News

Christmas has come and gone and now our thoughts turn to the next

significant holiday of this season, New Year’s Day. Let’s forget about the parties

and gatherings that may occur on New Year’s Eve. Instead, think about the full

meaning of the New Year.

Despite all of the electronic gadgets that we may possess like smart phones,

tablets, e-readers, computer generated games, let alone computers in and of

themselves; we may have forgotten about a basic teaching tool that has been used

in many a classroom, the chalk board. Early versions of these boards were made

from slate. Many of us may have had the task of not only erasing what had been

written on these boards, but wiping them off for their next use.

The New Year marks a time to start with a clean slate. Put aside unfulfilled

intentions, regrets for things not done or unkind words spoken. Part of starting

with a clean slate is to truly keep the resolutions that we have or may make as we

begin the New Year.

I would hope and pray that you might consider the ways in which you can be

more faithful to what God has called you to do: joining regularly with His church

family in worship and prayer; making time to spend some moments reading His

word; reaching out to those whose needs are going unmet; extending a welcoming

invitation to your neighbors and friends to join you in worship.

Certainly, the opportunities and the list could continue. I entrust that each of

you will start with your own clean slate.

Pastor Nik

The word for this week of Christmas is encounter. For weeks now we have

been preparing, anticipating, expecting. Those preparations may have involved

shopping, decorating, having fellowship with different groups. All of this leads up to

what occurs this week.

Over the past four weeks we have lighted the four candles on the Advent

Wreath; the first symbolizing prophecy; the second symbolizing Bethlehem; the

third symbolizing the Shepherds, and the fourth symbolizing the glorious message

of the angels

One candle remains to be lighted on Christmas Eve, the Christ Candle. I pray

that you will carve out some time to join us as we hear the story, relight the Advent

Candles, and end as we all light our own candles after we have partaken of the

sacred emblems of Holy Communion.

May your own hearts and spirits truly encounter the babe in a manger who

becomes the Savior of the world.

The words of the following carol say it best:

What Child is this, who, laid to rest,

On Mary’s lap is sleeping,

Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,

While shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this id Christ the King,

Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;

Haste, haste to bring him laud,

The babe, the son of

Pastor Nik

Think about attachment and detachment for a moment. We become attached

to a significant other, our children, our work, and the list could go on.

What about attachment to pastors and the church they seek to serve? Yes,

we may come to love a pastor. The problem is: they come and go. A pastor’s

tenure can be for many years or shorter. When they depart we are confronted with

detachment. Will it be the same with the next pastor? Most likely, it will not

because they bring with themselves their personality, their style, and their

approach to ministry. Yet, a new pastor can mean excitement and the joy of

establishing a relationship how ever temporary it may be.

Did you ever consider that a pastor goes through the same joy of attachment

and the pain of detachment? In my forty-five plus years of ministry, I have served

a total of ten congregations including my student church while I was in seminary

and the three interim ministries since retirement. In each of these congregations I

have become attached to the members. I have loved them as we have worked

together in ministry. Whenever I have left a congregation there has been pain and

loss through detachment. However, I did not give up on ministry simply because of

the pain of detachment. I knew God had bigger plans with the excitement of a new

congregation to which I have been called to serve.

In my short time with you I have come to love you and appreciate the

possibilities of ministry that God has in store for us

Will you allow the pain of detachment to keep you from fully being a part of

First Christian Church or will you embrace the wonderful ministries that we can do

together?

Pastor Nik

Most of us are familiar with the image of a glass half empty or a glass half

full. Imagine yourselves and First Christian Church in the light of either one of

these images.

A glass half empty conveys the thoughts of hopelessness, despair, pessimism,

and failure. Why should I or we invest our time, our energy, and our effort into

something that seems to be gradually draining out? How much more can we draw

or take from that half empty glass until it is truly empty?

On the other hand, a glass half full conveys the thoughts of hope, growing

energy and passion, optimism with a future to embrace. Why shouldn’t I or we

become excited and hopeful for what is yet to come?

We are in the midst of the season of Advent, a season that is filled with hope

and excitement and acceptance of God’s blessed gift of love to us, His Son and our

Savior. God never embraced the image of a glass half empty and He seeks for us

to model in our individual lives, in our work, and most certainly within the body of

Christ, his church that same image.

There is a moment when Jesus was teaching the crowds in his Sermon on the

Mount in which he embodied the image of not only a glass half full, but also a glass

that was overflowing. Read Matthew 6:25-34 and truly drink in the truth of those

words.

Will you be that glass half empty or that glass half full?

Pastor Nik

This is the first installment of weekly emails in which I will share some simple

thoughts to help guide us through our time of transition. I will not seek to give

answers. Rather, I seek only to stir your thoughts as together we seek to discern

where and how God is calling us to move. By the way, I choose not to call this a

“blog”.

Since Advent has begun, let us focus on its meaning and value. Advent is a

time of preparation and being ready for the coming of our Lord and Savior. No, it is

not about decorating or shopping, or some of the other activities that we might

associate with Christmas. Yes, those things may occur, but it is about preparation

and the readiness of one’s heart and spirit to receive the greatest gift that we have

been given, God’s Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

May I suggest this as a time for daily prayer, remembering, reading, and

reflecting upon many of the scriptures that point to the coming of a Savior. I

suggest readings such as Isaiah 40:3-5, Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 11:1-5, Isaiah 53:1-9,

Jeremiah 33:14-16. You may be aware of other appropriate readings that you can

add to this list.

What does it truly mean to prepare? I am not going to give you a hard and

quick answer. Preparation may vary for every one of us during the season of

Advent. For some, it may be a quiet listening. What is God saying to you, in what

ways is God stirring your heart? For others, it may be a joyful expectation and

anticipation like a child who can’t wait to open those gifts under the tree. For still

others, it may stir memories of Christmases past that no longer occur because of

changes in family structures that may have occurred.

Whatever the situation may be for you, keep your focus upon the gift that has

been given and that we celebrate again, Jesus Christ.

Pastor Nik