Dust... Ash Wednesday

Prayer

I do not like Lent.

I do not like being a Jesus follower in Lent.

I do not like it because Jesus confronts me.

Stories like these just deepen my dislike for Lent.

Stories like these point, to how negligent I am as a human being…. A man

Stories like these, Jesus cuts to the chase and gets in my face.

When you get down to it… stories like these really shows my dust… my dirt… my true self.

Rms 7:15, Paul says,

 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not, but I do what I hate.”

Lent shows our dirt… Lent is an opportunity to wash the dirt and dust off.

Lent is an opportunity to look at ourselves and make changes.

Lent is a time to re- remember that we are finite and human.

“From dust we were created, and to dust we will return.”

Lent is an opportunity to remember the cross of ash on our foreheads as an opportunity to remember God’s love for us through God’s son Jesus.

What about you… How does Jesus encounter you in Lent?

We can see the speck in others, but all to often, we neglect to see it in us.

Even though we are created from dirt and will return to dirt, God made a way for us to be loved by the cross of Christ… Forever. 

Why do we care about football?

 Seth Godin shares a blog article about football I found enlightening. He describes it not only as an all-American past-time, which it is, but how it has become us. He ends the piece differently than I thought, which may mean the future of the sport may be in jeopardy. Also at the end I postulated the same outcome has come to the church and his insights may have real-life  implications for us in the church. It seems we (the church) have all too often looked at being the church for the masses when we probably we need to be looking at church as tribes, communities, and connections. Give the article below a read and let me know what you think?

Why do we care about football?

For someone outside the US, the visceral connection with football seems mysterious. You can understand a lot about the future (and past) of marketing once you understand how the sport turned into a cultural touchstone.
Tribes -> TV -> Money  -> Mass -> TV -> Tribes
Football as we know it started in colleges. It was an epic muddy battle, pitting one alma mater against another, a war-like, non-balletic battle that united (at a pretty elemental level) the tribes on each side. As it grew as a college sport, it became as much of a social event as a sporting one, with alumni and students finding connection around a game.
But if that's all it was, today wouldn't be the biggest day of the year for several industries. If that's all it was, you wouldn't be able to pick a fight merely by challenging the hegemony of football or the local team. We'd be spending as much time and energy on soccer or lacrosse or basketball, but we don't.
No, it turns out that, quite accidentally, football, more than any other sport, is made for television. It's better on TV than it is live. The combination of the play clock, the angles, the repetition and the opportunity for analysis all make it perfect to watch on TV. And perfect to run commercials on. TV and football grew up together, side by side. Instant replay and the thirty-second commercial, supporting each other.
It's not an accident that the commercials are as much a part of the Super Bowl as the game. The commercials represent both the cash component of football as well as the cultural souvenirs that go with our consumption of the game.
Fifty years ago, a coat salesman paid $4,000 for the rights to film a game, and NFL Films was born. The decisions Ed and Steve Sobol made over the years turned the sport cinematic, amplifying the tribal origins but taking them much further. They used sound editing and shot on film, all to transform a game into a spectacle.
Then, the second great accident occurred: As football became the official sport of television, it generated billions of dollars in revenue. This revenue led advertisers to push for more football, which led to more television, which led to colleges transforming football from a small sideline into a cash cow of some focus, despite the fact that it has very little to do with the core mission of the institution.
People justify the unpaid (and dangerous) labor of college football players by pointing to all the scholarships. But the scholarships aren't for playing football, they are for appearing on TV. That's what pays for the system.
The media-football complex drives deep into childhood, with many kids fast-tracked from a very young age into the game (not soccer, not baseball, not physics) at some level because of TV and because of money and because of tribes. If football is part of what we stand for, then of course we're happy to have our kid be part of that. But what does it mean for football to be part of what you stand for?
No one stands for movies, or ice cream or double-entry bookkeeping. No, a sport has become a pillar of our worldview, a tribal and economic connection to our past and our future. We don't want to understand the history and the money and the happy accidents. We just assume that this is as it was and as it will be.
Going forward, no other sport will ever have a run like this, because the TV-cash part of the connection can't be recreated. Mass TV built many elements of our culture, but mass TV (except for tonight) is basically over.
The new media giants of our age (Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.) don't point everyone to one bit of content, don't trade in mass. Instead, they splinter, connecting many to many, not many to one.
The cultural touchstones we're building today are mostly not mass, mostly not for everyone. Instead, the process is Tribes -> Connections/communities -> Diverse impact. Without the mass engine of TV, it's difficult to imagine it happening again. So instead we build our lives around cultural pockets, not cultural mass. Our job as marketers and leaders is to create vibrant pockets, not to hunt for mass.

I Haven't Been to Church

  

This past Christmas was the first time in my life I didn’t go to a church for some sort of service. I’m not in a bible study or small group. In fact being a part of organized religion has completely melted out of my life in the last twelve months. If you were to ask why, the answer is simple; I’ve not attended because after working in churches for 10 years - two of which some would claim are the best in the country - I haven’t found any value in going.

Continue Reading...
http://tonysteward.me/post/41420912985/i-havent-been-to-a-church-in-over-a-year 

“Mission From God” Part 1: Why This is Important

Jan 20, 2013 Sermon                                                      

Neh. 8:1-3, Acts 2:14,36-41, Luke 4:14-21

                                                                                                 PRAYER

 “Mission from God”

We begin a 6 week series titled “Mission of God” and over the next 5 weeks we will reflect on and have a conversation about what Cross Lutheran’s mission of God will be. But in order to have an understanding of what God’s mission for Cross is we have to ask some questions for us to think about.

 Missio Dei… Latin for “Mission of God”

The term “Mission” has been a buzz word for many years in the church as well as in all aspects of life. What is your mission?.... You need a mission… Mission is what we do… and so on. Many often ask, What is Mission?

Many understand mission work for the church means to go to another country and convert people. That’s what has often been referred to as the “Mission Field.” According to Gallup… that’s what most Christians believe when asked what it means to be a missionary. The same Gallup poll also points out that the US no longer sends out the most missionaries into the world. The poll also says that other religious traditions in other countries believe the richest mission field is the US, and they are sending missionaries here… most are Christian missionaries from Africa. Most Americans think the mission field is in Africa.

The BIG BIG question is….

What is our Mission?... and Why is this Important?

Your familiar with the Blues Brothers and their Mission from God... check out the video

 

 

For many congregations their mission has been to bring people into the church. The church was the place where you learned about God. This was an easy mission to fulfill because people were immigrating to this country and depending on your ethnic background you went to a corresponding church. If you were German or Scandinavian you went to a Lutheran Church. If you were Polish, Italian, French, Irish, Hispanic you were most likely Roman Catholic. If you were English… Anglican…. Scottish… Presbyterian.

It was easy to fill the churches mission… they came.

Today for better or worse this is not the case… in fact, it hasn’t been the case for over 40 years… since the 1960’s. People are not coming to the church, and they’re not going to come to the church in the ways they once did. Today you have to be intentional about connecting with people, and therein lays the problem for us. In the past they came… religious life was part of society… it was what you did, even if you didn’t believe… Today it isn’t the case, and because we never had to connect with others we don’t really know how.

And we still revert back to this understanding… and it happened last Thurs at the leadership meeting when we were reflecting on doing GREAT things… we want people to come here. My friends we need to begin to think differently if the church is going to thrive in this always changing ever change world we live in.

In our Bible readings today Nehemiah states the Mission of God was for the people to read from the Law of Moses.

Our Acts reading the Mission for Peter was to Preach, Baptize, and invoke the Holy Spirit.

Our gospel reading from Luke, Jesus’ Mission was to tell the Good News to the Poor, announce Freedom for the Prisoners, give sight to the Blind, and Free those who Suffer.

If you noticed, from our reading in the OT to Luke, the same scenario as ours has happened. People went to the temple because that’s how you learned about God. The mission was to read from the Torah… the Law of Moses… if you noticed that’s the church… they were in the church. In Acts… they start to go out… Peter preaches outside of the church. The mission begins to be outside of the church. And… Jesus… says nothing about being in the church or being a church.

So… Why is this Important? First… That God is a God who Moves

Warren Schulz of the Albin Institute says, “We have most often looked at God as a “Noun”. But, God is a God who moves. God is really a “Verb” God does things, God gives vision, God acts.”

In John 14:12… Jesus tells his friends if they have faith they will do even greater things than he. If you want to do great things you have to be willing to work with a God who acts. You see… our God doesn’t sit still… within this I believe there is an expectation for us to act on and do things for God… In other words, God expects us to leave the building sharing good news.

The Holy Spirit Empowers

This endeavor is not our doing, but the empowering of the Holy Spirit. You can see if it’s up to us… our agendas, our interests we do not go far, in fact, we’d probably screw it up, but with God everything is possible. The Holy Spirit empowers us to be hands and feet serving not our mission & purpose, but God’s.

In our Acts passage we see this being done. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit preaches repentance and grace… God acts, and 3000 believed and were baptized… 3000 lives were transformed and changed that day. Without the Spirit of God among you, you will only be an entity upon yourselves.

The mission of God is important because God acted intentionally to come to us in human form to share a message of Love, Grace, and Forgiveness and we need to share that with others.

Over the next 4 weeks we will have an opportunity to share our thoughts on what God is calling Cross Lutheran to be about.

-       What is God purpose at Cross?...What are your mission priorities?...

-       The type of Pastoral Leader… and areas of ministry focus.

My hope is that we will start this discernment and you finish it with you new pastor within that first year.

Close with story… I shared this before, but it bares repeating.. there is a story of a community of people who lived on a stretch of dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occurred. Eventually, some of the townspeople decided to put some time and effort and money into a rescue operation. A small life-saving station was built and the devoted members of the rescue team kept an ongoing watch over the sea, ready to use their little boat to search for survivors in case of a shipwreck. As the result of this volunteer operation, the town became famous because of the many lives that were saved.

More and more people joined and became part of the team. Soon a new building was erected. It was much larger than the first little building and it was beautifully furnished and decorated. And as more and more amenities were added for the members' pleasure and comfort, the new building was slowly transformed into a kind of clubhouse. As a result, some of the members began to lose interest in the rescue operation.

But then a shipwreck occurred and many survivors were rescued and brought into the clubhouse for first aid. During the period of the operation which lasted for several days, the frenzied activity caused the attractive "clubhouse" to be considerably marred by such things as bloodstains on the lush carpeting. At the next meeting there was a split in the membership. Most members felt that the life-saving operation was a hindrance to the social life of the organization. Those who disagreed were told that they could build another little station further down the coast. And, as the years went by, history continued to repeat itself. Today, so the story goes, that seacoast has a number of exclusive clubhouses dotting the shore - but no one in the area seems to be concerned with rescue operations.

My friends you’re on a Mission from God!

See You Out on the Road.

Prayer of Gratitude

O Lord, as we prepare to celebrate and give thanks this year, may we find it in our hearts to be grateful no matter what. May we praise you for what we can do and praise you in spite of what we can't. May we thank you for what is and what isn't, for what is going well and for what is not. May we thank you for what brings us joy and even for that which brings us grief, for if our grief testifies to anything, it testifies to the depths of our love. Bless us and keep us, dear God, we pray, and turn our hearts ever and always toward your all encompassing light, you who are our creator and savior, our redeemer and friend. Amen and amen.

Sarah Buteux

Spilsh Splash, Taking a Bath

Sunday Jan. 13,2013 Sermon                                                                              

Luke 3:15-17,21-22

Two pastors, one a Lutheran the other a Baptist were discussing baptism. The Lutheran asked the Baptist if he considered a person baptized if he was immersed in water up to his waist.

“No,” said the Baptist.

“Do you consider him baptized if he is immersed in water up to his NECK?” asked the Lutheran.

Again the Baptist’s answer was: “No.”

“Well now,” said the Lutheran, “suppose you immersed him up to his EYEBROWS? Would you consider him baptized THEN?”

“No,” said the Baptist.

“Well…. there you have it!” said the Lutheran. “It’s only the little bit of water on the TOP OF THE HEAD that counts!”

PRAYER:

A few years ago Kathy & I went to Stoney Creek Metro Park on a Sunday evening for some relaxation. While driving in we saw signs saying, “Baptism at North Beach” along with the churches name Kensington CC at the bottom.

Being the curious guy that I am we went to check it out. We saw at least 1000 people. They had one of their bands playing, and I came to learn they rented the entire beach to do these baptisms. Technically, others were not supposedly to be there. They reported that 350 people we going to be baptized. 4 pastors were wired for sound and video cameras recorded all that took place. People were excited and you could tell by the expressions on the people baptized lives were changed. It was an awesome experience to watch.

I’ve talked to people who have had similar experiences and report a profound spiritual experience. There is something about being washed with water that gives us a renewal. I’m sure some of the 350 people baptized that summer evening had been baptized as infants & now as they make change in their hearts and lives this baptism helps them to integrate a New Life w/ Christ in a more profound way. Don’t get me wrong…. There is nothing wrong with infant baptism or the people who have been baptized as infants. For me… as I watched & listened that day to the people who experienced baptism later in life… my infant baptism doesn’t excite me in my faith as I saw the excitement experience from them.

When Luke describes the experience when Jesus was baptized…. “the sky opened up and the Holy Spirit came down, and a voice from heaven spoke,” this must have been a awesome and profound experience for all in attendance.

We as Lutherans need to come up with an experience like this for baptism. We need to find tangenable and experiential ways for people to feel the presence of God’s grace.

So today I want to share with you what I believe baptism means to me.

 “Baptism Expresses Repentance”

The Greek word for repentance…Meta-noi-a “To Make Change”    “To Change the Heart”

Luke tells us in Vs 3 of this chapter, “Turn back to God and be Baptized.”

Baptism is the acknowledgment of our mistakes and our need to make change in our life. Luther said of Baptism, “Humanity is so in need of a changed heart, it is only by the grace of God we are allowed to come up from the deep.” Luther practiced baptism like that of the Kensington Church. He believed humanity was so bad that he would hold people under the water until they struggled to breath. People would fight and gasp for air as they came up from the water. Luther wanted people to experience death and new life. Baptism is the radical life change that brings new life.

 “Baptism Expresses Trust”

Have you ever played the game where you lean back into another persons arms? Tyler… would you please come forward. Do you trust me? Please lean back and I will catch you. (He did and I caught him) Usually at camp you get to experience some of these trust games.

When we experience baptism it is an expression of trusting God. When we are immersed into the water we are no longer in control… we must trust God to be present and to bring us up from the deep. Trusting God means submitting to God. This is a dirty word in our American lexicon. We don’t like submitting to anyone. It’s beneath us. But if we don’t submit we won’t experience the grace afforded us through this act. Submitting to God means affirmation of God’s grace! This is Our biggest faith challenge… trusting God.

Trusting is the blessing of Baptism.

 “Baptism Expresses Faith”

If repentance is the radical change of baptism, and trust is the blessings of baptism, then faith is the Grace of baptism.

When Luke says in Vs 22, “You are my dear Son”

o    Other Translations say, “You are my beloved Son.”

I believe what happens as Jesus comes out of the water, God is saying, “By Grace through faith I love you.” When we come up out of the waters of baptism we to are hearing God say to us… “I love you.” Without Faith, there is no Grace… Without Grace there is no Faith. Thus… baptism isn’t merely an act we do as a welcoming rite into the church, but a significant step in turning one’s heart and life over to God. In baptism… you are placing your faith in God.

Closing: Story of baptism at a Via De Christo retreat weekend.

Has anyone here been to a Via De Christo event? They are one of the most spiritual enriching experiences you could ever experience. On the Saturday evening of our weekend we had the opportunity to affirm our baptisms. We didn’t have to do this if we didn’t want to, and some chose not to. We gathered in the parking lot of the church we were at and we stood in a circle in the parking lot and one of the pastors began to read some scripture and we reflected. They read some more and we reflected. Then one of the pastors took a bucket filled with water and poured the water over the first man saying the words of God, “You are my beloved son.” This was repeated for each of us. It was a powerful experience of repentance, affirmation, trust, faith and grace of God.

Baptism my friends is what brings the grace of God into a living experience of the love of God.

Is anyone up for a little splish splashing… I have a lot of buckets.

See You Out on the Road