My sermon this week is on what we GET from worship. So I'm wondering...what do you get from worship? What keeps you coming back week after week? I'd love to hear from you! I think it would be great to include some of your responses in the sermon- if that's okay with you! They will be anonymous- I won't announce your name.
Make a comment on this post or just email me at pastorheidi@gracegrafton.com
God bless you all on this beautiful fall day! See you Sunday (or tonight)!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Perspective
A little perspective for you today from Archbishop Oscar Romero...
It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it is beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is the Lord's work...
Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us. No sermon says all that should be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the Church's mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about:
We plant the seeds that will one day grow.
We water seeds already planted knowing they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that affects far beyond our capabilities...
We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very, very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the Master Builder and the worker.
We are workers, but not master builders, ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future that is not our own. Amen.
It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it is beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is the Lord's work...
Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us. No sermon says all that should be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the Church's mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about:
We plant the seeds that will one day grow.
We water seeds already planted knowing they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that affects far beyond our capabilities...
We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very, very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the Master Builder and the worker.
We are workers, but not master builders, ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future that is not our own. Amen.
Monday, September 8, 2008
In the beginning...
of the educational year at Grace we had 30 people in the High School Youth Group Sunday morning class! Yay!
We've got even more signed up to do the "Generation Change" study for the next 4 weeks. This is the teen version of the "Financial Peace University" class that many adults have done. I am really, really excited about this study for several reasons- it's a very well-done course, it is going to get our high schoolers really involved in youth group, and it uses video, journaling, and other things to engage the kids.
But what I'm most excited about is what it is going to teach them- the dangers and emptiness of materialism, that they have TRUE value to God, the importance of saving and the gifts of giving to others.
God blesses us with so much. Our culture always tries to point us to what we DON'T have, distorting our priorities and our "needs." But the earlier we learn to focus on what we DO have rather than getting swept away in the rat race of materialsim, the better off we are.
Today, take some time to think about your blessings (material and spiritual) and thank God for them. And if you have children, talk to them about being financially responsible because the habits they make for themselves now will carry over into adulthood. It's never too early to start! Fill your offering envelopes together, tell them about the dangers of debt, and make it clear to them that you love them more than all the money in the world. Consider your finances and how they reflect who you are. And don't forget- prayer can help us make "change" (haha...get it!) inside and out.
God be with you and bless you with many kinds of riches!
We've got even more signed up to do the "Generation Change" study for the next 4 weeks. This is the teen version of the "Financial Peace University" class that many adults have done. I am really, really excited about this study for several reasons- it's a very well-done course, it is going to get our high schoolers really involved in youth group, and it uses video, journaling, and other things to engage the kids.
But what I'm most excited about is what it is going to teach them- the dangers and emptiness of materialism, that they have TRUE value to God, the importance of saving and the gifts of giving to others.
God blesses us with so much. Our culture always tries to point us to what we DON'T have, distorting our priorities and our "needs." But the earlier we learn to focus on what we DO have rather than getting swept away in the rat race of materialsim, the better off we are.
Today, take some time to think about your blessings (material and spiritual) and thank God for them. And if you have children, talk to them about being financially responsible because the habits they make for themselves now will carry over into adulthood. It's never too early to start! Fill your offering envelopes together, tell them about the dangers of debt, and make it clear to them that you love them more than all the money in the world. Consider your finances and how they reflect who you are. And don't forget- prayer can help us make "change" (haha...get it!) inside and out.
God be with you and bless you with many kinds of riches!
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