Pastor’s
Blog
September 16, 2016
Jeff Lampl
This is
what GOD says, the God who builds a road right through the ocean,
who carves a path through pounding waves. . .
.
"Forget about all that. That’s nothing compared to what I’m going to
do.
For I’m
going to do a brand new thing. See, I have already begun! Don’t you not perceive
it?”
Isaiah 43:18-19
On Sunday I shared my
heart for you, the CLC family, for God and for the future of our church. One of the songs we sang was 10,000 Reasons, one of my all-time favorite worship songs
(currently it is my favorite). And I
noticed how perfect the first verse was for this message. Here it is;
Bless the
Lord oh my soul
Oh my
soul
Worship His
Holy name
Sing like
never before
Oh my
soul
I'll
worship Your Holy name
The sun
comes up
It's a
new day dawning
It's time
to sing Your song again
Whatever
may pass
And
whatever lies before me
Let me be
singing
When the
evening comes
Here’s a
review
of what I said in Sunday’s Message.
If you weren’t here,
you can listen to it here
I
began the message by reading Acts 2:42 – 3:10 and explained how those verses were in
my view an exact description of how God brought me into His Kingdom. I was like the beggar who was noticed,
offered Jesus, helped to his feet, found himself praising God for his new life
and then I entered the Acts 2 description of the new kind of community formed
by Jesus called “the church”. It was
awesome. Over the following 8 years connected
in that kind of church I saw with my own eyes God “adding daily those who were
being saved”.
Kathy
and I then came to New London Presbyterian Church as pastor and the Lord just
kept adding to His church, to this new kind of community of people who were
following Jesus. That continued for
decades, even leading us to move to Saginaw Road to build the Christian Life
Center.
However,
over the last six years instead of continual numerical growth we have
experienced the opposite. We moved to
our new location here on Saginaw Road based on projections of continued
attendance and giving growth, but actual attendance and giving have
decreased. Obviously this trend has
caused me and others a great deal of soul searching!
Now,
after years of soul searching, and to be perfectly honest, a whole lot of
self-doubt, I have simply found myself returning to what I know. What I know is that Jesus is no less alive
today than He was in our previous decades together. For a follower of Jesus there just isn’t any
room available for worry, fear or excessive ruminating over what might be,
might have been, or what isn’t.
Intelligent assessment is important.
But once assessment is done and whatever needed corrections are made, it
is then time to remember and re-enter the reality of the Gospel which is that
Jesus is at every moment making all things new. Personally I am so, so grateful that God has
brought me back to His reality that He is leading his church and it is that
reality has me as excited as I have ever been about his future for His Kingdom
in and through CLC.
So,
what now? First, the future for the
work of God in and through CLC is unlimited.
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what the Lord
has prepared for those who love him” 1 Cor. 2:9. Therefore as of 9/11/16 I
see a brand new season of vibrant, exciting, life-giving, community and
outreach in and through CLC. As each of
us is willing to be a blessing to others we will find ourselves blessed beyond
measure.
Second,
this new season will include succession planning, which means that your leaders
and I are also preparing for my successor and for an excellent and uplifting
transition to the next pastor. I am not
tired, I am still as enthusiastic and energized about Jesus and his church as
ever and I am certain that my time here is not done. It will most likely be years before an
actual succession takes place, but we are preparing now for whatever God has
planned. No, I am not moving to Fiji,
and no, I am not being nudged out by anyone.
The elders actually like me! And
I love them. But this next new season
of ministry will be one, not only of a new work of God, but also one that is
positioned to grow, not stall, when the baton is passed to a new pastor.
The
really, really big thing, though, the biggest thing of all is our hearts for
God.
There
is only one thing needed for this next season and that is for you and I to be
able to be all in with God. This new
season will mean that each of us “offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God” Romans 12:1. This requires each of us
to “take up our cross and follow Jesus”.
It requires us to pray Jesus’
prayer, “not my will, but Yours be done”.
It means transitioning from the church being a place that you hope will
bless (benefit) you, to the church becoming a place in and through which your
goal becomes to bless others. It means saying to God, to Jesus, “my life is
yours, show me how to serve you and I’ll do it”. It means saying to God, “show me how to be ‘all
in’ as a servant in and through the CLC family”.
When God has a
church family like that, the blessings flow. It’s simple really, when we live to give away
Jesus and his blessings rather than to seek them, it is then that we are
blessed. When we seek blessings first,
and then seek to serve as a second thing, we will never find ourselves truly
blessed. That’s just how God
works. It’s Life 101.
So, here's my
suggestion for how to say to God “I’m in with you God, and I’m in with
CLC”.
First play and
sing along with Matt Redman as he sings 10,000 Reasons (lyrics below).
Feel the incredible way that
God has blessed you with his Life, with Life itself. Do this until your gratitude to God
overwhelms you.
,
Second play the
song Wake up (lyrics below) Read
the words, then sing them with the recording.
Make this song your commitment to become not a seeker of blessings but a
giver of them to others. Make this your
“I’m in” commitment to Jesus.
Third, enter
into this new commitment daily, paying attention to all the ways that God
prompts you to act and intervenes to bless you.
Now to him who is able to
do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is
at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout
all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)
Bless the Lord
oh my soul We have seen the hope
Oh my soul of your healing
Worship His
Holy name Rising from our souls
Sing like never
before is the feeling
Oh my soul We are drawing close
Your light is shining through
I'll worship
Your Holy name Your light is shining through
The sun comes
up
It's a new day
dawning Wake up, wake up, wake up
It's time to
sing Your song again wake up all you sleepers
Whatever may
pass stand up, stand up
And whatever
lies before me
Let me be
singing Stand up all you dreamers
When the
evening comes Hands up, hands up
Hands up all believers
Bless the Lord
oh my soul Take up your cross, carry it on
Oh my soul
Worship His
Holy name All lthat you reveal
Sing like never
before with light in us
Oh my soul will come to life
I'll worship
Your Holy name and start breathing, 'cause
You're rich in
love here we stand our hearts are
And You're slow
to anger yours, Lord not our will but yours
Your name is
great be done, Lord (3x-4x)
And Your heart
is kind
For all Your
goodness
I will keep on
singing
Ten thousand
reasons
For my heart to
find
Bless the Lord
oh my soul
Oh my soul
Worship His
Holy name
Sing like never
before
Oh my soul
I'll worship
Your Holy name
Bless You Lord
And on that day
When my
strength is failing
The end draws
near
And my time has
come
Still my soul
will
Sing Your
praise unending
Ten thousand
years
And then
forevermore
Forevermore
Bless the Lord
oh my soul
Oh my soul
Worship His
Holy name
Sing like never
before
Oh my soul
I'll worship
Your Holy name
Bless the Lord
oh my soul
Oh my soul
Worship His
Holy name
Sing like never
before
Oh my soul
I'll worship
Your Holy name
Yes I'll
worship Your Holy name
I'll worship
Your Holy name
Sing like never
before
Oh my soul
I'll worship
Your Holy name
Jesus I will
worship Your Holy name
Worship Your
Holy name
