Volume 93, Issue 20 October 2, 2013
…..no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into newwineskins.”Mark 2:22-23
Museum or Mission?
A few weeks ago we read Luke 15:1-10, the story of the shepherd searching for a lost sheep and the woman searching for a lost coin. The stories were introduced with the observation that the Pharisees were grumbling because Jesus ate with “tax-collectors” and “sinners.” The implication was that these were undesirable people with whom no respectable person would associate. As Pastor Wallace Kirby observed, “They wanted attention given to those who were stable, pious and not a liability if invited to the country club. Theirs was a ‘let's have our synagogue programs be for us dependable, like-minded types’…. Jesus disappointed them by insisting that the issue was one of mission: to reach out to those who needed great mercy, lessons in etiquette, social graces, and perhaps a bath. Paying attention to these "lost" persons would change the comfortable fellowship the scribes and Pharisees enjoyed at the synagogue, to say nothing of putting a dent into its budget.”
How much does that sound like many churches today? I remember a long-ago council member saying “They have to be like us before they join us.” He was serious! We all resist change, especially as we are comfortable with things the way they have always been. And yet our world is changing so fast that we become anxious and resistant. Children aren’t even learning to write any more! That alarms me. So far I have resisted “twitter” but many online sources do not! Can the church afford to resist change or should we embrace positive change that reaches out?
An inner city church, located in an area of the downtown where there were few residents,was forced to a decision. A large corporation was offering them a great deal of money for their site, on which the corporation wanted to put a parking lot. The money would enable the church to move to another part of the inner city where they would find many more people to serve. Even though this was exciting to some of the congregation, other members were resistant to the idea. They pointed out that the church was the guardian of a building whose history and architecture reached back into the early part of the nineteenth century. Denominational history had been made in that building, and some of the grand figures of the church had passed its portals.
Eventually the congregation decided to sell the site and make the move to a new building in a teeming inner-city neighborhood. The pastor who was with this congregation through all this upheaval said, "We had to decide whether we wanted to be in a museum or in mission." They couldn't have it both ways. It meant either staying on their site, glorying in their past history and serving a few people, or giving up their past and gearing themselvesfor significant ministry among the city's people. They opted for mission …over museum… [Wallace H. Kirby, If Only..., CSS Publishing Co.]
What does this say to us about our future? The direction for us to move?
May God open our minds and hearts to God’s future for us.
t Pastor Moll
Thursday, October 3Worship & Music Committee, 7:00 p.m.
Boy Scout District Committee, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 5Roadside Cleanup, Meet at American Legion Post 44,
Route 11, Northumberland, 9:00 a.m.
Blessing of Pets, Noon-2:00 p.m.
Monday, October 7HLC, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Finance Committee, 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, October 9Apple Dumpling pickup 4-5:30 p.m. in Fellowship Hall
Council Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, October 10Messenger deadline, 3:00 p.m.
Social Ministry, 6:00 p.m.
Friday, October 11Fellowship Hall reserved, set up fishing tournament
Saturday, October 12Annual Fishing Tournament, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Sunday, October 13Fellowship Hall reserved (Albertson), 10:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, October 16Cub Scouts Parent/Leader Meeting, Fellowship Hall, 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, October 17Christian Education/Evangelism, 7:00 p.m.
Boy Scout Roundtable, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 20Kathryn’s Kloset, 9-11:00 a.m.
Kitchen reserved - soup
Sunday, October 21Fellowship Hall reserved (Snyder) 12-7:00 p.m.
Thursday, October 10Roast Turkey Dinner, Grace Lutheran Church, 120 Spruce Street,
Sunbury, 4-6:30 p.m., Adults $8; Children $4, Under 5 eat free
Friday, October 19PEACE POLE Service, Synod Office, Lewisburg, 9:00 a.m., rain or shine
St. John’s Lutheran Church, 300 Queen Street, Northumberland, PA 17857.
Periodical postage paid at Northumberland, PA.
POSTMASTER: Send address change to St. John’s Messenger,
300 Queen Street, Northumberland, PA 17857.
ST. JOHN’S MESSENGER October 2, 2013 Volume 93, Issue 20
St. John’s Evangelical
Lutheran Church
570-473-3770
This Sunday at St. John’s
October 6, 2013
8:00 a.m. Worship Service with Communion
8:45 a.m. Sunday School for Preschool-6th Grade
9:00 a.m. Sunday School
10:15 a.m. Worship Service with Communion
1:00 p.m. Quiet Communion
Next Sunday at St. John’s
October 13, 2013
8:00 a.m. Worship Service with Communion
8:45 a.m. Sunday School for Preschool-6th Grade
9:00 a.m. Sunday School
10:15 a.m. Worship Service with Communion
Church Office Hours Mon-Thurs 8:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Fri 8:30 a.m.-Noon
MarthaSue Moll, Pastor
William J. Jacavage, Director of Music