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What Matters Most to This Pastor?

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By Martin Schlomer

The year 2014 has been a year of many blessings as well as spiritual growth! God’s faithfulness and grace is evidenced in the lives of many who have been baptized and in those who continue to grow in following Christ.

As I look back on 2014 and write this report, I ask myself, “What matters most?” I could talk about the blessings of increased attendance, new people coming, near-record giving, strategic efforts to develop disciples (efforts which need a lot more work), missions trips, building projects we’ve accomplished, or challenges we’ve faced where God has grown us. All of these metrics—and many others not mentioned—matter a lot! However, in this season of my life and ministry, they are not what matter most to me.

What matters most to me? Elim being an oasis for renewal (life-changing redemption) with God and one another so that people become passionate followers of Jesus who live out the compelling realities of the Kingdom of God in the midst of our increasingly lost, hopeless, and hostile culture! Are there metrics from this last year I can write about that would indicate this is taking place? I suppose what I mentioned are some worthy indicators. However, while they measure things that can be seen, they don’t necessarily reveal the passions of the heart.

Passions of the heart that would indicate whether or not what matters most to me is happening are discovered through story. For instance, in the community group Kim and I lead, we are listening to life stories for the first few months. As I listen to these stories, I hear a common theme of how God is using Elim to redeem these people through the grace and love from this community, the preaching and study of the Word, and prayer. “Elim has been an Oasis for me,” is a common statement. As I look back over this past year, this is what matters most to me. As I look forward to 2015, this is what matters most to this pastor!

What challenges do I face when pursuing what matters most in 2015? I need to make sure that what matters most continues to be what matters most. My heart can be fickle and easily distracted by good but lesser things. I believe that if I focus on what matters most, the good but lesser things will follow. For those planners among us, I realize there needs to be strategic planning. However, I’m also realizing I need others who will take that on so I can focus on what matters most.

As I focus on what matters most, I need to transmit this focus and passion throughout the fabric of Elim’s core leadership. I want to do my best to make sure they “catch this virus.” This is essential because those they lead need to catch this virus also. If the leaders don’t have it, the followers won’t catch it. This means I also need to work with others to develop a leadership pipeline that will infect leaders with the virus of what matters most.

As I focus on what matters most, I need to transmit this focus and passion throughout the fabric of the congregation through preaching and leadership. I desperately want every attender to choose to become a passionate follower of Jesus! I pray that God will do whatever it takes to make this happen in your life, because following Jesus is what is most important in all of life. This calls me to greater levels of boldness and clarity as we enter this new year.

There you have it! This is what matters most to your pastor. I hope you will join me in this pursuit.

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Molar or Pinkie Toe?

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By Nate Champneys

I was driving down the street the other day following another car, and I watched the driver roll down their window and throw a bag of fast food trash out in the street. It really bothered me. But I had to ask the question, “Why does this bother me the way it does?” The reality is that this person’s littering doesn’t really affect me when it comes to my day-to-day life. Technically, it’s probably none of my business. But the thought that ran through my head was, “Why would you want to deface your own street?” To me, the problem goes much deeper than some litter on the ground. When I see graffiti along the side of the road, I view it as a much deeper problem than an ugly (or sometimes beautiful) mark on a fence or building. Somewhere along the way, many of us stopped thinking of America as our country and started thinking of it as “someone else’s” country, and it has created many problems. Where there is no ownership in something, there is no reason for a person to take pride in that thing, and therefore there is no reason to care for that thing. It is a sad reality.

The problem is that this very same attitude has also crept into the church. As a pastor, I have a front-row seat to observe this phenomenon. I see it when something is broken or run-down and someone asks, “When is somebody going to fix that ______?” Or somebody says, “We need to buy a new ______. This one is really run-down.” Or, “The chairs in the sanctuary are so dirty, someone really ought to clean them.” But many times we get sucked into this way of thinking. If your bedroom is a mess, you never make the comment, “Somebody needs to clean this up.” You understand that it’s your bedroom and so it’s your problem. Now don’t get me wrong, there are so many people who step up without being asked and take ownership. But somewhere along the way, many people have started to view the church as, “The church I attend,” instead of viewing it as, “My church home.”

The reality is that no one person owns our building. No one person is in charge. We are a “congregation-run church.” If you are a member, you are a part owner. The grounds outside: it’s your lawn. The kitchen sink inside: it’s your sink. But it goes further. The Wednesday night Awana program: it’s your program. The women’s Bible study: it’s your study. The community group you attend: it’s not the community group you attend, it’s your community group. Elim is your church. If it’s not yours, whose is it? Is it Pastor Martin’s? Mine? Brian’s? Ultimately, it is Jesus’ church, but He has created us in Him to “be the church.” We all may have different roles in the body, but we are still created to function within the body.

Really, our job as pastors is to empower people to serve Christ and His body, however God designed them to do it. A few weeks back, Bryan Anderson came to me and said, “Nate, would you mind if I took a look at the drinking fountain?” It had been broken all summer because of a leak. I said, “Would I mind?! Are you kidding me!? Absolutely!” It brings me so much joy to see people take ownership of this family that we call Elim and serve her. Obviously not everyone can fix a drinking fountain, but Bryan was offering himself to Christ in the way Jesus designed him to function.

My question to you is, what is your function? Every body part has a reason for existing, a purpose that only it can fulfill. Trust me, Jesus did not make any of us to be useless. I may be a left molar, and you may be a right pinkie. But in any case, we all have a function and exist as part of a whole. Paul tells us in Romans 12, “so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” What a beautiful picture.

My hope in writing this is for it to be not a guilt trip for you, but permission to function as Jesus created you to be. For you to unashamedly, passionately serve Elim (and the global Church beyond) in the way Jesus created you to serve. To be the best lung, or kidney, or pinkie toe (or whatever role he created you for) in the body of Christ that you can be!

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship … For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. Romans 12:1, 4-6

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Pursuing Real, Honest Community at Elim

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By Martin Schlomer

This Sunday, Elim will host its first Small Group Fair. We will profile all the small group opportunities available during this season. However, regardless of the small group you choose to belong to, the experience will (and should) challenge you. Our goal is to “walk in the light,” as John writes in 1 John 1. What does this mean for community? Bob Thune and Will Walker wrote in their article “How to Get Real, Honest Community,” “If we walk in the light, as God is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. We have true community. We have real relationship. We’re finished pretending, hiding, covering up. You know the real me, and I know the real you. And that’s a good recipe for true friendship.” I encourage you to click this link and read the full article, because I believe it will introduce us to the challenge and freedom of genuine community we long to see embraced at Elim.

Come to Elim this Sunday, October 5, and find a way for you to be a unique part of our community.

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Challenges

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By Dan Amos

I am thankful for my job. I even like my job, but it would consume me if I let it. I was issued a laptop computer and a smartphone, both of which are expected to be nearby or on me pretty much all the time. The job wears me out, and I know that if I sit down when I get home, the evening is over. I need other things in my life to pull me away, challenges that stretch me in other ways.

Ironically, one of my current challenges is generated by my employer. There’s a program across my company to count the steps taken in a day and to meet certain thresholds. What it has shown me is that I don’t get to move a lot. I knew that, but now it is quantified. So, Fran has been helping me, and we have been doing a lot of walking. I’ll come home from work and she’ll ask if I want to walk. I’ll respond, “Absolutely not, let’s go.” This has not only helped me get moving, but it also has been a great time for Fran and me to talk at the end of the day.

My family at Elim plays a life-expanding role as well. The Elder Board provides me an opportunity to serve. Community groups give me an opportunity to connect and process life with brothers and sisters. There are individuals that give me accountability and mentoring relationships. The most obvious and consistent role is every Sunday getting together with everyone at Elim and worshipping together. There we praise God in song, in prayer, in giving, and in the hearing of the Word.

This last Sunday we heard from Ernest, and he challenged me to read through the entire Bible. Fran and I have decided to do that together. Every day, the war against Christ’s kingdom grows, and the sword we’ve been given is the Bible. I need to wield that sword well.

The couch’s call is strong, but challenges keep me moving. Thank you, Elim, for your role in challenging me.

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Faith-Sustaining Words

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By Beau Leaman

Hebrews 3:12-14
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

Before Ashley and I joined Elim, we definitely had a strong desire to be involved in a church body. We had moved from Southern California to Washington trusting that God would move and open the doors we needed Him to open right away. Yet through the refining process we ended up not making Elim our home until about one year into our marriage. Our plans never worked out the way we wanted them to, but praise God that His plans are greater than ours.

I wanted to talk a little about the benefits of community and what it’s done in my life and my marriage. There are a couple of questions I’m going to run through, and hopefully it helps.

1) How has joining a community benefited your marriage?

Our marriage has been directly impacted by our joining Elim and being involved with the Body of Christ. It has impacted our marriage because we come freely to worship our God and have fellowship with His sons and daughters. It has benefited our marriage because we realize our depravity at an even greater level, thus urging a more powerful push to love our God with everything.

2) How has joining a community strengthened your relationship with your God?

Paul wanted so desperately to be with his Savior, but one thing that always caused him joy here on earth was the fellowship of the saints. I have found this to be true in my life as well as in the lives of so many of the brethren at Elim. Life is not meant to be alone. There have been countless times where truth has been spoken into my life, and it was not easy truth. This truth, humble and meek, has pointed me and the giver toward Christ. Your best friend speaks the most truth in your life, and for me those best friends have been several people within the Body of Christ.

Being in community is a powerful thing. Whether you’re single, soon to be wed, or married, there is a Spirit-driven calling that burns within our hearts to be with others. As Hebrews 3:12-14 points out, whether it involves encouragement, accountability, truth, confession, or prayer, the Body of Christ is here to edify, exhort, and promote endurance until the day of Jesus Christ.

What does community with a body of believers look like to you? Is it inconvenient? Would you rather be nowhere else? Does it ease conscience on a Sunday morning? Does it bring you joy? Does it edify? Does it harden your heart? Do you see a Trinitarian community played out? Does it build and encourage you? Does it involve selfish gain?

I have shared a piece of what the Body of Christ has accomplished in my life and the direct impact it has had with my God. What does the Body mean for you?

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