Central Christian Church(Disciples of Christ)

Central Christian Sustainable Spirituality© Series Presents:

• What is the difference between natural and spiritual gifts?
• How can I be certain of the gifts I possess?
• How should I use my gifts to serve God?

Join us as we study “Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts” February 17^th to March 31^st.  Each Wednesday we will review and discuss the 28 gifts identified to prepare for the inventory questionnaire.  Discover your spiritual gifts and start your journey to become the person God wants you to be.  Please complete the Registration Form and return it to the church office.  A donation of $10.00 for book fees is appreciated but not required.  Please see registration board to sign up to bring soup or a dessert.

Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to TALK about something than it is to DO something? I can talk about the benefits of eating right, exercising, taking time to pray, getting plenty of sleep, reading the Bible, giving generously of my resources, going to worship, and loving my neighbor – but actually DOING any or all of those things requires a whole other level of commitment and dedication. As has been often said, “Talk is cheap.” Talk isn’t a bad place to start. But talk is often about as far as many of us ever go – especially when it comes to our faith.

I suspect “faith” may be one of the most used and least understood words in the English language. I think many of us confuse faith with belief. Belief is basically intellectual assent (agreement with an idea), while faith requires action. The classic and often used example of the difference between belief and faith goes like this: Belief says it is possible for someone with the right skills and experience to roll a wheelbarrow across a tight rope stretched over the Niagara Falls. Faith gets in the wheel barrow. See the difference?

In the church, we are often guilty of talking about faith in God while living our lives like “practical atheists.” In other words, we like the idea of a loving, sovereign God – but we choose to live our lives and make our decisions as if it were all up to us. As long as faith can be kept in the arena of the abstract, then it doesn’t require anything more of us than some occasional brain space. Anything more than that can begin to feel as though someone is asking us to get in the wheelbarrow. Perhaps that’s why theologians and mystics have often talked about the “leap of faith.” It isn’t really faith until you take that first step into the unknown, trusting only that God will set your foot down safely on solid ground. I believe once you’ve done that enough (discovering that God not only provides solid ground but sends you in the right direction, as well), it gets easier and easier to do.

I met with several of our leaders last week to make plans for the rest of the church year. After the spiritual high of  Unbinding Your Heart in the fall and the intense focus on faith and spiritual growth that followed, what should come next? It occurred to us that the next natural step would be to take the abstract ideas of our faith and put them into action. In other words, it is time to make the invisible visible.

One of the ways we intend to do this is through a serious exploration of spiritual gifts during the season of Lent, which begins on Wednesday, February 17th and lasts through Easter. As we did in the fall, we will once again be meeting on Wednesday evenings for a light meal from 5:45 – 6:30 pm and then class from 6:45-8:00 pm. We will be studying C. Peter Wagner’s book, “Discover Your Spiritual Gifts.”

God has given each of us gifts for ministry in Christ’s Church. As Paul said often in his letters, the church functions like a human body, with each person and their gifts functioning as parts of the body. The act of discovering and using one’s gifts in the church is all about taking something abstract and making it concrete. It is about putting your faith into action.

Do you know what your gifts are? Are you using your gifts to build up the Body of Christ? If so, wonderful! Chances are you can learn even more about how you might serve God. If the whole thing leaves you a little unsure, then join the crowd! God is leading the way to a new day for each of us and our church!

The District 8 Men’s Rally will be held at United Christian Church, 8611 Hoke Road in Englewood, Ohio on Sunday March 7th, with registration from 3:00 – 3:30 p.m. This is an annual event to bring together the men for an afternoon of fellowship and inspiration. The cost of the program and dinner is $5.00. For more information and tickets, contact Charles Bentley, Sr., at 426-3322

Lent is the fourth season of the Christian year. Its length is the 40 days preceding Easter Day, not counting Sundays. This means Lent always begins on a Wednesday, known as Ash Wednesday. Lent commemorates Jesus’ fast and temptation in the wilderness of Judea Province for 40 days. Just as Jesus confronted his temptations during these 40 days, Lent helps Christians focus on our most basic need as sinners: forgiveness. The only way our Lord’s forgiving power can become effective in our lives is by our taking the initiative to confront our sins, confess them and repent of them. In short, Lent is a season of penitence. Central Christian welcomes you to worship and reflect on Ash Wednesday with us at our noon or 6:00 p.m. service (identical) on February 17th. Come and start your journey with us!

Last night at the first Executive Board meeting of the New Year we voted on the proposed budget for 2010. Because of our 40 day all-church study of Unbinding Your Heart in the early fall (and the corresponding sabbatical from regular church business), our annual stewardship program was pushed back. It is also partially due to Unbinding Your Heart that our approach to giving/spending in the coming year has been reevaluated.

For the past several years, our church has been blessed to be able to meet its fixed expenses (not budgeted expenses) and finish out the financial year without a deficit. This included holiday offerings, local outreach giving and other “pass through” offerings, such as Week of Compassion, Blanket Sunday, etc. What it didn’t include was a line item in the budget for our Disciple’s Mission Fund. In that respect, we have been running a significant deficit. It was our hope to make a contribution to the mission fund of the Christian church from our regular operating expenses, but at the end of the year the money simply wasn’t there.

When our Stewardship Ministry began plans for the upcoming year, we had a decision to make. Either we needed to eliminate the line item in our budget for mission – reflecting our actual giving out of operating expenses – or else make it the centerpiece of our budget. I’m proud to say that our Stewardship Ministry and Executive Board have chosen to take a step of faith in our approach to the “family checkbook.” Instead of waiting till the end of the year to see what is left, our giving to the Disciple Mission Fund will be the first check written at the beginning of each month (@ $1,000 per month) – starting right now. Additional special offerings will continue to be solicited through the year, as well (e.g., after just one Sunday we were able to send a check to Week of Compassion for $1,200 for Haiti relief with more offerings coming in).

Of course, this comes at a time of great economic uncertainty and fear. Many of our members and friends have seen their ability to give diminished in the recent past. For another year, we were unable to offer our staff even a cost of living adjustment. Already, our staff is saving the church approximately $21,000 a year by relying on the insurance benefits of spouses – and “belt-tightening” is being done at every level. However, we believe that making mission giving a first priority instead of an afterthought will ultimately be the best and most faithful course of action.

One of the things we emphasize in our annual stewardship program is the need for individuals and families to put God first in terms of their spending. The Bible has promised those who put the Kingdom first will experience blessings beyond what they might have imagined possible – and many of us have experienced this personally. Now it is time to put this faith into practice as a community.

The difficult truth is that the budget for 2010 includes expenses that cannot be entirely underwritten by the pledges we have received thus far. Central Christian Church has a rich history of generosity and outward-directed ministry and I believe we will not only meet this challenge, but exceed it. I’m proud to be your pastor and to share in this commitment to mission, both at home and around the world.

Central Christian Church, is in partnership with Church World Service (CWS), a first responder and active supportor of relief efforts throughout the world. Central provides service kits, hygiene kits, baby care kits and emergency clean-up buckets to the CWS. In addition we support Week of Compassion (WOC) who responds to disasters and emergencies throughout the world on average of once every one and a half days. Your gift will offer help and hope to hurting people in Haiti and around the world all year. To donate you can click the “Donate” button to the right, or you can give directly to Week of Compassion at this link.

One way I keep up with the ministries of other churches is through their newsletters. Currently, Rev. Mary Jo Bray and Rev. Mitch Maxted are pastors of First Christian Church in Wauseon – a church in Northwest Ohio I served for six years beginning in 1990. Rev. Maxted, also a transplanted Iowa Disciple, wrote an article this past fall I saved so I could share it with you. He wrote on the occasion of the 130th Chicken Pie Supper, a yearly event at which the church serves around a thousand meals to the community. Mitch noticed and commented on the fact that something as complicated as the Chicken Pie Supper can’t happen without a lot of cooperation. His thoughts, though specific to FCC of Wauseon, are nonetheless appropriate for churches in all times and places – because the ministry to which Christ calls us cannot be done alone. We are, as the body of Christ, in this together. Here’s Mitch’s clever take on Paul’s thoughts in 1 Corinthians 12:

The annual Chicken Pie Supper is now upon us! The 130 year tradition of delicious, made-from-scratch meals continues this Wednesday. I am always amazed how the huge, intricate, and specialized FCC machine springs to life each November to make this event happen. The work begins long before that Wednesday, but reaches fever pitch on Tuesday and Wednesday. The meal can’t be pulled off without lots and lots of people performing a vast array of tasks and services.

This operation reminds me of the Apostle Paul’s description of the church and the people who make it up. Let me offer a “chicken pie” adaptation of 1 Corinthians 12:14ff:

14This meal event can never be a solo effort. Many workers are needed! 15What if somebody stirring cranberry sauce begins to lament, “I didn’t pull chicken meat off the bones or remove skins from potatoes, so I’m not really part of this meal preparation!” Aren’t the fruit and vegetable people just as much a part of the team as the meat and potato folks? 16Or suppose a pie cutter or a ticket seller or a coffee pourer complained, “I’m not a traffic director, so I’m not part of this event.” Wouldn’t both the fellowship hall people and the parking lot people still belong to the group of workers? 17If everyone was a greeter, people would go home hungry! If we had nothing but cooks, the food would never leave the kitchen! 18But as it is, our CWF leadership has put all parts of the team together in a way that enables us to feed our community, and to feed them very, very well.”

Paul’s point (and Mitch’s, too!), is that there are no insignificant parts of the body of Christ. It takes everyone working together in order for the body to function as it was meant to function. That means we must necessarily honor one  another – especially those whose gifts are different than our own.

Of course, Chicken Pie suppers are one thing; living and working together in love, forgiveness and peace is another. The Corinthians struggled with this at times, and so do most churches. However, it is some of the most important work we do in the church. So, whether you are a meat and potato person – or fruits and vegetables – remember that your gifts and your work are vital to the life of the church! We can’t move forward with you.

Immediate opening for Director – Adult Chancel Choir
Requires:
Strong vocal music directing
Advanced piano
Excellent interpersonal skills
Prefer, but not limited to individual with church music background
Desire Bachelor’s Degree or higher

Send resume to:
Central Christian Church
1200 Forrer Blvd.
Kettering OH 45420
Attn: Human Resource Committee
or
By email to: ccc-rlewis@sbcglobal.net
Resumes accepted until 1/29/1010

Join us for CYF’s Annual Spaghetti Lunch on Sunday, January 24th following the Traditional Service (in lieu of the Fellowship Hour). The cost is $6 per person, $3 children under 10, and $20 maximum per family. Please join us for a good meal, fun and fellowship.

You’re on candid camera! Some of us remember the show; almost everyone has heard the phrase and understands what it means: unbeknownst to you, a camera and crew has been watching your every move – usually for the entertainment of others. I have to imagine those who have found themselves caught in one of those “candid” moments wished they had known so they might have responded differently. Knowing you are being watched by an amused, if not judgmental, audience would probably affect the way you react to any given situation. Or not.

During the past decade or so, reality television has taught us that even with omnipresent cameras capturing their every fault and foible, people will still be people. Why someone would willingly submit to an experience like that is beyond me. I suppose the desire for fame (if not fortune) is one driving factor. It has been said there is no such thing as bad publicity – but I suspect there are some folks in public life right now who might disagree with that idea.

The vast majority of us will thankfully never be on a reality television show. However, it has occurred to me it might not be such a bad idea to live our lives “as if” our every word and action were being scrutinized by a jury of our peers – so to speak. Think of it as a sort of “Christian reality” experience. If that were the case, do you think you might start to choose your words a little more carefully when speaking to or about others? Do you think you might do a better job of controlling your temper or resisting temptation? Do you think you might seek to live in ways that are consistent with the things you say you believe? I think you would. I also think, as reality television has shown us, there would be times when you fail.

Our faith teaches us God watches over us in love always. God sees and hears not only our words and actions – he knows also the contents of our hearts. God knows our motives – which is very good thing for some of us. What that means is even when we make a mistake – God knows if it was done out of ignorance or carelessness or if it was done with intentional disobedience or malice. Of course, for those whose private and interior lives don’t match up with their professed beliefs, the Bible covers the ultimate results of that, too.

The fact is – you ARE living out a Christian reality experience. God is watching you – and so are many others, believers and non-believers. Fortunately, our God is merciful and kind – willing to forgive and redeem those who desire to live in faith. The key to success is no secret. It is the same today as it has always been: love God with heart, strength, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself. Do that… and ignore the cameras. In the end, it’s only  what God thinks that matters anyway.