A Letter from Pastor Richard Strick Glorify, Build, REACH The purpose of St. Peter’s First Community Church is to glorify God, build up the body of Christ, and reach out to those in our community and world to help them become followers of Christ. Evangel AUGUST 2016 Jenna and I were on the front porch the other night when a couple of neighbors stopped by. They lived on William Street and were serving on their mission with the Mormon Church. Many of you are probably familiar with the two year mission Mormon youths serve, but you probably didn’t realize that a house in Drover Town serves as home base for many of the missionaries that pass through Huntington. They had just received word that they were being transferred to Ohio the next morning but wondered if they could tour inside our church. As we were talking further in the sanctuary, they shared that they had heard so many wonderful things about our church from folks in the neighborhood and they had wanted to stop by and check it out for themselves. It reminds me of the way Eugene Peterson translates John 1:14 in the Message Bible translation: “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a- kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish.” In theological circles, this verse is the foundation for what we call the Incarnation - that the Triune God took on flesh and blood in Jesus and experienced the fullness of humanity while revealing the face of God to creation. In ministry circles, this verse and the doctrine of the incarnation form the basis for what is known as “incarnational ministry.” Put shortly, incarnational ministry is moving into a local community or neighborhood and living a life that reflects the missional heart of Christ through loving service, promoting justice, practicing reconciliation, and inviting others to follow Christ in the same way. It can be reflected in the simple question, “Would the neighborhood miss your church or your family if you were gone tomorrow?” If the answer is no, you haven’t been living in the fabric of the neighborhood. If the answer is yes, you’ve been imitating the incarnation and acting as a signpost pointing others toward the God who created all things and has acted in history to redeem all things through Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection. Incarnational ministry is the reason Jenna and I have been so active in the Drover Town Neighborhood Alliance and it’s the reason why SPFCC chose to take the idea of an ice cream social and expand it outward into a neighborhood block party several years ago. This year it has morphed into slow-cooking 60 racks of ribs and enjoying some music together on August 7th from 4 -7 pm. I hope you’ll make time to join our church family in the neighborhood as we enjoy some good food and make some new friends. All of this may sound overwhelming or like something for others, but Jesus invites and commands all of his followers to join in this work. To help you start thinking through how God might want to be using you and your family in your neighborhood and in the ministry of St. Peter’s First, I’m happy to introduce you to a simple but profound 12 minute teaching from Alan Hirsch through RightNow Media, a “Netflix for churches,” that SPFCC is subscribing to for a one year trial to help train and equip all of us to live out the Gospel call on each of our lives. You can access that teaching on your own computer from the privacy of your own home by going to https://www.rightnow.org/Training/Post/ View/137326 and using [email protected]for your login with the temporary password media123. For the next year, you and your family will be able to access over 14,000 videos just like this one to help you grow in your walk with Christ, so be on the lookout for our kick-off coming soon.
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Transcript
A Letter from Pastor Richard Strick
Glorify, Build,
REACH
The purpose of St. Peter’s First Community Church is to glorify God, build up the body of Christ, and reach out to those in our community and world to help them become
followers of Christ.
Eva
nge
l
AUGUST
2016
Jenna and I were on the front porch the other night when a couple of
neighbors stopped by. They lived on William Street and were serving on their
mission with the Mormon Church. Many
of you are probably familiar with the two year mission Mormon youths serve, but
you probably didn’t realize that a house in
Drover Town serves as home base for many of the missionaries that pass
through Huntington. They had just received word that they were being
transferred to Ohio the next morning but
wondered if they could tour inside our church. As we were talking further in the
sanctuary, they shared that they had heard so many wonderful things about our
church from folks in the neighborhood
and they had wanted to stop by and check it out for themselves. It reminds me of the
way Eugene Peterson translates John 1:14
in the Message Bible translation:
“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the
glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous
inside and out, true from start to finish.”
In theological circles, this verse
is the foundation for what we call the Incarnation - that the Triune God took on
flesh and blood in Jesus and experienced the fullness of humanity while revealing
the face of God to creation. In ministry circles, this verse and the doctrine of the
incarnation form the basis for what is known as “incarnational ministry.” Put
shortly, incarnational ministry is moving
into a local community or neighborhood and living a life that reflects the missional
heart of Christ through loving service,
promoting justice, practicing reconciliation, and inviting others to
follow Christ in the same way. It can be reflected in the simple question, “Would
the neighborhood miss your church or
your family if you were gone tomorrow?” If the answer is no, you haven’t been
living in the fabric of the neighborhood. If the answer is yes, you’ve been imitating
the incarnation and acting as a signpost
pointing others toward the God who created all things and has acted in history
to redeem all things through Christ’s
death on the cross and resurrection.
Incarnational ministry is the reason Jenna and I have been so active in
the Drover Town Neighborhood Alliance and it’s the reason why SPFCC chose to
take the idea of an ice cream social and
expand it outward into a neighborhood block party several years ago. This year it
has morphed into slow-cooking 60 racks of ribs and enjoying some music together
on August 7th from 4 -7 pm. I hope you’ll
make time to join our church family in the neighborhood as we enjoy some good
food and make some new friends.
All of this may sound overwhelming or like something for
others, but Jesus invites and commands
all of his followers to join in this work. To help you start thinking through how God
might want to be using you and your family in your neighborhood and in the
ministry of St. Peter’s First, I’m happy to
introduce you to a simple but profound 12 minute teaching from Alan Hirsch
through RightNow Media, a “Netflix for
churches,” that SPFCC is subscribing to for a one year trial to help train and equip
all of us to live out the Gospel call on each of our lives. You can access that
teaching on your own computer from the
privacy of your own home by going to https://www.rightnow.org/Training/Post/
View/137326 and using
[email protected] for your login with the temporary password media123.
For the next year, you and your family will be able to access over 14,000 videos