The Church continues to celebrate Easter through June 12th and Pentecost

Someone once asked Lesslie Newbigin (a Christian missiologist/theologian) whether, as he looked to the future, he was optimistic or pessimistic. His reply was simple and characteristic:    "I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead!"

--Cited by N. T. Wright in his book, Surprised by Hope

Let us endeavor together to live as Easter People!

Special Thanks to Pastor Jim Cook of Church at the Crossing in Indianapolis for sharing this quote with me.

Isaiah 58

⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? ⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

March 13, 2011—First Sunday in Lent

Sisters and Brothers,

A lot is happening around Crossroads these days.I know my calendar is filling up with various opportunities to learn and grow together.Just today, we have a Newcomers’ Class and a Unity Service in addition to our regular weekly services.Around the corner is the Christian Women’s Connection retreat and the Sunday School teachers’ Refuel with other Church of God congregations in Wisconsin. I’m also happy to announce a church family bowling outing at Bowlero Lanes (117^th and Burleigh)—Saturday March 26^th @ 9 am.

But most importantly, Focus 40 begins March 16^th.There are over 500 congregations in the US participating in this journey together. The preaching leading up to Easter will push us to consider the confession I hope is on all of our lips: Jesus is Lord! We will talk about prayer, fasting, and priorities in our individual lives and the life of the congregation.I do want to warn you that I will likely invite you to do something you’ve never done before (and don’t worry…one of the ideas will be totally new to me too!).As we move through this Lenten season, what I hope emerges is a deeper recognition of what the cross and empty tomb mean for our life today and tomorrow.Obviously this won’t mean the same thing for all of us since we’re all at different places on the journey of discipleship.

For some in our congregation this may be the first year of intentional Lenten fasting, while for others the challenge may be the same as it was for Israel in Isaiah 58—you’ve “done” Lent for so many years that you will struggle to appropriately focus your time of prayer and fasting.Whatever your previous experience with fasting and Lent, I hope you will keep an open attitude throughout the Focus 40. God is not sitting in the clouds waiting to see how well we fast in order to “twiddle” the right knobs and give us what we want, but God does desire our loyalty to the call of discipleship.

This Lent I hope you do get to take in a good Fish Fry (and maybe because you’ve chosen to fast from meat on certain days), but my true hope is that our life together will be strengthened by sharing in a concerted effort to practice and embody our loyalty to Christ and our faithfulness to the path of discipleship, obedience, and love.

In Christ’s Peace,

Pastor Nathan

Sisters and Brothers,

I write this column wearing a baseball hat and trying to push the idea out of my mind that it is Opening Day and I’m sitting in the library carrel instead of watching a game on TV. Players and fans are all excited for the end of Spring Training and the big event…but Opening Day, as special as it is, also entails a summer full of games. I personally can’t wait to joyfully “waste” a few hours either at Miller Park or in the backyard listening to a game and grilling some hot dogs.

Lent is a time to prepare for an event far more important than Opening Day. Even more than Opening Day, Easter is absolutely a central celebration during the church year and congregational life. We can forget—especially during our Lenten preparation—that Easter is more than the end of a fast, a big celebration, and the day to gather with family for ham. When we celebrate the empty tomb, Jesus’ triumph over the principalities and powers, and our reconciliation to God through Christ we are also celebrating an Opening Day of sorts. We can’t forget that Easter seals the New Creation that was inaugurated in Jesus’ Incarnation. Devotion to a life that seeks Christ’s will and accepts the New Creation life should follow the big event of Easter.

The month of April brings us the final 24 days of Focus 40. So far we’ve taken the opportunity to focus on sharing food, relationships, and vocation. In the upcoming weeks we’ll also focus on other aspects of our lives and be prepared to offer your insights from your Focus 40 experience on Palm Sunday April 17th. Focus 40 is preparation for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter, but what we learn about God and ourselves also carries us forward as we seek to live into the New Creation—lives that accept the truth that we have been created and claimed for lives in relationship with God. The dean of my seminary liked to share about a possible translation of 2 Cor 5:17 for which the Greek text is difficult to convey in English: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ; New Creation!” This month, let us finish the preparation, celebrate the event, and continue in lives that interject “New Creation!” into the world.

In Christ’s Peace,

Pastor Nathan

2 Cor 5:17-18

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”

From the Pastor’s Study: The Importance of Everyone

1 Cor. 12

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

January 31, 2011

I’ve been stuck lately by the breadth of needs and gifts of this community. We all bring so many different things to the table. Over the past few weeks I’ve witnessed or heard about such an amazing variety of ways that you all are caring for the needs of each other and the needs of the church. When people hurt, we need comfort and to be comforters. When people hunger, we need food and we need cooks and grocery shoppers. When people gather for worship on Sunday morning, so many people give of their time to make sure everything is ready—music, lessons, food, bulletins, a cleared parking lot, sound, etc. One of the realities of my life is that when people out in public find out I’m a pastor they often mention where they go to church, that they’re planning to go back to church, or give me a reason why they haven’t been lately. I try to convey to them that being part of a church family is really important but avoid the kinds of guilt motivation. I say this to be clear, I’m not trying to lay on blame for missing last week or provide guilt motivation to keep you coming, but WE are all missed when we’re absent from the body.

One of the central aspects of following Christ is living together as a community. Community can be hard but it can also carry us through situations and moments in life that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to handle. The pictures of Jesus we have in the New Testament show him spending time with his disciples. There were definitely times when Jesus was alone for various reasons, but the majority of what we learn about Christ’s witness is lived with others. As we continue in a series on 1 Corinthians, one of the crucial issues is how to live together.

I am eager to witness and be a part of what we can do together this year. Already in 2011 I’ve seen so many positive signs of our congregational family looking after each other. I hope you’ll look for opportunities to reach out to each other—both in seeking and offering help, wisdom, discernment, and mentoring. Community is much more than the clichés. It is our calling as Christ’s body and his Church. God works through the unique mix of people here at Crossroads. If you have an idea of how you can further participate in the body, if you are looking for some opportunities to serve, or if you have a need that the body can help you with—please let me know.

In Christ’s Peace,

Pastor Nathan