"I have to admit before God and everyone that I am pridefully Presbyterian." I heard Marge Carpenter use those words once and I must echo the sentiment in my own life. I love ecumenical dialogue and even interfaith dialogue. I love being in conversation with other denominations and other faiths and I believe that we can indeed learn from each other. I believe that it is only when we get all the Christian denominations together that we are fully representative of the whole body of Christ alive and at work in the work. And yet I do all this from the perspective of a Presbyterian pastor who finds the Presbyterian Church USA, Reformed Theology and Worship as the place that my soul is at rest and in communion with the triune God. So after a week living and growing with the Catholic community at Little Portion Monastery and a weekend retreat with Michael Card and the Evangelical Community at the Retreat Center, I called my friends Dennis and Phyllis Winzenried to see if I could come and worship with them last Sunday. When I pulled up to their house at Forsythe and saw this big PCUSA symbol at their front door, I knew that I was home.
The view fron Dennis and Phyllis's porch is a wonderful reminder each morning and evening of the wonder of God's creation. It is beautiful. It was my first time to be in the Branson area and I now know what everyone is talking about with the natural beauty of the wooded hills and vast lakes. And the warm welcome I receieved was the embodiment of Presbyterian hospitality at its best. It is nice to be part of an extended denominational family so that where ever we go we have family in the area. This coming Sunday, as my grandson Evan is baptised, we will be welcoming extended family to Little Rock, and yet Stuart and Megan and their family already have some extended family here in the community of their church, Westover Hills Presbyterian. It is good to be part of an extended faith family.
Sunday morning I went to Community Presbyterian Church in Forsythe with Dennis. Dennis has pastored there for 7 years and the congregation and pastor are obviously confortable with each other. I had the opportunity to sit in on a video theology study called "Questions of Faith". The topic for the week was "What's Being Good Good For?" In it we heard from writers and religious leaders who challenged us to think deeply about the question of goodness. If we believe in God's grace revealed in Jesus Christ and don't think that we can earn our salvation by good work, then what's the use of being good? If we acknowledge that sin is pervasive and "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are therefore justified by God's grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ"(Romans 3:23,24), where does goodness come in? If even Jesus says "Why do you call me good, no one is good but the Father" then what hope do we have? And yet through the discussion, we discovered that we are called by Jesus to "be perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect". And we are challenged by the prophet Micah "He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8) Perhaps, just perhaps, the opportunity to do good is not our way to be rewarded but in fact is a part of our reward. I had heard the week before from the pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Harrison, Chip Andrus, that "eternal life starts NOW." And I believe in my own heart and my own life that to walk with the triune God right here and right now in the person of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit is the greatest comfort and joy we can have in life and in death. It is good!
Of course my favorite part of the santuary at Community Presbyterian Church was the picture of the "laughing Jesus" that was prominently displayed on the communion table. I wondered if the congregation would reflect that joy in their worship and their community. It was indeed a joy to listen to the offering of prayer concerns at Community Presbyterian. There was a sense that you were sitting in around an extended family dinner table catching up with the events of the week. There was laughter, concern, care and an overwhelming sense of joy as this community engaged with God and with each other in worship. It was like being home at Covenant Presbyterian Church. As I walked out of worship, I truly felt like I had been in the midst of a community of faith that took seriously (but not somberly) the words of the Shorter Catechism "What is the chief end of humanity?...to glorify God and enjoy God forever." Amen
"I have to admit before God and everyone that I am pridefully Presbyterian." I heard Marge Carpenter use those words once and I must echo the sentiment in my own life. I love ecumenical dialogue and even interfaith dialogue. I love being in conversation with other denominations and other faiths and I believe that we can indeed learn from each other. I believe that it is only when we get all the Christian denominations together that we are fully representative of the whole body of Christ alive and at work in the work. And yet I do all this from the perspective of a Presbyterian pastor who finds the Presbyterian Church USA, Reformed Theology and Worship as the place that my soul is at rest and in communion with the triune God. So after a week living and growing with the Catholic community at Little Portion Monastery and a weekend retreat with Michael Card and the Evangelical Community at the Retreat Center, I called my friends Dennis and Phyllis Winzenried to see if I could come and worship with them last Sunday. When I pulled up to their house at Forsythe and saw this big PCUSA symbol at their front door, I knew that I was home.
The view fron Dennis and Phyllis's porch is a wonderful reminder each morning and evening of the wonder of God's creation. It is beautiful. It was my first time to be in the Branson area and I now know what everyone is talking about with the natural beauty of the wooded hills and vast lakes. And the warm welcome I receieved was the embodiment of Presbyterian hospitality at its best. It is nice to be part of an extended denominational family so that where ever we go we have family in the area. This coming Sunday, as my grandson Evan is baptised, we will be welcoming extended family to Little Rock, and yet Stuart and Megan and their family already have some extended family here in the community of their church, Westover Hills Presbyterian. It is good to be part of an extended faith family. 
Sunday morning I went to Community Presbyterian Church in Forsythe with Dennis. Dennis has pastored there for 7 years and the congregation and pastor are obviously confortable with each other. I had the opportunity to sit in on a video theology study called "Questions of Faith". The topic for the week was "What's Being Good Good For?" In it we heard from writers and religious leaders who challenged us to think deeply about the question of goodness. If we believe in God's grace revealed in Jesus Christ and don't think that we can earn our salvation by good work, then what's the use of being good? If we acknowledge that sin is pervasive and "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are therefore justified by God's grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ"(Romans 3:23,24), where does goodness come in? If even Jesus says "Why do you call me good, no one is good but the Father" then what hope do we have? And yet through the discussion, we discovered that we are called by Jesus to "be perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect". And we are challenged by the prophet Micah "He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8) Perhaps, just perhaps, the opportunity to do good is not our way to be rewarded but in fact is a part of our reward. I had heard the week before from the pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Harrison, Chip Andrus, that "eternal life starts NOW." And I believe in my own heart and my own life that to walk with the triune God right here and right now in the person of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit is the greatest comfort and joy we can have in life and in death. It is good!
Of course my favorite part of the santuary at Community Presbyterian Church was the picture of the "laughing Jesus" that was prominently displayed on the communion table. I wondered if the congregation would reflect that joy in their worship and their community. It was indeed a joy to listen to the offering of prayer concerns at Community Presbyterian. There was a sense that you were sitting in around an extended family dinner table catching up with the events of the week. There was laughter, concern, care and an overwhelming sense of joy as this community engaged with God and with each other in worship. It was like being home at Covenant Presbyterian Church. As I walked out of worship, I truly felt like I had been in the midst of a community of faith that took seriously (but not somberly) the words of the Shorter Catechism "What is the chief end of humanity?...to glorify God and enjoy God forever." Amen
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