The End of 9:00 am

We are ending the 9:00 am worship service as of now. I’m sorry for the abruptness. I know this isn’t the best situation but this is how it's working out. We have the early 7:30 am Easter sunrise service tomorrow, and then I'm gone on vacation the next Sunday. We wouldn't be having the 9:00 am service while I’m gone. Then if we start the 9:00 am service back up when I return from vacation, it would only be for a few more weeks (since I am moving to another church this year). So we'd stop it and start it and stop it again. Furthermore, I'll be doing the 10:30 am service all of April as Kevin is gone on vacation during that time. Therefore, while it's not the best timing and we haven't had a chance to really talk about it, we're ending the 9:00 am service after tomorrow. If you have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to let me know.

Jesus' Last Week

We are now in the midst of Holy Week (the days from Palm Sunday to Holy Saturday), traveling with Jesus during the last days before his death. Today is Maundy Thursday (or Holy Thursday) which gets its name from the new commandment (mandatum novum in Latin) Jesus gives to love one another in John 13:34. Tomorrow, Good Friday, marks Jesus’ trial, crucifixion, and death. This is all part of the story that leads to the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday. The message, “He is risen!” turns the events of Holy Week into a celebration of joy. This is the story of Jesus the Christ.

I invite you to participate in our Maundy Thursday worship at 7:00 pm this evening. My sermon, “Everyone Will Know,” is based on John 13 and Kevin LaGree is celebrating Holy Communion.

Tomorrow, our Good Friday worship service is at 7:00 pm. Kevin LaGree’s sermon, “Lead Us, Lord,” is based on Isaiah 52:13-53:12 and Hebrews 10:16-25.

This Sunday is the beginning of Easter. Our first celebration is at 7:30 am on the front steps. (The sun will rise at 7:12 am that morning.) As the sun rises over the downtown, we will gather on the front steps of the church, in a place that could resemble the stones around Jesus’ empty tomb. In that place we will celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. My sermon, “Do Not Be Afraid,” is based on Matthew 28:1-10. Last year we worshiped at 6:30 am at the Simon Estes Amphitheater along the river downtown and it was about 25 degrees with a wind chill in the neighborhood of minus sixty! It should be a little warmer than that, but if it’s too cold, we’ll go inside. We don’t want to press the Lord too much by asking for healing from frostbite two years in a row!

Everyone is invited to the Easter brunch in Fellowship Hall at 8:30 am. Special music begins in the sanctuary at 10:00 am and our second worship celebration begins at 10:30 am. Kevin LaGree’s sermon, “O Come, Let Us Adore Him,” is based on Colossians 3:1-4 and John 20:1-18. Why doesn’t Mary recognize Jesus when she meets him outside the empty tomb? What relevance does the command the Risen Christ gives Mary have for us?

This is the perfect time to invite others to come to worship with us. I recently saw the statistic that 84% say they would come if someone invited them.

New Website

The big news continues with the launch of our new website for First Church. I’m very excited for you to check it out. Please let me know what you think. This has been a long process and there is still more to be done (we’ll be adding images now that we’re live). But the new site is finally up and we can continue working with it. I think it's great.

Come and worship tomorrow morning, and don’t forget to change your clocks tonight. Most of us will lose a little sleep tonight in order to gain a little sunlight in the morning and lose a little sunlight in the evening. Makes sense, right?

Big News

My family and I will be moving from Des Moines in June. The Bishop and Cabinet have “appointed” me to be the pastor of another congregation, Salem United Methodist Church in Cedar Rapids.

We are experiencing the grief and hope that accompany most life-transitions. There’s a pretty good load of stress right now (we have to sell our house - yikes!). Yet, we are grateful for the many relationships we have with those of you around us (near and far).

Please join me in praying for these two congregations: First Church (Des Moines) and Salem Church (Cedar Rapids). It has been my privilege and joy to share life with my family and friends here and to live and work with Kevin LaGree (lead pastor), the great staff, and the wonderful people around First Church. I hope it will be my privilege and joy to live and serve with the people of Salem and Cedar Rapids.

About Last Night

During our discussion last night about N.T. Wright’s book, Simply Christian, there was concern that some Christians feel superior to people of other faiths (or no faith). One woman had the uncomfortable experience of being with another Christian who matter-of-factly uttered that non-Christians are condemned to hell.

No one in our discussion wanted to believe that was true. What a heartless and arrogant attitude! And yet, while it seems loving (or American), we do not believe that there are many different paths to God and that they are all equally good. Rather, we believe in the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NRSV).

Being a Christian doesn’t mean feeling superior to people of other faith traditions or believing that they are condemned. While many people know John 3:16, very few seem to know the next verse: “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17 NRSV).

It doesn’t mean, however, making the opposite error of buying into the ideal of pluralism. I’m not knocking diversity but rather the theory that there are more than one or two kinds of ultimate reality. This is a very popular notion in America today and it goes hand-in-hand with the virtue of tolerance. I like G.K. Chesterton who once said, “Tolerance is the virtue of people who don’t believe in anything anymore.”

Like the world into which the first Christians carried the gospel, we too live in a pluralist society. The gospel is often reduced to merely one opinion among millions of others where truth is relative, meaning it might be “true for you” but certainly not for everyone. In this pluralist society, we claim there is no other name than Jesus. He alone is Lord. But concerning ourselves with who will be saved (a question that can only be answered by God) misses our calling. Our witness in the world is telling the story of Jesus and indwelling that story, being Jesus in the world. I’m pretty sure God can handle the rest.

To think of it another way, is being a Christian a privilege (I get to go to heaven when I die!) or a responsibility (We have a task!)? This is the misunderstood doctrine of election. To be chosen does not simply mean we get to go to heaven. Election is about whom God chooses to be incorporated into God’s mission to the world. Being a Christian means responsibility! The church is not simply about meeting my needs. In Jesus we receive an invitation to join the mission of God’s people, bringing healing to a broken world (health, well-being, friendship, justice, salvation, etc.), showing the world a different way by the way we live together, proclaiming and embodying Jesus Christ in the world.

Come and worship this Sunday at 9:00 am (Fellowship Hall) and 10:30 am (Sanctuary). I am preaching at both services. My sermon, Give Me a Drink, is based on John 4:5-42. In a Samaritan city, Jesus encounters a woman at a well and engages her in conversation about religious questions like ours.

Another Sunday Winter Storm

Because of the major winter storm bearing down upon us, all worship services of First Church are being canceled for tomorrow, February 17, 2008. Please be safe!

What Are You Doing During Lent?

The Bible Discussion Group begins again tonight and will meet every other Wednesday evening. We are reading the Gospel of Matthew and Lent is a great time to join the discussion. The discussion group will meet at 6:45 p.m. on February 13, February 27, and March 12 in the chapel on the second floor. Here is our reading schedule so you can prepare for each week:

• 2/13 - Matthew 10: The Sending
• 2/27 - Matthew 11-12: Are You the One?
• 3/12 - Matthew 13: The Parable of the Kingdom

On the Wednesday nights opposite the Bible Discussion Group (February 20, March 5, and March19 at 6:45 p.m. in Fellowship Hall), I will lead a discussion about why Christianity makes sense. Have you ever wondered why humans in all places and times have yearned for beauty, truth, spirituality, and justice? Bishop N.T. Wright, author of Simply Christian, contends that it is because we hear the echoes of God’s voice.

You are invited to join us each Wednesday, beginning with supper at 6:00 pm in Fellowship Hall (there will be a free will offering to help with expenses). At 6:45 p.m. the Gospel of Matthew/Simply Christian discussion begins at 6:45 pm. along with pastor Kevin LaGree’s discussion on the book, Practicing Our Faith, A Way of Life for Searching People.

If you would like to know more about Lent, check this out.