21 Years of Ministry for Come As You Are Community Church
Sustaining The Vision
21st Anniversary of Come As You Are Community Church
Prayer for the Future
Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.[1]
Proverbs 29:18 (ASV)
18 Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint; But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Acts 26:12-19 (ASV)
12 Whereupon as I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, 13 at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them that journeyed with me. 14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying unto me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the goad. 15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. 16 But arise, and stand upon thy feet: for to this end have I appeared unto thee, to appoint thee a minister and a witness both of the things wherein thou hast seen me, and of the things wherein I will appear unto thee; 17 delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I send thee, 18 to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me. 19 Wherefore, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:
Sustain:
| 1. | to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of, as a structure. |
| 2. | to bear (a burden, charge, etc.). |
| 3. | to undergo, experience, or suffer (injury, loss, etc.); endure without giving way or yielding. |
| 4. | to keep (a person, the mind, the spirits, etc.) from giving way, as under trial or affliction. |
| 5. | to keep up or keep going, as an action or process: to sustain a conversation. |
| 6. | to supply with food, drink, and other necessities of life. |
| 7. | to provide for (an institution or the like) by furnishing means or funds. |
| 8. | to support (a cause or the like) by aid or approval. |
| 9. | to uphold as valid, just, or correct, as a claim or the person making it: The judge sustained the lawyer's objection. |
“All philosophy lies in two words: Sustain and Abstain” Epictetus quotes (Greek philosopher associated with the Stoics, AD 55-c.135)
“Only those who truly love and who are truly strong can sustain their lives as a dream. You dwell in your own enchantment. Life throws stones at you, but your love and your dream change those stones into the flowers of discovery. Even if you lose, or are defeated by things, your triumph will always be exemplary. And if no one knows it, then there are places that do. People like you enrich the dreams of the worlds, and it is dreams that create history. People like you are unknowing transformers of things, protected by your own fairy-tale, by love.” Ben Okri quotes (Nigerian author who uses magic realism to convey the social and political chaos in his country, 1959)
Six Components of Visionary Leadership
1. Self-Mastery
2. Stewardship
3. Visionary
4. Precise Communication
5. Empowerment
6. Service
To sustain The Vision: We Must Be…
Saturated In The Heavenly Vision.
To Sustain The Vision: We Must…
Unconditionally Surrender To The Heavenly Vision
Sacrificial Service The Heavenly Vision
Trust In The God Of The Heavenly Vision
Align With Those of The Heavenly Vision
Intellectually Grow With The Heavenly Vision
Nurture Our Spiritual Growth With The Heavenly Vision
Dr. Underwood and The Cathedral of Praise Family
Dr. Martin Luther King Luncheon In Warsaw IN
Text: Matthew 9:36-38
35 Then Jesus went to all the towns and villages, teaching in their •synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, s and healing every t disease and every sickness. u36 When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were weary and worn out, v like sheep without a shepherd. w 37 Then He said to His disciples, x “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” [1]
Occasion: Dr. Martin Luther King Celebration Warsaw Indiana 2010
Title: The Power of Compassion
Introduction
Today, we gather together to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. Volumes of books have been written about him. Poems and songs and plays have been penned about him. A holiday has been set aside for him. Countries continued to be inspired by him, and students from the halls of Harvard, to the holed living rooms of home schools have been changed, charged, and challenged in a glories effort to make this world a better palace.
For me, it is as if God placed his life in a bottle; casted it upon the sea and allowed it to land upon the shores of our Life.
In the words of Anthony Hamilton, coming from where I come from—historical living in—New York City, where I was reminded that I was black—all because I where a white shirt to school, and while living in Mississippi with my grandmother—where I was first called a nagger—as a young boy. There is within my context three historical men whose words and deeds God has used to shape my thinking and behavior concerning the issues of race. Each of them; words and deeds floated upon the shore of my life at a critical time racial issues.
1. Abraham Lincoln: I remember reading his words while in Mississippi at a racial charged moment.
o “The quickest way to a bigot’s heart is to continue to shine the light in his eyes.”
2. Dr. W. E. B. Dubois: Words came to me after a two decades of the dark night of my soul.
“Negro Orgen The Dammed”
In 1938, on the 50th anniversary of his graduation from Fisk University, Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois in a speech at Fisk—in a speech he entitled “Saint Orgen The Dammed,” said "What is this life I see? Is the dark damnation of color, real? Or simply mine own imagining? Can it be true that souls wrapped in in black velvet have a destiny different from those swathed in white or yellow silk, when all of these coverings are fruit of the same worm, and threaded by the same hands? Or must I, ignoring all seeming difference, rise to some upper realm where there is no color nor race, sex, wealth nor age, but all men stand equal in the Sun?"
3. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: As a nearly ten year old boy in Mississippi when he was killed, I recall asking my grandmother—as though it was yesterday, “Why did they kill him?” To which she responded, “Because he as Black.”
Nearly ten years before his “I Have A Dream” speech, Dr. King in 1954 said through knowledge and science we have this world into a neighborhood, but because of our moral failure, we have not turned it into a brotherhood. He later stated, “I want to be the white man's brother, not his brother-in-law”
It is the life of these men—and others in general, but Dr. Kings in particular, that reminds us that we should yearn for a revolution of imagination and compassion. In my mind—for a while, it seemed as though we had lost this revolutionary yearning. Sociology is often seems—to me, that we are more concern about what political party we are connected to rather than this brotherhood we connected to. Even for those of us bible believers, it often appears that we are more concern about what Rush Limbaugh and Shan Hannity has to say, than what the God has to say. On the democratic side we want to talk about compassion void of” the lest of these”—the estimated 46 million aborted babies that occur worldwide.
(Ill.) A man fell into a pit and couldn't get himself out. A Christian Scientist came along and said, "You only think that you are in a pit." A Pharisee said, "Only bad people fall into a pit." A compassion-less Fundamentalist said, "You deserve your pit." A Charismatic said, "Just confess that you're not in a pit." A Methodist came by and said, "We brought you some food and clothing while you're in the pit." A Presbyterian said, "This was no accident, you know." An Optimist said, "Things could be worse." A pessimist said, "Things will get worse!" Jesus, seeing the man, took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit.
That is the essence of Christ and of His compassion. That is the spirit we need operating within us. And while the above mention men and many other have had a dramatic impact on my life; it is however, the God Man—Jesus Christ and the word of God that has been and continue to be the most impactful.
• • A place where the Jewish people met for prayer, worship and teaching of the Scriptures
s s 9:35 Mt 4:23; Mk 1:15
t t 9:35 Or every kind of
u u 9:35 Other mss add among the people
v v 9:36 Mt 14:14; 15:32; Mk 6:34; 8:2
w w 9:36 Nm 27:17; 1Kg 22:17; Ezk 34:5; Zch 10:2
x x 9:37 Mt 10:1; 26:56; Mk 3:7; 16:20; Lk 6:13; Jn 12:16
[1] The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2003. Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
12 Days of Revival: I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Pastor Lauches "Gossip Free" Campaign
In my research for the sermon series Gossip, I came accross this from the Religion News Service and Ashly McGlone. Read it and let me know what you think.
A Michigan pastor is urging people to go "Gossip Free" for at least eight days starting on 8-8-08, but said it's never too early to stop listening to or sharing idle chatter at home, work or especially church.
Pastor Kevin Hester of Sanctuary Baptist Church in Coloma, Mich., said "even though gossip is commonly accepted by people and churches, God takes it seriously. It's right next to murder in the Bible."
Hester argues in his pocket-size book, "Gossip Free? The High Cost of Low Talk" that "gossip has caused more wars, broken up more homes, ruined more businesses, split more churches and destroyed more lives than anything else throughout human history."
Hester has distributed between 1,000 and 2,000 white " gossipfree.org" bracelets with his book, and is asking people to abstain from gossip for eight days, starting next month.
"Eight is the number in the Bible for 'new beginnings.' Most familiar is the story of the flood and God starting over with eight people," Hester said.
The campaign is similar to one launched in 2006 by Will Bowen, a pastor in Kansas City, Mo., who launched a "Complaint Free" campaign and eventually got more than 5 million people to join him.
Rebekah Trosper, a Wal-Mart department manager in Benton Harbor, Mich., and a member of Hester's congregation, publicized the campaign at work. More than 75 employees in her store are now wearing gossip-free bracelets.
"Wal-Mart is a big company and is always under a lot if gossip. I've seen a change in the associates. It makes you stop and think," Trosper said. "Gossip affects everyone in the world but you can make a difference if you try."
Your Year For Opportunities
Charles R. Swindoll is quoted as saying, “We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” The problem with these opportunities is the fact that for many of us they will be missed! 2009 was a disappointing year for many and because of this; most have lost their ability to dream.
Often when one door closed—if we are not careful, we will stop looking for another door. Helen Keller put it this way, “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” The mandate from Scripture is that, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthen me.”
Our President remarked during one of his speeches, “Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. It's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.”
How about you? Will you be harden or shamed into inaction? Will you miss the opportunities that God has for you, because things did not workout like you thought they would in 2009—or even before 2009. A great cloud of people that have never given up surrounds us! Our Lord, for the hope set before Him endured the cross, and we know how that turned out!
Your resurrection awaits you!
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