Westwood Message

Where’s Your Passion

While in Colorado last week for a retreat for church planting leaders and for some vacation, Christine and I worshiped on Sunday at First Presbyterian Church in Georgetown, CO. There are only three churches in this small town, and the Presbyterian church itself is small, but we enjoyed our visit with them.

The congregation was formed in 1869, and their building, which is affectionately known as the “Little Stone Church By the Stream” was dedicated in 1874. The congregation thrived in the 1870’s and into the 1880’s , but a period of decline followed. The Depression years were especially difficult, and they considered discontinuing services. But they persevered, with the church members even being asked to bring pieces of coal for the offering to help heat the building.

Today, the congregation has a bi-vocational pastor who has been with them for twelve years. They had a well-planned service that any follower of Christ could have worshiped in. The made us feel more than welcome, inviting us (almost to the point of insistence) to stay for their coffee and refreshments after the worship service. We stayed and had an enjoyable time visiting with several people.

The point of my relating this experience, though, is to tell you about the pastor’s sermon. His text came from one of Jesus’ stranger parables, the parable of the Shrewd Manager that you can read in Luke 16:1-9. It is the story of a manager who was wasting his master’s possessions. When the master dismissed this dishonest man, the manager, in order to gain favor for himself after losing his job, went to some of his master’s debtors and had them pay the master less than what they owed him. The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.

Jesus said about the manager, "For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”

Jesus commended the manager’s shrewdness, not his dishonesty. He calls for his followers to use what they have in this world to influence people for eternity. This calls for us being more passionate about eternal matters than what we are about earthly matters. We can be passionate about many things, but how passionate are you for the things of God and for helping people to know God? The pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Georgetown, CO, made this point very nicely last Sunday. It is something important for us to think and pray about.

Great Communion Coming October 17

Last October, we hosted and enjoyed a Sunday morning worship service with other Madison Christian churches and churches of Christ. The service was well-received, and many people said we should do it again. So, we are going to do it again on October 17 at 10:00 AM. This year the service will be hosted by Mandrake Road Church of Christ. That will our Sunday morning service that day, and I hope you will plan to attend.

We are currently at work preparing a joint time of worship and a message that will be shared by ministers from four churches. We will conclude the service with a time of communion together, and we will take an offering that will go toward this year’s Crop Walk, which will be held that day in Madison.