at the ripples that moved toward the shore after that stone had

struck the water. Picture those ripples for a moment. Imagine that you are like

that ripple edging farther and farther away from where it was created. As it

touches the shore there may be a bit of a splash and in this case, the plants, the

insects, the frogs experience something that I started simply by tossing a rock into

the pond.

Our Lord touches our lives and we become the ripples that reach out to touch

another’s life. Prayerfully, consider the many wonderful ways and opportunities

that our Lord opens to us as a part of First Christian Church. You see, First

Christian is like that pond.

The thought of opposites kept coming to mind as I pondered and prayed over

this article. There is one story that Jesus told that stands out from so many others.

It is the story of the Pharisee and the publican or tax collector. You can find it

in Luke 18:9-14. Without going into the full detail of the parable, we all need to

ask ourselves this simple question: How do I approach God in my times of

worship?

We are presented with quite a contrast within this parable. The Pharisee

approaches God from a place of righteousness. In other words, he seems to have it

all together and he wants those around him to know it. With a puffed up attitude

he begins to proudly exclaim that he is glad that he is not like that publican or tax

collector. Allow me to put it in today’s words. He attends church regularly. He

gives a tithe or more to the church. He willingly accepts any responsibility or

mission task that he is asked to do. This seems like the ideal church member if

there is truly such a person.

Remember my question: How do I approach God in my times of worship?

Now, let’s look at the other side, that is, from the perspective of the publican

or tax collector. The tax collector was beating his chest and would not even look up

toward the heavens. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

Again, consider: How do I approach God in my times of worship?

We are approaching two very significant moments in the life of First Christian.

The first will involve the work of the Nominating Committee as they seek to

replace leaders at different levels of the congregation’s work and whose terms are

expiring. When you are asked to serve wherever the need may be, will you

willingly accept the privilege of serving our Lord and our God? You see, so often we

get it wrong. We limit our vision to focus only on the local church. Expand your

vision to include the One who has called us into being. In the words of the hymn,

“I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today;…” Remember who calls, not simply

for filling a slate of officers and leaders, but to be a vital part of continuing ministry.

The second moment in the life of the church is addressing the

stewardship/financial needs for the coming year. As I write this, I aware the

individuals are working on a plan to present to the congregation. A significant part

of this plan will be what it will take to enable the congregation to be to call a settled

pastor.

The next step involves our response. How is God calling us to respond with

our resources? Actually, I will be saying more about this from the pulpit in a couple

of weeks. Over 80% of Jesus’ teachings address what we do with what God has

given us. If it was that important to our Lord, then it needs to take on the same

level of importance with each of us.

The big question for every one of us is: How will we serve?

We are approaching two very significant moments in the life of First Christian.

The first will involve the work of the Nominating Committee as they seek to

replace leaders at different levels of the congregation’s work and whose terms are

expiring. When you are asked to serve wherever the need may be, will you

willingly accept the privilege of serving our Lord and our God? You see, so often we

get it wrong. We limit our vision to focus only on the local church. Expand your

vision to include the One who has called us into being. In the words of the hymn,

“I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today;…” Remember who calls, not simply

for filling a slate of officers and leaders, but to be a vital part of continuing ministry.

The second moment in the life of the church is addressing the

stewardship/financial needs for the coming year. As I write this, I aware the

individuals are working on a plan to present to the congregation. A significant part

of this plan will be what it will take to enable the congregation to be to call a settled

pastor.

The next step involves our response. How is God calling us to respond with

our resources? Actually, I will be saying more about this from the pulpit in a couple

of weeks. Over 80% of Jesus’ teachings address what we do with what God has

given us. If it was that important to our Lord, then it needs to take on the same

level of importance with each of us.

The big question for every one of us is: How will we serve?

The focus point this next week is Mother’s Day. It is on this special day that

we celebrate the gift of motherhood and the love that we usually associate with a

mother. I will be sharing the text of talk that I used to give during my teen years

as a member of the Order of Demolay. The Order of Demolay is an organization for

young men that is sponsored by a local Masonic lodge.

The talk that I will share with you is called “The Flower Talk” and was

presented publicly when a new candidate was being inducted in the Order. Most of

the rest of the ritual of an Order was not public, but held in secret.

Besides what I am writing now, I will say some other things on Sunday as a

means of introduction. For most of us a mother is held in adoration and love.

However, that may not always be the case. For a day does not go by when we are

made aware that not all mothers are as sweet and as loving as we might want them

to be. We can read and hear of dreadful abuse, heroin addiction, and countless

other forms of mistreatment of children.

Nevertheless, let us remember the blessedness of this special day and the

mothers who shared their love and support as we grew into adulthood.

I share another insight from George Bullard’s “Faithsoaring Strategies”.

“Congregations needing to transform too often have a desperate need for new people who can be

active, have leadership ability, and will tithe their income through the congregation. They want these people

to provide new attendance, leadership, and financial support the congregation needs to transform. This

comes to close to suggesting that new people are wanted to help long-termed members fulfill their goals.”

The above scenario sounds quite wonderful at first glance. However, I believe there are number of

questions that need to be considered. Are those long-termed members willing to make the needed sacrifices

and contributions for continual growth and transformation? Are they willing to set the example, that is, to

pave the way for that growth and transformation?

Investment of one’s energy and commitment become the key. Transformations occur because

people do not become people on the sidelines, but are actively in the midst of the field of play.

As a member or participant of First Christian, are you on the sidelines or ready to invest yourselves

in the field of play?

Since early January, I have been receiving by email daily insights on what it

means to become a transformative congregation. These are sent by George

Bullard, President of the Columbia Partnership, a group of church consultants who

are based in Columbia, South Carolina. These insights come from George’s book,

Faithsoaring Churches. I have shared a few with some of our leaders.

About a week ago, I sent George Bullard an email and I asked him if he would

give me permission to use some of these insights as launching points for this article

as long as I made sure that I gave him the credit for the insight. He responded to

me very quickly with a strong “Yes”. Therefore, starting this week and from time to

time in future weeks, you will be seeing some or part of these insights with some of

my added comments. I pray that you will enjoy them and that they will enrich our

life together in our time of transition as much as they have enriched mine.

Since I do not have each of these insights dated, I can only refer to possible

time of receiving one. The following from George Bullard struck me as significant:

“Very few congregations transform by focusing on developing successful ministry

projects. Some will see short-term significance by focusing on mission action.

Generally it will take full surrender to ongoing missional engagement for

congregations to transform.”

Consider First Christian. We do ministry at Hope House. We offer time,

people, and ministry resources for the homeless through Shalom. We collect

various special offerings such as Week of Compassion or Blanket Sunday. We

collect mittens and hats for children. Each of these ministries is a short-term

missional project.

Think about ways in which we can reach out into the community of

Middletown over the long term so that we may more aggressively embrace the

mission and ministry to which God calls us.

 

Pastor Nik

 

My dear friends, we are entering one of the most significant weeks of the Christian year, Holy Week. This past Sunday we began the week with the celebration of Palm Sunday, marking that moment when Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem triumphantly and the people welcomed him with joy and celebration. However, I reminded worshipers that not far behind were perhaps those same people now shouting with anger, “Crucify him!”
Many, many years ago my wife and I used to sing a duet, “I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked”. I want to invite you not to sing, but to imagine living out the title of that beautiful song.
Therefore, I am going to list for you all of the accounts from each of the four gospels of the passion of our Lord. I would encourage you to pick at least one gospel or more and read each day some of the full account of that story. I begin each gospel listing with the account of the triumphal entry and I end with the burial in the borrowed tomb.

 

Pastor Nik

One of the scripture passages that prayer triad groups have had to study and pray over comes from that significant moment when Jesus asks his disciples who people are saying that he is. You can find this in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew beginning with verse 13. They quickly respond to his question, “Some say you are John the Baptist; others say Elijah; while still others say, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
Jesus follows this with a second question, “What about you?” “Who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter responds, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
Jesus replies, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you, that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church….”
Simon Peter’s response is a response of faith that becomes the foundation of the church, not only then, but more importantly, today. Simon’s very name took on a deeper meaning at that moment. You see, Peter, comes from the Greek word, petros, which is translated rock.
As we move forward, consider how you, too, can be that rock of faith that helps to focus our lives together upon the church that God calls us to become.

Pastor Nik

 

I was recently reminded that being a Christian and truly following Jesus as Lord and Savior can be a risky business. First of all, we step out in blind faith to accept and trust what we cannot see and to believe only what we can honestly experience. As the days grow longer and hopefully warmer, we will begin to see the evidence of God’s amazing creation breaking forth. Flowers will gradually begin to poke their heads through the ground and soon break into blossom. Buds will form on tree branches to be followed by leaves. Insects will be buzzing about and the birds will joyfully sing.
So, where is the risk? Within the Christian community, there are all kinds of relationships. Some are quite friendly while others may give the impression of tension and suspicion. I can trust my Lord, but can I trust my sister or brother or mother or father or child close to me?
Whenever I hear people speak of their church family, I cringe just a bit. For I know that not all families demonstrate the foundations of love we might expect.
Putting all of this aside, I want you to think about the reward of following Jesus and the many ways in which that can enrich your life. Yes, there may be risks, but I firmly believe that the rewards far outweigh the risks.
Join me in rejoicing in the awakening that comes with springtime and the hope that we are given to celebrate as we approach the resurrection of our Lord and Savior

 

Pastor Nik