Celebrating
the freeing, supportive presence of God. So your experience of God may
become your experience of life. It is wonderful what God can do!
“Preparations For Our Future”
PART III - Future Vision
September 17, 2006
You are here because, along your life’s journey, you have responded to the urging of God’s Holy Spirit. Others are here because their parents or guardians responded to the urging of God’s Holy Spirit.
King Solomon was responding to what he knew God had told his father when he built the beautiful Hebrew Temple. It served two purposes—the worship of God, and the community and fellowship of people.
There is much written in the Hebrew Scripture (our Old Testament) about building houses of worship for the Lord. There is almost nothing written in the Christian Scripture (the New Testament) about buildings used as places of worship. Our Scripture seems much more vitally interested in spiritual buildings and spiritual foundations. Saint Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that we are God’s building as opposed to anything made of wood or mortar. He tells us in another passage that our bodies are the Temple of God and that God wishes to dwell with people and desires that people would dwell with God.
As believers in Jesus Christ—his teachings, his witness, his life, his death, and his resurrection—we, too, can declare with St. Paul that “no one [of us] can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; [and] that foundation is Jesus Christ.”
The early generations of this congregation were strongly moved and motivated by this faith in Christ, and demonstrated a determination to bring others into the fold of God’s care. Even if most of us who are present here today have no blood-line connections with the forbearers of this congregation, we do have an equally strong spiritual connection. We share their love of this faith community and its people. We share their faith in Christ and its power to transform the hearts and lives of people. We share their vision for a strong and meaningful future because we are actually living their vision.
If I am interpreting the historical documents correctly, it appears to me that the rapid growth of the Methodist community in Perry for most of its history was brought about by a profound love of God and a desire to share that love with their families, their friends, and their neighbors in Perry. These folks re-built their House of Worship as often as it became necessary. These amazing folks, with the help of God, picked themselves up after the total destruction of their building by fire, and re-built bigger and better.
But they had a dream, a vision for the spiritual and physical future of Methodism in Perry. They saw a time when Perry Methodists would never again face total destruction by fire. They saw a time when the people of faith known as Methodists would meet and worship and fellowship together and reach out to family, friends and neighbors, offering them the very best of faith and the latest and finest of facilities to meet their spiritual and physical needs.
On this 100th Anniversary of this consecrated and dedicated House of God, and this 190th Anniversary of Methodism in Perry, it is our turn and our loving responsibility to dream and vision for our future brothers and sisters in Christ and their families, friends, and neighbors. It is our turn and our loving responsibility to make an intentional effort to discover the present needs and desires of the current generation and work to enliven and strengthen their faith along with ours.
As I have dreamed and dialogued with you for the past 14 months and two weeks, it has become clear to me that this congregation is diverse in its perspectives and viewpoints. We are also a congregation who shows a strong willingness to avoid making judgments, a strong openness in allowing people to do their own thinking, and developing their own relationship with God. We feel free to use the ancient creeds in our worship of God, but we do not demand any one interpretation of them.
We are one of those communities of Christ that accept persons for how God made them. When we offer the transforming power of Christ to persons, we do so in a way that offers freedom in Christ, and freedom to live and believe our faith in a way that is spiritually wholesome. Then we can proclaim with our Scripture, that in Christ we are free indeed!
I believe it is our call from God to continue to be a beacon of light, of hope, of healing, of forgiveness, and of loving acceptance. I believe it is our call from God to continue to be a powerful witness to the wonder of God’s unconditional love for all persons without regard to their age, race, gender, status, or orientation.
Holy Apostles Episcopal Church here in Perry has been running a monthly ad campaign in the Perry Shopper. They take a firm stand in favor of openness and acceptance toward all persons. The ad also lists all the categories of persons that they are willing to welcome into their spiritual home. They are, in fact, boldly proclaiming their Christian alternative to unkindness and unwelcomeness.
In our visioning, we have adopted the United Methodist national theme which is “open hearts, open minds, and open doors.” ([pointing to banner] We observe it every week and it overlooks us in our Narthex.) I believe God is calling us to creatively dream how we might make this theme a part of our regular mission. I believe that God would be pleased to have us know and clearly state our mission—our reason for existing. I believe that God wants us to creatively and effectively reach out to the people of Perry—both young and old—in the same way that Jesus reached out—not only to his own kind, but also to the disliked and so-called “immoral” people of Samaria.
I believe that God is calling us to continue to emphasize small group missions and ministries. Lastly, I believe that God would be pleased to have us seriously reflect on everything we do for the kingdom, and how we do it, and in such a prayerful way that we are always open to the guidance and leading of God’s Holy Spirit.
Now, in this 100th year, I challenge each and every one of you, and each and every one of our ministries, teams, and committees to begin dreaming and visioning a vibrant and continued healthful future. Let us work and pray together, openly and honestly, to discover God’s will for us in this current generation.
May we each remain faithful in all things, that God will be able to bless us richly in our finest efforts for the kingdom of God in our midst. Amen.
