First Presbyterian Church

"And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." - Mk 1:17

On Sunday at our church-wide picnic, Mollie caught her first fish at the Freeman pond. She was very excited and informed me that we needed to go to Walmart and buy her a fishing pole. She was as hooked as the fish she caught.

Now I don’t at all consider myself a fisherman, but one thing I do know is this: you have to use the right bait to catch the kind of fish you want. Some fish will respond to "hand tied flies;" others will respond to gummy like lures; still others like live worms. If you don’t use the right bait, you will spend a lot of time standing on the shore looking like a dummy!

As I reflect on this "truth" of fishing, it is clear to me that it is applicable to our efforts to share the good news about Jesus. The first disciples were fishermen; and Jesus told them that if they followed him, he would make them "fishers of men." We too are followers of Jesus, and we too are expected to "fish" for people. As we seek to follow the Great Commission, we need to figure out what kind of bait we will use.

Today’s "fish" respond to different bait than "fish" of yesteryear. If we try fish for people today using "bait" that they don’t like...well, we will do a lot of standing around without much result. So, if we want to be effective in our desire to follow Jesus and be "fishers" of people, we will have to try new "bait."

Beginning on September 12^th, we will be trying something new in an effort to reach some of the "fish" in our community. We are beginning a Sunday morning "kickoff" that we are calling "The Gathering." It will be a time of fellowship and worship focused on getting our Sundays started with energy and enthusiasm. The music for the gathering will be praise and worship music similar to what you might hear on a Christian radio station. A group of musicians will lead us in singing praise to God. There will be good coffee and snacks. Each week a member of our congregation will share with the group where he or she sees God at work in our church and in the lives of our people.

"The Gathering" will begin at 9:30 a.m. and will conclude around 9:50 a.m. Following "the Gathering" everyone will be encouraged to move to one of our Sunday school classes for the morning’s lesson. Our Sunday school time will conclude by 10:45 a.m. and our regular morning worship will begin at 11 a.m. In an effort to meet the different needs of our congregation, the John Knox Sunday school class will continue to meet at the regular time of 9:30 a.m. All other classes - adults, youth, and children - will begin when "the Gathering" has concluded.

Elsewhere in the newsletter there is a more complete description of "The Gathering." I encourage you to read it to find out how it has come about and what we hope to accomplish through it.

I ask that you pray for God’s blessings on our endeavor to "fish" for people to follow Jesus, and I invite you to join us on September 12 at 9:30 a.m. in the fellowship hall.

Grace and peace be with you all!

Your friend and pastor,

Pastor Lee

I have lived with the call of Abram and Sarai over the past week in preparation for the sermon I delivered yesterday. As I continue to reflect on their story, I am amazed by their faith and courage that allowed them to leave all that was familiar to them and follow God into an unknown future.

Well, here we go again. For the fourth time since 1996, the Presbyterian Church USA will be debating and fighting over an amendment to our constitution dealing with the standards for ordination. Last week, the General Assembly of the PCUSA approved an amendment which would change the wording on who should be eligible for ordination to the office of Minister, Elder or Deacon. (I have included the actual text in a box below.) If you are thinking, “didn’t the church just vote on that,” you would be correct. A very similar amendment to the one below was defeated 78-95. in the spring of 2009.

We are beginning to make plans for our 5th adult trip to the Dominican Republic. This trip is a wonderful opportunity to put your faith into action and help our Dominican brothers and sisters in Christ.

God is active in our lives all the time, but sometimes we just don’t see where. If we happen to witness God’s hand in something obvious, I believe it is important to share the story. This helps us cultivate the ability to see God’s handiwork in both the subtle and not so subtle ways that God works. Recently, my family had a very clear “God - sighting” that I feel compelled to share.

Former chaplain of the U.S. Senate, Richard Halverson once wrote: “The maximum impact of the church of Jesus Christ in history in the world is not the impact of great and eloquent preachers or denominations, or church hierarchies, or even popes, priests, or cardinals, or all of the programs that the church has invented. The maximum impact of the church of Jesus Christ is the influence of the aggregate of believers where they are between Sundays.”

Over the last few months I have been looking at specific practices that we can undertake as individuals and as a church that can help us experience the transforming power of Christ in our lives and can help us become a transforming influence in another person’s life as well. This week I want to look at the “with-me” principle.

Holy Week is one of my favorite weeks in the Christian year. I love the pageantry of Palm Sunday, the somberness of Maundy Thursday, the reflective nature of Good Friday, and of course the joy of Easter.

As I think about the message of Holy Week, and especially Easter, I often wonder why there are people who refuse to believe. This week teaches us that we have a savior who understands our suffering; a humble king who gave up his life for his followers; and a risen Lord who shows us that death is not the final answer. This is good news for us all!

One of my favorite parables of the kingdom told by Jesus is the “parable of the growing seed” found in Mark 4:26-29. The kingdom of God is compared to a man who scatters seed on the ground. The man prepares the soil, plants the seed, and then harvests the grain when it becomes ripe; but he wonders how it grows without him. This parable shows us that there is work that God expects us to do in our lives in order to prepare for the growth that only God can bring in us.

A number of weeks ago, I explained that we are living in a time of high velocity change that is characterized by a shift in how truth is understood and in a world where the Christian worldview can no longer be assumed. In order to minister effectively in this new world, we need to recapture the missionary vision and purpose of the church: that being making disciples and meeting human need. As we move forward toward a vision of becoming more like Christ, we can make a difference for God in this radically new world.

But how do we move toward this vision, practically? Well, we engage in certain practices that purposefully place us in the presence of God. Then through those practices, God begins to transform us. Two of these practices can be grouped under the heading of “reach.” These are ways that we reach up to God and reach out to others.