Together
Loving Our Community . . . Transforming Lives . . . Serving Christ

We’ve had a great start to the sermon series that is introducing our new vision statement. “Together” is a word that characterizes our approach to ministry, to outreach, to the care and love we extend to each other, and to our worship of almighty God. I want to say thank you to everyone who came forward on Sunday, September 28th in response to the call to make a bold statement regarding your desire to seek unity within the Body of Christ. What a blessing it was to see so many people coming forward to make their contribution to the vase of sand. And now we have a beautiful remembrance of the commitment you made! It will remain on the communion table throughout the series as a reminder of the way so many joined together their scoop of sand, essentially saying, “I am making myself accountable for the unity of our church, so that we can fulfill the mission God has for us in this community.”

As I looked at the vase I was able to think of so many spiritual applications to our ministry. Here are just a few:
- Even after so many poured in their scoops of sand, each person’s contribution remained very distinct and unique.
- The inseparable nature of the grains of sand. Now that they are united, there is no way to pull them apart.
- The multi-colored vase is very much representative of all the many different people, personalities, backgrounds and gifts that God has brought to us. It also makes me remember the multi-cultured community that surrounds us, and who we are called to reach.
- Even when you turn the vase, you get a different perspective and design from the other side. Our church family is very much the same way. We don’t always see all the ways people have an impact on our church life, but contributions are still being made every day that touch people’s lives.
These are just a few. Take a look at the picture for yourself, and let me know the ways you feel this represents who we are as a church, or how it represents our ministry in the days to come. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Vision of Transformation

What a beautiful time of the year this is. Change is in the air. Some of the trees are already beginning to show some change of color. I really think this year’s colors are going to be beautiful because of the good rain we’ve had recently. It really makes me think about the up-coming sermon series that has been bouncing around in my head and my heart. If you’re part of Christ Wesleyan, and you’ve been paying attention – I haven’t preached in three weeks. For some that might be a relief, but for me has been a time to devote a lot of prayer and thought to what this series should look like. During this time I have felt a deep sense that this next series should be a time to take a good look at our mission and vision.

We want our vision to accurately describe where it is that God is leading us as a church, but we also want it to be something that everyone in the congregation can easily grasp, and easily state to anyone who asks. Finally I am ready to lay before you guys a statement that is about as simple, and yet meaningful as it can be stated. Our Vision is as follows:

Together
Loving Our Community . . . Transforming Lives . . . Through Christ

Together . . .
The fact that God has placed us all together in this ministry, at this time, in this community is all part of God’s design. There are many things that we will do, but unless we are unified in purpose and heart we will never really accomplish all that God desires for us. The emphasis is not on uniformity, but unity as the Body of Christ. Unity is the thread that weaves its way throughout the rest of our vision.

We Are Loving Our Community . . .
God is calling us outside of the walls of our church, and into our community. Throughout our community there is a continual sense of need that calls out to us. We are responding to God’s call, “If you will love this community, I’ll bless your church.” This community needs a strong church, so why not us.

We See Lives Transformed . . .
Transformation is what God wants to do in the heart of every person on the face of this earth today. There is not a person you will lock eyes with today that God does not deeply love and desire to make something very special from his or her life. Believe it or not, that includes the person you locked eyes with this morning in the mirror.

We Serve Christ
Jesus Christ is the central message that makes all of this possible. In reality there is no real transformation unless it is motivated by a deep desire to be more like Jesus Christ.

Check out our web site to see the 8 week sermon series that will cast this vision to the congregation.

Transformations
II Corinthians 3:18
“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect] the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

The essence of this powerful Scripture speaks to the life-changing transformation that takes place in the life of a believer when he or she encounters the presence of the Lord. This is not a one-time event, but rather a continual process of transformation, of growing, of changing, of re-shaping and being re-made – all for the purpose of becoming more and more like the image of God. I don’t know about you but that sounds to me like a fascinating journey!
When people think about transformation, they often picture the mental image of a butterfly going through the process of metamorphosis. What begins as a lowly caterpillar goes through the slow process of changing into a beautiful butterfly. It truly is an amazing change process. But somehow this illustration doesn’t quite fit the kind of transformational lifestyle that God wants us to live. For one thing, the caterpillar goes through this process totally by instinct. Something inside of him compels him to find just the right place, begin the cocooning process, and initiate this change. For us, following out instincts would result in resisting every ounce of change God has in store for us. There is nothing in our nature that drives us toward God’s image. Also, the caterpillar goes through this change process once, and is done. Thankfully, he’ll never again have to enter another cocoon, and become something other than a beautiful butterfly.
Sadly, though too many people have accepted this illustration as an example of a Christian’s life. In doing so I fear that they have failed to realize that our becoming like Christ involves a daily submission of our will to Christ, and that is never easy. It involves a lifelong process of change, and that is most often resisted. It includes becoming more and more like Him, and less like Me.
How wonderful it is to know that God is always at work transforming our lives? I would like to invite those who are part of the Christ Wesleyan family to share their stories of how God is transforming their lives – making them more like Christ – using them to reveal more and more of His glory – showing them how to more like Him. I invite you to post your story of transformation. Send me an email, or write it down on paper. I would like to include your stories as I preach through the next several weeks regarding the topic of “Transformations.”
I am who I am by the grace of God, but through His Spirit, I’m not yet all He wants me to be. That thought alone fills me with great anticipation of discovering God’s plan for my life. Let’s journey together, and discover God’s plan together!

Pastor Jonathan

I've Driven Around Samaria TOO Long

We are in the middle of our Missions Emphasis, and I truly believe that God is helping us shape our ministry perspective on a global and local perspective. I've spent the last couple of days with Dr. Norm Wilson, talking and learning from someone whose life experiences and person involvement in cross-cultural ministry inspires me. On Sunday morning he talked about Jesus going through Samaria to get to Galilee, and in doing so He had the famous encounter with who we know as "the woman at the well." Dr. Wilson pointed out the fact that the typical Jew would not have taken the route Jesus did. They normally went around Samaria. However, in order to have this encounter that changed this woman's life, and ultimately the entire town, God had a purpose for sending Him through Samaria. Now, Dr. Wilson talked about a lot of other things, but one statement just kept ringing in my mind, "Where is the Samaria that you are driving around?"
You know, there are many things that we avoid because we don't really want to deal with the issues, or there are people we don't really want to work with, or people we don't really understand, and really don't really care to reach. Instead of relating openly and honestly with people, we just chose to take another route. We act like the problem doesn't exist, or hope that someone else will reach the people we don't want to reach. There comes a time when we've all got to listen to the Holy Spirit saying, "It is time to go through Samaria. I've got a life-changing experience waiting for you." These days I'm thinking that our Samaria is all around us. I'm praying that God will get us out of the safety of our building, and into our community. God only knows what is waiting for us.

"Yep, that's my people."

Just this morning I sent this email out to those who have participated in our Angel Food Ministry program at the church. My Sunday School Class has taken the lead with this ministry, but others have joined in:

Wednesday night at choir practice I was talking to Barbara Kallam. She told me that she was at her daughter’s house the other day, who attends Westover Church here in Greensboro. While she was there, a lady from Westover came to visit. This lady also oversees a ministry they have at Westover that reaches out to single parent families. Somehow the conversation turned to where Barbara attends church, and she mentioned Christ Wesleyan. At that point the lady’s eyes grew wide, and she said, “I was at your church recently for the Angel Food Ministry. I wanted to try it out and see what it was all about, and I was so impressed with the way your people conducted this ministry. When I walked in I really didn’t know what to expect, but from the time I walked through the door someone was there to greet me. They walked with me through the whole process, and even carried my box to the car. It was a great experience, and you can tell that the people love that ministry.”
As a pastor it was one of those times when I was able to say to myself, “Yep, that’s my people.” It is great when others get to see what I know is true about us. It is also good to know that you guys are really blessing the lives of people, and serving people unconditionally. You really show that it doesn’t matter who they are, or where they are from you are greeting people with the love of Jesus Christ. I want to thank you for being so faithful.
I say this a lot these days, but I believe with all of my heart that the key to our being able to reach our community is to find ways to serve the needs of our community. You guys are proving how true that is.

Thanks to everyone has been involved in this and other ministries of our church that are touching the lives of people and seeking to minister to their needs.

“You’ve just got to come to my church!”

Recently our Local Board of Administration, along with other key ministry leaders met for another one of our annual Vision Gatherings. This was the third one we’ve had since I’ve been the Pastor at Christ Wesleyan. In the past we have spent a lot of time analyzing our strengths and weaknesses, and setting goals for the future. However this year we did something a little different. We spent most of the time taking a good hard look at the short-term and long-term goals we had set in the past. Most of them were put in place at our first Vision Gathering three years ago. What we found was that most of the short and long term goals were either accomplished, or at least in the works, and others needed more definition and clarity. In a future posting I’ll list in detail the results of the gathering, and get your input.
One of the conversations we had during our time together surrounded a questions I presented to our church leaders. As I observe people in various types of settings talking about their church, you can immediately determine those who are absolutely thrilled about their church. Their excitement and enthusiasm seems to leap out of them, and usually you’ll hear them make a statement something like, “You have got to come to my church because . . .” What I asked our church leaders is to finish that sentence about Christ Wesleyan Church. I asked how they would express the kind of excitement and enthusiasm that goes with that statement. I know how I would answer that statement. I would say, “You have got to come to my church because . . . “
- We have a very loving congregation. I truly believe that anyone who walks through the doors will be genuinely loved and accepted.
- Our people have expressed a great deal of confidence in me as their Pastor. They’ve allowed me to try new things, and explore new blessings.
- We have a great group of teens who truly love the Lord, and we’ve got a great Youth Pastor.
- We’ve got a core group of young families who are excited about serving the needs of people in our community.
- We have a congregation who is supportive of Missions, in praying, and giving, and going.
These are just a few things, and the list could go on to mention other areas that are still developing. But sometimes my perspective is different because I am so personally invested. How would you answer this question? Take some time to post your comments. Now, lets be careful not to repeat the same answers as others. Let’s try to add to the list something others haven’t seen. Be creative. Be critical. But put some thought into how you would complete the sentence, “You have got to come to my church because . . .”

Home Groups Are Off To A Great Start!

As I write, I feel very blessed to hear about the enthusiasm and involvement of all of those who participated in the first night of our Home Groups Bible Studies last Sunday evening. I’ve called around to all of the various group leaders, and heard from a number of the participants, and the reviews are very positive. There were 51 in total attendance. Most of the groups reported that there were many who were sick with this flu bug that has been going around. Hopefully everyone will be well, and back in the swing of things for this next weekend. The session on true spirituality really hit home with the groups, and caused all of us to think seriously about how we are called to live each day as if Jesus Christ were living through us. “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:17

Special recognition goes to the J.C. & Jan Trollinger group led by Terry Winterrowd who had all of their group members in attendance. Also, all the other groups may feel a little envious of the group who met at Clyde and Tuffy’s house. As everyone could imagine, Tuffy cooked for the group. My suggestion was that all groups should rotate through Clyde and Tuffy’s home in the future. Everyone spoke very positively about the mixture of age groups that are part of the Home Groups. And, nearly every group leader mentioned their “empty chair” and one or two names of people they were already thinking about inviting to join their group. This is great. I am really happy for all of you, and appreciate your support for this new program. Whenever the church branches out in a new ministry it is always difficult to know how it will be embraced. Thank you for putting your all into it!!!

Everyone should know that all of our groups are open to new members, so if there is anyone, at any time that would like to join in please let me know. We don’t want to leave anyone out who desires to be part of our Home Group Ministry.

God bless you!