Saturate
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.
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.
Feasting Families
August 13, 2023 • Rev. Joshua Smith • Deuteronomy 16:14–15
As I write this at 11:40 am, my attention is being hijacked by hunger. The discomfort and distraction in my tummy shouting: “you cannot ignore me.” I don’t even have a plan for lunch right now, but I know I’m craving hot wings again, and I won’t be sitting here for much longer. Like all other pains, hunger is designed to move living things to action. When a human senses any kind of pain, he or she has a few choices. We can anesthetize – pop a pill and move on with our day. The problem with this approach is that pain doesn’t exist for itself, but points to a need that must be addressed. So, the gift of anesthetics can often become the equivalent of unplugging a fire alarm and expecting the smoke to clear. Another approach is to acclimate to the pain. This tactic sees pain as an unavoidable thing that must be adopted into our normal experience until we develop a tolerance for it. The problem here is the same: merely another way of ignoring reality. Imagine convincing yourself that the fire alarm is just the catchy beat to this hazy nightclub vibe we’ve got going on in here. The roof is on fire! Finally, we can choose to attend to the source of the pain. Now, even here we’ve only branched into a new set of options. It is possible to attend to the source of the alarm poorly. We can end up pouring water on a grease fire. And, too often, our pain points to a problem we are powerless to address. This is another kind of hunger pain, signaling a deeper kind of need. True hunger is a pain we don’t have too much experience with. For us it’s less of an alarm and more of a notification on our phone. A gentle nudge on the off chance that we lost track of our regularly scheduled mealtimes. We remain so thoroughly fed for so much of our lives, we don’t often think about hunger as the kind of thing that requires a thoughtful response. Why am I hungry? What am I hungry for? Is my craving healthy? Is this constantly recurring signal designed to point me to a deeper spiritual hunger? Who has time to philosophize about the most practical thing on earth? Scripture tells us about ourselves: God created man hungry and gave Himself for our food. When we forget or ignore that hunger, or fill it with anything but Him, we die. This is why we make such a big deal about feasting families at St. Patrick. We want to form you to love God, love people, and love life! So, join us this weekend as we receive Christ together in Word, sacrament, and prayer, and wonder at the abundance of the table He has laid out for His children.
Saturate The Neighborhoods
August 6, 2023 • Rev. James M. Holland • Habakkuk 2:14
Well, it is August. I don’t like August. In my opinion, it is up there with May on the list of worst months of the year. It is all transition—going from the more laid back, catch your breath, travel, long dinners late into the night lifestyle… to getting children ready for school and dealing with the expense, meetings, and preparation necessary to get back in more predictable rhythms and structure. Here at St. Patrick, we are also gearing up. My calendar is so jammed, I mistakenly thought I was out of town for the Burger Bash (which I missed last year because I was on Sabbatical). I only realized it when I scheduled Teri’s birthday dinner for this Sunday and got a text from my daughter Bethan, asking me if I was skipping it! So, realizing I was not out of town after all, I quickly met with my group and started conditioning my Blackstone for some delicious Smash Burgers. As we transition, we begin a new sermon series this Sunday called Saturate. During August, we will be preaching on various aspects of our vision for St. Patrick. Then, the week after Labor Day, we will unveil a new vision statement we have carefully crafted and vetted with staff, elders and key leaders. There is nothing really new here, just a guiding statement to steer us into the future. This week we will talk about how God intends to spread his glory over the whole earth as the water covers the sea. That is how the prophet Habakkuk describes God’s intent. So, I look forward to discussing how we participate in this grand story and adventure of redemption we have been caught up in. I hope to see you Sunday, both at worship and at Burger Bash! Also, be sure to check your calendars, as various trainings for the Fall start this Sunday during the Sunday School hour and continue weekly throughout August.