Clocks

Do you enjoy watching the "behind the scenes" takes from movies or TV shows? Do you wonder what really happens behind the restaurant kitchen doors? Being a person who is curious, I enjoy watching the footage about how PBS documentaries are made, and watching these "behind the scenes" shows. I just like seeing how things work. How a perfect result comes together, despite all the bloopers and outtakes. 

I have just come back from attending a church staff meeting, and through this, I was able to take a "sneak peak" behind the scenes. A group of truly talented individuals, each in their own area of expertise and experience, come together to plan and discuss a few of the upcoming events of the church. It was like taking the back off an old clock, and seeing how each of the gears move independently and together, all at the same time. No one individual could run a ministry without the support from the group. No one activity could be planned without it affecting another. Space, location, time slots, volunteers, and equipment all need to be allotted and planned for any one activity to be successful. Just like in a clock, all the gears work together, simultaneously, to produce a positive result. Observing this "behind the scenes"  meeting was awesome and humbling. And like in a clock, where all the gears work together for one focus, which is to communicate the time, all the staff members at this meeting were all working together to communicate the Gospel. The story of forgiveness and love. Each person gave insight, ideas, and support to the other person. Each gear in a clock turns and works because of the gear next to it.  No one ministry is independent of another. I am proud and humbled to serve with such an awesome staff team. Together, we work to spread the story of Jesus.    

Think Small, Go Home, Give Up

We’ve had a lot of exciting growth in our church over the past year. I’m looking forward to all the things God will do in and through our church this upcoming year, but I think the key to any church success can be summed up by saying think small, go home, and give up.

Think Small

There are two ways to approach thinking small. The first is to think of the smallest members of our church, the kids. And trust me, Christine would love to talk to you about how kids ministry is the most important ministry with the highest long term success statistics. But I want to really talk about the other take. We are not a small church. I don’t know. If you’ve realized this or not but we are regularly worshiping over 300 on Sunday mornings and are trending towards 350 in average worship. Not only does that mean we are in all statistical categories a mid-large sized church but we are also bigger than 90% of churches in America. Whether we like it or not, it is impossible to know everyone and everything that goes on inside our church. It might feel like you can get lost in the crowd, which is exactly why we need to think small.

The average person, no matter what size church they go to, can recognize and name about 60 people from their church. You have to become intentional if you want to know more than that. I’ve found that the best way is to start small. Instead of thinking you can talk to everyone in a worship service, try focusing on just your section in the sanctuary. Turn those roughly 50 people who sit in your section of the room into your primary church family. Learn their names, ask about their dog. Whatever. It’s easier to make connections with a smaller group of people than trying to connect with every single person in our church.

But small groups are by far the best way to stay connected to a group of people from the church. We also firmly believe that spending time in a small group is a key factor in growing in your faith. When you get sick or go through a crisis, it’s your small group who is able to come along side you, pray over you, and even get a meal train going. So while we’re experiencing this kind of growth in our church, the first step is to think small.

Go Home

The christian life is not just about the couple of hours you spend on our campus each week. In fact, it’s primarily lived out through your time at home and where you work. There are countless resources about that, so I won’t bore you with another guilt trip. However, I do want to throw out a possibility. What would it look like if you opened up your home to a small group? What if after church you invited the new family out to lunch, or maybe better yet to your house for lunch? And let’s get really radical for a second, what if you actually talked to your friends and neighbors about coming to church with you? It doesn’t have to be anything special, and in fact there’s the perfect opportunity coming up. “Hey, I don’t know if you have any plans for Easter but our family’s going to the 8:00am service and we’ll save a seat for you if you want to join us.”

Give Up

They’re some of the most famous opening words of any Christian book, “It’s not about you.” When I talk about giving up, there’s a lot going on. None of it matters though until you come to the realization that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. If you have gotten to this point in the blog, I’m guessing you consider yourself a Christian which means you have already been found and saved. There are thousands of people in Navarre who can’t say that and Jesus came for them. So the first step in giving up is to know why you’re giving up. It’s so that we can get out of the way and let Jesus be God.

So we give up the notion of our preferences being the most important thing. We give up the idea that someone else should do it. We give up our time and our money to help fulfill our church’s mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We give up the idea that it is about us.   

If you want our church to grow, think small, go home, and give up.

Sticky and Stuck

These words at first make me think of glue and tape and things that are you want to keep together, to adhere to or attach to with the intent of some type of permanency.

But toss them around in your head a bit more and more things fall out like:

1. Sticky might refer to a situation that is difficult to manage, or cheese puffs or Doritos that are great to eat but leave their stickiness behind everywhere.

2. Stuck might refer to your car in the sand, or an inability to move on from one position to another.

As Christians, we want God’s word and His ways to stick to us like glue. We want to hide His word in our heart. We want it to be “stuck” to our hearts. When I think about that kind of sticking and “stuckness” (made up word?) It provides me with ideas of how to fuse God’s word and ways to my heart and into my life. We worship, service, study, fellowship and pray to increase our “stuckness” to God. It helps us to know Him better and to love Him more fully.

But there is a sticky point to this as well. When we find ways to serve and worship and learn about God, they can become sticking points., Because sometimes they become as important as the lessons, as the love, as the God we are desiring to know and stick with. We can get stuck in the methods the ways we learned about God. They served as conduits of His work and words, and we love how they have impacted us. This is a good and wonderful thing. But we are all so different and God desires for us to reach others for His kingdom any way we can.

Let’s look at Jesus example of letting others learn about Him. He demonstrates His love and His mission in so many different ways. He heals. He teaches. He prays. He listens, He shares, and oh so much more. In the short three years of His ministry, he gives us numerous examples of methods that He used to love and care for others.

When we come to worship, or to small groups, or to serve, we have certain expectations of how things were done before, and how we can lean in and help. And God desires for us to worship and learn and serve so it is good and right that we engage. We can learn about Him and share what we have learned with others.

But let us not become “stuck” with how things have been done before. We can get stuck on the ways, the methods that have in the past, reached us, that inspired us, that taught us. These were good things. But the methods were just that, methods. God love is the message, and it needs to be sent out to others in ways that help them to receive it. There are so many wonderful ways we can do that.

In I Corinthians 9:22b-23 the Apostle Paul reminds us to not get stuck in the way we share the Gospel; in the ways we share God’s love with others.

“I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means, I might save some. I do this for the sake of the Gospel that I might share in its blessing.”

Let’s get stuck on sharing the love of God with others and unstuck in how we do it. Our methods are not holy, but the love of God is.

Share it anyway you can, with whom ever you can, as often as you can.

Stick that on your Refrigerator!

Blessings, 

Lori Ferguson

God in the Movies

As a child, I was into movies that featured mystical creatures and titanic monsters. I still love them! "Clash of the Titans," "The Mummy," "Percy Jackson," and many more. Not that I'm about to bash these movies, but since I have given myself to God, I now have a whole different perspective when I watch them today. I don’t think differently about these movies. I still consider them some of my all-time favorites. Although, I do sometimes laugh at the old-school acting compared to today's standards.

So, does God exist in these movies? Well, of course. There's Zeus, Ra, Mercury, and many more. But my question is, does the real God exist in these movies? As in the Creator, the Father of the Great I Am.

It reminds me, in a way, of the Colossians. As Paul sat in prison constantly writing letters about the word of God and who He is, there were people worshiping a God who is in human form. So, for that, wouldn't God have created them too? As human beings, we are tested every day on our faith, trust, hopes, and beliefs. It's easy to trust and believe in something that is physically there, in your face, breathing. God's power is beyond anything we could come up with in human form. His test with us is the faith we have in Him. Would it be an easy test? I would say no. But faith and trust in Him can overcome anything. Paul loved and believed so much in our Lord that he was punished for it. His faith was so strong that nothing would stop him from spreading the gospel. God is so big; He is all around us. Look at the mountains, the skies, the oceans. Yet some still didn't believe. So, He sent us His Son. A beautiful version of Him in human flesh, and still, people denied Him. The only power He had was His heart and His Father backing Him up. He could see and feel the resentment, denial, hate, and all the sin. But He still loved us. He loved us so much that He died for us. He took all our sins and washed them away. God did not send His Son down here to punish anyone who doesn't believe in Him. Beheadings, spiritual sacrifices. Really?! Why would our God bring us pain? He sent us love in the form of a human to let us know He does exist, and He does love us.

Movies these days are great! I love them! They keep my imagination going, which leads to great fuel for songwriting. So, if your faith is in God and Jesus Christ, and you watch one of these movies featuring gods wielding lightning bolts and using the sun as a power source, wouldn't you say they should give our Lord gratitude? He created those too.

Outreach

My dear NUMC family, as we journey together in faith, it is imperative to recognize the profound impact of community outreach on our spiritual growth and the well-being of those around us. The essence of our faith lies not only in worship within these walls, but also in our ability to extend love, compassion, and joy beyond them. My hope this week is to convey the importance of seeing and fostering joy in our community outreach efforts, and the crucial role that each member plays in making a difference. Let’s, together, unleash the power of joy in Outreach!

A Reflection of God's Love: Community outreach is a reflection of God's boundless love for humanity. When we engage in acts of kindness, compassion, and service, we mirror the very nature of our Creator. The joy that accompanies these efforts is not only an emotional response but a spiritual connection to the divine love that flows through us.

Building a Bridge of Hope: As a church, our outreach opportunities essentially become bridges of hope, connecting people to the love of Christ. The joy experienced in community outreach is the manifestation of hope spreading like wildfire, igniting hearts and transforming lives. It is a powerful testimony to the life-changing impact of our faith.

Strengthening the Fabric of Community: Joy is the glue that binds a community together. When church members actively participate in outreach opportunities, they contribute to the strength and resilience of our collective spirit. Shared joy becomes a unifying force that transcends differences, fostering a sense of belonging and interconnectedness.

Church Members are essential in fostering Joyful outreach

Embracing a Servant Heart: Jesus taught us the importance of serving others with humility and love. Church members embody this servant-hearted approach in outreach, recognizing that true joy is found in selfless service to others.

Creating a Culture of Inclusion: Everyone has unique gifts and talents to offer. When church members participate in outreach opportunities, it creates a culture of inclusion. This is where each person feels valued and contributes to the overall impact of our endeavors. A byproduct of inclusion is the amplification of joy experienced in serving together.

Nurturing Relationships: Beyond the act of service itself, the relationships built during outreach efforts are invaluable. Church members play a vital role in nurturing these connections, fostering an environment where people feel loved, heard, and understood. The joy of community extends beyond the event, leaving lasting impressions on both givers and receivers.

Community outreach is not just a duty bestowed upon us by Jesus; it is an opportunity to witness and spread the joy that comes from living out our faith in tangible ways. As we engage in various outreach opportunities this year, let us remember that joy is not merely a byproduct, but an essential element of our collective spiritual journey. Together, as a church family, let's embrace the joy in community outreach and continue to be the hands and feet of Christ, making a lasting impact on the world around us. Christine has a few community outreach events planned this year, and we could use your help at all of them. We have a Valentine’s dance this Friday, Vacation Bible School, and Sleep in Heavenly Peace bed builds coming up - just to name a couple. None of these events require any “specialized” skill sets. Just let us know you’re coming and come as you are! We would absolutely love to have you!!

May the joy of the Lord be our strength as we step out in love and service!