Southwood Lutheran Church

NEW! HEAR it on Sunday, USE it on Monday

As a pastor and a preacher, I don't think I've preached a good sermon unless it has something to say beyond the worship service. If you can't walk away and know how that 10 minute sermon can apply to your life - then I haven't done my job.

That's the reason for this new weekly post. You'll find it each Monday on our blog. Its called "HEAR it on Sunday, USE it on Monday." Each week you can come here to find tools and resources to help you incoprorate the things you hear in Sunday's worship to your daily walk of faith. You will find a variety of scripture readings, questions, illustrations, prayers, and stories; they all connect to the themes from Sunday's worship. Hear it, Use it, GROW!

This week - On Sunday February 3rd - Pastor Michael will ask - Got Faith?

On Monday February 4th - find resources to begin defining just what "faith" really is!

LINK OF THE WEEK: What the World Eats

This one comes from Faye Koehn, our Director of Children & Family Ministries.  Check out this cool photojournal of what people all around the world eat.  Be sure to take a look at the details below each picture.  I'm struck by the vast differences in quantity (especially see # 3), cost per week, and contents of the average weekly diet.  Which table looks most appetizing to you?  I'm voting for #9...and I'm thinking it would seriously lower my monthly grocery bill!

Got an idea for a Link of the Week?  Send it my way!

Kim

Stand in the Gap ~ Start a Ripple

For four Sundays in January, Southwood focused on what it means to Stand in the Gap, serving people in need in our community.  As a result of Stand in the Gap:

• 20+ new Reading Tutors are serving at City Impact
• 150 people deepened their understanding of hunger in our community at the Hunger Forum
• 200+ pounds of food were collected for the Lutheran Food Pantry
• Southwood’s Hunger Ministries have 10 new volunteers (added to the more than 80 volunteers who got involved in BackPacks @ Saratoga in December)
• Clinic with a Heart has 15 new clinic volunteers
• 40 people took TeamMates applications
• We raised over $7,300 for TeamMates

On the final Sunday of our Stand in the Gap series, Tom Osborne spoke at Southwood.  He talked about how the impact of a single person can have a ripple effect that reaches to the 3rd and 4th generation.  The Spirit is moving at Southwood, inspiring more and more people to stand in the gap to serve people in need…. and start a ripple.  Are you still waiting to jump in?  Find out how.

Kim

Shine, Jesus, Shine

“After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” (Matt 17:1 NIV)

Graham Kendrick was born in England in 1950, the son of a Baptist minister. He has emerged as one of the most enduring and popular worship songwriters in the last twenty years. His songs have won the heart of diverse sections of the Church around the world. Bearing in mind the worldwide popularity of Shine, Jesus, Shine, perhaps the most surprising aspect about the writing of it is the ordinariness of the circumstances. Graham had been thinking for some time about the holiness of God and how that as a community of believers and as individuals, God’s desire is for us to live continually in his presence. Graham recognized that we cannot stand in God’s presence without “clean hands and a pure heart” (Psalm 24). So he wrote the three verses and “road tested” it in his home church. Though there was clearly merit to the song, it seemed incomplete, so he left it on file.

Several months later Graham was asked to submit new songs for a conference songbook, and as he reviewed this three-verse song he realized that it needed a chorus. He tried different approaches in his music room when the line “Shine, Jesus Shine” came to mind, and within about half an hour he had finished the chorus of the song. Though he felt an excitement in his spirit at the time, he had no inkling at all that it would become so widely used around the world.

(Taken from The Chorister, Dec. 2001)

Lord the light of your love is shining,
In the midst of the darkness shining,
Jesus light of the world shine upon us,
Set us free by the truth you now bring us,
Shine on me. Shine on me.

Shine Jesus shine
Fill this land with the fathers glory
Blaze, spirit blaze,
Set our hearts on fire
Flow, river flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth your word
Lord and let there be light.

Lord I come to your awesome presence,
From the shadows into your radiance,
By the blood I may enter your brightness,
Search me, try me, consume all my darkness,
Shine on me. Shine on me.

As we gaze on your kingly brightness.
So our faces display your likeness.
Ever changing from glory to glory,
Mirrored here may our lives tell your story.
Shine on me. Shine on me.

(Words by Graham Kendrick)

What do Small Groups do? - Part 2

Two weeks ago I wrote a post called "What do Small Groups Do?" Although I hadn't planned on it then - here comes part two. I just started reading Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels. Bill is the Senior pastor at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington Illinois. At the center of Willow's ministry is the Small Group program.

In Courageous Leadership Bill tells the following story:

I had just finished presenting my weekend message at Willow and I was standing in the bullpen, talking to people. A young married couple approached me, placed a blanketed bundle in my arms, and asked me to pray for their baby.

As I asked what the baby’s name was, the mother pulled back the blanket that had covered the infant’s face. I felt my knees begin to buckle. I thought I was going to faint. Had the father not steadied me I may well have keeled over. In my arms was the most horribly deformed baby I had ever seen. The whole center of her tiny face was caved in. How she kept breathing I will never know.

All I could say was, “oh my . . . oh my . . . oh my.”

Concert with a Cause II

As part of our grand opening celebration last March, we held our first Concert with a Cause at Southwood to benefit our local medical clinic, Clinic with a Heart. It was a very successful and exciting event and so Pastor Greg and I began talking about what another Concert with a Cause might look like. Shortly thereafter, Pastor Greg attended a meeting for TeamMates with pastors from First-Plymouth, Saint Paul Methodist and St. Mark’s Methodist. At the meeting they discussed the great need to gain more volunteers to be mentors for the youth in Lincoln and how our churches could help with this need. It was here that the idea to do another Concert with a Cause, combining musicians from these four churches, was sparked.

After many months of planning, Southwood's second Concert with a Cause was held on January 27, 2008. With choirs from Southwood, First-Plymouth, Saint Paul and St. Mark’s participating, it was a great evening of making music. PANgea prep and PANgea, LPS provided pre-concert music. This LPS select percussion group created a wonderful atmosphere to begin the concert, kept toes tapping, and even inspired a few dancers in the narthex!

During the concert, a variety of music was presented by the church choirs—everything from handbells to praise choruses, and jazz to hymns. What was especially meaningful to me was seeing those mentors who brought their mentees with them to the concert. You could witness the importance of those relationships first hand. Dennis Claridge gave a heartfelt testimony about his own experiences as a TeamMate and how God calls us to serve. Click here for photos of the concert.

Our hope for the concert was to raise awareness, mentors and funds for TeamMates. Channel 8 aired a story about TeamMates and Concert with a Cause (text but no video at the link). Over 40 people took home TeamMates applications during the course of the day and evening on Sunday. And, including a Thrivent Financial match of $500, we raised over $7,300 for TeamMates. It is our prayer that there will be a ripple effect from the concert that will lead even more people to volunteer to be mentors so that more youth from our community can benefit from the influence of a positive relationship with a caring adult.

Denise Makinson

Sex God

Before you gasp and call the church blog police...it's a book!  About sex...and spirituality..and how THIS (sex) is really about THAT (spirituality and our relationship with God).  Rob Bell (the author of the Nooma videos we've been using in adult Sunday School) is a master of connecting everyday life with our relationship with God. Reading Rob Bell feels like a conversation with my best friend...who just happens to have forgotten more about the Bible than I've ever learned.  Some of my favorite parts of the book:

• Explaining what "sexy" means to a 5-year old (this one is actually Rob's wife's response to their son) -- "Sexy is when it feels good to be in your own skin.  Your own body feels right, it feels comfortable.  Sexy is when you love being you."  Wish I had that one in my mom toolbox 6 months ago.

• Angels vs. animals and a discussion of what it means to live in the vast space in between -- "There are these two extremes, denying our sexuality (angels) or being driven by it (animals), and then there's the vast space in between (humanity)." 

• Lust is about more than sex...lust is about wanting anything we don't have...and believing that having it will make everything right with our world.  It's about the if -- "If I just had _____, everything would be fine."  And it's about believing that something -- anything other than God -- can make everything fine.

• The desire to be totally known and loved unconditionally is at the heart of what sex was meant to help us experience on earth. "It's easy to take off your clothes and have sex.  People do it all the time.  But opening up your soul to someone, letting them into your spirit....that is being naked...and being naked is terrifying.  What would it be like to be with someone who loves you exactly as you are?  It's our question for each other, and it's our question for God." 

Whether you're male or female, single or married, 17 or 71...there's wisdom in this book that will help you see the connections among your experience of yourself, your experience of other people, and your experience of God.  By the way...I got it at the public library! Read other reviews here and here.

Kim

May You Be Covered in Dust . . .

There is an old saying: "May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi." It may seem like nonsense - but it is all about being a follower of Christ. Following Christ means walking in the same dirt and dust, having the same compassion on God's people, and doing the same small and unnoticed things for others.

This week we continue our series called "Stand in the Gap." Come to Adult Sunday School at 9:45 and hear what it means to really follow Christ so closely. It is challenging, but the good news is that God believes you can do this. Click on the video link below to get a quick preview of this Sunday's lesson . . .

See ya on Sunday!

Pastor Sara

Can I Lick the Spoon Please?

I'll admit, when I look at this picture I think: Do we really have to bake the cake, I'd be willing to just lick the bowl clean, spoon and all!

I went to a wedding where the three tiered wedding cake was replaced by a beautiful chocolate fountain with many many options for drowning in all that chocolate. Best wedding "cake" ever! I might have been the one whose hair was dripping with chocolate from trying to get my mouth right under that flowing stream of chocolate goodness. But I digress.

Next Thursday is prominently marked on my calendar because a chocolate fountain (or two) is going to appear in Southwood's fellowship hall. This women's event is called "Finding Sweet in the Bittersweet." Its on Thursday January 31st at 7:00 p.m. Come for dessert, friendship, and featured speaker Diane Gloystein. Have all the chocolate you want - but don't be the one caught with chocolate in your hair!!

See ya there.

Pastor Sara

Lord, I Want to Be A Christian

But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. (James 2:18 NIV)

This Sunday, January 27, an exciting event is happening! Several churches are coming together to lift up an important cause. This cause is TeamMates. Tom and Nancy Osborne founded this Mentoring Program in 1991 in an effort to provide support and encouragement to school aged youth. The goal of the program is to see youth graduate from high school and pursue post-secondary education. To reach this goal, youth meet one hour per week with a caring adult who serves as a mentor. Mentors are volunteers from the community who have dedicated themselves to making a difference in the life of a young person. Mentors give youth a sense of hope, purpose and vision. Hundreds of youth in our local community are waiting for a mentor. We are trying to raise awareness of this need through Concert with a Cause.

The music ministries of Southwood Lutheran, St. Mark’s United Methodist, Saint Paul United Methodist and First-Plymouth Congregational as well as a select percussion ensemble from the Lincoln Public Schools will be participating. For the finale, each of the vocal choirs will join together in two songs arranged by jazz artist Tom Larson and accompanied by Southwood’s jazz ensemble. One of the closing songs is “Lord I Want to Be a Christian.” Being a Christian means showing Christ’s love to others. One great example is being a TeamMate!

Lord, I Want to Be a Christian

Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart.
In my heart, in my heart,
Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart.

Lord, I want to be more loving in my heart.
In my heart, in my heart,
Lord, I want to be more loving in my heart.

Lord, I want to be more holy in my heart.
In my heart, in my heart,
Lord, I want to be more holy in my heart.

Lord, I want to be like Jesus in my heart.
In my heart, in my heart,
Lord, I want to be like Jesus in my heart.