Celebration

So far, September has been a month of celebration. Last we, we broke ground on a permanent facility. It's completion cannot come soon enough for me, but each step is so exciting, and I know that the church will hit a whole new level.

Next week, I go to another celebration. It will be the 100 year anniversary of Marth Road Baptist Church (formerly FBC, Martha). It will be a celebration of longevity, reaching great heights, and overcoming challenges. I was blessed to have my first experience as a pastor there, and I could not have asked for a more gracious church through all the blunders I would make as a young pastor. I still make a ton of blunders, I'm just not that young any more.

Many churches have lost the art of celebration and settle in for a hopeful existence and a "maybe we can make it through this time" mentality. Sometimes we forget that David did not write all of the Pslams and they cover centuries of time. There is a Psalm of ascent that the people Sang as they were returning froma time of punishment and captivity:

Psalms 126:1-6 (NASB)
1 When the LORD brought back the captive ones of Zion, We were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter And our tongue with joyful shouting; Then they said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them."
3 The LORD has done great things for us; We are glad.
4 Restore our captivity, O LORD, As the streams in the South.
5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.
6 He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

I've read the whole story, Ezra and Nehemiah had their hands full with those who returned from exile. They had serious economic and political challeneges in returning to a land that had so many new inhabitants yet they celebrated. Why is that? They were beginning to learn a valuable lesson about celebration as God's people.

What was that lesson? It seems to me to be a special secret...always put your seed bag to use. Everyone wo plants will celebrate the fruit of his labor, but the person who fails to scatter has nothing to do but mope around.

I have been honored to be a part of church who think about lost people, and want to see their families and friends touched by the God of Great Things. Nothing creates celebration like an eternally changed heart. So we celebrate...and may we never stop!

Breaking Ground

This Sunday marks a new era in our church as we break ground on our facility. It will be rather modest, 150 seats a couple of offices and no real education space. In the 70's and 80's we would have called it a sanctuary. That term comes from cities of refuge were criminals could go and find safety from those seeking justice against them. It's really a fitting term because if the truth be told, we are all guilty and we find our refuge in Christ and the local church represents that.

More recently, the place of our weekly meetings has been called "auditorium." Literally it is a place for gathering and hearing. Perhaps that is why so many who attend church get stuck in a passive role of being mere hearers when hearing and doing are the expectations for believers. Our gathering place is so much more than an auditorium; any school, theater, concert hall, or community center can have one of those. The gathering place for the church has deep meaning that we should consider with all heartfelt passion. What is that? Jesus gives us the insight we need in His life mission:

Mark 2:17 (NLT)
17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call sinners, not those who think they are already good enough."

The gathering place for all who serve Christ is to be nothing less than a hospital. There are so many wounds that medicine cannot heal. There are battles of the mind that psychiatry cannot win. Our fear should always be that a church be filled with people who have already bee nurtured to health and that there is no room for the sick. As we break ground, it is my prayer that we never forget that the church is a hospital, and we are to always make room for and invite the sick to see the Doctor.

Looks like a chilly day for breaking ground...dress warmly!