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Until We All Have Faces Again

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By Jason Comerford

Hey, fellow Elimites. How’s your fellowship with one another going? If you’re like me, it’s been a struggle.

I’ve grown weary of mainly seeing other humans through my computer screen. Zoom meetings are a handy tool, but they’re a poor substitute for seeing one another in person. And let’s not even get started on Facebook. Chatting with my folks from a thousand miles away can’t replace a good hug.

I think at this point, no one would disagree much about the value of seeing each other in person. It’s incredibly important, and we’re hurting from not having it. But as we move our church services from the parking lot back into the building and tackle the practical challenges of being indoors again, I worry about some of the habits we’ve developed in our extended isolation. I’d like to talk about some of the spiritual challenges in, once again, seeing each face to face.

Seeing Humanity

The first challenge is, I think, the more obvious of the two. We’ve lost sight of our brothers and sisters’ God-imaging humanity. That might sound a bit extreme, but I think that’s what interacting largely through social media and computer screens has been training us to do. As C. S. Lewis said in The Weight of Glory:

There are no ordinary people.

You have never talked to a mere mortal.

Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat.

But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.

We’ve forgotten what it means to work with, play with, and live with beings made in the wonderful image of our creator God. These are the people we argue with, hurt, and dismiss so brazenly online. When we’re in community and facing one another regularly, it’s much harder to dehumanize the human who’s right in front of you. As we step back into community, we’re going to have to embrace the challenge of seeing and treating one another as image bearers of God and not merely as whatever category social media has trained us to see each other as.

Vulnerability

The second challenge is slightly more insidious—and for me, at least, probably the harder of the two. We’re going to have to let others see us again.

Now, that might sound very obvious and, honestly, pretty easy. Just show up, right? But the natural effect of us dehumanizing and judging one another is that we’ve learned to hide ourselves away to avoid that very same dehumanization and judgment. As we treat others, so we expect to be treated. Other people can’t hurt you if you don’t show up, don’t enter into relationship, and don’t embrace the vulnerability required to live in community. There’s risk in being known, and certainly some hurt. But I think, in this season, one clear act of taking up our cross and following after Christ is going to be in our earnest pursuit of relationship. No hiding ourselves away. We’re going to have to look at one another face to face.

Even as the world has tried to train us to view one another through a combative lens, we must  adhere to the teachings of Jesus when he says:

You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? (Matthew 5:44-46)

Fellow Elimites, we are not enemies. However, we do ourselves a disservice if we don’t recognize our drift towards viewing one another that way. It is easy to congregate and gather with those we agree with, but there’s nothing Christ-like about that. True Christlike love will gravitate towards and humbly, kindly serve those who would, according to the world, be our enemies. Even within the family of God, we must find a way to apply this teaching. It might even be harder here, but do it we must.

Think and pray about this. Even if you’re not ready to come to an in-person service, consider how you can creatively (and safely) enter back into relationship with your fellow Christians. Our courage in this season isn’t mainly about how we respond to the virus—it’s about how we respond to each other. Will we give grace and wait on it from our brothers and sisters? Or will we come ready to fight?

P.S.—Shout out to all you who are rightly appalled at the blatant theft of my title from C. S. Lewis’s brilliant book Till We Have Faces.

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Membership: It’s More than a Card in Your Wallet

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By Dan Amos

Membership—Costco, a gym, AARP. We have memberships in lots of places, but we don’t always give them a lot of thought. Yet when we are members, we do say “we belong.” It’s a way of identifying what is important to us, and it links us to others. Membership at Elim is vitally important to our future. The decisions we make over the course of selecting a new pastor will shape who we are and what we do, and members will make those decisions.

It’s been so long now that I don’t really remember the process Fran and I went through to become members. We would have read through and agreed to the statement of faith and received a copy of the constitution. Most importantly, we would have told our stories to an elder or two. How did we come to faith in Jesus? Where are we on our journey with Him?

Telling our story is about being known by others. It welcomes other believers into our lives. We become part of a community that is mutually supportive and accountable. Sometimes that means confronting sin, which is very uncomfortable, easy to avoid, but totally necessary.

We don’t require membership to attend or go to Bible study or community group or to take communion. Community and accountability are not dependent on membership. So, why bother?

Membership is a formal declaration, a covenant with a group of believers to support one another, build each other up, and worship Christ together. At Elim, our statement of faith is a declaration of what we believe God’s Word tells us. We will use the Bible as the measuring stick for all that we do, and if we deviate from that, the membership is responsible to hold the elders and pastors accountable.

With that agreement in mind, the membership entrusts the management of resources to the staff and elders to be used for building God’s kingdom. We have been focused on discipleship. As we go through the current transition, we will put a finer point on how we will accomplish this. We’ll restate our mission, the vision of where we believe God is taking Elim and what He wants us to do.

So, when it comes to picking a pastor, managing resources, and setting a course, the members not only need to be in agreement, but also need to have a common foundation. If we did not insist on members who are believers and agree to the statement of faith, we could go the way of many churches before us. We could deviate from the Word of God; we could compromise our faith and lose the saltiness God has given us.

Membership has a lot of work before it, but it is profitable work. Each meeting and vote we take sets us on a path. We need each member to actively participate. The elders are reviewing the membership roll to identify those who are no longer an active part of the body and encouraging them to return or relinquish their membership if they have moved away. If you are not a member and you call Elim your home, let us know if you want to become a member, and we’ll start the process. Your church family needs you.

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Desire Family

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By Isaac McKenzie

“And He said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.’”
(Luke 22:15 ESV)

We want many things. We should first know that it’s important to divide want and need. Just as important, we must define for ourselves the role that want plays in our lives. The want I refer to is this desire Jesus speaks of in this passage of Luke. In the Greek, it’s epithumia: “desire, passionate longing, lust.” In the verse, Christ earnestly desires to eat with His closest counterparts. He conveys a genuine and passionate tone. He is eager. His is more than merely sincere. He communicates a desire to experience His friends’ presence in a limited window of time. Can we relate to such a desire?

Do we desire such things as Christ did?

Our Christ desired a genuine relationship with those He loved, with those that loved Him. Jesus didn’t take for granted the small moments that are meals and the presence of good friends. He experienced life as He lived it. All the while Jesus maintained His mission.

Christ was to suffer. He was acutely aware that His time with the loved ones who followed Him was drawing to a close. He wasn’t motivated by legacy as we might be. His motivation was much greater. He was savoring moments such as the Passover meal.

We so often forget that we have such a great influence on the moments that we are given the opportunity to live. We have a chance to make moments to be something meaningful. We can see our fellow believers as our family, just as Christ did. Matthew says about Jesus, “Pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother’” (Matthew 12:49-50).

I imagine Christ looking around the rooms He would enter with a great deal of intention, absorbing the view of people and ambient conversation and taking to heart every meaningful word exchanged. He knew what was to come and He genuinely loved them just as He loves us and wants us to love others as He does. I’d like to be like Christ in this way in particular. It’s my number one priority when being with others. Christ would walk into rooms and be present, as I would like to do. Do I desire to be present?

We only have such a short time. But the experiences on our bucket list of life, those desires—are they worthwhile? Am we intentional in having conversation? Are we engaging others? Do we find ourselves desiring to be present with our brothers and sisters, as he has made all of us to be? Do you desire for those you see at Elim to be family?

I would like to eat with you. I would love to do life with all of you, as Christ would want us to as well. Life has so many hurts and sufferings. We have such little time. We must strive to see each other as family. We must believe that this concept is possible—to find belonging, acceptance, trust, and family in others who follow the will of God. Your Father supports you in this goal. He remains with us, so we remain in Him as well as with each other (John 15:15). After all, don’t they say, “To never have loved others like Christ, is to have never loved at all” (or something like that)?

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God’s Treasure, Hidden in Jars of Clay

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By Larry Short, Community Ministry Director

While Martin was teaching this weekend as part of his Christmas behind the Curtain sermon on the value of people to God, I found and was thinking about the truth in 2 Corinthians 4:7—

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

While we know that God values us beyond comprehension (as demonstrated by His willingness to send His Son to suffer and die for our sins), we also know that He does not do this because of any intrinsic merit within us. We didn’t do any spectacular or beautiful thing to earn His respect. Nonetheless, He respects us. The treasure that He sees within us is a treasure that He has placed there, within these bodies (“jars of clay”) formed from dirt.

He breathed life (His Spirit) into us. He created us in His image, with the capacity to know right from wrong. He built into us the ability to dwell in relationship with Him and with one another. This was all of His doing and none of ours. If any glory comes of it, it goes to Him and not to us!

Martin shared how we must value and respect one another, because God values and respects us. This respect must play itself out in all our interactions with one another during the week, whether gathered at Elim, in community groups, on social media, or elsewhere.

In The Weight of Glory (p. 15), C. S. Lewis wrote:

It is a serious thing, to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or another of those destinations.

Too often we simply “write off” people who annoy us or we are not interested in developing relationship with, for whatever reason. God does no such thing. In Scripture we see, amazingly, that He treats even Satan with respect! By writing people off, do we not risk helping them toward the wrong destination? How much more wonderful it would be if we could be a blessing to each person we touched throughout the day, encouraging them in their journey toward the right destination!

Why We Should All Be Involved in Community Groups

Community groups at Elim are a great place for you and I to “practice” being in relationship with God and others as we journey together toward an eternity with Christ. At Elim we have groups for women and for men as well as mixed groups. They are volunteer led at different times during the week, and they study various topics. All are focused on helping us grow God-ward and in loving and truth-telling relationship with one another. Here is a quick snapshot of current groups:

Mixed Community Groups

Jason and Hannah Comerford’s group starts at 5:30 p.m. each Monday evening. The group meets for a meal, Bible study (currently studying 1 John), prayer, and fellowship. Most members are in their 20s to early 30s.

Kendrick and Janna Gilli’s group meets on Friday evenings, 7 to 9 p.m. This group is for adults of all ages, married or single. Childcare space is limited. Their focus is on relationship building with God and one another.

Isaac and Rebekah McKenzie, along with Cameron and Jenn Severns, host dinner every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. They’re currently going through the series The Truth Project.

Martin and Kim Schlomer lead a group that meets every other Monday evening, currently studying Colossians.

Brian and Tomina Sharpe lead a group meeting Tuesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Members are of all ages.

Larry Short leads a prayer, practice,and fellowship group for developing and existing group leaders, meeting every other Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. and offering additional leadership-training classes outside of group meetings.

Men’s Groups

Four groups all meet on Saturday mornings:

  • One is led by Tom Chase(every other Saturday morning).
  • One by Ross Fitzpatrick,starting at 7 a.m. at his home. 
  • CoreMen is led by Isaac McKenzie twice a month at 9 a.m.
  • One is led by Jeff Foerster.

Roger Petersohn leads a men’s group that meets on Sunday afternoons for coffee, called 2canDo, based on Ecclesiastes 4:9. It’s about developing Jonathan-David relationships with other men.

Women’s Groups

Candy Shattuck and Jo Cherland lead a Tuesday-evening (6:30 p.m.) study of the book of Colossians.

Cindy Waple leads two similar groups, the first every other Thursday at 9:45 a.m., and the other at 6:45 p.m. the same evening. They are studying Rooted in Love, a journey to a deeper understanding of and our response to God’s love.

For more information about these and other women’s activities, including MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and MOMSnext, contact Kim Schlomer.

To get connected with any group leader about joining their group, give them a call or touch base with me for more information. My email is my name (Larry Short) with no spaces, followed by the at symbol then gmail dot com.

And visit this page regularly to keep up with any changes to community groups.

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The Church as the Center of the Community

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By Bill Naron

To the believers amongst the body of Elim,

I have been meditating lately on the hope we have in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How sure is our hope because He gave his body for us and rose victorious over death and sin. He paid the debt that we were enslaved to from our birth. Jesus is our hope and the catalyst that began a revolution, the original counter to culture, and we are called to follow suit.

Comparing today’s American Christian churches with that of the first-century church, I see vast differences in the way they operate. One of the more apparent changes is that the overwhelming number of programs offered by today’s churches tend to be more self-help, fellowship, or inward-focused. I cannot help but be bewildered by the stark contrast to that of the first-century church, where the body of believers were more network-minded, fostered community, and seemed to be more outreach-oriented.

Realizing these important distinctions only reinforced my excitement for the direction our leadership is taking us in 2018! Because while fellowship, self-help, and community all help believers grow in communion with Christ, these things cannot be the only mission of a Christ-minded church. The apostles and community of believers mentored the unsaved and walked through life with them. The church had a major impact on society and culture, and the Gospel spread like wildfire.

What will this more evangelistic, Gospel-spreading mentorship look like? I cannot say for sure. This is different than anything I have seen implemented in my years as a follower of Jesus Christ. I know that in the 1800s it was not uncommon for a church building to be the center of the community in many ways, including hosting schools and courthouses. While I am not suggesting we go back there, I am curious what it would look like for Elim to become such a prominent place of community again, a place where we the believers physically invite others to join in the life-altering power of the Gospel! And that we as believers could somehow regain that Christ-focused impact for good even on public institutions such as schools and courthouses. Let us not only be hearers of the Word, but also doers of the Word.

Being an oasis of renewal in our community can only begin with the gathering of the community. We must break down our walls of insecurity and fear and truly be intentional fishers of men.

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JOURNEY: I Refuse to Go There!

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By Martin Schlomer, Senior Pastor

Two weeks ago, I spoke of the journey Elim is taking over the next few years and the need to chart a course that equips us to be disciples who make disciples among those who are not disciples. In my annual report, I shared how we had no adult I was aware of who had come to know Jesus in 2017. I asked the question, “What might it be like to come to the end of 2018, look back, and celebrate 12 adults who have given their lives to our Lord, have been baptized, and are now in disciple-making relationships?” (Since I wrote my annual report, I learned of a good friend who gave his life to our Lord in December! We will celebrate by baptizing him this Sunday!)

We have done a great job developing disciples among those who are already a part of our community, but we need to be equipped to make disciples among those who are outside our four walls.

As some people have pondered this “course correction,” a few questions and concerns have surfaced that I would like to address.

“Are you going to establish a quota for new Christians each year at Elim?” Absolutely not! This would betray a belief that you or I have the power to convince someone to give his or her life to Jesus. We do not have the power to determine outcomes on behalf of other people. This would be foolishness. Not even Jesus claimed to have this power while on Earth.

“Are you going to restart outreach programs like Freezing Nights, Feeding the Homeless, or Faith in Action?” While these are great compassion outreach ministries, they are beyond the scope of what I’m talking about. I’m not planning on starting any programs. As we take our next steps, if there is support for compassion-based outreach among people ready to lead and serve, we can certainly try to facilitate making that happen. But compassion-based outreach is beyond the scope of where we are going at this point in time.

“Then what is the Journey about?” It is about being disciples who make disciples among those who are not disciples. It’s about loving our Father and His mission. It is about embracing the truth that we are made for His mission. It’s about being equipped to live out this mission through our identity as salt and light among our friends, neighbors, coworkers, or whomever our Father brings our way. It’s about being a part of a community who pray fervently and support one another as we walk out our Father’s mission. It is about understanding how a person develops from a nonbeliever to a maturing disciple. I’m sure we’ll discover a lot more as we take this journey together.

“What’s next?” Last Sunday, we started a three-week preparation process. If you missed the message, please take time to listen. It is that important that we are all on the same page. Last Sunday, I gave everyone some homework. First, prepare your heart by asking our Father to give you a heart for those who are not disciples. Second, do what you can to protect and repair your reputation among all people. We are salt and light. If we ignore this aspect of our identity, we become something our Father never intended us to be (Matthew 5:13b). Third, identify two to three people who do not know Jesus whom you can pray for daily that our Father would prepare their hearts to surrender to the gospel. We must always talk to our Father about our friends before we talk to our friends about our Father.

As we take this journey, we will have opportunities to share the great things our Father will be doing. Jesus promised that as we go on this mission, He will be with us, empowering and leading along the way! To me, this is the most exciting part! See you along the way!

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