Mighty to Save – Discovering Compassion in the Miracles of Jesus

We have just concluded a celebration of the season in which followers of Christ give attention to what C.S. Lewis called “the central miracle asserted by Christians”: the Incarnation — God becoming man. Lewis says, “Every other miracle prepares for this, or exhibits this, or results from this.”

The greatest grouping of miracles in any religion appear in the ministry of Jesus.

· He changes lives through his miracles like no one else.

· He performs deeds through his miracles like no one else.

· He amazes people through his miracles like no one else.

For the next few weeks, my Sunday messages will examine Jesus’ ministry through the miracles of Jesus as Luke tells about them. The theme for the series will be: Mighty to Save: Discovering Compassion in the Miracles of Jesus. As I have begun studying Jesus’ miracles, I am discovering three themes that his miracles emphasize:

(1) Salvation for those without hope. Many of Jesus’ miracles bring change to people who are hopeless because they are blind, deaf, paralyzed, hungry. In more than one case, Jesus heals them with the statement, “Your sins are forgiven,” or he says to them after they are healed, “Go and sin no more.” Jesus heals not just the body, but we will find he goes deeper to heal our souls.

(2) Power for those without strength. The power of God is behind the miracles of Jesus. Over and over, his miracles have Jesus doing the humanly impossible for those who have the least ability to do things for themselves. He not only heals the paralyzed, he gives strength to their legs so they can walk immediately, and he raises the dead. The power of God that created the universe is on display in Jesus’ miracles.

(3) Compassion for those without love. Jesus is so tender in how he deals with people — like the lepers — who have been cast aside by everyone else. He touches the untouchable as he heals their bodies.

We will see these themes demonstrated over and over as we look at Jesus’ miracles. And we will find that he still does for us what he did to the people he met during his earthly ministry.

Christmas Letter From Ken & Christine

Dear Friend,

As Christmas approaches, we will celebrate our 36^th wedding anniversary and three days later again celebrate the Lord’s birth. With one birthday, an anniversary, and Christmas, the last few days of December are always eventful for us. We are glad we can share some of our year with you at this busy time of the year.

Christine continued her pursuit of a master’s degree in theology with an emphasis in liturgical studies at Notre Dame during the year. For the second summer in a row, she spent six weeks in residence at Notre Dame and then took an online class during the fall. She will begin the year taking a two-week class in Tuscon, Arizona. She hopes to complete her classes and take her comprehensive exams in the summer of 2011.

Meanwhile she also continues working in her Music Therapy practice, Sonshine Music Center. She has fewer clients right now, as her largest contract has been scaled back, but she also continues serving as president of the Wisconsin Chapter for Music Therapy, and in her “spare time” helps lead our worship ministry at church.

Ken continues in his dual role as full-time minister at Westwood Christian Church and part-time Executive Director at WCMA. Both positions have their challenges, but he is enjoying preaching almost every week and leading both organizations. WCMA continues to make progress toward their next church plant and has a good start on saving funds for the plant. Ken started a blog of various things he writes for the church and Wisconsin Christian News. You can access it by going to http://kenhenes.blogspot.com.

We hosted our second Christmas Open House this year for people from our church, neighborhood, colleagues, and clients. We again had a good turnout, as we use the event to bring people together who otherwise would not meet.

Nancy and David continue to live in Cincinnati where Nancy is the training coordinator for a social work agency, Hamilton Choices, and David is fire chief for the Village of Glendale. They are very active at LifeSpring Christian Church and are enjoying their life together.

Nancy created some excitement at Thanksgiving. Most everybody from Christine’s side of the family was together for Thanksgiving dinner at her brother’s in her hometown – we had 23 for dinner. Early in the morning on Friday, Nancy woke up in her hotel room not feeling well. David took her to the emergency room, and by noon on Friday she was in surgery for an appendectomy. She was in the hospital overnight, and she and David returned home as planned.

Please pray for Christine’s mother. She turned 80 in January when we had a family gathering for her birthday. In November, she had congestive heart failure. While in the hospital, they found cancer on one lung. Earlier this month, she had surgery and the cancer was removed. They got all the cancer, but she is still recovering, and the doctors still need to decide how to treat her heart.

We trust that your year has gone well and pray that the Lord continues to bless you. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Ken, Christine & Strider

Westwood Message – 12/15/2009

Christmas Carol Sing at Clare Bridge

Next Sunday, December 20, at 4:00 pm is our monthly hymn sing at Clare Bridge of Middleton, 6701 Stonefield Road. We will sing Christmas carols for the residents. We would like to have as many of our families with children as possible come and sing and offer Christmas wishes to the residents.

As a bonus, everyone is invited afterwards, children and adults, to the church building for pizza and a movie, “The Ultimate Gift.”Sandy Polcyn is hosting the event as a “thank you” to the children who worked so hard to put on our Christmas play last Sunday, but everyone is invited.

Christmas Eve Service

Our annual Candlelight Christmas Eve Service is at 5:00 pm on December 24. Make this family service a part of your family’s Christmas activities as we worship the Savior who was born to free us from our sins. This is always a special service that will encourage you and help you keep Christ central to your family’s Christmas celebration.

The Manhattan Declaration

On November 20 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, a dozen Christian leaders announced the release of an historic document called “The Manhattan Declaration. Prior to its release it was signed by over 140 leaders representing every branch of Christianity. Since its release over 291,000 individuals have signed it.

Charles Colson said this about the document: “The Manhattan Declaration is a wake-up call—a call to conscience—for the church. It is also a crystal-clear message to civil authorities that we will not, under any circumstances, stand idly by as our religious freedom comes under assault.” You can read his complete BreakPoint commentary at this link.

The Manhattan Declaration is “a call to Christian conscience” in our culture. It begins with these paragraphs:

Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.
We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

1. the sanctity of human life

2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife

3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

I want to encourage you to read the entire Manhattan Declaration at this link. You can also sign it online at the same site. It is necessary for Christians in any culture to stand firm on moral principles. Here is one way you can so today.

HOW EFFECTIVE IS YOUR CHURCH IN REACHING UNBELIEVERS?

The congregation I serve is working at reaching into our community. We are doing several things to minister in our community with the aim of reaching people for Christ, and we are constantly evaluating what we do and discussing new ideas for reaching people. In fact, our leaders just completed a discussion about how we can make one of our outreach programs more effective.

The truth is, though, that we are not doing a very effective job of reaching unbelievers. We think we have laid the right foundation for doing so, but we are still working at becoming more effective. So I paid attention recently when I read an article on the subject by Kent Hunter who leads a team of consultants at Church Doctor Ministries.

Hunter suggests that to be effective you begin by recognizing the different types of people you want to reach and establish a strategy for each. There are four types of people to reach:

· The De-churched consider themselves Christians, but do not attend church. They have been away from the church six to eight years or longer. They include those who have had a traumatic experience in the church or in their family.

· The Under-churched also may feel they are Christians. Their occasional attendance usually is triggered by a stressful event in their lives.

· The Semi-churched are frequently known as holiday attendees, they most often attend at Easter, but may also attend on Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or Thanksgiving.

· The Unchurched, identified by their own perception, respond to questions about religious affiliation by saying, “I have no church (temple, mosque, synagogue).” Research shows most of them would say they are “spiritually interested,” and they may subscribe allegiance to a “higher power.”

The latter category represent 50 to 60 percent of the U.S. population. Another 10 to 20 percent would say they have a church, but could not tell you the name of their pastor or priest. They are “functionally unchurched.” The unchurched and the functionally unchurched represent between 60 and 80 percent of the people you know.

If Jesus has called your church to be a community of outreach, the unchurched is a primary population group on which to focus your ministry. But, Hunter says, “During a time in U.S. history when the population of unchurched people has grown significantly, the church has become increasingly ineffective at reaching them.”

So, how do become more effective in reaching the unchurched? Hunter offers at least ten strategies they have identified. Here is a sampling:

1. Add a “go” strategy to your church’s efforts to invite people to your events. Take the congregation I serve as an example. We are working to invite people to events, including the use of mailings, and to utilize our building for services such as a Food Pantry and as a meeting place for groups. We still need to find ways to meet unchurched people where they are.

2. Teach church members to see themselves as missionaries of the church. Consider training people through programs such as Becoming a Contagious Christian, so that they see themselves as missionaries to America.

3. Encourage members to spontaneously share their story of faith. A person’s story of faith is best shared when it is relevant to a conversation initiated by an unchurched person with whom you have an established relationship. You may also inject discussion about your involvement in various areas of ministry and church life into conversations with unchurched friends, just as you would discuss work or family or school.

4. Train members to see that their primary sphere of ministry is their workplace, neighborhood, school, sports club—wherever they develop relationships. We need to move people from seeing their primary ministry not as the church group they serve with, but as sharing Christ with people.

I hope your church is interested in becoming more effective in reaching unbelievers. These are just some starter ideas. If you are interested in reading further, you can find Kent Hunter’s article at http://www.christianstandard.com/articledisplay.asp?id=1396. Let’s once again realize the importance of the church reaching into the world with the Gospel.

Westwood Message – 12/4/2009

New Self Renewal Center Plans Donation to Westwood Food Pantry

New Self Renewal Center, a business owned by Suzi and Kirk Grundahl, daughter and son-in-law of Marion and Marilyn Greaser, will make a donation to Westwood’s Food Pantry of proceeds from a 6-week program offered in December by the center. The center made a similar donation last year. Below is information about the program.

Join the Holiday Hustle at New Self Renewal Center

November 30 – January 9

The Holiday Hustle is a 6-week program designed to help you be proactive and stay on track during the Holidays! For a $60 investment you will receive:

· A 6-week single w/ children membership to New Self.

· A handy “Holiday Hustle Food/Activity Journal” to keep track of your daily food intake and your daily exercise.

· “10 Quick and Essential Moves” workout complete with photos.

· Plus, 25% of proceeds will be donated to local food pantries.

This is a great way to test drive a New Self membership & Make Life Balance during the holidays. Sign up today!

Call 608.310.6775 or visit www.newselfrenewal.com for more details.

New Self Renewal Center
608.310.6775
www.newselfrenewal.com

Christmas Open House

Christine and I would like to invite you to a Christmas Open House at our home, 112 Vista Dr., Cottage Grove, on December 12 from 2:30 to 5:00 PM. Neighbors and friends from other activities we are involved in are also being invited. We hope you come and celebrate the Christmas season with us.

Upcoming Dates

Christmas activities at Westwood are picking up as we move into December. Check out the list below. You will certainly enjoy the Kids’ Christmas Play during our worship service on December 13. Then we will offer our annual Christmas for Kids on December 19. Finally plan to make our Christmas Eve Service on December 24 a time of family worship as a part of your family’s Christmas events. Each of our Sunday worship services are also planned with a Christmas theme in order to encourage you to live out the reasons for celebrating Christimas.

Cards are still available at the church building that you can use to invite friends and family to these events.

• December 6 – Annual Meeting at 11:00 am
• December 11 – Women’s Annual White Elephant Gift Exchange at 6:00 pm
• December 12 –Christmas Open House at the Henes’ from 2:30 to 5:00 pm.
• December 13 -- “Deck the Halls and Trim the Tree” Kids’ Christmas Play at 9:30 am
• December 19 – Christmas for Kids at 9:00 am
• December 24 – Christmas Eve Service at 5:00 pm

Westwood People to Perform With Community Choir

Three Westwood people will sing with Edgewood College’s Campus-Community Choir on Sunday, December 6 at 2:30 pm. Choir members from Westwood are Eric & Rachelle Purington and Dawn Zimmerman. The choir will perform Mozart’s Requiem along with the Edgewood Chamber Orchestra in St. Joseph Chapel at Edgewood College. There is a $5.00 admission fee which goes to a choral scholarship fund at Edgewood.

Great Moments in Christmas History

NBC Sports has been running a special feature this year during the halftime show for Sunday Night Football that they call “Great Moments in Tailgating History.” Three observers go “back in time” each week to a game from the past and “record” a tailgating event that results in the beginning of a football tradition. They have “recorded” such “great” moments as the first use of a cowbell ringer (1922), the inspiration for the seat cushion (1959), and the accidental invention of the rain poncho (1958).

The most recent discovery was shown last Sunday night. It dates to a 1935 game in Pittsburgh when a tailgater accidentally splattered a substantial amount of mustard on his friend’s face. Though clearly a blunder, surrounding fans embraced the yellow-faced man as a symbol of support for the Pittsburgh team. Cheers ensued and a movement was born.

Who comes up with these things? I don’t know, although it is a nice diversion from the football game. It got me thinking this week, though: What are the really great moments in Christmas history? What have been the great Christmas moments in your family?

In the US, the great moments of Christmas come down to whether the shopping, decorating, and busyness of the season dominate our time or are we moved once again by the greatest Christmas moment of all, the birth of the Savior.

Christine and I have had many wonderful family Christmases through the years. Often we and others of our family have traveled to be with each other. Sometimes, we have been at home, often with family traveling to visit us. Since those in our extended family are followers of Christ, the memories we make each year include wonderful Christmas worship services that we have attended with each other wherever we are.

My greatest moment of Christmas still comes from my memories of our family Christmases growing up. We were always at home: Mom, Dad, four of us kids, and one Grandmother. We opened presents on Christmas Eve, and then concluded the evening as Dad read the Christmas story from Luke’s Gospel. Those simple family Christmases are why the Christmas story of the Gospels still resonates with me.

I continue to cherish the many family memories of Christmas — both the cultural practice of gift-giving and the re-hearing of the story of Bethlehem. That story is the greatest Christmas moment of all. Be sure to let it touch your life again this Christmas.