Mid-Week Letter From the Pastor

Grace United Methodist Church

September 20, 2007

 

What to expect at Sunday’s Rally Day meeting?

 

The meeting will be held in the sanctuary at the close of the worship service.  It is not a charge conference or a church council or a quarterly conference.  In other words, IT’S NOT A BUSINESS MEETING.  It is a “Rally Day” meeting, a gathering for witness and testimony.  It is a time for sharing “God-sightings” and words of encouragement to each other.  It is less a time for airing personal opinions about the church and what we think others ‘ought to do,’ and more a time for each one to speak about his or her OWN personal relationship with God--and for each one of us to address the question:  What does it seem God is calling ME to do right now?

 

In the larger picture, our personal likes and dislikes about the church miss the main point.     Regardless of our opinions, judgments about others, and emotional reactions to what is going on (or not going on), what will be, will be.  And in the end, what the church becomes depends on what we DO, and what GOD does—not on our opinions.  If what we do is complain behind people’s backs, stick only to the people we know and like, boycott opportunities for spiritual growth, maintain lackluster attendance at worship, and withhold support from those who are trying to make a difference—that is the kind of church we will be.  If each one has more to say about what OTHERS should do than about what God wants one’s own SELF to do, then the church will be a place where blaming thrives and true Christian community falls on hard times.  If, on the other hand, we offer each other hospitality and respect, fulfill our membership vows, and discipline ourselves to put ‘lost souls’ first, then THAT is the kind of church we will be. 

 

The church depends on our actions, not our wishful thinking.

 

AND…the church depends on God’s will and ways.  No matter how much WE may get off the mark (as a church), the congregation belongs to God, and God works in ways both known and unknown among us.  The more a congregation struggles, the more closely we need to listen for GOD’S call to us. 

 

God seldom speaks to just one person in a church.  God usually gives bits and pieces of his message to each of us.  And it is only when we get together and each one shares what he or she has gleaned that we can begin to get the whole picture of what God is doing and what God wants from us.  And it is only when we DO what God wants that our church will flourish. 

 

How do we know what God is calling us to do as a church?  We can only know this when we add together what God is calling each of us to do individually.  (If you are focused on what God wants SOMEONE ELSE to do, and you are whining and grousing and gossiping about others, then you are probably not being still enough to detect what God wants YOU to do.)  Tell the rest of us what God wants YOU to do, and when we ALL share those hunches, we will have a better picture of what God is wanting from our congregation.

 

How do I know what God wants from me?  Sometimes I know it from reading scripture.  Sometimes God speaks through other people—and the requests others make of me.  Sometimes God speaks through the passions burning in my own heart.  Sometimes God is speaking to me through the needs of others that keep catching my eye.  Sometimes God speaks to me through an inner restlessness.  Sometimes God inspires, sometimes he lays convictions upon me—all pointing out the way God wants ME to take.

 

SO…what to expect at the Rally Day meeting on Sunday?  Expect the Cherub Choir to share their joy with us in song.  Expect folks to share what God is calling THEM to do.  Expect to have a congregational ‘straw poll’ to advise the Church Council on whether we should go to one worship service.  Expect the HOLY SPIRIT to be present with us.

 

This meeting Sunday is not something the conference is requiring of us.  It is not a strategy coming from the Church Council.  It is simply an invitation from a pastor to his congregation—a deep desire to have you join me in a holy moment of witness and testimony. 

 

I occasionally hear (third hand) distant rumblings of dissension, even malice.  And it reminds me that from time to time we all need reminding that negativity and irritability have no place in the House of God.  On the other hand, there is always room in God’s House for ‘speaking the truth in love,’ collaboration, and mutual submissiveness.  Whatever our feelings about others, perhaps we could all use Paul’s reminder to the Ephesians, “Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.  Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” 

 

My invitation to all of you stands:  to join me Sunday as we listen to each other:  in hope and wonder to the ways God is calling us to renewed lives of love and joy.

 

 

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FOOD PANTRY NEEDS: macaroni, juices, crackers

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FINANCIAL UPDATE:  to date, we have had:

 

Income of $148,890                               Expenses of $155,991

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THE CALENDAR:  (Please note especially items marked with an asterisk.)

 

Sunday, Sept. 23:           *One worship service at 9:00 a.m. 

  Congregational meeting in the sanctuary immediately after.

  There will be no Sunday school classes today.

 

                                      Grace Years worship service at Parkview at 2:00.

 

                                      Grace Years worship service at Sunnycrest at 4:00.

 

 

Monday, Sept. 24:            Grace Years small group at Prairie Winds at 6:30.

 

                                    *The finance committee meeting is rescheduled for this evening at 7:00.

 

 

Tuesday, Sept. 25:           Quilters will meet at 6:30.

 

                                      Angelus hand bells will hold rehearsal at 6:30 in the music room.

 

                                      Chancel choir will rehearse at 7:30 in the sanctuary.

 

 

Wednesday, Sept. 26:      Men’s Breakfast Group meets at 6:30 a.m. in the fellowship hall.

 

                                      The Cherub choir will practice at 5:30 in the sanctuary.

 

                                      Life Song rehearsal will be at 6:30 at the Aters’ home.

 

                                      The mission ministry team will meet at 7:00.

 

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If you know of someone who is in need of pastoral care, please contact the church office (328-1414) or respond to the e-mail above.

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