CCC Blog

The Old and the New

The theme for our upcoming Capital Campaign will be Preserving our Past,   Preparing our Future.  There will be more publicized about that theme, and the campaign itself, in the next two weeks.  Both of those phrases speak to some of our deepest values.  First, we love our past.  Central is slowly coming up on 200 years as a congregation in Decatur, and we were truly one of the most           influential congregations of the 20^th century.  We are known for long, dynamic pastorates, and we have a tradition of exceptional financial generosity.

To celebrate some of that history, we’d like you to “save the date” of June 9.  All morning long we will offer a “walk down memory lane.”  Recently, I received 90 slides from a church member, which have been converted to digital pictures and put into a slide show, which we will show on our Friendship Center and Connection Café monitors.  The pictures were taken between 1954, when the construction of our current building began, and the early 1960’s, when (by all appearances) there was a ceremonial burning of the mortgage.  

Additionally, resident historian Dennis Downey has supplied other material (pictures and documents) from the time our current building came into existence.  These will be laid out in the Connection Café, and you will want to stop by to see them.  We will dedicate the hour of 12 noon – 1 p.m. for a closer look at the slideshow and memorabilia.  There will be no refreshments or food provided, but you are welcome to stay as long as you like.

We are also committed to preparing for our future.  Central has remained the vibrant congregation we are because the leaders and members have been    willing to evolve in ways that have met the needs of changing generations.  One way you can help us do that is by supporting us on Facebook.  If you are not on Facebook and would like to be, we can help you do that.  Simply call the church office, and we will walk you through the steps.  If you are not on Facebook and have no desire to, that’s fine, too, but using social media (like Facebook) is a wonderful way we can all evangelize the church and share the good things about Central with others.

Once on Facebook, the best thing you can do to help us is:

“Like” our Central Christian Church page and our Central Christian  Contemporary Worship page.  In fact, we encourage groups within the church to start their own Facebook page and would likewise encourage everyone to “like” those pages.

“Liking” a page is just step one.  If you “like” a Facebook page, it will be registered with Facebook, but you may never see that page in your   timeline, so we would also like you to “Follow” the two pages listed above.  When you “Follow” a page, Facebook will automatically put   updates in your timeline so you never miss anything that is posted. 

The most important thing about all of this is that the more activity our pages get – “likes” and “follows” – the more Facebook will send alerts to others about our posts.  For example, Facebook will send a notice to one of your Facebook friends saying something like, “Hey (name) did you know that this many of your Facebook friends are following Central?  Would you like to follow them too?”  That is the best way to introduce others who do not yet know Central to some of the great things happening here.  

Preserving our Past, Preparing our Future.  The ways we do it change from era to era, but the fact that we continue to value both never does. 

Blessings… Michael

Relax... He's Got This

I’ve always been intrigued by a particular detail in every one of the accounts of Jesus feeding the multitudes.  As the gospels all tell it, before Jesus took the bread and fish and multiplied it to feed the hungry crowds he had everyone sit down in green grass.  The writers of scripture go out of their way to highlight the fact that there was green grass in the area and that Jesus wanted the people to sit down on it before he acted. 

Why did Jesus do this?  Why didn’t he just take the bread and fish and turn it into a feast with the people standing up?  Why did the grass have to be “green?”  Would it have made a difference if it was “straw-colored” instead?  Obviously, we’ll never know for sure.  But I have to believe those two details are important or they wouldn’t be there for us to read.

Of course, green reminds us of the green pastures of Psalm 23 – perhaps the most gentle, peaceful, bucolic image scripture has to offer.  Green pastures remind us of calmness and tranquility – the perfect companion of “still waters.”  With nary a breeze to be felt, the green pastures adjacent calm waters are as far from the stormy tempests of life as could possibly be. 

And sitting down is the opposite of, well, standing up.  Standing up implies readiness – being prepared to move, to follow, to serve, to witness, to testify.  Standing up signifies action.  Sitting down, on the other hand, evokes images of reclining around an evening meal – after the feet have been washed and with the hard work of the day receding in the proverbial rear-view mirror.  Sitting down implies rest and relaxation. So maybe it is fitting that Jesus had the crowd take a seat in the green grass before performing the miracle.  It was his way of saying “Relax.  I’m here.  I’m in control.  I’m going to do this work and you can sit back and trust that it will be done in your midst.”  Taking a seat in green grass represents letting go and having faith.  It is noteworthy that Jesus had the crowd sit down in the green grass after he took the bread and fish from them but before he performed the miracle.  The bread and fish came from them.  They brought him what they had.  They placed it in his hands.  And then, before he did anything with them, they sat down in green grass.  It is as though this signals the transfer of trust – from our own abilities and resources to Christ.  Our abilities and resources only take us so far.  But in the hands of Christ, we see them to be more than they ever were in our own.  And that… that change of view; change of perspective… is a miracle.

Sitting down in green grass, far from being an oddity in the story that might seem superfluous, has come to stand out in my mind as perhaps the most significant detail of them all.      

Pastor

A Little More Compassion

The backbone of the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) is compassion.  Three people see a half-dead man lying by the side of the road.  Two of them pass by, doing nothing more than laying eyes on him.  Only the third stops and does something to improve the victim’s situation.  The Samaritan.  He not only saw, but he had compassion (v. 33).   Compassion is what inspired all of the actions that followed.  And without compassion, none of that would have been possible.  The word compassion means to “suffer with.”  The literal Greek word in the New Testament used here contains the word for “guts” in it – as in, to feel “in the gut” the suffering of another.   

The way we experience compassion, therefore, begins by looking within.  Before we can comprehend the world “out there,” we must be willing to take a look at the person within our very selves.  Compassion is about connecting with the suffering in our own life; thinking of times in our lives when we’ve been on the mat; when we’ve lost (a job, a relationship, a loved one); when it felt like the walls were caving in around us.  How did we feel when at those times?  Not what did we do, but how did we feel.

Compassion starts here, because there is a something called a “similarity-in-difference” in these lives we lead alongside one another.  Though each of our lives is uniquely different, there is a similarity in how we experience them.  You never knew my father, who died of a heart-attack 20 years ago.  And your lost loved ones didn’t pass away in the exact same way he did.  But if I talk about my love for him, and my sadness of losing him, it can connect with you – and the feelings of love you have for your paretns or children, and it can connect with your feelings of grief for the people you’ve lost.  We can connect with the hurt and pain of others, even if we don’t know anything about them, when we are aware of our own hurt and pain.  That’s compassion. 

I was having a conversation on facebook about these thoughts last week and one wise commenter noted that it is easier to find “similarity-in-difference” the less “different” someone is.  How true!  Generating compassion for those we know comes much more naturally than it does for those we don’t.  That’s why one of the most important details of the story of the Good Samaritan is what is not said about the man who fell into the hands of robbers.  We don’t know his enthnicity or what he looks like.  He’s half-dead, which means he’s likely unconscious and unable to speak.  Which further means that we can’t tell if he’s speaking a different language, or our own with an accent.  We cannot determine if he’s “from here” or not.  He’s described as being “stripped.”  Therefore, he does not have any identifying clothing with which we could assign him to a particular societal sub-group.  Jesus doesn’t allow us to deny him compasison because of something external; because she “speaks a different language and therefore must be here for disingenuous reasons;”  or because “he’s dressed like a gangster and is probably dealing drugs.”  It is though Jesus wants us to see past the labels and the external things that characterize us and experience this man exactly as he is.  As a man.  A human being.  Broken, beaten, hurting and in need of compassion. 

Having compassion for one another will certainly always be easier the closer we are to them.  But compassion has a way of bringing us together – bringing us closer to one another and us closer to God.  Because compassion, by definition, emphasizes the “similar” more than the “different” in “similarity-in-difference.”  And in our contemporary societal climate of polarity and divisiveness, couldn’t we all stand to be drawn toward one another?  Could there be anything wrong with experiencing a little more compassion?     

From Elderberries to 3D Ministry

For decades the seniors of this church gathered together for a meal on the second Wednesday of the month. A group of dedicated women worked to provide a home cooked meal, very often with a theme to go along with the    season – Valentine’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas. It was a chance for folks to meet together around tables to fellowship and enjoy a wonderful meal. After the meal there was a program of interest to educate or entertain. For many, Elderberries was an important event.

In recent years, fewer people have come to these events. To accommodate the changing attendance patterns the meals have been offered every other month or seasonally. The past few times there has been a program at 11:30 before the meal. The food is still great and the fellowship meaningful—it just doesn’t  happen as often.  In addition to the meals, this group has gone on short trips to Little Theater on the Square, the Reagan Museum at Eureka College and Allerton Park, to name a few destinations. These excursions happened on the church bus, allowing for comradery with other riders.

Elderberries was the name for this group of seniors, always advertised as  available to anyone 55 or older. The discovery was made that many folks firmly set in that age range did not want to attend a group that had the word “elder” in the name. It apparently gave the impression that this was only for old  people. So, in order to make these events more appealing to the general  population, we have CHANGED THE NAME!!!

We now have a program called 3D Ministry: Enhance Your Vision.  We will meet the 2^nd Wednesday of the month (though perhaps not every month). These events will still be led by Don Martin who will still be there to greet you. That will not change.  

• 3D ministry will provide periodic meals of good food and great fellowship. That is the DINE portion.
• 3D ministry will organize short excursions to places of interest in close-by communities. That is the DASH piece.
• 3D ministry will provide programs that will entertain and inform. Some of these will happen on days when the meals are served. Some will happen at other times. That is the DISCOVER part.

3D ministry is designed to welcome people of various ages. There will always be advance notice of each event in the Visitor and you will have opportunity to sign up to reserve your spot. (You will still be welcome if you miss signing up!) This is a good opportunity for you to invite a friend to come with you, there is a good chance they will thank you for the invitation. 3D Ministry is presented with YOU in mind.

Our next event will be Wednesday, February 13 at 11:30 a.m.  More details provided on page 1.

Blessings—Michael