The Ecumenical Movement has gone too far!

I am ok with the Presbyterians, most of the Episcopalians, the Methodists, and even the Bretheren but I have to draw the line at Sith. 

Click the pic to enlarge.

Advent Fest Approaches

As we sneak up on December 6th I just wanted to pop a little note in to remind folks that our Advent Festival is coming up. At Fall Fest it seemed that the craft table stayed consistently busy, so Advent Fest will be all crafts. After all, if some crafts are fun, lots of crafts will be lots of fun.

But first let me address the question that I have heard quite a bit this year.

"What is Advent?"

For this one I will turn really quick to Wikipedia

"Advent: (from the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming") is a season of the Christian church, the period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus; in other words, the period immediately before Christmas. The progression of the season may be marked with an Advent calendar, a practice introduced by German Lutherans."

Ever notice that the secular world wants to make Christmas hurry up and get here, isn't that why they put out the Christmas decoration in October? Well, Advent says hold on there, lets think about this for a moment. I hope you spend some time with us and join us for our Advent preparations.

New Pics from LeadNow

Just a quick note to say that there are pictures up to the right of the conference that I went to this week called LeadNow in Irving Tx. More later.

Fall Fest Rocked

That was fun! If you were there you had fun, simple as that. If you want to see all that fun you can look at the photo stream right over there >>>>>>

New Bible Study Format

Hello all,
It is time to start a new Bible Study, and we will meet for the first time Sunday at 9:00 AM at the church building. I came across this format at a meeting of Mission Developers in Tampa. I like it because it is less about me rambling on about the text and more about how the text shapes and changes the individual readers. The scriptures have a power that goes beyond simple knowledge or education, they have the power to re-shape the reader if the person reading them is open to being changed. This may be at the very heart of the Christian way. We do not choose God, he chooses us. We do not change to mirror God, He changes us. We do not we choose to become Christians, Christianity chooses us. All of this hinges on a truth that goes back to the Garden of Eden: free will. God does none of these things without our free choice to accept them. This is the true choosing that a Christian does, the choice to allow God to move us. This perhaps is the first mystery that the Holy Spirit works in the heart of a human, the power to make that choice if we want.

This Bible study method was introduced by the African Delegation to the Lambeth Conference of the Anglican Church. It is known by both names: "Lambeth" and "African."


1. One person reads passage slowly.

2. Each person identifies the word or phrase that catches their attention ( 1 minute ).

3. Each shares the word or phrase around the group ( 3-5 minutes, NO DISCUSSION ).

4. Another person reads the passage slowly ( from a different translation if possible ).

5. Each person identifies where this passage touches their life today ( 1 minute ).

6. Each shares ( 3-5 minutes, NO DISCUSSION ).

7. Passage is read a third time (another reader and translation if possible).

8. Each person names or writes "From what I've heard and shared, what do I believe God wants me to do or be? Is God inviting me to change in any way?" ( 5 minutes )

9. Each person shares their answer ( 5-10 minutes, NO DISCUSSION )

10. Each prayers for the person on their right, naming what was shared in the other steps ( 5 minutes ).

I hope to see you there.

Pastor Rus

Stuff

This Sunday we will be talking about our stuff. I thought this might give you something to think about.

Pastor Rus

Failure is not an option

I don't believe a person can fail a system, I think it is the system that fails the person. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that absolves a person of wrongdoing. Nor do I think it endorses laziness. How I mean it is that a good system has a method for making sure everyone is able to play their part, and if they are not playing their part the system should have a method for helping that person better themselves.

I think this may be what is most wrong about our society today. We endorse personal success and condemn personal failure. In fact there is nothing personal about either. The star athlete isn't solely responsible for their success. They are the product of their parents support, their coaches expertise, their teammates assistance, and even their own random genetics. Personal effort comes to play, but it isn't the be-all-end-all that us humans want to think of it as. In like fashion failure isn't accomplished alone but has many, sometimes very many, accomplices. Personal character flaws come into play as well, but they also are not the be-all-end-all that we would like them to be.

When I think of Family of God as a system I ask myself how can we best help everyone to play their part, and if they aren't how can we help them to better themselves. In particular I have been considering the exceedingly important task of outreach and evangelism. As pastor I hardly am able to, lone ranger style, single handedly grow Family into a healthy worshiping body. I need all of your involvement. But, in like fashion, the system has to be such that folks have a way to participate in outreach that works. I would love to just say, "Go and invite!" and know that everyone can show up next Sunday with 2 or 3 new families. But that does not take into account the burning question of "How?".

So, to help the system best work for everyone, next Sunday you will all get a "Press Packet". I talked a blog posting ago about recruiting everyone to the Family of God Press Corp. This Sunday I want to start equipping you to carry out some of those Press Corp missions. It isn't fair to tell you all to just go out and talk to folks about Family of God without giving you some tools. That would be the system failing you. Sunday you will receive a packet with some posters to put up random places (your favorite coffee house, at work, on the bulletin board at Circle K, you name it), A few Family of God business cards, for when folks ask you about your church. A couple of brochures that you could give to a friend or just leave lying about, say, at your doctor's office. A Family fridge magnet, slap that one up at home or wherever. We want you to be successful Press Corp members. So get ready for some equipment, it is one of the first of many things we will do to help you.

God bless.

Pastor Rus