It occurs to me that Mt. Olivet is moving to a focus on being a relational church. In other words, our practice should be to value relationships over programs and time spent together growing in Christ over the mere doing business of the church. We should do this for a variety of reasons, but the main reason is that we can honestly believe that the best way to make disciples is through relationships with others. We do this through giving and receiving sacrificial love and through truly learning how to love God with all of our hart, mind, soul, and strength, and through learning to love our neighbor as ourselves. Programs and processes seem efficient and they are valuable and needed, but they should not replace relationships as the glue that holds a church together.
Over the past several months, I have been drawn on Philippians 2:1-5 and I really think that it is the missing key to how we are to have relationships with one another. It tells us that is we have received anything at all from the Holy Spirit, then there should be a result that turns us toward others with Christ as our example. We should be unified (remember we are "United Brethren in Christ") together and we should put the needs of others ahead of our own. We should consider others better than ourselves and we should be one in spirit and purpose. All of this would take a miracle, but with the Spirit of God at work within us, living this way actually becomes natural. Putting one another first - ahead of ourselves - is actually the normal way that Christians should live. This means that we spend time together, we communicate with one another, we forgive each other, and we actually see each other. We listen. We care about others beyond what we can get from one another.
So often, human relationships are based on us sizing each other up according to what we think that we can get from a person. But, God does no see us this way. He says that we each have inherent value because He created us and we are loved by Him. We should see one another the same way.
Church, how are our relationships? What about the people that you see in our church or community but you do not know very well? How might God use you to be a blessing to others in desperate need of encouragement? Praying that this year will be a time of relational renewal as we learn to value others, love sacrificially, and put the needs of others above our own.
~ Pastor Todd
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Monday, April 20, 2015
Cleanup Day
A big thank you to all who came out Saturday and worked most of the day doing a thorough cleaning of the church, inside and out; scrubbing, shampooing, mopping, blowing leaves, pressure washing, painting, and even picking up trash along Freemason Run Road. You made a big difference!
Annual Homecoming Service at Mt. Olivet
Our annual Homecoming Service will be held on Sunday, April 26th at 10:00am. The guest speaker will be Pastor Greg Cummings and a covered dish meal will follow the service. Please come out and join us for worship and fellowship.
Monday, April 6, 2015
Pastor's Penpoint - "Let's Get a Few Things Straight" - April 2015
I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. (Job 19:25)
Often, we just have to say it plainly and with great conviction ...
"What a THRILL to know that my Redeemer lives!" Jesus Christ is as alive today as He was right after the resurrection. In fact, He is just as much alive today as He was before the Crucifixion, and even before He came to earth and was laid in the manger.
What difference does it make whether we serve a living God or one made of stone? Isn't it just a practice we believe in? Is it a crutch to help us along our way? No! Absolutely not!
A living God knows right where you are day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. He sees your every need, hears your every cry, and longs to hold you close to Himself.
He is present to walk with you through the valley. He provides a song in the night. He takes your feet from the muck and mire and plants them on a rock. He blesses you with hope and gives joy for life's journey. A god with no life is unable to do these things. He cannot see, or hear, or reach, or touch, or provide. He simply cannot.
But my God is alive! The joy and the assurance that we celebrate on Easter doesn't end when the holiday is over and the decorations are all packed away. Why? Because Christ is alive. So rejoice, my friend, and live each day with the hope and joy that Easter brings. Walk with Christ. Talk with Him, and allow His joy to penetrate your heart and fill your soul. Don't live in defeat and agony as if Christ is still on the cross, or in the tomb. HE is alive! He IS alive! He is ALIVE!
~ Pastor Todd
Often, we just have to say it plainly and with great conviction ...
"What a THRILL to know that my Redeemer lives!" Jesus Christ is as alive today as He was right after the resurrection. In fact, He is just as much alive today as He was before the Crucifixion, and even before He came to earth and was laid in the manger.
What difference does it make whether we serve a living God or one made of stone? Isn't it just a practice we believe in? Is it a crutch to help us along our way? No! Absolutely not!
A living God knows right where you are day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. He sees your every need, hears your every cry, and longs to hold you close to Himself.
He is present to walk with you through the valley. He provides a song in the night. He takes your feet from the muck and mire and plants them on a rock. He blesses you with hope and gives joy for life's journey. A god with no life is unable to do these things. He cannot see, or hear, or reach, or touch, or provide. He simply cannot.
But my God is alive! The joy and the assurance that we celebrate on Easter doesn't end when the holiday is over and the decorations are all packed away. Why? Because Christ is alive. So rejoice, my friend, and live each day with the hope and joy that Easter brings. Walk with Christ. Talk with Him, and allow His joy to penetrate your heart and fill your soul. Don't live in defeat and agony as if Christ is still on the cross, or in the tomb. HE is alive! He IS alive! He is ALIVE!
~ Pastor Todd
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Leah Presents Essay at VFW Meeting
This week at the Mount Solon VFW meeting, Leah presented an essay about why veterans are important in our history and to our future. Thank you, Leah, for honoring our veterans in this way. Keep up the good work.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Pastor's Penpoint - "Do Something Different This Lent" - March 2015
"For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it speeds to the end - it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay." Habakkuk 2:3
Well, you know what they say about the best made plans. It always amazes me how we make such careful plans and strategize - and God has other thoughts. While we moved quickly through our first two weeks of the visioning sermon series, the snow stopped us for two weeks. I hope you had the opportunity to rest, relax, and find your own way to worship.
We will finish our series (hopefully weather permitting) on March 8th, which is half way through the Lenten season. As we finish this series and look forward to Holy Week (which for us includes Maundy Thursday Service, Easter Sonrise Service, and Easter Sunday worship) lets try again to focus on what God's vision is for Mt. Olivet.
Just a reminder ... what is Lent? The word "Lent" comes from the old English word "Lengten," which simply means "spring" - when the days grow longer and new life springs forth. It is a time in which we anticipate the victory of the light and life of Christ over the darkness of sin and death. It is, to borrow a phrase from C. S. Lewis, a season of a kind of "happiness and wonder that makes you serious."
It is my prayer that as we journey through Lent to Easter, we will be reminded of the reality of our brokenness - but as days grow brighter, we will experience with great abundance the reality of God's redeeming grace. And so, just as we carefully prepare for big events in our personal lives, such as a wedding or commencement, Lent invites us to make our hearts ready for remembering Jesus' death and resurrection - this year we will add God's vision to that list.
Please plan to join your sisters and brothers in Christ for a meal and visioning discussion following the meal on April 12th. May this be for you a season of a kind of "happiness and wonder that makes you serious."
God bless in the days and weeks to come. ~ Pastor Todd
Well, you know what they say about the best made plans. It always amazes me how we make such careful plans and strategize - and God has other thoughts. While we moved quickly through our first two weeks of the visioning sermon series, the snow stopped us for two weeks. I hope you had the opportunity to rest, relax, and find your own way to worship.
We will finish our series (hopefully weather permitting) on March 8th, which is half way through the Lenten season. As we finish this series and look forward to Holy Week (which for us includes Maundy Thursday Service, Easter Sonrise Service, and Easter Sunday worship) lets try again to focus on what God's vision is for Mt. Olivet.
Just a reminder ... what is Lent? The word "Lent" comes from the old English word "Lengten," which simply means "spring" - when the days grow longer and new life springs forth. It is a time in which we anticipate the victory of the light and life of Christ over the darkness of sin and death. It is, to borrow a phrase from C. S. Lewis, a season of a kind of "happiness and wonder that makes you serious."
It is my prayer that as we journey through Lent to Easter, we will be reminded of the reality of our brokenness - but as days grow brighter, we will experience with great abundance the reality of God's redeeming grace. And so, just as we carefully prepare for big events in our personal lives, such as a wedding or commencement, Lent invites us to make our hearts ready for remembering Jesus' death and resurrection - this year we will add God's vision to that list.
Please plan to join your sisters and brothers in Christ for a meal and visioning discussion following the meal on April 12th. May this be for you a season of a kind of "happiness and wonder that makes you serious."
God bless in the days and weeks to come. ~ Pastor Todd
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Firewood
A special thank you goes out to the men of Mt. Olivet who have cut and delivered 27 truckloads of firewood this winter for the elderly and needy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)