Hi, Church -

So, there’s this thing that happens to churches these days where we are tempted to respond to decline by chasing relevance. These words, of course, need some definition.

Decline, we might say, is what we are tempted to feel when congregations shrink in size, when finances get tight, and when buildings decay. It’s a sense of stagnation.

Relevance, we might say, is what we are tempted to chase in response to decline through things like a hyper-exertion of energy to grow in numbers, and raising money, and updating the property. A sense of bustling makes us feel good about our church, that we’re becoming relevant to the world.

The problem is that a big congregation, deep pockets, and a building are not essential for what it means to be the church. These things might be a part of a church’s reality (some churches are bigger than others, some have more money, and some have facilities) but they shouldn’t distract us from what matters most, which is actually embodying the way of Jesus.

This is to say that a large congregation, financial stability, and a well-kept church property does not mean that a congregation is close to the heart of God.

I think of the two images Jeremiah uses of a cistern versus flowing waters. We’re told flowing waters (waters of life) are better than a cistern, which is where water becomes stagnate. However, to understand this in terms of decline and relevance we have to clarify what we’re talking about.

If we are spending our energy to appear vital simply because we have numbers, money, and space then we need to rethink what we’re doing. However, if our energy is spent on embodying the love of God in the time we have and places we are given, then the we will find ourselves in the Spirit’s flow.

This means spending time contemplating the incarnation of God in Jesus, mediating on who he was, what he cared about, and why it cost him his life. In this we will know what it means to be witnesses.

And so, church, take some time this morning to begin praying in this way. Allow the Scripture to shape your prayer (the Sermon on the Mount is a good place to start). And wait for God’s encounter.

See you at 10:30am.

Grace and Peace,

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In this sermon we begin a series inspired by a book called What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk With Howard Thurman by Lerita Coleman Brown. We use Thurman’s famous quote to jumpstart our reflections on what it means to live in the spirit of the resurrection. [The quote: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.”] In this sermon we talk about what Jacob’s journey teaches us about our connection to God that nothing and no one can take away, even though we can get in our own way sometimes.

In this sermon we begin a series inspired by a book called What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk With Howard Thurman by Lerita Coleman Brown. We use Thurman’s famous quote to jumpstart our reflections on what it means to live in the spirit of the resurrection. [The quote: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.”] In this sermon we consider how prayer, hospitality, and solitude are at the heart of Jesus’s ministry and what they have to do with discipleship (with some help from Henri Nouwen’s book Reaching Out).

In this sermon we begin a series inspired by a book called What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk With Howard Thurman by Lerita Coleman Brown. We use Thurman’s famous quote to jumpstart our reflections on what it means to live in the spirit of the resurrection. [The quote: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.”] In this sermon we look at what it means to be spiritual but not religious and how that could mean we as the church need a better understanding of Jesus. Hint: it’s another sermon about love. There’s also a riff on my favorite hymn.

In this sermon we begin a series inspired by a book called What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk With Howard Thurman by Lerita Coleman Brown. We use Thurman’s famous quote to jumpstart our reflections on what it means to live in the spirit of the resurrection. [The quote: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.”] In this sermon we talk about what it means to experience the presence off God in the Eucharist, how that is primary means by which we nurture our communion with God even though, as I share from my own life, we might experience holy coincidences or moments of divine intervention in strange ways.