On another note, I was listening to one of my favorite teacher/preachers yesterday while painting the kitchen and in his introduction, he talked about Lent and the importance of Lent in the church calendar and to the impact of resurrection in our lives. I won’t try to recount all that was said, but I will summarize it in a Micah version quote which goes something like this.

“Until we experience the extreme ‘deadness’ of winter and lent, we can never understand the profound beauty, and magnitude of life, spring and resurrection. In order for us to understand and experience life, we must understand death. When we do, the resurrection of Jesus at Easter becomes all the more amazing, beautiful, captivating, and astounding.”

Happy Tuesday friends.
Luke 5-8 in our gospel reading if you are still following along.

Our guys small group that meets on thursday nights just finished a book of his entitled “The Prodigal God” which is a refreshing and insightful read on the classic parable of Jesus about the prodigal son. He has also written a New York Times best seller entitled “The Case for God” which I have not read, but will be ordering soon.

In doing some research on the “missional church” I ran across a series of YouTube videos that I’m going to try to post that I thought were very provocative and interesting. I would be interested to hear your thoughts as they are posted.

Featuring 

Painter: Jacqui Weaver

Worship Leader: Ben Rosenbush

Speaker: Micah Witham

This of course comes more naturally to some people, but it is required of all of us who follow Jesus.  In the gospels, Jesus says that we are to be his “witnesses” in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.  A witness does nothing more than testify to their experience.  It’s not their job to convince the judge or the jury, but rather to tell their story and relay what they experienced.  Our role in evangelism is very much the same.  Jesus asks us to simply testify to the grace, forgiveness, transformation and hope that we have experienced in Christ and He promises that the Spirit of God will do the rest. 

I’m wondering if I were to ask you the question “who would you invite to Soulstice” or “who would you invite to church”, what names would immediatetly come to mind?  What is holding you back?  Why haven’t you taken that step of faith?  What fears do you have that keep you from walking across the lawn, or the office to say to a friend, neighbor, co-worker, family member, “I go to a pretty amazing church with amazing people and I would love it if you came with me/us some time.” 

How about this for an idea:  Carbone’s Pizza Night is happening again on the 28th of February.  Would you commit to praying and asking God who you could invite to Soulstice that night?  Simple task, just pray and ask God to impress on your heart someone, or some family to invite to Soulstice.  When it happens, when you get that Spirit prompting, your role is to walk across the room in faith, trusting that God may in fact already be up to something, and simply invite them.  Looking forward to what God might do in and through His church.

If this is what I want, and I don’t read the gospels on a regular basis, how can I put this in a politically correct fashion…I’M AN IDIOT!  And so are you.  Now I recognize that this is not the most pastoral advice you may have ever been given, but I think it’s time to stop beating around the bush here and start doing some serious business.  We talk about wanting to be a community that lives like Jesus, acts like Jesus when we are together, and loves like Jesus when we are apart, but if we are not seriously invested in who this Jesus is and the accounts that we have of His life, then we are fooling ourselves and saying nice things to make each other feel better which quite frankly, I’m not interested in. 

So here’s my proposal, or maybe I’ll just say, here’s what I’m doing to try to get to know Jesus better.  There are four gospels.  There are usually four weeks in a month (save the few that have five weeks.)  One gospel per week, on average about 3-4 chapters per day.  That’s about 15 minutes per day.  It’s a small investment considering what we are trying to accomplish. 

Jesus seemed to have a keen sense of where people were at when he entered a situation.  He seemed to be able to access who needed to be touched, who needed to be healed, who needed to be challenged, and according to His own words, He only did what the Father told Him to do.  He seemed to be tapped into a source of information, that  kept Him in touch with the heart of God the Father, and He was obedient to the promptings He received.  In theology we call this the Holy Spirit and the third person of the Trinity.  The same source that led Jesus, communicated to/with Jesus, and prompted Him from time to time is the same Spirit that Jesus promised the disciples in John 16.  This is the same Spirit alive and active in our hearts and lives, if we have ears to hear and eyes to see. 

My challenge to you is simply this:  Read with me one gospel per week, jump in when you read the blog at the approriate spot (today would be Matthew 9-12.)

 Close your time with this simple prayer:  “God, I am available to you today.  I’m available to speak the words of the gospel if you prompt me to do so.  I’m available to love and serve in your name and say nothing if you prompt to do so.  I’m trusting that evangelism starts and ends with you already at work in people’s hearts, and I’m available to You to be a part of that process.  Help me to live like Jesus today.”

Our weekly gathering starts at 5.30, the game starts at 5.40pm.  What to do, what to do?  Our team met and deliberated on our options this morning and I wanted to get something out to you all as quickly as possible.  Here is where we have landed:  Soulstice must go on at our regular time.

We could have changed the time to 4 or 4.30 and feverishly worked to communicate this time change with all of you through a number of social networks that we have created including Facebook, email, blog, and website, and we were willing to do that.  The problem lies in the fact that the people who would know we changed the time, would be people who call Soulstice home.  People who are connected.  People who feel like they have a community they call home and a place to meet with God on a weekly basis. 

The people who would have showed up at 5.30 to a gathering that was being dismissed would be the people who are longing for community, who haven’t connected yet, who aren’t sure about this church/Jesus thing but who have been coming to Soulstice.  Bottom line, all the people that we the church exists for and Jesus longs to have communion with.  Please know that this is not a guilt trip, or an attempt to coerce you, rather it is the heart of your pastor reminding you of something important. 

And so I your pastor, a self professed sports fan who while I don’t own a TV currently would have found somewhere to watch the game if we changed the time, am asking you to either TiVo the game and catch up when you get home, or just miss the first half and watch second half…but please don’t miss worship this week. 

I alluded to some creative pieces that were still up in the air for Sunday in an email and I’m excited to tell you that all of them are a green light for Sunday.  Let me close by saying this, I can pretty much guarantee that if you come to worship on Sunday night, you will not regret it!  We will start RIGHT AT 5.30PM, and have cut all that isn’t essential.  I am really excited to see and hear what God will do this weekend through our time together.  Hope to see you there.

Micah

I wanted to post the details of the cereal drive online so they were accessible to all who might be interested in participating.  With the addition of Laura Hagen to our vision team, she will heading up our opportunities to serve together here in our community.  One of our first efforts will be partnering with Open Arms of Minnesota who hand delivers meals to people living with illness in our community.  They serve approximately 570 people living with cancer, HIV/AIDS, MS, and ALS each week and we are excited to be able to tap into their expertise and systems to get involved with caring for others in our midst. 

Below is the handout that will available at Soulstice in hard copy form the next few weeks.  Our cereal drive will officially be underway this next sunday Jan. 10th, and also the 24th, and 31st.  Please bring your cereal boxes/bags to a sunday night gathering and place them on the black boxes at the front each week.  The 31st will be the final night where we will have all the cereal boxes collected displayed up front.  We’ll take time to pray for the people receiving them, and then send them on their way in the name of Jesus. 

Just a reminder of some important items:  

1.  Becca Testa will be leaving monday January 11th for Kosovo.  We’ll have her contact information available next week at Sousltice and via the website.

2.  CPN – Carbone’s Pizza Night starts up again at the end of this month.  Jan. 31st, bring a friend, neighbor, or anyone who likes pizza. 

3.  Sledding/Hockey/Skating Day – Jan. 31st _ 1-3pm.  We’ll be at Neill Park in Burnsville for an afternoon of sledding, skating and pick up hockey for those interested.  Bring your own snacks, thermos’s of coffee/cider, sleds, and warm clothes.  They have a warming house that will be open to use so bring some friends and have a blast.

To be honest with you, I didn’t really know what to expect.  I wasn’t sure how many people take me seriously, or how much this challenge would really enter the hearts of people, and the impact it would have.  I was completely floored yesterday when the total was passed to me after our accounting office counted what was given. 

$2, 649.00 will be heading to Kosovo this January thanks to the hearts and sacrifice of a small band of believers who call Soulstice home.  I had the great joy and honor to call Becca and alert her to the news and her response was as follows, “Are you kidding me Micah?” 

I assured her that I would not joke about something as beautiful and wonderful as this.  I am so proud of our community and the hearts of people who are taking seriously what it means to follow Jesus and what it means to live sacrificially and give generatively.  For me as a pastor, this was what my old youth ministry professor called “a pay day”.  One of those moments when you get a glimpse into the hearts and lives of those you work with and God shows you that He is in fact up to something. 

Merry Christmas friends!

Please remember, if possible, these gifts are over and above what you would normally tithe to the ongoing ministry of Soulstice/Berean.  I’m excited to be able to bless Becca on behalf of this community as she heads overseas.  See ya sunday night.