First Christian Church

“Psummer Psalms” - Psalm 1

This summer we’ll be doing a series on the Psalms called “Psummer Psalms.” I’ve begun reading a 3-volume commentary and a couple great little introductory books in preparation. Here’s a nugget from James Montgomery Boice’s study of the Psalms. We’ll be starting with Psalm 1, “The Song of the Righteous” (forthcoming sermon title for July 13). It serves as an introductory “text of which the remaining Psalms are essentially exposition” (p. 14). In the Hebrew, “blessed” is plural connoting, umm, lots of blessing, as in lasting happiness. It is essentially a Psalm about lasting happiness as the fruit of the life of the man who loves God’s truths. It is not so much a reward as a practical result.

Blessed is the man​ who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
-Psalm 1:1-2 (English Standard Version)

The parallelism in this Hebrew poetry is probably a helpful clue to the Psalmist’s meaning. Notice the three sets of parallel terms in this verse: “walk, stand, sit,” “counsel, way, seat,” and “wicked, sinners, scoffers.” There seems to be a progression (or regression?) of meaning here. Boice says, “[I]t is hard to believe that the phrases are not saying that the way of the wicked is downhill and that sinners always go from bad to worse” (p. 14). Here’s what Charles Spurgeon said:

When men are living in sin they go from bad to worse. At first they merely walk in the counsel of the careless and ungodly, who forget God-the evil is rather practical than habitual-but after that, they become habituated to evil, and they stand in the way of open sinners who willfully violate God’s commandments; and if let alone, they go one step further, and become themselves pestilent teachers and tempters of others, and thus they sit in the seat of the scornful. They have taken their degree in vice, and as true Doctors of Damnation they are installed” (Spurgeon, Treasury of David, 1a:1-2).

Good stuff. We don’t get enough good writing and thoughtful exposition like that much anymore, eh?!

Are we thoughtful and intentional (enough) in welcoming guests?

I’ve just read “Fusion,” by Nelson Searcy, which is a great book about taking seriously the process of “assimilation,” the basic process of turning first-time guests and visitors into fully-engaged members. Andy Stanley says, “The Church is a family expecting guests.” Does that accurately describe us at First Christian? How’s this for some good (and inflammatory) food for thought?…

“Unfortunately, we live in a culture in which the business world understands more about true expressions of hospitality than the Church does. ["Ouch!']… While hotels, restaurants and stores all around us serve their guests with intentional care, we often let ours wander in and out of our weekly services with no specific plan for showing them how important they are to us.”

When you add in the words “intentional care” and “specific plan,” this passage is a serious indictment of most churches’ current efforts. We do well at First Christian with some things, but are we intentional and specific enough that the various elements of what we already do are part of a larger process that actually moves people from visitor to member?

On the face of it, when you begin to talk about something like this, it feels like a sales job with all the concern about proper signage, making people feel comfortable, providing a homey environment with food, and sending small gifts of appreciation with thanks-for-visiting letters and cards, but at its heart, this process isn’t just about ‘impressing’ someone, it’s about evangelism and discipleship. It is only half-done if it’s simply about integration and acculturation into “how we do things” because then we’ve made people followers of First Christian sometimes more than we have of Christ. (Can I get an amen?!)

It seems to me that if we don’t take seriously our task to make our guests feel welcome, we don’t take seriously our mission to reach people with the gospel.

Creative Video - Casting Crowns, “Who Am I?”

Check out what this group of students from Oslo, Norway did with a blacklight, a good song, some hard work and creativity. Pretty cool!

Beautiful Greeneville

On the way to the coffee shop yesterday morning, Thursday, May 22, I shot this panaroma on Old Tusculum Road, overlooking the new residential subdivision. Not bad for a camera on a phone, eh? (And, uh, not bad for a Creator, huh?!)

FCC Family Focus Newsletter Blurb (5/19/08)

In case you missed it, here’s my latest newsletter blurb…

Current Sermon Series: “Glorious Grace”
May 25: “Healing Grace” (John 5:1-15)
June 1: “Generous Grace” (Romans 5:12-19)
June 8: “Our Hope is in Grace” (1 Peter 1:13-21)

Scott’s Thoughts (in bullet point form this week!)

• Thanks so much for everyone’s participation in our Carry-In Lunch this past Sunday. We’re proud of our moms, dads, and graduates! It’s important to gather as a community to congratulate and recognize such special people and moments in our lives. A special thanks to the Bond Between Us Class for food and room preparation, Roxanne Burchnell for decorating the bulletin board, and Chuck Bowlin and Jack Gardin for their leadership.

• If you are undergoing any important tests or procedures, please don’t hesitate to call or email the church office to let us know about them so the church and the elders can pray and care for you appropriately. If it’s something you’d like to keep confidential, please feel free to contact me personally by cell phone (552-3438) or email (scott@fccgreeneville.org). It’s important for us to keep regularly updated on these matters.

• If you have, umm, eyes that work, you’ve probably noticed the GIGANTIC Vacation Bible School banner on the front of the church building. It looks really great, huh?! As you can tell, we’re pushing really hard right now to invite friends, family members, neighbors’ kids, etc. to join us for VBS this year. We have a really great week planned (Sun, June 8 - Thu, June 12), a dedicated crew of volunteers, and a great theme about serving God in the community. We’re emphasizing reaching out to the community by registering kids from families who may not already have a church home where they are active. Please see Leigh Ann Arrington, VBS Registrar, or the FCC website to register. If you want to take a few yellow registration cards to hand to friends and neighbors, please pick up a few at an FCC Resource Table (outside the church offices and in the sanctuary lobby.)

• Speaking of website… Those of you who are online can visit the FCC website for frequently updated information. It’s also a really great way to spread the word about the good things going on at First Christian Church. In 2006, 3 out of every 4 visitors to churches in the United States visited their website beforehand. Those same people also reported that they wouldn’t have visited the churches if there was no website to provide information. We live in a world where people want to know what they’re getting into before they’ll visit a church, and this is a great way to introduce people to your church. It’s as easy as, “Why don’t you check out our website?!”

• “Join the Team” is a new 6-week class starting Sunday, June 4, during the Sunday School hour. It is something we will try to do a couple times a year, maybe once a quarter, depending on response to the class. This is NOT just a new membership class (only). It is for ANYONE who wants to know more about First Christian, whether you’ve recently become a member or been baptized, are interested in becoming a member or being baptized, have been a member 45 years and want a refresher course. It could even be for a friend of yours who doesn’t yet attend but might if invited. We’ll cover FCC’s history, affiliation, basic doctrinal beliefs (esp. baptism and Lord’s Supper), ministry structure, vision and values, expectations of members, spiritual gifts and their role in the church, becoming a Christian, etc. It will include plenty of opportunity for feedback and time for questions you want answered, as well as a chance to get to know some folks you may not already know. You can sign up on an FCC Resource Table (outside the church offices and in the sanctuary lobby) or online. The link is on the FCC website’s home page, found on www.fccgreeneville.org.

• Memorial Day is Monday, June 26, so this next Sunday, June 25, we’ll be acknowledging men and women from among us who have served in the armed forces. We’d like to invite you to wear any uniforms and/or headwear and bring along pictures to share with one another. Thanks to the millions who have served over the course of our nation’s history, we enjoy many freedoms and a remarkable quality of life that many in our world still do not experience and that we do not want to take for granted.

• “Glorious Grace” Sermon Series > Grace is defined, mostly simply, as “unmerited favor.” It is being counted righteous before God, even when we can’t possibly merit being treated as such! What a fantastic truth that is for us as Christians. This past week we studied Matthew 20:1-16 and how grace as a concept is so unnatural for us and so crazy in what it offers that it is practically a scandal! The idea that it costs the giver everything and the receiver nothing is a difficult truth with which to come to grip. This week we’ll study God’s “healing grace” at the pool of Bethesda, found in John 5:1-15, when Jesus healed the man who’d been suffering for 38 years! I’d like to encourage you to read ahead in preparation.
  

Alden’s Bedtime Prayers & “The kids who are sick.”

You sometimes wonder if all the extra energy and effort it takes to vigilantly teach your children about following God will stick. A couple evenings ago my faith in parenting was restored a little.

Just after dinner I was reading a newspaper article about the recent cyclone in Myanmar and explaining to our 3-year-old son Alden about the “people who were hurt” and “the kids who were sick.” So I told him that we needed to pray for “the kids who were sick.”

He paused for maybe 5-6 seconds (because I forced him to look me in the eyes and listen, if only for a moment) and he gave what seemed like an understanding nod… and then ran off to continue playing at warp speed for the next 2 hours before bedtime, oblivious to the tragedy and suffering happening a world away.

Well, as soon as I walked into his bedroom to say our nightime prayers, his eyes lit up. He’d been waiting for me… “Daddy, I already prayed for the kids who are sick!” I gleamed, “Alright, buddy! Good job!” and we ended the day with a nice hug and a small reminder that God can work… even in the lives of spazzy 3-year-old boys.

Word-of-the-Day: Dundreary

Believe me, I’m fully aware this isn’t typical church blog material, but I thought it’d be a humorous little diversion for your day. I’ll get some good theological stuff up here soon enough…

How’s this for a great word to have in your back pocket for that once-every-10-years situation when you need to accurately name someone with the guts to have audacious sideburns?! For example, you might say (and, to really put a point on it, use a hoity-toity ‘I-speak-real-English’ brogue), “Oh dear (and make sure you hold the vowels in dear about 3 times longer than normal)… you’re a regular Dundreary!”

Here’s a little etymology, from my word-of-the-day email, received from wordsmith.org, a great little increase-your-knowledge addition to your inbox once a day:

After the bushy sideburns worn by actor Edward A. Sothern who played the part of Lord Dundreary in the play Our American Cousin (1858), written by Tom Taylor (1817-1880). This was the play being performed at Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC during which Abraham Lincoln was shot.

So, when you see me and I need a haircut and start getting those wings around the ears, feel free to make fun of my dundrearies! By the way, that is apparently an actual picture of Edward Sothern with his full-blown Lord Dundreary costuming.

Website Update

At this point the recently added content is mostly informational in nature (i.e., no cool videos or photos of kids playing or our members serving, etc., yet), but we’ve largely (except for some cool looking aesthetic tweaks here and there) finished the “About Us” menu (save Scott’s constant policing of grammar and search for better ways to say things).

Next we’re gonna work on adding Ministries information: Nursery/Toddlers, Family Life: Children’s and oneighty Student Ministry, Men In Action, Extraordinary Women, Seniors for Christ, and Adult Christian Education: Financial Peace University, Beth Moore Women’s Bible Studies, Wednesday Night Education Classes (books of the Bible studies, some topical studies, etc.).

FCC Family Focus Newsletter Blurb (5/5/08)

In case you missed the FCC Family Focus Newsletter from the week of Mon, May 5, here’s my blurb…

A Few Items:

New FCC Website Launching - Tommy and I have been “learning” (with lots of failure thrown in to keep us humble) how to do some cool website things that will result in a more interactive, frequently updated, and dynamic church website. If you come across a page with latin gibberish on it, sorry. It’ll be changing quite a bit daily for the next week or so until we get it running smoothly. We’ll have some cool new features like more downloadable resources, embedded events calendars, newsletters, policies and procedures, online polls/surveys, online giving, etc.

Youth and Men In Action Work Day - Please come out and help us on this month’s “Second Saturday” Service Project, May 10, from 9:00-noon. We’ll provide a light breakfast at 8:30 downstairs in the Fellowship Hall. Please wear appropriate clothing and bring along some tools.

All-Church Carry-In for Graduates, Mother’s/Father’s Days - Please come join us as we share some good food and friendly conversation while recognizing these important people! We’re asking everyone to bring enough food for yourself/your family to share. Sponsored by the Membership Ministry Team, assisted by the Bond Between Us class.

“Grace Harmony” Concert at Central Christian Church - Come join us at Central Christian downtown on Wednesday, May 28, from 7:00-8:30 p.m. Mike and Sue Filisky travel over 20,000 miles a year sharing their musical gifts and ministering to churches all across the United States. Don’t miss out on this chance to demonstrate some unity with our friends downtown! You can sign up on one of the Resource Tables or call/email the church office. “When Worldviews Collide” and Adult Choir will be cancelled that evening and you can meet us there (on Summer Street, across from the Greeneville Sun) or we’ll start shuttling folks over in the church vans at 6:30 after Wed. Night Dinner.

Nursery/Toddler Volunteers - Shelley Smith, our Nursery/Toddler Coordinator, still needs a few more helpers. Please ask or email her for more details about it if you’re interested in knowing what it entails: shelley@fccgreeneville.org.

Scott’s Thoughts:

Abraham Lincoln said this about mothers: “All that I am or hope to be I owe to my angel mother. I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life…. No man is poor who has had a godly mother.”

It is not a stretch to describe mothers as angels, is it?! Many of us owe so much more to our moms than we could ever repay. Their role in nurturing us in the love and fear of God is invaluable. Ephesians 6:2-3 says that “the first commandment [of the 10 Commandments] with a promise,” which was to “Honor your father and mother,” was so “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Indeed, many of us owe much of our long lives on the earth to our mothers and fathers. Lincoln was right on when he said that no one is poor who has had a Godly mother.

Mother’s Day is meant to be more than just a token one-day recognition. It’s a once-a-year reminder that once-a-year is not enough. So don’t miss the opportunity to express your love and gratitude for your mom’s years of unselfish devotion to nurture us in the love and fear of God. Better yet, let’s also honor our moms by living the way they did, so the Kingdom of God will be extended to the ends of the earth! Aren’t you glad your mom extended the love of God to you?!

Website Update

Scott Wakefield, our Senior Minister, and Tommy Staggs, our Minister of Youth and Family Life, are getting an unwanted education in website, html, css, and php gibberish… which is to say, please be patient as we work toward a more 2.0ish site. You may find that non-FCC related weirdness and templates with quasi-Latin nonsense abound!