"Life on the Vine" John 15: 1-8; Jonah 4: 1-11

The second week of our Lenten preaching series and small groups focusing on how we "engage" God's story; our story; and the world around us.

This week we shift to our own story.  The foundation for our story is God's love for us.  An example from the curriculum comes from Brennan Manning, who shares that we he sees God face to face, the one question God will ask is "Did you know how much I love you?"

The text that is part of the curriculum is the John 15: 1-8 text, but I had to add the Jonah text as I reflected on Manning's question.  Jonah did know how much God loved him and how much God loved others.  That, of course, is why he runs away from God.  he knows that God's gracious love will forgive the Ninevites, and he can't stand the thought of God's gracious love being extended to them.  In that example, we are both reminded of God's great love for us, but also our tendency to appreciate God's love more for us than for others!

The John passage uses the image of the vine branches.  Jesus explicitly states that God is the vine grower; Jesus is the vine; we are the branches.  I have looked at numerous images of grape vines and read all about grafting, vine branches, vine shoots, vine roots, and I still can't quite get it figured out, or at least the distinctions Christ was making between the vine and the branches.  But, I think the point is that we are called to abide in Christ's love -- our lives so intertwined with his that we bear Christ's fruit in the world.    This would not have been a new image for those who had grown up in the Jewish tradition.  The prophet Isaiah, for instance, refers to Judah and the house of Israel as the "vineyard of the Lord (Isaiah 5: 7).

Of course, we also need to acknowledge that God is the vine grower.  We do not get to decide what role we are going to play, nor are we the ones in charge of the crop. God "prunes" the branches.  The Greek verb kathairo used in vs. 2 can mean"prune" or cleanse," which ties the vineyard image in to the theological image.

I have been reflecting on the Greek verb meno.  In an agricultural sense, it means "remain on the branch."  John adds a theological insight that gives it the meaning of an "inward, enduring, personal communion" to describe Christ's relationship with God and now our relationship with Christ.  (Walter Bauer, A Greek -English Lexicon of the New Testament, 503-4; New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. IX: Luke, John, 758).  We are called to focus on abiding in Christ.

What grabs your attention in this John text?  how do you understand the image of the grape vines and branches?

Reflections on "A God for Any Time" Acts 17: 16-34

It felt like a good start to our Lenten series and introduction to our small groups. During our Sanctuary service we were able to put the chart mentioned in Move 1 and the image of the river in Honduras mentioned in Move 3 on the screens.  That added to the accessibility of the sermon.  

The sermon was longer than I usually preach, but there was a lot of groundwork to be laid for the small groups that will be meeting.  

The illustration about the Observatory of Reunification in S. Korea reminded me of the sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church, El Paso, which my father helped design.  The line of view for those gathered in the sanctuary goes through baptismal font, then pulpit, then out the glass windows that give a view of a neighborhood in El Paso and the mountains in the background.  It was designed with the reminder that we are sent by baptism and the God's Word into the world.  I had shared this example a few years ago when I returned from my Clergy Renewal time (it included a Sunday in worship at FPC, El Paso), so I did not take the time to reference it again.

As I mentioned, we had a glorious day for music with brass and the combined choirs from our church and the Presbyterian Church in Eaton, OH.  It felt a bit more like Easter than the beginning of Lent, but the congregation greatly enjoyed the music.  I suppose next week we'll be a little more Lenten in our musical offerings.

“A God for Any Time” FPC, Troy, OH; February 22, 2015; Acts 17: 16-34

Introduction: Lenten journey – engage: God's story; your story; the stories of others in the world.

We begin by looking at the context in which we live out our calling as disciples of Christ individually and as the body of Christ collectively.

As we begin the Lenten season this year and its reflective, pensive tone and hymns, we are decidedly un-Lenten in our music as we welcome the choir from the Presbyterian Church in Eaton and the brass.

It is making me feel particularly open to change and new possibilities as we start our Lenten journey.

Move 1: The culture in which we live has changed.

a. I don't have to tell you that.

1. each of us knows the world has shifted in recent years.

2. And if we have not noticed on our own, pick up any magazine or newspaper and read about how the world has changed.

3. We can point to falling attendance at church; surveys that show people are less interested in organized religion; note that sports and other groups have taken over Sundays leaving no room for the church, no room for learning Bible stories, or the discipline of prayer, or the Bible songs people used to learn.
4. The relationship between the church and the world seems to have changed drastically.

b. Charles Taylor characterizes the change in this way: it used to be that we ordered our lives based upon plan or being, but now we order our lives based upon that which is natural and observable in our world. (Charles Taylor – A Secular Age: “move from a transcendent frame to an immanent frame” – that is, ordering our lives dependent upon a supernatural plan or bring to ordering our lives based on that which is natural and observable in the world (Journal of Preachers, Lent, 2015, Vol XXXiii, Number 2, “Challenge and Invitation: Preaching Lent Today, Kimberly Wagner, 18)

1. In other words, it used to be that we understood our lives as part of a plan, for Christians that would be God's plan, that was unfolding in the world around us.
2. Now, we understand our lives based on what we experience in life and what we can prove.

2. Is that good or bad? Perhaps both.

1. Not all bad. Scientific advancement, shifting of power to the grassroots;

2. but it also has the tendency to led to disillusionment and disenchantment; for example, what if you encounter something you cannot prove or is outside your realm of life experience?

3. Can be marked by this sense that something is missing

c. As the church works in the world, this shift leads to different approaches. This week in the small groups you will discuss this Chart:

single encounter = Relationship building

Monologue leads to dialogue/discussion

Gospel presentation shifts to story (personal/biblical)

Presentation (apologetics) shifts to Demonstration (embodied apologetics)

Individualistic gives way to community-centered

Being the expert gives way to being a fellow journeyer

Argumentation leads to consideration

Ticket sales leads to guided tours

eternal benefits leads to earthly impact and mission

isolation/binary (us vs. them) leads to community integration (we)

d. would you trade living in this time?

1. Turn in your cell phones, your Internet access, your ability to travel to any part of the world in a matter of hours?
2. Probably not – and even if you were, you cannot.

The questions: How are we going to live out our calling as disciples of Christ and as the body of Christ in this changing world?

Move 2: The Apostle Paul found himself facing a similar situation in Athens.

a. he is facing a group of people who have a very different approach to the world than he has.

1. Athenians were known for having an insatiable appetite for “new things” (well known in antiquity: Demosthenes, Oration4:10; Aristophanes, Eq. 1260-63), Paul demonstrates that the true identity of the “unknown God” is anything but new. Mikeal C. Parsons, Professor and Kidd L. and Buna Hitchcock Macon Chair of Religion Baylor University,Waco, Texas

2. In fact, we are in this passage told a bit earlier in the chapter that : “Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new. http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2068

3. the Athenians sought the latest fad and wanted to be part of the changing world, the cutting edge of thought.

b. How does Paul approach them?

1. does he spend his time and effort complaining about how the world has changed and how everyone just needs to go back to the way things were?

Sort of like when we sit around moaning about how the only problem is that people need to revert back to how they used to be.

No, Paul clearly chooses to engage the Athenians, rather than just complaining.

2. at first, Paul finds himself arguing with them and trying to convince them that what they believe is wrong.

We know that temptation to try and convince others that the changing culture is wrong and we just need to go back to the good old days of being the church.

c. But when that does not work, he shifts gears and embraces the perspective of the Athenians.

1. In fact, Paul commends the Athenians: I see that your are a religious people. ….

2. then Paul shows how their beliefs connect with the God he knows: the god whom you call unknown I now declare to you.

3. He puts himself in their world, and then invites them to know the God of resurrection in their very own context.

500. does Paul's approach work?

1. Some ignore him and move on.

2. but others hear about God, recognize their need for God, and become believers.

3., God does matter in the world they know.

Move 3: Paul's experience gives us a clue about the role of the church in our time.

a. One of the images we are asked to consider this week in our small groups is of a bridge in Honduras.

1. It looks sort of add at first glance. In fact, you may not even notice that it is a bridge.

2. But there it sits, a bridge that spans nothing next to a river that needs a a bridge.

4. who in their right mind would build a bridge next to a river?

5. Wouldn't it make more sense to actually have the bridge cross the river?

6. Of course. In fact, when the bridge was originally built it did span across the river allowing people to get from one side of the river to the other.

8. But the river changed its course. Its course shifted so far that the bridge no longer crossed it.

9. The bridge is still there, but it serve no purpose, unless you like a bridge that goes nowhere and crosses nothing.

b. That, of course, is the question we face as a church as the world around us changes.

1. do we prefer to cling to the church we know and love, even if the world changes course so much that the church no longer has a viable purpose?

2. Or do we work to figure out how to make the church relevant in our changing world.

3. One of the church consultants (Tom Ehrich) I read periodically keeps hammering this point – any church that only sees Sunday as the primary day of operation will soon be irrelevant. The patterns of the world around us no longer recognize Sunday as the day for church.

4. I read that, I nod my head in agreement, but then I wonder how the church, how we in this congregation, how we have built its foundation on Sunday being the day for church, how do we live into this new reality?

5. It would probably be easier to be a traditional church that does not change, even if it means we become irrelevant.

b. But Christ did not call the church into being, Christ did not send his disciples into the world, so that we could be irrelevant.

1. where do we find our relevance?

2. Let me share another image with you.

then Journal for Preachers, Lent 2015, Volume XXXIII, p. 10, “Preaching during Lent in 2015” Liz Goodman shares an image used by Charles L. Campbell and Johan H. Cilliars in their book Preaching Fools: the Gospel as a Rhetoric of Folly): South Korea has the Observatory of Reunification, which sits as far north as you can be in S. Korea, looking over the river at North Korea; one can see the military presence in with training camps, uniforms, machine guns visible; there are also statues of Buddha with his arms open in blessing and Mary, her hands folded in prayer. Both face north toward North Korea. Up the hill is a chapel, with the whole front of the chapel is glass, looking out over into North Korea, the beauty of the land, but also the barbed wire and fences of the DMZ; the pulpit is right in front of the window. When the sermon is preached, the one preaching the congregation sees the one preaching God's word standing in S. Korea, but the rest of their view is North Korea – the enemy, but also the brothers and sisters of those in South Korea;

3. all that stands between the two is God's Word; which points to the division and offers hope. HTTP://kidsfuninseoul.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/odusan-unification-observatory/

4.  that is the space the church, this community of faith in which you and I gather and participate, where we are called to stand.

4. to live out our calling as the body of Christ in the space between the our humanity and our brokenness offering God's Word and God's love.

5.  we cannot be bound by patterns of living or traditions that leave us on the sideline watching as the world goes by us.

8. God sends us to be the hope for the world as we live out our calling in this changing world around us.

Conclusion: I confess that I watch on Thursday night every week the TV show Grey's Anatomy. Actually, given our world of busy schedules and a DVR, I may not watch the show on Thursday night, but I do watch it as some point each week.

In a recent episode, one of the married couples (two doctors) were dealing with a pregnancy gone bad where the baby would be born and die in just a short time.

The pregnant wife is an evangelical Christian who is trying to understand her crisis through her faith and is wondering where God is. Her husband, who is a non-believer, is struggling with how to help her and also help himself.

As the crisis nears its climax, the husband finds himself in the chapel at the hospital talking to the God in whom he does not believe.

He says “God if you are out there, please show up. Just show up for my wife. She needs you.”

And as the scene unfolds, God does indeed show up in the midst of their crisis.

That is our calling – to stand up in our changing world and invite people to know the God who shows up. Amen.

"A God for Any Time" Acts 17: 16-34

We begin our Lenten preaching series that is tied to our Lenten small groups.  Each week, you can listen to the sermon and then participate in a variety of small groups that will focus on the same topic.
We are using the "Engage" material from the Presbyterian Church (USA), which is designed to help us better engage God's story with our story and then the stories of others we meet in the world.

The first week points out that the world has changed, and in fact, is continually changing.  The way. of being church and talking about God that worked in the past may need to be adjusted for the world in our current time.  Of course, we can too easily dismiss the changes as "those people's changes," and ignore them.  Or, we can accept them as making it impossible to hear what the church has to say about God.  Or, we can work on understanding how God is speaking to us today.

One of the images that is offered in this week's information is of a bridge in Honduras that spans the ground next to the river, but does not cross the river.  The river's course had changed, but the rigid bridge could not change its location, so there it sits, useless.  As  the church tries to bridge God's word to the world, how do we make sure that we are not becoming obsolete on the sidelines of the world?

I think it's a serious mistake to interpret lack of church attendance or commitment to church programs as people no longer caring about what God is doing.  In my work as pastor I encounter people at various times in their lives -- weddings, births, hospital stays, deaths -- when they are desperately searching for God in an attempt to make sense of their lives. How do we engage those people?

The passage in Acts is one of my favorite Paul stories.  I have always given Paul's lots of credit in this story for making a persuasive argument based on the opponents own information.  This week, I've been thinking less about this story being an example of Paul's debating skills and more an example of how Paul instinctively understands the needs of the people and works to find a way to share with them the Gospel.

how do you see the church's role in our changing world?  Where do you see yourself making the most impact as a disciple of Christ in people's lives?

Reflections on "One Thing I Need from My Church: Worship" Matthew 28: 16-20; Amos 5: 21-27

I ended up enjoying this sermon.  The references to this particular church's ministries and giving patterns was an intentional effort to remind the congregation of mission opportunities and mission support that we have in our local congregation.

In retrospect, the Matthew passage both fits and does not fit the sermon.  The power of the Matthew passage is the clear sense that Christ expects the disciples to go out into the world.  The slippery slope is that the sermon was focusing on mission that is probably less "baptzing" and "teaching" than helping others.  

I'm not sure how well the Washington reference worked.  For me, it worked because I know about Washington's "Farewell Address."  If that nugget from history was not part of a listener's background, the illustration loses some of its impact.

“One Thing I Need from My Church: Worship” February, 2015; FPC, Troy, Matthew 28:16-20; Amos 5: 21-27

Introduction: Reflecting on what we need from our church. Mission – may seem rather basic, but it's so important, I want to spend a few minutes this morning reflecting on why we need our church to engage in in mission.

Move 1: First of all, we need to our church to engage in mission because it challenges us to live out the biblical mandate.

a. Matthew 28 – Jesus' final words on the Gospel of Matthew.

1.  George Washington's Farewell Address in 1796 – not actually spoken, but written.

Washington used these final words as he left the presidency to persuade the American people.

(If you are interested, a summary of the content is as follows: President Washington decided to retire after serving 2 terms (established 2-term tradition for presidents, "silent law")
• His Farewell Address was never delivered orally, but it was printed in newspapers.
• Washington strongly advised against "permanent alliances" like the Franco-American Treaty of 1778 (that was still in effect). He favored "temporary alliances" in the case of emergencies - this would keep the weak nation together (and out of war!)
• Significance: Washington warned against political parties and promoted neutrality, 2 things that would be broken in the future. Washington set a precedent for keeping a strong national government, promoting patriotism, and keeping morality in the government (http://www.studyapush.com/2009/10/washingtons-farewell-address.html)

2. In similar fashion, Jesus has final words with his disciples before he ascends to heaven.
3. As his disciples gather there, we are told that some are still full of doubt, but I also suspect that all are hopeful that Jesus will give them the plan for what they are supposed to do.
4. Jesus does not disappoint them. He gives them the blueprint for their future ministry: Go into the world baptizing and teaching.
5. A call to action. Not passively waiting for Jesus to return, but actively serving as Christ would if were present with them.

b. This expectation Jesus has, of course, is not a new expectation for God's people.

1. we hear the words of the prophet Amos this morning and are reminded that God had expectations for the Israelites, both collectively and individually, long before the birth of Christ.

2.  Their worship does not matter; their sacrifices do not matter; in fact, their rich lifestyle will be held against them because what matters is doing justice and showing forth God's righteousness in the world.

3. Built into the DNA of God's people, if you will, is the call to engage in mission.

Quite simply, we need our church to be the church and help us live out our calling to do mission in the world.

Move 2: Secondly, when our church engages in mission, our church challenges us to engage the world

a. Karl Barth: “As [Christ’s] community [the Church] is always free from itself. In its deepest and most proper tendency it is not churchly, but worldly—the Church with open doors and great windows, behind which it does better not to close itself in upon itself again by putting in pious stained-glass windows. It is holy in its openness to the street and even the alley, in its turning to the profanity of human life—the holiness which, according to Rom. 12:5, does not scorn to rejoice with them that rejoice and weep with them that weep. Its mission is not additional to its being. It is, as it is sent and active in its mission.” Church Dogmatics, IV/1, p. 725.

1. Easy to see the church as a place to escape from the world.

2. We gather in the sanctuary with beautiful stained glass windows that Barth describes.
3. But the church's purpose is not to sit in this sanctuary separated from the world, but to gather here to be sent back into the world.

4. when our church is at work in the world, it pushes us to recognize that our calling is lived out not behind the doors of the church, but as we live our lives in the world.

5.  Mission is more than mission trips that go to a specific place for a specific task.

Mission is more than engaging in a particular activity like Troy Concern.

Mission is a way of life that calls us to engage the world.

b. What do you think? If the church did not encourage us to do mission, would we find other places to do it.

1. Perhaps. There are other groups that help others, but the church has unique perspective that provides a foundation to doing mission.
2. I read an article recently about young adults who do mission, but are not necessarily connected to church.
3. The author notes that there is a looming crisis – burn-out. (“AS I see it, there are two impending crises. The first will come from the burnout that many of these young adults will face as they continue to serve in our communities.”)
4. A sense of hopelessness or helplessness will overcome those engaged in mission because the task will seem endless or unattainable.
5. the author goes on to note that “When one is engaged in fights that never end and causes that are never conquered, being faithful eventually must replace the hope of being successful.” (I regret that I did not get a source citation when I read this article).
6. But the church engages us in mission because our call to mission is not based on completing the task, but on our faith that teaches us and calls us to engage the world in mission.
7. Think about the Peace Candle – we light it every month and speak words of peace, even though our world does not even seem close to peace.

The church engages the world and gives us a faith perspective as a foundation for our work in the world.

Move 3: Thirdly, the church connects us as we do mission.

a. connects with other people.

1. People in other places

2. people within our own community.

3. breakfast Club or Troy Concern are great examples of how members of our church connect with people they might not otherwise know with the common bond being the mission activity.

100. Connections within our own faith community.

1. We develop community as we do mission together.

2. Power of connectedness – when we cannot do mission, others do it for us.

Move 3: Finally, the church engages us in mission to change us

a. Part of the church's role in mission is to challenge us to change and model for us what it means to take seriously the call to serve others.

1. In the past couple of years, the Session of this congregation has made several financial decisions to support mission.
2. As you may recall, two years ago when the Session established a plan for some bequests the church received, they set aside some of those funds to be used for mission each year.
3. Last month when the Session decided what to do with the surplus at the end of 2014 due to your generosity, extra funds were given to benevolences.

4. why? In part, of course, because that is what we do as the church.

5. but that decision was also made to model for all of us how we are called to use our resources to engage in mission.

6. If you wonder what to do when you run into some extra money or if you want to grow in you personal stewardship, you need only to look at these recent actions of this church's leadership to be reminded that using our gifts to do mission is a high priority.

b. The church also encourages us to engage in “hands-on” experiences.

1. Not just giving money, but giving of ourselves.

2. Two priests served parishes in the same Canadian city. I forget their real names, so will call them Al and Sam. Sam liked to eat his lunch in a park near his church. He'd eat his sandwich and watch the birds and people. Over time, he became acquainted with some of the homeless people who frequented the park. As they began to know and trust Sam, they started asking him to share his sandwich with them. Sometimes he'd give away half his sandwich, sometimes all of it. So he started bringing two sandwiches, so he'd have more to share. The two grew to three, and four, and five, and pretty soon he had members of his parish involved in making and distributing sandwiches. The program grew until they were distributing hundreds of sandwiches every Tuesday to the homeless and destitute in the area. The newspapers got hold of the story and published an article about Sam's sandwich ministry. Al read the story and was impressed. He sent Sam a letter telling him Al and Al's parishioners were praying for Sam's ministry and wanted to support it. He enclosed a check from the church for $250. A few weeks later, Al received an answering letter from Sam. It read, "Dear Al. Thank you for your support and prayers. Make your own damned sandwiches." The $250 check was enclosed, uncashed. (At the time I read this story, I was not tracking sources as well as I do now).

3. The claim of mission is not just on our financial resources, but on our time and talents.
4. The Endowment committee of our church has seed money to give to anyone who wants to go on a mission trip; we are working to put together an adult mission trip for the summer; we send our youth to KY every fall on a mission project and schedule other mission activities for them throughout the year.
5. Why? Because part of the church's task is to invite us to be changed as we live out our calling to serve God in our world.
   We need our church to engage in mission to model for us and challenge us to be changed.

Conclusion: “In This Corner” by Marj Carpenter: “A Presbyterian Hunger committee group talking to a local congregation pointed out, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. But if you teach him to fish, what happens?” One you woman quickly answered, “You get rid of him on weekends.”

A lot of unexpected things can happen when you engage in mission!

But at the core, we go into the world because God sends us to serve God's people.

"One More Thing I Need from My Church: Mission" Matthew 28: 16-20; Amos 5: 21-27

Two classic texts when preaching on going into the world (Matthew) and social justice (Amos).  The intent of the sermon is not to make an argument for doing mission, which seems to be a biblical mandate that cannot be questioned, but to reflect on why we need to the church to lead us in that effort.

what reasons can you think of that we need our church doing mission?  Here are some of my thoughts as I brainstorm that:

1.  We need to be challenged in that area.

2.  The church has connections with other places.

3.  The sense of community.

4. It is the appropriate expression of our faith.

5.  The church can give us "hands-on" opportunities instead of just giving money.

6. when I get tired of doing mission, there is someone else there to do it.

What do you think? If the church did not encourage us to do mission, would we find other places to do it.

There is a lot of conversation out there about doing mission in ways that helps people change, rather than just accepting the help.  I'm not sure how, or if that speaks to this sermon.

Reflections on "One More Thing I Need from My Church: Leaders" I Corinthians 12: 27-31; Exodus 18: 13-27

The Exodus is a great story with lots of fodder for a sermon on leadership.  The I Corinthians passage is probably better suited for a sermon on the church community.

The text printed is not that close to what was preached as I was revising as I went, which is indicative of this not being a strong sermon.

The peanut butter and jelly illustration is really good, but I think it was not developed enough in this sermon.

We were ordaining and installing Ruling Elders and Deacons, so the sermon had that "live" illustration as a follow-up in the service.

“One Thing I Need from My Church: Leadership” Feb. 1, 2015; FPC, Troy; I Corinthians 12: 27-31; Exodus 18: 13-27

Move 1: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

If you were coming to Washington, DC for the March on Washington in 1963, you were supposed to bring a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, if you brought a sandwich. At least that's what the manual developed for the march said.

Maybe someone ate a ham and cheese sandwich, but the leadership for the march had mandated peanut butter and jelly.

Although I like peanut butter and jelly, it seems rather silly at first glance to mandate what type of sandwich people would eat.

But, understand what was at stake. There was great concern that the march would turn out badly due to violence or crowd control issues.

The leaders wanted everything to go smoothly – they decided that if people traveling to DC or those lining the mall area in front of Lincoln's Memorial brought sandwiches with mayonnaise or some other topping that might spoil on a hot August day, then it might be a problem. No one wanted the headline the next day to be about sick people with food poisoning flooding the hospitals in DC.

So the leadership mandated peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. (Time, “One Man, One March, One Speech, One Dream,” August 26- Sept. 3, 2013, p. 54

Leadership exerts itself in a variety of ways depending on the situation.

Move 2: The church needs leaders. In part, because the task of being the church is greater than any one person can handle.

a. Jethro teaches that lesson to Moses in the story we read from Exodus.

1. Jethro tells Moses that Moses cannot sustain his work as a leader of the Israelites if he does not have some help.
2. And, perhaps more importantly, the people need more than what Moses can provide doing it all himself.
3. Thus, the infrastructure of leadership for the Israelite people is developed.
4. Not unique to Israelites: Hawaii – alii In ancient Hawaiian society, aliʻi was a hereditary chiefly or noble rank (social class or caste).[5] The aliʻi class consisted of the high and lesser chiefs of the various realms in the islands.
   ]The aliʻi were the highest class, ranking above both kahuna (priests) and makaʻāinana (commoners). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali%CA%BBiRuling elder – vision and faithfulness

b. As a church, we need leadership.

1. people to guide and direct the congregation.

2. We cannot do all that God calls us to do alone.
3. Or with one person making decisions or doing it all.
4. We need a group of people to be in leadership.
   5. Not a group of people whose goal is to tell the rest of us what to do, but people who take it upon themselves to partner with the congregation and guide us in our work as the body of Christ.

Move 2: We also need leaders because of the different gifts people have.

a. Diverse kinds of leaders and leadership in the Bible

1. Abraham: patriarch; lead his family into unknown places; be an example to the world.
2. Moses: reluctant leader; at odds with the Israelites and with God; led people through a difficult transition.
3. Judges: particular gifts for specific moments – Deborah, the great warrior; Samson, great strength; Samuel, wise and faithful counsel
4. Disciples: clear call by God; even among them we see the bold and brash Peter compared the quiet and steady Andrew
5. Paul – transformative experience lead s to dogged, confrontational leadership style.

6. Paul's letter – different types of talents and gifts needed.

b. Within the Presbyterian Church, we see two particular areas where we need gifted leadership – vision and pastoral care.

1. Ordain Ruling Elders for vision and Deacons for pastoral care.

2. Ruling Elders make up the Session – what we need from them is not the best business plan; not the best marketing plan; not the most efficiently run church; we need to seek and follow the vision God has for us. Ruling Elder measures, as in ruler, the congregation’s faithfulness to God's vision.

3. Deacons – pastoral care; looking after our members and extending pastoral care to our community.
4. Trustees – not ordained, but take care of our physical plant.

100. We are partnership with the leadership.
     1. It is not the task of the Elders and Deacons to be the church.
     2. Collectively, we are the church.

3. But, in the vital areas we depend on leaders to guide and direct us. To help us be the church.
4. God calls people to leadership.

Conclusion: Paul describes the church where people are using their particular gifts in leadership as showing forth a more excellent way.