Worship Opportunities

I have recently been asked to help develop a worship service for Young Adults - which in this instance probably means college students.

I am excited for this opportunity, and yet feel a little out of my depth again. I know the best method for developing any worship occasion is to work with the people who you are trying to reach, and yet I am short of good young adults to ask.

[Then again maybe I ought to check in with my Facebook people]

What do you hear from young adults in your area for what they are seeking in a worship experience?

What are the places where the Young Adults in you area hang out?

What do you understand the purpose of worship to be?

Getting out of the Way

Yesterday I was watching my twitter feed, and Steve Heyduck posted something that grabbed my attention. I had a gut reaction, and I failed to complete the thought in 140 characters, and digest the conversation with any real strength.

It started like this:

@steveheyduck: For the UMC to take seriously raising up young leaders, we who are 45+ will have to be willing to get out of the way. #umc

@revcamp: @steveheyduck getting out of the way only helps if you are identifying and guiding to that point #umyc #umc

I don't want our leaders now to get out of the way to take seriously raising up young leaders. To me that sounds an awful lot like "In order for our children to grow up we need to die." Now, I realize that statement may be overdramatizing the issue, but I have seen it acted out that way.

It may be that Steve means "get out of the way" in the sense of providing actual leadership opportunities, with real responsibility, and accountability for failure, accolades for achievement, and listening to our ideas as we begin to think out new plans for the future. I hope that is it.

After watching some more of the extended dialogue (durn it there are not threaded feeds on Twitter - a la Facebook and Gmail) Mike Lindstrom responded with some of these thoughts.

1. @jereasons @steveheyduck I agree about ego - will we let younger ones cast some vision and move "our" church fwd or will we be speed bumps?about 5 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to jereasons
2. @steveheyduck Okay - just want to be clear. As a soon to be 45 yo I'm passionate about moving into God's vision w/ others (I abhor ladders)about 6 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to steveheyduck
3. @methoblog (and @steveheyduck) 45 year old clergy not ready to retire (and have vision) can work w/ yng ldrs who lead - join w/ not jump out

Which was in reference to some of these comments

1. @mikeybob I am 45 myself - just admitting that WE can't just talk a good game about raising up young leaders.about 6 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to mikeybob
2. @mikeybob by "get out of the way" I don't mean retire. Perhaps climb off the "ladder?" Perhaps genuine openness to younger people's ideas?about 6 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to mikeybob

But, getting out of the way too early is dangerous and leads to death for all. Now, I will admit I am right at the edge of Young Adults by definition of clergy standards at 35. I admit I was frustrated at times as an assistant youth leader, and as an associate pastor with being "held down" by the heirarchy of the church. Sometimes, that was saving my hindquarters from getting in some real trouble. At other times I think we missed some opportunities with our families, youth, and congregations.

I am grateful for those who said "What's the worst that can happen - we fail? All we can do is try it and see." From those statements followed the pieces that said, "Here are some things you may want to think about, and some tools I think you will need to make it succeed." If I chose to use other tools then so be it. If I thought about what was given all the better. If I decided a tool wasn't necessary and the truth was otherwise, I was usually given the opportunity to learn it for myself; when risk was too high, I was told to use that tool regardless. I was grateful for each of these.

These days I have no hierarchy to hold me back, but I do have people to whom I am responsible. The choices I make are my own, and I realize that I have an entire congregation that has its own expectations of what I am going to be. I try to honor those, as well as be myself, hold conversation as we go forward.

I wonder what it will look like to allow the current people to be themselves, as well as inviting new people into the conversation, as United Methodists, as Clergy, and as a changing nation and world. Can we provide enough leadership that those who will have to lead next will have some idea of what good leadership is, and how to enact it, or are we just turning over the reigns to the cart horse to a four year old raised in a car society?

Starting out Right

There are few things more daunting in ministry than being told that the world is One Way, only to find out, not only is it not this One Way, but that it is so markedly different that conclusions drawn about the One Way will lead to disaster in starting out ministry geared that direction.

I am grateful for folks like Dan who share their experience, and their educational background that led them to such conclusions. And then, even more so for that ways in which he seems to grasp at how he might find the place where people are.

With examples like this, I begin by trying an old approach. I do community organizing strategies, with some modifications. I do my best to get into the community to meet people. I remember being taught the term "pastorpreneur" to define the pastor who is taking an entrepreneurial approach to ministry. I decided that I needed to get out more.

Visits with the congregation, the local big wigs, the school leaders, the police, fire and emergency personnel all help gain insight. Additionally, I spend a lot of time out of the office. I figure the folks who are at the church know about the church, I need to be talking to the folks who don't know about the church. I want to help them find a connection that is real, that offers Jesus Christ, and provides a community of faith that will help them mature.

That is what gets me out. Then I have to work on getting the people in the church to full maturity. I keep telling folks that I am trying to work my way out of a job. I realized a long time ago that with ministry there is no shortage of jobs. I cannot do them all so I had better start training folks to do those jobs. As I do so I work myself out of a job. Then I am forced to look at the next area of growth, or emergence in the church, and the community, and I have to train myself, prepare and then teach that job to someone else. It helps keep me in the here and now, and looking to the future all the time.

I will acknowledge that I don't always get it right. I sometimes get it very wrong. But, for now, I am trying to find out what the needs of the community are, so that we can begin to converge the needs of the larger community, with the wants and desires of the community of faith at St. Andrew, filled by the Spiritual Gifts God has provided to achieve the tasks before us.

A Visioning Call to Worship

CALL TO WORSHIP

Leader: By God’s grace we are called to live the church in the world.
People: We have heard your call and we claim this vision:
All: Ojai United Methodist Church is to be showing God’s love to the community of the Ojai Valley by the four “R’s”:
Reconciliation, Renewal, Revitalization, Restoration.
Leader: We are to be reconciling.
People: We will be reconciling one to another and the world to Jesus Christ.
Leader: We are to be renewing.
People: We will be renewing our baptismal and membership vows to be the church with our prayers, presence, gifts, and service.
Leader: We are to be involved in revitalization.
People: We will be revitalizing the mission of the Ojai United Methodist Church:
“To make Disciples of Jesus Christ - in Faith, Fellowship, Tolerance and Spiritual Growth”
Leader: We will be living out restoration.
People: We will be restoring our spirit of hope, restoring our community with vibrance, and restoring our lives in joy.
All: We the people of the Ojai United Methodist Church are showing God’s love to the community of the Ojai Valley by the four “R’s”:
Reconciliation, Renewal, Revitalization, Restoration.

Next Steps

Dear Friends,

As we move into new life with a clarified Vision at Ojai UMC, we need to set out some of the next steps.

First the Vision: 

To be "Showing God's love to the community of the Ojai Valley by the 4 R's: Reconciliation, Renewal, Revitalization, and Restoration."

For the benefit of my memory, and your general benefit, here are some of the steps I see us taking.

Reviewing against Mission Statement "Making Disciples for Jesus Christ in Faith, Fellowship, Tolerance & Spiritual Growth"

Channeling all Work Area Groups (committees) through this to design one or more goals in concert

Educate, Educate, Educate: What do we mean by the 4 Rs? 

-Add Biblical Foundations for each

-Affirm where we are already at work in this endeavor

-Challenge areas where we can stretch more

Newsletter Article May 2009

Incorporate into worship beginning Easter Sunday (5th R: Resurrection). Add as call to worship; develop prayers around this theme. Publish, Publish, Publish - Newsletter, Bulletin, Blog, Website, Committee Minutes

Structure Ad Board around reviewing how work areas are achieving the Vision

Find the intersection of OUR GIFTS, THE VISION, and COMMUNITY NEEDS to establish viable and productive programs 

-This means getting to know the people of the community beyond the demographics, or our own little sector of the community (thought each sector is important and we need to pull what we can from each)

Connect with persons and groups that can help guide us along the way (Chamie Delkeskamp: Raising Micah)

Develop a three, five and ten year outlook

Review annually with the Covenant For Vital Ministry, Congregational Assessment.

Find ways to achieve the The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations

• Radical Hospitality
• Passionate Worship
• Intentional Faith Development
• Risk-Taking Mission and Service
• Extravagant Generosity 

Identify how the Vision connects to the Ojai UMC Key Factors

OJAI UMC KEY FACTORS:
Core Values: Hospitality, Music, Community
Common Spiritual Gifts: Assistance/Helps, Generosity, Hospitality
Church Spiritual Gifts: Hospitality, Joy, Healing

Visioning Scriptures

...or at lest the ones that have guided me, to this point, and the ones I am using to keep moving forward.

Guiding Scriptures for Developing a Vision

Joel 2:28
[ The Day of the LORD ] "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

Acts 2:17
" 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

GUIDING SCRIPTURE FOR FORWARD MOVEMENT
2 Timothy 1:3-14
 ³I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. ⁴Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. ⁶For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

 ⁸So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, ⁹who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, ¹⁰but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. ¹¹And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. ¹²That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

 ¹³What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

John 14.7-17

⁷If you know me, you will know^* my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’

8 Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ ⁹Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. ¹¹Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. ¹²Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴If in my name you ask me^* for anything, I will do it.

15 ‘If you love me, you will keep^* my commandments. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,^* to be with you for ever. ¹⁷This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in^* you. 

What God does/What we do/What God promises we can do
Action / Response / Covenant

A Vision

To be "Showing God's love to the community of the Ojai Valley by the 4 R's: Reconciliation, Renewal, Revitalization, and Restoration." (Ojai UMC 4/2/09 [Ad Board 4/8/09])

I hate it when I'm wrong

This news ought to make my dear friend, and PastorPoet, Steve happy.

But for me, it means I really need to figure out how to write more haiku, sonnets, and iambic pentameter...or do more rhyming in my sermons, ala Al Sharpton.

The Poetry of Pastoring

Is “poet” a biblical model for ministry?

A New Sermon Series

I have been contemplating the next sermon series I will do. This year I have revolved everything around Vision, and Visioning.

The next series I want to do is going to deal with what the congregation knows or wants to know about the scriptures. I had been contemplating this when A Different Voice posted a great Bible Study, based on the same concept. 

Moments like that I assume to be about serendipity and following God's nudges.

So here is the article. The Huh?/Yeah! series to come from the congregation.

Sermon Notes March 22, 2009

Using the text from Numbers 21:4-9 we looked at stumbling blocks to Vision, and what this model teaches us about facing those stumbling blocks.

I look at this through the lens of having a Vision before the community. God's Vision for the Israelites was to get them out of Egypt into the promised land. 

Our goal at Ojai UMC is to leave the declining church behind, and enter into God's promised Kingdom. Our Egypt is rather loosely defined, and as yet the promised land is without words to define the final Vision. Seems a little more work is in order next week.

When the people left Egypt they thought they would get a chance to run right into the promised land, safe from Pharaoh. Instead, they went wandering in the desert. They ate quail and manna that God provideed, but after a time they began to grumble about that. Gamey, they said. Dry and pastey they said. 

You know Moses had had enough of them, and he didn't know what to do. They even got angry with him, and gossipped and poormouthed Moses. "Why can't he figure out where we are going?";  "Does he even have a license to lead?"; "Someone said he talks to God, are they certain?"

I find it interesting that the way the scriptures read, God sent snakes into their midst. Okay, blame it on God. But what I found more interesting was that God didn't order the snakes to bite the people of Israel. I think the snakes came up with that idea on their own, using their freewill.

This was right after Moses had tried to get through Edom, and been refused by the king. So they now had to go around Edom, the long way, to get to the promised land. No wonder the people were cranky and upset. We are going to have to do some of the long-way-around work too in effecting our future Vision. I am sure many of you know the old adage that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line; and its corrollary - the longest distance between two points is a committee.

The challenge came as the people came once again to Moses to do something about the snakes. Moses saw that this was not going to work if he had to deal with all the little snake bites and scares in the Israelite community of almost 400,000. He needed to get them to do the work directly. 

Just so you know, as we move forward with the Vision, we are going to work on connecting people directly with the mission areas they are to serve, and the people that they relate to in order to convey the message of the Gospel.

The real lesson in our text this morning is that Moses made the people deal directly with their problems. As a church, we are going to have to face our sins individually, raising complaints against one another directly. If we have a corporate problem, we are not going to be able to run from them, as we might have before, but instead we will have to face the challenge head on.

I tell these stories as a precursor to naming a Vision because I want you to know that stumbling blocks will occur on the road to achievement. That God is greater, and that the best way through is to confront those issues head on, and work through them to keep moving.

Peace,

Head hunters

I had an interesting conversation the other day. I spoke with a Board of Ordained Ministry person who was not pleased with the state of the pastors in the church. It got me thinking...

What if the church started to employ headhunters to seek out dynamic leaders to be pastors? What if we placed the external call on folks before they heard the internal call? What if we challenged youth to lead us now? What if we took off many of the constraints of "doing it the right way" for "being faithful to God's call in the individual's life"? 

Would we be mired in the same arguments we have been mired in for more than 20 years? Would we be able to hear God's call in the midst of those who may not have "heard the call" yet? Would we find many people mid-way through their ministry like Wesley, with his heart "strangely warmed" knowing that in that moment his salvation was sure, unlike it had ever been before?

Just a question or two...

P.S. I got an interesting comment or two on this when I twittered it. 

1) Look to Scripture:

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (New International Version)

 ²⁶Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹so that no one may boast before him.

2) This would challenge the process even more deeply because, God's choices may not be the choices that the Wisdom of the Board of Ordained Ministry could discern. 

3) And "didn't we do this with the Spanish Inquisition?" 

Twitterverse

I have really been enjoying Jason Womack on twitter, along with several other folks in the Ojai Area, and beyond. 

One of the great things that Jason offered is something I want to put in motion as we move forward with a Vision at Ojai UMC. We want to filter things through the Vision, and ideas are just that. We have some things we are going to need to do to solve the problems we are facing. Jason helps set us on track for that. 

IDEA: Take 12 and 1/2 minutes (yeah, set a timer!) and generate as many ideas as you can as possible solutions to a situation your facing.

From these ideas we can filter them through the Vision and take what we need to move forward with action to achieve the Vision with some practical solutions (and maybe some impractical ones too)

Ministry of the Laity

I noticed a few things while reading through the United Methodist Book of Discipline recently.

I tend to read through the changes in the Discipline with the Red Letter Edition, after going through the Discipline with a quick scan of the entire hard copy. We added a new Paragraph to the Ministry of All Christians. We added a segment laying out the explicit need for the Laity to have ministry.

I am excited about this and I am capitalizing on the change in language with the Visioning process for Ojai UMC. Tomorrow I intend to post on the sermon notes from Sunday, with an eye to the commitment to ministry the people of Ojai UMC have made.

In the meantime, here is the language change.

CALMS Discipline Changes

New Paragraph Number: 126

Original Paragraph Number: 100.53

Version: 2

Calendar Item: 53

¶126. The Ministry of the Laity—The ministry of the laity flows from a commitment to

Christ's outreaching love. Lay members of The United Methodist Church are, by

history and calling, active advocates of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Every layperson is

called to carry out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20); every layperson is

called to be missional. The witness of the laity, their Christ-like examples of everyday

living as well as the sharing of their own faith experiences of the Gospel, is the

primary evangelistic ministry through which all people will come to know Christ and

The United Methodist Church will fulfill its mission.

Big Change

I have been seeing the seeds of Systemic Change necessary for Ojai UMC, and the Vision is just the tip of it.

I have been struggling with what that means, especially as some of the little changes that have been made or are being put forward now are met with more resistance than is really necessary.

Then I saw the follow-up post to Transforming Power from Bishop Willimon. I was able to gather sone strength and encouragement from it, and wanted to share part II with you as well.

Sermon Notes Marc

Drawing from the text Romans 4:13-25 we encounter Abraham this week.

I was particularly struck by the fact that we find him here in the middle of our Lectionary at the time when we are exploring Visioning.

Abraham is a great example of seeing an over-arching Vision: "To be a great nation"

God then inserts little Visions along the way for Abram/Abraham to step out in faith, for which Paul says, "it was credited to him as righteousness".

-Abram had to step out in faith to leave Ur. Everything that was comfortable and known and "the way it had always been done before" was left behind.

-Abram had to step out in faith to go where God would leave, and even more so when Abram arrived in the place that God had showed him would be his country for all generations, only to be sent on further.

-Abram had to step out in faith to take his concubine to his bad and have a child. He tried to take his own will and impose it upon God. He then had to take a bigger step of faith when God confirmed that this was not the way God intended for Abram's nations to be made.

-Abraham had to step out in faith when Sarah was told in her 90s that she and he would have a child. This was unheard of.

-Abraham took another step of faith when he was asked to take Isaac to the mountain top and sacrifice him, knowing Abraham was almost 110 years old, and wouldn't be able have another child unless God provided. Still he trusted and was willing to accept God's covenant.

-Abraham took each of these steps along the way to achieve little Visions. This is the nature of a Vision, it is achievable. Sometimes the Vision changes as the situation changes, and the needs of the community change, as well as the gifts that we bring.

Ojai UMC has had a common Vision since the beginning. We are "To be God's Children, in the Beloved Community"

-Along the way we have had some little Visions.
1) To be a United Methodist Church in the Ojai Valley
2) To be a church that rebuilds, our church, community, and individuals
3) To be expanding the preschool.

They have been accepted by part or whole of the church, and effected by the force of those who have worked hard.

It is time for us to have a new Vision. This will mean that we will leave a lot of things behind, but we will still always be striving to achieve the ultimate Vision. "To be God's Children, in the Beloved Community."

Quote of the Day

"There is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight is not against powers and principalities, it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender."

- J. Michael Straczynski

Saw this on a friend's Facebook page. It sums up what we are doing in the church, now in renewing our vision, and when the church itself is healthy and doing things right.

Pastor's Corner March 2009

The Emerging Vision

The Visioning process of Ojai United Methodist Church is well underway. We have had a number of great meetings, and opportunities to share. Now comes the part where I get to share them back with you, and you with one another. From them, we will find a common Vision.

First: What is a Vision?

A vision is a desired future reality, a hoped for result, that captures the heart and mind in such a compelling way that people are willing to commit their resources of time, talent, and treasure to make it a reality.

As such, it is a "To be" statement.

We have claimed a number of Visions in our cluster gatherings.

"To be a ministry to the elderly"

"To be open to younger families"

"To be a church that serves."

"To be a church that disciples Christians"

"To be a church that acknowledges the other"

"To be in community with one another"
"To be a survival aid for today"

"To be welcoming and gathering of youth"
"To be a resource"
"To be Christian examples"
"To be encouraging & invitational"
"To be a church that takes the church to the world"

"To be a church who survives"
"To be inviting community"
"To be joyous"
"To be equipping our people for ministry to the Ojai Valley"
"To be healers"
"To be just, merciful, and walking with God"
"To be evolving in meeting needs."

"To be recognized and appreciated"

"To be filling others with meaning and happiness"

"To be a church that brings people closer to God"

"To be in fellowship"

"To be building respect for one another"

"To be a diverse faith experience"

"To be a challenge to improve on self"

"To be so welcoming as to experience the love we have for one another to stay"

"To be every member a minister"

"To be visiting the sick and in prison"

"To be caring ans supportive of each other"

"To be connecting God's people"

"To be providing safety and security"

"To be the beloved community"

Now I want to challenge you. These statements are great, but only a few of them actually ask us to stretch, and are something we are not already. This is key to a Vision statement. If we are going "To be", then it is something we are not already. Talk them through with one another. Find the ones that resonate with you. Share them with each other, and with me. Find the common ground, and begin to lift out the core of the thoughts to find that deep connection with who God wants us to be at Ojai United Methodist Church.

To try and help with some perspective Ojai UMC has had two other Visions I have recognized during their 50 years. The two Visions they had were lived, but because they were not articulated often and well they died out. My hope is that we will not let this new Vision die out. We will need to articulate it well, and often. We will need to filter all of our activities, and the needs of the community through it. And when the time comes that we have almost achieved it, we will need to create a new Vision.

And, for the record, the two Visions Ojai UMC has had during its lifetime:

(1957-1962: Start-up) To be a Methodist Church in Ojai.

(1971-1973: After the arson that destroyed the sanctuary, and during the pairing of Ojai UMC and HELP of Ojai) To be a church that rebuilds [which meant lives, communities, and our physical plant]

I want to recognize too the other Vision that a small cadre of people at Ojai UMC had as a Vision. It was implemented successfully, but was never taken up by the whole church, and therefore has left it still standing slightly off to the edge. That Vision was "To be expanding the Preschool" (circa 1988-1990)

I will be reflecting on these in the sermons in March. We will begin to lift a common Vision for Ojai UMC, and we will move to claim a Vision at the end of the month. From there we will begin the "boots on the ground". We will reflect our current church and community through the Vision. This will begin with our Mission Statement, “To make Disciples of Jesus Christ in Faith, Fellowship, Tolerance, and Spiritual Growth”. Then we will look at the programs we already run, the finances we spend, and the needs of the community, to find those places of intersection - where our greatest gifts and the world's greatest needs come together with our Vision. That will dictate the programs we need to concentrate on, and the ways in which we can make the best impact on our community for Jesus Christ.

Blessings,

David

My Vision

I explained a few years ago that my Vision is to be Extending Ministry

Apparently, I need to follow my own advice, and revisit and hold before me my Vision and Mission.

I have had a hard time articulating my memory and remembrance of the Vision and Mission I hold for my own ministry in the Visioning sessions I have been having with the congregation. That tells me I am not doing a good enough job living it. I may actually be doing it, but without being able to articulate it I am likely to fall a little short.

Vision:
"Extending Ministry"

Mission:
To Extend Ministry through Longevity; Progress; Impact; Proclamation; and Variety

I recognize this more clearly when I talk about the two Visions I have recognized Ojai UMC to have had during their 50 years. The two Visions they had were lived, but because they were not articulated often and well they died out. I do not want mine to die out.

And, for the record, the two Visions Ojai UMC has had during its lifetime:

(1957-1962: Start-up) To be a Methodist Church in Ojai.

(1971-1973: After the arson that destroyed the sanctuary, and during the pairing of Ojai UMC and HELP of Ojai) To be a church that rebuilds

Deserving

Seth Godin wrote a post the other day about whether or not we deserve the luck we have had.

The gist was that we don't, and the better question is what we are doing with the luck we have had.

When it comes to Ojai UMC, I want to highlight some of the pieces of luck I think we have had, and ask the question about what we are doing with it.

We were granted a large piece of property to build our church.

We survived a fire in 1971 and rebuilt.

We have a wonderful preschool.

We have some outstanding music talent.

We have (arguably) the best view in town.

We have some very generous and helpful people.

We have a healing congregation (as seen in the pastors and their improved condition upon leaving OUMC, and in the congregation members joyfulness).

We have an emerging Vision.

We have a good reputation in our community.

Sermon Notes February 1, 2009

Reading: MARK 1.21-28

Jesus reminds us in this passage that speaking with Authority is important. We begin by hearing that this is different from the way of the Scribes, and other teachers in the Temple. So we take a moment to explore why that is. The Scribes of the time were a bunch of scholars who knew their history very well. They would trot out their favorite ancestor and quote him in Biblical Study, and then they might throw out another favorite ancestor, with a counter point. One could hardly pin down the Scribe about what their own views were, and what view was correct. Jesus began to teach in just such a way...and often when quoted in Scripture we hear it start, "You have heard it said, but I tell you..."

We know that Jesus had the power of the Holy Spirit in him, and we know that he gave that Spirit to us when he left. So we can put the pieces together and find that what Jesus does we also have capability to do. When taken with the reminder Jesus gives us that we will be able to do all that he has done and more I must sit up and listen. God gave us gifts to use for the building up of the kingdom. I have been passing out Spiritual Gifts Inventories for several months, and now I am going to get more serious about doing so.

Doing church without knowing the gifts of the people is a little like knowing how many buildings you have but not what is inside of them. We must be proud of what we have from God, and be unafraid of using those gifts God has given us.

I was affirmed, and chastened for hiding my own abilities, in this regard from a poem shared this week at the National Camp and Retreat Leaders' Gathering at Mt Hermon Retreat Center, near Santa Cruz, CA.

We need to be unafraid of using our gifts, and we need to use the gifts we have at hand. [See the post on MacGyver Church for more of those thoughts.]

We need to recognize that if we are not going to use the gifts God gave us, then we have about 50 years until everyone in the church dies, we bury them and we have nothing left. We were given a purpose, to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

We need to work on building relationships, with each other and with the community. Check out these questions to find your way into the conversation.

Begin with asking the person's name and then two other questions follow.
The two questions

1) Do you go to church?

Once answered: ask the next question

If "yes", 2a) Why do you go there?

If "no", 2b) Why not?