Pastor’s Corner – March 2012

During March we journey through the season of Lent, a time of self-examination and preparation for the wonder of Easter.  Usually we talk about giving up something for the period.  We try to focus upon walking closer to God and improving our understanding of what it means to live as a Christian.  Unfortunately, our focus tends to be directed only upon our inner self.  What would happen if we began to look upon how we live our lives in relationship with others?  Who might we meet?

Maybe we would meet the man who thought the only way he could have control over others was by taking advantage of them.  He needed to climb down out of the tree to find true control.  How about the woman so desperate to be loved that she jumped from empty relationship to empty relationship.  She needed to offer water to a stranger from another religion to find real love.  Or maybe we will find the foreign woman in a foreign land daring to confront national prejudice to ask for justice for her children and because she set aside her fear she found true justice.  What about the man rejected by his community and was so disturbed that he lived in a cemetery and found wholeness in the approach of a complete stranger, who spoke to him and touched him.

There may also be the political leader who knows all about wielding power, yet finds he has no power when his daughter dies.  The woman who has reached nearly the end of hope fighting a lifelong disease risks one more chance in a leap of faith.  Maybe we run into grieving travelers who lost all their hope and then discover that hope never dies.

All of these people can be found in the ministry of Jesus recorded in the gospels.  But then we might also run into them in the reflection we encounter in our mirror.  They could appear as our family or friends.  We might work next to them or even be the stranger standing in line with us at the grocery.  Show them the wonder of the Gospel by offering the same love that Jesus offered the same people during his life.  This will become a Lenten journey that we will want to make every day of every year, whether it is Lent or not.

Shalom, Darrell

Pastor’s Corner – February 2012

Wow!  In 2011 we got a lot done.  We finished the Fellowship Hall, sent our largest groups in many years to Camp Christian and to Youth-a-palooza, supported our Christmas family and provided a lot of canned goods for the Salvation Army and the Christian Social Ministries food bank.  So what can we do this year?

Here is one thing that began last year that we can put into action this year.  During 2011, several people talked about planting a garden to provide fresh vegetables to the food banks that we help.  We talked about how big, location, and other details.  The board accepted the idea, and we had hoped to put it together this year.

In November I was told about a young man seeking to build a community garden for his Eagle project for the Boy Scouts.  We got together and he is drawing up plans for four raised beds for the front yard of the church.  The beds would be about 6’ X 12’.  Our “Seeds of Hope” gardens would be out front to make it easier to tend as there is a water supply out front.  It also makes it more visible for security as well as promotion of the idea of gardening for others.  We would plant vegetables that would be tolerant of our dry climate and do well in full sun.  Different groups in the church from children to adults could take turns caring for the crops and harvesting them as they ripen.

This would be an outreach ministry of our church.  Helping a Boy Scout achieve his Eagle, feeding the hungry in our community and challenging others to do the same.

Another challenge before us began during the early summer and resulted in a program at the November Fellowship Dinner.  The organization, Family Promise, came to Warner Robins to guide a desire to minister to the homeless in our county.  The way Family Promise would be set up here in Warner Robins is to get churches to agree to host and/or support the care and sheltering of four homeless families with children in this county.  Carolyn Schomer reported in November that according to the Houston County Board of Education, there are 315 homeless families with school-aged children in our county.

Family Promise would provide week long housing in a church for overnight, a center where the families could come during the day to bathe, go to school and receive the guidance and support needed to get back into safe and affordable housing.  Host churches would supply overnight accommodations in the church for four families.  Support churches would be partnered with a host church to provide transportation, preparation of breakfast, participating in evening and overnight fellowship and participating in special activities.  This commitment would be for seven consecutive days not more than four times per year.  We would make a one year commitment.

If we were to do this, we would need one person to act as coordinator.  Others could volunteer as drivers, cooks or spend a night at the host site, volunteer at the Day Center, serve on Network Committees, such as Recruitment, Transportation, Day Center, Finance, Publicity.

This is an opportunity for us to truly practice Hospitality as described in Matthew 25:31-46.  Prayerfully consider this and if you would like to be involved, please let me know.  We need to make a decision about this soon so that we can start serving those most in need.

Shalom, Darrell