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Pastor's Message for March 2014

3/9/2014

 
1 John 4:16-18  Common English Bible tells us that
"We have known and have believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who remain in love remain in God and God remains in them. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear expects punishment. The person who is afraid has not yet been made perfect in love."

Well shoot!  I guess we all know we aren't perfect, but this verse just seems to slap my reality in the face. 

I believe in God. That's a fact.   I love God.   I even believe ( in spite of there being no reason I deserve it) that God loves me. 

So why then, do I find myself still such a seething mass of anxiety?  When I was little my dad called me his little worrywort.  Well I am all grown up now. I've been out on my own longer than I was a child in my mother's home.  Surely I should have outgrown the worrywort bit somewhere along the line. 

Worry.  Fear.  Anxiety. All part of the human condition, I suppose. All serving distinct purposes in appropriate amounts. But when they get out of hand they start to become a serious problem. 

Worry can make us sick.  Fear can hold us back from doing what we are called to do.   Anxiety can slow things down to a grinding halt. 

There are many things that cause fear in our lives. Far more than I can list here. But because I came here to be your Transitional minister nearly three years ago,  let me address one o two in particular.

We are one of many, many churches who have been caught up in the process of ever changing society.  Born in the frontier; schooled in the industrial revolution; bursting with growth in the post war periods when purpose was a desperate need and service organizations thrived; we, like so many others,  have been in a gradual decline over the past 40 years.  Decline is scary.  Let's be honest, it can be terrifying. Fear plays a big role in declining churches. 

To reverse decline we are called upon to make friends with change.  Well guess what?  Change is scary, too!

What is a church to do?  

Let go of the reins.  Take chances.  Jump out of airplanes (metaphorically speaking).  All potentially terrifying acts, themselves. 

But we have a super power.  And a super power that makes us impervious to Fear and it's minions anxiety and worry.

We don't have to worry because as it says in First John, " Perfect Love drives out fear."  

I imagine Perfect Love riding into town on a giant steed, with a lariat twirling and a bullwhip snapping as fear, squealing, runs as fast as it's little feet can carry it.   Away.   Far away from Perfect Love. 

Easy to imagine...  A little more difficult to make real. 
Some might even suggest that it is impossible to know Perfect Love, much less to drive out fear.

But again, we have something of a secret weapon on our side.  We know that while many things are impossible for humans like us, "with God nothing will be impossible".  I looked up a few familiar phrases like that just to see what I could find using Google.

I'll be moving on in a few short weeks. You will continue your journey toward of transition. I'll be praying for you to believe fully that you are in the care of the God who as Perfect Love, drives out fear, and with whom nothing is impossible.
   
<3 Elaine

From The Pastor

2/8/2014

 
As I write today I am preparing for my final 8 worship services as your transitional pastor.  Reading ahead in the lectionary I was drawn to the Epistle readings which for 5 more weeks are in 1st Corinthians. What a great letter to explore.

I decided to do a Sermon Series on 1st Corinthians – here are the topics and verses – reading the letter would be to your advantage!

January 26: But We Can Still Love – 1 Corinthians 1:10-18
February 2: The Wisdom of the Cross is Yours – 1 Corinthians 1:18-31                                          

February 9: The Spirit Shows Us Truth – 1 Corinthians 2:1-12
February 16: You Are God’s Building - – 1 Corinthians 3:1-19
February 23: You Belong to God – 1 Corinthians

As we begin this Corinthian sermon series ask yourself this - When you notice a problem in your family or in your business, or your health or wealth – how do you fix things?  Often we have a tendency to pinpoint the problem and start fixing what is broken right away.

Not Paul - in I Corinthians, even though the church had some grave issues to deal with, Paul starts off by identifying their giftedness and the strengths the community had been given through the amazing grace of God.

After that, THEN he got to the core challenge that this community was facing. “I appeal to you” he says. You have all these gifts, these sources of strength. So use them for God’s glory!  Trust in the strength of your gifts and the power of the Giver to help you heal these urgent issues that are threatening your ability to give witness to Christ, or to perform your mission, and maybe even to stay alive and functioning as a community in Jesus Christ.

Paul is not a shy guy when it comes to naming the issues of the faithful. Right off the bat he hits on factions. They have formed clubby little factions based on which leaders they like the most.  Have you ever known a church to do that? Gasp!

OK.  But seriously, Paul wasn’t saying factions were the only challenge church could face. He sure wasn’t saying it was the Corinthians only problem!  (You may note a few more in the coming weeks.) But he was identifying factions as the core issue that Corinth faced at the time that he was writing to them.

What it all boils down to is that whatever issues were causing them woe, the first step was for them to remember that they were made into one body in Jesus Christ by the grace of God.  They were never meant to be a bunch of political or religious or personality groups who just happen to gather for worship in the same place at the same time.

 “Knock it off, already!”  Paul told them.  Celebrate your differences, but play nice and play on the same team!  After all, our fellowship is not in factions, or in leaders we like.  Your fellowship, as the Body of Christ, is in Christ himself and Christ only.

Hmm… Think I just preached this week’s semon!

And in March we’ll be Getting into Lent -

March 2: The Changer and the Changed - Matthew 17 1-9                                       March 9: Lent Begins – Vision Quest - Matthew 4:1-11                         March 16: Born from Above and So Very Much Loved – John 3:1-17

I am praying every day that the future brings you, by Go’s grace, a pastor who will guide you in the ways of God’s will for you – “a perfect for you” Pastor to walk with you into the future of the FCC(DOC) in Santa Barbara.

God bless you all!

Pastor Elaine Schoepf

From the Pastor: Turning It Over Again

1/15/2014

 
Welcome 2014!  The season of Advent has given birth to the season of Christmas - We have celebrated the Birth of the Child who came to express God's incomprehensible love for the human race.  Now we move on.  We move forward.  We grow along with the Child Jesus.  Learning.  Making mistakes along the way.  Finding new ways of understanding and new ways of expressing ourselves.

One of the things we are learning is how to let God take the lead.  We want so much to do well, to do right.  But our desire to do well sometimes gets mixed up with our desire to be right, or our desire to be on top.  Those are purely human desires - pretty much impossible to avoid at some point in our lives.  But if we have committed our lives to letting God lead us through out lives, we might need to examine our deisre to control the outcome of our lives. - and other folks lives, too.

I wonder what human challenges Jesus faced as he was growing up and maturing.  Was one of the the desire to control - to take the reins from God - or the "reign" in Jesus case?  I wonder how many times he had to be reminded as a child or to remind himself as he grew older, that he wasn't in control, God was.

God is still in control.  No matter how many times we try to grab thte steering wheel and drive.  We, as I imagine even Jesus did as he matured, have to let go and return control to God - sometimes more often than others.  We turn it over and take it back and turn it over again...

But the more we turn things ofer to God and let God lead us instead of trying to lead God, well - the easier and more bountiful and beautigul the journey will be.

As we enter this new year, I invite you to walk with Jesus, and remember that when things are confounding you - it's probably just time to turn things over again.
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:6-7

Pastor Elaine
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    This is a general blog by First Christian Church and has several authors.  Our Pastor, Our Moderator, Webmaster, and some other members who sign their articles - mostly from our newsletter "The Chimes"

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