Calling and Sending

I went to look at my story schedule for this week, and found that it was on the 3 wise men, which we covered in "I knelt at the stable" last KFW.  Oops!  So, after seeing the lessons this week and feeling inspired by the Old Testament and Psalm which talked about God's calling and providing, I went in a slightly different direction :D  Hopefully it prepares us for what's coming up--the winter season will be FULL of stories that deal with symbols and signs in the bible and how they fit with imagery in our stories!  This deals with an element we often talk about--our calling and sending--and how that fits even into each service we do at KFW!

Callings and Sendings

Drawing from the Spark bible, pp. 90-93

Have you ever played “Marco Polo”?  It’s a game we usually play in the pool, but we could play here today!  Someone closes their eyes and calls out “Marco” everyone else has to say “polo,” and the closed-eyed person has to try to find you with their hands!  Can we try it?  (play for a couple of minutes) The bible is FULL of stories like this—well, sort of.  You see, God is often calling for someone, (though he doesn’t say Marco—he calls each person by name!) and when he finds them, and they know him as their God, he sends us out to tell others.  The story you heard in bible story time today is like that.  God had called Moses and the Israelites out of Egypt.  They had met him and learned his message and his laws and were on their way out, into the promised land.  But they got lost, and angry, and scared!  They were afraid they were alone and would die of hunger and thirst.  Have you ever felt that way?  What did you do?  Well, when the Israelites complained, God sent bread and meat and water.  You see, even when God sends us out, he goes with us!

We  remember this each Sunday in our service.  What do we do together to start our service after we sing?  We have our call to worship—why? it reminds us why we are here and what God is calling us to do.  What do we do at the end, before we sing our last song?  We do our blessing and sending, which does what? Reminds us that we don’t just KNOW God, we can and should share him with others as we leave this place!  We are not alone though!  What are some ways you see God with you when you leave KFW and before you come back the next week?  Now that our manger scene has come down, we need something new on the wall to remind us that God is with us.  Let’s write our “God sightings” down on this BIG piece of poster board together to remind us that God is with us this week, and that he calls and sends us all the time!

My Unofficial Board Report

My Unofficial Board Report

All board and staff reports were turned on November 15^th and mine was what it needed to be—simple thank yous to volunteers and the major events and activities of the year. But that’s not how I best operate.  I live in narrative, understand in narrative, rejoice in story—and that’s what I want to share with you here. 

I tried to tell Tristan this morning that today was a school day.  “No!  I want to go to church!  I want to go to church and see kids and play with BYRON!”  He yells.  I find it hard not to smile.  I never anticipated a year ago that my son would beg to go to church.  Most Sunday mornings are a little tricky—getting dressed, stop the brotherly arguments over toys, and then getting around to get there on time.  It’s often much easier if I just say to Tristan, “We’re going to church today and you can go see Kizzy/Byron/Craig/Ashton and Kobe.”  Any and all of the above names usually get him to the car quickly, sometimes before we’re ready to go.

Yesterday was rather intense.  We’re used to being rather low on numbers the Sunday after Thanksgiving as many are still traveling back.  Though Jeremy Murrish was out of town he had, as is his usual and constant gift to KFW, prepared the powerpoint of songs and service order earlier in the week and sent it to me.  I’d forgotten my personal laptop (Mommy brain!) and was downloading it onto the youth computer upstairs while Craig Standley, who I could not do this job without, was playing with Tristan and helping set up the projector. Once the order of service was there (and the misbehaving laptop had finally stopped trying to do updates to the system), I moved it, more devotions and advent calendars downstairs for the families who were requesting more to share.  We found the backdrop I’d ordered for advent—a silhouetted manger scene—and went to hang it on the bulletin board.  Justin Smith immediately jumped up and asked how he could help.  Quickly, we had it pinned and he was asking what else could be done.

It didn’t seem very long until it was time to start service.  Justin took the cross down to the Sunday school rooms for processional, and Luke, Ashton and Tristan all begged him to let them process the cross.  As Ashton and Tristan had helped process recently as I’d remembered, we told Luke it was his turn.  The kids came, joyous (and a few running) as we sang.  Luke took his duty very seriously, walking at a reasonable pace and placing the cross in the holder after circling the room once.  Kizzy and Tristan arrived at the front and immediately noticed the nativity.  Kobe and the Sides twins joined them, putting the angel on top, taking the cow and sheep and camel in and out of the stalls, and talking about the baby Jesus.  “He’s so cute!” commented Tristan, as is his norm these days when it comes to babies.  “I love baby Jesus,” said Kizzy.  

Focus was not our friend this week, as the kids were excited after the holidays.  Byron immediately jumped in though.  “Can I lead?  I really want to lead,” he told me, as he put the “worship assistant” tag around his neck.  He lead the covenant: “ I am here to show my love for God with my hands and my feet and my voice!”  All the kids were gesturing and joining in.  Justin Smith asks to lead next. He leads the call to worship: “In the name of God our creator, Jesus our Savior and the Holy Spirit. Amen!” We practice Christmas songs for the program coming up on the 15^th.  Angels we have heard on high, Away in a Manger—songs that most of the parents know really well.  And then we get to “Jesus!  Jesus!  What a wonderful child,” and I wondered how much they’d remember.  Snapping and shakers moving, they remembered it VERY well from last year.  After several times through, and they were singing with total confidence and enthusiasm.

Story time introduced them to the innkeeper and the knowledge that “there was no room in the inn,” but before that they try to guess who the story teller is.  They all shouted it out after 2 clues.  They knew Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus and the wise men when I point to them in the little people nativity set and on the bulletin board.  In spite of this familiarity, they were excited to hear the story and see the playset.  Following the story, we sang and then collected offering.  Six different kids got up to collect the offering from each table, and walked it forward (well, run in Tristan’s case) and then joined in our song and dance of thanksgiving afterward. 

We got ready to pray together.  Hands grab other hands and pull into the communal circle.  Sentence prayers were offered by many and we rejoice that Wyatt Hunter is back with us again. He’s playing the tambourine on the floor and so many of the kids have made sure to welcome him back.  Madelyn prayed for friends, Byron prayed for those in the Tsunami a few weeks ago, Ashton prayed for his mom’s grandma and Sandra, others pray for pets and thank God for the weather.  After our sentence prayers, we pray the Lord’s prayer.  Pastor asks for someone to lead and Kizzy volunteers.  I heard her dad whisper (you don’t know it.  We start “Our father”).  She started—and added words she already seemed to know, much to her dad’s surprise, “Our father who art in Heaven.”  She struggled after this, but it didn't matter because every other voice had joined hers.  She and Tristan both pray along, saying the words they know louder and mumbling the rest.  Justin and Byron both asked to lead the sending before we could even ask for volunteers.  They lead together, “God sends us into the world to love everybody with our hands and our feet and our voices.” 

Afterward, the Sides twins, Kobe and others helped me put drums away.  They were excited for the caroling coming next week, and other upcoming events.  In fact, Alanna messaged me on facebook the other day about YRU.  “How many people can we bring?”  She asked.   I ask why.  “I want to invite my whole school, if that’s okay.”  I didn’t know whether to be shocked (Lutherans speaking about faith and inviting others to faith events?) or overjoyed.

There were many reasons this year to become discouraged—lost friends, loss of family, loss of jobs and so many other points of grief.  It would be enough to drive some away.  Not our youth, and not our families—they have instead chosen to step up, ask to lead MORE, do MORE, say MORE and have grown closer.  As I said earlier, I never imagined my son would beg to go to church, but that’s what’s happening.  Our volunteers are spectacular people—did you know that for the week of “The Gospel according to the Jedi,” Jeremy Murrish put together not only the story but also created a very special powerpoint with Star Wars font for everything AND scrolling text?  It was beyond anything I could have imagined and it was such a neat celebration. Craig Standley also makes time in his schedule to just come be at the office and bounce around ideas and event planning with me.  I never cease to be amazed at “The Michelles” (Stevenson and Curry) and Nicole Lickleider who lead our Sunday school classes each week and help the kids learn the bible stories, even with the energy levels we see.  Aimee Sides commented this week that “most churches seem to not have many little boys in Sunday School,” while we seem to have boys coming out our ears (I think we have a handful of little girls, and at least twice as many boys on any given Sunday). 

Something is happening in our church—something vibrant.  The families are passionate about our community, are leaders, and loving and kind and eager to engage in acting out the gospel.   More than events or activities or services—the mindset in the face of challenges speaks far more about who we are and where we’re going than any list could tell you.  This is why our narrative and the story of our service this week is so important (and yet something that probably doesn’t fit into a formal end of year report).