LIGHTS, CAMERA, AUCTION!

The 24th Talents and Treasures Auction this year was extra timely. 1) The day of the Auction had 24 hours in it (who knew?), 2) Pastor Chris preached earlier that morning on the parable of the talents, and 3) later that evening after youth group, I found $0.35 in the parking lot (treasure). Creepy how the planets seem to align, huh? I have chills!

The Auction serves so many functions. Not only does it provide income and donation to the church and its affiliated ministries and programs, but it says something about who we are. Dozens upon dozens of us gathered that day to spend money, eat homemade pie, further ministry. As a united body, we came to laugh, bid, collect, and donate to causes that our bigger than ourselves. It’s really something to marvel at. While most of us are fairly reticent to purposefully attend an event to “recreationally” spend money, when the “Purpose is True”, the means are irrelevant. (Wait, what?) This is ministry to a “T”. The means, mediums, ways, avenues, and cul-de-sacs, we use to perform ministry can be diverse, strange, and exciting. We fold bulletins, attend Bible studies, tithe, volunteer at Habitat, pray in our homes, hold Auctions, preach from trash-cans and it all works to facilitate our identity as “living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to the Lord” (Romans 12:1).

Immediately following the Auction, I came back to the church to set up for our 2nd Annual Highland-Wide Dodge Ball Tournament. We invited all the churches in the area to attend. Last year we had about 60 participants, this year we had 76. And while the Social Hall, after an hour and half of dodge ball with 75 kids, was reminiscent of a gym locker room (two letters: P.U.), I know Christ was honored. (Also, nothing was broken, huzzah!) We talked at the end about how every youth there is on the same team for Christ. We might go about it in different ways, but our “Purpose is True.” Our goal is the same: to live lives of generosity, love, and charity in God’s name. The medium, the avenue, the way in this case…was by throwing playground balls as hard as we could at each other. But the sweaty result was 76 people smiling as brothers and sisters in Christ, seeing fellow allies of the Word around the room, schoolmates, teammates, friends they didn’t know went to church. There is strength in solidarity. Strength, love, and motivation.

At EvUCC, our leadership teams do a great job of balancing “orthodox” with “out-of-the-box.” Our approaches to serving the community and world range from traditional and/or direct, to unusual and downright silly. Any way you slice it though, the way we do things all work together to support why we do things. I think this year’s Confirmation class is a great example of this. We’ve had 6 new students join Confirmation in the past few weeks, just from word of mouth. Confirmation night is Church for these 30 kids. They get to worship, pray, learn, connect, and serve in their own way. They take ownership and responsibility and embrace Christ through a medium that isn’t Sunday morning worship. While they understand the importance of connectedness with the wider body of adults (hence the constant slideshows of their various activities and mission projects for you all to see on Sunday mornings), at this point in their lives, church is about choosing and learning about God in new and exciting ways. So if you’ve ever worried or wondered why some Sundays don’t have a surging number of middle-school youth, just show up some Wednesday night and watch the Spirit move in ways that would make you stifle a giggle.

It floors me how magnificently alive God is in our midst. Sometimes I make mental lists of all the thriving, sustainable, and “Not-Yet” ministries that people are a part of around here and it brings me to my knees. The Talents of God live within you and in me, and the Treasures of God are in the same places. So what are we selling here at EvUCC? Discipleship, freedom, acceptance, and service. Do I hear $0.35?

Love your hearts,

Pastor Will