Light Of The World Community - Comments

Greetings

davidwibert74 — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:40:45 -0500

Excellent!!! !

Giving Life Away

Mark Gilligan — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 08:12:15 -0500

Mark R. Gilligan

Again Pastor Deb, your message is simple and to the point. I look forward to attending your sermons again at God's new community.

Gilligan

Validation to not take LIGHT-ly

mkaine — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 18:40:41 -0500

MONDAY: Today wrapped up Faith Partners Training at Prince of Peace in Burnsville. I attended on behalf of SOTV, but will be transitioning this program to LOTW. What is Faith Partners Training? Its training involving a joint venture with other Lutheran churches in the south metro to create a unified support environment for faith based addiction education, intervention, support and recovery. I personally have struggled with addiction for most of my life. The validation I received today regarding LOTW goes like this...

I wasn't quite sure why I was committing to attending this partner training, but I have learned to not doubt or fight when God brings me to these things. A couple occasions today, I mentioned to Scott and Randy that I wasn't sure what God had in store for me here, but I was sure he would make it evident in his time. (as he ALWAYS does... in his time and way) It was twenty minutes until class was finished. My phone gently vibrated to let me know there was an email awaiting to be read. It was none other than the email from Deb wondering about a meeting regarding Wednesday night Lights. Hmmmm. Is it safe to conclude that there is someone who will be struggling in the darkness who may need a glimmer of light that I might be able to provide? Coincidence or not, I think it was as validating as the song "Love is the Answer" by Todd Rundgren playing in the background while praying over lunch about the infant future of Light of the World. Anybody else experience validation of this nature?

Prayers

Jenn McDermid — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 22:12:30 -0500

The end of your posting made me smile! How cool for you to be able to meet Desmond Tutu's daughter! How cool to have her actually say she will pray for you (and our church)!! How cool for all of us to be part of something that has never been done before, but that will make a difference in people's lives. I am so excited about this new church and what it will stand for. It is not about "things", it is about God, families, community...the parts of our lives that should matter most. Thank you for being awesome enough to take a leap of faith and just do it and thank you for taking us on the journey with you.

Shiny things

Jenn McDermid — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 22:04:36 -0500

It seems that it is when the shiny things disappear and there are "blank spaces" that Jesus shows up for me. The shiny things really do cloud the view and when they are taken away, Jesus shines.

I think that humble surroundings will be a great place to start LOTW! Like you said, without the distractions, we can develop a church that is really about what it should be about...Jesus, the Word, and reaching others. YEAH!

our prayers for you

carimae24 — Sun, 27 May 2007 23:30:23 -0500

Deb & LOTW folks,
I may not be the target audience for your blog, but you're building a church, (that would be the people, not a shiny building),like I'd like to belong to. Because I'm otherwise engaged on Sunday mornings, I may not even be able to visit with y'all, but you will be in the prayers of many who care about your efforts, and what you're hearing God calling you to do, and maybe I'll get a chance to read every couple months how you're doing.... (And I'll know where to point Farmington area people!)
blessings, Mary Kaye

And all God's People Said...

Deb Stehlin — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:10:50 -0500

Amen, sister!

Deb

What Am I Praying For?

Jen Weers — Wed, 02 May 2007 17:37:50 -0500

I have a prayer that I say (nearly) every day. As a parent, I ask God for patience, creativity, and an over abundance of forgiveness and love. I also ask Him to help me understand what my kids need individually from me. My prayer for LOTW is basically the same thing – that God gives each and everyone of us patience during this process, creativity to find unique ways to reach the people who need us, and an over abundance of forgiveness and love – for each other as a new community, as well as those in our broader community that we will be ministering to. I also ask Him to help us all understand what it is that we need from each other and what that broader community needs from us. Basically, that He gives us the tools we need to share His love and be His hands and feet.

More about the I word

Deb Stehlin — Wed, 02 May 2007 11:06:23 -0500

There are a lot of folks who read this conversation and then think hard about the ideas brought up. What I'm hearing from people who haven't posted here, but have used e-mail, is that the idea of us being incarnational, of us being in the world, Jesus with skin on, just bumbling around and loving our neighbors as we go...that idea really resonnates with people. Good. Dawn, I like that you emphasize that being Jesus with skin on in the world means lotw people being in relationship with one another. I like that everyone is anxious to meet one another.

I just heard from one family that they will host a bonfire at their home on Saturday, May 19 at 7 p.m. Put that on your calendar. More info to come. MMMM...s'mores! I think that it will not only be incarnational, but sacramental. Because where ever two or three are gathered in Jesus' name, he promises to show up. I like that our church will begin by feasting together. Feasting is a rich and beautiful spiritual practice.

Deb

Be Careful What You Ask For

Dawn Alitz — Wed, 02 May 2007 09:49:29 -0500

What am I praying for? Taking public a conversation that Deb and I have started, I'm praying for a community - a real, discipleship-trying, God-seeking, children-loving community. I'm a Minnesota transplant; even though we've lived here for 15 years now, sometimes it seems as though we're still unconnected. I know some of the people in my neighborhood, but few of them seem terribly interested in becoming a "community." Each year, when I have to fill out the school forms with names of "other people who can be called in case of emergency," I draw a blank because many of my close friends live or work halfway across the metro area. I grew up in a smaller city, where children had the run of the neighborhood in the summer. My folks knew it was ok because if anything happened, there was someone who would find out and report back/help out. I know we can't do that anymore - at least not here and now. However, I would like my children to know other adults that they trust and love if something happens to me. I want them to overhear conversations of adults who are faithfully trying to figure out what God might be doing in our lives. I want them to see adults disagreeing in faith as well as forgiving each other when things go wrong. I want them to know that I'm not the only mother that makes my children come together in the evening so that we can pray about our day. I don't want them to confuse Jesus with Santa Clause - I want Jesus to be much more real, loving, dangerous and exciting than that. I know there are risks - sometimes we'd rather keep our flaws, fears and fights to ourselves. My mother used to say that sometimes the morning coffees that she attended in our neighborhood left her "knowing too much." But I think if we're thinking of that "I" word - incarnational - we need to be up close and personal with one another.

On that note, what would people think of starting some sort of directory? We could submit pictures of our families, with a little bit of information, just to start matching up faces and names. I'd be willing to capture them and put them together somehow. Let's start getting to know one another.

My prayer? Bind us together, Lord, with cords that cannot be broken.

Dawn

The E Word or the I Word?

Deb Stehlin — Tue, 01 May 2007 15:44:43 -0500

Dave, your words give us a lot to think about. I think we all would agree on your what evangelism shouldn't be. And we all wonder if that's what it isn't, then what is it? What if we used the word Incarnation instead of Evangelism? What if we are people who, just by their very being, carry the presence and love of Jesus where ever we go? (Jesus with skin on.) The grocery store, the baseball game, the bar. What if this presence and love and action leaks out like light would leak out of a cracked jar (the metaphor of our brokenness, but Jesus is in there, anyway?) What if, in the middle of a neighborhood bonfire with your neighbors, you found a natural opportunity to say where your hope comes from when life gets hard? What if you do radical, kind things for neighbors in need and when they ask you why you say, because of Jesus? What if you're so excited about your fun and relevant new church, that you can't help but invite friends in? What if it's Incarnation? My prayer is that we can be who God made us to be -- Jesus with skin on.

Deb

A New Evangelism

Dave Alitz — Tue, 01 May 2007 11:53:00 -0500

Apologies for again being one of the first posters; I'm afraid that I'm really in my element here.

I'm praying that Light of The World can be a model for a new kind of evangelism. I'm praying God shows us new ways to reach out and connect with those who currently dismiss Christianity and Christians as irrelevant, uninformed, dogmatic, self-righteous, etc. ... I pray that Light Of The World can live up to its' name -- an ambitious undertaking.

Lately, I've been bombarded by things telling me that one of my primary jobs as a Christian is to evangelize. I can't do it. I'm uncomfortable with evangelists. Or, at least, I'm not comfortable with what I've come to identify as evangelists. When they merged why did the ALC and LCA have to stick that 'E' into ELCA? I'd be quite comfortable without it, thanks. Evangelists are those people who I don't know that knock on the door and when I answer start the conversation with "Have you been saved?" Evangelists can be found on every college campus holding a Bible in the air and proclaiming that the passing students are all going to hell unless they turn their lives over to God. Evangelists spend their time talking about how good Christians are; and how, with some work, I could be as good as them. Evangelists tell me that if I pray enough and I'm worthy, God will give me wealth. Evangelists tell me that disease or disaster are divine retribution for sins. Evangalists confront me, challenge my self-worth, and question my values and ethics. No thanks.

I think the evangelists I've described have missed the Bible's important message. The message they've missed is that Christians are as flawed, as broken, as prone to mistakes and misdeeds as everyone else. We're essentially the same as everyone else; but God knows our failings and loves us anyway. And as Christians, we are instructed to love our neighbors regardless of their flaws (or our flaws) as God loves us.

Our status as Christians won' t help us avoid disasters, won't allow us to avoid illness or personal tragedy, and we won't be rewarded with wealth. Christianity doesn't allow you to build up some sort of shield of rightousness that protects you from a broken world; but as Christians following Jesus' example we can help to mitigate the brokenness of the world while looking forward to everything eventually being made whole.

I know what I want to avoid in evangelism. I know evangelism has to demonstrate love for others; but I'm a little foggy on specifics. I guess things like homeless shelters, food pantries, Habitat for Humanity and such are good evangelism; but if you were trying to connect with me, you'd miss. I've got a home; it's much nicer than what most people in the world have. I've never really been hungry. Hopefully, you'll never encounter me among the homeless and hungry.

What does someone like me need? What would Light of The World need to do to evangelize to people like me? You're not going to connect with me by sending me (junk) mail. You won't connect with me by knocking on my door -- if I don't know you already, I know that you're selling something and I'm not buying. What would cause people like me to come in contact with Light Of The World enough to discover that they're genuine, caring people and I want to be part of that community?

I also pray that I'm thinking clearly and expressing my thoughts clearly here. I pray that God can help me overcome my failings. I pray that when I fail, others will correct me, forgive me, and accept me. That's what I'm thinking and praying for.

Whew. I'm sure glad this question was easier. :)

Lake Wobegon- south

Larry Morgan — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:35:04 -0500

Hmmm- a three part question. Hope they don't get tougher......

Here is what I see- A church is about connections, networking and gathering people together. In the 21st Century, a challenge will be to use technology to assist in making the connections, reaching out and sharing connections while retaining live human interaction and physical contact with each other.

In today's society, the connections take many forms and shapes. This may include use of technology such as blogging, podcasts, webstreaming, texting, etc. At the same time, the technology allows us to remain distant and connect in different means. This provides advantages (people on vacation, soldiers or college students in distant locations, ease of communications, etc) but also provides excuses to remain distant.

We will need to provide several opportunities for inclusion and participation. It may include worship at alternative locations- retreats, Caribou Conversations, Bagel Breakfasts, and so forth. It may include community service activities such as Habitat for Humanity, homeless or battered womens shelter work, community projects, etc.

The outreach ministry will be an important segment and opening the doors to guests, friends and others to come and "check it out". People will need to feel welcome and be embraced in God's light. I believe that "Grace" is powerful and more critical than ever. One does not have to stray far from media headlines to realize how much pain, anger and frustration exists. Offering individuals a community of support and love will be meaningful to all of us and others. Providing activities, education and sharing opportunities will help to welcome others.

The church needs to reach out and make itself available to others through a variety of media, but ultimately the church is a community of people coming together- gathering to share in a common belief. If it starts out using a website and other technology to bring people in, let's do it!

You go, Dave!

Deb Stehlin — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 12:51:46 -0500

Dave, it made my heart beat faster to read what you wrote. The actions you describe is what I think Jesus meant when he called his followers the light of the world and the salt of the earth. One of my favorite quotes about evangelism is this, "If someone is drowning, you don't throw them a sandwich."

Deb

What would be important

Kim English — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:01:44 -0500

What would be important for me is to belong to a church community that is accepting of people who may be early on their journey to know what being a Christian is all about. Being raised in a family where church was not even a twice a year thing, I was very intimidated when thinking about attending church until I had my son in my 40's. At that time I realized that it's important for me to expose my son to Christianity so he can make informed choices and know the love of God - even if I didn't know it yet.

Having moved from California to Apple Valley in 2002 to raise our son in the Mid West, we decided to try the church on the corner - SOTV. Although we had baptized our son Catholic in California, I had still never in my life been a member of a church, until SOTV. The experience has been one of growth. I learned some very basic things that most take for granted. Who was Martin Luther? What is Lent? What was the meaning of Easter beyond chocolate bunnies? Really, I kid you not, I am/was that naive.
Probably the most important thing I've learned is that God is a loving God. One of foregiveness and acceptance.

All that being said, what would be important for me is for my son to know a Christian community of learning, fun, service and love. Also, I want to belong to a Christian community of patience as I make mistakes and grow from them as I learn about what being a Christian is all about.