Saved for What?

Last week those who were in worship at Cedar Hills were "introduced to the elephant." You'll have to listen to the sermon if you want to know exactly what that means (listen to it here).  It's been a funny week of conversations, following that sermon.  Comments have been all over the spectrum from, "That was good.  We needed to hear that" to, "The same thing is happening at my brother/sister/cousin's church, so I guess we're not the only ones."  Some have cautiously asked, "So, what have people been saying about that sermon?"  Even in my own family we've had some interesting and spirited conversations.  As if to punctuate the week, I had a long, sad talk with a friend of mine, also a pastor, who is going through difficulties in his church and isn't sure what to do next.

So what this sermon series, Becoming An Outpost for the Kingdom, aims to do is help us rebuild our understanding of what the Church, and our church, is all about.  We've had such an emphasis in Christianity for many decades on being "saved" that we don't really know (or haven't considered) what we're saved for. What's the point?  It's like all we're taught to do is wait.  Wait for the afterlife - in other words we're just hanging out until we die, and then finally something really significant or good will happen.  What kind of a God would do that -- desposit us here for 70 or 80 years like we're prisoners on death row, waiting to see who gets pardoned and released into heavenly bliss?  That's not what the bible teaches at all, but it's what a lot of people believe.

What the bible does teach is what we started to look at last week:  We're here to partner with God in building a new kingdom - or rather restoring the world to the way God intended it to be.  We don't accomplish that on our own, but with God's help and with the complete restoration ultimately in God's hands.  This week we'll begin to study 7 Objectives that God has, and each are ways that he invites us to partner with him.  These 7 objectives begin in our own hearts and lives, and from there they can change our community, our work, our schools - our church - and our world.  See you then...
- Curtis

Seeds

As you do not know the path of the wind,
or how the body is formed in a mother's womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things.

Sow your seed in the morning,
and at evening let not your hands be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
whether this or that,
or whether both will do equally well.
- Ecclesiastes 11:5-7

I never knew my grandfather on my mom's side. He died of a massive stroke several years before I was born. But I secretly think there is a part of him that lives inside me. He was a farmer his whole life. When he married my grandmother, he drove her home in a horse-pulled buggy to a farm he purchased for them to tend. Over the years, through the Great Depression, he slowly added acres and acres of land to his farm. I believe he had over 1000 acres near Archie Missouri, just South of Kansas City. The farm stayed in the family until just a few years ago when my aunts were forced to sell it. But I have warm memories of Christmas at the farm. My mom's childhood was filled with summers working in the fields of corn and watermelons. "On a hot, still day, you could hear the corn crackle as it grew" she'll tell. "We would sneak into the watermelon field and break them open, just eating the sweet 'hearts' because there were so many growing."

When I was young and growing up in California, mom would plant the biggest garden most city-folk had ever seen - about 1/4 acre of flowers and strawberries, and another 1/4 acre of all sorts of vegetables (we lived in a very rural area south of San Francisco). I had to do my part to weed and water each day before I could do anything else. I hated it, but now I find myself wishing I could start such a mini-farm. Perhaps it is in our blood somehow. There's something inside me too, that wants to connect with my Grandfather; I sense I know something about him when I smell a tomato leaf or pick a squash I've grown. The smell of a tomato plant after it has been watered is the aroma of creation. How can it be? -- watch a plant pop up, soak up sun and water and nutrients and grow. We do so little, and God does so much with those tiny efforts. Wow.

Generous Houston gave me a couple of cucumber seedlings earlier this Summer. I built a garden box, about 8' X 6' and planted the cukes. One died quickly. The other didn't grow huge vines for some reason, but it started to crank out cucumbers anyway, and just recently quit. I think we enjoyed about 10 or more big, fresh cucumbers from this one, somewhat stunted, plant. Cucumbers or zucchini are spectacular because you can look at them in the morning and yet by evening they will have grown a couple of inches. Miraculous!
Root, leaf, vine, fruit - gifts . . . from tiny seeds.
"Praise God from whom all things flow."

It's no wonder Jesus used such inexplicable, miraculous kinds of events to describe his Kingdom. "The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed..." He told parables about seeds, cursed a fig tree that failed to produce fruit, and taught from God's word as he strolled through grain fields. There is a profound lesson that comes from seemingly dead seeds and the startling potential that lies within each one. Each seed seems to whisper, "Don't you understand? If God can do this with me, what could he do with a grand creation like you?"
- Curtis

For Sunday, August 24 - Getting the Keys!

Matthew 16:13-30
Time to get back in the sermon saddle this week. It's been good to take a break while on vacation and I'm quite thankful that we have such good folks to preach while I'm away - like Everett Curry and Peter Clay. Several people have said how good their sermons were. Our first week of vacation was fun time with family - camping near Mt. Shasta at Lake Siskiyou. Warm water, swimming, basking in a windy sun, campfires and smores at night. The kids read a ton, I swam a fair amount, and it was generally a quiet time with Ana's family. The second week was sort of vacation, sort of work as I got ready for the El Salvador mission report in worship and the Community BBQ in 100+ degree weather. Now, back to reality...
This week we're taking a look at the back side of a familiar story. Jesus asks, "What are the people saying about me - who do they think I am?" And after a bit of chit-chat, Peter pipes in, "You're the Messiah, the Son of the Living God." Good answer! (applause). That's what we normally focus on when we look at this passage and, indeed, that's the focal point here. But on the backside of discussion, Jesus makes a statement that has three (insert sermon points here) key parts to it. He makes statements that have perplexed theologians and thinkers ever since:
1. "On this rock I will build my church"
2. "The gates of Hades will not overcome it"
3. "I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven"
My head's been swimming with all of the opinions I've read about each of these statements this week. The least controversial is #2, the most is #1. The most ignored is #3. Jesus only bothers to give an explanation to #3, but even those words are open to wide interpretation. If you'd like to chime in with your thoughts about these, go for it! I value your comments. Check out the question too - I may use replies in my sermon intro. I have a good memory from my youth I'll be sharing as the sermon intro.