New Summit Presbyterian Church

First, we welcome Virginia Gabel to our staff as our new Director of Ministries for Children and Youth.
Virginia loves Jesus, has tremendous energy, and brings a great ministry track record. She has joined the team with great enthusiasm, and is looking forward to meeting you in the weeks ahead. This Sunday, March 7, we will have a time of prayer and commissioning for Virginia as she begins her ministry among us. Please join us for worship and take the opportunity to say hello.

Second, in just two months I'll be leaving you for a four-month sabbatical. Many of you have heard about how our congregation was awarded a grant by the Lilly Endowment's Clergy Renewal Project. The grant allows pastors to take a sabbatical leave. Congregations receive funding to cover staffing needs and program opportunities, and pastors receive funding to cover the costs associated with the sabbatical activities.

You'll be hearing more about the sabbatical in the weeks ahead, including information about:

Guest speakers and leaders

My plans and travel arrangements

Staffing arrangements and contact information during my absence

Congregational activities, including a weekend retreat and a Blues and BBQ celebration

Spiritual resources, including a devotional guide created by leaders and members of the congregation

Those of you familiar with the academic world understand that sabbatical leave offers an opportunity for me to rest, reflect, and do some focused learning. I'm excited about these things, and especially about the ways in which the sabbatical leave will help me to return with a deeper understanding of my calling and the ways in which God might use me as the pastor of New Summit. But I'm equally excited about the partnership we have. The sabbatical leave seeks to engage you as well, providing opportunities for you to learn and grow, and challenging you to deeper reflection about what it means to be the church and to serve God together with your pastor. As the leaders of New Summit and I have talked about the sabbatical, the outcome we're seeking is a great celebration of a positive relationship, and a renewed energy and focus on moving forward together in the future.

As I noted above, you'll hear more in the weeks ahead. But feel free to contact me with any questions, comments or suggestions as we approach a time of sabbatical leave. My last Sunday with you will be May 2. I'll be back in the office on September 1, and my first Sunday back with you will be September 5.

In Christ's Love,

Pastor Dave

Pastor Dave's Letter, February 25, 2010

Dear Friends at New Summit,

Over the past few weeks we've been looking at forgiveness. How do we forgive when someone really hurts us? While the subject is part of a lifelong journey, here is a summary of the last two weeks, along with some thoughts about next steps.

Remember...

Forgiveness is a gift we receive from God, made possible because of God's grace through Jesus Christ.

Forgiveness is a spiritual discipline, part of the way of following Jesus.

Forgiveness is NOT forgetting.

Forgiveness is NOT excusing.

Forgiveness is NOT casual.

Forgiveness is painful and difficult.

Forgiveness is PART of reconciliation, but not all of it.

Begin the process...

Remember that this is a command.

Fully acknowledge the pain, hurt and anger.

Humble yourself before God in confession.

Dive deep into God's grace for you personally.

Re-enter the life of another...("Re-enter" here may mean a full and restored relationship, or may be the peace of forgiving someone with whom you will never have a restored connection for any one of several reasons)

Here I will follow the model that has spoken so powerfully to me recently, from Exodus 3:7-8, The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey...

"See" the person who has hurt you. Look at them as God looks at them, asking God to help you see them as He sees them.

"Hear" the person who has hurt you. Ask God to show you how the other person has experienced life, including how they have experienced their relationship with you and the events leading to their sin against you. Remember that we are not excusing bad and hurtful behavior. We are, however, trying to see and hear their story differently. Sometimes an answer becomes clear- for instance, he or she was abused as a child and became abusive to others. At other times it might be much more difficult to understand. But ask God to help you anyway, just as God cared enough to see and hear you in your need.

Show "concern," again remembering that circumstances differ, and you may never have the opportunity to show concern face to face. God cares about us. Ask God to help you begin to care about the person who hurt you. Think and pray about ways you might express and demonstrate that care.

"Come down." This is where we begin to enter the life of another, even the life of one who has hurt us. Jesus is our example, remembering that he "made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness..."(Philippians 2:7) Jesus came to us, and invites us to come into the lives of others. This may mean making contact. This may mean sending a note. If a re-connection is not possible it may mean having the support and accountability of others to talk and walk through the steps of your process of forgiveness for another. But just as Jesus experienced our world, so we must take the step of experiencing the life of our enemy, in a way entering into his or her world for the purpose of redeeming them in our sight.

"Rescue them from..." means that we intentionally set aside the wrong that was inflicted upon us. We no longer hold it against the one who hurt us.

"Bring them up...into" means that we intentionally welcome the one who hurt us back into the circle of those we wish well. We seek to bless them, and to treat them, if possible, as though the wrong had never been committed.

There is so much here, obviously, and this all seems so difficult in the face of our deepest hurts. But I tell you that forgiveness is possible, and that there is a liberating experience in letting go of deep and ugly wounds of the past. I also tell you that this is one of the marks of Christian discipleship and community. We are the fellowship of the forgiven, and we are to extend to one another and to others what we ourselves have received.

May you experience forgiveness, and if I or the leaders of the church may help in any way, let us know. You are being prayed for!

In Christ's Love,

Pastor Dave

Pastor Dave's Letter, February 11, 2010

Dear Friends,

I promised last week a second part to my post about forgiveness. Before I jump into that topic, this Sunday is Valentine's Day. At New Summit we'll be celebrating the Greatest Love Story Ever Told. I'm so excited about this theme and the message. I'll be teaching about the different stages of a relationship, and the amazing spiritual principles in every relationship. This message will apply to married and single, old and young. This Sunday is a great time to invite friends and family.

Now, about forgiveness. How does a person go about the process? Keep in mind that reconciliation may not be possible. The individual who hurt you may be dead or gone. They may not care. They may not change. We hope for forgiveness and restoration of relationship, but we are still called to forgive. How do you forgive?

Let me suggest some steps that make sense to me and challenge me. Remember that these are part of a process. You may take them in order and all at once and receive a miraculous experience of instant forgiveness. You may revisit them over and over again and in different order and intensity, and discover over time an equally miraculous experience of a changing heart toward the one who hurt you.

Remember that this is a command. Jesus taught us to pray, forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors....For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:12-15) We don't come to forgiveness because we want to. We come to forgiveness because it is God's desire for us and God's way. "God is the original, master forgiver. Each time we grope our reluctant way through the minor miracle of forgiving, we are imitating his style. I am not at all sure that any of us would have had imagination enough to see the possibilities in this way to heal the wrongs of this life had he not done it first." (Lewis Smedes)

Fully acknowledge the pain, hurt and anger. Read the book of Psalms in the Old Testament and you quickly realize that the authors of these Hebrew songs were very honest people. O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock! (Psalm 137:8-9)

Humble yourself before God in confession. Confession? Yes. I cannot see the person who hurt me as a person who needs forgiveness if I do not first see myself as a person who needs forgiveness. And I cannot give what I have not received. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)

Dive deep into God's grace for you personally. Live, breathe, eat and sleep this truth: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8) When you and I realize that we deserve God's condemnation and receive his love, we are in a position to offer what we have received to another.

Next week I'll continue with the steps leading us toward a new perspective on the life of the one who wounded us.

In Christ's Love,

Pastor Dave

Pastor Dave's Letter, February 4, 2010

Dear Friends at New Summit,

"How do I forgive someone who really hurt me?" A friend asked the question, and for the last few weeks we've been talking it over. Most of us have a memory, recent or distant, that has caused us to ask the same question. This week I want to look at different ways of describing forgiveness. Next week we'll talk about how to take the journey. I've tried to summarize the Bible's teaching on a vast subject. I'm also grateful for the work of one of my seminary teachers, Lewis Smedes, and especially his book, Forgive and Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don't Deserve.

Forgiveness is a gift we receive from God, made possible because of God's grace through Jesus Christ.

Forgiveness is a spiritual discipline, part of the way of following Jesus. To forgive is to take a step toward Jesus, just as we also take steps when we pray, give, worship, reflect, study, serve, sacrifice, fast and are silent. To forgive is to offer to others what we have received from God.

Forgiveness is NOT forgetting. "Forgive and forget" may be a common phrase in our culture, but forgiving does not always involve forgetting.

Forgiveness is NOT excusing. Forgiveness does not mean that we throw accountability out the window. We are called to forgive the thief who broke into our home and threatened our security and frightened our children. That thief should still be arrested, tried, and face the consequence of his actions.

Forgiveness is NOT casual. "I'm sorry" and "I forgive you" are among the most abused expressions in our society. We often use them as an excuse, a defense, or in a casually dismissive way. But forgiveness assumes a real hurt has happened.

Forgiveness is painful and difficult.

Forgiveness is PART of reconciliation, but not all of it. You can forgive someone and never again see them or have meaningful interaction with them. But you cannot see and have meaningful interaction with someone who has wounded you without forgiving them. We hope for both forgiveness and reconciliation. We pursue forgiveness even if reconciliation doesn't happen.

When we forgive we come to a place where we acknowledge another person as a creation of God. We welcome them back into the human race, as Dr. Smedes used to say. We see them as broken, but we also see God's love through Jesus as a gift for them, and specifically a gift for that moment when they wounded us. We are no longer bound by our wound, and we wish them well.

As Dr. Smedes often said, "to forgive is to set a prisoner free, and discover that the prisoner was you." In different times and places and in varying levels of intensity this is a life journey. Progress is measured in years of life spent following after Jesus by practicing his way, one moment and one relationship at a time.

In Christ's Love,

Pastor Dave

Pastor Dave's Letter, January 28, 2010

Dear Friends at New Summit,

"How much does it cost?" You've probably asked that question more than once in the last year. We've all been challenged by the economy, and many of us have been more careful with our spending and our saving.

At New Summit the same question means different things. "How much does it cost?" is sometimes a question about the amount of time and commitment necessary for a certain task. Last week I shared a number of different opportunities for service, ways that you can learn, grow, serve and build friendships, all while working together with others to advance the mission of our community of faith.

This week I want to address the question directly and as a financial matter. As we start 2010 we have a number of opportunities for using our financial resources as an expression of our faith in Jesus. Here are a few, along with the details.

Support the General Fund of New Summit: your gifts and increases in giving are never insignificant. They help with the mission of our church.

Support Haiti: give to one of three restricted funds- immediate aid, long-term needs, and mission travel for an eventual trip. While you're at it, consider whether God might be calling you to join the next trip to Haiti.

Support the "Our New Summit" Capital Campaign: we dream of the day we'll be able to put a shovel in the ground on our new facility. Gifts continue to come in support of our campaign, and we always welcome new donors and increases as God has blessed you with the ability to consider an increase in giving.

Provide a gift for "Momentum" that will be matched by an anonymous donor! "Momentum" is the next step of Dave Ramsey's work with congregations, moving from the great work of Financial Peace University to something that is year-round and a more holistic approach to stewardship. The cost of participating in the program for our congregation will be approximately $4500 to $5000. A donor has offered to match gifts up to $2500. This is an opportunity to double the value of your giving. Our work with Financial Peace University has literally changed the lives of many people in our congregation and community- imagine how our next steps might further serve each of us and the community in which we live!

Provide a gift to assist our Worship Ministry: Our team would like to purchase a high quality digital video camera and accessories. The camera will allow us to be more creative with video in worship, to videotape presentations, and to edit and post online. As our website is improved we will be using more and more audio and video posts, and eventually hope to have live streaming video of our worship services for those who are unable to be in attendance with us. The cost of the initial equipment is in the range of $2000 to $3000. We are pleased to announce that a donor has provided a special gift of a large screen flat panel monitor and supporting equipment. That monitor will be useful for smaller group presentations, the welcome table, and other needs requiring video or presentation software.

Provide a gift to assist with our annual Vacation Bible School budget: each year we provide one of the best presented VBS programs, attracting over 100 children. The cost of the program is in the range of $2000 and is not included in our general fund budget.

These are just a few of the projects and programs at New Summit. Each touches the lives of people, both members of our congregation and those in our community and beyond.

You may be thinking, "I don't have much- my gift wouldn't make that much of a difference." Every gift makes a difference. The smallest amount helps us take a step towards our goals. God honors the sacrifice we make, and that will mean different things for each of us.

You may be thinking, "How would I go about giving? My own family budget is strapped." We always encourage you to honor God, and part of honoring God may mean getting your own budget under control so that you control your money and not the other way around. If we can help with that, let us know. But there are also many ways of giving creatively. For many of us one of those ways is coming in the next few months in the form of a tax refund, or perhaps a bonus received at the end of last year. Again, even the smallest amounts help.

It isn't easy for me to talk about money. I can imagine someone saying, "The church is always asking for money." I work very hard to stay away from that image, but there is no question that money is a spiritual issue in our culture. We either have control of it, or it has control of us. I know you want to honor God in every part of your life. I'm so grateful for all of the many ways you serve God at home, work, in your neighborhoods and schools, and through our congregation. As God leads you and you're able, I know you'll respond to these projects and others, out of your love for Jesus.

Thanks so much for being an authentic faith community that seeks and follows Jesus. I'm honored to share the journey with you.

In Christ's Love,

Pastor Dave