Dear Fam,
I did a Q & A with the primary school students in chapel this morning and here are some of the questions I faced:
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Why did you want to be a pastor? If you go to heaven when you are 8 years old, are you 8 years old in heaven? Do miscarried babies go to heaven? Do dogs go to heaven? When did you start to believe in God? Were there dinosaurs on the Ark? Was it hard for your children to be pastor’s children? What is All Saints Day? Are angels always right? What do pastors do? Was Jesus made by God? When was the Bible written? |
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• Rich Greete serves SRPC as an elder and as a counselor
in private practice in our counseling center. Did you also know that
Rich and his wife, Crissy, continue to serve as missionaries with our
denomination missions team (Mission to the world). Here’s an excerpt
from a recent letter describing the value of their work.
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Death is hard This summer a team of college student served together for two months in Europe, forming deep bonds and seeing God work in significant ways. At the end of the summer three of the students traveled to nearby country to hike and sightsee. One of the three went hiking by himself and fell to his death. This was tremendous shock to all of us, but especially to the team he had just been serving with, and to the two young men who had accompanied him. Death is heard to deal with when someone close to you passes away at the end of a long and full life; but it is especially hard when you are young, and the friend that has passed way was also at the very beginning of adulthood. Family and friends are left reeling, hoping to wake up from an unwanted nightmare. As we in Spiritual Life at MTW sought to assist these young men and women in dealing with this grief, Rich Greete was indispensible. With his knowledge and calm demeanor in counseling with this group, he was able to help each with their individual grief. Some of the group were from non-Christian families, and really didn’t have much at home in the way of support, but Rich was there for them, walking with them through the valley of the shadow of death. Rich is an essential part of our spiritual and emotional care at Mission the World. Missionaries are real people with real needs, and they often live in situations of great stress. Rich is a vital part of our efforts to more effectively carry out the Great Commission. Alice Hatch, our full-time counselor says: "Rich Greete served as an MTW missionary in Japan for many years. This service, plus the counseling training and experience he has received since his return, places him in an ideal place to be a counselor for missionaries… Rich is a skilled professional who also understands deeply what missionaries go through. His own experience of suffering when they had to return to the U.S. because of a child’ illness makes him greatly able to identify when MTW missionaries go through trauma and suffering. I count him a valuable resource and colleague in the ministry of caring for missionaries, and I thoroughly enjoy working with him. In fact, we could use him more than we do if he were able to raise sufficient support to do so." |
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• I just finished reading Khaled Hosseini’s latest book, “And
the Mountains Echoed.” It follows his excellent earlier work—“The
Kite Runner” and “A Thousand Splendid Suns.” It’s a great
read that helps humanize the lives of people in Afghanistan and Pakistan who
we often know only as stereotypes. Now I’m in seventh heaven reading
the latest Jack Reacher story—“Never Go Back.”
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• Read an amazing story today, but it will make you cry. It's
the blog of a fellow PCA
pastor's wife in Colorado Springs who is dying of cancer (with four young
children) at age 37. |
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• The Seven Rivers Christian School Auction
is this Friday night. There is still time to get a ticket! |
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• We have 31 people signed up to go to England/Scotland
and learn about key figures in church history like John Bunyan, John Wesley,
John Knox, C.S. Lewis, as well as key places like Westminster Abbey and St.
Andrews. We’ve got room for just a few more! Here’s a link for
more information.
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• This weekend, we’ll spotlight the ministry of Seven
Rivers Preschool. I’ll be preaching on the aftermath of David’s colossal fail
with Bathsheba and we’ll be baptizing 24 folks! To God be the glory,
great things He hath done and continues to do!
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Ray |
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October 24, 2013
Dear Fam,
It's busy at SRPC!
• Preschool ground is broken!
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• Trunk or Treat is this Sunday from 3:00 - 5:00 on our athletic field. We have over 50 trunks -- last year we had 35! (Here's a helpful article on what Christians should know about Halloween!)
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• Last weekend's communion/healing service was powerful. Attendance runs around 1,100 this time of year -- last weekend we had over 1250!
• Seven students (Alyssa Gage, Andie Golliher, Jordan O'Quinn, Tessa Kacer, Reilly Cash, Scott Jacobson and Nicole Bell) are going to Japan on November 8 to serve the Japanese church at the CPI conference.
• This week new members join, next weekend we have baptisms. We currently have over 20 baptisms scheduled! That's a lot of water even for Presbyterians!
• Next Friday is the annual school auction. It’s a fun night and it helps families give their children a Christ-saturated education. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the school office during the week or in the narthex this weekend.
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• This weekend's preaching will feature an adulterous sex scandal, executive abuse of power, and a diabolical cover-up. I'm not preaching on the Clinton presidency, but the life of David, the man with a heart for God! The David and Bathsheba account is found in 2 Samuel 11-12! See you this weekend.
Sincerely,
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October 10, 2013
Dear Fam,
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The good news is that we are accepted by
God to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, in spite of our
foolishness and failure. Will we have the courage to accept the
transformative presence of God in our prickly hearts, or perhaps to actually
seek it? To seek God's presence is to admit that we limp. We need to be
forgiven, to be accepted, to be loved, to be healed, to be given the power to
love others, and to follow God together with our fellow fools.
And this is precisely what the curative presence of God brings. We are healed of our fear of failure and being exposed. In our communities of faith, we are set free from the self-righteousness that allows us to look down our noses at those who are seemingly less spiritual than we are, or those who have never stepped inside a church building.
When healing happens, church becomes more
than a place where we attend and pretend. The church is once again a people,
among whom acceptance and grace are palpable, because we are finally able to
admit that we — all of us — are people being restored by the life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus. Churches become gathering places where those who don't
know God are able to come and not have to hold their breath for fear of
ingesting the stench of self-righteousness. Or better yet, the people of God
break out of the confines of our buildings in meetings and permeate our
neighbor hoods, workplaces, and schools with the healing and hopeful aroma of
Christ in everyday life. Friends, this is not just a possibility; it is what we
are called to do.
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Oct 19/20 Deacons' Fund Nov 2/3 Preschool Nov 9/10 New Horizons Nov 16/17 Disaster Response Nov 23/24 Hunger Week |
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Ray
September 26, 2013
Dear Fam,
God loves Seven Rivers Church and one of the ways he smiles on us (and me) is with the provision of an outstanding staff. Our staff is a high-functioning team and a delight to do life and ministry with. There are a few new players on our team I want you to meet (and a few new church members who aren’t acquainted with the staff at all), so we put together this piece to introduce the whole team. These brochures will be out this weekend at the visitor desk, coffee station, café and children’s check in counter as well!
- Did you know that SRPC was instrumental in founding the Florida Church Planting Network (FCPN) and is the largest donor church to the work of the network? The FCPN is 40-45 churches from Jacksonville to Naples who pledge 3% of their annual tithes and offerings to begin new Christ-centered, gospel-rich churches in this part of Florida. We are in our third year and we have churches beginning in Jacksonville (San Marco/Riverside area), Orlando (Lake Nona), Bradenton, Estero (near Ft. Myers), and two Korean churches in Tampa and Melbourne. We are about to launch a multi-cultural church in Lakeland, and a new venture in the Delaney Park area of Orlando (just south of downtown). If you have family or friends in any of these areas who would benefit from being involved in one of these works, we can pass on contact information.
- Praise God from whom all blessings flow. This week brought good news for Citrus County’s palate and pocketbook. Duke Energy has announced they are planning to build a new gas fuel electrical plant (at an investment of over $1 billion dollars) and Panera Bread is coming to Inverness! At SRPC, we rejoice—we want our community and the families in it to flourish (and I want regular access to the chocolate croissants at Panera!).
- As each of the pastors of SRPC preach, we are aware (and thrilled) that we are not just speaking to those in the room, but countless others who are joining us via podcast. This week I got an email from a young woman in Ft. McMurray, Canada who was listening to the Summer Conference sermons by Jimmy Agan as she awaits the posting of this week’s message. Another loyal listener texts me on Tuesdays if our podcast isn’t online yet—she says, “we’re starving for grace out here.” Shannon Loughridge wrote that she’s leading a discussion group of junior girls at Auburn University who are Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran and Methodist and they are listening to the Heart for God series!
- Marty Cates—our Student Pastor, closed on a house this week in the exclusive enclave of Connell Heights (my neighborhood!). Marty & Meredith’s crib needs some TLC so a number of us are going to help them, clean, paint and landscape on Tuesday (10/1). If you can help, let Marty know at (757) 620-7567.
- We’ll continue our series on the life of David—A Heart for God, this weekend as we study 1 Samuel 24:1-22. Diane and I will be in Texas with our daughter and her family this weekend as I officiate at a family wedding. Don't miss out on the fun at SRPC this weekend.
Sincerely,
Ray
