Seeking Celebrating Sharing

Bulletin

Scripture

“Seeking Celebrating Sharing” by Pastor Rosanna McFadden

Good morning!  If you haven’t figured it out already, you’re going to be getting a big ‘ole dose of Seek, Celebrate and Share today.  Although it’s appropriate to talk about Creekside’s mission statement, it feels a little bit like talking about gratitude at Thanksgiving — shouldn’t gratitude be something which is part of our lives the other 364 days, too?  In the same way, a mission statement should not merely be something which is familiar, Where Have I heard those words before . . .? or which we have memorized  Because we are God’s beloved in Christ, united in the Spirit . . . a mission statement is supposed to guide our direction as a congregation and help us to determine the work which is ours to do; and maybe as important, what is not ours to do.

I have already stepped into a pothole which those of us on the Pathfinder Team have had a difficult time avoiding.  As a reminder, the Pathfinder Team was called by the Church Board in April, and given the task of recommending ministry direction for Creekside in the next 3-5 years.  That team is Pauline Arnold, Steve Barton, Larry Ford, Karen Grant, Anne Griffith, Tim Morphew and me.  These are the folks who will be leading our discussions during the Sunday School hour today.  This has been a great team to work with, and we are excited about the input we’ve gotten from Everence consultant Colin Saxton.  We’ll be sharing your answers with Colin this week as we go forward.

But back to the pothole: here is what has been a challenge for Pathfinder Team, and I suspect will be for some of you:  it is easy to think of our mission primarily, or even exclusively, in terms of what we are called to do, and neglect or completely overlook who we are called to be.  There are a variety of reasons for this, some personal and some cultural.  It’s helpful to have concrete, measurable marks to aim for, or even a list which we can check off and feel a sense of accomplishment.  I have shared before, and my family will attest to, that I begin nearly every day by writing a list of what I need to accomplish, and when I have meetings or appointments; and because I’m old school, this is a written — like on a piece of paper — To Do list.  I don’t think I have ever, in my ministry or anytime else, made a To Be list.  Whom do I need to be today?  What demeanor or disposition should I be bringing into my encounters with other people?  What acceptance or grace do I need to extend to other people and to myself?  I’m going to be experienced by others whether I pay any attention to this or not: if this is important, maybe it’s something which merits some intention.  And if this is important for me as an individual, maybe it should also be important to us as a congregation: who do we want to be?  How do we want other people to experience us?  If we aren’t there yet, how could we get there — or at least get closer?

The introduction to Ephesians in the Anabaptist Community Bible says, Ephesians is treasured for its profound vision of the church as Christ’s body and of Christ as “our peace.”   That sounds like a good reference to me.  It turns out the section which Joe read for us this morning is part of a prayer written by the Apostle Paul, or more likely, one of his disciples.  An abridged version of verses 16 and 17 says, I pray that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through the Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in you dwell in your hearts through faith.  Verse 18 continues, I pray that you may have the power to comprehend the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with the fullness of God.  This, sisters and brothers is our To Be list for the church.  Our mission statement helps guide how we, this group in this time in this place — get closer to who God wants us to be.  God does not want us to be younger — although God may hope we don’t use our age as an excuse; God does not want us to be wealthier — although we might be able to be more generous; God may not even want us to be busier — perhaps part of being faithful is to budget our efforts thoughtfully.

So let’s take a moment to look at our mission statement.  [Slide]  I don’t know all the history of this statement: I know it dates back at least 25 years, before we moved to this building.  This mission may have been part of the catalyst to dream about a new location and building.  I hope you can see it on the screen, because I’m going to ask us to say it together:

I hope you noticed that this statement is grounded in who we are:  we are God’s beloved in Christ.  Because of that identity — that free, priceless gift of Christ’s love which we didn’t have to do anything but accept, we are invited, called, expected to participate in God’s mission.  In this place, with these people, at this time we have defined that mission as Seeking God’s love in our lives, Celebrating God’s love in vital worship, Sharing God’s love through witness, accepting, and service.  For you grammar folks out there — not grandmas, but language nerds (I happen to be both) — grammar folks, I used the gerund form of those verbs with the -ing ending, Seeking, Celebrating, Sharing because it indicates continuing action.  A mission, at least for Christians, is not a one and done, something we do and check off the list and then do something else; our mission is to participate in God’s mission.  That goal is beyond ourselves, but that goal is also within us: to participate in the mission of God so that we can begin to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of God, and allow that understanding to shape who we are as individuals, and who we are as a congregation.   [Slide down]

In every setting I have been part of with a church consultant or grant or program, the first question is: does your congregation have a mission statement?  To which I answer: Yes! We do.  The next question is: Do people know what that is?  To which I answer: . . . maybe?  It’s been hanging on the wall of our Gathering Area for almost 20 years — does that count?  (it doesn’t)  It’s printed on the back of our directories, it’s on our website, it’s on newsletters . . . is that enough?  All those things may be helpful, but being aware that Creekside has a mission statement, and maybe knowing the words Seek, Celebrate, Share — or even knowing the hand motions, is not the point of our mission statement.  Mission should shape our understanding of God and our understanding of ourselves.  It should help us determine who we want to be as a congregation, and how we might get closer to being the congregation God is calling us and has gifted us to be.  Our mission should be the way in which we live into the fullness of God through the example of Jesus Christ.

You are invited, called, expected to be part of the continuing conversation today.  Grab a drink and join the Thee Seekers Class, the Onward/Overcomers Class in their regular classrooms, or the New Life Class in the Gathering Area.  Pathfinder Team members have questions to guide your discussion.  Thank you for your participation — we value everyone’s input.

I want to close by sharing the verses from Ephesians which come immediately after our today’s text.  They are my favorite verses from Ephesians, and some of my favorite verse in the Bible.  This is Ephesians 3: 20-21 if you want to follow along in your own Bible:And now, to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Jesus Christ to all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.