Dec 2 Sermon Homework

At the conclusion of each message I give a homework assignment to the congregation. Here's the assignment for December 2, 2012...

Homework: Continue to work on memorizing Psalm 23.

Get an Advent Devotional. 3 worth considering…

Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas (various authors)
God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
Celebrating Christmas with Jesus: An Advent Devotional (Max Lucado)

Blessing: “May you know the rest, refreshment, and restoration of the Good Shepherd that you may faithfully follow Him in the paths of righteousness. Amen.”

PS23 - Shepherd



I began the new sermon series on Psalm 23 today. The assignment was to memorize Psalm 23 this week and recite it daily. Turn it into your own prayer. I love the Bonhoeffer quote: “The richness of the Word of God ought to determine our prayer, not the poverty of our heart.”

This beautiful little psalm teaches us so much about the intimacy God desires with us and how to pray. I'll be using the English Standard Version in the messages; I like the way it keeps the poetic rhythm of the KJV without using words like "maketh" and "leadeth". So here's the ESV translation...
Psalm 23 (English Standard Version)
¹ The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
² He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
³ He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Remember, Christ is your Shepherd if... 
You are content in his care
You listen to his voice
You follow him
My prayer is that the psalm becomes more and more meaningful to us over the next 5 weeks.

Politics in the Pulpit

Now that the election is over and passions have cooled a bit, I thought I’d offer my perspective. Members and regular attenders of the church I pastor will know that I have never endorsed a candidate running for any office. That includes local, state, and national elections. I keep my own political views and party affiliation out of the pulpit. That is by design. No, I’m not concerned about IRS pulling our non-profit status. However, I do have two significant reasons for keeping politics out of the pulpit.

The first reason is that party affiliation should never be a litmus test for Christians in general and church membership at PCC. It’s a fact; there are passionate Democrats, passionate Republicans, and probably a few Libertarians that worship together every Sunday at PCC. And yes, I’m proud of that fact. Politics is complicated. There are many issues at stake and Christians can legitimately hold differing views on most of the issues. Take taxes for example. Should Christians support higher taxes on the wealthy to provide more government assistance for the poor? I’m certain all would agree that the answer is yes. But what percentage is appropriate? And does higher taxes on the wealthy mean fewer jobs for everyone, including the poor? More importantly for Christians, what does the Bible say? It actually says quite a lot about caring for the poor, but not much at all about taxes. There is no question that Christians should be leading the way in caring for the poor. On the other hand, the only thing Jesus said about taxes was, “Render unto Caesar…” In other words, “Pay what you must pay to the governing authorities.” I don’t think there is a “Christian” or “biblical” view of taxes. Authentic believers in Christ will always have differing views. The same is true of so many other issues… national defense, economic policies, education, health care, etc. No one is for a bad national defense or a bad economy. No one is against education or health care, but there are differing views in how to approach these and many other issues.

We are blessed to live in a free nation where these issues can be discussed openly without fear of reprisal from the party in power. Christians can and should participate in the discussion, but without rancor or bitterness or hatred for those who disagree. Christians must lead the way in being gracious and refusing to return evil for evil in the discussion. What we share in common, Christ our Lord, far supersedes our political affiliations and differences. We are not called to convert others to our political party, but to Christ and his kingdom. I’m for civility in the public square, even if that civility is not returned.

The second reason I take great pains to keep politics out of the pulpit is that I want us to always remember that Christ is our Lord and Savior, not any politician, government, party, or nation. I always cringe when I hear some politician say, “America is the hope of the world!” No it’s not. It never has been, nor will it ever be. Jesus Christ is the hope of the world and the Church as the “body of Christ” carries his banner throughout the world, not America. Of course, God is fully able to work through people in government and through various governments including our own. We must never allow patriotism to become an idol. We must never love the “one nation under God” more than God. We must never place our faith in our government leaders or our military leaders for that which only God can provide… true peace and security and hope. We must always think of ourselves as Christians first and U.S. citizens second. Our first priority as Christians is to pray for this nation and our leaders, whether we voted for them or not. We do have a biblical mandate for that: “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2) (NIV)

After all, the proverb does say, “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.” (Proverbs 21:1) (NIV)

My QB's Faith

I came across this article about K-State QB Collin Klein. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/collin-klein-faith-led-him-wife-first-kiss-215824243--ncaaf.html

As a K-State alum I could not be prouder our QB's faith and his courage to claim it publically. In the interviews I've seen and heard Collin always comes across as genuine and humble. And I pitty the diminutive cornerback that gets between Collin and the endzone.

"Domestic Partners"

Honestly, I didn’t want to be there. In fact, I purposely arrived late to sign up to speak hoping my turn would come after the news media had long departed. I wasn’t interested in making the local news casts or the local paper. I simply wanted to speak to the school board about a decision I questioned. But alas, my desire to keep a low profile wasn’t to be. I was among the first to be called upon to speak at the PISD board meeting on October 18. So I stood up and shared with the school board my view of the superintendent’s decision to extend health benefits to “domestic partners”. Consequently my name and face and comments made the local news-cast of KXAN and the Austin American-Statesman. Several members of my church read the quote in the paper or saw me on the news cast. I had 3 minutes to speak at the board meeting, of which the media used only a snippet. I want the members of the church I pastor, and anyone else interested, to get a more complete picture of my perspective of the issue. Here’s what I want you to know about my views.

I want you to know that I was deeply dismayed at the way this decision was made. Many of the pastors in this community know the superintendent, Dr. Dupree, personally, and have a deep appreciation for the outstanding work he has done for PISD over the past 7 years. But I was shocked at the utter lack of communication regarding what the superintendent surely knew would be a controversial decision. The fourth “strategic goal” on the district website states: “PISD will develop and promote positive community relations through effective communication, the involvement of stakeholders…” There was absolutely no effort to involve the faith community, or any other part of the tax-paying citizens of PISD in this decision. As a 30 year tax-paying resident with 3 daughters, 2 nieces, and 1 nephew that went from kindergarten to graduation from PHS, and 2 nephews currently in middle school, I think I’m a stakeholder. It feels like this decision was made quietly, almost secretly behind closed doors, and then imposed on the community. The way this decision was made compromised my trust and confidence in the superintendent and the school board.

I want you to know that I see the issue as a complicated one. I don’t see it as an obvious black-and-white, right-or-wrong issue. I’ve experienced no small amount of inner turmoil and conflicting feelings and thoughts about the decision since it was announced. I’ve asked myself, “Would Jesus be against certain people receiving health benefits because they didn’t live up to biblical moral standards?” Surely there must have been a few “domestic partners” of one sort or another in the crowd of 5000 Jesus fed with 5 loaves and 2 fish. On the other hand, Jesus never approves of immorality and unequivocally upholds the sanctity of marriage (Matthew 19:3-9). So while on the one hand, I don’t want people denied health benefits based on biblical moral standards (after all, who among us lives up to those standards perfectly?). On the other hand, I don’t want the sanctity of marriage to be undermined or the public stamp of approval for immoral lifestyles to be forced on the entire community. It’s complicated.

I want you to know that I believe the decision in question does undermine the sanctity of marriage and that, in turn, is harmful to children. That’s not a biblical or religious view, it’s a well-documented fact. Numerous studies show that it’s the children that suffer most when marriage is compromised. One such non-partisan study done by the University of Virginia (no connection to any faith-based organization) demonstrates this with sobering statistical evidence. My point is that while the decision to extend insurance benefits to “domestic partners” will immediately benefit a few, it may in fact undermine the long-term welfare of many. Here’s the link to the UV study: http://nationalmarriageproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Union_11_12_10.pdf

While I do not believe the intent of the decision is to compromise the widely held value of marriage, I also believe that it will appear to give the school district’s “stamp of approval” on all types of “domestic partner” relationships equating them with marriage. That open approval will, in fact, undercut a dearly held value in this community. I believe the consequences on the community, and especially on children, will far outweigh the benefit.

Finally, I want you to know that I believe authentic Christians can, and often do, disagree on non-essentials of the faith. For me, this is one of those non-essentials. I know that some of my Christian brothers and sisters will disagree with me on this issue. I’m certain some in my own church members will disagree with my position. I want to be the kind of pastor that loves people whether they agree with me or not. I want to pastor a church that keeps “the main thing”, the main thing. And the “main thing” for Pflugerville Community Church is to proclaim the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is not advice on how to live a moral life so we can be loved and accepted by God, but the announcement of good news… Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came from God to demonstrate His love for us and to make possible our forgiveness (and we all need forgiveness) and reconciliation with God through his cross. Advocating for good moral values is not the same thing as advocating for the gospel. I am for both.

Paige Benton Brown Article

Paige Benton Brown Article

The link posted above will take you to the article I quoted in the message this morning. I highly recommend it to all single Christians, and married Christians who want to better understand our single brothers and sisters.

Fort Mergard

Jim Mergard

 

PCC moved into our first building at 1214 Pfennig Lane 11 years ago this month the sanctuary looked very clean, very white, and very plain. The beautiful wood cross that now hangs over the baptistery wasn’t there yet. There were no banners, no wall-hangings, no blinds in the windows, and no sound booth in the back. Our sound guys ran the sound mixer and pc from a table in the back of the sanctuary. Jim Mergard, drummer, high-tech guru, first building committee chair, and the ultimate “git-r-done” guy assured me that he and his brother-in-law, Tim, would soon replace the raggedy table with a nice sound booth. Tim was a carpenter who lived in Phoenix, AZ. When his family visited the Mergards he was always eager to take on a project with Jim. Jim was originally an electrician, so he and Tim formed quite an efficient construction team. On one visit to Pflugerville Tim and Jim Construction Co. turned my garage into a playroom giving my family much needed additional living space. I’m sitting in that room now, under the ceiling fan Jim Mergard installed. I had no doubt they could handle the sound booth project.

On Tim’s subsequent visit Jim let me know they were ready to go to work on the sound booth project. It took them only one day to rough in the sound booth. After my strenuous work day of turning pages in my Greek Lexicon and tapping out sermon notes on my laptop I made my way from my office to the sanctuary to see how the guys were doing. The look on my face must have been humorous, because Jim immediately asked, “Is it bigger than you expected?”

“It’s a little bigger than I thought it would be,” I lied. Actually I was thinking, “Are you kidding? We just lost seating for 60 people for a sound booth? What the heck are you guys going to put in that thing? We needed a sound booth, not an apartment.” I can’t remember who coined the name “Fort Mergard”, but it stuck. And, as with all of Jim’s projects, he knew exactly what he was doing. Peak into Fort Mergard some Sunday and you’ll see that it’s packed with audio-visual equipment and pcs we use every Sunday.

Jim Mergard is a man of vision. Whether it be the sound booth, the audio-visual equipment, the church office phone system, the worship team, or the over-all direction of the church, Jim Mergard always had a visionary perspective. And, if Jim had an idea he was going to lead the work to get it done… often that meant doing the entire job alone. It wasn’t unusual for me to catch Jim working on something at the church after midnight… pulling wire for something or installing something. For the first few years Jim and his sons Brandon and Keith set up every chair in the sanctuary every Sunday. He designed the set-up pattern and printed a guide-book for later set-up teams to follow. For many years Jim was the glue that held our worship team together. For years Jim was the first person at the church every Sunday to unlock the doors and turn on the lights. And that barely scratches the surface of what Jim has meant to PCC for the last 16 years. No one has given more of himself to PCC than Jim Mergard.

 

Jim and his wife Annette are moving to California where I am certain they will continue to serve the Lord well. But I will miss them both and will always think of them as dear friends and co-workers in Christ. As long as Fort Mergard stands in our sanctuary I’ll remember Jim and Annette with a thankful heart .