Category: Bruce’s Newsletter Articles

I hate money. While I enjoy the pleasures that come from what money can buy (as my indulgences in coffee, dining out, and computers will testify), there ?s just too much effort that must go into making money, tracking money, and even spending money. I know that there ?s more than a bit of laziness in my attitude: it ?s difficult to figure out money, so I just try to avoid it.

The hard reality is that money is a necessary tool that we must use wisely or it can hurt us. Another hard reality, specifically here at Memorial, is that while there are a few areas where we could cut back more in our spending, we ?re at a point where the effort to save our nickels and dimes is becoming counterproductive. To put it bluntly, the bigger problem we are facing is that we are not giving in such a way that would indicate we are a healthy body.

Without trying to launch a guilt trip or to call attention to anyone ?s financial stability, let ?s consider together, as a body, how we can get connected by giving. First, we get connected to God through giving because it recognizes that everything we have comes from God (James 1:17). Second, we get connected to each other through giving because we develop the attitude that the first church had; Acts 4:32 says that ?All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. ?

It ?s no secret that our region, and by extension our families and our church family, is facing tough times. And it ?s easy to go into ?cutback mode, ? but let ?s not lose sight of the eternal significance of even our monthly bills. Because we are connected as one body, because we must be ?one in heart and mind, ? we share the responsibility of supporting the body by giving our money. It may be more difficult for some of us than others, but let ?s take Paul ?s advice in 1 Timothy 6:17 and not put our hope in money, which is uncertain, but put our hope in God ?who richly provides us with everything. ?

I have to admit that I ?m still somewhat sore from our trip to Louisiana. While I know what it means to put in a full day of physical labor, my knowledge is more anecdotal, as my daily work involves me being a ?mouse jockey. ? In all honesty, I was out of my league as we worked with IDES to build houses for people who lost everything to hurricane Katrina in 2005. I volunteered to work on the drywall crew, but when we arrived to find a shell waiting to be insulated and to have drywall installed, I thought I had made a mistake.

Fortunately, our crew included my brother John and Eric Kopy, who both have professional experience in building trades. Without them leading, teaching, and working side-by-side with us amateurs, we might have set IDES back a week or more in their schedule. I needed their support and guidance to make sure that my contribution actually helped.

I also needed the support of my sisters and sister-in-law ?Danelle, Michelle, and Megan. Without them taking a week and a half of vacation to come from Pennsylvania to take care of our three kids, Sandi and I would not have been able to go to Louisiana. And without the support of Pete Colley, they would have had to figure out some plumbing issues while we were gone.

I needed the support of Deni Martin, Mike Morrissey, and Keith Peters and the rest of the elders to take care of preaching and teaching and the office so that I could go to Louisiana. I needed the help of Beth Rhodes and the rest of my Sunday night class to make sure that things went smoothly. As I write this, thankful for those who helped while I was gone, I realize how much I depend on others every day, every week, and throughout the year.

Paul wrote in Romans 12:5: ?In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ? The body of Christ, the church, must get connected to support each other. Then God will use us to do things we would never have thought were possible.

Our mission is simple: to love God and to love people. This isn ?t an artificial, greeting-card kind of love. It ?s the true love that comes from God. First John 4:10 tells us: ?This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ? True love starts with God. And that love causes a reaction. John continues in verse 11: ?Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ? That explains where we get our mission, and it explains how we are connected to God and to each other, through God ?s love.

But that connection isn ?t simply a matter of saying that God loves us and that we love God and that we love others. It defines how we live. The part we often miss is that God sent Jesus not just as an expression of his love but as the means for reconnecting with us. Jesus is the only way that we can ultimately reconnect with God and live with him forever in heaven.

That explains why we do the things that we do in our programs at Memorial. We are in the business of reconnecting people with God, and our reaction to God ?s message of reconciliation is to love him and to love others. So when we gather to worship and study God ?s Word, when we collect food and distribute it to those who need it, when we rehearse in choirs, when we bowl and play softball together, it ?s not simply a schedule of programs and activities; it ?s an on-going process of growing in our love for God and others. It ?s the heart of discipleship.

The end-product of our programs and activities isn ?t merely happy, active people who happen to love God and other people; it ?s growing, maturing disciples of Jesus Christ. John says in verses 16 and 17: ?Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. ? As we connect to God and each other in love, we become more like Jesus in this world so we can reconnect with God in heaven.

Last month I wrote about how we are connected with God and each other as we celebrate the Lord ?s Supper each week. Not only do we connect by participating in Jesus ? death through communion, but we also get connected with God as he made peace with us through Jesus ? death. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:13, 14: ?But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. ?

The peace that God has provided through Jesus ? death benefits us in several ways. First, as Paul says, it removes the hostility between mankind and God. Where our sins created a gap between us, God has bridged the gap.

Second, the peace that God provided gives Christians common ground. Paul goes on in Ephesians 4:4-6: ?There is one body and one Spirit ?just as you were called to one hope when you were called one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. ? While we ?re certainly not all the same ?as Paul says in verse 7: ?But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it we all share in the same faith and the same purpose. For that reason, Paul says in verse 3: ?Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ?

Last, the peace that God provided, because it brings unity among Christians, gives us opportunities to share the Good News of that peace with unbelievers. That is, as we come near to God and as we become united with each other in peace, the body of Christ will truly live as God planned. Then, when unbelievers come among us as we worship, they will say, as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14:25: ?God is really among you! ?

With the election year in full-swing, we ?re experiencing our country ?s most fractious season. Friends, coworkers, and family members seem to be more willing to ?debate ? their differences, and it ?s not always pretty.

Sometimes Sunday mornings can be just as divided, as Christians with varied backgrounds and preferences interact within the worship service and Bible classes. But even with our opinions and traditions, we are part of one body, as Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:4-6: ?There is one body and one Spirit ?just as you were called to one hope when you were called one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. ?

Perhaps the best place to experience that is in communion, as we celebrate the Lord ?s Supper. Unlike elections, which bring people of opposing viewpoints into a common experience for one day and then allows us to stumble back to our corners to grumble and complain for another four years, communion unites individual believers as one body with a common purpose.

That purpose is not simply an act of uniformity. It is not simply a group-wide acknowledgement of Jesus ? sacrifice. It defines us. To be a Christian is to be ?Christ-like. ? In 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, Paul shows how communion does just that: ?Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. ? As we celebrate the Lord ?s Supper together each week, let us consider how communion helps us get connected with God, through Jesus ? sacrifice, and with each other.