“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

 

 

Dear Servants,

 

We have just shared the celebration of Christ the King Sunday, and we are only a week away from the start of the Season of Advent. Advent is a time of preparation, not only for the celebration of our Lord’s birth but also preparing ourselves for the Lord’s victorious return. None of us know when Jesus will come again, but it is clear that one of the best ways we can prepare is by taking the Scriptures seriously. Over the past two Wednesday nights, Dr. Andrew Hanson has been sharing the primacy of Scripture in our Anglican heritage and mainly teaching us on the history of our Bible (canon) from its Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic roots. We hope to have that teaching available online soon if you missed out.

 

The importance of regular Bible reading cannot be overstated when it comes to spiritual growth in the life of a believer, as our two passages above point out. Your vestry takes these verses seriously, and after a day of retreat and conversation back on September 3rd, agreed that God was calling us to emphasize this to the parish. An electronic survey of our parish recently revealed that over half of those polled, read Scripture daily. Praise God! The vestry’s hope is to encourage many others to join in this worthy pursuit.

 

As we discussed possible strategies, it seemed helpful to devote the season of Advent to compile a devotional of writings by members of our congregation. Twenty eight members of our body have written devotions that will be available through our website, email, or in printed form starting next Sunday. Thanks to all those who have contributed. The hope is that as we read these devotionals together, day by day, we may find our hearts and minds prompted by the Lord to recommit ourselves daily to the spiritual discipline of Scripture reading. At the end of Advent, we will have an opportunity to commit to one of several daily reading plans for 2017. More information about various plans will be forthcoming.

 

During my Bible reading plan early this year, I was reminded of 2 Kings 22. In the process of restoring the place of worship (the Temple), King Josiah’s leaders rediscovered the Book of the Law in the Temple. As our parish seeks our permanent worship space, we are reminded that God’s Word must remain central to our pursuit of facilities. Josiah says in verse 13, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

 

With this in mind, I do want to update you concerning our offer on the Harvest Christian Church property at 4820 NW 34th Street. The Harvest’s board feels our offer is fair, and they desire to sell the property to us, but they first need to discern where God is calling them to move as a congregation. We are not currently under contract but continue to pray for God to direct Harvest Christian Church and also to sustain and direct us as we seek His Word to guide our path.

 

May God bless you during the Thanksgiving holiday, and may we be truly thankful for all God has done in the life of our parish over the last year.

 

Onward and Upward,

Alex +

 

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1-7

 

Dear Servants,

 

If you were in Church last Sunday, you heard me preach on Luke 20:19-26. Verse twenty five of that passage should guide us as followers of Jesus in our politics. Jesus says, “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” As I prepared and shared that sermon, I was anticipating the need to comfort the losers and challenge the winners to be humble after the election. Yesterday, I found myself still in that position, I just had the anticipated groups reversed. But the message to respond to our political enemies with the love of Christ remains the same, regardless of who you voted for among all the candidates.

 

Perhaps the results were not what you expected; maybe what happened was exactly what you expected. Either way, please keep in mind a couple of things that Paul says in 1 Timothy 2. First, we must acknowledge that morally-conscious Christians came to many different decisions politically about how to vote. Now is the time to pray for one another and Paul calls us to pray for “all people.” Second, just as we have been called by Paul to pray for “Kings and all who are in high position” weekly over the last eight years, so now we must pray for our President-elect, Congress, and Courts. Paul’s words make prayers for those in authority a non-negotiable for followers of Jesus, regardless of who holds office. Third, as Jesus calls us to give ourselves in Luke 20 to God (bearing God’s image), we must always see our allegiance to Jesus above politics, economics, and even country. Paul makes this clear in 1 Timothy 2 when he says, the end purpose of our prayers is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ might be heard and received by all people. Paul knew well the racial and political divides of his society: Jews vs. Gentiles, Hellenistic (Greek) culture vs. traditional Jewish culture. But as a Jewish follower of Jesus, Paul understood that the Gospel must precede all other allegiances. Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all. We speak this message not only with our words but also with our actions.

 

I encourage you to join with your brothers and sisters in Christ this weekend at Servants of Christ. Please pray for me and ten guys who will be with me in the mountains of North Georgia on our annual Men’s Hiking Trip. Many thanks to Fr. James, Fr. Michael, and Sean and Caline McDermott, who will lead in our absence.

 

In Christ Alone,

Alex +

 

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.” -Ephesians 1:16-19

 

Dear Servants,

 

Happy All Saints Day! Right before I preach each Sunday, my custom is to invite the Holy Spirit to be at work in our hearts and minds. I usually say, “Come, Holy Spirit,” and then continue, “fill the hearts and minds of your people, and may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.” This comes from Psalm 19:14.

 

I was recently encouraged to put the Ephesians passage above to memory and let it be my prayer for each of you (and myself) as we prepare to hear the Gospel on Sunday. As your pastor, and as one of the celebrants in our worship together, it is my privilege to pray for you.

 

Have you ever considered that our worship is essentially prayer? Our prayers to God and God’s response to us, and our intercessions for one another and others outside our fellowship. Please keep me in prayer as I try to memorize this passage and then pray it over our service together.

 

Speaking of Scripture, I’m excited to tell you that the vestry is busy working on an Advent devotional collection from members of the parish. The intent will be to encourage each of us to consider the value of Scripture study in our daily life. The devotional will be ready by Sunday, November 27, which is the first day of Advent.

 

Finally, just a quick acknowledgement of how enriched our worship together already seems to be as we learn to take five minutes before the service to quiet our spirit before the Lord. As David declares in Psalm 62:1, “For God alone my soul waits in silence…”

 

As we prepare to worship each Sunday, may our prayer be, “Lord, may you give us the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of who You are, having the eyes of our hearts enlightened, that we may know what is the hope to which You have called us, what are the riches of Your glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of Your power toward us who believe.”

 

Onward and Upward,

Alex +

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Servants,

 

Over the next few weeks, I invite you to reflect with me on how we understand and enter into worship. I begin this week with the question above. I pray that we will all allow Scripture and the Holy Spirit to challenge our understanding of worship as is appropriate.

 

Why do you come on Sundays? In our culture, increasingly many people don’t, even if they consider themselves Christians. For those who do regularly come, their motivations can vary greatly. For some, it is time with friends. For others, it is the habit of their lives, long instilled by parents or grandparents. For others, it is an act of obedience. If I’m honest all three of these reasons have motivated me at different times in my life. Clearly, God calls us to worship and the act of sacrificing time and attention to God is an act of obedience. The simple answer to the question of why gather with other Christians on Sunday is to worship God.

 

The next question then is what do we mean by worship? You may not know, but the phrase ‘worship service’ actually never occurs in Scripture. Perhaps that’s one reason so many people are fuzzy on just what worship means. This may also be why what we call ‘worship’ varies so greatly from congregation to congregation and denomination to denomination. While we don’t see ‘worship service’ in Scripture what we do see over and over again is the concept of worship as service. In the passage above, St. Paul famously says the offering of ourselves (our life – time, talent, finances, attention, etc.) to God is our spiritual act of worship. This means that we gather for worship not primarily for what we get out of Church but for what God gets out of it. Are we coming to Church offering ourselves in service to God?

 

Now of course, whenever we give of our time, talent, and attention to God, we receive rich blessings back, no question. But the temptation of worship will always be to focus on the reward, asking“what am I getting out of this?” before asking, “what am I offering to God?”

 

In order to aid in the preparation of ourselves to enter into true worship (service to God), I am going to begin introducing a five minute rule before our service. At 7:55 and 9:25 the Celebrant will welcome the congregation and invite each of us to quiet our conversations and prepare ourselves to offer worship to God. The clergy, chalice bearers, and acolytes will lead in this preparation, so we would ask you to refrain from talking with them during this five minutes. My hope is that our intentional actions will aid in our entering into worship. After all, isn’t that what we come for?

 

In Christ,

Alex +

 

Dear Servants of Christ,

 

Years ago when we started Servants of Christ, we adopted the phrase Semper Gumby, which means “Always Flexible.” As a community we value and have certainly tested the limits of this phrase with the changes in music, furniture, service times, landlord, capital campaign, etc. The latest challenge, and for some the most formidable, has been the loss of air conditioning which we experienced over the last two weeks. Our landlord worked proactively to get our air conditioning fixed. I assure you it was working this morning, praise God! The fact that I had to come to staff meeting Tuesday to really know how bad it was at the service September 11th is a testament to this congregation’s ability to be long-suffering. You never cease to amaze me. 

 

While away that Sunday, Jody and I were participating in our good friend Jim Hobby’s consecration in Pittsburgh. Appropriately, the preacher at the service spoke about the witness of St. Cyprian, who was martyred! He didn’t suggest that Jim would have a similar fate thankfully, but was quick to add that all who take the office of Bishop in our day must be prepared to suffer. His Biblical text was Genesis 39:21, “But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.” Sobering thoughts, but if you know Fr. Jim Hobby, this was a sermon he might preach himself. One of Jim’s famous sayings is, “we will either send our children to the nations as missionaries, or our grandchildren will go as slaves.” Please pray for Bishop Jim as he begins his episcopal ministry in the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh.

 

In our Vestry meeting Tuesday night, it was suggested that these obstacles/difficulties are only to be expected given the fact that we know God’s people always have an enemy seeking to discourage or if possible defeat the people of God. I share this with you so you may rejoice in the godly leadership the Lord has given us on Vestry and to know that we are about seeking God’s purposes in all our efforts as a parish. Hebrews 10:39 above encourages me as I write this article because I’m reminded that the call of Christ is to endure by faith, knowing that God will strengthen us in the time of trial. We as your leadership are determined to remain in the city and to reflect the love of Christ as best we can. This has been reaffirmed year after year in our Vestry.

 

At our parish meeting back in August I shared what we are seeking for permanent home:

 

1. Property in the City of Gainesville
2. A minimum of 3 acres (willing to consider undeveloped) and 10,000 sq. ft.
3. A purchase price of $1 million ($100 per sq. ft.)

As the phrase goes, “if you see something, say something.” Each of you should be in prayer and actively looking for our permanent facility. In the meantime, we are thankful for the temporary quarters we have with Newberry Community Christian School and we recommit ourselves to persevere in the face of trials. 

 

Onward and Upward,

Alex +

Dear Servants,

 

Let me try and recap the last week and a half. August 28th we had an excellent parish meeting following our combined 9:00am service where the congregation heard updates on our facility search and the financial strength of our parish, and we shared about the experience of a summer combined service. I will say this was probably one of the best congregation discussions I think we have ever attempted. Thanks to all of you who sought to “understand before you were understood.” Mid-week we all began preparing for the hurricane winds and rain projected for Thursday night and Friday morning. Many households lost power but are now restored. The power outage didn’t prevent our Vestry from having a day retreat at the Nancarrow farm on Saturday (thanks Rob and Glenn), which proved very productive. Then we all gathered once again as a congregation on Sunday morning for a joint Ordination/Baptism service. Dr. James Manley was ordained to the priesthood, and six young men ranging in age from thirty-three years to seven weeks were baptized. Did I miss anything? Of course, we have to add all the craziness of our individual and family lives during that same period.

 

Adding to this already busy time, Jody and I will travel to Pittsburgh for the Consecration of Jim Hobby as the new Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh this Saturday, September 10th. Please keep Jim and Shari and the entire diocese in your prayers as they prepare for this important moment. Please support our new priest, James Manley, as he preaches and celebrates at both our 8:00am and 9:30am services. Yes, you read that correctly, 8:00am and 9:30am services.

 

I know that some probably suspected that we would continue the one combined service. After hearing from you at the parish meeting, discussing with the staff and Vestry, along with much prayer, I believe this is the best course of action. We will offer both a quiet, spoken service at 8:00am, and then encourage as many as can to participate in our main service at 9:30am. It is my belief that we would all benefit from engaging in a combined service where we are truly multi-generational and learn to worship together. However, I realize that for some of our congregation, offering just this one service a week would be a real hardship. Christian charity demands that we not forget those few for the majority. I’m hoping that with an early option which will need to be shorter and without music, and the main service now adjusted to 9:30am, we will meet almost everyone’s spiritual need. Here is how our morning will look starting this week:

 

8:00-8:45             Spoken Service

8:30-9:15             Music Team Practice (starting in B-3)

8:45-9:15             Fellowship time

9:20-9:30             Quiet Prelude to Worship

9:30-11:00           Main Service with Music

 

There are plans to add back our Adult Sunday School once we have the services fine-tuned. There will also be the opportunity for Q&A with the preacher or other conversation after the 9:30am service. But you will hear more about that later this fall.

 

I apologize for the short notice of these changes, but to hear from the congregation and leadership, this decision was delayed. As always, please feel free to contact me directly if you have concerns.

 

Onward and Upward,

 

Alex +