Pastor's List Of "I
Like..." and "I Wish..."
We Have A "Grade A" Church In So Many Ways! Why
Not Try For An A+?
I’m spoiled, but I know it. I guess that makes me thankful and appreciative. I know when things are going well and I thank God for all his goodness.
But I’m also a dreamer. No matter how great things are, I can always see room for little improvements. That’s our topic for today. Focus mostly on the I like… sections, because that’s where God is at work doing great things among us. But take a look at the I wish… sections. Maybe you have a dream, a vision for even greater things too!
CROSSWAYS!
I like… What a great crowd on Sunday at our first session of CROSSWAYS! We have about 30-35 brand new students enrolled and we saw about 12 or 15 repeaters there on Sunday taking the refresher course!
A Presbyterian pastor asked me this week what’s the most significant thing we’ve done as a congregation since I came. To me it’s obvious: the Word of God. If God has done anything, it is by the power of his Holy Spirit through the Word and the Sacrament. I told this pastor that I believe CROSSWAYS! has been our best move into God’s Word for most of our people. God will be at work opening his message of love and hope and calling to a terrific new group of our Christian family! I’m pretty excited. I like the big crowd at Bible class!
I wish… Some guys are just never satisfied, are they? I can honestly say I don’t wish that every person in the church were in CROSSWAYS! with me. It’s not the right thing at the right time for everyone. But here’s what I do wish. I wish that those one or two people who in recent weeks have felt that God is calling them to join me but haven't, would make the bold move and sit in on just a session or two.
I know that a couple of you are really thinking you ought to be in CROSSWAYS! but for some reason you’ve hesitated. Get over it. Make an hour on Sunday and an hour during the week for study and join us.
Caring for Older
Adults
I like… Most every week I hear a story about someone from the congregation making a call or a visit to one of our older adults who have moved from the “Go-Go” category into the “Slow-Go” or “No-Go.” I know how Jesus feels when you visit someone who is ailing or lonely or hurting. (“I was sick and you visited me…”)
I think one of the greatest measures of a church is its capacity to care for those who are mostly forgotten. When our shut-ins of institutionalized members get a word of cheer, a hand to hold and a prayer from one of their sisters or brothers in the faith, it is as significant as the appearance of an angel. I like when we visit and care for one another. I like knowing that it happens far more than I am aware of, too!
I wish… I’m just greedy. I wish caring visits to our homebound members happened even more. We have a large older adult membership, many of whom were extremely active in their service to the Lord here for years, who are suspicious that their church has forgotten them.
Clean-up/Fix-up/Pick-up
I like… Our church facilities are in awfully good shape. This property is a gift from God. (Ask someone who was here in 1951 about the miraculous story of moving here!) I can honestly say that this location and the potential to do ministry here was a major factor in my decision to accept the call as Pastor. I’m the object of the jealousies of just about every pastor I know in St. Louis!
It always does my heart good to see hard working women and men caring for the physical property God has entrusted to our care. I catch people dusting a scrubbing and pulling weeds and fixing leaky stuff all the time. I like when you take care of our building and grounds! It shows your appreciation.
I wish… Big properties have big maintenance needs. There are always corners that need dusting and weeds that need pulling. Our trustees and their helpers do a spectacular job of keeping up as best they can, but they could put an army of helpers to work. I wish we had a few more who were willing to pitch in with clean-up, fix-up, pick-up kinds of tasks around here!
Worship
I like… God is up to something. I work hard on preparing my sermons and working with our musicians to prepare worship on Sundays, but I know that God is at work making something special happen.
When I hear about the depths of worship, the power of God’s Word to bring comfort, healing and hope, the answered prayers and the transformed lives that we’re experiencing in our worship, I know it’s not me. It’s God at work. Wow! I really like the way our congregation is learning to worship. Some people “go to church.” Some worship the living God. I’m hearing more and more, especially from guests in worship, that what happens here is something special. It’s a movement of the Holy Spirit! I like that!
I wish… Now you’re asking, “What can he complain about now?” I miss you. When you miss a week, or especially when you miss a few weeks, our family is not complete. It is so wonderful when we gather to sing God’s praises and hear his message of love and hope. It’s just sad for me when so many of our members miss a week for no apparent reason.
I wish everyone were here every Sunday that it were possible. Certainly travel and illness (serious illness!) can keep us away from worship. I understand that. My prayer is that we all will continue to take seriously God’s wisdom concerning our weekly need for refreshment at his house of prayer. He knows best. When he said, “Work for six, let’s visit on the seventh” he knew what he was doing.
Welcome Guests
I like… I usually get a very good response from our guests about how they are welcomed on Sunday mornings. Of course, I realize that few people will come out and say, “Darrell, your church members gave me the cold shoulder. I got a few smiles and a hello, but that was about it.” I like the way you welcome the stranger among us. I’m especially proud of our highly trained, extremely motivated, dedicated and faithful Hosts. Remember, everyone is a greeter, a few of us are called to be the front-line of Hosting.
I wish… We can take it a step up. I still notice every week that some of our guests slip out of the church without having a conversation with any of our members. I’ll watch our welcome time and notice that many of our guests get only a “hello” and a handshake, instead of a, “Hi! My name is Larry and I’m glad you’re here! I’m afraid I don’t know your name!”
It’s especially important on the way out of worship to tell your friends, “I’ll visit with you in a minute. Please wait around for me, but I need to meet someone who is new here today!” A real welcome and a real conversation can help someone know that we care and want them to return soon.
I give our church an “A” in every one of these categories. The “I wish…” sections are just my hopes for an “A+.” We have an A+ Savior. Let’s offer him our best!
P.S. If you’re not getting a weekly e-mail from me, drop me a note at darrell@mtcalvarylcms.org so I can have or correct your address. Thanks!