First Presbyterian Church
Celebrating Gifts of Ministry
March 8, 2009
by Pastor Susan Barnes

Jesus is teaching the disciples in Caesarea Philippi. Jesus asked, “Who do you say I am?” and Peter has just said that Jesus is the Messiah. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Mark 8:31-38.

31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly.

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."

34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?

38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

This ends our reading from the gospel. Let's listen to the choir sing about being Jesus' followers.

Anthem

We heard the choir sing “Take up your cross if you would my disciple be, take up your cross and humbly follow me.” Paul told the church in Rome how to humbly follow Jesus. It meant recognizing one another's abilities and gifts. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Romans 12:1-18.

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God-- what is good and acceptable and perfect.

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.

6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;

10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.

11 Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.

12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.

13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.

18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

This ends our reading of God's word.

Paul wrote that not every church member could do everything. Each one of us has different gifts according to the grace given us. Today we celebrate the Gifts of the ministries of First Presbyterian Church. You will hear from elders, deacons, choir members, and other ministers here. On the communion table you see many things showing what these ministries look like.

I asked Betty, who chairs the Outreach Committee, what she celebrates about the Outreach Committee. She said, “We help host the new members class. We are a community of caring folks. We let members and friends of the church know that others are thinking of them.” This sharing card is their symbol.

Nancy, who chairs the fellowship committee, said she celebrates “the opportunity to gather with others in my community and gain an appreciation for the hard work they do, the unique skills they have, and their amazing generosity.

Our committee serves God by providing a time and location for people to be together in relaxed fellowship. It is undoubtedly one of God's wishes, and it allows us to share of ourselves and with each other, without any demands or expectations. This paper cup may seem to be boring plain symbol of fellowship, but it represents a desire to meet the needs of our church family as well as the needs of our environment, both of which need our continual care.

Through my work on the fellowship committee this year, I have become much more aware of the subtle ways in which fellowship time affects all our church members. With little changes, such as changing from foam to paper cups, we can simplify the coffee hour duties as well as treat God's beautiful earth with care.

I asked Eunice about the group from our church that serves meals at the Senior Center one a month. She says “It is a joy to help the elderly. There are a lot of single people who come, and this gives them a balanced meal for the day. I've been doing it in Richland and then Baker City for twenty years.” Her symbol is the napkin and silverware.

We heard from Carrie, worship committee chair. “ The worship committee has chosen a philodendron to represent our ministry in this church. According to Webster's dictionary, the root of the word, ‘phile' means “loving.” Philodendrons come in many shapes and sizes. Some are green while others have red stems or are coppery-red underneath the leaves. The leaves of the philodendron come in different shapes and measure anywhere from 3 inches to 3 feet. 42 different types of philodendrons are listed on their website. Philodendrons can be grown from seed when they are placed in the right soil and watered well. They can also grow from the pieces or stems of existing plants. Seeds germinate readily when kept moist. Botony.com says that, under good conditions, philodendrons bear pretty flowers.

We feel, like the philodendron, worship comes in many shapes and sizes. Worship can grow from one person's small seed or can branch out from its origins to create new worship experiences. Like the philodendron, worship needs good soil to grow and it needs to be watered regularly to live. With care, it will be vital, and ever growing. Like the philodendron, the root of worship is love.”

Betsy spoke of the choir's work, and brought a mug. Betsy read what choir director Judy Trohkimoinen wrote. “The choir offers much to celebrate as a ministry. First we help focus attention on God's word through our music. Each anthem, introit and choral benediction is chosen carefully to match the scriptures for a given Sunday or season to emphasize and clarify them. Second, we help the congregation to sing better by leading the hymns. When there is an unfamiliar one we practice it so that we can sing it vigorously and hope that the congregation joins in. Finally, we minister to each other. We can share our joys and concerns within the choir and by doing so we can celebrate and pray for each other as well as singing together.

An object that represents the reasons that we sing is this mug. It says, ‘God gave us music that we might pray without words' and ‘Bach gave us God's word, Mozart gave us God's laughter, Beethoven gave us God's fire.'”

Shannon, Christian Education chair, brought a Bible. She said this is what we teach to our children. She held up a crystal pig, which she said “reflects the light of Christ everywhere, which we hope happens in Christian Education.”

Mike, mission chair, spoke of Children's Inc. He held up a coat and talked about their ministry to give out coats to children in Appalachia. We support this ministry.

Debbie, Deacons moderator, showed a painting from the cards the Deacons send to people in crisis. The ministry of the deacons is represented on the communion table today by the oversized print (card) and the white coffee cup from the Rogers Hall kitchen.  The print symbolizes the work of the card ministry.  Deacon Marcie is a talented artist whose work has been created on cards which she sends to church members and attendees to recognize prayer concerns, joys, celebrations, achievement, bereavement and encouragement.  Card recipients have reported that they have kept cards on their night stands and kitchen tables as a reminder that others are thinking of them and praying for their individual needs.

  The coffee cup represents the hospitality extended to bereaved families as the deacons have a long-standing history assisting at receptions following memorial services.  The receptions allow families the opportunity to share time and a meal with family and friends without worrying about meal preparation and hosting of such an event. 

Betty, stewardship chair, brought a box of offering envelopes and said, “Stewardship is how we live out our calling as followers of Christ. Stewardship is what we do after we say that we believe.

It is our task to thank our forebears for their vision and generosity that have made us the church we are today. It is our role to support God's work in whatever means available to us so that future generations can continue to worship a we are now able.

Stewardship is how we use our God-given gifts; it is how we use our talents, our time, and our treasure.

Stewardship is the way we use all our resources to carryon Christ's work. It is our appointment to thank God for the many blessings he has bestowed on us.

Jimmy, Buildings and Grounds, carried the brass cross. He said “ I'm responsible for the Buildings and Grounds Committee. Coming from the Design/build industry I learned one major truth, if a design does not address and meet the functional needs of a client, that design is only some lines on a piece of paper.

A place to worship, to celebrate fellowship, to sing, to learn; these are some of the foundation piers on which a working church ministry is built. Buildings and the rooms in the buildings assist a congregation in its church ministry. We are fortunate to have this church complex and with God's help and our own efforts, we can maintain these structures for those that come after us. 

 To me, to maintain the nuts and bolt things of every day life remind me that Gods Grace is in the small mundane aspects of our day to day lives. We don't have to live large to live in grace. 

  This ‘Cross' like the brick cross on the exterior of the Fellowship hall and all the varied crosses throughout the interior of this church complex stand for this congregation's Ministry and because the Buildings and Grounds Committee maintains this church complex we share, a little, in this ministry.

Mike, clerk, held up the Minutes book. “ The clerk's symbol of his gift of ministry is this book full of minutes and reports. It may not look like much of a gift, but it's one that we can all appreciate. It's nice to know we can check the record when our memories are a little fuzzy. It's also nice to take a look back at where we were as a church 50 or 25 or even 10 years ago and notice how far God has brought us.

Along the way, we can learn more about the gifts elders bring to this church every month. Some have the gift of making sure we never run out of paper plates. Some have the gift of planning and executing a week's worth of Vacation Bible School. Others know where the roof is likely to leak, so they get it fixed before that happens. Still others have a heart for mission or the courage to ask people for money every fall during the stewardship campaign. A record of all those efforts – and a whole lot more – is in this book. I thank God for the duty and the opportunity to record those efforts every month.”

Ginger and Sharon brought multi-colored stuffed pig, for the Presbyterian Youth Group. They asked, “ PYGS… . What is there to celebrate?” and answered their questions with this list:
The opportunity to witness the growth and changes in youth as they explore their relationship to God,
late night "slumber parties" in the PYG Pen
candles and kids who can't keep their fingers out of the wax,
witnessing the realization that service can be fun!
singing "Sanctuary" over and over by candlelight
the fellowship, sometimes intimate, of the game Sardines in the church.
hugs, prayers, quiet moments, highs and lows,
the exuberance of youth.

How do we serve God? ‘When you do it for the least of these, you do it for me.'  By helping youth become the hands and voice of Christ through service to others.”

Mark spoke about the offering counters work. He said years ago, the church had just one person counting the offerings. A person reviewing the procedures said, “It isn't fair to put all that responsibility on the shoulders of one person. You need two people to count the offering. No one should have to do it alone. That's the same for all ministry.”

We are all following Jesus as we can, “according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.” We weren't able hear from everyone in this congregation who ministers to others; we hope this brief picture of much of our work helps you celebrate the ministry that happens here at first Presbyterian Church.