Distractions
This weekend at The Orchard, Scott Hodge talked about distractions. We are distracted all year long but when it comes to the Advent Season, it seems like our distractions double or even triple. This is the time of year were we really should be focused on Jesus and his coming. It is a shame though that a lot of us don’t really think about Jesus and Christmas until we are sitting in church on Christmas Eve.
We make ourselves so busy during the month that we don’t even have time to stop and think about it. Even when we go to church our minds are thinking about all the stuff that still needs to be done before Christmas.
Our staff was given this book, Preparing for Christmas by Richard Rohr. It has a daily Advent reading and really helps prepare your heart for Christmas. It also forces to you think about Christmas and what Jesus’s Birth means to us. I highly recommend it.
There are less than 2 weeks until Christmas. I am making it a daily challenge to spend some quiet time thinking about and preparing for the real Christmas and rejoicing that Jesus came to save us.
The Gospel
Normally Friday is my day off. I usually end up doing various things at Church on Saturday and/or Sunday so I really look forward to Friday. This Friday I gladly spent most of my day helping my very good friend Damian McCrink. He is our Student Pastor & Missional Champion. He was given the opportunity to share The Gospel with about 90 high school students from Naperville North High School. As part of their Religious Studies class they were going on a field trip to a Hindu Temple and a Christian Church.
It was a great event to be a part of. I did audio, 3 screens, lightning and video. It was fun to get everything set up and I forgot how much I missed working with media.
Damian shared the Gospel by taking them through several series we have done in the past. We showed several videos including one from our BBQ & Baptism a few years back (one of the best videos I think we ever produced). We also got to show our Gospel Series promo featuring me as a crazy preacher. Damian ended with a question and answer time. These kids had some great questions and they showed a lot of interest in The Orchard.
I am very fortunate to be able to work and serve at The Orchard.
Halloween
Today is the day before Halloween, or since Halloween is actually Hallows Eve, today is Hallows Eve Eve. Much debate has been done on the subject of Halloween and how Christians should, or should not, participate in it.
I grew up celebrating Halloween. When I say celebrating, I mean putting on a Darth Vader costume and walking around the neighborhood getting candy. That’s it. That is also what my kids have done. We dislike all the evilness such as the blood and gore and haunted houses that depict gruesome scenes. But, we don’t want to hide out in our house with the lights off to avoid making contact with Dora the Explorer and Superman.
Many churches have adopted “alternative nights” and “trunk or treating” on church property to encourage people to stay off the streets and instead come experience our version of halloween on our terms. Personally, I believe this sends the wrong message.
We, as christians, need to be a light in our community. If all the church-going christians are at church, who is back in our neighborhoods meeting the neighbors and possibly making a new connection with someone. I think this is where a lot of churches get it wrong. They have so many programs and such large and all-inclusive facilities that those that attend the church, are there on Sundays, Bible Study on Monday or Tuesday, Family Night on Wednesday, they play in the church basketball league in the church gym on Thursday. Prayer Breakfast is on Saturday. When are these people ever home and no wonder they don’t know their neighbors and don’t know anyone outside of church to invite church. These things are not bad in and of themselves, but where does that leave room to seek out the lost right close by home?
Back to Halloween. What do we do on Halloween? We do something no one else here does. I set up my fire pit in the driveway and pass out candy from there. Almost all the adults talk to me because it is usually cold and they comment on what a great idea it is and how they wish they could hang out instead of walking their little fairy fairy princess around the neighborhood. If my budget allowed it, I would love to have coffee and hot chocolate for the parents to have as a treat. Maybe next year.
That is how we plan to be a light in our neighborhood. How about you?
He is Risen
It was an amazing weekend at The Orchard. On Saturday we had 3 services…..at 3, 5 and 7. I got there at 2:30. My only job was to help with traffic flow and parking between services. Not to tough. We had about 200 at each service. I was able to see most of each of the Saturday services and got something different from each one. The music was amazing. They did my favorite, The Revelation Song. Can’t get enough of that.
This morning we went as a family to the 9:00 service and Pamela invited some co-workers. Because of where I chose to sit, I was asked to watch over the video camera which I could easily do from my seat. Then more parking duty, then I fixed the front door, then I had some good conversations with Warren, Mike Jones, Damian and Ted Egly while I waited for Logan (he helped out both services in 2-3 year olds and 4-5 year olds).
Pamela had to work from 1-4:30 so Emily and I (boys chose to stay home) rode bikes to the school park. We left and it was sunny. 5 minutes later, just as we got there it started to rain so we headed home. I made a great lasagna and fettucine. While talking to my mom on the phone, we could hear the earthquakea….and how long it was.
All in all, a good weekend.
The Fall
Awesome time in church today. Second week in The Gospel Series. Scott spoke about The Fall and how God’s order was thrown into disorder.
Last week, during the service, an artist painted a picture depicting God and man reaching out to each other….which represented creation and the world in perfect order.
At the end of the talk today, Scott walked up to the painting, took out a knife and cut the painting separating God from man. The place immediately went dark and on the screens appeared “To Be Continued” No music or anything as we left. It was a powerful way to show what happened when man chose to disobey God.
This week let us all remember that Jesus died on the cross and suffered for us in order to bridge that gap. He died so that we could live.
Generosity Challenge
My church, The Orchard Comminity, in Aurora, IL is doing a Generosity Challenge. This is not just a sermon series but a one year challenge to practice radical generosity in our community in 3 areas; how we live, how we serve and how we give.
Today it really hit me that God is calling all of us to be generous NOW, with what God has given to us through his generousity. Some us have a lot and some of us have a little but we all are able to practice radical generosity, no matter what our situation. Some of us have money but no time. Some of us have time but no money.
Too many times we stay idle and say “When I have more $, or when my kids are older, or when things are less busy at work, then I will be generous. If we aren’t generous when we have a little, we won’t be generous when we have a lot.
Stop waiting and just get started. Don’t be hindered by obstacles because God will take care of those.
Downtown Life
I am helping out with a photo shoot in downtown Aurora this morning for my church, The Orchard. Larry and I went last weekend to scout out the location. I now have a new appreciation for the downtown area. Instead of just seeing its current condition, I was able to hear and see the vision of what it can be, and how we as a church can be a part of it.
Blessed
I have so blessed to be given the opportunity to be at The Orchard and to serve in so many ways. Some exciting things are happening there I am so glad to be a part of it. I feel that I am just starting to see a tiny glimpse of what God has in store for me.
