For Christmas, Give Yourself Some Slack

Across the years of being a pastor, I have sometimes struggled with the fear that my love for the people of the church would not be enough. That is why I am helped by a conversation that I read recently. A man told his friend that his efforts to do loving things for his brother would probably not be enough, because his brother was so demanding and complained all the time. His friend said, “Give your brother as much care as you can and then do a little more in order to stretch your ability to love. “

The man worried, "What if that's not enough for him? I can tell you it won't be."

"Listen carefully,” his wise friend said. “If it's not enough, it's not enough. You can't give more than you have, anymore than you can be taller than you are. If what you have to give isn't enough for your brother, then you have to be satisfied with your efforts, even if he is not. We're obligated only to do our best to love, never to fill the needs of another person."

We may have people tell us that our efforts to love them--to care for them, be with them, and more--are insufficient. Sometimes they even imply that we as people are not enough. What I am learning is that our inability to be as loving as people sometimes need or want us to be does not mean that we are failures as Christians. We need to grow in our ability to love and accept each other, and be gentle with ourselves in the process.

Colossians 3:12 says, “God loves you and has chosen you as his own special people. So be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient.” Giving yourself some slack means being gentle, kind, and patient with yourself as well as with others.

This Christmas, gently push the limits of your ability to love others, but as you grow, be pleased with your efforts. Give yourself and God credit for the progress you see in your life. The Spirit of Jesus is there to guide you and to celebrate your growth with you.

An Amazing Church

What an amazing church! What an amazing year! Look at a few of the many people stepping forward to make this church go. (The list is far from complete. I don’t have time or space to include all who deserve recognition.)

Judy Hutchinson organized a gift of cookie boxes for the homeless. Our children decorated 140 small boxes. Our ladies filled them with the cookies they baked. Fred Griffith organized a workday. The hedges got trimmed, limbs got cut, debris and leaves go raked. Dalton Kirk organized a Men’s Breakfast. He is already planning the 3^rd one. Our nursery is full of babies. Our youth are performing tonight just before the Choir sings. Scotty Ford-Jones sets up tables and chairs every week. Trae Ford-Jones takes our food gifts to Halifax Urban Ministries every month. Lou Herouart takes pictures. Lois Cox writes notes to guests. Ruth Bradley gives information about us to guests. Erma and Garfield Dreas serve us meals on Wednesdays. Look at today’s list of Children’s Church workers that runs through February, thanks to Joan Wood. Kathy Stryker has set up a Facebook page for New Hope and is working on our web site. Elaine Hardy does Children’s Sermons and edits Connections.

Look at our financial situation: We are $12,419 ahead of our 2011 budget goal. We have commitments of $135,000 toward our 2012 budget goal of $140,000 (rounded off figures). We already have $12,500 in our Building Fund, which we just started.

These things have happened in 2011. Some of them were already in place before then. And before then, all the way back to the foundation of the world, God loves us. Today we love God and we love each other. 2012 is going to be a good year for New Hope.

New Hope in 2012

For 2012, we have committed to give $89,352 on 31 commitment cards. If you have not turned in your commitment, it is not too late. Just place it in an offering plate.

Wednesday night we adopted a budget for 2012. The total is $140,985. We hope to expand our space for Bible Study classrooms and have placed $10,000 in the budget toward a modular building that we are studying. We also expect to need more help in the nursery and have increased our budget for nursery workers. Based on our giving so far this year, we estimate that we will give approximately $160,000 next year. That means we will make good progress toward adding better facilities. We also will develop a “Master Plan” of the future of our facilities as we look toward the future.

We also voted to begin a Building Fund. I encourage all of us to give our budget tithes and offerings first and then give to the building fund over and above that amount.

I am grateful every day for you, my church, and my loving community in Christ. Thank you for the gifts you gave the church staff on the night of our Thanksgiving meal. We are grateful to be working with you to build a healthy church.

Fleda and I are glad that God brought us to New Hope. God has blessed us through you. Here is the best part of being your pastor: I get to study the Bible and try to tell you on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings what I think I hear God saying. You encourage me by your desire to learn. You encourage me by your listening, learning, and growing in Christ. It is obvious that you want God’s message to shape your lives and our church.

Expecting the Daylight on Its Way to Meet Us

Fleda and I experienced the joy of expectation while we were at her mother’s house in Easley, South Carolina on Thanksgiving Day. Christa and Matthew are expecting a baby in January. Matthew is our nephew, Fleda’s sister Mary’s son. I had the happy privilege of officiating at their wedding summer before last. Christa showed us the ultrasound picture of the girl she is carrying. We wait to see her face to face when she comes to greet us in the New Year.

Waiting in expectation is a powerful experience.

Christmas is coming and we wait together, expecting God to give us light and love. Paul writes about our expectations of God, "Brothers and sisters ... the moment is here for you to stop sleeping and wake up, because by now our salvation is nearer than when we first began to believe. The night is nearly over, daylight is on the way; so let us throw off everything that belongs to the darkness and equip ourselves for the light" (Romans 13:11-12). Expecting the daylight that is on the way to us means “throwing off what belongs to the darkness and equipping ourselves for the light?” How are we going to do that?

Throwing off what belongs to the darkness includes giving up these four things: trying to get people to like us, trying to control people with anger, withdrawing from relationships instead of working to make them more loving, and covering up pain with shallow pleasures.

Equipping ourselves for the light involves receiving God’s love so that we have it to give. If we are to live in the light of God’s love, we must find ways to receive God’s love and feel it. Then we become able to love as Jesus has loved us. John said, “Those who love their fellow believers live in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble” (1John2:10). There can be nothing more important for us to do here at New Hope than to learn how to love each other. That is how we will be equipped for the light.

As you plan how to use your time this Christmas season, please include time to be with your fellow believers at New Hope. Plan how you will receive and give love to them by listening, by showing that you care, by refusing to criticize, and by showing your joy in being together in Christ.