watershed: a community church

I hope you can join us as we celebrate summer by gathering at the Hipkes' farm (map) this Sunday, June 22. The festivities start at 10am, and go until we're done. We'll have games for the kids and lots of time to hangout and enjoy being together. Please bring meat to grill and a dish to share. Beverages, plates, etc. will be provided. Please contact me if you need a ride to Hipkes.

Here are some notes from our discussion about Sabbath on June 8.  Thanks, Jeff W. !

Sabbath Notes (PDF)

The funny thing is, I can't say for sure why thes practices work. I know they work because they have for me, but I'm still confounded by their effectiveness. Maybe it's because the ancient spiritual disciplines cause us to slow down and shut up, something at which most of us are not very good. Maybe it's that there's something mystical and mysterious about these ancient rites...like we're finding a special way to tap into the treasury of the spirit.

But, I think they work because of Jesus. I'm afraid you're not going to get much more explanation than that from me. I think that something about Jesus - who he was and who he is - inspiried the pople who developed these practices long ago. He led them on this quest. They believed in his promise: God wants to meet with us.

Again, I think it's because of Jesus. In the end, there is something so compelling about the person of Jesus and the way of life he offeres that it causes people to commit everything to the pursuit of him and his way. It is the way to live in the sacredness of God.

Henri Nouwen said,

In the spiritual life, the word "discipline" means "the effort to create some space in which God can act." Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from being filled up. Discipline means that somewhere you're not occupied, and certainly not preoccupied. In the spiritual life, discipline means to create that space in which something can happen that you hadn't planned or counted on.

Do you ever wish you could connect with God in a different way? Perhaps find more meaning and significance in your spiritual life? Move beyond empty ritual or mere obligation to a place of sacred joy?

If so, you're not alone. Many of us wrestle with how to connect with God in signficant and meaningful ways. We wonder if there isn't more that we could experience in our life as we follow Jesus. There is a long tradition of searching among the followers of Jesus - it's a quest, really, for ways to connect with God - and it has been undertaken by some of the most intelligent and deeply spiritual people ever to walk this planet. The quest is to know Jesus better, to follow him more closely, to become - in some mysterious way - wrapped into his presence.

This summer, we're exploring historic spiritual practices; learning from those who've gone before us about how they connected with God and how we might discover new ways to understand following Jesus and living life with God, as well.

This Sunday (May 11) we're foregoing our usual lunch together in order to celebrate Mother's Day.  The consensus from our time last week was that families wanted to have some extra family-time to spend with moms that day.  And, if we're honest, it's mostly moms that prepare our lunch meal, and we wanted to give them the day off.  Thanks, moms, for giving so generously to us!

So, no lunch together after this Sunday's gathering.  We'll do it again the following Sunday.

Just in time for Mother's Day, we arrive at 1 John 2:29-3:10 for our teaching from Scripture this week.  The natural bond between parent and child is reflected in this passage calling us "God's children."  This can conjure up many pictures depending on the kind of relationship you have with your parents, but John intends for us to see God's loving desire for us.

Take a look at the passage this week (together with 1 John 5:18-21) and we'll discuss it together at our gathering.  Some questions to consider:

• What does John mean when he calls us children of God?
• How do you see yourself as a child of God?  How would this affect your relationship with God, others, yourself?

Instead of our usual lunch at the EMS center, we’ll be eating lunch together at St. Louis Pizza after the gathering; and we’ve got you covered if cost is a factor. We eat together because it’s a great way to connect with one another and to continue our conversation about the work of God in our lives.

If you can join us, please RSVP in the comments below so we can plan for the appropriate number of people.

• Have you ever wondered if God really loves you?
• If you are confident that God loves you, have you ever wondered why?
• Do you ever struggle with doing things your own way instead of God's way (a.k.a. sin) and wish you had greater power to resist and overcome it?
• Have you ever longed to experience God's forgiveness and love on a more profound level?
• Do you desire to deepen your love for people and want to discover how to give and receive love more freely?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, the book of 1 John has words to speak to you. These were the very issues and questions facing the followers of Jesus that John addresses in this letter. They needed to discover more of God's love. They longed for overcoming power to be unleashed in their lives. Their hearts hungered to know God's forgiveness in all its fullness. And these followers of Jesus desired to express and receive genuine love with other people.

In the midst of their worry, fear and doubt, John wrote to bring assurance, hope and confidence. John's readers found direction in his wise God-directed words, and I firmly believe his words offer the same assurance, hope and confidence for us.

We'll begin exploring this letter from John at our gathering this Sunday. I'd like to invite you to please read 1 John 1:1-2:2 in preparation for our discussion together.

• What questions does John address in these verses?
• What questions/issues do his words raise?
• What are the implications of his words for following Jesus today?

We're very interested in discovering more of what God is doing in and through watershed...and we want to hear from you. Watershed is people...so we're asking you to consider where God is leading you personally and how that might then contribute to who we are as watershed. One of our main goals is to help people follow Jesus and discover more of where he is leading them to join in God's work in the world. As you do that it contributes to who we are as a community of people following Jesus together.

I've developed a tool over the past few years that I think is helpful for leading people to consider this question. (Some of you may recognize the Pathways idea.) The Pathways document (PDF) outlines the idea of pathways and may help you begin to see the pattern of how God is working in your life. I believe it isn't a big mystery, but rather embedded in who you already are, in the relationships and interests you already have.

Would you please take some time before our gathering on 4/6 to consider how God is working in your life and how that might contribute to who we are as watershed? What are your dreams and ideas for our future together?

We're arranging for extra childcare on 4/6 to allow all of the adults at watershed to be together and hear from one another how God is at work. I hope you'll be able to join us and share where God is leading you.