July 1, 2007 Afternoon Service

Sunday afternoon we will be gathering at the new building location to dedicate the land and to celebrate God’s faithfulness as we take a step forward to making the new building a reality. Join with us to celebrate, to sing, to pray, to turn some soil over, and to ask for God’s blessing upon the place where He is leading us to move to.

After the service we will have a potluck meal and dessert social at the new building site.

New Building Dedication

We are planning a dedication service on the site on JULY 1^st. This service would take the place of our afternoon service and would involve prayer, song, Scripture, followed by a potluck bun and dessert time at a home close to the new church. Listen and look for more details about this next week. If you want to get ready, we are asking that those with last names A-M make buns and those with N-Z make desserts. Remember to bring your own lawn chairs.

June 17, 2007 Afternoon Sermon

The afternoon sermon will focus on Psalm 42 and 43, which is a continuation of 42.

Psalm 42 is the first psalm in Book II of psalter. It’s opening line is well known, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”

I look forward to your comments on these two psalms.

June 17, 2007 Morning Sermon… Continued

The sermon will focus on Mark 6:30-44, where Jesus has compassion on the large crowd that he encounters on the otherside of the lake.

The sermon outline (with questions) is this:

What is the definition of compassion (σπλαγχνίζομαι)?

How does Jesus demonstrate compassion in our text?

In his life?

How does God demonstrate compassion to his children? Israel? Christians?

How should we demonstrate compassion?

Fathers?

Husbands?

Leaders?

Why is compassion important?

June 17, 2007 Morning Sermon

This coming Sunday is the last sermon on the Spiritual Gifts as listed in Romans 12. It is on Compassion People.

I’m rethinking how to go about this last sermon… Look for more on this later today or tomorrow.

Anyhow, for those who are interested, here is the list of attributes for a compassion person.

Characteristics of a Compassion Person

• Has tremendous capacity to show love.
• Always looks for good in people.
• Senses the spiritual and emotional atmosphere of a group or individual.
• Is attracted to people who are hurting or in distress.
• Takes action to remove hurts and relieve distress in others.
• Is more concerned for mental and emotional distress than physical distress.
• Is motivated to help people have right relationships with one another.
• Loves opportunities to give preference or place to others.
• Takes care with words and actions to avoid hurting others.
• Easily detects insincerity or wrong motives.
• Is drawn to others with the gift of compassion.
• Loves to do thoughtful things for others.
• Is trusting and trustworthy.
• Avoids conflicts and confrontations.
• Doesn’t like to be rushed in a job or activity.
• Is typically cheerful and joyful.
• Is ruled by the heart rather than head.
• Rejoices to see others blessed and grieves to see others hurt.
• Is a crusader for good causes.
• Intercedes for the hurts and problems of others.

Problems of a Compassion Person

• Tends to be indecisive.
• Is often prone to take up another person’s offense.
• Is easily hurt by others.
• Empathizes too much with the suffering of others.
• Affectionate nature is often misinterpreted by opposite sex.

June 10, 2007 Afternoon sermon

This Sunday afternoon I had hoped to have a ground breaking ceremony at the new church site. But after some wise and thoughtful advice that plan is “on ice” until later this month or early next. Early (!) because we go on holidays for the 8th and 15th of July.

So this Sunday afternoon I am going to tackle another psalm. In this case, Psalm 54. This is a short psalm, written by David. The structure is elegant. And the content is relevant. There is certainly something to be said for the structure of various psalms. From a purely linguistic and stylistic point of view one can see the power of God working in it and through the writers.

Putting that up beside the arrangement of the psalter by those who put it together, one can only point to the majesty of God.

Psalm 54 is a prayer for deliverance from enemies who want to have David killed. The prayer is framed by David’s cry for vindication in verse 1 and his statement of assurance that he will look in triumph on his foes in verse 7. A confession of confidence (verse 4) centres the prayer.

The confession of confidence is one we use even today. “Note well - God is my helper; the Lord sustains my life!” If we believe this as David did, then we are to live out that victory in our lives.

The victory that David expects in verse 7, “For He has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.” Our sins have been forgiven. We stand victorious. The devil has been vanquished. The events of Revelation have been carried out. And we stand on the threshold of the New Heaven and the New Earth.

That is the picture of this psalm. That is the hope and profession we have. And how then should we respond? With thanksgiving and praise on our lips and acts of love and devotion upon our hands and feet to the God who sent His Son Jesus Christ.

Preachers’ Oasis

In just over 4 weeks from now, your pastor will be heading to Grand Rapids, MI to attend the Preachers’ Oasis. The description for the event is:

All preachers benefit from some time away to reflect on the preaching craft in the company of fellow pastors. To provide such a respite, the second annual Preachers’ Oasis is being offered in 2007 on the campus of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This week-long workshop will be limited to fifteen participants, each of whom must be a preaching pastor in a congregation. The aim of the week will be to ponder what is working, and what needs work, in the preaching life of each participating pastor. In addition to discussions with the entire group, each workshop participant will receive individual attention so that specific questions can be raised and particular issues dealt with. For all the details, application information, and a report on last year’s wonderful Oasis event, click here. We hope you will consider applying for the 2007 Oasis!

Check out the description from last year’s event. I am looking forward to growing and learning from this event. And I’m hoping to come back renewed, refreshed, and energized in order to bring God’s Word to the people of Bethel CRC.

June 10, 2007 Morning Sermon

Spiritual Gift - Administration

This is one of those interesting gifts. Someone who is good at office work. Not really. An administrator is one good at projects, long term planning, visioning, leading, delegating, watching out for the big picture. When an administrator gets going on something they enjoy, they work at it hard and they make sure the job gets done.

There are things I don’t like about ministry. There are other things I love about it. The things I do like, I work at them hard. But there is always so much other stuff to do, you can’t put all that time into the things you love. A minister is almost like being a “jack-of-all-trades.” And when that happens, they master none.

There is something about being all things to all people in ministry. But that can be a depressing thought after a few years of serving… at least for some it would be.

I’m an administrator. I don’t get to use this gift very often. And it can be frustrating for me. Especially when I have to keep my mouth shut or when I can’t be “the leader” in charge… which is often.

We have been blessed with several administrators in our church. Not all of them see things the same way or see us going in the same direction. It’s almost like controling a chariot with 10 horses leading out in 10 different directions. Hard to control. Hard to steer. You have to get a few pointed in the right direction, and then a few more close to that direction, and then the rest will either get pushed along or will eventually point themselves there. Or worse, they will be dragged behind.

The texts I’m planning on using are Judges 4, the story of Deborah. Matthew 8:5-13, the centurian with great faith. Luke 16:1-15, the shrewd manager.

Here are some characteristics and problems with administrators.

Characteristics of Administration

• Is highly motivated to organize that for which he’s responsible.
• Expresses ideas and organization in ways that communicate clearly.
• Prefers to be under authority in order to have authority.
• Will not take responsibility unless delegated by those in authority.
• Will assume responsibilities if no specific leadership exists.
• Especially enjoys working on long-range goals and projects.
• Is a visionary person with a broad perspective.
• Easily facilitates resources and people to accomplish tasks or goals.
• Enjoys delegating tasks and supervising people.
• Will endure criticism in order to accomplish the ultimate task.
• Has great zeal and enthusiasm for whatever he is involved in.
• Finds greatest fulfillment and joy in working to accomplish goals.
• Is willing to let others get credit in order to get a job done.
• Prefers to move on to a new challenge once something is completed.
• Writes notes to self.
• Is a natural and capable leader.
• Knows when to keep old methods going and when to introduce new ones.
• Enjoys working with and being around people.
• Wants to see things completed as quickly as possible.
• Does not enjoy doing routine tasks.

Problems with Administrators

• Becomes upset when others do not share the same vision or goals.
• Develops outer callousness due to being a target for criticism.
• Can regress into “using” people to accomplish own goals.
• Tends to drive self and neglect personal and family needs.
• Neglects routine home responsibilities due to intense interest in “job.”