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News & Announcements for Sunday, Sept 17, 2023
NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS – Sunday, Sept 17, 2023
JOIN US FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL
If you’re looking for an opportunity to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ, we encourage you to join us Sunday mornings for a intergenerational Sunday school class, from 9:00-10:00. We look forward to seeing you!
MIDWEEK PRAYER – WEDNESDAYS @ Noon
Please join us on Wednesdays at noon for a time of prayer in the sanctuary as we bring our needs before our loving God.
GLEANING FOR THE WORLD – WEDNESDAY, 8:30AM
Please join us in the parking lot of the church for carpooling. We will return to the church around 11:30 am.
WOMEN’S BOOK CLUB – NEXT THURSDAY, 9/28, 10:00AM
The Women’s Book Club will meet next Thursday, September 28 at 10:00am. Location TBD. This month’s book is A Painted House by John Grisham.
MISSION FOCUS FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER
Our focus for the month of August is Neighbors Helping Neighbors. NHN has a selective food warehouse that provides “guests” with the opportunity to shop for their groceries; it’s open the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Saturdays from 8:00-10:30 am. If you would like to donate funds to help Neighbors Helping Neighbors, please specify “NHN” on your check memo line. See the newsletter for more information. Thank you for your support!
DISASTER RELIEF DONATIONS
When disaster strikes locally or abroad (such as the Maui wildfire or Hurricane Idalia, and you would like to contribute to the recovery efforts through the work of the church, you may do so by putting “Disaster” in the memo/note field of your donation, or by going to https://epc.org/donate/emergencyrelief/. Relief funds are distributed through local EPC churches in the impacted communities so the aid goes to those who need it most.
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September 2023 Pastor’s Corner — Restructure, Recast, Release
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
— Is. 43:19
If you weren’t able to join us for the Rally Day & Pancake Breakfast on Sunday, August 27, I wanted to share with you what God has been doing in and through the Session over the past several months. At the Annual Meeting in February, we looked at the challenges we are facing as a church and anticipated some of what we thought God might be leading us toward in the months to come. That work is ongoing, but the picture is beginning to come into better focus. While there is concern about the future of Northminster, God is making a way for us to follow as He continues to use Northminster to “experience and share the love of God in order to transform our homes, our community, and our world.” As we said in February, that work involves Restructuring, Recasting, and Releasing.
Restructuring
As a church, we are facing a very pragmatic problem: As a congregation whose worship attendance currently averages in the low- to mid-30s, we are not able to find enough people willing and qualified to serve as Ruling Elders on the Session. This has led the Session to ask, just what is an Elder supposed to be and do? Does the way our Elders currently function match what Scripture says and what the EPC Book of Order describes? With the help of the leadership of the New River Presbytery, we have worked hard to answer those questions. We’ve learned that the primary work of an elder is that of “under-shepherd” (1 Peter 5:1-5), but our elders have more often functioned as committee chairs. The duties and responsibilities of managing committees prevents our elders from being shepherds (see Acts 6:1-6 for how the early church addressed this same problem) — and that has only been compounded as we’ve combined committees due to the lack of willing and qualified elder candidates over the years.
In order to address these issues, we are going to reduce the number of elders seated on Session to three. This means that the elders will no longer be able to serve as chairs of the various committees, which will free them to serve as shepherds. While we have extensive examples and descriptions of what this might look like, there’s a lot of it we’re going to figure out as we go along. But the only way this works is if we recast the work of the various committees.
Recasting
Our “committees” will be recasted as “ministry teams.” While initially this might sound like a new name for the same thing, it actually represents a culture shift. A committee is a group of people who are responsible for taking action on a particular matter; it “does the work” on behalf of the organization. A ministry team, however, is committed to take action on the vision entrusted to it through the experience of Christian Fellowship, and the discipleship of its members. Ministry teams are exceptionally flexible, dynamic means of aligning people for effective ministry, while providing ongoing encouragement to each person. A ministry team invites the congregation to join and participate in the work of the Kingdom of God. Instead of having “chairs,” we will have team leaders, which do not have to be (and will not be able to be) the seated elders on Session. The elders will exist to resource and support (shepherd) the ministry teams. The ministry teams will help equip and release the church for mission and ministry.
Releasing
In the Great Commission, Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:18-20) He has released his disciples to do the work of the Kingdom of God. It is a work every believer is called and released to do, and it doesn’t require a committee approving it beforehand. We want to be a church that is equipping, releasing and sending disciples into our homes, community and world in order to transform them through experiencing and sharing God’s love. We believe that the Holy Spirit is already at work in and around us, and is inviting us to join Him in that work today. For Northminster to continue to impact our community for the Kingdom of God, we need to embrace our calling as disciples of Jesus to “go.”
I imagine you’re feeling something similar to what I’m feeling right now: a little bit of excitement, and a little bit of anxiety as well. This is a pretty big shift in how we understand ourselves as a church as well as how to go about the work of the church. I imagine it’s not too different from what the early explorers felt when they set out from the “old world” to discover the “new.” They knew where they were headed, had a pretty good idea of what they were looking for, but also knew they’d be figuring out most of it as they went along. God has given us a strong vision for the future of Northminster, and we have a pretty good idea of what it’s going to look like, but we also know we’re going to be figuring out much of it as we go along. As we head into both the known and unknown of our future, we can step out boldly, trusting fully in the very last words Jesus spoke in the book of Matthew:
“Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” — Matt. 28:18-20
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
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August 2023 Pastor’s Corner — Faith & Prayer
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” — Matt. 17:19–20
And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” — Mark 9:28–29
Sometimes you come across something in the Bible that seems small and innocuous at first, but over time you realize what you thought was little is actually a lot bigger. Jesus is really good at doing that when he is teaching us things. In this case, the little thing I came across was a small difference in how Matthew and Mark relate the healing of an epileptic, demon-possessed boy. This scene takes places immediately after the transfiguration of Jesus. The disciples were not able to cast the demon out, and the Pharisees mocked them for it. Jesus, of course, was able. After Jesus and the disciples entered the privacy of the house they were staying in, they asked Jesus why they weren’t able to drive the demon out. That’s where the difference in the stories comes in, as well as the revelation the Holy Spirit impressed upon me.
As you can see above, Jesus gives a different answer in Matthew compared to Mark. But it’s not actually a different answer, and that’s the part that’s stuck with me for the past few days. What did the disciples need to drive the demon out, more faith or more prayer? Yes. You see, faith and prayer are intrinsically linked together. As William Hendriksen writes, “Where there is little faith, there is little prayer. Conversely, where there is an abundance of genuine, persevering faith, there is also fervent, unrelenting prayer.” When our faith lags, our trust in God erodes. If we aren’t trusting in God, then why would we pray, for is not prayer itself an act and expression of trust? The more deeply I trust in God, the stronger my faith will be, the more constant will then be my prayers.
It is hard, sometimes, to know how our walk with the Lord is going. If someone were to ask you, “how strong is your faith today?” how would you know what to say? It’s such a subjective question. We can often think our faith in God is strong, when we aren’t actually trusting in Him very much at all. However, being asked, “how is your prayer life going?” is much more concrete and objective. As the Holy Spirit has needled at me about this, I’ve come to see a strong and direct correlation between my prayer life and my trust in God. I encourage you to look at your prayer life as well. Are you trusting in the Lord as much as you say or think you are? Does your prayer life reflect that trust and faith? There’s no time like right now to pray!
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. — 1 Th. 5:16–19
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
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Upcoming Sunday Morning Schedule Change
Beginning Sunday, August 27
Sunday School moves to 9:00 AM
Worship moves to 10:30 AM
Beginning on Sunday, August 27, we are changing the Sunday morning schedule. Sunday School will now start at 9 AM, and the worship service will start at 10:30AM. We believe this will enable us to be more effective in our discipleship, fellowship and worship.
Discipleship: With a Sunday school time of 9-10am, we are able to provide a full, unhurried hour of discipling opportunities. While we currently schedule an hour of Sunday school each week, practically speaking it’s usually 30-40 minutes. By spreading out the end of Sunday school and the beginning of the worship service, we will be able to focus more fully on our study and application of the Word of God to our lives.
Fellowship: With a “break” in the schedule from 10-10:30, we are able to offer a time of “purposefully unstructured” fellowship to the congregation. This provides time for those who attended Sunday school and those who are arriving for worship to visit together prior to the start of the worship service. This is separate from the regular fellowship receptions we offer, since with the earlier start time for worship, there will be ample opportunity for the receptions after the service without feeling like we need to dash off to lunch.
Worship: One of the challenges we face every Sunday is the transition from Sunday school to worship.Many of those attending Sunday school are also involved in leading the service, and often the transition is rushed and harried.By starting the service at 10:30, those who need to prepare for worship are able to do so without missing out on Sunday School and without feeling rushed. This also provides a better opportunity for us to be fully present in worship, knowing that the service will end earlier, leaving us with the sense that most of the day is still available to them.The service itself will also feel less harried as a result.
Sometimes when we settle into a routine, it becomes comfortable. This change provides us with an opportunity to think intentionally about the rhythms of how they seek to “remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). There are a lot of things in our lives that “compete” with Sundays — such as chores, sports, family gatherings, and the always important Sunday nap. Nevertheless, Sunday is meant to be given to the Lord and to worshipping Him first and foremost. Please let us know if you have any questions, and we look forward to seeing you at 10:30am for worship on August 27!
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July 2023 Pastor’s Corner – Priceless
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
— Matt. 13:44–46
Much like a pearl inside an oyster, sometimes the greatest and most profound truths come in the pithiest of sayings. These two sayings of Jesus are definitely fantastic examples of that. They are very simple parables that are easy to grasp and understand. And yet, just like the point they are making, there is so much more within once we slow down and enter the story.
Imagine yourself as the man or the merchant. Smell the soil of the field or the salty water where the oysters are. Visualize coming across the treasure in the field — did you have to dig to find it, or was it poking out of the ground? What was it about the pearl that caught your eye as it sat under the water? What could possibly be found in that treasure, how large must that pearl have been, to motivate you to (don’t miss this) sell everything you have in order to purchase the field or the treasure? Not just doing that, but doing it with great joy and excitement? Take a moment more — when was the last time you felt that kind of joy about, well, anything? Honestly, this is a ridiculous story, almost ludicrous. No one in their right mind would actually do anything like that, right? Which is exactly the point, but not the entire point.
Now consider what Jesus says is the treasure hidden in a field and the pearl of great value. Jesus is talking about the kingdom of Heaven. Often, we think the treasure being spoken of is salvation, which it is. But it’s also so much more. The treasure that’s worth more than anything else in our lives is more than just accepting Jesus Christ as your savior, it’s embracing the way of life that Jesus introduced to us and the world. Walking in the way of Jesus — loving God with all our being (Matt. 22:37-38), loving our neighbors as ourselves (Matt. 22:39), loving even our enemies and praying for those who persecute us (Matt 5:43-48), living a life of Christ-like service to the rejected and hurting (James 1:27), resting in the grace of Christ (Matt 11:28-30) — that is the treasure beyond all value. That is worth more than all of our earthly possessions or dreams.
The apostles and countless saints throughout the centuries have experienced the truth of these parables. Paul experienced this so viscerally he proclaims, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” (Phil. 3:8) Most of us, though, are scared off by that idea. As Brennan Manning once said, “We want to draw close enough to the blazing inferno of the love of God that we stay warm, but not so close that we might get burned.” It makes you wonder if we’re missing something, doesn’t it?
As we continue through this summer, be intentional in reflecting on your walk with the Lord. Have you found your relationship with Jesus to be a treasure worth selling everything you have to gain? What is holding you back from knowing Jesus so well that everything else becomes “rubbish”? How would it actually feel to let yourself be burned by the blazing inferno of the love of God? There’s more to this life than just living and dying, waking and sleeping. Jesus didn’t die on the cross so you could merely be forgiven of your sins and receive the promise of eternal life, He meant for you to have more and better life than you’ve ever dreamed of (John 10:10), and that life is best found and pursued together (Hebrews 10:24-25).
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
— Psa. 51:12
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
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