Bill’s Bestowals:
“Jesus Revolution”
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus …”
(Romans 8:1)
Dear Church Family,
The last Sunday of August I shared a message primarily based on the text above. If you were unable to attend, I encourage you to check out that particular message (found at “firstchurchmena.org”, sermons tab, August 25). I reflected on the fact that in the Gospels Jesus had many opportunities to condemn a lot of people. Many of those He could have condemned were condemned by the elite in their culture, but it is interesting that Jesus didn’t follow suit. He didn’t condemn! In fact, the harshest words Jesus ever spoke were directed toward the elites themselves (see Matthew 23)! He criticized them for being hypocrites who misrepresented God and led people astray.
Some have noted how condemning those elites were toward non-elites. Therefore, the case could be made that the only ones Jesus ever condemned in the Gospels were those who condemned others!
Among my musings I mentioned that preachers aren’t supposed to tell us what to think. They are supposed to tell us what to think about. Here is the point: if Jesus chose not to condemn true sinners in the Gospels (remember that He was notoriously a “friend of sinners” – see Matthew 11:19), perhaps we shouldn’t ever be rash to condemn those we perceive as sinners, either! It really is something to think about!
When we love rather than condemn, it is amazing how attractive we become. A case and point: you may recall that last year a movie called “Jesus Revolution” hit the box office. If you haven’t seen it, it is certainly worth watching! The movie takes place while the “hippie” movement of the 1960s and 70s was growing. Many churches chose to condemn hippies for their appearance and attitudes.
“Jesus Revolution” is about a small church that had an aging congregation and an older pastor. The elite members of this church sought out the pastor and told him that he needed to do something, or pretty soon they would have to close their doors for good. (Not “WE need to do something.” “YOU need to do something.” Grrrr!) These elite members actually beat it into his brain, telling him over and over and over again … “You have to do something different! You have to do something different!”
He heard them. One day he met a man walking from San Francisco to his town. The man said he was travelling to share the love of Christ. The pastor welcomed the man – a hippie – into his home, and then invited him to share words with his congregation on Sunday. Apparently that wasn’t the “do something different” the elite members were looking for. They were deeply offended, and said, “Our church isn’t for people like THAT!”
It broke the pastor’s heart, but he persisted. He kept inviting the hippie to return, and eventually that man started to bring his hippie friends – and hippie musicians – and the church began to grow! In the midst of this growth, it was as though the pastor had drawn a line in the sand, saying, “This is the kind of church we are going to be! We are going to set the example!”
The elite members hearts were hard. They cornered the pastor one more time, saying something to the effect of, “You can’t possibly let THOSE people in, or else our best giving members are going to leave! Those people are dirty and they don’t wear shoes; they dishonor God’s house!”
The pastor had one final act to show the church that this was who they were going to be. One Sunday morning the elite members of the congregation walked up to find a line forming outside the church. At the front of the line was the pastor, bent over, washing the feet of everyone who entered! How’s that for something different?!
Question: the elite members or the pastor – which was more like Jesus?
And then, concerning us – First Presbyterian Church of Mena, Arkansas – in our outreach to our community, what do WE need to do to be more like Jesus?
It’s just something for us to think about.
Blessings! Pastor Bill
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September 2024 Calendar:
Text Box: RED: Churchwide Event held at FPC.
BLUE: Event held away from FPC, or holiday.
Sunday: Fellowship Hour at 9:00 a.m.
Sunday School at 9:45 a.m.
Worship at 11 a.m.
Wednesday: GriefShare at 1 p.m. (in church parlor)
LIFT (Living in Faith & Trust) at 5 p.m.
Sept. 3: Mission Meeting – 5 p.m.
Sept. 4: Fellowship Meeting – 3 p.m.
Sept. 7: PW Meeting – 10 a.m.
Sept. 10: Building & Grounds Meeting – 10 a.m.
Sept. 10: Membership & Evangelism Meeting – 6 p.m.
Sept. 15: Fellowship Meal following Worship
Sept. 16: SFA Meeting – 1 p.m.
Sept. 18: Session Meeting – 5:30 p.m.
Sept. 27 and 28: “The Happy Honeymooners Revisited,” 7 p.m. (See advertisement below)
Sept. 29: Helping Hands Sunday – begins 9 a.m. in the sanctuary.
BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES:
1 – Colleen Amidei 23 – Anna Burt
4– Katherine Bisbee 23 – Georgia & Mike Landry
5 – Wes Stiefer 28 – Leon Myers
9 – Susan Slinkerd 29 – Tommy Myers
SERVING THIS MONTH:
Ushers: Georgia Landry
Communion Preparer: Susan Seitz
Communion Servers: Garrett Lundberg, Leon Myers
Annette Hays, Judy Thompson & Chuck Schroyer
SPECIAL COLLECTION SUNDAYS:
Sept. 1: Personal Care Collection
Sept. 22: Goodland Academy
NOTABLE NEWS:
“HAPPY HONEYMOONERS REVISITED”: If you like theater, you will want to check this out. Heck, even if you DON’T like theater, you’ll want to check it out! We will be hosting two performances of the “Happy Honeymooners Revisited,” brought to us by “The Ouachita Productions” (TOPs), a brand new theater troupe in town! The talent is stellar, and TOPs deepest desire is to use their talents to draw people into the loving arms of Christ through our local churches. We are truly blessed to host the first performances!
The play was written by local Alahna Norton, and includes the entire Hamilton family (Jeff, Lindsey, William and Isaac).
Separate performances will be held in our church sanctuary on Friday and Saturday, September 27 and 28. Admission is free, although donations are welcome. Seating opens at 6:30 p.m. and the show begins at 7.
Questions? Message TOPs on Facebook or Instagram at “The Ouachita Productions,” or call 601-331-4045.
CHURCH ELECTRONIC CALENDAR: Did you know that you can easily access our interactive church calendar at any time? Simply go to our website: www.firstchurchmena.org. Simply click on “Calendar” at the top, then click on any date or activity of interest. Arrows on either side of the current month will lead you to past or future months. This calendar will be more up-to-date than what you see above.
INSTANT CHURCH DIRECTORY: Did you also know that the church phone directory is available to all members, anytime? It may be easily placed on pretty much any device, any time. Simply go to whatever “app store” your device uses, search for “Instant Church Directory” and download it. Open it. It will ask you to create a password that you will remember. After you input a password, you are in! PLEASE NOTE: Your e-mail address is your key to accessing the directory. If we do not have an e-mail address for you in the directory, you will not be able to access it. If you do not have an e-mail address, let Garrett Lundberg, Wes Stiefer or me know; we can still get you in!
