Not Conformed but Transformed Vision

Transcription

1 Kamehameha Hwy, Kaneohe, Hawaii (808) Not Conformed but Transformed Vision -A note from Pastor Matthew Hilpert Paul writes, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12: 1 2) This has been the theme of countless mission trips and youth retreats that I have been a part. And trying to be edgy, we have used titles like Unconformed, Transformed, Renewed, and Warriors,hoping to repackage Paul s charge so that it would be relevant and exciting and inspiration for youth to connect. But I ve learned, over these past 18 years of ministry, that God s Wordis powerful and relevant in and of itself. When we attempt to repackage or market itways we think would make it more palatable or more exciting, we actually change the message of the Gospel into something God never intended, with a focus on us and not on Jesus Christ. In our Post-Modern world, with the temptation to rebrand, contemporize, and repackage the Gospel, I fear that we can loose our focus of vision as well. Soon we start chasing after worldly goals and comparing ourselves to the standards of others rather being transformed by the renewal of our minds by God s Word. Consider how various Christians have adulterated topics like God s will, or who Jesus Christ is, or what spiritual worship looks like, or what is a sin, or Who is the authority, or what being a living sacrifice even means, because our post-modern worldly thinking has conformed our minds. A friend shared this image via social media and it depicts the very subtle way that we can allow our Post-Modern way of thinking to change how we view God. It s both provocative and convicting. Oh, we want to worship God with all that we have, we want to discern God s good and acceptable and perfect will for our lives, we want to carry out His mission, but at times our vision can become skewed by the standards and practices of the world. I am reminded of the analogy of a frog in a pot on the stove. If you place the frog in a pot of boiling water, it will jump right out. But if you continue to warm the water slowly, the frog acclimates to the change to the point that he is getting cooked. In a similar way, the world around us continues to move us further and further away from God, His Word, and His ways, so we need to be regularly checking ourselves, our ministries, our mission to determine if we are still being guided by God or by the business practices of the world. Continued on the next page...

2 Not Conformed but Transformed Vision ~Continued from previous page~ Through the Pastoral Leadership Institute that Rachel and I have been involved, we are encouraged to review and reset our vision and values as a congregation. Being a congregation of 65+ years, it is easy to fall into habits and styles that emphasize a Modern Jesus, rather than the Biblical Jesus. Each year, as the Reformation remembrance passes, this year being the 500 th anniversary, it is helpful to examine our ministries with honest eyes and consider who we are being guided, and do we need to be reformed again. If the pressure of the world around us, the concerns of money, or the desire for personal success and power are guiding our ministries, then we have permitted our Post-Modern way of thinking to obscure Who our Lord and Savior is. Therefore, it is healthy to be continually reformed so that we would recognize that we are a church belonging to, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world. The Biblical Jesus has given us a command, and the authority, to make disciples of all, to be a city on a hill, and love God by keeping His commands. In the months ahead, our PLI team will be encouraging our leadership to examine and prayerfully reestablishing our vision and values as Saint Mark, so that we might together as one truly have the eternal impact upon our community that our Lord has called us to be. Please pray for us and regularly reflect on the things our church does (ministries) and consider what values are conveyed and how does it accomplish our purpose as a church. Rachel and I cannot lead this alone, but we need your help, for we are all the body of Christ, and we minister to one another together, in Jesus name. Join us Wednesday, November 22 at 7:00pm Worship and Holy Communion

3 Family Promise Update Time flies when you're having fun and our two week Family Promise rotation in early October did just that! We started off our week with three families, totaling 14 people. Nine of them were kids--seriously cute kids. It was so nice to have a pack of loud, boisterous children running around our spacious gym, while their parents sat and talked with each other and our volunteers. That hasn't happened for a while. During our second week, we got to witness the excitement and happiness of Christopher, Antonia and their three children, as they were graduated from the program and moved into their own apartment. The other two families threw them a little party on their last night with us and we presented them with a basket of cleaning supplies for their new home, courtesy of LWML. Thank you to all 49 of our wonderful, dedicated volunteers, who took such good care of our guests and made them feel at home. Thanks also to Thrivent Financial and Action Team Leader Darlene Fink. Through funds provided by Thrivent, we were able to purchase 14 sets of new sheets and several air mattresses. Our next rotation is not scheduled until June of 2018, but there are many ways you can volunteer to help Family Promise of Hawaii throughout the year. Please visit their website at or speak with Kristin Lim. Pictured above you can see a glimpse of the home and room we are able to provide for the families. Pictured below is one of our volunteers (Adam Disque and Family) serving dinner to the families as well as a picture showing Hot breakfast provided every morning to give everyone a great start for the day. Due to family Promise rules and privacy we can not include any photos of the families.

4 Stewardship Article by LCMS Our Father in heaven has claimed us as His own. By the shedding of His Son s blood, by His death for our sins and His resurrection for our justification, God the Father has received us back into His family. By water combined with His Word, promise, and name, the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in us. We belong to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is in us, and we are in Him. And being in Him, all things are ours. In Him, we are richly and abundantly blessed. Our true treasure and wealth is that we belong to the most holy Trinity and everything that is His belongs also to us: righteousness, peace, eternal life. Even our temporal treasures are gifts from His fatherly divine goodness and mercy. We receive our treasures from Him, and thus, as (good stewards of His varied grace,) (1 Peter 4:10) we manage them in such a way that they may be returned to Him. We bring them to Him, hallowed through prayers of thanksgiving and God s holy Word, as an offering. Thus, all our possessions, as gifts from God, are also offerings to Him, from which we eat to nourish our bodies, share with our family, neighbors, and fellow Christians, with the poor and even our enemies, as holy things given by the holy God. His temporal gifts are blessings to and for us, and bring blessing upon us even as they are pressed into His service for His kingdom and the souls that receive them. Thus we place all that we have into God s hands, and He never fails to remember us and pours out the fullness of His promises upon us. We give thanks for all that He has done, is doing, and will continue to do. We give thanks by not taking for ourselves, but giving to all even as our heavenly Father has given to us. As we prepare for the celebrations of Thanksgiving, may we all give thanks continually for all that we are and all that we have because of God s providential care. And may we be all the more diligent in bringing everything that we have received from God to Him, so that He may bless it and employ it for the good of all even for us. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance (Matthew 13:12).

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6 Date Elder Lectors Acolyte Keiki Media Tech Keiki Church Ushers Nursery Nov. 5 Bill Lorien James Kristy Scott LeNore John, Mark, Mary Ann Kristin Katie Nov. 12 Yal Mary Ann Lani Lani Pastor Ben Pam Nov. 19 Kristy Beth Abi Paige Lorien Scott Betty Nov. 22 Wednesday Nov. 26 Bill Pat Angela Mary Ann Toby, Bill Tara Noah Mart, David, Frank, Rick Camille Yal Richard, Josh, Kaniala, Sophie Nathan Matthew Dar Harriet Laura Pastor Lorien Vanessa Jason, Mart Camille Rick, Ben Family Devotional Moment: Thanksgiving-We Thank God, for He is Good Warm Up: Ask: As we approach Thanksgiving, we have much to be thankful for. What are one or two things that each of you are thankful for? Read aloud Psalms 136:1-5, 25 (entire family read italicized) Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good? His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords. His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles. His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully. His love endures forever. He gives food to every living thing. His faithful love endures forever. Ask: Why should we be thankful (grateful) to God? Activity: Drill a Hole one inch from each end of the wooden yardstick. Thread six feet of string through one end and tie it off. Thread the other end of the string through the center of a key ring and tie off at the end of the yardstick. This will create a basic mobile. You can tie another string to the key ring to hang your mobile. (All of this can be done in advance to save time during family Time). Say: We are going to create a mobile of thanks-to rmind us that God is good, all the time. We will display this at Thanksgiving. We have thirty-six things we are grateful for. We have four family members, so we can each try to do about eight or nine Thanks Hangings out of construction paper. You can make them with words or symbols, or both. Hang the thirty-six Thanks Hangings about an inch apart, using string and tape. (Option)-Have the parents take the first eight as a time line for the early years: how we met, where we fell in love, our wedding, our first home, the first child, etc. Ask: Describe what you created as a Thanks Hanging and why. Say Obviously we have much to be thankful for in this family-past, present, and future. How should we use our mobile for Thanksgiving? Where should we display it? Today s Slogan: God is good-all the time. Younger Children: Help them with the cutting and gluing. You may have to ask What are you thankful for? and help them illustrate it. Teens: You can suggest that each inch represents a year, beginning when dad and mom first met. This would project into the future things like, Making the team; getting to drive; graduating from high school; being accepted to college, etc. This is thankfulness in the future-a for of grace and hope. Prayer: (Hold the mobile in the air) We are thankful for the goodness to us:(mention a few Thanks Hangings) Father, as seen with all of these blessings on our mobile. Help us to remember that Your faithful love endures forever. Amen.

7 Normal Office Hours: Tues-Fri 8:30am-12:30pm November Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 5 8:30am Bible Classes for all 9:30am Worship / Fellowship 11:15am Youth Quest 12 8:30am Bible Classes for all 9:30am Worship / Fellowship 11:00am Youth Meeting 11:15am Youth Quest 19 8:30am Bible Classes for all 9:30am Worship / Fellowship 11:00am LWML Meeting 11:15am Youth Quest 26 8:30am Bible Classes for all 9:30am Worship / Fellowship 11:15am Youth Quest 1 All Saints Day :15pm Youth Quest 6:00pm Women s Fellowship :30pm Board of Outreach & Fellowship :00pm Church Council 15 1:15pm Youth Quest 22 1:15pm Youth Quest :15pm Youth Quest 2 7:00pm worship Team 7:00pm Elders 9 6:00pm Education 7:00pm Worship Team 16 7:00pm Worship Team 23 Thanksgiving Day 30 7:00pm Worship Team 3 4 8:00am Food Bank 12:00pm Ohana Fun Fair & Hawaiian Plate Veteran s Day 7:30am Men in the Word 8:00am Food Bank :00am Food Bank 10:00am Youth Hike :30am Men in the Word 8:00am Food Bank

8 Happy Birthday! Midweek Study/ Prayer Warriors gathers at 10:00am at church on Wednesdays for refreshments and a discussion of upcoming Sunday readings. Men in the Word meet for breakfast and 15 minutes with Luther on alternating Saturdays at 7:30am at Pastor s Home. November 11 & 25. Lutheran Women s Mission League meets on the third Sunday of the month. Nursery during Worship Service available for your keiki. Women s Fellowship meets November 8 for dinner, drinks, laughter, and devotion at 6:00pm at the Kaneohe Yacht Club. Enjoy growing in your faith and friendship with the women in our church Youth Hike to Manoa Falls on November 18 Sunday School meets at 8:30 on Sundays prior to worship Laura D. 11/6 Kevin M. 11/7 Stephen M. 11/9 Teddy C. 11/10 Rachel G. 11/11 Neida M. 11/15 Melissa L. 11/17 Laura M. 11/17 Bryce L. 11/18 Kent M. 11/18 Betty K. 11/19 Blake P. 11/25 With thankful hearts, we say Aloha to Sara Katherine this month as her and Moxy head back to the Mainland. We will miss both her and little Moxy and the Joy and Love they brought to our congregation while they were here. We look forward to future visits from you both. Happy Anniversary! 11/1 McMillian 11/5 Ishikawa 11/8 Akaka 11/18 Rushforth 11/30 Geilfuss