We can be pretty reserved when it comes to Jesus.
That's the upshot of the last Natural Church Development survey of the congregation.
Our lowest faith factor was "passionate spirituality." It's not that
we don't believe in God or know Jesus - it's that many of us don't have a particularly
passionate relationship with Christ, that God's presence in our lives is not
especially important. Jesus is in our lives somewhere, but way down on the list.
So we've been asking ourselves: what's missing in our lives that we can't keep
falling more deeply in love with Jesus? What can we offer that helps us make
our relationship with God the primary relationship in our life?
Our NCD team's been working pretty hard at this. Midweek services in Lent were
built around the "prayer practices" many of you first encountered
at the Tapestry retreat on prayer, last fall. Building on the high value we
place on "inspiring worship," they've worked to create tangible experiences
for each of us to take home: wrappings the Sunday we talked about the raising
of Lazarus, kites on Ascension Day, plants on Pentecost Sunday. The conversations
we've shared have been among the most profoundly spiritual I've ever experienced.
But as I see what they're after I've come to think you need to know what I'm
after, too. So let me be clear: I want you to love your God more than anyone
or anything else. More than your mom or dad or kids or spouse; more than your
hobbies or time for yourself or that bottle of Jack Daniels you hide up on the
shelf. I want Jesus to be the first one you call on when you're troubled, the
one you most depend on when you're afraid, the one it breaks your heart to tell
when you've wronged another, and the only one you know for absolute certain
will love you anyway. When you're in a quandary about what to do, I really do
want you to ask yourself what Jesus would do. I want you to remember to give
something back to God before you pay your bills, not from what's left
over. And when you go a whole day without uttering a single prayer, I want you
to feel like you missed out on a great conversation. I want you to fall crazy
in love with Jesus.
Will this be easy to grow into? Nope. Will it be cheap? Naw. Will every one
of us even want this? Probably not. Will I still love you if you don't? Of course.
Am I this crazy about Jesus? Not always. But when I am, I am at peace, I like
myself better, I am the person I want to be. I want that for you, too.
Pastor Jim
Jesus replied, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength." Mark 12:30
From the Shepherd's Song Newsletter -- July 2008
Copyright 2008 by Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
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E-mail your comments and questions to Pastor Jim in care of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at gslc@sirus.com.