Merry Christmas!

     Wow… it seems like only a little while ago that I sat down to write our annual “Christmas letter.” This has been something of a tradition for me now for a number of years, but I can’t believe how fast this last one has flown by! Looking back and thinking on all of the things we have done and all of the ways God has blessed us… I can’t imagine now how we squeezed it all in… in what seems like such a short period of time. God has been good to us once again this year and for that we are so thankful!

     The kids are growing up fast! I can’t believe Andy is already in the 4th grade. I learned it’s quite a step up from 3rd. Friends had been warning us about the big 4th grade project, the Tennessee State Notebook, ever since he started school at Riverside and boy, were they right! What a project! We all learned a lot… and I mean ALL of us. It was “all hands on deck” to get it finished and we were all thankful to complete it. IF we can make it through the rest of 4th grade, 5th should be a “cinch”, right? David is in the 2nd grade and absolutely loves to go to school. He was sick last week and actually moped around the house complaining about not getting to go to school. He did NOT get this from me! Michael loves making friends and thoroughly enjoys just about everything he does, including “Mrs. Christy’s” Kindergarten class. He absolutely lives life to the full, as most of you know. You can usually hear him coming and you certainly know when he has arrived. After having all three of the boys over the years, Mrs. Christy is probably thinking of retiring. I’m convinced Kindergarten teachers should get combat pay.

     The boys certainly keep us busy. All three played baseball over the summer and so most nights you could find us at the ball park. This Fall, Andy decided to hang up his football jersey for the time being (I didn’t argue) while David and Michael filled up our time with their soccer games and practices. Now, David and Andy are gearing up for Jr. Pro basketball… a first for us, so we’ll see how it goes. Celeste continues to enjoy teaching at Riverside. She took on more Bible classes this year plus a Health & Wellness class. The middle school girls love her. I can’t believe that I just started my 9th year as your pulpit minister. I continue to be thankful (and a little amazed) that you still put up with me and still let me speak to you every week. You have enriched our lives in so many ways. You have blessed us FAR beyond any way we have been able to serve you! I am just as excited about our future at Washington Street as ever and look forward to continuing to grow together.

     Speaking of growth… in case you hadn’t heard (or noticed) we are looking forward to a little more growth of our own in the coming year. For those of you keeping score, it looks like #4 will be arriving sometime in mid April. This reaffirms my theological theory that God indeed has a sense of humor! I’m sure having a new baby at home won’t shake things up too terribly much. In fact, we’re having quite the “baby boom” at church this next year and we’re looking forward to ours having a great group of kids to grow up with. As we look anxiously to a new year, we sincerely pray God’s richest blessings on all of you for a happy and healthy 2010. Oh, and by the way, in case you were wondering, the doctors have told us it’s a…  BOY!!! 
(is anybody really surprised?)

I tried something new tonight at church and I’m not sure how effective it was. I called it “Heart to Heart with the Preacher” and was an opportunity for me to just share my heart with the church… my heart for ministry, some of the things I do in my ministry and why I do them… that sort of thing. It was also an opportunity for folks to ask me questions and I especially encouraged questions from the kids. Boy, I got some great ones! It’ll take me a year or more to properly answer some of the really good ones. The funniest were the football questions. “Which is the best football team… from the Christian viewpoint?” I wonder if God cares as much about football as our young men, but its got to be the Saints… don’t you think?
Well, I’m not sure how effective it was. My main goal is to give the church an opportunity to look into the hearts of our ministers and elders and get a sense of why we do what we do… what gets us out of bed in the mornings, so to speak. We’re in a period of transition right now at Washington Street as our long-time family minister will be leaving us soon and there are questions about the future of that ministry in particular. Since he also served as an elder, there are leadership questions, too. Is it time to look for additional leaders? Additional deacons? More elders? I wanted to give the church the sense that our elders, ministers and deacons love this church and are working together seeking God’s will for us. I am as excited now about the future at Washington Street as ever before… but I’m not sure that came across.
Anyway, Brad will be taking up the challenge next week… “A Heart to Heart with our Youth Minister.” Our elders are slated for the first Sunday night in January as we look towards a great and new year!
Bottom line: I’m glad to be a part of a church that puts up with me and allows me to feel my way through God’s amazing work.

Services for
Ms. Melody A. Roach
Gallant Funeral Home
November 19, 2009

Welcome & thank you for being here
Let me say welcome and thank you to everyone for being here today. I know that Melody’s family is SO appreciative of all of the hugs & well-wishes and especially the prayers which have been lifted up on their behalf. I can tell you that means a great deal to them right now as they are going through this very difficult time.

We are here not only to honor the memory of Melody Roach but to celebrate her life… because that is what we believe she would want for us to do. She would not want us to be downcast… she would want us to be upbeat and joyous about her life… because she was. Her life had not been without its twists & turns, but she had never let life’s disappointments keep her down. She was a person who was full of life itself… and she wore a joyous and infectious smile wherever she went just to prove it! In fact, if she was in charge of this service, she might insist that there be dancing because that is one thing she loved to do so much… and was such a reflection of her personality.

Our hearts were broken on Saturday as the news spread to all of Melody’s friends and family of the horrible accident. Of course our thoughts were immediately with Amberly and the injuries that she had sustained. But we were just heartbroken over the news of Melody. I’m sure the first thing most of us did was to offer up a prayer… even if it had been a long time since we had talked with God. And for Mr. Jess and Cindy… my heart just went out to them. I cannot imagine the pain that the both of you have felt in these last days. I hope that the endless stream of friends who passed through these doors last night… the warm words… the caring voices… and the thoughts reflected from this service today will comfort you in some small way.

When Cindy asked me if I would do Melody’s service, I really did not know what I would say. What do you say in moments like this? Words just don’t quite seem to be enough. And no amount of words can really & truly summarize a person’s life… so I won’t even attempt that. She grew up in our church family, she & Amberly, but had grown up and moved off before I came to know the family. She would pop in occasionally when she was home visiting the folks and had recently moved back in at home, I understand. Yet even while I had not been around her very much… I could not help but know that she was a beautiful young lady (on the inside as well as out) who loved her family… and loved life! What do you say to someone who has lost such a dear, sweet sister/ daughter/ friend? I went to the Word of God… and I thought about the story of David.

David was without a doubt a great man of God… the greatest king to rule over Israel (God’s people) and the standard bearer by which all future kings came to be judged. He is the only man ever described in the Bible as being “a man after God’s own heart.” And I thought about the personal tragedy that he experienced in his life when (in 2 Sam 12) he lost his son, who was only an infant. David had prayed. He had fasted. He had pleaded with God not to take his son’s life… and despite all that David had done… the child had died. Most of us can only imagine how that feels… some of us know. I imagine he felt helpless. I imagine he felt angry. I imagine he felt guilty. I imagine he may have even felt hopeless. And I imagine he must have had a lot of questions… “Why had God allowed this horrible tragedy to occur?” “Why couldn’t it have been me instead of him?” “How could a loving God do this to me?” Aren’t these the questions we still ask when bad things happen… when there are things we cannot understand?

Well, what did David do?
2 Samuel 12:20
20 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate. NIV

What? He ‘worshipped’? What do you mean, ‘He worshipped?’ His child had just died and he went to the Temple and offered worship to God? That’s what it says. Why would he do that? With all of those questions bouncing about in his head… the doubt, the anger, the frustration. HOW in the world could he ‘worship’?

Well… moments like these are the moments that drive us to our knees. They are the moments that remind us that we really are NOT in control in this world… and that no matter how hard we try to cheat death… we cannot. These are the moments that cause us realize just how badly we need God. These are the moments that prompt us all to stop and reflect.

Reflect on the fact that… Life is a precious gift of God!
At the creation after God had created the heavens & the earth… the seas… and the skies… on the 6th day the Bible tells us that he created man and breathed into him the precious “breath of life.” The psalmist would sing…
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalms 139:14 NIV
Life is precious because it is the gift of God… and Melody was a precious gift of God… anyone who knew her knew that!

But oh, is it so brief!
Whether its 25 yrs or 85 years in the big picture of things… it is tragically too short!
Psalms 39:5
5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath. Selah NIV

Hebrews 9:27
27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, NIV

As shocked as we were to hear the news about Melody… its news that will one day come for each and every one of us… regardless of who we are. Its not the number of days we get on earth that ultimately matters… its what we DO with those days that really counts! And Melody made every day count. She loved life and lived every one of them to the full. I heard somebody say in a movie one time, “Every man dies, but not every man truly lives.” I think we can say that Melody truly lived.

Appreciating the brevity of life ought to move each of us to make the most of every moment… Melody did that… always smiling and making friends wherever she went.

And you can tell that in the response from all of her friends & family… I’ll bet I counted 100’s of postings on Amberly’s Facebook page… hundreds of folks who poured through here last night & this morning… people who loved her and are oh, so going to miss her! She loved her friends, too… especially her ballroom friends with whom she could be found almost every weekend. She loved her family… her Daddy (Share Jess’ story about her ring) She loved her siblings… and I know was especially close to her twin sister, Amberly. They were known for playing the old switcharoo… just to mess with folks… or to see if anybody would notice.

With the loss of such a lovely young person… you might ask… “How could we possibly worship? How could we possibly sing a song of praise in this moment?” I sort of think about it this way. When I was a kid, whenever I got hurt… whenever a bigger kid had pushed me down or hurt my feelings… whenever I was upset or confused about the world… I always knew I could crawl up in my Daddy’s lap & just let him hold me. He wouldn’t even have to say anything… just being there… in his lap… made me feel better. His was a strong shoulder to cry on… and his arms were just gentle enough to make me feel better and yet strong enough to hold me tight. He didn’t have to even explain everything to me… I probably wouldn’t have understood his grown-up explanations anyway. It was enough… for him just to hold me. (I still feel like doing this sometimes, don’t you?) I think that’s exactly what David did. He went in to sit down in his Father’s lap… so that God could hold him a while.

Like I said… I don’t have the words to comfort this morning. But its my prayer that all of you, (Jess, Jess jr., Cindy, and especially Amberly) can crawl into the arms of our Heavenly Father… let him wrap his arms around you… and hold you… carry you.
2 Corinthians 1:3-7
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. NIV

… let him carry you. Do NOT try to carry this burden by yourself!

And one day… well John saw this vision of the way its going to be ONE day…
Revelation 21:1-5
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” NIV

and I can’t wait, how about you?

Jesus tells a great story! This past Sunday we took a glance at some of his greatest from Luke’s gospel. The one that has always been my favorite is his story of the “Prodigal Son” in chapter 15. Its familiar to most of us, but I sketched it out anyway. It was such a common story… one, no doubt, most in his audience could relate to. A son. Actually two. A father. An inheritance. When the younger son asks for his inheritance up front… the father, reluctantly I imagine, goes ahead and gives it to him. Surely it came with a warning. “Be careful not to spend it all in one place.” “This is all of it, so be sure to save some for a rainy day.” “Watch out for folks who might take advantage of you.” That kind of advice… the kind you would expect from a father to a son. Well, you know the story. The son goes out and squanders it all on high living! Then he hits rock bottom. The economy takes a downturn. No money. No food. Everything is gone. I’m sure the son had to have felt awful. When he comes to his senses he decides to turn around and head home. Hoping to just get hired on in his father’s farm, he is surprised to find his father waiting for him… arms outstretched… ready to welcome him home. When his jealous older brother expresses a bit of bitterness at the shin-dig thrown for his prodigal brother, the father just says, “Rejoice, be glad. This brother of yours was dead and is alive again, was lost and is found!” What a great story! But I wonder what happened next?

I mean, what would have happened if Jesus had continued the story into the next day in the life of this reunited family? Would the prodigal son have woken up in the warmth of his own bed and had a renewed appreciation for it… after all those nights with the pigs? What would the conversation around the breakfast table have been like that morning? Would he thank his father again for the reception? For the party? For the absolute and unconditional love that his father had shown? Would he tell his dad again how sorry he was for leaving? Would he savor every bite of his meal, appreciative of where it came from. Would his manors be more full of “please” and “thank yous” than ever before? Do you think he worked extra hard for his father, knowing how much his father had done for him? Or do you suppose that the little brother got up the next day and fell right back into a pattern of ungrateful behavior towards his family? Do you suppose he complained about his breakfast? “Dad, the toast is burnt.” Or “Mom, the juice isn’t cold enough.” Do you guess that he picked a fight with his older brother just for the sake of an argument? “Mom loves me more.” Do you imagine that he would decide to test his father’s patience again? Do you suppose he did any of those things?

If not, why do we? We who have come home have been welcomed unabashedly into God’s glorious kingdom! God has thrown his arms around us and called us his sons once more… despite the fact that none of us deserved it. He has thrown a party and given us a room in his dwelling place! And yet so many Christians wake up every morning woefully neglectful of all that God has done for us. We act as if making it to church once or twice a week is about all we can do in return. Surely the Father’s okay with that. Surely there isn’t any more he expects of us. Will we live our lives as grateful children ever mindful of what our Father has done for us? Our Father hurt when we sinned and turned our backs on him, but he welcomed us home anyway. He forgave us of our sin… and even gave his Spirit to us to empower us over sin. He has given us LIFE and life TO THE FULL! What will we do with it?

What a great day Sunday was! I don’t often spend much time reflecting on Sundays, but I can’t help but feel that this one was special and as I look back I see what a glorious day it was. For the first time in days I saw the sun come out and even though it was still unseasonably cool, the crispness in the air coupled with the rays of the sun gave me an extra bounce for some reason. Then as we gathered for worship there seemed to be an extra measure of the Spirit of God among us. There’s nothing like “Joy to the World” to set the right tone for worship! As our songs and as our thoughts centered around the coming of the Christ, the birth of Jesus, I was reminded just what an incredible gift that was (and is) for us. God left the throne of heaven to become a human being just like me… “God in the flesh.” What a great theme to remember… and one we should constantly keep before us… certainly more than just one season out of the year! To top it all off, our hearts were pricked as a dear brother responded to the Lord’s invitation confessing sin, and asking for prayers. Oh, if we could all be more open and honest about sins that we face… perhaps we could help one another avoid getting ourselves into the messes that we do. After lunch with good friends the afternoon was spent at the Heartwalk where we enjoyed a great walk with beautiful weather. Afterwards, I hurried back for a great Share Group meeting with my wonderful small group. Jeremy Howes led us in a great devotional and we capped off the evening with Chili and hot dogs. It doesn’t get any better than that! I love my Share Group! We are so blessed at Washington Street to have such a great church family. You are all a blessing and I hope your weekend was equally blessed. Please keep our brother in your prayers this week… and pray for God’s Spirit to continue to move among us… moving us to increasingly become the people and the church that God wants us to be.

I have a preacher friend who used to say all the time, “People are funnier than anybody.” He was usually referring to something silly or outlandish that a church member had done without thinking and he would just shake his head and repeat it again, “People are funnier than anybody.” He was right, of course. People are funny and we do some pretty silly things. Take football for example. This is the season for football and the time of year when a lot of folks go a little nuts supporting their favorite team. In fact, it could be argued that for many in Tennessee and Alabama, football borders on being a religion. Fans make their weekly pilgrimages to the stadiums where, in exchange for some big bucks, they are seated along with thousands of other screaming fans to root on their favorite teams. Fans aren’t interested in playing for themselves… no, that isn’t their intention. They are content to just be spectators. They sit on the sidelines and watch others have fun. They cheer as others make the big plays and achieve the victories. They holler as others take the hard hits, pick themselves up and get ready for the next down. They are content to watch others live life to the full… while they just sit by and watch… spectators. Oh, they’ll make excuses… “I’m just too old to play anymore”… or, “I played many a game in my time,” or “I never was good enough to play myself” or “I’m not sure I’ve got what it takes”… and they’re content to sit by and watch while others play the game. How ludicrous is that? People are funnier than anybody.

As I said… football is something of a religion in many places… but what may be worse is that many treat their religion like they do football… as a spectator sport. They are content to make their weekly pilgrimages to church where they can find a comfortable seat among the others who have gathered to cheer, throw in a few dollars to the offering plate and ensure that the gospel is spread. The actual work, however, is left to others… the ministers? The elders? The deacons? They will do the work, take the licks and make the plays. The spectator Christians are content to sit by and watch. Oh, they’ll cheer and holler! They’ll be the biggest cheerleaders when a new ministry opportunity comes down the pike… but they won’t volunteer to participate. They’ll be the first to point out when the coaches have made a bad move or the referees have made a bad call… but they won’t volunteer to lead or coach for themselves. They’ll be glad to point out the need for a new ministry here and there… but you won’t see their name on the roster. That’s because they’re content to watch… they don’t want to get into the game for themselves. Maybe they’ve put in their time and want to enjoy retirement? I wonder if Moses was contemplating retiring when God called him from the burning bush at 80 years old? Maybe they just don’t think they’ve got what it takes? I wonder if Peter ever wondered why Jesus had picked an impetuous fisherman to preach God’s Word to thousands? Maybe they just don’t want to get knocked down? I wonder if Paul ever considered staying down when they were throwing rocks at him? Whatever the reason, spectator Christians are fine just watching as others play the game. “People are funnier than anybody.”

God has called us and he has called EACH ONE of us. That means we are all on the team… meant to play not watch. We are meant to participate, not spectate. We are meant to get in on the action, not watch it pass us by. We are meant to live life to the full, not simply sit idly by. Where are you? Are you on the field or in the stands?

Andy’s trip to the State Capitol… they don’t call it capitol hill for nothing!