After the tree we hang up our stockings by the fireplace with care in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be here. We also place our collection of Santas and Nutcrackers on the mantel as well as step up our small Nativity scene in the living room. Lastly, we move outside to hang the Christmas lights on the house and to set up our large nativity set out on the front lawn.

Let’s see, tree – check; stockings – check; decorations – check; lights – check; nativity sets – check. Oh yeah, shopping, all done – check. I guess we are all ready to celebrate Christmas! All ready except for one thing. Have I prepared my heart to celebrate Christmas? That’s the one thing I wonder if we really pay attention to each year as we make all of our Christmas preparations – have we prepared our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus?

That’s really what this season of Advent is all about; it is a time to prepare out hearts to celebrate the gift of Jesus and the salvation this tiny child brings not only to our lives, but for all the world. During Advent we hear the call of John the Baptist, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.” (Matthew 3:3b)

So, have you taken time this Christmas to prepare your hearts to truly celebrate the birth of Jesus? Have you taken the time to remove the roadblocks that might prevent His coming to reveal Himself and His salvation for you? Have you made room for Him to come into your life anew this Christmas? Getting ready for Christmas is more that setting up the tree, hanging the stocking or even setting out the Nativity set. Getting ready for Christmas is really about preparing to receive Jesus afresh into our hearts and to prepare to receive His gifts of life, of love, of peace and of salvation that only He as the Prince of Peace can bring.

So, come and let us prepare the way for the Lord again this Christmas as together we pray, “Come Lord Jesus, be our guest and let these gifts to us be blessed. Amen.” God’s richest blessings and may you all have a very merry Christmas and a most blessed New Year!

For my article this month I want to focus a word Jesus once spoke concerning Himself and what He means to our lives.  These words are from Matthew 7 and come at the tail end of His “Sermon On The Mount”.  Listen to these words of Jesus as He speaks to us today as He did to those gathered around Him long ago, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

The Importance Of A Solid Foundation

We hear from Jesus about the importance of the foundation we build our lives on.  Living in the Bay Area we know the importance of a solid foundation.  If you don’t have a solid foundation your house may not stand during a strong earthquake.  How much more true for these two men in Jesus’ story?  Each decided to build their house on some beach front property, one man building his house right next to the ocean on the sand while the other built his house on the rock.

At first you might think the second man had the right idea – who doesn’t want to live on the beach right next to the ocean?  Palm trees, a hammock, sand between your toes; what a life!  The problem came when as often does along the coast, a powerful storm came along.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. The second man showed a great lack of wisdom in building his house on the sand; nice idea but bad location!

Now the first man did not escape the effects of the storm either.  He too built his house near the coast.  The rain also came down, the streams also rose, and the winds blew and beat against his house.  Yet, the difference was that this first man had the wisdom to build his house on the rock.  Sure, he still experienced the same storm, but he was able to weather it because he has a solid foundation.  A solid foundation is vitally important because you never know when a storm may come or just how bad it may be.

A Storm Along The Oregon Coast

I learn first hand the importance of having a solid foundation one day very early on in my ministry some 20 years ago.  I was serving as a DCE Intern at St. John Lutheran Church in Salem, OR.  It was a bright and sunny summer day and I was taking the youth out on a trip to the Oregon coast.  Now typically the Oregon coast can be very stormy, but the weather forecast called for clear skies.  Anyway, the parents dropped the kids off, we loaded them up and away we went without a care in the world.

We had a wonderful day at the coast.  The skies were sunny and it was warm.  We played in the ocean, built sand castles, flew kites and played some sand football.  It was a perfect day.  To top off our trip we grabbed some early dinner and I finished off our time with a devotion from these very words of Jesus from Matthew 7 about the wise and foolish man.  I spoke about how there are so many things that people try to build their lives on – money, fame, achievement, possessions, power, etc.  Yet, when the storms of life come these foundations are simply sand and will not be able to withstand the beating that life can so often send our way.  Instead, when our lives are build upon Christ, the solid Rock, we are able to withstand the storms of life.  Having our lives built on Jesus doesn’t mean we won’t experience the storms, but with Him holding us we will be able to withstand them better than without Him.

Anyway, the kids were engaged with the study and took the words to heart having been there on that beach that day.  So off we went to return home.  Well, when we pulled into the parking lot of the church Pastor Koehneke and Jay Musfeldt, the DCE I was serving under, were there to greet us.  Very quickly the two of them pulled me aside to talk with me.  I was wondering what I had done wrong this time (I made a few mistakes that first year in ministry, but that is another story), when they told me that the father of two of my youth, Dan and Amy, had passed away while we were gone to the coast. Their mother was on her way to tell them the news.  From what they told me Dan and Amy’s father had been working in the yard while we were gone on our youth trip, looked up into the sky and just dropped dead.

The news was completely shocking to me.  I had just seen their father that morning dropping the kids off.  I spent some time catching up with him just before we left.  I saw the kids give their father a hug good bye, totally expecting to see him later in the day to pick them up from a wonderful day at the beach.  Just like that the sunny skies of that day grew dark and one of the worst storms life can throw our way, death, had blown into Dan and Amy’s life.

I sat there watching Dan and Amy laughing and talking with the other youth, waiting for their parents to pick them up, having no idea this storm that was about to blow upon them.  Their mother wanted to tell them the news herself, so I remained silent.  I tried to remind all of them about the lesson of Jesus being our solid rock during the storms of life, hoping that these words of mine would help strengthen their faith in Christ for what they were about to experience.  And there I stood watching as their mother arrived and told them the terrible news that their father had died.  All I could do was to be their for them to comfort with God’s eternal love and pray with them.

I can’t say that the days that followed were easy for Dan and Amy.   It never is when someone you love dies.  Yet in the weeks and months that followed I continued to reach out to Dan and Amy.  In fact they were heartbreaking.  They day they burried their father was especially difficult.  In the days and weeks to come I took them out for some golf and to talk.  And over time, while their hearts were still sad, the hope and promises of Jesus strengthened their hearts.  They were able to move on from that terrible day in life in the confidence that their father had died in the faith and new life in eternity was his in Christ.  And more than that, Jesus was their for them as their solid rock!

Jesus Is Your Rock During Stormy Times

All of us have experienced, are experiencing, or will experience some of the worst that life can throw at us.  Some storms are small, leaving us just as fast as they came upon us with very little impact on our lives.  Some storms come in waves and beat against our lives over and over again, leaving us battered and brused. And some storms, like that Dan and Amy experienced at the loss of their father, come upon us with such power and force that we wonder if it may be the end of everything.  And that would be true if it were not for Jesus.  For us who have our lives built on Christ, our solid rock, by faith in His faithful promise can be sure that He is our firm foundation.  No matter how bad the storms may be it is He who holds us, He who protects us and He who sees us through.  And even if that final storm of death should over power us and take our lives, it is in Christ alone that we have hope. That is because He has over come death and the grave and as such He is the resurrection and the life.  May God bless you all and know that what ever storms life may bring your way, Jesus is always your firm foundation!

For my article for this month’s newsletter I would like to share with all of you some writing I’ve been doing over the summer for our new church website on our ministry purpose, vision and values. From time to time it’s good to remind ourselves of the vision of who God is calling us to be in Him, for each other and for the sake of our community. Our theme for this year at St. Philip comes from our purpose and vision statements – “Called To Be”. You will be hearing theme in sermons and communicated in other ways over the next year. I would ask each of you to spend some time reviewing and praying on all of this in the weeks and months to come. I would also ask you to ask yourself a few basic questions: 1) What does this all mean when it comes to God’s call on my life? 2) What does this all mean when it comes to God’s call to our ministry? And 3) What would our ministry look like if we were living out this purpose, vision and values? God’s richest blessings as we all discover who we have been called to be in Christ!

St. Philip Is . . .
St. Philip is a community of faith committed to empower people to discover and live out their unique calling in Christ. When you boil life down to its simplest common denominator, it’s all about relationships. As such we do not see St. Philip so much as a place, but instead we see ourselves as a community of people seeking to know Jesus and His love, to live life together in Him, and to serve others in our community and the world in His name. We don’t care about being the perfect church for perfect people; we are all imperfect human beings in need of God’s life and forgiveness. We welcome people from all walks of life, regardless of where they are in their spiritual journey. Take a little time to discover more about the purpose and vision that God is calling our ministry to here at St. Philip.

Ministry Purpose: Called to be the presence of Jesus in our world today.
We see the church not as an institution, but as a relational reality defined by one thing and one thing only – who we are individually and collectively in Christ. It is Jesus who defines everything for us. Jesus is the One who defines our restored relationship with God once again because of His love and all He has done for us. Jesus is the One who defines who we are in relationship to each other as a community of faith; we are now the Body of Christ. And Jesus is the One who defines who we are for the sake of our community and the world.

It is from this identity of who we are in Christ that we understand our sense of purpose: We are a missional community called to be the presence of Jesus in our world today. We are not a church with a mission, but we are a church on a mission. That mission is to be the feet of Jesus that go, the hands of Jesus that reach and the voice of Jesus that speaks His Words of life and love to all we meet. It is through us, His Body, that Jesus continues His ministry today that He began some 2,000 years ago. As each of us live out our unique calling that we have in Christ, individually and collectively, we them become the means by which God blesses the world.

Ministry Vision: To empower people to discover and live out their unique calling in Christ.
It is with this understanding of purpose and mission, to be the presence of Jesus to each other and the world, that we seek as our vision here at St. Philip to empower each and every person to discover and live our their unique calling in Christ. This is a calling that begins with simply BEING. Each of us has been called by Jesus to BE loved, BE forgiven, BE redeemed and BE holy. It’s the call to BE a child of God through faith, that is, trust, in what Jesus has done for us by His death and resurrection. We have been called to Be His by grace!

It is out of this call to BE His that we begin to understand who we have been called to BE for the sake of others and the world. This identity of who we are in Christ now informs and empowers us to live out our identity in Him through our daily lives for the sake of other. We have all been created and redeemed for a purpose. We see each person, young or old, as a unique creation of God and within them God has placed a purpose to their lives. It is our vision to invest in each person so that they may discover how they have been uniquely gifted to serve God and others in all of life. None of us will do it the same, yet in the end God uses each one of us in powerful ways to make a difference. And as we partner together with Jesus and one another we can make an impact in the world one life at a time for the sake of Christ and His Kingdom. This is where life and faith intersect. Who have you been called to be?

Ministry Values
We all have values, those things that are important to us, that inform our decision-making and guide us in the way we live our lives. With this in mind the following are the values that inform and guide us as a ministry here at St. Philip as we seek to live out our calling together as the Body of Christ:

Identity (Head) – Connecting people to God through Jesus and His love
Our identity, individually and collectively as a community of faith, is based in Jesus and all that He has done for us. He defines our lives and gives us meaning! And as such we see ourselves and the world differently than we once did. This value is symbolized by a head because as we speak of this truth in love, “we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” (Eph 4:15)

Community (Heart) – Connecting people to one another as the Body of Christ
As the Body of Christ we have been gathered to live our lives together in community with God and with one another. We don’t have to go it alone, for in Christ we now are part of the family of God. And as such we encourage and uplift each other with God’s love. This value is symbolized by a heart because in Christ we live a new reality, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.” (John 13:34)

Empowerment (Feet) – Connecting people to their unique calling in life
Each of us has a calling in this life, not only who we are in Christ through His love, but also who we are to be in Him for the sake of others. It is as we discover our unique gifts, passion and strengths (GPS) that have been given to us that we begin to see how we are to live out this calling. This value is symbolized by feet as Jesus calls each one of us to “Come, follow me.” (Matt 4:19)

Synergy (Hands) – Connecting people to each other in service as the presence of Jesus
No one has all the gifts to do it all in life. We need others to partner with to make up for where we are individually lacking. That is what the Body of Christ is all about – we are better together! We seek to connect people with similar passions to each other and the resources they need to make a difference in our communities and the world. This value is symbolized by hands, as through us, Jesus continues to reach out with His love to a world in need. (Rom 12:5, 1 Cor 12:12)

Impact (Voice) – Connecting people to our world in relevant and transformative ways
Each of us sees the needs in our communities and world and desire to make an impact, yet we aren’t always sure where to begin. It begins by speaking up and sharing the need. As followers of Jesus we seek to step into God’s moving by serving a purpose greater than ourselves in order to change the world one person at a time for the sake of the Kingdom. This value is symbolized by a voice, for God has a message of love that He wants us to share with the world. As we share this Good News, Jesus speaks through us to give hope and bring life to all. (John 3:16-17, Rom 10:17)