One Vision.Two Services.One High Street

I don't think we all know just yet what God is going to do with our plan to expand our services at High Street. I do know that when I invited someone to come to church today they asked me what time the service started. I answered, 10:30. They expressed some disappointment when they answered that they worked on Sunday. After loosing their job, they work whatever hours they can get at their new job. They said that they would not be able to go to church and make it to work on time. And then it dawned on me, we are going to have an early service in just a few weeks. I told her that on April 19 we would be adding an 8:30 service. They mentioned that an early service might allow them to come.

We will need to go back to some of our friends who have not been able to accept an invitation because of the the time of our service. With both an 8:30 and 11:00 service there will be a greater chance that something could work for them.

A NEW SERVICE - NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR INVITATIONS. We have a message we need to make it easy to hear. This new schedule will do that.

One Vision.Two Services.One High Street

I am glad to announce the latest breaking news regarding our plan to expand our Worship Services.

After some very good and gracious feedback regarding our plan we have made some changes.

Some were glad for the additional time options for their families.

Others were concerned about being able to stay in their Sunday School classes. I was so blessed to receive emails and letters where people expressed how much how much they loved their Sunday School class. They talked about how blessed they were by their teachers and the people in the class. They talked about how much these relationships meant to them. It became very clear that with the new options to choose between the "Blended Classsic" and the "Blended Contemporary" people were disappointed when the option of their choice meant they could no longer be a part of their current Sunday School class. In response to this feedback we are glad to announce the following revised schedule that will begin the Sunday after Easter, April 19.

8:30 - Worship Service: Blended Classic
9:45 - Sunday School
11:00 - Worship Service: Blended Contemporary

The vision is to provide meaningful worship opportunities for everyone. Our goal is to have two well done, energetic services. There are many details yet to work out. I am looking forward to these changes.

The Family John Experiment

Tonight we began the John Experiment as a family. All the kids were home and so after dinner we sat around the table and read through the first chapter of John. There are a couple of truths that drive this experiment for me:

1. The Word of God is alive.
2. The Holy Spirit is at work.

With that in mind we began and I shot up one of those prayers kind of like, "Lord please show up here tonight". A couple of the kids shared the reading of the 54 verses. I then asked the question, "What stuck out to you tonight?" Each kid shared the verse that stuck out to them and why. Here are a couple of their responses.

* John in one chapter summarizes the most important truths needed to understand salvation.
* The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world was a favorite theme.

We ended our discussion commenting on how John predicted that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit. I asked if anyone could share an instance when they felt the Holy Spirit speaking to them. One kid described how they left their group of friends watching a DVD movie because they just did not feel like it was something they should watch. A simple nudging was what they felt and so they left. Another one followed with a comment about having watched something with so much profanity and vulgar words that they walked away feeling "grieved" by it. They determined that the Holy Spirit within them had been grieved. We all shared how that caring for James sometimes pushes all of us to our servant limits. And yet somehow we concluded that caring for him fell within the serving of the "least of these" that Jesus describes in Matthew 25.

My prayer had been answered. The Holy Spirit's presence was evident. The level of sharing penetrated deep within our souls and we shared a special moment not often found. I am even more convinced now.

1. The Word of God is alive.
2. The Holy Spirit is at work.

If you have not given the John Experiment a try in your family yet, try it. There is something about reading the Bible out loud together.

"My Story"

This year we added a new tradition to our Christmas morning. After breakfast we all took the time to write out "My Story". With stories in hand we gathered before we exchanged gifts to each read our story. I will never forget that moment. Nothing in this world matters to me more than the salvation of my children and their walk with the Lord. It was my greatest gift to be able to hear their stories written by them read to all of us. The conversations continued as we asked questions and celebrated our individual and personal journeys and walk with the Lord.

Now the gifts of toys and and clothes and bath gels and on and on were great too. I really loved the simple dollar store basketball game I gave to James. Literally, I had to intercept it from James while he was opening other things to get the hang of it. Christmas is fun.

Special thanks to the photography of tiffanylyonsphotography.blogspot.com

Christmas Eve

I love our Christmas Eve service at church. There is something very nice about starting the Christmas Day with extended Church Family. There is a real sense of community as people come together for a moment of worship with each other. Meeting with people who you love is what makes Christmas special.

After the service we spent a few minutes for some Christmas pictures. Somehow Christmas marks the passage of time for a family. The kids are growing up and every year that change a little bit. There is real love and peace around the table as we laugh and tell stories. I am so grateful for God's Word. It gives us instructions on how to keep the peace at home. It makes loving each other a joy. Peace on earth is great, but peace at home is especially sweet.

"Plastic Baby Jesus"

We had some guests over at the house until late evening Friday night. When we went to the door to thank them for their visit we saw a "plastic baby Jesus" on the porch in front of the door. It was one of those lighted plastic Jesus figures in a manger that belongs with a nativity set. Well, what do you do with a stolen "plastic baby Jesus"? It was the perfect prank, someone stole it from a neighbor and implicated the pastor by putting it on his porch. The next day Cindy and I drove around the neighborhood looking for nativity sets missing baby Jesus. There were quite a few of these plastic nativity sets. All of them had their Jesus and then finally we found it, the Nativity set with the missing baby. I went up and rang the door bell excited to tell our neighbor we had their missing baby. An elderly lady came out to talk to me on that cold winter Saturday. I told her that I had a baby and maybe it was hers. She said, no, her baby Jesus was in the corner of her porch waiting for Christmas Day. She said “you can’t put out the baby until Christmas day. The baby isn’t born yet.” Well we still had a missing baby. So what do you do with a "plastic baby Jesus" that is stolen? You can’t keep it. You dare not throw it away. You would return it but don’t know where it belongs. Keep it and hope that the thief brings you Mary and Joseph the next year?

So what do you do? You work it into an illustration for Sunday's Christmas sermon. The illustration actually worked well with the message theme. After the service a very repentant prankster came up to confess that she (and her accomplice who was not with her) had done the prank. Well the story has a happy ending. I got a good illustration for a sermon. The pranksters made everything right by coming to get "plastic baby Jesus"and returning it to the waiting Joseph and Mary on somebody's yard.

The point is that for all of us Christmas is about some great things like trees and decorations, Stanta Claus and cooking and giving gifts and shopping and getting the most for your money and bargains and time off from school and work. But the truth is, if we forget that it really is about the Baby born to mankind who was God Himself we miss it completely. I want to wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Praying for President-elect Obama

This week we had the opportunity to cast our vote. Watching the democratic process is truly an amazing part of our country’s DNA.

One of the important passages for any American young person is the first time they join the ranks of the adult world and cast their vote as a responsible citizen. My son Robert voted for the first time this year. I picked him up from school and took him to the polling place, his former elementary school. As we walked into the school he remarked that it was very familiar and yet so different. He commented that it looked smaller than when he was younger. On that day he was not a student but a citizen casting a vote that would determine the next leaders of our nation. I told him what line to get in and checked to make sure he had his voter identification card and his driver’s license. Then I told him that he was on his own. His vote was his to cast as he saw fit. There was a sacred sense in it all.

Our sophisticated system of vote counting did not leave us wondering who would win for very long. That same night, we watched as the winner was declared and the looser graciously conceded. This seamless process of the transition of power is what makes this such an amazing country.

As I watched President-elect Obama and his family take the stage there was this great sense of history. It was in a profound way a triumph of our value that “all men are created equal”. One of the ugliest parts of our nation’s history is the story of racism. There is no way I can as a white man I can ever fully understand the wounds inflicted on those who were the victims of this kind of prejudice. Watching the tears of those who do understand moved me. President-elect Obama summed up this amazing passage when he told of the black woman over 100 years old who had cast her vote for him. She has lived through times when not all people were treated with the equality and respect that all human beings deserve. There were times when a black man could not sit anywhere he wanted on a bus, use any bathroom or be served in any restaurant he might choose. She marveled that she had lived to see the day that she could vote for a black man to be the President of the United States. I pray that the election of President Obama will serve to heal wounds in this nation that have for too long marked us.

It is now my responsibility as a Christ follower and an American citizen to pray for our new President. We are commanded to pray for those in authority. Our leaders succeed better with our prayers. There is this attitude of honor and respectful support that is both cultivated and expressed when we pray for our leaders. One of the great mysteries of being both a Christian and a citizen is this idea that we choose, but that God sovereignly directs that choosing. It is God who puts a man up. It is my privilege to be part of President-elect Obama’s prayer team.

My prayer has been specifically that as the mantle of leadership falls on him that he would in that very lonely place realize that he needs Divine wisdom and guidance. While the President is constantly surrounded with people he is also very much alone. I pray that he will early on look to God for direction and be strengthened supernaturally as he leads. I also pray that God will bless his precious family as they transition into the unique setting of the White House. May God bless President-elect Obama and his family. And may God bless America.