8.26.2008
Pizza & Put Put Golf
Tomorrow night, Wednesday the 27th, we will meet at the church at 5:30 to load up in the vans and take a short journey to Camp Put. Bring $10 to pay for your greens fees and Pizza. It should be a blast, and if you want you can bring a friend or two.
8.07.2008
Portland City Fest Concerts
The concerts in Portland that I told you guys about are on the 22nd and 23rd of August. It sounds like a great experience. Bands like Kutless, Hawk Nelson, and Mercy Me are playing. I do not think that we will be able to go to both days, so if there is anyone interested in driving up for one of the days let me know and I will see what we can do. Check out the link for more info (yes the title is the link).
7.10.2008
EMS FELLOWSHIP NIGHT
TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME...
Come check out the EMS, and stay for a concert.
Cost is $5 for tickets.
Shawn McDonald will perform.
With guest speekers: Josh Bidwell, Casey Martin, Jarius Byrd, and Jen Derby.
MEET AT THE CHURCH AT 2:30
BRING YOUR $5 for the ticket, and money for food.
Contact: Reed 541.520.7849, Tyler 541.746.2121, or Jonathan 541.221.2687
6.25.2008
Why Roots? / Rooted in Christ
In a time long, long ago, before the advent of yard maintenance folk (you know, like when I was a kid), my parents used to pay me to pull weeds. Don’t tell them, but I used to get some weird pleasure out of it. I used to love getting the perfect pull. When the whole root comes out, and all you have to do to get the dirt of is shake it a little bit, yeah, the perfect pull…what a thrill.
I bring this up because if you have ever stopped to look at a root it has different shoots that go in different directions; they spread hoping to reach into the rich soil that surrounds the plant. The food they supply to the plant will ultimately travel through the one main shoot, but the plant would not grow as big, or be as stable if the roots did not spread and draw strength from many sources. I would like to say that the Christian faith is like a root. As followers of Christ we can draw strength from many sources.
Our relationship with Christ is like the main shoot, it is fed through Scripture, our faith families (a.k.a church), and through the stories of those who have come before us. In the months that follow, I will elaborate on how I see each of the sources feeding our faith. For this month I want to focus on being rooted in our relationship with Christ, after all, He is the shoot that all other sources must flow through.
I had long thought that being a Christian was all about being good and doing the right thing. We are not to ask questions, but to silently follow a set of rules. As a Christian you can do this, but you can’t do that. I thought you could, for lack of a better phrase, “earn your way into heaven.” It has only been over the last five or six years that I began to wonder about the purpose of Creation, and the role of the Cross.
Why did God create us? Why would an infinite, perfect being choose to create us, a people He knew would choose to sin against Him? It is difficult to imagine, isn’t it?
As I went about my study, a very different picture began to appear. It seems that since the beginning of time God has taken a special interest in humanity. He was in relationship with Adam and Eve in the Garden. Even through the story of Adam and Eve’s first sin we see God’s intense and intimate love for them. God wants to have a relationship with His creation; He wants to have a relationship with us.
The whole of the Biblical witness speaks to this truth. God is continually speaking to His creation. First he speaks through the patriarchs, then the judges and kings, then the prophets and priests, and in the ultimate act of redeeming love He sends, and speaks through, His Son. A suffering servant sent to live, die, and be raised for us. Not only does Christ speak of loving God and each other, showing humanity the Father’s heart for His creation, but He loves us in what He
would call the greatest love. He gives up His life for his friends, that we might become His brothers and sisters, and sons and daughters of the Most High God.
God chose to create humanity because He wanted to share with something outside Himself the perfect community He experiences in the trinity. Picture if you will a perfect community of three distinct persons bound together by one substance. It has been described as the heavenly dance, a dance whose partners’ serve and love one another perfectly. Giving and receiving, serving and accepting, the dance goes on in perfect love, in perfect community. It is out of the overflow of this perfect love that God decides to create humanity, to join into this community.
It is through accepting the truth that God wants to be in relationship with us, and accepting that through Christ He has made it possible, that we gain right standing before God. What Christ has accomplished on the cross is a work of reconciliation. Because of the cross, and the sending of the Holy Spirit we are freed from sin, able to learn how to live in right relationship with one another. When we learn to live ROOTED IN CHRIST, we learn to live in community with God and one another the way we were intended to in the beginning. It is in these relationships, which Christ has made possible, that we are able to fully enter into the creation we were intended to be. The rules of the Christian life are not about restricting oneself from experiencing life, rather they are guidelines given by God that we might truly experience it.
I bring this up because if you have ever stopped to look at a root it has different shoots that go in different directions; they spread hoping to reach into the rich soil that surrounds the plant. The food they supply to the plant will ultimately travel through the one main shoot, but the plant would not grow as big, or be as stable if the roots did not spread and draw strength from many sources. I would like to say that the Christian faith is like a root. As followers of Christ we can draw strength from many sources.
Our relationship with Christ is like the main shoot, it is fed through Scripture, our faith families (a.k.a church), and through the stories of those who have come before us. In the months that follow, I will elaborate on how I see each of the sources feeding our faith. For this month I want to focus on being rooted in our relationship with Christ, after all, He is the shoot that all other sources must flow through.
I had long thought that being a Christian was all about being good and doing the right thing. We are not to ask questions, but to silently follow a set of rules. As a Christian you can do this, but you can’t do that. I thought you could, for lack of a better phrase, “earn your way into heaven.” It has only been over the last five or six years that I began to wonder about the purpose of Creation, and the role of the Cross.
Why did God create us? Why would an infinite, perfect being choose to create us, a people He knew would choose to sin against Him? It is difficult to imagine, isn’t it?
As I went about my study, a very different picture began to appear. It seems that since the beginning of time God has taken a special interest in humanity. He was in relationship with Adam and Eve in the Garden. Even through the story of Adam and Eve’s first sin we see God’s intense and intimate love for them. God wants to have a relationship with His creation; He wants to have a relationship with us.
The whole of the Biblical witness speaks to this truth. God is continually speaking to His creation. First he speaks through the patriarchs, then the judges and kings, then the prophets and priests, and in the ultimate act of redeeming love He sends, and speaks through, His Son. A suffering servant sent to live, die, and be raised for us. Not only does Christ speak of loving God and each other, showing humanity the Father’s heart for His creation, but He loves us in what He
would call the greatest love. He gives up His life for his friends, that we might become His brothers and sisters, and sons and daughters of the Most High God.
God chose to create humanity because He wanted to share with something outside Himself the perfect community He experiences in the trinity. Picture if you will a perfect community of three distinct persons bound together by one substance. It has been described as the heavenly dance, a dance whose partners’ serve and love one another perfectly. Giving and receiving, serving and accepting, the dance goes on in perfect love, in perfect community. It is out of the overflow of this perfect love that God decides to create humanity, to join into this community.
It is through accepting the truth that God wants to be in relationship with us, and accepting that through Christ He has made it possible, that we gain right standing before God. What Christ has accomplished on the cross is a work of reconciliation. Because of the cross, and the sending of the Holy Spirit we are freed from sin, able to learn how to live in right relationship with one another. When we learn to live ROOTED IN CHRIST, we learn to live in community with God and one another the way we were intended to in the beginning. It is in these relationships, which Christ has made possible, that we are able to fully enter into the creation we were intended to be. The rules of the Christian life are not about restricting oneself from experiencing life, rather they are guidelines given by God that we might truly experience it.
6.18.2008
Creation Fest 08 update
Alright y'all, I need to know who is going to Creation Fest!
The deadline is fast approaching, and we need to know who is going so we can plan food, and equipment.
Also our first fundraiser will be a car wash on June 28th, which is a week from Saturday. We have two other events in the works. On the 12th of July we will give congregation members the opportunity to rent your services, whatever they may be. The 19th of July we will have a multi-family garage sale. If you want to make money for the trip plan on being at two of these three events. Also ideas for other things are always appreciated.
Beach Trips
Yes, it is that time. The Beach is calling us to come and play. We will make three stops in the Florence area. First, we will go to Honeyman, then Old Town for Dinner, and lastly take a quick stop by the beach to stick our feet in. All you have to do is show up on Friday (the 20th for High School, the 27th for Middle School) at 11:00 in the morning, we will be back by 8:00 in the evening.
You need to bring a swim suite, towel, change of clothes, a sack lunch, and money for dinner ($7 - 15). You will also need to sign a medical release form if you haven't already done so.
Look forward to seeing you all there!
5.07.2008
The art of listening
Ah the noises of life. The hiss of the espresso machine, the groups of people discussing life, politics, or whatever. The noises of life are all around. In the car, the radio blares, horns honk, and you can hear the faint noise of tires attacking the pavement. In class, the teacher talks, the phone rings, and we silently wonder to ourselves about the mistakes made over the last weekend, and the possibilities for more in the one to come. Ah, the noises of life, constant and comforting.
The noise of life is a comfort because it reminds us that we are not alone. Even the sounds we find annoying or that come from annoying sources are welcome when silence has been present too long. We welcome the distraction as long as the distraction is from being alone, with only ourselves for company. Being alone wouldn’t be so bad if we were not faced with the prospect of being with our closest and harshest critic: ourselves. The comfort of the noises of life allows us, if we so desire, to never face our inner demons, our struggles, our imperfections.
Is silence then not our friend? We should seek to fill our lives with noise and business, right? Shouldn’t the noise be a constant companion?
At this point you might be tempted to say yes to all of the previous questions. If the only thing silence is good for is to allow our innermost flaws beat us down, then silence is not to be coveted. Though perhaps there is another reason for purposefully quieting those noises that comfort. The noises of life while often able to comfort, is for many, the source of anxiety.
While the conversation of the couple next to me on the train may comfort, the news at the eleven o’clock hour is cause for concern. The former reminds me that I am not alone, but the later makes me painfully aware of the brokenness of humanity.
Where then do I turn? If in silence I am condemned by my own thoughts, and through the words and noises of others I am reminded by the painfulness of human existence, where can I find solace? One answer comes from a centuries-old exercise. Even in the times of chivalry monks understood the importance of finding a way to silence ourselves in order to listen. They did not however think it wise to listen to our own voice, but instead turned to a voice which has been speaking to man since the beginning of time. A voice that we were created to hear, but that we, as humanity, collectively turned our backs on, the voice of God. In the exercise of Lectio Divina one learns to listen intently for the voice of God speaking to ones soul through silently meditating on small pieces of Scripture.
Individual
Lectio Divina (divine or holy reading) is a principal practice of Benedictine spirituality. True to its biblical origins, the monastic life seeks above all a listening heart wherein God’s Word—God’s self-communication—is made manifest in Christ, in the scriptures, in the human heart and in the heart of the cosmos.
Lectio Divina is a method of approaching scripture in order to listen to the depths, seeking to encounter Christ, the Word, through the power of the holy Spirit, hidden in the words of the text.
Ultimately it can be said that the goal of Lectio is an ever expanding capacity to listen with the heart to the word of God in all of life’s situations, leading to a more constant awareness of God’s presence. It is listening as a communion not so much for a particular message but for the nearness of the living God. It is therefore a listening that leads to a new way of seeing. In this sense the faithful practice of Lectio undergirds our entire life of prayer, work, and communion with others.
The traditional method for Lectio Divina is fourfold: (using the Latin names)
1. Lectio - The repeated reading of the text until certain words and phrases call for attention. Sometimes footnotes in a good study bible (for example, the Jerusalem Bible) as well as cross references help here. This stage has often been compared to taking in food, as the first “eating” of the word of scripture.
2. Meditatio - The further “chewing” or ruminating on key words and phrases. One stays as long as one is so attracted to a word or phrase. At this stage the heart of the text for the reader should begin to emerge
3. Oratio - These key words and phrases of the text eventually lead the person to prayer inspired by the text and a growing awareness of God’s presence in Christ by the Spirit. This is the deep tasting of the text.
4. Contemplatio - Eventually the particular words of the text lead the reader beyond words to silent awareness of God’s presence—simply an abiding or communing with God. This is the savoring of the sweetness of the Lord.
The noise of life is a comfort because it reminds us that we are not alone. Even the sounds we find annoying or that come from annoying sources are welcome when silence has been present too long. We welcome the distraction as long as the distraction is from being alone, with only ourselves for company. Being alone wouldn’t be so bad if we were not faced with the prospect of being with our closest and harshest critic: ourselves. The comfort of the noises of life allows us, if we so desire, to never face our inner demons, our struggles, our imperfections.
Is silence then not our friend? We should seek to fill our lives with noise and business, right? Shouldn’t the noise be a constant companion?
At this point you might be tempted to say yes to all of the previous questions. If the only thing silence is good for is to allow our innermost flaws beat us down, then silence is not to be coveted. Though perhaps there is another reason for purposefully quieting those noises that comfort. The noises of life while often able to comfort, is for many, the source of anxiety.
While the conversation of the couple next to me on the train may comfort, the news at the eleven o’clock hour is cause for concern. The former reminds me that I am not alone, but the later makes me painfully aware of the brokenness of humanity.
Where then do I turn? If in silence I am condemned by my own thoughts, and through the words and noises of others I am reminded by the painfulness of human existence, where can I find solace? One answer comes from a centuries-old exercise. Even in the times of chivalry monks understood the importance of finding a way to silence ourselves in order to listen. They did not however think it wise to listen to our own voice, but instead turned to a voice which has been speaking to man since the beginning of time. A voice that we were created to hear, but that we, as humanity, collectively turned our backs on, the voice of God. In the exercise of Lectio Divina one learns to listen intently for the voice of God speaking to ones soul through silently meditating on small pieces of Scripture.
Individual
Lectio Divina (divine or holy reading) is a principal practice of Benedictine spirituality. True to its biblical origins, the monastic life seeks above all a listening heart wherein God’s Word—God’s self-communication—is made manifest in Christ, in the scriptures, in the human heart and in the heart of the cosmos.
Lectio Divina is a method of approaching scripture in order to listen to the depths, seeking to encounter Christ, the Word, through the power of the holy Spirit, hidden in the words of the text.
Ultimately it can be said that the goal of Lectio is an ever expanding capacity to listen with the heart to the word of God in all of life’s situations, leading to a more constant awareness of God’s presence. It is listening as a communion not so much for a particular message but for the nearness of the living God. It is therefore a listening that leads to a new way of seeing. In this sense the faithful practice of Lectio undergirds our entire life of prayer, work, and communion with others.
The traditional method for Lectio Divina is fourfold: (using the Latin names)
1. Lectio - The repeated reading of the text until certain words and phrases call for attention. Sometimes footnotes in a good study bible (for example, the Jerusalem Bible) as well as cross references help here. This stage has often been compared to taking in food, as the first “eating” of the word of scripture.
2. Meditatio - The further “chewing” or ruminating on key words and phrases. One stays as long as one is so attracted to a word or phrase. At this stage the heart of the text for the reader should begin to emerge
3. Oratio - These key words and phrases of the text eventually lead the person to prayer inspired by the text and a growing awareness of God’s presence in Christ by the Spirit. This is the deep tasting of the text.
4. Contemplatio - Eventually the particular words of the text lead the reader beyond words to silent awareness of God’s presence—simply an abiding or communing with God. This is the savoring of the sweetness of the Lord.
4.23.2008
Middle School Lock-in
The Middle School Lock-in will be on May 9th. We will stay up all night and go Cosmic Bowling, play games, watch movies, and eat tons of junk food.
The cost is $10 to cover bowling. Also you will need to bring a medical release form. This is a great event to bring friends to.
Arrive at church 8:00 p.m. on May 9th
Leave church between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. on May 10th
Favorite Games?
Hey All,
I wanted to give you guys the ability to post your favorite games. Make sure to include the instructions and any materials needed.
I wanted to give you guys the ability to post your favorite games. Make sure to include the instructions and any materials needed.
4.05.2008
Feedback is key
Hey all,
If you are reading this chances are you attend "ROOTS" aka youth group. Let me know what you think about the blog i.e. layout, what I say, logo, name. This blog is for you guys, the students, let me know what might be useful. If you want to be able to post let me know and I will get you hooked up.
If you are reading this chances are you attend "ROOTS" aka youth group. Let me know what you think about the blog i.e. layout, what I say, logo, name. This blog is for you guys, the students, let me know what might be useful. If you want to be able to post let me know and I will get you hooked up.
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