Church in Bethesda Blog

Let the Lenten Season Launch!

Well, I can’t say that Lent snuck up on me. I guess I just wasn’t thinking far enough ahead to be prepared or Ash Wednesday this week. Last night when it really hit me that today was the Lenten kickoff, I wasn’t ready with any clear thoughts on fasting or what I may do this season.

Thankfully, as many can tell you, Lent is not just about fasting. It is a season of fasting, but also of repentance, penance, prayer and reflection. We are asked to take a forty day journey of the soul, much as Jesus wandered in the desert for forty days before a face-to-face time of temptation with the Accuser and the beginning of his public ministry. We are asked to look ahead to Easter’s meaning, to Easter’s beginning, and make ourselves ready. A journey is before us.

So what is Easter’s meaning? What might begin in me this year at Easter? What might begin in you? What might begin in us? These are the kind of questions last Lenten fasting, prayer and reflection will deepen in us.

Will I fast from something this Lent? Yes, I will. I can’t help myself. I love the ritual and the call to exercise self-control and mastery over myself. Will I fast perfectly? Probably not. As much as I might enjoy them, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with self-control and mastery of self. But I’ll give it all I have, and believe that God will handle the rest. I will say this… if you choose a Lenten fast, make it something you’ll miss. Make it something that will create a void, a space in your life, and fill that space with your prayers and reflections.

That space we’re creating in our lives is really the point of Lent, not the making of the space. Any fast we undertake is a vehicle, not the destination. So as you consider Lent and a possible fast this year, think of where you want be come Easter morning with that internal journey. With a course set, then prayerfully roll on.

Is setting the course a bit of challenge? Take the day today to reflect and pray. Ask a friend. Make a list. Start your fast tonight or tomorrow morning. It’s not about the legalities of the fast, but about making that space for God’s greater movement in you and then through you into the world.

May your Lenten Season, your internal journey, prayers, reflections and even your fasting be richly blessed as God gives you grace and challenge in the next forty days!

With all peace, Todd

Reviewing 2011 & Welcoming 2012

2011 in Review

I am so grateful to be a part of Church in Bethesda. Traveling as we did in the last week of 2011 afforded me many opportunities for people to ask me over and over again, “So how’s work? Is the church growing?” It never seems to come to me in any other form but, “Is the church growing?” And I always said, “Yes. God is good.” I didn’t answer that way because we are exploding numerically or because numerical growth is necessarily an indicator of good or bad things. The fact is that I am encouraged by our growth in so many ways that a community can grow.

The last year was a good one. Our faith community welcomed a few new folks, and said goodbye to a few who moved on in life or found other faith communities to join. All in all, we continued what I’ve always a healthy pattern of numerical growth. We welcomed some new people and began the joyful exercise of incorporating them into our family.

We had the best year ever as our finances go. Why? Because you are all participating and sharing the resources that God has blessed us with, to continue the presence and work of this church family. We ended up borrowing very little last year, only $10,000. I know that’s a lot of money to borrow, but relative to the borrowing levels of previous years, it’s a good sign indeed. And you’ve pledged the highest levels for 2012 I have ever seen in my time with Church in Bethesda. That’s humbling and exciting!

We shared the seasons of the year beginning with the Lenten fast and focus which lead us into the Easter Season. We shared the joy of baptisms and baby blessings! We shared the richness of a joyful summer of Sundays. I still smile as I think back on the warm summer months and our shared worship and time together.

We continued our ministries to our own children at CiB as well as to the many kids and families at The Children’s Inn at NIH. We welcomed the third family to the Del Ray House, a family from Guatemala. We began special times of study for adults and continued our women’s and men’s groups. We were present for Bethesda and our surrounding communities.

Did the church “grow” in 2011? Yes, we grew. I think we grew in faith, love and hope. I think we grew in many rich ways. I am very glad for the months of shared life with you all.

Welcoming 2012

Let’s stop and welcome the new year! Maybe even say it out loud with me, “Hello 2012! Nice to see you! Stick around and make yourself at home!” This is going to be a good year because we are giving it to God and waiting expectantly to see what all it holds.

The new year started in a bit of a rush for me. We arrived back in town on New Year’s Eve, slept and hit the ground running with you on Sunday morning in worship and fellowship. And as slow as I was dragging, you were so gracious and it was so good to be together.

That same day, New Year’s Day, brought a homeless friend to our front door in the evening looking for some help and hoping to have a small load of laundry done. It was a full day of sharing and being a part of community, faith community and local community.

Monday was the holiday and day of rest that many needed, and I certainly slept a little later and relished the need to be nowhere. But a couple of morning phone calls reminded me that life rolls on. By the early afternoon I was talking wedding plans with some friends as they dreamed of their big day in CiB’s Sanctuary.

By 2pm on Monday afternoon I was over on Jones Bridge Road to attend the vigil for the two young people killed in Sunday’s early morning crash. I know the father of a friend of the victims and he called me to come and help lead the vigil as they were gathering but had no one to help lead the time. It was humbling and deeply affecting.

I sat back Monday night and thought, “Wow. The new year is starting off in fifth gear! Forget crawling, we’ll just start running.” I wouldn’t have it any other way.

On Sunday morning we shared the reminder that as Christ came as Light for this world, we are also invested with salting and lighting, we share that great work with our Christ. I believe that we can give ourselves faithfully to this world, seasoning and illuminating the many needs and can count on God being right along beside us. Jesus is the Light (John 1) and we are the Light in Christ (Matthew 5, Ephesians 4 & 5).

So dream church! Cut loose, pray and imagine what this year can mean to us and the communities around us! Let’s light it up!

With all peace, Todd

Examen for Advent and the Year

Practicing the Daily Examen for the Year!

On this past Sunday (Nov. 27), our Weekly Grace was to move forward with the Daily Examen as an exercise for the year. Instead of just reflecting on the day past and the day coming, we might reflect on the past year and the coming year. This blog is just a reminder and an outline of how that practice might work.

It helps to make a definite plan for a place and time to do this, away from distractions. And begin with a short time of prayer, thanking God for the present exercise and inviting the Spirit to do this little practice with you.

The Daily Examen

Here's a quick reminder of the Examen, it's focus and five pieces:

1. Become aware of God’s presence.

2. Review the day with gratitude.

3. Pay attention to your emotions.

4. Choose one feature of the day and pray from it.

5. Look toward tomorrow.

Now, how does this look in practice for a year instead of a day? Hopefully, these short guides for the five pieces will help!

1. Becoming Aware of God's Presence. How has God been present in the last 12 months? What were the times and even places where you most felt God's peace and joy? These may have been times of "victory" or when everything was working out as you had prayed for them. These may also have been times of "failure" or struggle when you were forced back into a realization of dependency on God.

2. Review The Year With Gratitude. It's easier to do this for a day just gone past you, but it will take some more time to review a whole year and really think of the gifts that have come your way over 12 months. Have you kept a journal to review? It will probably help to make a list. Were there some things in the last year that you didn't immediately recognize as gifts from God?

3. Pay Attention to Your Emotions. What is the single greatest defining emotion of the last 12 months? Look back: Was the year joyous? Happy? Sad? Over-whelming? Fearful? Depressed? D) All of the above? Bring this God. And don't be ashamed of your emotions or emotional responses throughout the year. Offer them to God to redeem and share.

4. Choose One Feature From the Year and Pray From It. Was there a defining moment in the last year? Was there an event that really stands out? Or maybe a moment of internal shift for your life? Can you say that "2011 was the year of ________?" Bring that to God as well. It may have been a negatice thing, or a positive thing, but God can use both to our blessing. As a spring-board for your prayer, how does it lead you into conversation with God?

5. Look Toward Next Year. Now take a few minutes to dream and vision forward. What are your hopes for 2012? What are your expectations? Bring these to God. Do you hear the Spirit pushing you in any particular direction? Convicting you of needed change? Have you begun to dream something for God in the coming year? All these can be brought to God's throne and shared, the simple things and the grand things. You might do this in several areas of life: personal, church community, work, health, financial, spiritual, etc.

I hope this helps with your prayers this week and with looking ahead into 2012! I'm praying for God to move in exciting ways with our church family, and each of us individually.

Peace, Todd