Pastor's Message
January 2012
To the children of God at Emmanuel:
Several years ago there was a tragic death of some teenagers in the broader community of the congregation I was then serving. I had the responsibility to write a sermon the Sunday after the tragedy. This was the closing thought in that sermon, “We are not able to save all the children, but we can make a difference in at least one child’s life.” That is a purpose statement. I do believe that without a sense of purpose none of us can find the energy to be present for Christ’s reign in our lives and our communities. This is both a spiritual and psychological statement.
I am entering into my final full year with you under the second term call you extended to me. So I thought I would cast a vision out to you as to my personal understanding of Emmanuel’s purpose to be welcoming, growing, serving, relating and worshiping. Despite Emmanuel’s very limited financial resources this congregation has many gifts at its disposal. When we have common agreement we can take our gifts and spread them all over this congregation and its surrounding community.
- WELCOMING: This is an attitude more than anything else. It is really about hospitality. It means walking into worship each Sunday expecting to make room for the stranger and for one another. It also means having our entire being attuned to the needs of others over ourselves. (If a thought or statement starts with a VERY LARGE “I” there is a good chance such hospitality is not a part of one’s being.)
- GROWING: This is about being open to discovering new ideas and being stretched in our minds and spirits. It is the belief that all of us can learn something new and that anyone may be able to reveal something to us that we previously had not discovered. It is being mature enough to be a child instead of childish in our behavior. It can include physical, psychological and spiritual growth.
- SERVING: This is about having a kneeling theology. That simply means we are here to serve not only one another, but anyone who enters into our area of life. In our welcoming we see strangers as guests who are to be served. People are not clients, but God’s children no matter who they may be. We do and give our best to people whenever someone enters our community of faith. This is because God has given us God’s best. God gives us Jesus who gets on his knees to wash his followers dirty feet.
- RELATING: There is something of us found in another person. Another person can find something of herself/himself in us. One of the greatest illusions most church goers have is that they believe they aren’t like “those people” they won’t associate with in their lives. We all tend to look at the speck in someone else’s eye while failing to see the log in ours. When we face the truth that we are here only through the grace of God then we can begin to relate to people with whom we thought we had no common grounds for a relationship.
- WORSHIPING: This is a way of life. It includes, but is not exclusively about, coming to a worship service to sing to and to give thanks to God. Worship NEVER ends. It means that our lives carry on a sense of worship (constant gratitude and praise to God) in our daily lives.
One of Christ’s servants,
David Allen Hendricks - Child of God