sex or money?

As I've been preparing the first of my series of sermons on sex ("Exposed"), the thought occurred to me: do American Christians need more sermons about sex or about money? I preached 3 sermons on money (the sermon series "Priceless") and the series on sex will be 8 sermons. Which topic should get more coverage?

When I tell people I'm going to preach on sex, I usually get a "good for you!" response. It seems that people think there's a need for sermons that tackle the topic head on. I agree. But why don't I get the same response when I say that I'm going to preach a series on money?

My hunch is that we THINK we know how to handle money. Especially if we're Asian American, we probably think we're extra good at handling money (at least according to the mainstream American stereotypes, but don't get me started on the myth of the "model minority").

But if God were to monitor our spending habits and our attitudes toward money (especially the latter), I think we'd fall pretty far short. The difference between our self-perceptions about money and sex is that we think we've got money figured out but we're conflicted about sex. Our parents told us one thing about sex (if not in words, at least by their arched brows) and American society (via television and movies) is telling us something different. About money, they both seem to agree that having a lot of money is good and makes you significant and how you get it isn't all that important.

So the next time I preach on money and sex, I may need to do 3 sermons on sex and 8 on money.

be a pencil

How do you think God can use your job skills? In the latest issue of the Covenant Companion (our award-winning denominational magazine) is an article called, "Be a pencil in the hand of God."

The author relates a prayer that she prayed as she wondered how to use her passions and skills for God: "Okay God. This is your entire fault. You gave me a passion for science and a heart for your people in the poorest parts of the world. I don't understand how these two things go together, but if you show me, I'll do it."

After receiving a doctorate in bioanalytical chemistry, she worked for 8 years in biotech. Finally, she quit her job and used her savings to start a non-profit called Science with a Mission, Inc. SMI is working to produce simple, affordable tests for diseases common in poor parts of the world. The article is a wonderful story of how God provides.

But the kicker is that at the end of the article Alynne MacLean shares that she has multiple sclerosis (guess she sorta overlooked this in the earlier part of the article). I was amazed that someone with a disease that is aggravated by tropical climates would devote her life to helping people in those climates.

What have I sacrificed to spread the Gospel? Are my passions so in line with God's love for the world that I would give up my own health to be used by God to serve others?

Alpha

After a couple of years' hiatus, Alpha is rolling again, thanks to the efforts of Pastor Brian and the Alpha team. It would be typical to think about how much of an impact Grace Community can have on seekers and new Christians by reaching out through Alpha. But on our Anniversary Sunday I was thinking about the tremendous impact that Alpha has had on Grace Community, how so many Alpha alumni have done so much at Grace (your pictures were up front in the slide show!). Alpha deserves all the support we can give it. Many, many thanks to those of you who are helping out with everything from facilitating discussion to serving dinner. What you're doing now will have an impact on both the Alpha guests and on us as a church community.

God sighting - CYES

In our staff meeting on Tuesday I found out from Wendy that one of the teachers at Champion Youth Education Services, the after-school program that uses 701 E. Meadow on weekday afternoons, is a Christian and is looking for ways to utilize his position to spread the Gospel. I guess I'd always assumed that any influence for God on CYES would have to come from us. Who would've thought that it would start as an "inside job"? Guess God got there first. Let's pray for CYES and that our relationship with them to be a source of grace.

finances

The leadership team has worked hard to face the financial challenge in front of us. And so has the Holy Spirit.

In order to retain our family ministries intern while remaining financially responsible, we let you know exactly what the financial need was and asked you to participate in meeting that need. People did step forward and contributed so that after a week the internship was over half funded. And then in the last couple of days, 2 anonymous donors, unknown to each other, offered matching grants that more than covered the remainder.

The numbers are significant, but what impresses me is the fact that there are people who want to encourage other people to give. They don't have the opportunity that I do to address the church community on Sundays, so they've let their generosity be their sermon. Part of their statement is that we're in this together, that this is a community effort. In an individualistic society in which money is a taboo topic, it's great to see finances used to encourage us to do something together.

anniversary thoughts

Tomorrow we're celebrating our ninth anniversary as a church community (the actual date was Sept. 13). As I've been thinking about this anniversary, it's occurred to me that we are entering the year before our 10th anniversary. True, I'm not the most brilliant mathematician, but the significance of this is about more than just simple arithmetic.

I remember when we started Grace Community in our living room and were dreaming the vision that God gave us. There were a bunch of numbers attached to the vision, but it was all about what we'd look like in our tenth year. So now I'm thinking about what we'll look like in our twentieth year. That original vision was developed as a way of directing us in our first decade. And now I see this coming year as a time to develop our direction for the next decade.

To be honest, I don't think any of the leadership team (including myself) has a clear picture of where we'll be after the second decade. The only one who does is God. So that's who we should be consulting. This coming year needs to be about discerning together what God has in mind for us. It needs to be a year of prayer and preparation. Not intercessory asking prayer, but contemplative listening prayer. We need to know what is on God's heart and how that applies to the specific time and place in which he's put us.

There's lots to celebrate and I'm looking forward to the year-in-review slide show and congratulatory words from our superintendent, Evelyn Johnson. I was just telling my kids after bedtime prayers that if we hadn't been used by God to start this church community they wouldn't have all the friends that they do now. God's brought a lot of great people into our lives through this work of his called Grace Community. And I know that I can trust his plans for our future to be good plans, full of blessing for us so that we can be a blessing to this world that he loves and for which his Son gave his life.

God sightings

I met with Susan and Bich on Thursday, our regular monthly meeting about prayer ministry at Grace Community. It's been building slowly, but momentum for prayer ministry is starting to become more noticeable. It did my heart good to see people coming up for prayer a couple of Sundays ago when we had a special emphasis on prayer ministry. All of the prayer helpers made themselves available (instead of the usual 2) and were kept busy for half an hour after worship. I know there was a lot of healing and sustaining grace activated in a lot of people's lives that day.

What's the next step? To hear the stories of how God's healing and grace are at work. If you have a "God-sighting" story, let Bich or Susan know through the feedback card or by emailing prayer@graceconnections.com.

But back to our meeting. We set in motion a plan to provide prayer covering for every ministry at Grace. The details will be coming together over the next month. In the meantime, don't wait for a newsletter or prayer sheet. Find out a little about what's going on in a ministry that you care about, whether it's singles, kids, local involvements or global involvements. Then pray for that ministry. And don't forget to report your own "God-sighting" when you see God at work.