Janice's Page

The Front Porch, The Back Porch and finally, The Living Room.  The last two months we have examined a bit of the emerging ministry we have in the Front & Back Porches of this, our faith home.  The Front Porch is the welcoming place for our community, and for those who are seekers of the faith.  The Back Porch is where some of our members find themselves, not really finding (or having) a place somewhere else in the house.  The Living Room is concerned about how we connect to and care for those in our midst who are actively a part of the life of the church - and that is what we will be thinking about this month.

Living Room people connect with one another as a worshiping community.  The primary place people connect with the church is in corporate worship and the fellowship which follows.  Are you in worship?  Do you think about what it means to come into God's presence, or do you just show up?  Do you prepare yourself for the worship you will be offering to God?  Do you help that visitor find the right hymnal, their place in the bulletin, and warmly greet them with the peace of Christ?  When the worshiping community gathers together, we often have visitors with us.  How do we . . . how do you . . . connect with these folks?  How do you connect with other members?  Do we spend our fellowship time being about the business of the church, or do we inquire about someone's week?  (Over the many years in ministry, there have been numerous times which I have wanted to make fellowship a "business free zone.")

People in the Living Room of faith are people who are interested in seeing their faith grow.  Are you growing your faith?  Think about the parable of the sower and the seed (see Matthew 13:1-9) - when the seed of faith is spread, are you ready to let it grow within you?  In order to be ready for God's word, we need to open ourselves up to it.  This means being a part of educational offerings - whether on Sunday morning or other times during the week.  Small group ministry in the church provides wonderful opportunities for people to gather together - read, study, pray, laugh. . .there are opportunities which are emerging, and these opportunities give us the chance to get to know one another better.

People in the Living Room are people who are giving something back.  Are you giving something back - to God, to the church, to the larger community?  Certainly this includes our checkbooks!  But it also includes when we take meals to a family following a hospitalization or a death.  It includes taking the flowers from worship to a shut-in (by-the-way -- did you know that a CD of our worship service can also be delivered to those unable to be present on Sunday mornings?)  It also means signing up for a mission work event - locally, nationally and globally - or agreeing to be a prayer partner in the event, so our missionaries know that they are surrounded by your prayers.  People in the Living Room give of themselves freely . . . knowing that all that we have and all that we are belongs to God.

People in the Living Room stay engaged.  They often may not completely agree with everyone else (or anyone else) in the Room, but they choose to stay engaged, choose to continue to be in conversation, choose to continue to return to the trust we have in our common faith.  The Living Room hosts discussion, and conversation -- it welcomes celebrations and remembrances.  Life in the Living Room is full, as there are always others with which to share your life. 

This fullness is the life in Christ to which we have been called.  The Living Room of the church is a place of faith, and hope, and love.  The Living Room is where we are at home.  Do you find yourself in the Living Room?  I hope so.

Pastor Janice

On a practical note, our church's Clerk of Session, Pat Sims, has faithfully served for 4 years.  She has indicated a desire to let someone else have the opportunity to serve in this way.  If you are an ordained elder in the church, and would like to be considered for this important (and necessary role), please speak with me!

 

 

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Suggested Devotional Books for Prayer and Study in 2007.