church – Anna's Alcove

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Live Out Loud!

Walking along a city street, strolling through the mall with your friends or shopping in a farmers’ market, you’re bound to bump shoulders and be jostled by at least a dozen or more people of varying backgrounds, ethnicities and beliefs. Guaranteed.

Some of us relish the opportunity to lose ourselves in a crowd, experiencing the excitement of navigating our way through a throng of people, diving for that open space when the moment is just right. Others dread having to deal with crowds and will attempt to plan their outings when the volume of shoppers, walkers and employees is significantly lower.

But we all interact with people at some point of our day, extroverts or introverts alike. Now, take a moment and think about the number of people you come in contact with throughout the day. How about in two days? Three? A week? A month? A year?

The numbers have increased, right?

You’re probably thinking, ok, so what? Yes, we know that dealing with crowds is just a part of life, so what’s the big deal? You just shove your way through or impatiently wait in line to check out, surfing Facebook on your smartphone as the customer in front of you pays for their items…

… but wait a minute!

How many of those people know Jesus? How many of those people have heard about the free gift of salvation that He’s holding out to them? How many of those people are headed to eternal punishment because no one reached out to them with God’s love?

Puts it into perspective, doesn’t it?

A couple Sundays ago, Kevin King, one of the missionaries my church supports who is based in New York City with his family, shared about what God has been doing in his life and what He has laid on his heart.

Their mission in NYC is to share the gospel with students from other countries (Muslims, Buddhists, etc.) while they’re studying here in America. As they come to know Christ as their personal Savior, King disciples and teaches them more about the Bible and how to lead their own studies.

That way, when they head back home, which is more likely than not to be located in the “10/40 window” (a section of unreached countries, tribes and people located in Japan through China, India, the Middle East and Northwestern Africa), these students can share what they’ve learned about the gospel in places where our missionaries are unable to go.

This seems to be one of the most effective ways to reach countries where Christian missionaries are not welcome. These students grew up in the villages and can easily get back into these countries, where they’ll have the opportunity to take what they’ve learned during their time in NYC and start Bible studies and churches with the people they know.

The goal of the Kings’ mission is to create relationships with the people they come into contact with on the streets, in schools, at stores, etc., spreading the love of Christ and sharing the Good News. They don’t wait for opportunities to come to them.. they intentionally seek out anyone who needs to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Some of us get stuck in the thinking that we’re not qualified or don’t know enough to be a good witness for Christ. What if they ask us questions we don’t know the answer to? What if what I say ends up sounding stupid or doesn’t make sense?

Yet, God still chooses to work through us to spread His Word. God can use common and ordinary people to do extraordinary things!

While talking with our congregation, King used the example of Peter and John in Acts 4:1-13. The men were arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. When questioned by what power and in whose name they acted in, Peter started to testify:

“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: if we this day are judged for the good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (vs. 8-12)

Now, you’d think the whole place would go ballistic after a claim like that, but they don’t. These leaders heard what Peter said and “when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” (vs. 13)

Peter and John didn’t go through seminary. They didn’t spend years studying up on the Scriptures. No. They were just stating a fact and giving an eye-witness account of what they did. And it was evident through their actions and straightforward answers that they had been with Jesus.

Another example King used included the woman at the well (John 4) and how “many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, ‘He told me all that I ever did!'” (vs. 39). She just shared her story and told about what Jesus had done in her life. There wasn’t any exams she had to take or memorization of Scriptures. It was just her story and the love of Christ that was evident within her.

Also the demon-possessed man in Mark 5. After Jesus cast out his demons and the man begged to go with Him, Jesus wouldn’t let him. He said “Go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how He has had compassion on you.’ And he departed and begain to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him and all marveled.” (vs. 19-20) Again, this man was just sharing his story. No training. No studying. Just talking with his friends and family.

I’m not saying this is an easy thing to do. It can be really scary to go up to someone in a public place, introduce yourself, build that 5-minute relationship and steer the conversation toward religion and what they believe. Some may turn you down directly, others may be really interested and ask a lot of questions that you may not know the full answer to.

But that’s ok. No need to freak out or worry that you don’t know the answer. This is an opportunity for you to continue the relationship after this conversation by promising them that you’ll get the answer for them at a later time. Admitting that you don’t know everything reveals that you’re still human, not some super godly person who is superior to them.

When Jesus says to go and make disciples of all the nations, He mostly meant to build relationships. Strike up those conversations. Sit with someone in the food court if they look like they could use a friend. Put your phone away and talk with people in line while you wait to check out.

We’re created to be relational and we should use that to our advantage!

Let’s work on living out loud for Jesus by building relationships and sharing what He has done for us each day, no matter how big or small 🙂

A Time and a Season for Everything

September 9, 2013 / Anna / 0 Comments

Sunday, Sept. 1, 2013 – It was Promotion Sunday…

The first few rows of pews were full of kids, preschool through 12th grade, who were sitting with each of their Sunday School teachers upstairs in the sanctuary during the first service. Each teacher would present the students who were moving up from their class and talk a little bit about what they do during Sunday School.

The preschool teachers stood and presented the two children who were moving up from their class, gently coaxing the nervous kids to stand and smile at the congregation, and then they passed the mic on to the Kindergarten and 1st grade class.

Mr. Walt Semenyna, the kids’ Sunday School teacher, stood up in front of the congregation and said how glad he was that he had this chance to share with the congregation what their normal morning routine looks like. He was talking about how the kids enjoyed singing along with the songs he played on his keyboard and started to describe the lesson time, when he suddenly collapsed, clutching his chest.

Time seemed to stand still.

Then, it slowly seemed to pick up speed again, as people rushed up to help, including a local EMT who attends our services. The Sunday School classes were escorted out by their teachers, one person called 911 and one of our church leaders led the congregation in a group prayer. The ambulance arrived and we all filed out of the sanctuary to give them privacy to do what they needed to do.

Everyone gathered in small groups throughout the foyer to pray, talk or just to be together in silence while we waited to hear the news. When the ambulance took Mr. Walt away, we were told that he was still not responding and the situation seemed critical.

By the end of the second service, we received word that God had called Mr. Walt home to be with Him in heaven.

Having served in the children’s ministry (AWANA, Sunday School and VBS) at Bethel Memorial Baptist Church for 30 years, Mr Walt had been doing the work that he loved when God chose to take him out of this world.

It’s events like this that make you think. We live life as if we’re going to be here forever and as if it doesn’t matter what we do from moment to moment. Yes, we have the hope of eternal life with Jesus and we know that we’ll go to be with Him in heaven some day… but where’s the proof of that belief? Who are we to tell God what needs to be done or how we want things to go in our lives?

David makes a good point in Psalm 139:14-16

“I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.”

Every single one of our lives, our days and our moments are written down in God’s book. He has this master plan that we’re all a part of and, while we may not see the big picture just yet, each of us has a significant part to play.

It was interesting too, because on that very same Sunday that Mr. Walt went to be the our Savior, our pastor’s sermon was based off of Ecclesiastes 3, which starts off like this:

“There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven:
A time to be born and a time to die,
A time to plant and a time to uproot,
A time to kill and a time to heal,
A time to tear down and a time to build,
A time to weep and a time to laugh,
A time to mourn and a time to dance,
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
A time to embrace and a time to refrain,
A time to search and a time to give up,
A time to keep and a time to throw away,
A time to tear and a time to mend,
A time to be silent and a time to speak,
A time to love and a time to hate,
A time for war and a time for peace.”

There is a time for everything.. and our Creator is sovereign over time. We can’t rush things and we can’t slow things down. It may seem like God is too far away to care about us down here on earth, but there is evidence all around that He is very present in each of our lives.

My pastor then read Ecclesiastes 3:11, which says,

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

We may never fully understand what God is doing from moment to moment or how much of an impact we can have on someone’s life, but in the end, we have a hope… the hope that “we belong to eternity, but are presently stranded in time… that we can know our eternal destiny and can walk with God in our earthly lives.” (as my pastor said)

So, what are you doing with your life? Are you living as if nothing could take you down, as if you’re “unstoppable”? Or are you seizing the moment, using every opportunity you get to make a difference in someone’s life?

Take every moment and find a way to use it for the glory of God. That’s really the best kind of legacy to have once you leave this earth.. living a life that is glorifying to God 🙂

Don’t Smother Me!

October 11, 2011 / Anna / 0 Comments

Jessie Schwartz grew up in a non-Christian home, where she witnessed what drugs, and drinking did to people she loved. Unlike some of her friends, who grew up in the protective bubble of a Christian community, Schwartz wasn’t surprised by the influences and temptations she found on a secular college campus. But her friends had no way of knowing what they were up against.

Many young adults raised in the church are growing up isolated from the world around them. Their parents might think they are creating a safe space for their children’s faith to grow, but a new study reveals they might be setting them up for disillusionment and failure.

According to the findings of a research study recently released by the Barna Group, 59 percent of young adults disconnect from the church in their teen years. Many study participants told researchers they stopped attending church because it was not always open to discussing how to relate faith to real world issues.

Of those who listed the church’s isolation from the culture as a problem, almost one quarter complained that Christians were too quick to “demonize everything outside the church.” Twenty-two percent said the church ignored the problems of the real world, and 18 percent said “my church is too concerned that movies, music, and video games are harmful.”

David Sanford, a freshman at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania said churches too often refuse to step out of their comfort zone to test their faith against the modern world. “They seem to have their own safe bubble that they stay in,” he said.

Micah Reed, a sophomore at Edinboro, agreed that some churches don’t do enough for the younger generation. “People don’t seem to venture out,” he said. Churches aren’t always welcoming to outsiders, much less a place to discuss what’s going on in the world, he said.

Schwartz, who also is a sophomore at Edinboro, said churches and parents should do more to prepare their children for what they will encounter in the “real world,” instead of keeping them solely in a Christian community.

“The only way to rectify this is to get out of our holy huddle and start reaching out to the lost,” Schwartz said. Churches hold plenty of Bible studies and dinners for their members, but in reality, it’s just “a place where we can all get together and be friends,” Schwartz said.

Sanford also encouraged churches to spend more time reaching out to the communities around them.
“They should train the people that they are sending out in order to better equip them to take on the world,” he said.

The Barna Group’s study suggests that some church leaders ignore the concerns and issues of teens and those in their twenties because they think the church disconnect will end when young adults are older, said David Kinnaman, president of the research organization based in Ventura, Calif.

In his latest book, You Lost Me, Kinnaman says the concerns young Christians raise about church and culture could lead to revitalized ministry and deeper connections in families.

“In many churches, this means changing the metaphor from simply passing the baton to the next generation to a more functional, biblical picture of a body – that is, the entire community of faith, across the entire lifespan, working together to fulfill God’s purposes,” Kinnaman said.

This is the first in a series of six stories exploring the major themes of the Barna Group study about why young adults leave the church. Coming tomorrow: Just skimming the surface – Young Christians who want more of God say the church is too shallow.

Anna's Alcove

Let's do life together!

Tag: church

Live Out Loud!

A Time and a Season for Everything

Don’t Smother Me!

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