Christ Church's blog

One of our core values is “Community.” This means that by God’s grace we are becoming a community of real people in real relationship, learning to love one another, celebrate together and bless our world through hospitality, witness and service.  Christ Church values the diversity of backgrounds, gifts, cultures and generations in the family of God.

August 25, 2010

Dear Christ Church Family,

What an adventure we have been on! We have seen the hand of God over and over again in the hearts and community of this part of His body. We have seen miracles, big and small, all of them only possible because of the Holy Spirit’s work among us; it’s new wine, a sign of God’s blessing at Christ Church, as I preached on last Sunday.
 

In biblical studies “janus” is the term for a passage that summarizes what’s been said and introduces the next thought. It looks back and forward, deriving its name from the Greek god Janus, who was able to see the past and the future.

We are part of a church-planting movement. The Anglican Mission was founded to reach the unchurched people of North America through planting vibrant communities of faith that give an authentic and compelling witness to the power of the gospel.

Do you know what it’s like to be under the influence?  No, I’m not talking about blurry eyes or that former life you’d rather forget.  I’m talking about what Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, telling them not to get drunk on wine, but be filled with the Spirit.  This Sunday morning I’ll conclude our summer emphasis on the Holy Spirit with a sermon on “God’s Presence: the Holy Spirit manifests God’s presence and fills his people.” The language of being “filled” speaks to our experience of God.  It points to

Some of my favorite Christ Church memories are from our annual Parish Retreat. Who can forget Christine Warner, Jodi Wicker and Drake Dowsett doing an interpretive dance to Cindi Lauper’s 80s classic “Time After Time”? If you don’t already have our next retreat on your calendar, save the date now to worship, play, grow and make new friends: October 15-17 in Spicewood, Texas.

Snobbery comes in many varieties, humility in just one. Let me review a few of our favorite varieties of snobbery in the church (not just Christ Church, but The Church).

First you have Chronological Snobbery, which inflates the significance of our own times, our own generation or era of history. This variety of snobbery assumes that what’s happening now in contemporary churches, worship or Christian publishing, for example, is just about as good as it gets, second only to what’s coming next.

It’s Ordinary Time. That doesn’t mean it’s a time of insignificance or boredom. It means we are, literally, in a season of the church calendar called “Ordinary Time,” which follows Easter season, which follows the season Lent, which follows Epiphany and so on. Ordinary Time is the longest season on the calendar.

What are we aiming for with our summertime focus on the Holy Spirit at Christ Church? I was recently discussing this question with someone and thought it would be good for us all to be praying for these concrete results, bearing in mind that the Lord might, by his sovereign mercies, choose to do more or other than we pray. The Spirit of God, after all, is as uncontrollable as fire, wind and water.

Cliff is away this week, attending a preaching conference on the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John with some top-notch pastors and theologians. Please keep him in your prayers as he studies and as he travels home to be with us on Sunday. Cliff asked me to write this column in his place this week, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to share a poem that I came across a few years ago while on a silent retreat. I was wrestling at that time with allowing the presence of the Holy Spirit to fill me and empower me in a deeper way.