Keep Pointing in Waterloo

Town Hall Meeting & Love INC

Hey folks,

Wanted to keep you in the loop on two important things coming up at PLC Waterloo.

 

Town Hall Meeting - Monday, November 7, 7:00 p.m., Waterloo Offices

This past weekend we announced that, once again, we may be getting close to moving out of Hoover to a more permanent location - this time in downtown Waterloo.  I'd like to get us all together again to chat a little bit about what that may look like, and what we'll need to be prepared for.

So, on Monday, November 7th, at 7:00 p.m., over at the Waterloo offices, we'll be gathering to (hopefully!) reveal where and when we're headed next, and some of the implications for how that'll impact what we're doing.

 

Love INC

In case you aren't familiar with Love INC, it's a nationwide organization that has local roots in a lot of communities whose sole purpose is to connect those in need with those who have.  They have several needs that you may be able to meet:

Homeless family (father, mother, and four children) with new permanent residence opportunity

Queen size bed/frame

4-single beds w/frames...if someone has bunk beds that would be great for the twins (11yrs old), but not necessary.

Single mom w/ 4 children

Queen bed

bunk bed w/ mattresses

electric stove

Single mom w/ 4 children

electric washer/dryer

refrigerator

So, if you're able to meet any of these needs, contact Holly Hartley at hhartley138@gmail.com.

 

storytime

In some hospital somewhere, at some late hour of the night or early morning, a baby girl was born to a new mom.

The mom loved her little girl very much.  And as that little girl grew, her mom cared for her, made sure she was safe, warm, fed, and healthy.

When it came time for the little girl to go to school, off she went.  Every day she'd come home, tell her mom about what she did, and sit down at the table to do her homework.

And the little girl continued to grow.  She could read, add, subtract, multiply, spell, and recite more than a few state capitals.

One day the mom hopped in the car, strapped her daughter into her seatbelt alongside of her, and headed off to the local grocery store.  Up and down the aisles they went, mom diligently shopping, and the little girl's eyes taking in all of the labels and words and colorful displays.  

As the two turned down another aisle, the little girl tuned into a conversation that two other shoppers were having.  She did this often, as you can imagine all little girls do while their parents are busy doing whatever parents do.  

As she was listening, she overheard the two shoppers talking to each other in hushed tones, as though they were telling each other a funny secret:

"We are so in the ghetto.  Let's just get what we need and get back to the car."

"Look... they only carry like two kinds.  Whatever.  This'll work.  Let's go."

"Yeah.  I haven't felt safe since we got out of the car."

That was a new word for the little girl: "ghetto."  She never had heard it before. So, naturally, she turned to her mom and asked with all of the innocence in the world:

"Mom, what's a 'ghetto?' "

And that's the end of our story.

Which is also where you begin.

Put yourself in the story.

You're the mom.  How do you feel when you hear that word come out of your daughter's mouth?  How do you answer?

You're the daughter.  How does that word change how you have viewed your home, your neighborhood, your culture, and even your own identity?

You're the shopper.  Do you have any idea what kind of affect your conversation has on those around you?

You're you.  If you could rewrite this story, how would you?

Reminds me of a quote from Church Diversity that came up in our multiethnic class yesterday:

The Church can't simply talk about taking the gospel to impoverished people around the world, when we can't worship with people across the tracks.

Christmas, 1.5 million, sheep, and goats

Got kind of a random smattering of things for you today, friends.

 

Operation Christmas Child

Tonite, over at First Presbyterian Church in Cedar Falls, from 6:30 to 8:30, a group of folks will be assembling Operation Christmas Child boxes.  You can bring your completed box, or even items to fill a box like school supplies, hygiene supplies, or small toys.  There's a couple of activities for kids as well.

 

1.5 Million

In case you missed it this past weekend in the service at Waterloo, we made an annoucement: 112 families of PLC staff, elders, and volunteer leaders made their commitment to A Better Story.  The total amount that those 112 families pledged? 1.5 million dollars.  

This weekend in the service, you will get an opportunity to make your pledge, over and above your normal giving, towards writing a better story in communities across Iowa - beginning in Grinnell.  We're going live at Waterloo, and will celebrate what God is going to do through Prairie Lakes Church and through our generous giving.  You don't want to miss it.

 

Sheep and Goats

Many of you are familiar with Jesus' story from Matthew 25 about the sheep (the righteous) and the goats (the wicked).  We wrestled with that passage a little bit at our last multiethnic class this past Tuesday night.  Take a look at what Jesus says about the sheep - the people who, when they stand before the judgment seat, "get in:"

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Of course, God's sheep responded with surprise - to an equally surprising response from Jesus:

‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

   ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

To the goats - the "wicked" who didn't get in - Jesus says the opposite: you did nothing for the least of these, so in reality, you did nothing for me.  Your going-to-church, bible-reading-and-prayer, within-the-four-walls-of-the-church faith wasn't a genuine and therefore not a saving faith - because it didn't compel you to do anything for those who needed the basic necessities of life.

Challenging (and a little scary), isn't it?  Makes you question, on some level: am I really a sheep?

I'd say that I'm a goat who is slowly growing more wool - if that makes sense.  My faith, more and more, is compelling me to serve those who are hungry, cold, naked - and mainly forgotten by those who worship in nice, warm, comfortable churches every single weekend.  And as I obey in this way, I can feel a more deep, abiding, genuine, authentic, saving faith bubbling up in me.

Just some thoughts for you today.  See you this weekend.

A different direction and the Tour de 'Loo

Hey folks,

I'm still swimming a bit in all of the content and thoughts that came my way at Mosaix' Multiethnic Retreat in Chicago last weekend, as well as from our class on Church Diversity that has been meeting for 3 weeks now.  

One common thought that has emerged is this idea of a "change in direction" - from one that tries to suck people into the church, to one that compels the church to go to the people.

Don't get me wrong: the church shouldn't just be one or the other.  You can't be all about going without gathering, and you can't be all about gathering without going.  Lean one of those ways only, and you've missed the picture of the church that Jesus and Scripture have given us.  

However, I am convicted that we have a church that, at times, leans and relies too heavily on the gathering instead of the going.  And I think we live lives before God that involve a lot of gathering, and not a lot of going.

To use language that we are familiar with: we need to expand our understanding of being invitational - from simply inviting people to a church gathering, to being the sent church in the community.

Which leads us to the obvious, menacing, and even overwhleming question of: How do we do that?

One great way to start is by building a greater awareness of your community. And there's actually a pretty cool opportunity coming up to do just that tomorrow.

Tour de 'Loo is an event coming up this Thursday evening put on by Main Street Waterloo.  It showcases eleven different spaces in Waterloo that have each been a part of a city renovation or new business start up.  The tour ends at the new Public Market, a co-op grocery store that our very own Dan Ankrum will be staffing and helping to run.

Hope you're able to take advantage of that, and do so with your spiritual eyes on. Time to start seeing our community the way God does.  And you can't start unless you're in it.