West Main

As we move forward from our Sacred Renewal, we are seeking to grow in the Lord…..I think as we begin to put flesh on all God has laid before us, we have to make sure we have learned how to truly EXPERIENCE the Holy Spirit together.

We can answer our new vision and hit the ground running!   We can plan it and plan it well. We can equip it with the best leaders and talents and technology. But unless our ministries are filled by and overflowing with the presence of God’s spirit, they will ultimately be futile!

But how does that look? What does this mean? I am trying to figure this out, and hope we can walk through this together. For the next few weeks, I hope we can walk through some ideas in this bulletin article. Let’s look at what it means for a church to walk in the Holy Spirit.

As a church almost all of us embrace an ideological theology of the HOLY SPIRIT. We say “yes….that’s good…we need more of it.” But putting it into practice is where it gets tricky. How do we walk together in a practical and real outpouring of the Holy Spirit on our lives? THIS question is harder to answer.

Have you ever gone to a birthday party without the person whose birthday it was showing up? Did you ever go to a wedding shower without the bride or groom to be? OF COURSE NOT!!!! And do you know why? Because a party is MISERABLE without the guest of honor! That would be no fun at all! Right? So let’s ask this: is our church sometimes like this??? Do we get together to celebrate and sometimes leave the guest of honor out? Maybe the best way to figure this out would be to ask: Could our church keep going if we found out that the SPIRIT was not real???   If so…then maybe we are not plugged in to the power of the Holy Spirit!

Let’s be honest—those are hard questions to even ask. I believe God’s word tells us that we cannot even do this thing we call church without the Holy Spirit. And when we try, I would suggest it is totally futile. A church is NOT a church if the Holy Spirit is not present. He is THAT important to our role and our vision as a gathered body of believers!

Where is the Holy Spirit in our ministries? How do we make sure we are plugged in to HIS power? We will continue to explore this next time…

-- Pannell

BEAUTY

Starting this Sunday, the Bible class in the Fireside Room will be discussing the glory of God in music, art, drama, movies, architecture, and literature. The technical word for such a study is aesthetics. One dictionary definition defines aesthetics as: (1) The branch of philosophy dealing with such notions as the beautiful, the ugly, the sublime, the comic, etc., as applicable to the fine arts, with a view to establishing the meaning and the validity of critical judgments concerning works of art, and the principles underlying or justifying such judgments; (2) The study of the mind and emotions in relation to the sense of beauty.

I imagine many of us might consider the study of aesthetics as esoteric, abstract, and distant from our day to day lives. Many might regard such a Bible study as a minor sub-stream away from the mainstream concerns of Christian life. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. Most of us go to movies, plays, concerts; we listen to music, read various genres of fiction; many of our members love to paint or are involved in other kinds of artistic crafts like sewing, crocheting, and quilt making.

The enjoyment and creation of beauty in the realm of artistic expression is a fundamental aspect of being a human being. We could not imagine a life worth living that did not have space for the experience of beauty. What is a life without music? What if all our buildings looked like square block prison buildings? What if there was no color? But now, what makes something beautiful? Is beauty always just in the “eye of the beholder” as often heard in one common expression? Or, are there fundamental and objective truths that ought to guide us in discerning what is beautiful, and what is ugly? What makes a piece of music “good” or “bad”? Why and how does beauty affect our emotions?

Does the truth of God’s word give us any discernment when it comes to knowing and experiencing beauty? For instance, should we only listen to “Christian” music? What makes a song, Christian? Is Christian-country music an oxymoron? What about Christian-rock or Christian-rap? What makes a piece of art, Christian? Can a non-believer create works of art that glorify God? Are there forms of artistic expression that God’s people ought to avoid? Can an artist who has a covenant relation to God, who is the most beautiful, create the most beautiful art? Should not God’s people be the most artistic of all people on the planet? How much more effective might our evangelistic efforts be if God’s covenant children created works of art that glorify the beauty of God? A non-believer may not want to listen to a sermon, but they might just listen to a song that is so beautiful they cannot help but stop and listen. Or imagine a painting that is so compelling that a non-believer feels compelled to stop and admire for a moment the beauty of God displayed on a canvas.

For the following Sunday morning Bible classes in the Fireside Room, we will be exploring how God’s Word shapes our minds to see and create beauty; beauty in film, art, literature, architecture, music, and more. Hope to see you Sunday.

– Terry

Prayer Circle  -- Please come join us each Wednesday Evening as we gather together in prayer for one another and the Lord’s church at West Main. We meet in the auditorium from 6:30-7:30 p.m. to pray, read scripture, sing and encourage one another. The prayer circle is for anyone of any age. The Prayer Circle is facilitated by one of our elders every week.

TIME IS RUNNING OUT to review your listing for our proof copy of the directory. Please review your listing THIS WEEK and initial it if everything is correct or make the necessary corrections or additions. If your name is not listed and you would like to be included in our directory, please add your information on the sheet posted for new names.

*Also, if you would like to be added to or removed from the Prayer Chain, please check that listing also.