AS OTHERS SEE US

      An old friend passed away last week.  I wasn't surprised.  She was elderly when I met her and a bit frail.  With her obituary in front of me I did the math.  Ack!  
    When we first met my friend was younger than I am now.  Elderly?  Not how I see myself!

   Also last week, I was away on holiday so attended a different church.  After all these years (see above)  I'm something of a "professional" church-goer.  When I worship with another congregation I'm alert to what they do well, what they do differently from us, what works for me as a guest to the congregation, what my congregation could learn from them.
     In this case I received a warm welcome, was handed a bulletin that laid out the service in detail.  I enjoyed the preaching and the choir.  People talked to us in the coffee hour after service.  This congregation scored high on my check list. 
     But not all was rosy.  They are running a deficit.  There is angst among the members over the refurbishing of the sanctuary. Changes to a long time social event have ruffled some feathers.
   I got a glimpse of this congregation, the obvious, external marks of their fellowship.  I wonder if what I saw is how they see themselves.

   Back at SPPC I went to Bible Study, chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation, seven letters to seven churches.  Each of these congregations has a vision of itself -- poor or powerful, faithful or persecuted, lively or suffering.  But these self-definitions are incomplete. Christ sees beneath the facade.  He commends them for hard work, for faithfulness, for perseverance and for patience. He also condemns where complacency or immorality or heresy have crept in.  
     In calling these seven churches to account, Christ gives us the marks of an ideal church:
 Love for Christ
 Suffering for Christ
 Committed to Truth
 Holiness
 Sincerity
 Dedicate to Mission
 Wholehearted

   As individuals or as congregations, our self-image does not tell the whole story.  The exterior we show to the world is incomplete.  But Christ knows our secrets, sees into our hearts and will hold us to account.  As Paul reminds us in Romans 3: 23  "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."  Yet by grace, through Jesus Christ, we are redeemed.  Thanks be to God.




    

REVELATION

 

 Who'd have thought studying the Book of Revelation could result in so much excitement?  Not me, and certainly not the other twenty-odd people who gathered in the Ross Lounge on Wednesday morning.  In fact, before the study began, there was a downright nervousness in the room.  After all, we were about to tackle "that book."  The one with all the scary images.  The one filled with fire and brimstone.  The one that foretold the end of the world.  Who wouldn't be nervous.

     Yet, when we actually read chapter one, with Rev. Irwin's guidance, we felt hopeful, excited, victorious, upbeat, powerful. 
      Imagine John, living in a time of extreme persecution of Christians, exiled on the island of Patmos, where Christians were sent as slaves to work in the copper mines.  Then realize that this old man, in such circumstances writes 
"Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first-born from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.  To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father -- to him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen."   
     Talk about a cry of defiance against an oppressive regime.  Christ is the ruler of kings!  Christ has conquered death!  Christ has made His followers a kingdom, a royal priesthood!  How could we, in the comfortable lounge of SPPC, remain downhearted in the face of such a message.  We couldn't.  The room buzzed with excitement.  Irwin couldn't write fast enough to keep up with the words and ideas that poured out.

     This is Bible Study on Wednesday mornings at SPPC.  You should try it.  You'll like it.