Advent Activities and Ways to Serve

This week we hit the pause button on The Story so we can focus on Advent and Christmas. That’s one of the great things about doing this 31-week journey through the Bible---we’ll actually have two Christmases this year! We’ll celebrate Christmas next month, then again in The Story with Chapter 22 on March 13^th. Maybe this is the year to leave the tree up until March or keep the Christmas music playing – you finally have a good excuse!

Of course, for Christians, Christmas is far more than one day; the entire season of Advent is critical to prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus into the world. In fact, that’s what the word Advent means – “coming” or “arrival.” Beginning this Sunday, we’ll seek to understand why the coming of Jesus makes such a big difference in the world and in our lives. Each week we’ll be focusing on a different character of Christmas to help us get ready for Jesus’ arrival, starting with Gabriel.

Although we’re taking a break from The Story on Sunday mornings, I do hope you won’t take a break from being in the Word. If you’re looking for a way to stay connected, how about an Advent Reading Plan to guide your time in the Scriptures? Here’s an option I found that I’ll be using:

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and take some time to give thanks to God for his many blessings. One of those blessings for me is certainly the honor of being your pastor; Ashley and I count it a true joy to walk alongside you on your journey of faith. Take care and God bless!

Covenant. It’s a word that literally means, “A coming together.” It’s a bond between two parties, and in the Bible, we see covenants made between different people and between a person or people group and God. It’s not a contract; it’s done in the course of a relationship and outlines the terms of the relationship. Covenants are how we relate to God and how God relates to us.

In just three days we will celebrate Covenant Sunday here at Central. We’ll be making a commitment – a covenant to God, to ourselves, and to one another – to be dedicated to the cause of Christ and his Church in the year to come. We’ll be committing our time, our talents, and our treasure to God so that his Kingdom can come here on earth as it is in heaven. When you joined the church, you vowed to honor God by supporting the church through your, “Prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness.” In other words, you said you would, as an act of discipleship and commitment: Pray for the church; attend church regularly; give financially to the church; serve the church inside and outside its walls; and witness to your faith in the community.

How’d you do in 2021? As I reflect on this past year, there have been times when I feel like I did parts of this commitment well, and other parts not so well. That has probably been your experience also. On our journey of faith there are always moments to celebrate and give thanks to God for, and then there are moments to lament and ask God’s forgiveness for. Maybe you went through a season this past year where you didn’t attend worship as regularly as you knew you should. Maybe your prayer life went through a dry spell. Maybe you gave what was left at the end of a month rather than what was right at the beginning of a month. Maybe you declined to serve because you thought others should do it or you were too busy. Maybe you failed to witness to your faith with your neighbor because you didn’t want things to be awkward. Whatever your shortcomings this past year, I hope you will feel the love, grace, and forgiveness of God as you give your heart to him on Sunday. See, it’s a day to reflect on our story from the past year, but it’s also a day to recommit your life to him for the year to come. That’s the amazing thing about grace, there’s always a new day. Lamentations 3:23-24 reminds us, “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!’”

Personally, I can’t wait to bring my heart, my life, my story, and my covenant card to the altar this Sunday. I can’t wait to say to God, “I’m ready for another year of service to the Kingdom. I’m ready to be used by you to make a difference in the community around me and have an impact that will last for eternity. I can’t wait to give of my time, my talents, and my treasure, and watch as you use my gifts for the furtherance of your Kingdom. Come, Holy Spirit, Come!” I also can’t wait for you to join me. I can’t wait to see and feel and experience the power of the Holy Spirit in the Activities Center and the Sanctuary as we give our lives to him for another year here at Central. It is such a blessing and an honor to be your Senior Pastor, and I am so excited about walking with you as a part of your story!

Does the name Tyrone Curtis Bogues ring a bell? Maybe it would help if I told you his nickname: Muggsy. Remember him? Muggsy Bogues played in the NBA from 1987-2001 for four different teams, most notably the Charlotte Hornets. To this day, he remains the all-time leader in steals and assists at Wake Forest University where he went to school. Of all his achievements, though, he’s probably best known by a physical trait: he was, and still is, the shortest person ever to play in the NBA. At 5’ 3”, he was 16 inches shorter than the average NBA player! He began his career with the Washington Bullets, and it just so happened that on their roster was the tallest player in the NBA at that time, Manute Bol. You might recall the famous picture they took together:

This pic was recently recreated by two of the Arkansas Razorback basketball players, Connor Vanover and Chris Lykes:

So, what does all this have to do with anything? Well, this Sunday we’re in Ch. 11 of The Story where we see God tell Samuel to go and anoint God’s next chosen king. He sends him to Bethlehem (a town we’ve already seen twice, first connected with Rachel and then with Ruth) to find this king, one of Jesse’s sons. Samuel assumes it will be Eliab, based on his height and stature. But God has other plans, and he makes sure Samuel knows this in 1 Samuel 16:7:

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’”

At first glance, Eliab looked the part, while young David did not. But God’s qualifications for a leader are very different than ours, and this Sunday we’ll be focusing on what that means for us. We’re in the middle of our covenant emphasis here at Central, and I hope you’ll be here as we consider what it means to be called and what it means to be seen by God for more than just the way others see us. We’ll also have a time of recognition for our veterans, as today is Veterans Day, and I know you’ll want to be a part of honoring those in our church family who served our nation. See you then!

This Sunday in worship we’ll be remembering those in the church who have passed away in the last year. We will lift up 30 names, honoring their memory and surrounding their loved ones with love and support. It’s a chance to look back and give thanks to God for those who have helped us on our journeys of faith, those saints of the church who strengthened us and brought us closer to Christ through their words and their actions. Along with the 30 names, we’ll add one more at the end, representing all of you who have lost a loved one this year. They may not have been members here, but they meant something to you - maybe it was a parent, a grandparent, a mentor, or a friend. All Saints’ Day is a reminder that we can’t make it on our own, that we all need saints in our lives, and this Sunday we’ll be giving thanks for them as we look back.

But it’s also a day to look forward. The word “Saint” is an interesting one. In Greek it means being holy or exhibiting holiness, and when we hear it we usually think of someone revered, like Saint Augustine or Saint Francis of Assisi. But in the Bible the word is used again and again to describe all Christians. Take just one example, Paul’s greeting to the church at Ephesus:

“This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.”

Some translations use the word, “Saints” in place of “Holy people,” but what Paul is saying is that if you are a faithful follower of Christ Jesus, you are a saint! As he tells the Corinthians, you have been made new in Christ; the old life is gone, and a new life has begun (2 Cor. 5:17). This means that we have an opportunity to make a difference in someone else’s life through the way we live our lives. We have a chance to point people to Jesus through our words and our actions, just as those saints before us did on our behalf.

So, as we look back this coming Sunday and give thanks for Central’s saints, let’s also look forward to the day when someone will be sitting in a church on All Saints Sunday and thanking God for the part we played in their life. Let’s not just assume we could never be a “Saint”; why not start now? See you Sunday as we dig into Ch. 10 of The Story and think about what it means to say, “Yes!” to God.

A couple of weeks ago our pastors got together to have some conversation around what the Bible means to them and how The Story can impact our church. 

Be sure to watch the video below to learn more!