“A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS” Did you ever say that to someone who was deep in thought – when they looked like their mind was off in another world somewhere? I want to turn it around: YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT A PENNY. Here’s what I mean:
PENNY THOUGHTS…
You may have been in church the weekend I used A PENNY as the object lesson. Especially the words “IN GOD WE TRUST” on every coin. I talked about picking up pennies as a simple reminder to TRUST IN GOD. Here’s my “penny thought” for the week: On a recent bike ride, I stopped for a red light, and saw three pennies. They were scratched almost beyond recognition. “IN GOD WE TRUST” was gone.
I thought… Life does that to us, doesn’t it? All the stuff that comes at us on the “road of life” can take our eyes off of God. Satan would love to use those things to obliterate our trust in God. So, take a look at the next scratched penny you pick up, and pray, “Lord God, don’t let the stuff in my life keep me from TRUSTING YOU! “In God We Trust”
CONSTRUCTION…
With each little delay comes a little more frustration, so I’ve had to offer myself “a penny for those thoughts.” In God We Trust! God knew in advance exactly how the timing would work out. It WILL work out… just not quite the way we had hoped. Another “parable of life.” We pray God’s blessing, trust God’s timing, and do our part of the work. Proverbs 16:9 says, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” God gets the last word! Every time! Thank God!
GROWING EXCITEMENT…
The excitement I’m sensing isn’t just about growing our facilities. It’s about all the ministry planning that’s going on behind the scenes. So many volunteers working on so many projects and plans. One of the most obvious will be our first steps on reformatting the 9:30 Contemporary service. God-willing, we’ll be introducing the “first draft” this on Sunday. I say “God-willing,” because all of us know that any “new construction” will have glitches. So, I’m not praying for a “glitch-free” service, but for an opportunity for all of us to try out a little different format, and see what works best at Trinity.
I don’t believe in “change just for the sake of change.” What drives me is finding the best way to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the hearts of God’s people…and, specifically, through different worship styles. Paul said it this way in 1 Corinthians 9:22-23 “I become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel…” That became very real for me when I was serving in Atlanta, Georgia and we were suddenly given the opportunity to minister to hundreds of Laotian refugees. We desperately needed a translator to communicate the love of Jesus in their language, and we needed music that touched their hearts.
Many of us grew up with The Lutheran Hymnal, or Lutheran Worship, or, currently, LSB. It really is a “heart language” for us. That’s why we need to keep doing our traditional/liturgical services with quality & commitment. At the same time, we need to discover the “heart language” of the people in our community whose musical heritage is different from our own. That also explains why there is no perfect formula for contemporary worship at Trinity. The people who gather for worship will help us determine what “language” speaks to their hearts.
Let me also assure all of you, after preaching the same word of God in traditional and contemporary services every weekend for the past 25 years, we will keep our commitment to communicating the unchanging Word of God in worship, and treasuring our heritage as Lutheran Christians. Jesus found a way to communicate the truths of God by becoming a human being, and telling lots of parables. Paul found a way to teach the essentials of Christianity in a variety of cultures. We’ll learn as we go. Let’s enjoy the journey together!
GETTING ACQUAINTED
I love getting to know people. I know it won’t be possible to spend time personally with everyone at Trinity during the interim before we call our next Senior Pastor. However,
I need to connect personally with some of you for one of two reasons: 1) You’ll help me understand Trinity better – I need that to serve more effectively. 2) You need to talk with a pastor – let’s find a time to get together. A phone call to the office, an email, a note on the attendance card…or just tell me at church. So, for either or both of those reasons, LET’S CONNECT!