Good Shepherd Update Thursday July 1st, 2010

Dear Good Shepherd,

This Sunday is the 4th of July…and what better way to celebrate the birthday of the United States of America than to spend Sunday morning thanking and praising God for blessing us with a free nation, a representative government, a country ruled by constitutional laws that protect among other things, the right to worship God without government interference. And what better place to thank and praise God but church?  So I’m confident there will be a huge turnout not despite but because it is the 4th of July.

This week’s update is once more largely all about Vacation Bible School which is coming up the week of July 12 through the 16th.

As I said this Sunday during announcements, this is not like some VBS programs—a canned curriculum tangentially related to scripture. One of our parishioners, Anna Dreher, has created this program herself and it is one of the most biblically solid programs for introducing children to Jesus Christ that I have seen. And its also a lot of fun. Because this program is so good at communicating the gospel to children, I’m asking everyone who is not already involved in the effort, to commit in some way to help get the word out and/or support the effort in prayer…preferably both.

Prayer Team for VBS: Anne says that more people have signed up for the prayer team which is great. She’ll be sending out some information about a meeting time this coming week.

More Volunteers needed to pass out VBS material This Saturday and next Saturday: We have about 5 volunteers total signed up. That’s a good start but I’d like about three times as many because we have a lot of ground to cover. Vacation Bible School starts on July 12th. We hope to get as many kids on the south-side signed up as possible. There are so many kids in our neighborhood and many of them already like playing on and around Good Shepherd. I pray that this program will help us begin to make some inroads here with the gospel. But we need your help. The most important thing you can do right now (aside from praying) is step forward to walk door to door with information and registration forms. Door to door, person to person contact is so important in building relationships with people. We’re going to start going door to door about two Saturday’s prior to the start of VBS, Saturday the 3rd of July and we’ll continue all the way to Saturday the 10th of July.  The two Saturdays will be the biggest pushes. These kinds of things are why we are here. They are why the church exists…to bring lost people to the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. Having ourselves been lost and found by the Lord, everyone should be willing to help with this and I look forward to your full joyful support and participation.

Volunteers needed to make VBS materials: We need some volunteers to help make materials for Vacation Bible School after the 10:30am service on Sunday July 11th. There will be a sign up sheet for this downstairs.

Good Shepherd needs Three Leaders: Good Shepherd is in the beginning stages of a transition from a “pastoral” sized church to a “program” sized church. You can read about the difference here (please do, it is a very very helpful article), but basically, a pastoral sized church is one that is small enough for the pastor to be at the center of everything. He is the one who takes a primary role in administration, planning all events, greeting all newcomers, organizing all outreach and evangelism efforts, leading all bible studies, doing all pastoral visits…everything essentially centers on him. But when a church grows to about 150 active participants, the pastor can no longer fill all of those roles effectively and it becomes necessary for people in the congregation, lay leaders, to take ownership of many of the ministries of the church—this is called a program sized church. The transition from pastoral to program sized begins at about the time the church reaches 100 to 120 active participants. Good Shepherd has grown to that point. For that reason, if you haven’t noticed, many other leaders have stepped forward to teach bible studies, for example. We’ve had to hire a secretary to do administration, a youth minister for the youth, and a choir director for our music program.

Often what happens during the transition period is that people are so used to being a pastoral sized church that they do not step forward to lead when leadership is desperately needed and so ministries falter and the church becomes far less effective and the growth stops.

I don’t mean that people stop volunteering. People at Good Shepherd especially always volunteer to help out when needed. But a program sized church doesn’t just need volunteers, it needs leaders, people who envision ministries, plan for them and organize programs. Pastoral sized churches wait for the pastor to do all of that and then jump on board. In a program sized church, leaders with vision step forward and seek to create ministries to support and further the God given mission of the church to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

Good Shepherd is presently in dire need of visionary lay leaders in three areas: 1. Evangelism, 2. Social Outreach 3. Hospitality/integration.

We have no real evangelism committee or program at the moment and most of our efforts are randomly tied to the various events that we do. The outreach committee is full of people who are way overstretched which means that no one can take full leadership and, it also means, that our efforts are disorganized and somewhat random. We have a great hospitality program when it comes to greeting people at the door, making them feel welcome and following up during the week…but when people actually start coming to Good Shepherd, we don’t have a plan for or way of integrating people into the congregation.

I’m not asking for volunteers. These are not things you just volunteer for and I need to be very discerning about who fills these roles. I am asking you to pray that God will raise up workers for the harvest. Pray that God will call people to serve in these ways. If, in fact, you sense that God is calling you to any of these roles, please come and talk to me and we’ll pray and talk about it.

Thursday Night Bible Study: There will be Thursday night bible study tonight after the Shepherd’s Bowl at 6:30pm. We’ve moved into John 9. All are invited.

Women’s Bible Study not meeting July 3rd: will not meet this Saturday, July 3rd. Carmen is out of town but will return next Saturday.

Men’s Breakfast and Bible Study: The Men’s Bible Study meets at 6:30am every Friday morning for breakfast and discussion. We’ve just finished 1st and 2nd Samuel and are preparing to dive into the book of Revelation. We’ve done our overview of the book and we’re headed into a discussion of the chapter 1 this Friday. Lee Bronson is cooking…

Tuesday Morning Bible Study. This is Good Shepherd’s first bible study. It began 8 years ago and all the other bible studies grew out of it. Presently this study is led by Chris Vail. It meets every Tuesday morning at 9:00am in the parish hall. A basic but comprehensive verse by verse study of the scriptures. Presently this group is working through Acts in an effort to piece together Paul’s missionary journeys before turning to his Letter to the Romans. Ultimately, this group will work through all of the New Testament epistles and letters.  All are welcome!

First Light Bible Study: Meets every Tuesday evening beginning at 6:30pm. The First Light bible study is designed for intermediate and advanced students of scripture. The group takes the time necessary to delve as deeply as possible into the text, learning the art and science of biblical exegeisis. Ife Ojetayo leads the group which is currently working its through Ephesians. All are welcome.

Team Corinthians: is up this week. Carrie Moorehead is captain

Acolyte Makeup Practice: There will be a make up practice on July 18th for the seven or so acolytes who could not make it last Sunday.

Semi-Annual Financial Reports are in the sanctuary. Please look for the envelope with your name and address on it.

Usher Meeting: All 10:30 service ushers should plan to meet for training immediately after the service on July 11th.

Pantry NeedsThank you to everyone who has helped refill the pantry. I know that several people and families depend on it and are grateful for your generosity. Please continue to check in on the pantry status.

A thought (from me) about the varying interpretations of difficult textsWhen scientists propose differing theories to explain an unexplained phenomenon like “dark matter”, no one suggests that the existence of these disagreements means that there is No Explanation for the observed data or that there is No Way to establish which theory is correct. It is assumed that there is a correct answer that further study and debate will reveal it.

And yet when two Christian scholars differ over the interpretation of a difficult biblical text, it is generally assumed by atheists, agnostics, and skeptics that the text has no meaning, that the bible is a wax nose, and that we are thus free to impose whatever meaning meets our fancy.

A Note about Giving: Thanks be to God that in May, through your generosity, we completely erased the $13,000.00 disparity between our budgeted and actual income. That means that at the mid-year point, we are exactly where we thought we would be. I am writing you to encourage you to continue giving with the same spirit of generosity. This is the first year for a number of years that the budget as passed includes a true tithe…money going to support the mission and ministry of the Church beyond our walls. I think, so far, we’ve discovered that it is impossible to out-give God. As we spend in accordance with his purposes and priorities, he provides. I am, again, so thankful to God for your generosity this year and look forward to the second half of the year confident that we will continue to grow in Christ and that God will add to our numbers.

New Bibles: We’ve placed our order for new English Standard Version bibles. You can read about the ESV here. And here is an online version. The new bibles should arrive next week.

Changes in the Liturgy: Beginning Next Sunday, the 12th of July, we’ll be rotating through three different Communion Prayers—a different one each month. The one we have been using, Prayer A, is great and will be a part of the rotation, but the Anglican tradition is a rich and varied one with so many different and good liturgies. So we’ll add Prayer D to our worship which you can find on page 372 of the Book of Common Prayer and the Kenyan rite which can be found in the Kenyan prayerbooks that are all over the place throughout the church…but all three of these liturgies will be printed in the bulletin too.

Last Sunday’s Sermon: Here’s the sermon from Sunday: Grace and the Sinful Woman part 2 based on Luke 7:36-50. You can watch part 1, here. I don’t have the text up yet for part 2 but I’m working on it.

This Sunday’s sermon: This Sunday we’ll move to Luke 10:1-20 and discuss Jesus’ sending out of the 72

[10:1] After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. [2] And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. [3] Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. [4] Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. [5] Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ [6] And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. [7] And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. [8] Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. [9] Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ [10] But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, [11] ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ [12] I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
[Woe to Unrepentant Cities]
[13] “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. [14] But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. [15] And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.
[16] “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
[The Return of the Seventy-Two]
[17] The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” [18] And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. [19] Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. [20] Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
(Luke 10:1-20 ESV)

Adult Christian Education: The Thirty Nine Articles: Last week we discussed the doctrine of Christ’s descent into hell and found that Christ experienced hell on the cross as our substitute, then he died and was buried. This week, we’ll move on to the last two “catholic” doctrines…and by catholic I mean “universal”...these are doctrines shared by the whole church. Beginning with the sixth article we move into more specifically Protestant doctrine. This has been a great series so far and I’m looking forward to this Sunday:You can read all thirty nine articles here. Below are the two we’ll cover Sunday:

Article IV: Of the Resurrection of Christ: Christ did truly rise again from death, and took again His body, with flesh, bones, and all things appertaining to the perfection of man’s nature, wherefore He ascended into heaven, and there sitteth until He return to judge all men at the last day.

Article V: Of the Holy Ghost: The Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son, is of one substance, majesty, and glory with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God.

Well, that seems to be it for this week. I’ll see you Sunday.

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