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February 2008 About a month ago I received a call from a high
school classmate who was calling to tell me about our thirty year
reunion planned for this summer – the class of 1978, One of the things that has hit home is the list of classmates who have died over the last thirty years. (Ten so far on our reunion website.) Some I knew better than others, but all shared in the identity of the class of ’78. Still others from our class we have not been able to find. What ever happened to them? As I have shared in the lives of people in the church, those in their 70’s and 80’s often share the loss of friends and family. One of the most painful things in life is seeing those dear to us pass away. As I write this we will be remembering Rev. Harry Christie this Thursday and his ministry at PPC and in the Princeton Community. We are reminded through our losses that God has promised eternal life for those who have gone on before us, and for us as well. God has promised to be with us through all our joys and pains of this life. God has given us friends and family as a blessing. We are thankful for those God gave in our lives, but we are also saddened when they are gone. Ecclesiastes says: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die…a time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance…” (3:1-2, 4). We will do all those things from Ecclesiastes and yet seldom, in the moment, do we realize how treasured our time is with those we love and share friendship. Let us remember to thank God for our relationships with one another, but most importantly to thank God for our relationship with Jesus Christ. Let us nurture that relationship as it will enhance all our relationships. Peace. Ω Pastor Ed January 2008 Happy New Year! I wrote last month that I would follow up with more thoughts on the Christian faith and other faith traditions. I appreciate those who have emailed or commented in person with thoughts on the issues. I jotted down six areas of concern in the December newsletter: 1. What we
believe about other faith traditions – As you know “the
church” has very diverse beliefs along the liberal/conservative
spectrum. On one side,
believers proclaim Jesus as the only way to God (via John 14:6) and thus
believe that all who are without Jesus Christ are not saved.
Others trust that God is at work in and beyond the Christian
church. Some would argue
that Paul holds out hope for Israelites because “to them belongs the
adoption, the glory, the covenants…” (Romans 9:4-5).
Still more would argue that the Muslims, descendents of Abraham
as well, are given God’s promise through Ishmael (Genesis 21:18).
Some would argue (I don’t know if they use any biblical texts)
that all the “main” faith traditions can lead one to God.
My current belief is this: we are called to proclaim Christ
crucified and risen from the dead for the salvation of the world, to
those who believe on him, as Paul writes, “For one who believes with
the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so
is saved” (Romans 10:10). It
is not our “job” to determine who is saved and who is not.
Our job is to proclaim the gospel to all who will listen and the
Holy Spirit is the One who works within them for salvation.
I cannot say God is not at work in other faith traditions, but I
can proclaim that God is at work in the gospel of Jesus Christ and that
is our call. God will have
mercy on whom God chooses: “So
it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy”
(Rom. 9:16). Even 2. What we believe about our own faith tradition – These issues focus our attention on the gospel message. While I cannot fully convey everything about our faith in this forum, I would encourage everyone to examine their faith story and how to articulate that story to others when the opportunity arises. As I said above, our task is to proclaim Christ crucified and risen and how God has changed our lives so that others may come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. We may not agree on issues dealing with other faith traditions, but we can come together with one voice to preach Christ. I have given my life to Christ and to the message of Christ. I am not called to defend any other tradition, only to preach the One who has changed me, called me, and challenged me to follow. 3. Was the pulpit the appropriate place to raise these issues? One comment I received after Rev. Curry’s sermon was: “If not the pulpit, where else?” My response is this: the pulpit is primarily the place of proclaiming the gospel, the word of God, for the worshipping community of faith. There are other places and times, perhaps family night supper or other meetings, where a presentation of other faiths may be more appropriate. But, we have not invited such a conversation to take place any where and this one has from the pulpit! I understand that some disliked the situation while others found it refreshing. As I said last month, at least we are discussing our faith more passionately out of this! 4. Are we willing and able to discuss differing opinions on these issues? So far, yes! 5. How do we present the gospel to those of other religious traditions when opportunity arises? This relates to number three above. Opportunities do not come everyday to share the gospel with others. But we should be able to do so when able. In Young Life Ministry to teens, the philosophy is to “earn the right to be heard.” That is to say that we do not just press people with the gospel, but befriend people, treat others as we would like to be treated, and when an opportunity comes, we share Christ. Paul speaks to the Thessalonians as becoming so dear to him so that he shared the gospel and his life with them (1 Thess. 2:8). I am “turned off” by Christians who start in on me with their message before I have welcomed them to do so. I would be more receptive to that if they would simply ask if I would be willing to listen. The Jehovah’s witnesses at least ask if I am willing to give some time to them before they speak of their faith. Can we not be as considerate of others? Most important, we must be able to share when opportunities come. There is no greater excitement than sharing Jesus Christ with another person. I know we get nervous sometimes, but Christ is with us and will give us a peace that passes our understanding. As always, I welcome your comments and questions! edpettus@yahoo.com Peace. Ω Pastor Ed
December 2007 Happy Advent and Merry Christmas! I was not in the pulpit on November 18 but I have heard multiple comments (pro and con) to the sermon preached from our pulpit by Michael Curry. It is difficult to comment on words I did not hear but I have a general idea of the topics raised and I can comment on the comments! If you were not in worship on this particular Sunday I can let you know what I know. Apparently there was a reading from the Koran and reflection on other religious faiths. This has drawn ire from some of those who were present, but I have also heard words like “refreshing” and “interesting” from others. My assumption is that the sermon sought to teach on other faith traditions with an underlying theme that we are all God’s children. Again, I was not present, so I may have missed the mark. If nothing else, the sermon has sparked debate on what we believe and what we are about and what we articulate about our faith tradition. For that I am grateful. We should be concerned about articulating our faith and our testimony of God’s love and grace in our lives. We should be focused on how we are able to give account of our hope (1 Peter 3:15-16). The conversations I have had since returning from vacation have focused on a variety of concerns: what we believe about other faith traditions, what we believe about our own, was the pulpit the appropriate place to raise these issues, are we willing and able to discuss differing opinions on these issues, and how do we present the gospel to those of other religious traditions when opportunity arises. I will address some of these topics in the next newsletter, but for now I invite you to dialogue on the topics as we have done in session meeting and in Bible study. If you were in worship on Nov. 18, give me a call or stop by, drop a note or send me an email (edpettus@yahoo.com) so that we can continue the conversation. If you were not present then and desire to discuss the issues, you are welcomed to do so as well! “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Peace. Ω
Pastor Ed November 2007 November brings thoughts of fall colors, Thanksgiving, cooler mornings, and the church’s “season” to emphasis stewardship. Stewardship is a lifelong commitment to follow Christ and care for the things of God. We have been given dominion over the earth; as faithful stewards we are called to care for the earth. We have been given material wealth, therefore, we have the responsibility to manage that wealth to the glory of God. We have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit; we are called to life a live worthy of our calling and to use the gifts of the Spirit to build up the body of Christ, the church. We have been entrusted with the mysteries of God, the revelation of Jesus Christ, and as stewards we are entrusted with that mystery – called to share the message with others. In the end, everything is a gift from God entrusted to our care. We give of our resources and of ourselves because God has given so much to us. Our gratitude is expressed in our willingness to commit everything we have to God’s glory and give ourselves as a living sacrifice to worship God. As we think about stewardship this month, let us
remember that stewardship offers us the opportunity to return to God our
time, talents, skills, resources, money, energy, love, and imagination.
Stewardship means managing the gifts of life God has given so
that others may come to know God’s love and salvation, and that we may
grow deeper in our love for God and one another.
God has entrusted us with the tremendous responsibility and joy
of stewardship. God has given us the joy of giving.
Giving, whether we talk about money or time or talents, is a
discipline that blesses the giver. The
messages we receive from the world are about keeping, hoarding, and
looking out for self. But
there is such joy in giving. The
good news is that the world’s message of scarcity is countered by
God’s message of abundance. God
gives in abundance. There is
enough! God provides for all
our needs. But the problem
is we trust the message of the world that tells us we need more.
Stewardship helps us understand that God has given us everything
we need and the joy of giving enables us to take only what we need so
that we are able to give in generosity for the sake of the Jesus lived with complete awareness of God’s abundance. Jesus never doubted that God would provide. Mark 6 tells of the feeding of five thousand people in a deserted place where there was no food. There was a need for God to meet. The disciples were concerned and asked Jesus to send everyone away to find food. But Jesus tells them to feed the people. The disciples were concerned that there was not enough, but out of five loaves and two fish God provides enough and when the story ends there were twelve baskets full of broken bread and fish. Stewardship invites us to imagine a world where God provides all we need and there will even be some leftovers! Let us be challenged to give from the abundance of God, in response to the abundance of God, and to trust that God will provide for our every need. That will lead us to joy, the joy of giving, the joy of faithful stewardship! Amen. Ω Pastor Ed October 2007 Several folks have asked me about the recent
article in Time and the book
about Mother Teresa’s “crisis of faith”.
Even the phrase “crisis of faith” may not sufficiently
describe her experience, or lack of experience, of God’s presence
through her ministry to the poor in As I read the article I was not that surprised that
a woman who has been perceived by the world as a saint (even before the
Catholic Church grants that status) struggled through such darkness in
her commitment to Jesus Christ. One
strength of the Catholic Church is its understanding of the spiritual
nature of our walk with God. What may be the greatest witness of Teresa’s
faith journey is not her being among the poorest of the poor in The second text is from Isaiah 50:10, perhaps best
translated in the NIV: “Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the
word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light,
trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.”
This is the passage My belief is that any time we have doubts, any time we struggle to hear God and do not, any time we “sense” that God is silent, we may be experiencing this “dark night”. It is not necessarily a place of unbelief or non-faith, but a place of spiritual crisis that may lead to even deeper faith. In my experience with this “dark night”, I believe it is most often a time of transition in faith, even a faithful place to embrace for a time. I cling to passages like those mentioned above and to others like Psalm 139:8 – “If I ascend to heaven, you [God] are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.” Sheol is a dark place, the pit, and when we are in the darkness God is with us, even if silent. Psalm 139:12 states that “even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as day, for darkness is as light to you.” Our “dark night of the soul” is as mysterious as darkness being as light to God. We cannot fully comprehend this mystery of faith, nor can we walk by sight answering every question that is presented. Faith is about living with the questions more than about thinking we know all the answers. To quote Barbara Brown Taylor: “I have learned to prize holy ignorance more highly than religious certainty” (Leaving Church, p. 224). The book of Hebrews invites us to encourage one another with these words: “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful” (10:23), for “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (11:1). Our conviction in faith is of things not seen; that is our hope from the Faithful One who has promised. Ω (Refer to http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1655415,00.html
for article Mother Teresa’s
Crisis of Faith.)
Pastor Ed September 2007 I believe that one of the concerns for the church today is keeping more diligently the fourth commandment. I’ll help you…it is the command to remember and keep the Sabbath. Some have suggested that this commandment is the most neglected of the ten commands. We would not even consider murder or stealing or bearing false witness, but we so easily might trample the Sabbath. Sabbath is a gift of God. Sabbath is a part of creation. Sabbath is a part of the Exodus. Sabbath was a hot topic in Jesus’ day as he was accused of breaking Sabbath laws established by the Jews. Jesus renewed our understanding of Sabbath with teachings like: The Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). Jesus taught and preached and healed on the Sabbath; his disciples picked grain on the Sabbath (forbidden by Jewish law). Jesus lifted Sabbath to its proper place in our lives. John Calvin (the father of Presbyterianism) said, “Jesus Christ is finally the true fulfillment of the Sabbath. In Christ the Sabbath is no longer confined to a single day, but extends throughout the whole course of life, until, completely dead to ourselves, we are filled with the life of God.” Jesus said, "Come to me, all you that are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). My hope is that we might remember the Sabbath as a day of rest, refreshment, joy, worship, remembrance and an opportunity to be obedient to God’s command. I read a comment from Eugene Peterson about how congregational leaders are tempted to cram the Sabbath with work. We often feel that Sunday is the only day we can get people doing church work when they are somewhat free from the busy-ness of the week. But filling the Sabbath with meetings, projects, and other church activities displaces the intent of Sabbath. As Peterson writes: “All the leaders do is get them so busy for the Lord that they have no time for the Lord (Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, p. 118). My desire is to reclaim the Sabbath that we might all come to rest in Christ, through church school, worship, and rest – through activities that enable us to listen to God, notice God’s creation, remember God’s redemption, and glorify God. Part of the Sabbath morning liturgy in the Jewish tradition sings: To God who rested from all action on the seventh day and ascended upon His throne of glory. He vested the day of rest with beauty; He called the Sabbath a delight. This is the song and the praise of the seventh day, on which God rested from His work. The seventh day itself is uttering praise. A song of the Sabbath day: “It is good to give thanks to the Lord!” Therefore, all the creatures of God bless Him. Ω (Abraham
Heschel, The Sabbath, p.24) Pastor Ed August 2007 The Bible is filled
with faithful people who found themselves way out of their comfort
zones, being challenged to change, to repent, to turn in a whole new
direction for life. Some did
so and found their journey with Jesus fraught with uncertainty, with
amazing surprises, with danger, with risk, but also with tremendous
promises – and yet seldom with the comfort we tend to crave in our
faith journeys. Others
walked away from Christ, rejecting his teaching, his claims, his
miracles and invitation. The
church on the whole has sometimes followed Jesus with abandon and other
times turned away to huddle itself into places of easier comfort.
To follow Jesus, more often than not, involves risk.
The risk begins in the old text, the old commands and commission
given by Jesus Christ. In
the last newsletter we looked at those dimensions of the missional
church that are foundational to our existence.
Dimension One: Love God. Dimension
Two: Live God’s Pastor Ed July 2007 “They” say that one of the best ways we learn is through repetition. I am repeating, in this month’s newsletter, some thoughts from sermons on the missional church. This month I want to share again four dimensions of missional churches.
W Loving God through worship and obedience. W Living God’s mission through service and sharing. W Loving others through embracing and inviting. W Leading others through equipping and empowering. Ω
Pastor Ed June 2007 At the last session meeting we began to consider a retreat for the session and for anyone interested from the congregation. One of the reasons we feel we need to “get away” for a time is that we simply do not have the time needed to discuss and pray over issues in monthly session meetings. A retreat will also afford us the opportunity to come to some agreement (or at least understanding of differences) on the church’s concerns, goals, and mission. I have been preaching and teaching about becoming a “missional” church. One of the reasons I think we need to focus attention together in a retreat setting is to discern the missional mindset. The following paragraphs are from a sermon I preached on September 10, 2006: What does it mean to become a missional church?
“Missional” is basically a new word in the church.
The word did not exist before 1990 and the first use of it was
probably by Charles Van Engen when he coined the term “missional
relationships” as he addressed the role of the local church in the
world (Shaped By God’s Heart, p.10).
“Missional” is not just about doing mission and thus saying
that we all must at one time or another pile into the church van and
head to Mexico or Chicago or Africa (which would require a little more
than the van). “Missional”
is less about sending people on a mission trip and more about being
identified as missionaries to our surroundings.
We are not just mission-minded, but we are missional – that is,
it is the essence of our existence as the church.
We are invited to join God in God’s mission.
We are sent by Jesus Christ just as God the Father sent Jesus to
the world. That is not to
say that we do not send and support some to go around the world, but it
is saying that such mission thinking limits our mission to a line item
in the budget. Missional
means more – it defines us as the people of God sharing God’s love
and God’s message right where we are, in Princeton, in Bluefield, in
West Virginia, in Virginia, and beyond.
How do we become missional?
The key has been
with us all along, to move beyond maintenance, beyond the thinking that
says “let’s just do church better” in its current form.
We move beyond “that’s the way we have always done it”.
We no longer point to a building on You did not choose me but I chose you.
And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that
the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. Our essence, our
existence is not ours to define, but comes from God in Jesus Christ.
And Christ invites the church to join up and when we do we become
chosen for a purpose. Milfred
Minatrea defines the missional church in this way: “A missional church is
a reproducing community of authentic disciples, being equipped as
missionaries sent by God, to live and proclaim [God’s] Kingdom in
their world” (Shaped By God’s Heart, p.12).
It is God’s mission.
We are God’s church. We
are invited to join in the mission.
The missional church movement is not the only perspective
available to us, but I have found it the most compelling, from my
perspective, to address the concerns of the church (our church and the
church in Plans for a retreat are in the works. I hope we will take the opportunity to use the retreat as a catalyst for discernment as we seek God’s will. Peace. Ω Pastor Ed May 2007 The session has, from time to time, discussed the
possibility of more direct missionary support from Princeton
Presbyterian Church. The
opportunity has come to consider a friend of mine who has accepted a
call to After
getting a master's degree in Public Health Nutrition and working a year
as a nutritionist in a public health department in east "When I left Pastor Ed April 2007 Holy week is soon upon us. Lent has seemed a bit longer this year – funny how time passes for us. PPC will once again host the 12:05 holy week services Monday through Friday. We also have our Maundy Thursday evening service at 7:00pm and Easter will include the sacrament of communion and our Easter Cantata. Easter is our biggest church celebration. Christ is risen and we rejoice in the news that the suffering and death of Jesus Christ has resulted in an empty tomb. Salvation, forgiveness, grace, love, hope…the foundations of our faith rest on this holy day. As I write this we are not quite there yet. Still a few days left to examine ourselves, to focus on Jesus’ last supper with his disciples, to observe the cross and the death of Christ, to reflect on what his suffering and death mean for our lives and for our eternal life. Our society does not like to focus on death. But the Christian needs to spend some time there, at the cross, with the suffering Christ, for out of that suffering we recognize that Christ is with us in our suffering. Christ is with us when we face the mystery of death. Christ is with us always, through the good times and bad. Easter is just about here – and I look with great anticipation for Easter morning. But there is time to wait, to wait at the foot of the cross and behold the anguish of death, for in the cross we also die to ourselves that we may live to God. There is no easy way through the cross. We cannot skip holy week or Maundy Thursday, or Good Friday, or the closed tomb. We must see it, live it, know it, before we can experience the joy of “He is risen!” Let us rejoice Easter morning, but let us also spend some time at the cross. “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). Ω Pastor Ed March 2007 You may have seen the
story…they found Jesus’ remains!
Well, they like to think they did.
It seems to be the trend during Lent, in anticipation of Easter,
to attack Christian claims of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This time it is James Cameron producing a documentary for the
Discovery Channel about an archeological find near Our confession stands. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! And no “evidence” for or against will silence the church. Our confession (our testimony) is not based on evidence in the sense of scientific proof. Our evidence is based upon the testimony of witnesses who saw the empty tomb, who later saw Jesus along a road, or in an upper room. We do not need the footprints to prove it or the DNA or a shroud or any physical evidence to prove our belief. As Paul says, “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). To the world our lack of evidence makes our testimony flimsy. I’m going to rely on Paul’s testimony once again: “Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are discerned spiritually. Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny. ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:14-16). Our testimony is foolishness to those who will only believe with physical evidence. Our proclamation of Christ crucified is foolishness to those who try to debunk the Christian faith each year prior to Easter. But to those who believe, the testimony is sure: “The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). My entire argument is based upon the testimony of scripture. I do not believe that I have to look outside the Bible to prove the testimony of the Bible. Our faith based “evidence” does not require validation beyond the story that “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scripture” (see 1 Corinthians 15:3-8). Paul twice uses the phrase “in accordance with the scripture!” Paul’s argument for Christ is based in scripture just as ours is today. Skeptics will pop up every year to make their claims that Jesus did not really die on the cross, that he did not rise from the tomb, that he married and had a child and on and on. But we know that their claims have no life. Life is found in Jesus Christ, crucified, dead, buried, and raised on the third day. Life is found in the one who is the way, the truth, and the life. We are called to continue to bear testimony to the truth in Jesus as revealed in scripture. It is not our job to prove it, only to give testimony to it! While the Discovery Channel looks to rob the world of Christ, “let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23). Ω Pastor Ed February 2007 The youth group has been reading through the gospel of Mark the past month as part of the confirmation process for those who are planning to join the church and as a second reading for those who are already confirmed. One Sunday evening when I asked about what impressed them in our latest reading, the story of Jesus calming the storm was mentioned (Mark 4:35-41). We talked about how Jesus was able to speak a word and the windstorm ceased. It is an incredible story! I asked the youth to look back at Mark 3:9-13 and we noticed how this story of a crowd pressing in on Jesus was similar to the winds pressing the waves against the boat. We pointed to the moment Jesus said, “Peace! Be still!” to the waves and similarly, how he withdrew to the mountain in chapter 3 to find a place of calm. Both instances moved from chaos to calm. The chaos of a crowd pressing on Jesus - to the calm of the mountain with his disciples. The chaos of the storm winds - followed by the calm of the commanded sea. This “chaos to calm” theme began way back at creation as God brought order to the chaos of the formless void and the wind that swept over the sea. We yearn for calm in the midst of chaos. We yearn to know where God is when things go wrong. Tragedy leads us to wonder and often the tragedy seems so chaotic that it makes no sense to us. We wonder why there is so much chaos in our lives and in the world and it seems that it gets worse as time passes. We think that, with every generation, it cannot get much worse. But this is nothing knew! Every generation has had to face their own “formless” chaos. We all face times when life seems way out of control. The good news is that God has been bringing order out of chaos since creation. Jesus reminds us yet again that God can bring order to our chaos, healing to our sickness, forgiveness to our sin, fulfillment to our emptiness, life out of the pit. Some would say that our youth face the most troubling world ever for a generation. That has been said about every generation in the past as well! It is the same chaos for every generation, just wrapped in a new package. Chaos is not a new force whether it is manifested in problems in the first century or the chaos of the twenty-first century. What the faithful know is that God still brings us through chaos to the calm. God still brings order to disorder. God still brings light in the darkness. God has not left us alone in our boats with the waves pressing over the sides. For God still speaks a word: “Peace! Be still!” Ω
Pastor Ed January 2007 Most have great intentions, but most of us have not reached the point of no return. We can so easily return to the patterns of our ways, even when those patterns have potential for harm. We look back over past years and see the pattern of resolutions made and broken. We try so hard to make a change only to fall back into the convenient and comfortable paradigms we have battled to overcome. I have resolutions for the new year that I hope will stay. But my resolutions are ones that I have always had! Part of the struggle for new things is reliance on self as opposed to placing our lives in God’s hands. We can easily speak the language of surrender to Christ, but the actual practice eludes us. My hope for all of us in 2007, and beyond, is learning to live by the grace and mercy of God. We might begin the new year with a text from 1 Peter and I pray that we may all have the resolution to live more faithfully into the living hope which is our in Jesus Christ. As you read the text below, read slowly, consider reading with the hope of a new year bringing us closer to God that all may have the indescribable and glorious joy promised in our salvation! “May grace and peace be yours in abundance. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:2b-9). Amen. Ω Pastor Ed December '06 Society begins much sooner, more so each year. This year business lined up even before Thanksgiving to “prepare” us for Christmas. For the first time some stores opened on Thanksgiving Day. I wonder when the first Christmas Day Sale will begin! Our society is a complex world: on the one hand, certain political forces want to squeeze out all Christian references from public life, on the other hand, economic forces want to extend the season of Christmas as long as possible to better the bottom line – Christianity once again in the forefront of conflict. Christmas is now, not only a religious holy day, but has become a cultural force. We see literature each year calling the church to rekindle the meaning of Christmas: “Whose Birthday is it Anyway?” or “The Reason for the Season.” We have attached a great deal of baggage to Christmas as well with pressures for gift giving, parties, celebrations of all kinds that sometimes bring great joy, but can also be quite stressful. So our journey begins…shopping, planning, travel, food, worship, singing, story telling, and more food. Did I mention food? We diet as long as we can before the Christmas goodies tempt us to indulge. Our journey begins…setting up the tree, decorating, preparing Christmas cards, making our lists and checking them twice. This is a journey to Christ and with Christ. The shepherds made their journey…”Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken placed, which the Lord has made known to us” (Luke 2:15). The Lord has made known to us the good news that Christ is with us. Our journey celebrates the news and our journey keeps us mindful of the significance of the birth of the Messiah for us and for the world, for a society torn between politics and economics, for a church torn between its shaping of the story and being shaped by it. We are on a journey that celebrates Christ’s coming into the world to live among us then and now as Savior. The journey is fraught with perils just as it was for Mary and Joseph. But the journey is concluded with the joy of birth, the celebration of life, and our new life in Jesus Christ. Let’s make the journey yet another special journey of joy and celebration, ever mindful that God loves us deeply and showers us with gifts, especially the gift of his only Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Peace! Ω Pastor Ed November '06 In the book Shaped by God’s Heart, Milfred Minatrea writes: “The culture in which the church exists is a changing river, charting its own path without regard to the preferences of previous generational or cultural systems. Members of today’s churches, who once felt that they held the high ground in a vast Christian nation, now feel cut off and isolated – islands in a fast-flowing stream. Clearly, the Christian church in North America no longer possesses a home-court advantage” (7). Our “home-court advantage” was the notion that the empire of Christendom ruled. We believed our nation to be a Christian nation, the church to be at the center of social life, the culture greatly influenced by Christian principles. Christianity was once a national mentality. We see this is no longer the case. We do “hold out” for hope that our community is different, as do many communities, especially in the south, but the evidence is growing – the influence of Christendom is fading fast if not completely gone. The church, in almost an unnoticed move, shifted to survival mode or maintenance mode. We forgot the mission of the church to invite and equip people to become disciples of Christ. Instead we huddled up in our church buildings and hoped someone who was disgruntled with their own church would transfer their membership letter to ours. Instead of going out into the world and taking advantage of opportunities to share the gospel message, we exchanged mission for maintenance. We began to treat the church like Wal-Mart, as a place to meet our every need. We began to think like consumers, “What can the church offer me?” In essence I was trained to fit that model of “doing church”. Run good programs, offer this and that, the “if you build it they will come” mentality. We have given the church over to the cultural tides, because we ourselves have been seduced by the world rather than giving God’s testimony to the world. But God is still moving and transforming and loving us! God is still seeking us, calling us, and leading us. God is still on a mission! God has chosen us for God’s missional purpose. I have been tossing around the word missional in sermons, articles, and conversations for a couple of months now. This is a relatively new term for the church. We have commonly thought of ourselves as “mission-minded” and may wonder if that is not saying the same thing. Missional is different from mission-minded. Mission-minded is most often viewed as a church that sends and supports missionaries. Mission-minded means we are representative of mission in that we pray and give so that others may go and serve. Mission-minded churches understand mission as one aspect of the church's ministry, like a line item in a budget. Missional, on the other hand, is an understanding that all are “sent” as missionaries. We do indeed pray and give so that others may go to foreign lands, but we also grasp that in God’s kingdom, every believer is one sent even if that sending is next door. The missional mindset is more about “being and doing” than “sending and supporting.” Rather than being representative of those who “do” mission, we become participants as missionaries ourselves. In the missional church, missions is not one expression of ministry, but it is the essence of the church. W The mission-minded church emphasizes sending and supporting; the missional church emphasizes being and doing. W The mission-minded church is representative; the missional church is participative. W The mission-minded church perceives mission as one expression of its ministry; the missional church perceives mission as the essence of its existence (From Shaped by God’s Heart, p. 11). Can we become a missional church? Certainly! It
takes a transformation of our thinking and our perception about who we
are and what we do as the church. Can
it be done overnight? No.
It may take years for such change.
We do not change easily. The
good news is that it is God who changes us.
We are called in this season of discernment to follow Jesus
Christ, walk in the Spirit, study God’s word, and pray and pray and
pray. We are the church
created in God’s image, sent on God’s mission, and all to God’s
glory! May God’s
missional people emerge – engaged in God’s mission in and to the
world and may God’s peace and love dwell among us.
Ω Pastor Ed October '06 Since my last newsletter article, a different “feel” has swept the church. I have had more reaction from you in the past month than in all the previous five years! What are the reactions? They range from a majority of “let’s go” and get on with the mission of God, to “what is going on here?” I want to share what I believe is going on and perhaps clarify what I believe God is calling us to do and be. I believe God is calling us to a renewal in our thinking about being the body of Christ in Princeton. This means a change in perspective, a change in vision (or perhaps a vision where there was none), and a more biblical outlook on life and on being members of the church. I believe this vision/perspective will do at least two things for us:
The session is in conversation on these issues in our church. The worship and music committee is exploring possibilities for our Sunday morning worship experience. Informal conversations are happening almost daily. Excitement is in the air. The Spirit of God, I believe, is doing a new thing in our midst. I believe that new thing is around Bible passages like Romans 12:1-2,
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the
mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of
God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
(Italics added!) A living sacrifice is one that has the ability to leap from the alter, but we choose instead to give ourselves to God in this form of spiritual worship. Worship is not about us, but it is about God, glorifying God. Worship is not about being entertained, but about praising God. Worship is not for our comfort, not for our benefit, but for God alone. God formed us so that we might declare God’s praise (Isaiah 43:21). Certainly, as we give God glory we do, as a result, receive blessing, comfort, and joy. But these are not the reasons we enter into a time to worship. We do not worship for what we can get from worship. If we do worship from such motives it is a result of our culture that says it is all about us and Paul appeals to us not to be conformed to the world. We worship to glorify God. Transformation is about change in perspective, a renewal of attitude and thinking. In the old language – revival! If we do not change, we die. If the Holy Spirit does not transform us, we run the risk of becoming lukewarm (Revelation 3:7-13). I am simply trying to be faithful to God. I do not mean such a statement to end our conversation together. But as your pastor I am willing to try new things, to discern what God is calling us to do. I believe you are also seeking to be faithful and to glorify God in all that you do. We are in this together! We are in conversation with one another and with God. God loves us deeply and as we love one another we will find our way while at the same time experiencing the transformation God has for us. Let us pray together, let us work together, let continue the fellowship in conversation about the transformation that God is working. Feel free to contact me by phone, email, IM, or other, and visit our website at http://www.ppcusa.org/. Ω Pastor Ed September '06 I attended a conference August 17-19 at the Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Georgia called The Presbyterian Global Fellowship (PGF). About 1,000 people attended from 42 states and various countries. Representatives from leadership in the Presbyterian Church (USA) were also there. The conference convened with worship on Thursday night in a two-hour service filled with music, testimonies, two sermons, and an excitement seldom felt among Presbyterians! Friday included worship, plenary speakers, workshops, and time for fellowship and reflection. The conference concluded Saturday after another plenary speaker and worship. I’ve been to many conferences over my 17 years in ministry, all good conferences, but none like this one. For me, this conference focused my thinking, solidified my perceptions about the church and God’s movement in the world. The PGF began from the prayers and discussions of seven people in Atlanta over a two-hour lunch but carried over into two days. In mid May the idea to launch a conference in mid August took shape. The conference was really an emerging hopeful way we can continue to be Presbyterian within a denomination that shows so many signs of self imploding. One goal is renewal – renewal of our denomination (PCUSA), renewal of congregations, and renewal of our understanding of who we are. Reggie McNeal wrote in 2003, “the North American church has lost its influence…It has lost its influence because it has lost its identity. It has lost its identity because it has lost its mission” (The Present Future, 18). Ben Johnson wrote in 1995 about the church’s need to move from maintenance to mission. Our central focus (perhaps since the 4th century) has been to maintain the institution we call church as we have steadily forgotten our mission to the world. The church has become less of a movement and more and more a “clubhouse”. That worked fine as long as the church was the central focus in culture. This is no longer the case. For the past 50 years, maybe longer, the church has lost its standing in our particular culture. The institutional church has little influence in our culture and yet people in our culture are searching desperately for something more in their lives. They do not trust institutions and believe that church is only for church people. It is interesting that the church in the book of Acts was first identified as people of “the Way” (Acts 9:2, 18:25, 19:23). The “way” implies a people on the move, on a journey, on a mission. The early church understood the command to go! Jesus did not command everyone to come in (to the church), but commanded the church to go out into the world (Matthew 28:19). We are called to join God on a mission, to join God in a Kingdom Way, not to fix ourselves within an institution and compel the world to come in to the clubhouse! This is not some new idea, not a fad fix for the church, but the old old message of the gospel. So many resources and ideas have come along in the past 15 years seeking to fix the church’s woes of decline, but nearly every one of those fixes has been to fix the institution model. I have been right in the middle of the struggle to find a fix and have understood the problem (our loss of identity) but no vision for the future (which I now see as becoming missional in our vision and structure). This movement is a renewal in our conviction about God’s mission in the world – a mission God initiated from the beginning of our alienation from God. God has been in pursuit of the world since Adam and Eve and we are invited to join God in the mission right here in Princeton and beyond. But we begin where we are, today, being the church where we sit right now, where we work and live and play. We must begin to think in terms, not of “going to church”, but of “being the church” in this community. Mission is not something we program and send others to do, but it is a primary defining identity. We are people on a mission, on God’s mission, not an institution or clubhouse, not a building or address on West Main St. God is inviting us again and again to join him in this journey, to join “the Way”. Transformation is exciting and discomforting as well. Not everyone will see this as a good thing. Some will want to hold fast to the way things are and simply try to be a better institution. I’m convinced I cannot do that anymore. I’m ready to get on with the mission and get on with equipping the saints who are ready to respond to Jesus’ invitation. I believe God is calling us to become “Internally Strong & Externally Focused”. To that end I dream of three areas for focus: discipleship, worship, and mission. (These are not in order for any reason but would be simultaneous.) First, I dream of a church engaged in an ever deepening discipleship – an ever deepening love for Jesus Christ. I want to invite every member of the church to start over! This Fall I will be leading our young people in confirmation classes, which will be discipleship classes. I do not even have a plan yet for implementing this, but I dream of seeing every member of our church in a discipleship group. Second, I dream of a church with exciting vibrant worship that is uplifting and glorifying God. I have had so many speak to me recently about the excitement of our youth service of August 20. What can we do to continue to build upon that kind of joy in worship? Third, I dream of a church that is missional, that yearns to join God in reaching out to our community. By God’s power and grace our notion of church must move from maintaining the institution to envisioning a conviction that we are the people of God sent into the world and in the process of building up the body of Christ, we go. We do not have to wait until we have completed discipleship training. We do not have to wait until we find a worship service that is perfect. We do not have to completely understand what it means to be on a mission to the world. We simply need to respond where we are to God’s invitation to go. God loves us so much that God did not give up pursuing us and sent Jesus to rescue us. And now, Jesus calls us to continue on the same mission to rescue those around us. Let’s go. Ω Pastor Ed |
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