IN EVERY SITUATION

It is tempting to shrug off this piece of advice,

Dusty as it is after 2,000 years.

"Rejoice always," the writer says and I

Tend to dismiss what has been said as Disney talk.

Surely the author has lived a pampered life,

Divorced from the struggles of life in this world.

If he knew about life what you and I know,

He would not be so out of touch with reality.

"Don't be anxious about anything," he says,

And I smile again. "With thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

Sometimes the grumble in me is stronger than the thanksgiving,

Yet grumble corrodes and thanksgiving in us has a way of lifting, healing, freeing.

The writer, chained in some dark prison, held inside four walls,

Knew the miracle of thanksgiving even when he was rubbed raw by hurt.

I notice and give thanks for the cold air, the lights on a tree, the hand holding mine,

The whispers of a God who refuses to be silent despite my inattention.

I give thanks for love along the way, for mentors whose way of speaking and loving shapes me the way water shapes rocks.

For the glory of voices singing together, for cookies out of the oven, for the way my Grandpa squeezed my knee, for Patsy Cline and Puccini and the morning paper.

I give thanks for the stars above my head early in the morning,

And the sun playing hide and seek at the end of the day over rooftops and trees.

I give thanks for discoveries made along the way, for partners in work,

And the grace of those who allow me to be their preacher and friend and pastor.

I give thanks for love at home and sons who are good men,

For young women who recklessly married into the family and have gifted us all.

I give thanks for grace that finds me, overwhelming judgment voices,

A carpenter's child and the mystery of an empty tomb that says "love wins."

Rejoice always? I do not. I do not rejoice always and the grumble finds a voice,

But I am overwhelmed, awed, joyed, by the miracle of it all...and You.

Sometimes I misplace thanksgiving, but right now, this afternoon,

I know the notes and the words of this "in all things" song.

-Mark Fenstermacher
Lead Pastor

Learning What It Means to Be a Daring Disciple

This past weekend, our Senior High Youth packed their bags and headed out for our annual Fall Retreat. I had the privilege of being able to observe the tension of our students' hectic schedules melt away as we spent the weekend enjoying God's beautiful creation. We enjoyed bonfires, ate way too much food, went pond swimming in sub-arctic temperatures, played outside games (like flashlight tag and our own version of the Hunger Games), rocked out as one of our students and his band played a live show, and spent some quiet time with God in interactive prayer stations.

In addition to all of that stuff, we also spent time learning what it means to be a dangerous or daring disciple for God. Pulling from four Old Testament stories, we talked about the incredible lives of Miriam, Solomon, David, and Daniel. As we dug deeper into these texts, our students began to discover that these followers of God have so much to teach us about radical discipleship.

Something I love most about my job is that so often, I get the chance to learn and grow from the things that students teach me. Over the weekend, as we discussed what it looks like for us to embrace the mission of Christ and become followers of God in our daily lives, our students offered some valuable and practical insight that I wanted to share with you:

• Risk bigger. Relationships and families are complicated. School and work are busy. We are constantly on the move. But to be a daring disciple, we're on the lookout each day for the chance to take risks for good/ God's glory. To love well is to risk big.

• Get wiser. If we're in the business of taking risks, we make sure that we know when it's wise to take those risks and when it isn't. Thankfully, as followers of God, we're not alone. If we're asking God for help on a daily basis, God will give us the wisdom to make good decisions.

• Believe braver. Sometimes God calls us to places where we might need to draw some extra courage. It can be scary, and when we're called to do hard things it's easy to put them off or run away. But we can overcome our fear and make the choice to be brave right now.

• Stand stronger. When we make the decision to be a daring disciple, we'll sometimes find ourselves in situations where we must take action. Do one thing each day that makes you uncomfortable. Stand up to bullies. Reach out in love to the outcasts. We can make a difference today and what we do right now matters. We can change the world.

On behalf of our students, I'd like to challenge you to consider these insights and what it would look like for you to apply these truths to your own life. God calls each one of us to be daring disciples. Don't put it off until tomorrow. Embrace the call today!

God's best,

Sarah Sparks-Franklin
Director of Sr. High & Jubilee Ministries

GOD THE FINDER

One summer night I remember the members of the youth group at Door Village UMC in LaPorte County playing "hide and seek" in the dark outside the large, white, three-story parsonage. I could hear the excitement in their voices as they would find the ones who were hiding!

Shauna K. Hannan from Lutheran Theological Seminary in Columbia (SC) talks about the popularity of geocaching. Adults go on high-tech treasure hunts using a GPS to find a geocache. Even as adults we like to play hide-and-seek.

The oldest of five children, she was often told that she was responsible for keeping an eye on her siblings. Watching out to see that none of them got lost became a part of her DNA. Sometimes in the grocery store Shauna's Mom would turn to her and ask, "Where's Brent?" and she would begin looking up and down aisles for her younger brother.

In Luke 15 Jesus tells a series of stories that show us how God goes looking for the lost child. Imagine a shepherd who discovers one sheep of the ninety-nine has gone missing and how he parties when that one sheep is found. Imagine a woman who loses a coin and searches until she finds it. Imagine being a parent whose child runs off, wastes their inheritance, makes one bad decision after another, and comes home.

In the Gospels, in the person of Jesus, we find we have a God who is a Finder, and a God who cares about the ones who are lost.

The crazy thing is that sometimes when you are lost, you don't even know it. Like Brent you are playing with stuff in some aisle and you don't even recognize you're lost until someone comes looking for you. You've got life upside-down and backwards, you think everything is cool and then God comes up and taps you on the shoulder. You look up and you realize you are far from where you should be...and the story you are living isn't the story God would write with your life.

How does it change your world to know God is the Finder? How does it change your world to know God comes looking for you? How does it change your world to know that instead of continuing to run from God (and yourself?), you just need to stop and turn for home?

How does it change your world, your view of the church, to know God calls us to be a "search and rescue unit" for those who are lost, disconnected, and spiritually hungry?

Does it matter to us that there are people all around us who feel lost, disconnected and hungry? Does it matter enough to us that we will listen to the stranger, that we will issue an invitation to our small group or worship gathering, that we will risk telling our story when someone says "I wonder if there is a God, but I don't know which way to turn?" Does it matter enough to us that we will turn the church inside-out to reach out to those who feel lost, disconnected and hungry?

Churches alive with God are churches that care passionately about those who haven't yet come to the party of God's saving love in Jesus. They're all about reaching out and inviting and welcoming and including. Oh, and churches alive with God are communities where people are always ready to throw a party for the lost child who has been found.

We're a community that rejoices in God the Finder!

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Please remember to prayerfully complete your estimate-of-giving/faith promise card for 2014 and turn that/mail that in this week. Our leaders will make major decisions about our ministries for the coming year, and we need to hear from you this week. Thanks to all who have responded!

Special Offerings This Weekend - please come prepared to give generous to the following special, second-mile missions opportunities: The Interfaith Winter Shelter and Typhoon Relief (Philippines).

Notes from Kids (Continued): Last week I told you about a note from a child (and his family) that said, "Thanks for pushing us." This week I received a note on Facebook from a parent whose son said, "Mom, do you know what Pastor Mark's hair looks like? Well, I want my hair like he has, but all over my head and not just the sides. Is that okay, Mom?" :)

In Christ and for Christ,

Mark Fenstermacher

  Lead Pastor

LOVE NOTES

The universe looks different when you receive a note saying "I love you", doesn't it? The note may have been crudely written and full of misspellings when it was passed to you by the little girl with the curly brown hair in 4th grade, but it made your heart dance. Or it may have been perfectly said, beautifully put together, in the middle of life and it changed the way the world looked to you.

Ella colored a picture for my birthday, and she printed out the word "love" and spelled out "Grandpa." You can imagine what it does for me each time I walk past the refrigerator where the picture and note are displayed.

God sends notes our way. The Bible says the rainbow is a note. The bread and juice of communion are a love note from God. The Bible itself is -for all the passages that are puzzling, so filled with the violence of human armies and the stories of dysfunctional families where siblings don't trust siblings- a love letter from God to the world. Step back from the individual verses a bit, look at the great themes of scripture, and you'll find it is a love letter to the world. "God so loved the world that God gave the world God's Son," the Bible says.

This Sunday morning we will each have an opportunity to leave God a love note. And it's not a "one time" note. It's not a dozen roses that go brown in a week. This love note gets "re-sent" each time you and I make out a check to God's work, or each time an automatic withdrawal is made from our bank account so children are introduced to Jesus, so that teenagers are coached and encouraged in their journey, so that people are nurtured and disciple in small groups, so that persons in the hospital are visited, so that the Wednesday food ministry goes on, so that the Interfaith Winter Shelter keeps happening, so that counseling resources are available to those who are struggling towards new life, so that the world is transformed by worship that is real and beautiful and shaped by the Holy Spirit.

I've learned something along the way of life. Love means showing up. And love means saying it. Don't swallow it the words or the thought...don't keep silent. Don't leave someone guessing about where you are in relationship to them. Put it out there. Make it clear. Be unambiguous.

At the end of worship we'll all be invited to come forward and leave our estimate of giving card (I like calling them "faith promise" cards) in baskets along the communion rail or stage. It's not just a money thing, you know? You're leaving God a love note. And God will get to open that note every week or two throughout the year, and read again of your love...your gladness...your thankfulness.

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Join us in worship this Sunday as we again are blessed by great music, as we rejoice in the grace of God, as we look at the way Jesus turns the world upside-down and as we each have the opportunity to bring our estimate of giving/faith promise cards for 2014 forward at place them in the baskets in the front of the room. Note: we need to hear from you in the next two weeks. At that point we begin putting together our 2014 budget based on your response.

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Sunday school students recently sent notes to people in the church. One child, along with his family, sent me a note that said, "Pastor Mark - thank you for pushing us." I keep that in my Bible so I am always reminded that preaching and leading means loving, and it also means pushing people towards God's preferred future. "Thank you for pushing us."

In Christ and for Christ,

Mark Fenstermacher
Lead Pastor

THE QUESTION LINGERS

Every now and then I pick up a book I read long ago and begin to flip through the pages. It's interesting seeing what notes I wrote in the margins or what questions I scribbled at the bottom of the page.

This afternoon I picked up Richard Foster's book from 1985, Money, Sex & Power: The Challenge of the Disciplined Life. The pages are now yellow at the edges, and I can hear the back of the book creak as I turn the pages. The question Foster asks on page 42 "sticks" now the same way it did long ago when I worked through the book with a group of friends.

Foster points out that the Biblical witness says God owns all things. Everything we have belongs to God. We have it to use for awhile, not just for ourselves but to bless others. The Bible says a portion of the harvest is to be given to the poor (Deuteronomy 14:28-29). Every fiftieth year the economic order was turned upside down during the Jubilee as all debts were forgiven. The land is mine, says God. So the house we live in is God's house, the car we drive is God's car, and the garden we plant is God's garden. Everything reminds us of God.

God's ownership of everything...changes the kind of question we ask in giving, Foster writes. Rather than, "How much of my money should I give to God?" we learn to ask, "How much of God's money should I keep for myself?"

How we ask the question changes how we see "our" money, "our" stuff, and how we give, doesn't it?

How is it that during a children's sermon, when the children are told God gives $1 to us and only asks that we return 10 cents, we smile and the lesson makes perfect sense, but when we look at applying that very same lesson to the income we receive of $25,000 or $50,000 or $145,000 the ten percent looks outrageously large? Why do we smile and nod at the perfect rightness of the lesson of the dollar, but we struggle so to live out the lesson with our resources as adults?

The pages of the book are yellow and brittle, but the question lingers: "How much of God's money should I keep for myself?"

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Join us in worship this Sunday as we again are blessed by great music, as we rejoice in the grace of God with the Lord's Supper, as we explore how God can help change the way we view tough times ("Adding Muscle"), and as we celebrate those saints who have died during the past year.

In Christ and for Christ,

Mark Fenstermacher
Lead Pastor