"The Message of Thanksgiving and Hope"Sermon Transcript for May 14, 2000
By Rev. Mike Beck
Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-3
Early in my ministry I learned what was the unpardonable sin for pastors. It’s this--to go over on either Easter or Mother’s Day. So I have no intention of committing that sin this morning. My message will be a brief one. In fact, Bob’s presentation was really very much a part of the overall worship experience today.
On this day in which we give thanks to our mothers, I’d like to take just a moment to say with all sincerity a few words of thanks to you, the congregation that I have come to love and appreciate during the past three years and, hopefully, for many more years in which I am privileged of being your pastor. I want to thank God for the rich heritage of faith that is present here at Grace. A very unexpected thing has happened in my life during the remodeling process. And a lot of what we were doing was an attempt to upgrade our facilities so that we could remain effective in ministry in the twenty-first century. But as we worshiped those six or seven weeks in Price Hall, and then as we have returned to this sanctuary--all of that--I gained a renewed appreciation for the wonderful heritage of Grace Church.
I was deeply moved last Sunday morning when with the baptismal font moved forward, we could use it again. And as I reached over and got the water from this font that was a part of this church nineteen years before I was born, I was moved. As Gary and Jane came on Friday evening before the altar of this church with the wood so beautifully restored and the light glimmering on it now in ways that weren’t present before, and I realized how many of you stood before that altar and promised to be faithful to a partner in life.
As I continue to meet persons who reside at the Franklin United Methodist Community and get to know who they are, their deep heritage and faith, their service to Christ’s church for so many years, I find myself offering up anew, "Thanks to God for the tremendous heritage of Grace Church". I thank God for a church solidly rooted in a heritage of faith and tradition. But I thank God also for a church whose focus primarily is on mission and ministry, not on simply maintaining the status quo, as is true in so many congregations. I thank God for the trust you have placed in me. A trust that I do not take lightly. And I pray daily for wisdom to faithfully serve God and this congregation with integrity, with vision, and always in a spirit of love. I thank God today for your willingness to embrace change for the sake of advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I thank God for your openness to newcomers and for the faith decisions that you continue to make to help us share the good news of Jesus Christ to a growing numbers of persons in this community around us. Two of those changes will become very evident within the next month. As starting June 11th our 11:00 worship service takes on a more contemporary style to try to reach out to a segment of the population who do not experience God in a more traditional style. I hope next Sunday to be able to announce a new Associate Pastor that is coming to Grace Church. That is another area in which you have exercised faith to help us bring on that person. We are thrilled with the person that we had hoped would be appointed to come here and we got word that is going to happen. And his primary focus will be in outreach to the community around us.
I thank God for the tremendous steps forward you have made in terms of sharing of your financial resources for the work of God’s kingdom. If any of you save newsletters from four or five years ago, I would urge you to go find one of them and compare the weekly Sunday offerings at that time to what they are now. And for your faithfulness in that area, I say "Thanks." But at the same time, I must remind you that a church seeking to go forward will always face financial challenges because we’re always trying to take that next step forward for the sake of the kingdom of God. But those challenges give us the opportunity to grow in our faith and grow in our discipleship and also to see God’s mighty hand at work to do things that we did not believe were possible. Believe me, at various administrative committees this past year as we tried to look at where we believe God is leading us, we at times would shake our heads and say, "Is that really possible? That’s going to stretch us." Isn’t that always what God’s people have been called to do? To step out in faith to where we believe God is leading and believe that where God calls God also provides.
I thank God for your involvement in mission. Grace Church is a mission-minded church. Our Mission’s Committee met this week. That’s the committee to be on friends. They get the joy of spending. The money that you’ve given, $8,0000.00 that has come in over the last several months, they disbursed to projects here in Franklin, in Indiana, in the United States, and literally around the world. And most of those folks will never be able to come and say, "Thanks". But this week you can be assured lives are being touched around the world because of your involvement in missions and for that I say, "Thanks".
I now thank you for the love and prayers and encouragement that you give on a daily basis to Mickey and myself. We feel those. I’ll acknowledge to you this morning that I’m tired. The last few months have been extremely busy and stressful, also very exciting. But you won’t see much of me the next couple of weeks. It’s time for a little R&R before summer gets here. There is no way that God would enable me to do what he has allowed me to do without your daily prayers and words of encouragement and notes that come in the mail. And for that I say, "Thanks".
Friends, God is at work in this place. Persons are experiencing the love of God in transforming kinds of ways. And I’m so grateful to each and every one of you who out of your love of Christ are sharing of your spiritual gifts in ever-growing ministry. Friends, there is a great future ahead for Grace Church. All we have to do is three things:
1. Continue to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ. And if you ask me what that means, to me it is rather simple. Let me be obedient to where we feel God is leading us and that we love one another. And grow, therefore, in our discipleship.
2. We must continue to be persons of faith with the many implications that go with that. We walk, friends, by faith not by sight.
3. And, finally, in the words so often used in scripture, we need to remember that God says to us as we embrace the future God has for this church. Look at scripture and see how often you see these words, "Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid for I am with you always even to the end of the age."
E-mail Comments to: Reverend Dan Sinkhorn