During our church service last Sunday our youth group went out and washed everyone's cars for them. Jolly nice I say - especially since it would be the first wash for my car for 6 months (what else is rain for??!!). Of course it had to happen. It's no use searching for answers Jo, you had to get wet:) This is the consequence of being a youth pasta:
On Sunday afternoon (4:30pm) our youth group at Napier Baptist have their 1st youth sevice of what will become regular monthly services. These will be services where our young people are given the freedom to respond to God's grace in ways that are natural for them. I personally can't wait to come to the service on Sunday. Being only 29 myself, I look forward to participating in the service whilst having no responsibilities. I love preaching and leading different parts of worship services but it will be nice on Sunday night to be able to go to the service and simply enjoy being instead of doing. See ya there.
Sorry I've been a bit slow on posting the sermon text for this week. What struck me initially with this passage is Peter wanting to build 3 dwellings for Moses, Elijah and Jesus. Peter, like most of us, prefers to think of the glorified Jesus than the crucified Jesus. When Peter sees Jesus in all his glory he wants to capture Jesus in this glorified state forever. Jesus has just finished telling him that his Messiahship is one of suffering and death (9:18-27), but Peter doesn't want his view of glory tarnished by suffering and shame, he wants to keep Jesus as dazzling white. As Barbara Brown Taylor says here, "when they saw that shining face bloodied and spat upon, those dazzling clothes torn into souvenir rags -- I’ll bet they had to rethink what that glory was all about." Jesus' journey to glory must go through Jerusalem (9:51) and it's this same Jerusalem journey that Jesus calls his disciples to walk. Jesus won't be held to this dazzling white untouchability because he knows the journey of discipleship is simply not like that. A friend recently said to me that we often prefer to take the path of least resistance than to go through the hard things in life. It reminded me of a quote from John Madden, the famous NFL coach: "The road to easy street goes through the sewer." For Jesus, the road to glory goes through Jerusalem.
I've always been one who's suspicious of church slogans and great "vision statements". I've never always been able to explain why. I connect a lot with Gordon Atkinson, who blogs at Real Live Preacher, and his thoughts on church marketing and slogans. I think his point that "Sunday words are no more than ad copy to comfort and assure ourselves that we belong to the demographic column of people who identify with Christianity" is very true and thought provoking. This year our Elders and I feel that we (as a community) need to begin to articulate what's important to us and who we are (and therefore aren't). How do we articulate our passions and what binds us together without it becoming trite sloganeering; what Gordon calls "Sunday words"? Yes it's true that it's our actions and not our slogans that witness to God, but even that is a belief that can be articulated isn't it? What passions bind us together? James McClendon, a Baptist guy I'm studying at the moment, says that churches are convictional communities. What convictions do we gather around as a community, and can we articulate who we are and what we're passionate about without it being hollow "Sunday words"? Any thoughts?
In a new city that's part of the Hurricanes franchise the last thing I needed was a scoreline that read Hurricanes 37 Blues 19. Especially when I'd talked and texted it up at half time Blues 16 Hurricanes 3. But it's ok we Aucklanders are full of grace. But grace ends tonight and truth begins. The Higlanders are going down at 7:30 tonight. For anyone who's into the Virtual rugby I advise you to pick the Blues by 13 or more. GO THE BLUES!!!!!
Ok so this is my 4th or so post for today! I feel like Paul "See what large letters I make when I am writing with my own hand!" But this is a goodie!
Speaking of Pauls. . . many of you will know that Paul Windsor is the principal of Carey Baptist College in Auckland. Most of you also would have heard me brag about him quite a bit because as well as being an excellent principal, Paul is a great guy and an amazing Christian. He has had a HUGE impact on me as a person, a pastor and a Christian. Well, Paul's leapt into the world of tomorrow by starting a weblog. You can check it out here. Me thinks you would be wise to add this one to your favourites!
The latest news around the traps is that Brian MaLaren is coming to NZ. The blurb about him says: Brian McLaren is an author, thinker, and pastor who has become one of the most respected voices of the ‘emerging church movement’. Author of A New Kind of Christian, The Story we Find Ourselves In, A Generous Orthodoxy and other books.
He's an interesting author and speaker especially around the issue of how are we to earth the gospel (or be a gospel people) in the 21st century?
One of the venues is Palmerston North, Wednesday 01 March,10am-4pm Seminar. Central Baptist Church, Church Road.register: Nigel Dixon 06-357 8925, nigeldixon@maxnet.co.nz.
If anyone's keen to go then let me know.
There's a new Bay Baptist Youth site at Bay Baptist Youth. Go and check it out. There's some profound stuff on there about a chicken and an egg!
The sermon text this week starts 1/2 way through Luke 8:42 and ends at verse 48. Any thoughts or reflections on the passage? Read today someone pointing out that the passage shows us that what the woman (and we) need is contact with Jesus himself and not some annonymous power source.
Okay, I have to admit that it doesn't happen all that often but when it does, man, it's incredible!! When Christianity in all it's depth is shown to you in a simple act, when God comes and graces you through the love of other people.
Last winter was our first in Hawkes Bay after living in Auckland. We were used to 2 frosts per year in Auckland not 3 or 4 frosts per week! Towards the end of winter we ran out of wood and our house became like living in Narnia! And it was little comfort to be told that the winter that we suffered through was a mild one. So this year we were determined to stock up and fight the evil called frost. Today, we had a 2 cords (which is quite a lot) of wood delivered in our driveway. Margaret is pregnant and my evenings for the rest of the week are booked out, so I was wondering when will I stack this wood? Today, just after I'd posted how grace breeds grace, I went home for lunch and received a phone call out of the blue from an amazing couple from our church who had driven past our house and noticed that we had a pile of wood in our driveway. They rung to tell me that they wanted to come and stack it for us. They didn't know what my week was like. Out of the riches of their hearts they wanted to come around and stack the wood for us while I was at work! Wow! Isn't it awesome to see cute phrases like 'the graced become gracers', that sound so good on paper but so often dissolve into the air like aerosol, actually become flesh. Deep Christianity comes with a wheel barrow and wood splinters to grace because it's been graced. "The Word became flesh and moved into our neigbourhood . . ." (John 1:14, The Message Version)
To the gracers that graced us: thank you, thank you, thank you!! I can see frost being defeated this year and warmth standing victorious!
This week's sermon text is Luke 7:36-50. Do you have any thoughts or reflections on it? What's struck me early this week is verse 44. 'Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman?" I was struck by how sight or seeing is crucial to this passage. There's the woman that Simon sees - probably a prositute who's doing some totally inappropriate things (letting your hair down in public and touching a man's feet in public was seen as sexually provocative and totally inappropriate). To Simon this woman isn't worth looking at, he talks about her as if she's not there. She's not a someone to Simon, she's an it that he doesn't want to name. I can imagine him looking away from her, disgusted by her actions in his house. If he ever has to acknowledge her it'd be a simple toss of the head in her direction and he'd talk about "that thing over there". In contrast Jesus is giving her a name. Not an it or "that thing over there" but loved one.This passage fills out what Jesus has just said of himself "a friend of tax collectors and sinners" (Lk. 7:34). This woman who is a sinner (Lk7:37) is actually somone who's loved much by God. By her actions she shows us how grace breeds grace; the forgiven become forgivers, the graced become gracers.