Roseberry's Leaderboard

Dear Friends,

I have been busy inviting people to Christ Church. I have a small stack of the little invitation cards that we gave out here a couple of weeks ago. I have left them in people’s mailboxes (is that against the law?); I have given them to clerks as I check out of stores; I gave one to a man I met in Seattle who asked me if I was a pastor! (Do I have that ‘look’??) I also leave them alongside a generous tip at restaurants.

One of four designs of Christ Church invitation cards

Have you? Now is the time and this is the season to invite your friends and the people you do business with. The little cards are yours free…and they are available by the hundreds in the Fellowship Hall each week. But this week especially, God will use your heart-felt desire to introduce people to Christ and to the Christian Church.

True story: One of our staff members was at a home improvement store a few months ago. He struck up a conversation with the woman at the register. He invited her to church. She came. I recognized her in the Narthex and introduced myself. She told me how she found Christ Church: through the personal invitation of a member of our church.

A few months later I was at that home improvement store where she works. I found her and asked her about her experience visiting Christ Church. She said, in so many words, “It’s the church I have been looking for ever since I moved here many years ago.” The joy and the grace of God are blessings to others when they hear them or see them or experience them in the Body of Christ at Christ Church. Don’t be shy! Reach out and invite.

Here are a few other things you should know this week:

Fasting Tomorrow
Friday, March 26 is the second of two days that Christ Church set aside during the Lenten season to fast together as a church family. I encourage you to explore this discipline. If you are new to fasting, read about it here.

How will you engage Holy Week?
This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday and it is the doorway into the most holy of weeks in the Christian year. As you know, we have been taking the long route, week by week, to look into the actions and teaching of Jesus on the last week of His earthly life. This weekend, The Week That Changed Your Life will enter into the mystery of the death and resurrection of our Lord. Please be here…it will make your Easter celebration much more meaningful!

In point of fact, the Season of Lent ends on Sunday, Palm Sunday. The Christian Year actually gives “the week that changed your life” its own name: “Holy Week”. And the question that should be hanging over your life is this: How will I engage this week?

I will explain this a bit more this weekend, but it is our tradition to offer the “full blown” Easter service on Saturday evening at 5:30. This is actually a huge help because it allows many more guests and visitors to come on Sunday morning and find a seat. In the last few years, Saturday evening Easter has been on par with the main services at 9 and 11 a.m. So, as you are planning your Easter weekend, remember to consider the Saturday option. Click here to see all the service times and details.

‘See you this weekend.
David+

Dear Friends,

Angel Tree Generosity
One of the great privileges of being the rector at Christ Church for over 24 years has been watching your generosity in action. I believe we must have the most giving, big-hearted church family anywhere. I really mean this…did you see all the stacks and stacks of Angel Tree gifts brought in last weekend? Each one represents a person who will be touched and cared for in the name of Jesus Christ. Here are some pictures of the gifts being delivered last night. Thanks for your participation!

Delivery at a Plano community home

About to surprise someone

Theme of the night: smiles

Open Invitations
Earlier in 2009, the staff sat down and gave careful thought to how we invite and welcome new visitors into our church week by week. The Mozart Requiem, the Thanksgiving Eve service, and the Big Band Concert were part of that plan—special events designed with extra hospitality so that we might be ready, as a family, to receive those people whom the Lord wants to send to us. And He has! As 2009 closes, we have one more ideal opportunity to introduce someone to our worship life: Christmas Eve. This weekend, you will receive an invitation card that you can slip under a neighbor’s doormat or hand to a friend at work. I encourage you to do that simple act, and then let the Holy Spirit do the rest.

Resolve to Worship, Grow and Serve in 2010
Also this weekend, you will receive a brochure with a comprehensive list of Christ Church’s offerings for the next 7 months—classes, events, studies, etc. I think (hope) you will appreciate our simplified and focused ministry plan. Please take it home and prayerfully consider the ways that we can help you complete your “Worship-Grow-Serve” triangle in 2010. Here is an advance electronic version for you to preview.

‘See you this weekend. Remember, the 9:15 & 11:00 services will be the traditional “Lessons and Carols.”

In Christ,
David+

Dear Friends,
A vestry member called me today to make an observation. He said he experienced a problem on Sunday that he had never encountered at Christ Church…at least not in recent years. He couldn’t find a place to park!

I have never had to worry about finding a place to park on Sunday morning (I live really close ☺), but generally, I think this is a good problem to have. It means that our members are taking seriously the call to commit to Worship Christ, Grow in Christ, and Serve as Christ in and from the church. It also means something that we would all suspect: People are looking for deep answers in the wake of the national trauma we have all experienced.

Christ Church is a place to find these kinds of answers…because these answers are found embedded in the Gospel of Christ. I ask for your prayers as I try week by week to preach a gospel of hope and grace. I hope you will continue to commit to attend worship and to invite others to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.

I want to thank you all for your patience and comments as I have made some changes in the worship life of Christ Church. Things like this take time and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I’ll be visiting with our Vestry about it on Monday night.

And, by the way, those at the 11:00 service last Sunday experienced something wonderful when I asked people to “get out of their neighborhood” and meet others. Let’s be sure we continue to reach the many new people that are attending.

Here are some things I want you to know:

1. MARRIAGE
I had planned on preaching a sermon this weekend entitled “A Biblical Vision of Marriage.” My eyes are bigger than my stomach. When I got into the study and preparation for it, I realized that it was too much to do on a Sunday. I have asked Fr. Jeff Rawn to work with me to find a single evening where I can present this material to the whole church in the Fellowship Hall. I hope to videotape it so that we can present it to couples in our pre-marital sessions and for other uses around the church. Dates for that will be made known soon.

2. LENT
Lent is coming up (Ash Wed is Feb 25) and Christ Church has a great deal to offer our members and friends to deepen their spiritual life. Go deep this year. Here is one event you can look forward to. Complete Lenten details will be on the website soon.

3. CUSSING
I spoke to the men at On Point this week about language, words and cussing. Many men struggle in this area…and sadly, many young students do, too. I showed the men an intriguing website and story of your young boy who decided to challenge his friends to stop cussing. He is doing it. Go to this website: www.nocussingclub.com. Read it over…and gently suggest it to your teenage children.

4. ORDINATION
Finally, there are three people in our church family who have taken the Lord’s call on their lives very seriously and in fact are preparing to be ordained by our bishop: Daniel Adkinson, Susan Freeman and Jason Bowman. Their respective photos are below. You are all invited to the ordination service on February 28 at 10:30 a.m. in our Sanctuary. If you see these three individuals, give a hug or handshake to encourage them in this wonderful new phase of their ministry.

In Christ,
David+

Dear Friends,

I hope you had an opportunity to see some of the inauguration ceremony on Tuesday. In light of all the violence and power wars in the history of the world, I could not help but reflect on our process of the transfer of political power. On Tuesday we saw the most powerful country on earth peacefully transfer authority and responsibility from one man to another, from one political party to another. I thank God for our amazing country.

I also know that the economic meltdown deeply touches all of us. It is a new day. I have been thinking and praying over that for months. You have heard me speak to this “new day” on many occasions since I returned from Sabbatical in October. I urge you, please, to reach out to your neighbors and coworkers and invite them to church. Trust me…there are many people feeling the stress of these times. They are desperately in need of the hope you have already found. Here is a simple way to make the invitation:“Friend, I know of one place where you can find hope. Why don’t you come to church with me this weekend?” It is simple…and extremely meaningful when you do this. In fact, I was stopped by someone in the Fellowship Hall a few weeks ago who said, “David, I was one of those people on the other side of the invitation. I was invited to Christ Church about a year and a half ago. It has made all the difference to me.”

Here are a few more things I’d want you to know:

1. I left the 11:00 Sanctuary service early last week and popped into Chapel Hill during their announcement time. The room was packed. I made my way to the front in order to personally invite the whole group to join in the Sanctuary services on a week-by-week basis. It is my hope that we can join in a shared vision to reach out to the community around us…together. Chapel Hill and the Sanctuary worship can bring strength and heart to one another. In the weeks to come, both the 9:15 and 11:00 services will see some changes in the format and feel of our worship, a new bulletin, and, I pray, a renewed sense of joy to all of us. Nothing could be more needed in these days.
2. This coming weekend at the Sanctuary services we will welcome Bishop and Judith Godfrey. From the Diocese of Peru, they are beloved, long-time partners in ministry with Christ Church. Many members of our church family feel a strong connection to that Diocese, in part because of our partnership with the Casas Hogares orphanages there, and now through our support of their new Leadership Development Center in Lima.
3. Finally, I ask for your prayers next week. Most of our clergy will be at the AMiA Winter Conference in Greensboro, NC. I have the honor of delivering one of the keynote addresses. I’ll also be leading two workshops. At some point, I hope to share some of our original video productions with the group there. See if you can spot any familiar faces in these commercials. I’ll write you from there next Thursday and be back in time for our worship over the weekend of Feb 1 when we bring the Chapel Hill and the Sanctuary services together at 11:00 a.m.

‘See you this weekend in church. Bring a friend!

Faithfully yours in Christ,

David+

Dear Friends,
I picked up a magazine on personal finance today while I was waiting in a line. Hmm…the promise of the magazine was alluring. There was an attractive couple on the front cover. There were all kinds of statements and questions on the front cover, too. “Are you ready for retirement?” “Climb out of the debt hole and be free forever!” “Stay in control of your finances when life throws you a curve ball!”

Don’t we all have those same concerns? I would guess so. But are you aware that the Bible is one of the best sources of financial advice ever written? Do you know that Jesus spends an extraordinary amount of time focused on goods, spending and personal wealth?

Every year in the fall I spend a few weeks focused on the issues of money and personal stewardship. This year, with EVERYTHING that has gone on, I can’t think of a more opportune time to refocus on this subject from a biblical perspective. This is also the perfect time to invite your friends…and to be certain that YOU are in attendance, too. After this week’s sermon you will see that the wisdom of the Bible is as relevant and personal as you could imagine. The three-week series is called “The Trust Test” and I know you will find it helpful. (Also, you will be hearing more in the weeks to come about our next Financial Peace University class which begins January 10 and has been life-changing for so many.) By the way, here is a photo of a certain “trust test”…though this is NOT exactly what I have in mind. ☺

Then, when the series ends, we will have the privilege of gathering for worship on Thanksgiving Eve. Please, go to your calendar right now and mark Wednesday, November 26 as a must-attend event for your whole family . It will be a beautiful evening service—I promise to preach my heart out and the music will give you a sense of peace and hope. It has been a hard, hard year for many people, but the Bible is quite clear on the power of God as it comes into our lives. The people of God are always called to give thanks in all things (I Thess 5:18). Paul doesn’t tell us to give thanks for all things…but to give thanks in all things. He goes on to say, “for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” For Thanksgiving eve, I have a picture in my mind of our church filled to capacity with people, families and children, gathered around the table to say “thank you” for God’s blessings in their lives. Please don’t miss it.

‘See you this weekend.
David+