Sunday Morning Sermon for August 24, 2008 - delivered by Rev. Dr. Charles H. Howell
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Sunday Morning Sermon for August 17, 2008 - delivered by Rev. Dr. Charles H. Howell
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Sunday Morning Sermon for August 10, 2008 - delivered by Rev. Dr. Charles H. Howell
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Here are some scenes from last Sunday at Glenwood Presbyterian Church:
Many times I think I can come up with the perfect plan to grow the church, if I just work harder or read more or convince enough people. I look at the ways God is moving in this church right now and realize that while he has answered my prayers for that movement, it comes from unexpected directions and ways and people. I had very little to do with most of those items above, but I am so filled with joy because God is at work and can do so much more that I can ask or imagine.
Today’s reading in Oswald Chambers “My Utmost For His Highest” included this:
If we are in communion with God and recognize that He is taking us into His purposes, we shall no longer try to find out what His purposes are. If we have a purpose of our own, it destroys the simplicity and the leisureliness which ought to characterize the children of God.
God - Help me stop trying so much to accomplish my own purposes as to get in line with yours. Amen.
Sunday Morning Sermon for August 3, 2008 - delivered by Rev. Dr. Charles H. Howell
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I read a quote today from John Piper who was quoted in another blog that just blew me away…
“If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied in heaven, if Christ were not there?” -John Piper
Are we living the Christian life just so we can get into heaven and enjoy Paradise, or is it the relationship and love for Jesus Christ that motivates us?
Sunday Morning Sermon for July 27, 2008 - delivered by Pastor Vernon McDaniel
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Pastor Vernon McDaniel filled in this week for Pastor Charles, who was in Chicago on Presbytery business. He graduated from Wake Forest University SW Baptist Theological Seminary and lived on Gregory Street in Glenwood while attending Wake Forest.
This is part three in a series of posts following the search for a new pastor at Glenwood Presbyterian Church. You can find the table of contents here.
Since Pastor Charles was called as our interim pastor, our transition team has been hard at work in starting to complete a mission study. One of our first goals was to come to terms with our history here at GPC. What that actually means is that we look back and consider how God has worked in our past to bring the particular people that are here to this place at this time. Once we have that perspective we are better suited for determining where God is leading us in the future.
Pastor Charles suggested a fun way to do this was to have a fellowship gathering and have people share stories about major events in the church and things they remember. Last Sunday night, we had an ice cream social in place of SHINE, and put up newsprint around the fellowship hall along with pictures of our previous pastors all the way back to the 1930s. We then had everyone there go around and write on the newsprint the dates of some important things that happened to them. For example, I wrote when I joined the church, when I was married in the church, when I went to UNC and law school, when I became choir director, and so forth.
After the ice cream was knocked out, we had several people speak about different eras of church history. I thought it was a lot of fun and people really seemed to enjoy the walk down memory lane. This will be an ongoing project - we left the newsprint up on the walls - and once we’re finished filling in our important dates, we’ll write a brief summary of the history of our church.
One very interesting thing that happened: while reading out loud from the first minutes of the sunday school meeting that would become GPC from back in 1908, Pastor Charles discovered that his great grandfather may have been a charter member of our church. God works in mysterious ways!
The next task of the transition team is to re-examine our church missions and mission statement. Please continue to pray for us as we try to determine God’s will for our church.
Ok - this will be my last post on Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson’s book Comeback Churches. In this post, we look at three faith factors necessary for a comeback church:
While I think GPC could emphasize prayer more, if you read my first post on this, you know that #1 holds the key to it all, in my opinion. Changing our focus, or shifting our vision to become a church who’s number one priority is winning the lost (right here in our own community) is the most important catalyst to being a comeback church. I was talking earlier this week to a good friend as we were sharing some links to articles about worship leaders and worship preferences. He said (very truthfully) that the Christian life doesn’t have to be so complicated - it is mostly about loving other people. I couldn’t agree more - Love the Lord and love others as much as yourself. If you do those two things, you are going to see the urgency of reaching out to a lost world. Because what better way is there of loving others than showing them where they can find salvation? May God bring us to that point.
One final interesting tidbit from the book about worship styles: comeback churches valued worship. Almost all comeback churches identified their mood of worship as celebrative and orderly (96% and 95%, respectively) with a significant emphasis on being informal and contemporary (81% and 69%). Churches often rediscovered their passion for God and His mission by examining their worship. When we create a God-centered and culturally appropriate worship service, it helps us begin the process of seeking God for other changes that need to take place. The vast majority of American churches are not contemporary; the majority in this study would seem to be, and that should make us take notice.
Yesterday, we talked about three things that comeback churches should be. Today, again from Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson’s book, Comeback Churches, we look at how churches get stuck. Do any of the following describe GPC?
Institutionalized Church: Many churches have regressed into a state of merely functioning as an institution. An institutionalized church focuses on and is more committed to the forms and programs of ministry.
Voluntary Association Church: VAC has unwittingly modeled its organization after a democratic government rather than New Testament principles. It is a church of the people, by the people, but most importantly for the people. Due to an overwhelming need to keep everyone happy, the VAC ends up bound, at the mercy of a rotating vocal minority, and ineffective.
“Us 4 and no more” church: They have determined that if they get any larger, they will lose their sweet fellowship. They want a family feel, which means a group small enough to relate like a family
“Square peg in a round hole” church: In this congregation, people are enlisted for leadership and service, not by their gifts or passion, but by other criteria. You might hear, “We’ve got to fill this position. Who can you think of that we’ve not already talked to?”
“My way or the highway” church: This is the stereotypical church wherein the senior adults are given the new van to use on their apple orchard trips while the student ministry is asked to drive the old van because “those teenagers are so messy.”
Chaplaincy Church: The church hired its minister and expects the “chaplain” to be busy about meeting needs and making the church grow. It’s not uncommon to hear “Preacher, you need to visit Mrs. Gray. She hasn’t been feeling well.” The members identify the needs and the prospects and expect their pastor to respond. Despite the fact that the church’s ministry impact is limited to the staff’s time and abilities, the church body remains committed to an employer/employee model. They want a hired “chaplain,” not a leader.
I can see Glenwood Presbyterian in several of these categories, but less so in the first three categories and more so in the last three. We are deeply ingrained in the “square peg,” “my way or the highway,” and “chaplaincy” pitfalls.
In the next post, we’ll look at three faith factors which help a church regain a missional focus and according to this book are always necessary to lead a comeback church.
