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First Congregational

United Church of Christ

... exploring the frontiers of faith in Jesus

Yesterday, today, and forever

Because that’s what it’s about, isn’t it? Fear.

Fear of those who are my enemies. Fear of those who might be enemies.

Fear of what is happening all around me. Fear of what might happen to me.

Fear of not fitting in. Fear of being different. Fear of those who are different. Fear of outsiders.

Fear of losing my livelihood. Fear of losing control. Fear of losing myself. Fear of losing my life.

I have been thinking a good deal about fear over the last year or so. Fear was the name of the rock I threw into the Atlantic from the beach at Columba Bay on the Isle of Iona. Fear was what I wanted to rid of. And fear seems to be at the root of much of what divides us against each other in this country, of what makes us suspicious of what we don’t understand, of what leaves us anxious and unhappy and impatient and uncharitable.

Fear closes us in and shrinks us down. Fear hardens us and makes us defensive and less willing to take risks. Fear robs us of energy and joy and turns us against each other, making life that much more miserable, that much less rich and full, for ourselves and everybody around us.

This is not what God wants for us! And so I believe that one of the most important functions of Christian community is to combat fear, to confront a society too often ruled by fear and show it another way, and to create among ourselves a climate that is, as much as we can make it, free from fear.

You know, don’t you, what is the antidote to fear? Love!

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Nice doggie

I love my dog.

He is a wonderful companion. Every morning, he watches me back out of the driveway to go to work, and every evening, he eagerly welcomes me at the door when I come home. He follows me around the house, laying down by my feet, or even on my feet, when I sit down.

He likes to go for rides with me in my pickup truck. I open the passenger door, say, “Go for ride,” and he jumps up onto the seat. When we run errands, I tell him “Be right back, Bear,” and he patiently waits for my return.

He’s my best hiking buddy, hiking up to ten miles at a time with me through the woods and up and down mountains in Maine, carrying his own water and snacks in a doggie backpack.

Stoney is a wonderful companion, a constant and loyal friend, always excited to see me, wagging his whole back end with delight, wanting me to notice him and speak to him and pet him. He listens to me. He wants to please me. He goes where I want to go and does what I want to do. All he asks is food and water and a little attention, a little affection, which I am more than happy to give!

I love my dog. Stonington Bear -- that’s his full name! -- is the best, the nicest, dog I have ever had. I love my dog.

I love my God. But God is no dog!

I don’t keep God on a leash. God doesn’t go where I want to go or do what I want to do. God doesn’t want to please me; God wants to save me.

God is not loyal, but faithful. God does not stick by me no matter what, like my dog does, but remains faithful to what he is, to what he has said, to what he has promised. God does not just accept me as I am, no matter what, but invites me in -- into life, into fullness of life, into joy, into all I am created to be.

And God is not nice. God is not nice, but good, and nice and good are two very different things. A nice person might ignore your faults and your flaws for the sake of making you happy, but a good person would not. A good person helps you face your faults and your flaws as they are, honestly and bravely, for the sake of making you whole.

Nice is soft and warm and cuddly, but good is ... Well. sometimes good can be downright scary!

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A great generation

These are the people I grew up among, and the people who explicitly shaped my faith, and who, in shaping my faith, also very much shaped my sense of identity and purpose. I learned from them a style of faith that is a life calling, not merely a Sunday morning duty. There is no way you could separate their faith in Jesus from the rest of their lives because it was so closely and intimately intertwined in everything they thought and said and did.

It is interesting that, for me, the compelling invitation to center my life on Jesus came from outside the church, from experiences and relationships outside church in its traditional forms. And yet it is precisely those experiences and those relationships and that faith born outside the church that led me here into ministry in the church!

Hearing of Rusty’s death made me think again of those formative years, of my father and his InterVarsity colleagues, and Lynne’s father, people of that great generation of Christian men and women to whom I owe so much. And remembering them made me want to tell you about them, so they might inspire you, too!

They were passionate people, passionate about their faith, passionate about Jesus, passionately sharing Jesus’ love with friends and strangers alike.

They were gentle people, strong and capable and smart, but gentle and humble, not needing a lot of attention or accolades.

They were people of depth and integrity, practicing what they preached, their faith, as I have said, seamlessly woven into the fabric of their lives.

They were warm people, fun people, accessible and gracious and welcoming.

They were faithful people, serving God and God’s people with all they had, all their lives, until the end.

And they all had those qualities of character Paul prayed that the people of the Colossian church would have: knowledge and strength and joy.

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Shalom

We wait for what God has promised

Earth

... new heavens and a new earth!

• Read my essay, Heaven can wait

From Tidings, Staff Corner ...

I’m getting ready to be BUSY.

With the coming of fall and the beginning of the new church year come the resumption of many of my regular church activities as well as some new events.

This will be a confirmation year, the first confirmation class we have had at the church in five years. Greg and I will be leading the class together Sunday evenings from 5:30 - 7:00 pm beginning September 19.

We are excited about the group we have to work with, eight young men and women, some who have grown up among you and others who will be new to you. You will be seeing them often this year -- leading worship, planning special church worship services, participating in the mission activities of the church. The best “teachers” they will have are all of you, showing them by example, by your faithfulness, by your eagerness to grow in your own faith, what is means to be a follower of Jesus.

I will also be leading Kerygma: The Bible in Depth, an intensive and extensive exploration of the BIble as whole. It is a thrilling and challenging study, demanding much from class members and leader alike. But it is worth it! So worth it! This class will be held Thursday evenings from 6:30 - 8:00 pm (so choir members may join!) starting Sept. 16.

In addition to our regular adult forum Sunday School program, we will be offering two other options for adults during the Sunday School time period (9:15 - 10:00 am.)

Andrea Nelson, our newest church member and a soo-to-be candidate for ministry in the United Church of Christ will be leading a Sunday School class for young adults. Watch Tidings for more details about this class.

I will be moderating a Bible discussion each Sunday focussed on the weekly lectionary lessons. Each week we will discuss the scripture text that will serve as the sermon text for the following Sunday. I am excited about this team approach to sermon preparation! I am counting on those of you who wish to participate to help focus my thinking and reflection in the direction of the issues that concern you! I am sure you will ask questions of the text that I would not think of asking, or see things I may not see.

So ... confirmation, Bible study, lectionary study, worship planning, sermon preparation, committee meetings, staff meetings, visits, I’m going to be BUSY!

But, you know what they say ... If you run around in circles, you may be going fast and working hard, but not going anywhere! The fact that I will be busy, that we will be busy, that there will be lots going on around the church -- in mission and music and study and worship -- doesn’t mean very much by itself.

What matters ... what matters is Jesus himself, and our relationship with him. What matters is listening, paying attention, following, doing all that we do in concert with where Jesus is going, doing all that we do with a desire to honor God and to know God all the more.

When we rest in God, when we are filled by God’s grace, when we watch and listen and wait, then we won’t be spinning our wheels, but living in the moment and in the place where God is and where God wills us to be.

May it be so for me! May it be so for us ... in the midst of all our busyness or even in spite of all our busyness!

Tim