Administrator – Page 77 – Gospel Minutes for Everyday Missionaries

May 17, 2012May 31, 2012

Design

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A coincidence is when seemingly random events are perceived to be connected. Coincidences form the basic structure for many movie mysteries and thrillers but by the end, the coincidences seem less random or are even wholly exposed as by design. Leadership at Elim is experiencing the benefits of events too purposeful to be considered random. Therefore, design, and we know the Designer, must be the answer.

I could recount events from years and years leading to where we are at now, but I’ll start with last year. Our associate pastor, Brian Sharpe, asked the Elder Board for authorization to go through a profile assessment and coaching process. We dragged our feet and made him do some research but ultimately said “yes.” Early this year, his coach gave the board an outbrief on the results.

Leading up to the profile assessment report we were wrestling with the realization that Elim is growing numerically and it is fundamentally changing how we do things. This was addressed in our 2012 Annual Report and discussed at our annual congregational meeting in January.

Shortly after that, Pastor Brian’s coach, presented his report to the Elder Board. This happened on a Saturday. On the Tuesday before that, at our Elder meeting, Pastor Martin had talked about needing to change his role in the church within the context of how we are growing. He described the tasks he felt he needed to take on as being extremely demotivating for him.

So several short days later, we got a lesson in how people are wired differently and it just jumped out that the roles Martin was talking about taking on were contrary to how he is wired (and why they would be demotivating). The Elder Board quickly saw the value in having all of the staff go through the profile assessment and coaching process and two weeks ago we and the ministry leaders and staff heard the results.

It is so exciting to see how God has put all of the pieces together and how he is revealing them to us. We have a lot to work through and apply and make sure we don’t force people into roles for which they are not made. We’ll talk more and more about this, but right now we ask for you to be praying for the leadership as we seek his design. There’s no coincidence in this at all. Praise God!

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May 12, 2012May 31, 2012

His grace is enough

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by Chris Pace

I have currently been dwelling on a passage these past two months. I find such an amazing joy when God brings it to mind. Lately, He has been bringing it up rather frequently; at the men’s retreat, in worship, conversations, lessons, and sermons. Of course, He knows it takes a few times for me to be told in order for it to really sink in.

In 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 God tells Paul, after he asked God a few times to take a thorn from his flesh, that “My grace is all you need.” How extremely powerful! To know that I’m capable of nothing without Him; that my faults are not limiting what God can do through me. In fact, God goes on to say that “My power works best in weakness.”

I am now beginning to learn the lesson and understand what Paul figured out: “…to boast in my weaknesses; knowing the power of Christ CAN work through me.” This means I need to learn how to not only “take pleasure in the insults”, but the “hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ,” as well as “For when I’m weak, then I’m strong.”

So my prayer is that God will make me weak so that He can be my strength and continue to use me however He wills.

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May 3, 2012May 31, 2012

Clubs

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by Mike Hellum

There was recently an article about Augusta National Country Club coming under attack for its policy of men-only. They should’ve seen it coming. If the boys of Little Rascals took heat 80 years ago when they formed the “He-man Womun Haters” club then it was only a matter of time for Augusta. But I digress. I started thinking about the whole exclusivity thing and what it means to belong to a club. Clubs bring benefits, or nobody would join them, but they also limit your freedom. There are certain rules that come with belonging to any club. We expect that.

I suppose there are (at least) a couple of reasons why clubs have rules. First, when you belong to a club, your behavior affects other members. No doubt the dress code at Augusta prohibits golfing in a mankini. We’re all grateful for that one. Sports teams typically have curfews because athletes who have been out all night don’t perform at their highest level; the whole team suffers. Or if you’re out late and your name is Tiger, you’ve got even bigger problems. The list could go on, but you get the idea.

Second, as a member of that club you are also a representative of the club. Outsiders naturally form opinions based on what they know about that entity. I have a rather positive impression about motorcycle riders, because I know some that I like and I don’t know any Hell’s Angels. What about Christians? Somebody once said, “There are five gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and the Christian; most will never read the first four.” If I’m all others know about Christianity, I hope they have a positive impression of it.

Like a club, Christianity has its own identification marks and behaviors. Jesus said so when he identified how people will recognize us (by our love — John 13:35). So what about when the church asks people to maintain certain standards of behavior? We’ve all heard people say, “They can’t tell me how to live!” If someone’s an outsider, the complaint is fair — I can’t expect them to live by the same code I do. G. K. Chesterton said, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried. ”If it is a higher standard — and it is — why would an outsider want to be bound by it? On the other hand, if one identifies themselves as an insider, a different dynamic is in play. The insiders are bound together in a common cause and a common identification for a common good. It’s what it means to be in community — thus, we lay down our individual interests for the benefit of everyone else. It’s what Christ modeled for us (see Phil. 2, esp. vv. 1-4), and commanded us to model to the world. And with this “club,” the cost of admission is an investment that reaps infinite dividends.

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April 27, 2012May 31, 2012

A revolver spring

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by Dan Amos

We are blessed to have Martin as our full-time pastor with his training and experience. We are also fortunate that he has been gracious in sharing the pulpit and training others to step in when needed. Over the next month and a half or so he needs to take some time to spend with his dad and to have a procedure done to preserve and improve his eyesight. The Elder Board has encouraged him to take this personal time and several of the Elders will step in to fill the pulpit.

I will fill in this week during the men’s retreat and Martin will be back next week. After that, Brian, Larry, Stan, and Kevin Kompelien from the Evangelical Free Church’s ReachGlobal will bring the messages. Several of those sermons will be a detour from Philippians, but we’ll stay the course and finish just a little later than planned.

You can minister to Martin by praying for him and for those who will attempt to fill his big shoes. You can also help hold him accountable to trusting the team he has labored many years to build and for him to spend as little time as possible ministering to us and to focus on his dad and his own health.

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April 19, 2012May 31, 2012

Time alone with God

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by Brian Waple

“Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God.” (Luke 6:12, NRSV) One of the things that really strikes me about Jesus is that it was crucial for him to spend time alone with his Father. I think he did this for a couple of reasons. With all the time spent giving to others, he needed space to withdraw and be refreshed. And, he needed that one on one time with his source of renewal and inspiration. “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.” (John 5:19, NRSV)

As we learn to grow in more intimate relationship with God, we find that we long for those times of solitude where we can be inspired and renewed by what the Father is doing. Like Jesus, we must take time to withdraw from the demands of our busy lives and focus our attention on being attentive to God’s presence. It is only when we can remove ourselves from the distractions of life that we are able to present ourselves fully to God. And as we make ourselves more and more available to Him, we bring Him glory.

So, if you can, set aside some time during your day to spend alone with the Father. Maybe it means taking a short walk during lunch, or turning off the car radio on your way home. If you’re home during the day, perhaps you have a special place where you can sit quietly for a few minutes. Whatever you can do, offer that precious time up to the Father. And cherish it as your own time of renewal and inspiration.

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April 18, 2012May 31, 2012

Grace, grace, incredible grace

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by Dan Amos

A few years ago, I was walking to church and passed by a small classical Greek-type statue thrown from a vehicle. I kept walking but the statue’s head caught my attention and I had to turn around and pick it up. I had been thinking about the direction life seemed to be taking and the debris of a replica statue from a failed civilization was something I couldn’t just pass by. It was a year or so later that I was given the opportunity to take an extended, unpaid vacation. I felt my change coming; surely that civilization felt change coming, too.

Now, I feel the change at Elim as we grow in numbers. Things are different and that can be unsettling. There are more new people than I can get to know. I think it is great that there are so many people coming together to worship and work out our faith together in community, but the social side of me wants to get to know everyone and I can’t. (Read more about church growth stress.)

I also sense issues percolating beneath the surface that need to be addressed. The difficulty is they often don’t appear until someone is frustrated to the point of giving up. This is where we can help each other cope with the change. The first step to resolving an issue is in knowing the issue exists. Tell someone who can make a change or point you to that person.

But the most important thing is grace, lots and lots of grace, both given and received. In the “Love and Respect” seminar, the speaker asserts in most cases our spouse is “a good-willed person” and good-willed people can still try one’s patience. As we grow and change, most of our frustrations are going to be caused by good-willed people and with communication and grace we’ll get through this and thrive. I am always thankful for the grace extended to me by my Elim family. It is desperately needed!

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