“How Stella Got Her Groove Back”

 

If you could have seen her, you would know right away that life had been a heavy load for Stella. In and out of relationships her whole adult life. Often used, and sometimes abused. She bore the colors and wrinkles of a woman much older than she was.

And it wasn’t just the heaviness of everyday life that weighed on her, but she also suffered from an ailment that brought her great pain and discomfort every month. It seemed that she aged faster than most of her peers, and every month added to her weak and worn body.

Stella had tried to get help for her serious health issues, but after getting the doctor-to-doctor-to-specialist-to-specialist runaround for years, she finally resolved herself to the agony of her monthly cycle.

Not only that, she also had spent almost all of her savings trying to get the help she so desperately wanted. Even though the medical professionals couldn’t come up with an answer to heal her, they still charged her plenty just for the honor of seeing her. Stella was broke, and broken. Darkness had enveloped her days, and fear consumed her nights. She was at the end of her rope.

Then she heard a name that made her feel unlike anything she had ever experienced before. That name was Jesus. Why would just hearing that name bring her hope? What was it about this mysterious wanderer who called himself Jesus that lifted her veil of darkness and stirred her spirit like no other name she had ever heard before?

Jesus.

Jesus.

Could this Jesus be the answer that she had prayed for in her own desperate silence. Some said he was a magician who could walk on water. Others called him the Messiah, and walked with him all over the lands. Magician or Messiah? Well, Stella thought, whether he is one or the other, why not take a chance.

Word had spread throughout her village of Gadara in Capernaum that Jesus would be coming to town soon to teach and preach … and to heal and make whole. Stella had already been swindled by the inhuman and greedy medical system, so her thinking was; Why not? What does she really have to lose? When someone lives in pain and darkness for much of their adult life, they become willing to believe about anything. And if this Jesus wanted to call himself Messiah, what was it her as long as she found relief from her agony.

A few weeks later the day came when Jesus was expected to arrive in town. Stella woke up that day and said a little prayer. She hadn’t prayed in many years, but for some reason she thought, this time God is listening. She left her small shack with hope. She didn’t know why … but she was about to find out.

After walking for 2 or 3 hours, she approached the town and could see the crowds that had formed around the one they call Jesus. It wasn’t just a little crowd that could easily be forged. This crowd was expansive, and firm. Nobody was going anywhere, and no paths to Jesus seemed to exist. Stella thought she had reached the end of the road again.

But as she contemplated returning home and facing the harsh realities of her life, something inside her would not let her turn away. She was fixated on trying to see him. For some reason she thought that might be enough … just to see him. It wasn’t.

She stayed on the fringes of the crowd most of the afternoon, and just as the sun began to fall, she caught a glimpse. Jesus. Seeing the man made her heart leap. She was covered with cold chills, and yet her skin was on fire. She knew at that point, there must be a way to him. And she decided not to return home, but to do all she could with whatever strength she had left in her to reach him.

It was still impossible for her to make headway toward Jesus. But impossible was not going to stop Stella now. She didn’t care if it seemed impossible. Her heart told her it was possible. That reaching Jesus was her destiny. That touching him was her remedy.

So, she began to work her way through the crowd, being led by her simple intuition, and trust. At last, she came close enough that she could reach out and touch the hem of his robe. Instantly, she felt the ailment leave her body. And then Jesus turned around and said, “Who was that that touched my robe?”

The disciples were befuddled with this question. So many people crushing around him, how could anybody tell who touched Jesus in that town that day. It would be impossible, they told Jesus, to discover who had touched him.

Jesus said, “I know someone with faith has touched me, for I felt the healing spirit flow from my body to another’s.” It was then that Stella knew she had nowhere to hide. So, she threw herself down at Jesus’ feet and tried to tell him what the touching of his robe had done to her.

Jesus looked at Stella with great compassion. He said, “Daughter, your faith has made you whole. Now go in peace.”

And she did. And that’s how Stella got her groove back.

 

Lesson: No matter how desperate you may be, or how dark it may seem, there is always a path to Jesus for you. Never stop seeking more Jesus, and you just might get your groove back too!

 

Seeking More Jesus,

Pastor Bob <><

Everyone agrees that spreading the Good News of Jesus is one of the most important callings for Christians. The “Great Commission” is our Gospel reference point for this. Here are the first words of Jesus to His disciples as He comes to see them after His resurrection.

 

Matthew 28: 16 – 20

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

 

          Rev. Alex Ruth, a recent addition to our DOC Regional Office, shared some of his thoughts with Pastors this week, and I thought it would be valuable for all of us to hear. Many times, evangelism comes down to an individual act – someone sharing with another. And that’s hard for us to do! And yet … Jesus said …

Take a few minutes to check out this short article, and let it speak to you personally as you discern how best you can respond to Jesus’ Great Commission.  

Peace – Pastor Bob <><

 

“E” is for Evangelism

By Reverend Alex Ruth

I know, for some of us evangelism is almost a dirty word. We may fear knocking on doors, standing on street corners holding up signs, or cornering coworkers around the water cooler with warnings about eternal punishment if they don’t repent and change their ways. I want to take a moment to assure you that it is perfectly OK to feel a good amount of fear about those types of evangelism. You are not alone.

Most people I’ve met shudder (or flee outright) from these more assertive forms of evangelism. And, while those fears are normal and understandable, they have kept many of us from sharing the Good News with others. We might worry that we don’t know the Bible well enough, or that we might not have the “right” words to say, or simply be uncomfortable sharing our personal faith with others. Whatever the reason, our “mainline” denominations have done a pitiful job of evangelism over the past few decades.

There is an outright lack of evangelistic effort in our churches. However, I expect that most of us can point to a time in our lives when God’s presence was almost tangible. Maybe you got through a touchy financial situation without depleting your savings; maybe you experienced a miraculous healing; or maybe you understood in a very personal way that you needed the comfort of Christ walking beside you every step of the way. Whatever your story, whatever makes God real to you, that is a powerful story.

And, that is the basis of evangelism. We are called to share our stories with others. That doesn’t have to mean that we grab the arm of a stranger in the store. Telling our story can start with our friends and our families. Telling our story can start in the safety of church.

I remember several years ago when my grandfather died. As we gathered in the church for his memorial services, my father stood up to speak. I honestly don’t remember any of the words he said that day. But, I do remember understanding for the first time how much my dad loved his father. I understood how much his life had been shaped by this man we both loved. Maybe it was because I was a new father as well, or maybe it was just my time, but I came to see my dad in a different way that day. Our relationship changed, with a few stories about his life.

That’s really all it takes to help someone change their life; few stories, a relationship, openness to sharing part of ourselves with someone else. That is the basis of evangelism. But we can’t stop there. People need a community of faith. And so, we invite people to join us in church, because it is important to us, and something we would like to share. That’s not easy for all of us, it certainly isn’t always easy for me! As a pastor, it can be awkward to invite someone to come and hear you preach, but the community of faith gathered together had been (and I believe will be in many ways) essential to our journey of faith.

 

If we focus on building the relationship, between ourselves and others, and between all of us and God, evangelism won’t be so intimidating. And, as we work together in sharing our stories we’ll find that evangelism isn’t a dirty word after all.

 

Rev. Dr. N. Alexander Ruth

Associate Regional Minister for Transformation

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Illinois and Wisconsin

 

 

Why are people leaving church?                                                              Why are churches not attracting people?

Surely there are many valid resons why people leave churches. And, almost always, it’s a very tough decision for both the church and the ones departing. It’s situations like this when the true Christ-like narture of a church is revealed.

There are also many reasons given for why people leave chuches, but they aren’t so valid. They’re not the real reasons. You see, people also leave churches for personal resons – ranging from dislike for the pastor, to dislike of some members of the church, to feeling overchurched to not feeling anything when it comes to church. And many other personal reasons that they would rather not tallk about. Thus the need for “other” reasons.   

One things for sure; It’s no secret that many people are leaving churches in this COVID- era. I’ve seen estimates of an average of 60% of church members of small and medium sized churches have left.

It’s a mystery as to how long they’ll be gone or if they’re ever coming back. And almost every church like ours is asking the same question: What does this mean for the future of (fill in church’s name)?

 Jon Benzinger is a guy I came across on Twitter. That’s it! He’s like one of us, it seems. He’s not on the New York Times Best Seller List and he doesn’t have a series of educational videos to buy. At least not yet. At least as far as I know.

On Twitter, this is how Jon describes himself: “Husband. Father. Helping people know, love & serve Jesus as one of the pastors of @rbcgilbert & contributors to @redeeming_truth. Having caught my curiousity, I checked out the tweets he sent out about “When it’s time to leave a church.”

Now, I don’t know what the future holds for us at VSCC, but I know God does, and because of that I know we are being called to follow God’s will for us in these challenging years ahead. And to do that, we must stay close to the heart of Christ, to the truth of His message, and the Spirit of His love.

That’s the context for which I present Jon’s thoughts. Take a look and see what you think. I admit, there are some that I relate to immediately, but there ar also some that I’m still working though. And there aer some I disagree with. Regardless, they are all credible and important for us to explore. As we move forward together, listenng to the voice of our Shepherd must be our guide.

Here are Jon’s 11 reasons why you should consider leaving a church.

Wow! That’s quite a list. But you should see how many tweets Jon received in response. It seems like a lot of people are thinking about this topic as our churches continue to dwindle. Perhaps a reset is needed fo everyone, including churches and pastors.

If you’re willing, let me know the kinds of things you would put on your list, and/or let me know what you think might needs to be reset at Vine Street.

Blessings on the path to eternity!

Pastor Bob <><

No, it’s not 1967. And we’re not at the corner of Haight & Ashbury in the hippie district of San Francisco. That’s where the term “Summer of Love” was first coined during the peak of the “Hippie Movement” in the 60’s.

On the other hand; Yes, it is 2022. And yes, we are at the corner of Park & Vine in the downtown business district of Arthur. And we are about to embark on our own “Summer of Love” this year, getting everyone to participate in one of our community missions.

Many of you have been a part of some of these. But think what could happen if the whole congregation worked together on the four ministrires below. And all of these ministries reach the people that Jesus calls to us. And then we are doubly blessed by showing them Christ-like love, and then seeing Jesus in their faces.

Indeed! Let’s make that our summertime mission: to show the love of Christ to all we meet and serve, and to see the face of Jesus in all those around us.

 

Here are 4 specific Vine Street ministries that need your help and will bless your summer!

 

As summer cmes upon us, we will beign to see many of our homeless and struggling brothers and sisters on the streets. The Blessing Bag is our love gift to those in need. Simply keep a couple Blessing Bags in the back seat of your car, and when God shows you a need, then it’s quick and easy to offer help. The Blessing Bags rely on our donations, both monetary and in-kind. And, if you haven’t picked up your Blessing Bag(s) yet, be sure to pick one up this Sunday at church.

 

          These “summer” ministries offer us a way to serve together, either in person or in spirit. And that’s when the magic happens! I really can’t explain it. So, as Jesus said, “Come and see.”

 

Relic of the Summer of Peace & Love,

Pastor Bob <>< 

 

 

 

 

I barely remember our family trip to the New York World’s Fair in 1964. It’s one of my earliest memories. And although I can’t remember many specifics, I do remember that the message of the fair was that “our lives are going to get real easier real fast!” The miracle of technology is uopn us!

I can remember driving through an exhibit of the future house in a big convertible car, and seeing for the first time all the new gadgets and devices that would be part of our lives in the next 20 years or so. Yes, I thought to myself – perfect timing for me!

Today, I can’t tell you where that easier, quicker, better life went. We sure do have a lot of gadgets and devices designed to offer us quicker better ways of doing everyday things. But how come our amount of free time didn’t dramatically increase. We got the gadgets – but what happened to our new freedom?

As I grew up, I kept waiting for the next newest device or gadget that will finally set us free from the captivity of time.

It never came. Each new thing created more speed and more complication in my life. Instead of getting easier with more free time, life got faster and faster as I crowded more and more things into an already full life. And then life became more and more difficult and demanding. And now there is never enough time.

What happened?

Though I often thought this to be the case, when I moved to Arthur it finally became clear to me that we’re not supposed to live our lives chasing time – doing things faster and quicker in order to create more money or more free time. That plan always seems to backfire.

Instead, the way to the calm, peaceful and quiet life is not to shake down time for more free time, but rather to fall into the harmony of time that God has already created for us.

In his new book, “What the Amish Teach Us,” Donald Kraybill asks us to consider this question: “Have you ever thought about all the time we have saved with the avalanche of our “time-saving” electronic gadgets?” Go ahead – try to add up all that time we have saved. It seems that most of the things that were supposed to free us up, instead strain our schedule even more. And our shcedules have just about reached the breaking point. Haven’t they?

And yet, as Kraybill notes, we still demand more and more – and still desire faster and faster. Think about it. We actually crave quick service and instant gratifcation. We are enticed by the notion of split-second profits. We want what we want and we want it now. Faster is never fast enough.

We cannot stand delays of any kind! We rage at long and sluggish checkout lines; at traffic bottlenecks; and at software glitiches. Instead of getting more control over time, we are actually losing control of it, as our lives become dominated by our constant seeking of more and more “time-saving” devices.

And amid all our rage – patience has vanished.

There’s an Old Amish saying: “the early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse get the cheese.” The Amish are more interested in the cheese than the worm. Kraybill says that “patience guides their journey” through life. Every buggy that plods along a street in Arthur is proclaiming to the world, including each of us, “patience is the way.”

One older Amish man explained it this way: “The horse is our pacer – We can’t speed up like you can in a car. Our horses set the pace for life and slow things down.” Isn’t that a great metaphor for the difference between our “English” ways and the Amish ways? Look at our cars … and trucks … and bells and whistles … and their costs. Not to mention the negative impact we are having on our environment with our gas guzzling vehicles. Compare that to a horse and buggy.     

When Amish go out for a ride, they are able to see the things of creation around them. They can even smell them. They observe the countryside … and experience the weather … and they nod or wave to all their friends along the way. It’s hard NOT to wave back.

There is something about that horse and buggy that calls to us in our soul. “Slow down” it says. “Take your foot off the gas pedal. Smell the roses. Look at the cloud formations. Look into the faces of other people, and smile. Sit a spell. Relax. Fall into the flow and harmony of God’s time. It’s already perfect.”

Because God is usually found in our moments of stillness, and not in our times of speeding and hurrying, the Amish stubbornly resist the modern culture around them with its “breakneck speed of hypermodernity.” The Amish way is to demonstrate uncommon patience; not supersonic speed.  

This resistance is reinforced by their spiritual practices. Their church services last about 3 hours. Kraybill calls it a “slow motion service where everyone sits in a quiet patience” that “harkens back to a medieval monastery.” There’s no need in ther faith for quick fixes to life’s problems; or for a “stop-and-go religion” that takes about an hour every week out of our schedules; or for an “instant gospel of prosperity”; or for a “well crafted mini-homily.” The Amish service serves to remind the faithful that “we are pilgrims plodding through a high speed world that’s not our final home.”

The more I reside here in Arthur, and the more I learn about and expereince the Amish way, the more I become convinced that the Amish may be so far behind us that they’re actually ahead of us.

There’s much to learn from a small band of Christ followers who take their faith so seriously that they are willing to stand out in their resistance to the ways of the world and in so doing, spread a gospel messsge of a new way to live – a way not so tied to modern times. I refer here to the 12 disciples, of course. But I could just as well have said the same about the Amish surrounding us.

Slow is the way, and steady is the pace,

Pastor Bob <><

Each Sunday of Eastertide I have introduced a new foundational lesson for moving forward in our faith lives. Below is a summary of each Sunday’s key points.

WEEK 1: The 3 legs of your faith stool – these time-tested practices, since ancient days and across faith traditions, have proven to be the most effective way for human beings to “get closer to God.”

• Prayer: Not the “normal” prayers that you may be used to praying (blessings at meals; Lord’s Prayer at church; spontaneous prayers for things to go your way; etc.), but instead a real life open and honest ongoing conversation with God about your life and how God can become a bigger part of it. And be sure to “keep it real.”

 

• Word: Immersing yourself in the holy words of God, contained in our Christian Bible, on a daily basis. Coming to God through the Words of the Bible brings your life into sync with the ways of scripture, Jesus, and his disciples. You will find your life in the living words of the Bible.

 

• Worship: Not just every Sunday at 10:00am, but through the assistance of the Holy Spirit, your life can become one continuous worship for God, giving God all praise and glory for each and every minute of the day.  

WEEK 2: 3 truths about living for Jesus that you may never have been told. These are fundamental aspects of a Christ-like life that often get lost in all the church teaching about do’s and don’ts. 

• It’s not how “good” you are; it’s how close to God you are. First of all, you can never be “good enough” for God. God is perfect. You’re not. But God isn’t asking you to be perfect. God wants a close personal relationship with you. That’s all. If you have that, the “good enough” stuff will take care of itself.

   

• You don’t have to like somebody to love them. For our entire lives we’ve been taught how love works. It comes after you’ve “liked” someone for a while, and they have proven themselves to be worthy of your love. Jesus proposes just the opposite. Like he did, Jesus calls us to love everyone first. Make love your initial response to anyone you encounter throughout the day. Let the “liking” stuff take care of itself.

 

• The Peace of Christ is the true desire of your heart. Despite what we are taught to believe by the peddlers of worldly cures, the only thing that’s really lacking in the lives of seekers is the “peace of Christ.” All humans are longing for this, whether they know it or not. And, it is the remedy for whatever ails us on any particular day.

 

WEEK 3: 4 aspects of living a life for Christ that you may never have been told about.

• You may never have been taught that the sacrificial life of Jesus, resulting in his own crucifixion, is one that followers of Jesus today are called to model. Jesus calls all of his followers to be selfless servants of God and others. It’s a simple plan for living, and it’s the key to our happiness, but living a sacrificial life like Jesus did is hardly ever taught in our churches.

 

• You may never have been taught that Jesus actually meant what he said. The teachings and life of Jesus is our model for living and our source for all truth. Thus, the things that Jesus says to us are the most important messages in the Bible. But too often we turn these messages into nice and comfortable suggestions for living, when it may be convenient. On the other hand, Jesus calls us to love our enemies (for example) all the time – especially when it’s very hard and inconvenient to do.

 

• You may never have been taught that God doesn’t want to leave us unchanged. Living a stagnant safe life of comfort and ease is not what Jesus came for. He came to set us in motion, to be led by the Holy Spirit daily, and to be ready and willing to adapt to any and all circumstances we may encounter. Change is the reality of God. God is revelation, a constant revealing of who God is and how God is moving in our lives. We are always called to change with God. Everyday.

 

• You may never have been taught that God calls us to a simple, quiet, God-centered spiritual life. In the heyday of the social church in America, Christians were taught that a “good citizen” means a good Christian. Thus, in middle-class churches across America, Christians strove to look good and act good in their daily lives. Jesus teaches the opposite. Being “good” and looking good have nothing to do with the life of Christ. Instead, Jesus calls us to a simpler, quieter, God-centered life based on the life that Jesus led.  

 

Eastertide is a “decision-making time” for us. We have walked with Jesus all over the Holy Land; we have accompanied him to Jerusalem; we have seen what the world’s authorities have done to him; and we have experienced the Christ who rose from the dead.

If we keep our focus on Jesus instead of other things in the world, including religion, we will discover the power of God’s spirit working in our lives, and in the life of our church.

Let’s do this!

Keeping the focus on Christ, I am,

Pastor Bob <><