Westwood Message–11/18/2010

Thank You’s

Thanks to everyone who helped with preparations, cooking, cleanup, and all the other details for the Harvest Dinner last Sunday evening, November 24. We had a number of guests, and everyone had an enjoyable evening. Thanks for all your hard work.

Christine and I would like to thank all of you who blessed us with cards and gifts for Pastor Appreciation Month in October. We are glad to be ministering with you and look forward to how God continues to work through Westwood’s ministry.

WCC’s 2010 Kids Christmas Play
“Toooooooooo Busy”!!!Sunday, December 19, 9:30 am Worship Service

Westwood’s children have begun practicing for the 2010 Kids Christmas Play which will be performed during our December 19 worship service. Between now and then, our elementary and middle school children will meet downstairs for the entire worship service each Sunday for a class and play practice.

Christmas Decorating Set for December 3 & 4

Christine Henes will supervise “Hanging of the Greens” at the church on December 3 and 4 starting at 9 am. She needs Middle and High School youth, and men and women to assist in a variety of ways:

1. Set up of 2 long tables on the platform on Friday am and removed and put away Saturday afternoon, the 4th.

2. Individuals to donate fresh cut cedar, pine greens and red twig dogwood branches. I would like to have at least 2 yard bags full of evergreens Please have these bagged and at the church on Friday, December 3.

3. An individual to donate enough premade fresh evergreen roping to go around the double entry doors. Please deliver Friday December 3 am or Saturday December 4th am.

4. An individual to donate white outdoor lights to generously wrap the cross outside on Segoe Road.

5. An individual to wrap the Segoe Road cross in white lights on Friday December 3, remove and store them after January 6.

6. Helpers who will climb a ladder, fluff greens, and bows, assist in making arrangements, iron, pound nails, etc.

7. Helpers please bring scissors, pruners, wire cutters, iron, ironing board, glue guns, finishing nails, hammer.

8. Bring a sack lunch.

9. Work days will be January 7 and 8 to remove and store Christmas decorations.

Roger Wisegarver is Making Progress In His Recovery

Roger Wisergarver continues to make progress in his recovering from Guillen Barre syndrome. Last week Brenda shared the photo below of Roger in his new wheelchair and of them the two of them with their new wheelchair accessible van. Both the wheelchair and van were purchased with the benefit for Roger, for which we took a special offering.

Brenda also sent us this thank you note:

Your continued prayer and generosity are appreciated by us so much!! You all have been a God send.

We will come visit soon.

Our Love,

Roger & Brenda Wisegarver

Upcoming Westwood Events

November 21 11:00 AM – Budget Presentation to the congregation
                      4:00 PM – Singing at Clare Bridge
December 5 11:00 AM – Westwood’s Annual Meeting
                   12:00 Noon – Keenager’s Potluck
December 11 9:00 AM – Christmas for Kids
December 19 9:30 AM – Children’s Christmas Program
December 24 5:00 PM – Christmas Eve Service
December 26 12:00 Noon – Potluck for Chardel
                                  Johnston’s Fortieth Anniversary

FINDING THE HOLE IN OUR GOSPEL

A study listed the top ten things people forget when they travel. The items listed include tickets, passport, extra socks, cash, medication, a toothbrush, and others. Have you ever forgotten anything when you travel? I suspect most people who travel can tell a story about going on a business trip, camping trip, or vacation and forgetting to pack something pretty important.

This month, I would like for you to consider whether you are forgetting something in the Gospel, and to consider pursuing a discussion on the subject with your congregation. Have you ever felt like there is something missing in your walk with Christ? This is the issue Richard Stearns develops in his very worthwhile book The Hole In Our Gospel. He explores the question “What does God expect of me?” He says this in the book’s introduction:

“The question, ‘What does God expect of me?’ is a very profound one – not just for me, but for everyone who claims to follow Christ. Jesus had a lot to say about it. Yes, He did give us deep insights into the character of God and our relationship with Him as well, but He also spoke at length about God’s expectations, our values, and how we are to live in the world. So how are we to live? What kind of relationship are we to have with a holy God? What is God asking for, really, from you and me? Much more than church attendance. More than prayer too. More than belief, and even more than self-denial. God asks us for everything. He requires a total life commitment from those who would be His followers. In fact, Christ calls us to be His partners in changing our world, just as He called the Twelve to change their world two thousand years ago.”

I discussed Stearns’ book in my September 2009 column. Since, then, a new resource has been published to enable congregations to have their own discussion of the themes of his book. Besides the book, you can use videos in which Stearns discusses his ideas, a small group study guide, sermon ideas for a six-week series, and other resources. You can access some of the material and order items in quantity at www.sixweekquest.com.

This is not the first time a writer has suggested we might be missing something of what God expects of us. Seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Micah wrote that the people of his day were missing something vital to the heart of God, and God made it clear what he expects. Micah 6:8 says, “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Jesus also saw a hole in the faith of the religious leaders of his day. In Matthew 23:23, he said, “’Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.’”

Stearns’ ideas grow out of Jesus’ mission statement for his ministry as found in Luke 4 when he reads from Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth. There are three realms of life that the W.H.O.L.E. Gospel covers as seen in Jesus’ quotation from Isaiah 61. Jesus said he came to fulfill them and intends for us to find all three in how we live out the Gospel.

(1) The whole Gospel covers the spiritual – Jesus came to “preach good news to the poor.” We need to proclaim the Gospel to the spiritually poor, while not forgetting our own spiritual poverty. This is perhaps the easiest aspect of our mission to recognize.

(2) The whole Gospel covers the physical – Jesus came to proclaim freedom to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind. Another word for the Gospel is this sense is mercy. We are to be merciful to everyone who is hurting in life. We dare not forget this aspect of the Gospel.

(3) The whole Gospel covers the social – Jesus came to release the oppressed and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. This aspect of the Gospel calls for justice. The church must always work for the justice of oppressed peoples.

Consider digging into Stearns’ book and take the Six Week Quest with your congregation. Take a look with your friends at the make-up of the W-H-O-L-E Gospel.

Westwood Message–11/4/2010

Harvest Dinner is November 14 at 5:30 PM

Our annual Harvest Dinner will take place on November 14 at 5:30 PM. Plan to come and bring family and/or friends. You can sign up to come and eat, bring a pie, help set up, or help clean up and put things away. Sign up on Sunday or contact Chardel at the church office. Invite your family and friends to come and eat with you. We have invited the campus ministry family at Koinonia House with Wisconsin Christian Campus Ministries. The main meal will be provided. Plan for a great evening together.

WCC’s 2010 Kids Christmas Play

“Toooooooooo Busy”!!!

Sunday, December 19, 9:30 am Worship Service

Practice will begin on Sunday, November 14, 2010. Grade School and Middle School kids will meet downstairs during the entire worship service through Sunday, December 12. They will have a short lesson and then play practice following until the end of the service.

Practices will go through Sunday, Dec. 12. Parents, please send your children downstairs when you arrive for church each Sunday for these five Sundays. We will have only 5 weeks to put this together, so it’s IMPORTANT that the kids are at church for practices.

Sandy Polcyn and Kris Wales will be directing the play for the kids this year. If you have any questions, please ask Sandy.

We’re looking forward to working with the kids for Christ through Drama!

Sandy and Kris

New Roof for White Oaks Lodge at Rock River Christian Camp

Rock River Christian Camp needs volunteers to help tear off the old roof and to put a new roof on the White Oaks Lodge during the next two-three weeks. Please call (815-493-6622) or e-mail (office@rockrivercc.net) Leslie at the camp office to let them know if you are able to go and help. The roof may not survive the winter, so this project needs to be done before the cold winter weather sets in. The camp staff is willing to feed you if you are there over mealtimes.

Upcoming Westwood Events

November 13 - 7:30 AM – Men’s Breakfast
November 13 - 9:00 AM – Women’s Mug ‘n’ Muffin Fellowship, Church Office
November 14 - 5:30 PM – Westwood’s Annual Harvest Dinner
November 19 - 6:30 PM – S.E.R.I.O.U.S. Women
November 21 - 10:45 AM – Budget Presentation to the congregation
November 21 - 4:00 PM – Singing at Clare Bridge
December 4 - 10:45 AM – Westwood’s Annual Meeting
December 4 - 12:00 Noon – Keenager’s Potluck
December 11 - 9:00 AM – Christmas for Kids
December 19 - 9:30 AM – Children’s Christmas Program
December 24 - 5:00 PM – Christmas Eve Service
December 26 - 12:00 Noon – Potluck for Dick & Chardel Johnston’s Fortieth Anniversary

MAKE CARING PERSONAL

In his book The Hole In Our Gospel, Richard Stearns tells about a simple behavioral experiment conducted in 2006 by three researchers:

A test group of ordinary people was divided into three subgroups. The first read the story and saw a photo of a poor, starving seven-year-old African girl named Rokia. The second group was given a statistical portrait of seventeen million Africans in four countries who were desperately hungry because of crop failures and food shortages. They were told about yet another four million who were homeless. In other words, group two read about hunger and suffering on a massive scale. The third group was given the story about the little girl Rokia but was also given the statistical information given to group two. Finally, participants in all three groups were asked to donate money to relieve the suffering. Amazingly, the group that heard only Rokia’s story gave the most money. The group that was given the statistics about twenty-one million suffering people gave the least, and the group that received both pieces of information was only slightly more generous than the statistics-only group. The story of one child was more compelling than the suffering of millions.

People will depersonalize a large group of people and thus respond to them with far less compassion than they will when a person’s life circumstances become personal to them. When we realize this, we can better understand some of the appalling realities of our world and how the unthinkable becomes possible. Does this allow, for instance, for the Holocaust and the Rwanda genocide? Might this explain slavery — and how Christian people tolerated and defended it for so long?

As Christians we need to see beyond the mass scale of such tragedies and personalize such things as poverty by understanding that the lives of people are affected — not just large numbers of nameless people.

This is how Jesus saw people. Matthew 9:36 says, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

So, as we discover “The Hole In Our Gospel” through the current sermon series, I encourage you to make poverty and disease and helplessness personal. Many of you are doing so by helping with our food pantry or ministering to “the least of these” in other ways. Get to know someone who is hungry, thirsty, a stranger, in need of clothes, sick, or in prison and care for them. God has rescued us from the helplessness of sin and calls us to care for people who need to be rescued. Make caring personal.