Telling a Better Story

St. Patrick Presbyterian

Telling a Better Story

August 20, 2023 • Rev. James M. Holland • 1 Peter 2:9–13, 1 Peter 3:14–15

One of the things I know for certain is that we are more shaped by stories than anything else. I grew up in a home that was Christian, with deep roots in the stoical South. My early communities were more stoical than Christian but I saw and heard much the same thing. They were about Jesus and hard work, in that order. The men around me emphasized working hard and playing hurt. If hurt, we didn’t cry but “rubbed dirt on it” and “plowed to the end of the row.” We thought pleasure was suspicious and we were more virtuous when we were suffering. That shaped my early life more than anything I ever got from school or a textbook.

Along the way, when I really got to know the Author of the story personally and realized that he really liked me (even when I was not so good), it was like breathing rarified air. When a community of people took me by the hand and said, "Look! Taste and see, the glory of God is playing all around you!”, it felt like I was getting closer to the great Story we read about in the Bible.

I say all this to say, how do we tell a better story than the cultural narrative that plays in the background constantly in suburbia? This Sunday we will talk about it because it is true that the way we told the story in my early years growing up, and even in my early ministry, is totally different than the way we tell it now. Back then, we just took people to revival meetings and let a guest preacher tell the story. Or we studied apologetics and learned how to share your faith by asking two questions. But how do you tell the story of redemption when people don’t share a belief in sin, morality or God. Such is the place we find ourselves. The way forward is to look back! I can’t wait to talk about it Sunday.

Don’t forget, there are training classes happening during the Sunday School hour. We are getting ready to launch and preparing our leaders to set tables of grace. If you are serving in any capacity, there is a session for you. Also, we will ordain and install Ruling Elders this Sunday! Hope to see you there.

When Deep Gladness Meets Deep Hunger

September 10, 2023 • Rev. James M. Holland • Habakkuk 2:14

For the past five weeks, we have been looking at words that float around our community—words like “saturate,” “feasting families,” and “telling a better story.” Words matter. They not only articulate realities, but they shape reality. From the day we are born, we are awash in a sea of words that inform us and form us. I have always watched in wonder as my seven children learned to speak with words and am still amazed as Addison tries on new words to express not only her wonder at reality, but also her displeasure. Any community that exists—large or small, institution or family, team or club—develops a vocabulary that is unique to them and which expresses the things it values the most. If you are a stranger walking into a new gathering of friends, you quickly realize that they have a unique way of expressing both delight and displeasure—sayings, quotes, nicknames and common stories that have shaped the group. This is true of believing communities, as well—because we share not only the common vocabulary of “the great story of redemption,” but also because of our particular context and what we believe our usefulness in the world will look like. This Sunday we are going to take the words we have talked about over the past month and put together what is called a Vision Statement—that is, what we aspire to be, what the shape of our ministry will be as we make disciples who love God, love people and love life. If you are really curious to what it is, check the website—it will be posted Sunday morning! Also, this Sunday kicks off our regular rhythms of Fall ministry. Important stuff that helps us make more and better disciples. Check it out: Adults St. Patrick 101: This is our Inquirer’s Class. If you are curious about our vision and values, what we believe and why we do what we do, please join us. The first four weeks are essential if you are thinking about joining the church, then the class will continue the rest of the semester and talk about habits of grace. Genesis: This is an adult class that will dig into the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis. Foundational stuff, first principles that form the whole story of God. Financial Peace: If you are interested in how to better steward your money, I urge you to attend. I recently found an old ledger that has our monthly budget—every dime we spent going back to 1990 (I switched to Excel in 2012). It was a testimony to people who urged me years ago to think deeply about how to steward my resources. Children and youth There are age-appropriate classes for all our ‘be-gats.” Be sure to check in younger children at the desk in the children’s wing. Youth, you know where to go. I hope to see you Sunday, and I hope you are as jazzed about the coming days as I am. They say September is the new January, so now is a good time to plug in! Blessings, Jim

Stories of Saturation

September 3, 2023 • Psalm 22:25–31

Eugene Peterson called stories “acts of verbal hospitality.” He was rightly suggesting that when we use narrative to illustrate a concept, we're allowing people to walk around a bit inside our ideas, to inhabit and feel what we're saying instead of merely thinking about it. The words become flesh, and dwell among us. Sure, I could write you an essay about how incarceration forces you to find ways to thrive in a small space, or I could hand you Amor Towles’ modern classic, A Gentleman in Moscow. I think I know what the best bet is for encouraging empathy. The stories told in most families are a kind of propaganda,” claims Dan Allender. Whether consciously curated or not, our community’s treasury of stories codifies the culture. That’s good if the culture is healthy, and it's bad if it’s not. By picking and choosing what tales are repeated, embellished and celebrated, we reinforce the values and self-image we hold precious. So, too, when we allow other events and eras to remain hidden and forgotten, they become a sort of forbidden book of dark magic, better left alone. Still very powerful. This Sunday we’re going to press pause on discussing the key concepts we’ve presented over the past month and accept an invitation to sit and savor them a bit. You’ll hear four stories that have been living in my imagination under the banner of each of our church’s core values: grace is everything, feasting is kingdom work, community is family, and heaven is local. I hope they serve as a welcome mat to your soul!

The Lonely In Families

August 27, 2023 • Rev. James M. Holland • Psalm 68:1–6

Loneliness is not just an American problem, but also a global issue. Recent studies suggest that 40% of the world’s population feel lonely. The situation in Britain was such that Prime Minister Theresa May in 2018 appointed a Ministry of Loneliness. In our own context in America, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy published an advisory identifying loneliness as a new public health epidemic: “Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation has been an underappreciated public health crisis that has harmed individual and societal health.” Yea, loneliness will kill you. The body does keep score and, because we are made in God’s image, it means that being alone is not the way we are supposed to live. So odious to God is this idea of being alone that even in the perfect world, before sin enters, God utters the first (and I say it reverently) “not good” about his creation—and it is against aloneness. As if to highlight the idea that to be human is to be in relationship with others, where we know and are known. It is a powerful picture of who God is and what he designed us to be, is it not? Yet, here we find ourselves in a land of plenty, where people have never felt more alone. This Sunday we will talk about how the gospel can make us signposts in a strange land. How grace makes room and gathers the lonely into a circle of love. Perhaps our mission is not so much to go out but to but to invite in…. Hope to see you Sunday. Remember, we wrap up our training classes during the Sunday School hour and then have the glorious opportunity to linger together as a family in the presence of God. I can’t wait.