Burdens

I ran across this quote by Jonathan Edwards several weeks ago, for me it was one of those quotes that just makes you stop and think, “Huh.”  Its also one of those things, at least for me, that you really can’t just walk away from and not have it seep into your thinking and how you view the relationships God allows you to enjoy and participate in.  So here it is, see if you agree with me, and ask God what He would have you do with it…

“In many cases, we may, by the rules of the gospel, be obliged to give to others when we cannot do it without suffering ourselves. . . . We should be willing to suffer with our neighbor and to take part of his burden on ourselves.  Otherwise, how is that rule of ‘bearing one another’s burdens’ fulfilled?  If we are never obliged to relieve others’ burdens except when we can do it without burdening ourselves, then how do we bear our neighbor’s burdens when we bear no burden at all?”

Jonathan Edwards, “Christian Charity,” in Works (Edinburgh, 1979), II:171.

-Bill Christian

On plants and planting

It’s been nearly a month since 50 of us labored in the 100 degree heat at Vollentine Elementary School.  We planted plants mostly.  Azaleas.  Arbevidas.  In the digging, weeding and planting of the exhausted weekend gardeners we prayed that the school would be a haven for the students that would begin classes 10 days later.  And so, alongside the hostas, we planted prayers.

This weekend Alan & Pam May will be spending their first night in their new rental home in the Vollintine Evergreen neighborhood.  This weekend Living Hope is planting people in the community to follow the prayers that were planted weeks earlier.

Prayers and People.  That’s what we’re planting.  And in the middle of it all Living Hope is asking God to continue planting – that after more prayers and more people, that its a church that gets planted.  That is why, a month ago, we sweated in the 100 degree heat.

Grappling with Racism

Racism, in many ways, is America’s original sin; the effects of which have oftentimes filtered into churches and subsequently crippled our witness to an unbelieving world. Memphis has consistently been at the center of the struggle for racial justice and racial reconciliation. In June, Living Hope entered that struggle via an initial conversation about race, ethnicity and the Bible. Facilitated by Eli Morris from Hope Pres., Living Hopers shared frankly, graciously and honestly about their experiences with race and racism. Living Hopers shared about being discriminated against, their frustrations over the role race plays in politics and moving accounts of raising children in a racially charged environment.

These conversations are not easy. They are not comfortable, but they are necessary. As we continue to minister and plant churches in Memphis, it is important that we have these conversations and that we root ourselves in the stories of the Bible that deal with cultural division and point a way forward on the road to reconciliation. As those reconciled to God, we are given the ministry of reconciliation; we’re agents of reconciliation walking with people as they take steps of reconciliation towards God and then towards people – especially those with whom we have historically been at odds.

There are dreams I dream for our church. I dream of us being a church that mobilizes people to reach the nations and spark church planting movements among the unreached and least reached. I dream of us being a church that cares deeply and compassionately for the poor. And I dream of us being a church that stares courageously into teeth of racially divided city and proclaims a gospel of reconciliation and gives illustration to its power. I shared many of these dreams two years ago, not long after I moved to Memphis and joined Living Hope. I’m still dreaming. Only now, I see that many of you have those same dreams. That’s why you crowded into the Studdard’s home in June. That’s why many of you are going through the Bible & Race Curriculum in your small group. That’s why some of you have gone to the Civil Rights Museum recently.

Let’s continue to dream dreams. And let’s work under God’s leadership to see those dreams make their way into reality.

-watson

Hope Park Promotion Sunday

Parents,

August 8 will be Promotion Sunday in the Children’s Ministry. We all are looking forward to a great morning in Hope Park!

Below are the rooms numbers for the different age groups. In addition, classroom lists will be outside the doors in the Preschool area. The teachers are excited to meet your children so don’t miss out on this special day!

Preschool: 9:00 & 10:45

Infants – 101

Toddlers – 102

Ones – 104

Twos – 106

Threes – 107

Fours – 109

Elementary: 9:00

Kindergarten – 125

First Grade – 123

Second & Third Grades – 121

Fourth – 119

Fifth & Sixth Grades – 117

Elementary: 10:45

K-1st – 304

2nd-6th – 303

Idols of the heart

Here is the list of the 4 idols of the heart that I mentioned Sunday. These are taken from The Gospel in Life curriculum written by Tim Keller.

Idol: COMFORT (Privacy, lack of stress, freedom)
Price We Will Pay: Reduced productivity
Greatest Nightmare: Stress, demands
Others Often Feel: Hurt. Why? You will sacrifice what is important for your own comfort.
Problem Emotion: Boredom

Idol: APPROVAL (Affirmation, love, relationship)
Price We Will Pay: Less independence
Greatest Nightmare: Rejection
Others Often Feel: Smothered
Problem Emotion: Cowardice

Idol: CONTROL (Self-discipline, certainty, standards)
Price We Will Pay: Loneliness; spontaneity
Greatest Nightmare: Uncertainty
Others Often Feel: Condemned. Why? They can’t live up to your standards.
Problem Emotion: Worry

Idol: POWER (Success, winning, influence)
Price We Will Pay: Burdened; responsibility
Greatest Nightmare: Humiliation
Others Often Feel: Used
Problem Emotion: Anger

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