Requiem

I've been out of the blogging loop for a while. Today just a quick note about great music coming up this weekend: Musikanten Montana is performing Brahms Requiem on Saturday and Sunday at 7pm: Saturday at St. John's Lutheran Church (1000 Helena Ave.) and Sunday at St. Peter's Episcopal Cathedral (511 N. Park Ave.). Tickets are $10.

This is my first time singing with this group and it's been great fun. This may be your only chance to hear live Brahms for some time, so come check it out!

Sunday and sweets

Sunday
We had a great time at ExplorationWorks on Sunday. Good music. Good food. Good time with people. It was a great space to be in--welcoming, spacious, light. Actually, almost too light. We'll have to rethink how we set up the room next time so that the screen doesn't get washed out. But that was part of the point; we wanted to try out the space to see what works and what doesn't. So we're busy now making our lists of all the things we need to think about for next time.


Sweet Time for a Sweet Cause
What's great about the fall? Falling leaves, warm fires, and great desserts. Yes, it's time to bring on the pies and the tortes, the cookies and the cakes.

So on Wednesday, November 5, we'll be taking over the Fire Tower Coffee House from 7-9 p.m. to enjoy desserts, coffee and raise some money Food Share. Merideth's already perusing her vast collection of dessert recipes for ideas. Our friend Lacy Claeys will be providing some of her signature cookies. My daughter Carolyn will no doubt make sure we have plenty of pumpkin pie available. It'll be fun. And tasty. And benefit a great cause.

The Gathering - Oct. 19

Headwaters Covenant Church was commissioned this past weekend at our parent church in Helena. This weekend we'll be having a gathering at our new meeting space, ExplorationWorks. We'll be there Sunday morning, October 19; doors open for coffee and bagels at 9:30 with our program starting at 10.

We're excited to try out the space and see what it will be like to meet together in this great location. In addition to good coffee and food, we'll have some music, prayer and get into our vision for being a new a church in Helena. Childcare will be provided. Please join us.

Commissioning service

This weekend Headwaters Covenant Church will be commissioned for its work by the church that is planting us, the Evangelical Covenant Church of Helena. It will be a time to introduce our launch team, a time to present our vision, and a time for prayer.

As we’ve been preparing for this, the first chapters of Joshua have been on my mind. That’s where we read the story of how Israel entered the Promised Land. They had witnessed God’s mighty power in Egypt, received the Law at Mt. Sinai, wandered in the desert, and now were ready to go into the land that God was leading them to.

As they stood on the shore of the Jordon River, preparing to cross into Canaan, looking over into the unknown, their leader Joshua stood before the people and declared, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.”

Get ready. Prepare for God to do great things. Expect miracles—you’ll need them.

While we’re not going to literally cross any rivers, march around Jericho, or go into battle with swords and spears, we are being set apart to go into the unknown with the Lord going before us. God loves the people of Helena. He has called us to serve the people he loves, especially the poor and the “poor in spirit”, the hurting and the broken (see Matt. 5:3 & Luke 6:20).

We are about God’s work. It is God who loves and invites, forgives and restores. It is God who is longsuffering and compassionate, full of mercy and care. It is God who takes up the cause of the oppressed, comforts the lonely, and heals the broken. And we are called to join in God’s work, God’s mission, God’s labor for those he loves.

If you’re in Helena this weekend, join us at one of our commissioning services at ECC (800 N. Hoback). The services will be Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and Sunday at 9:00 and 10:30 a.m.

If you can’t join us, I invite you to pray for us. (And even if you can join us, please pray!) Pray that we will be strong and courageous. That we will be obedient to God’s call and God’s word. That we will not give into fear or discouragement. That we will be diligent in our preparations. That we will trust in God.

Three days before venturing into the Promised Land, Joshua and his officers went throughout the camp, encouraged the people, exhorting them and giving them instruction. And this was the response of the people: “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go” (Joshua 1:16).

Pray that this will be our response as well.

Unveiling the name

The day has finally come to announce the name of our new church. We’ve been calling it “the new church” or “the church plant” for months now, and over that time we’ve been working on a discerning a name that reflects who we are and what we’re about.

And that name is Headwaters Covenant Church.

Throughout the scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, rivers symbolize life and wholeness. We see the rivers that flow out of Eden, watering the garden of Paradise. The river in the book of Ezekiel that flows from the temple and transforms the Dead Sea into a place of life. The river of the water of life that flows from the throne in the last chapter of the Bible, a river that waters the tree of life in the new creation.

When Jesus talked with the woman at the well under the hot, noonday sun, he offered her “living water”--that is, new life. When Jesus offered this new life to the people at the temple, he said, “If anyone is thirsty, let them come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7:37-38)

This is compelling imagery. It speaks to the source of real life being in God. It speaks to the transforming power of God. It speaks to this transforming work in us spreading to others.

And that’s what we want to be about. Life and wholeness. New life that brings life to others.

ExplorationWorks

We took our kids to ExplorationWorks today. We took in some of the exhibits, made an origami frog (turned out well) and an origami bat (turned out not so well). This is where we'll be having our first meetings for the new church.



Here are a couple views of the room we'll be using. We'll move the exhibits, bring in chairs, set up the sound system, and be ready to go.



Here's where we'll be able to have some of the kids.



Pretty cool space, huh!

Who, what, and where

Who is this new church for? The other day I was talking with some Christian guys I know in Helena and they asked me how things were going with the new church. I brought up that some of us have had some very encouraging discussions lately with people who aren’t Christians. We’re sensing some openness and receptivity to the gospel. We’re praying for people, hoping to reach those who have not made commitments to Christ.

One of the guys looked at me and said that didn’t seem like what most churches were about, that most churches wanted to appeal to those who were already Christians.

Wow. Well, it’s what we want to be about. We’re open to the seekers and the skeptics. We want to welcome the burned out, worn out, and left out. Isn’t this what Jesus did? He was always hanging out with the wrong people. People who were overtly living bad lives—like prostitutes. People who were shunned and ignored—like lepers. People who had sold out their fellow Jews and were getting rich working for the occupying Roman Empire—the tax collectors. This drove the religious establishment crazy.

Why couldn’t Jesus just stay in the synagogue and teach the nice people? Why was he always with the sick and possessed? Why were is closest followers low class fishermen?

God is calling us to be like Jesus, and this means appealing to the “wrong” people.

What is this new church about? Again, Jesus is our model. We want to do the things that Jesus did. One of the best ways to see what Jesus was about is to read the first chapter or two of the gospel of Mark. It’s all there: Jesus calls people to a life of discipleship; he heals the sick; he drives out demons; he forgives sinners; he devotes himself to prayer.

So often Christianity reduces the gospel to a matter of believing the right things so that you can go to heaven when you die. But look at Jesus’ life: sure, he taught about heaven. He discussed eternal matters. But look at how much time he spent involved in the lives of ordinary people, meeting their needs, setting them free from whatever was burdening them, whether sickness, possession, oppression, or sin.

A friend of mine recently said that Christians will be judged on two things: how they used their God-given talents and how they treat the poor. I think he’s right (check out the Parable of the Talents and the story of the Sheep and the Goats).

Where will this new church be? I’m happy to be able to say that we’ve got a location for our first worship services. We’ll be meeting at Exploration Works, the beautiful new children’s museum here in Helena (pictured at the top of this post). It’s located right next to the carousel in the Great Northern Town Center. Not only does it have a great space for us, complete with a perfect place for young children, I’m sure my kids will be happy that it’s next to the carousel.

We’ll be trying out the space for the first time on Sunday, October 19 at 10 a.m. This won’t be a full-on worship service, but we will have music, prayer, and I’ll be presenting our vision in greater detail. We’d love to have you join us.

It's Wednesday—prayer and fasting

It's a day to pray. Do you find that easier to say than do? I can set aside time for prayer--or for study,or planning, or just about anything--and find myself suddenly stalked by distractions. The kitchen that needs tidying. The file sorting that isn't pressing, but all of a sudden seems appealing. Email. Anything but what I've set for myself to do.

And then there's fasting. Ah, what a noble spiritual discipline, always attractive in theory, always something to make excuses not to do. Some from our group are fasting today. And so what comes in with the newspaper this morning? The Hardee's flier with Thickburger coupons. And I'm thinking, "Yeah, lunch!" I love a Thickburger. But then I remember... fasting. Right. And soon I'm strategizing. Rationalizing. Thinking, "I can fast breakfast, eat a Hardee's lunch, and fast dinner. Or I could fast breakfast and lunch and then get down to Hardee's." How pathetic.

It's so easy to be driven by our appetites. But there is another way. Paul says in Galatians 5:22, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."

Self-control. Sorry Hardee's. Sorry, stomach, taste buds, and whatever part of me that was especially designed for curly fries. You'll have to wait for another day.