Together
I am grateful to pastor this church, since 1986. We are building, honoring others, serving our community in many significant ways, making room for people to use their gifts, feeding and caring for the under-resourced and so much more. We are being prompted to remember our lives are more about giving than receiving and to remember, as John Piper has said: “We can go on loving others without reciprocation since we will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (Luke 14:14) When we give to get, we miss the heart of Jesus. But when we give, serve and bless because we are grateful for what God has done, we are most like Jesus. This is what I feel about our church:
Philippians 1:2 – 6
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. (NLT)

We are in a partnership in the Gospel!
Some people view their participation in church as though they are on a cruise ship. They see themselves as a part of the ‘cruisers’ rather than the crew. We must follow the example of Christ and join the crew. Get our paddles out and start rowing together – Doing Church as a Team.
So many people who are in churches today need to rethink the purpose of the church. It is a partnership in the Gospel.
People using their gifts and talents, Your paddle is not like mine, my contribution is not like yours, but together we partner in the Gospel.
Together we love, live and serve heart-first. We connect all our efforts back to souls and serving.
The heart of our church is growing more and more towards a prompting that comes from love.
1 Thessalonians 1: 2 – 4
We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you (NIV)
In the end love is what fuels it all.
And love is manifested by sacrifice. It is what Jesus did. The church was birthed out of an act of love. It should not surprise us that the church only moves toward God when it is fueled by love. In a world of imitations real love touches hearts – real love gives, serves. Francis Chan, in his book Crazy Love speaks about people that are lukewarm in their faith. One of the things he states is that “LUKEWARM PEOPLE are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act. They assume such action is for “extreme” Christians, not average ones. Lukewarm people call “radical” what Jesus expected of all His followers.”
Let’s not only listen to the stories that move the hearts of others, let’s be in those stories.
Some of the people who make the greatest contributions in life have just determined that what they have, much or little, belongs to God and should be used for His purposes. The church is not an organization. It is more like an organism with living parts that must move and work together as a whole. An individual part cannot stand on its own. Churches die when people stand their ground and refuse to move in unity. The body becomes sick if it ever becomes segregated. If I cut off my arm and planted it in the dirt, that arm would not grow into a new body; it would die! So it is with the Body of Christ. Each of us has an individual assignment and role, but apart from the rest of Body, we are useless. God created us that way. That is His design, not ours.
Have you ever noticed how each part of your physical body works in groups? For example, the hand works with five fingers, a palm, a wrist and forearm, with muscles, bones and tendons connecting them all together. The integration of all these elements working together gives your composite hand and forearm agility and coordination. You see, every part of your body works best as a team, with all of its parts serving in harmony and cooperation toward a common goal! Let’s keep growing together, serving together, supporting each other – together. We are better together!
Let’s keep making a difference for the Kingdom of God by serving, giving and loving. Let’s not be lukewarm but rather grab a paddle and row.
I sure love you LFC and am grateful for all that has happened this past year – but anticipating what we will to together in the future.
My life is better because you are in it,
Pastor Bernie Federmann