The sky is falling!

I read this morning that Steve Jobs is finally stepping down as CEO of Apple. Jobs has led Apple since the mid 90s and under his leadership Apple rose to become one of the top companies in the word. For the past few years Apple's stock has fluctuated following Jobs' health. He was treated for cancer and then a few years later had an organ transplant and every time something looked bad for Jobs, Apple's stock would dip. Ultimately many feared that once Jobs did finally leave Apple's helm the company would plummet. Wow, talk about a lot riding on one guy.

What I appreciate about the church is that we don't build our entire fortune on one individual. Certainly a church has a pastor and that can be a draw for some, but then most churches have musicians and that can be a draw too. Many churches have strong youth programs or seniors programs and all of those connect with different people at different stages of their lives. You see it has never been about one individual, it has been about a group of individuals who come together to create something bigger than themselves.

Now there are churches out there who have built their entire identity on one specific individual and that seems to go well for a while but if that leader leaves, dies or gets caught in a scandal their stock dips faster than Apple's. What is important for us to remember is that our faith is not the result of a fantastic preacher or a talented musician but we put our faith in God. If we put our faith in anything else we will be disappointed. Certainly there are those who have helped us grow in our faith or who have introduced us to God but the goal is not to worship them, the point is to worship God.

Its not about one individual but many individuals, coming together to create something special. You are a part of that.

See you Sunday,

Chris

Community

Yesterday Freedom School held their closing ceremonies in our fellowship hall. We have had the privilege of hosting them for 7 weeks this summer, like we did last year and the year before. The ceremony included some sharing, a little singing and some dancing, but what really got my attention was the amount of emotion that filled our basement. A healthy number of students and leaders were overcome by the conclusion of this program to the point that they couldn't hold back their tears. As the youngest group came to the stage (kids that are close in age to my own children) some of them had a hard time saying their brief line as they covered their eyes and wiped tears from their cheeks. Now I didn't get the chance to ask them why there were crying but I am guessing it was because they had built such a strong community with their fellow students and leaders that leaving this community was difficult if not painful. I wonder if community is so valuable to these students because too often their day to day lives seldom include that kind of love and support?

Two observations form this experience. First, what type of community do you have in your life? Have you been able to surround yourself with individuals who love and care for you? This is something we all need, we are intended for community with others, and I would hope that you have found this in your family, work, neighborhood and your church. If you haven't found this please email me (chermansen@christelca.org) and let me connect you with others. Second (which connects with the previous sentence) have you reached out to others who are desperately seeking community? It is very easy for us to live in a bubble and only interact with those that we choose but that is not how we are called to live as the Body of Christ. We are called to care for those that have been forgotten, over looked and dismissed. This is not always easy and quite often it is messy but it is what the Body of Christ looks like.

I cant shake the image of those little kids crying from my mind but it is a good image. It reminds us how important community is and how much we need it. I hope and pray that you have a strong community around you and I challenge you to bring others into your community so that they might experience that love too.

See you in Church,

Chris