Foundations

Well, our house is really starting to come together. 

It had been a few days since we had stopped by to see how the remolding was going.  The basement is framed in and all the new drywall is up.  Before to long, we are going to be ready to paint.

As Jeanette and I walked around, I couldn’t help but remember back to a few months ago, when we wondered if we were ever going to get to this point.  Between the back and forth with the financing, as well as getting the guys lined up to work on the foundation. 

The foundation.  Now that was the cause of many sleepless nights.

We had as many different options on how to address our problem, as we had companies that came out to look at it.  We didn’t know what to do.  It seemed like God had confirmed everything else as far as us moving to this side of town, why this headache.

Then one night, after a particularly stressful go around with this issue, Jeanette was sitting up reading her devotions.  She started laughing.  She then turned to me and handed me the Bible.  It read:

  ^{He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure. Is 33:6}

In the midst of all this stress and worry, we had forgotten a key component.  God alone is our foundation.  He is the one we ultimately rest our lives upon and he alone is the one in whom we should fear. 

That verse was both a slap in the forehead as well as an incredible source of comfort.  To be honest, I haven’t really worried much about the foundation since that night.  Because I know that what holds up our house is not just concrete and steel, but the mighty Creator of concrete and steel. 

To Him alone be praise.

See you Sunday,

Mark 

 

 

 

 ⁶ He will be the sure foundation for your times,
       a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge;
       the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.

Let’s Face It

It was great yesterday night to have our community group over at our house.  Because of the craziness of our summer schedules, we decided to take a few months off from our weekly meeting time.  Instead, we are meeting once a month for a potluck meal,  fellowship, prayer and lots of laughter.   One person took the words right out of my mouth when they said, “I forgot how much I missed this!”.  

Many people on their way out thanked us for our hospitality, and so often when we use that word we generally do think of welcoming people into our homes.  But as Christ followers there is something much more important than opening our front doors to people.  And that is opening our lives to them.  And even opening our faces.

Opening our faces?  What do you mean by that?  I don’t know about you, but when I think of the most hospitable people that I have had the pleasure of worshiping beside over the years, they all had something in common:  It was a smile, a gaze, a tone of voice that communicated “Your safe with me.  This is a place where you will receive grace not condemnation, understanding not a lecture.”

Jesus had that kind of face.  It was a face that encouraged a woman with loose sexual morals to engage him in spiritual questions by a well.  It was a face that led a man steeped in religious legalism to seek him out for an evening interview.  And a member of the occuping military force to come and ask for the healing of his daughter.  And a ragtag group of  fishermen and relgious dropouts to follow him to the ends of the earth.

As those who have been clothed with Christ through the waters of baptism and been empowered by his very spirit, let us likewise show hospitality.  Let us like Jesus, open ourselves up to not only to those like us, but to the poor, the outsiders, the excluded, the ones everyone else has forgot (0r would like to forget). 

The way we do this – is through our face!  Our eyes, our smile, our voice that says, “Come on in.  You have nothing to fear from me.  I care about you!”

Who do you know that needs to see the face of Jesus?

See you Sunday!

Mark

North American Christian Convention

It was great to attend the NACC this year.  Not only is it an opportunity to hear the ways God is working through the various ministries conducted by our churches, it is also a chance to worship beside brothers and sisters from all over the country.   Being a part of this mighty anthemof praise, as well as being fed by God through the preaching of His word always re-energizes my batteries,  right at the time of the year when pastors like me struggle with the mid-summer lull. 

I’m excited by what God is doing in and through FCC.  I’m so thankful that He has allowed me and my family to be a part of it.  I look forward to the second half of this year -and beyond!

Growing in God’s Garden

I’m not much of a gardener. 

But that hasn’t stopped me from growing different kinds of herbs and vegetables out on my back porch over the last few years.  Even last year, when we lived in a second story apartment in Austin, I had two or three pots filled will natures bounty. 

This year, I have tomato’s, onions, peppers, as well as basil and cilantro. 

One of the things I’ve noticed this year that I never cued into before is how plants seem to grow in spurs.  For example, I have plants that look like they are the same size as when I brought them home from the nursery, while others are growing like crazy.  Then what seems like overnight,  those plants that were growing like crazy seem to have stopped and others are suddenly HUGH. 

This has caused me to reflect on my own life.  Like these plants, my growth in Christ is never uniform.  I have spurs of growth, when God is teaching me things about myself, His Kingdom and the world that I never knew before.  As I begin to live those insights out, my spiritual life flourishes, my walk with God grows deeper, richer, than ever.  I don’t want this rush to end.

But then that growth is inevitably followed by a period of relitive dormancy.  I don’t doubt that I’m growing in my walk with God, it’s just that it is such small steps it seems nearly inperceptable to my eye. 

This inconsistancy used to upset me.  I felt like that as a follower of Christ, and as a minister of the gospel, I should always be experencing explosive growth.  But I have come to realize that whether we are talking about nature or our spiritual life, this cycle is normal.  That if we remain rooted in that place where we can continue to draw nutretients, when the time is right, growth with come. 

So my word of grace to you is that regardless of where you may feel like you are on that cycle, remember Jesus’ words ‘remain in me, and I will remain in you. ’  (John 15: 4) and when the time is right, maybe even when you least expect it, growth will come!   

See you Sunday,

Mark

God’s Party

The other day I came across a story in the newspaper about a neighborhood in Chicago that has one of the highest concentrations of drug activity, prostitution, alcoholics, and. . .churches.  Huh?! 

That’s right, Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood claims to have over 200 churches, with most consitrated on only two roads (Roosevelt and Pulaski).  

The question that immediately came to my mind as I read was, “With so many churches, why is the community in the shape that its in.”  It didn’t take long for me to find my answer.  Some who were interviewed said it was because young people tend to grow up and move away, instead of staying to invest in homes and businesses.  Others claimed its because churches, which are tax-exempt, are building on commercial land and stifling economic growth.  But Omar McRoberts, a sociologist from the University of Chicago offered this comment.  He said, “With the birth of civil rights organizations in the 1960′s that formed to meet the needs of the community, many churches looked inward and shifted their focus from activist work to serving their members.  Pastor Terence Raven, of Christ Baptist church agreed saying, ”I think there are too many churches not doing what they need to do!”

As a read about this neighborhood, which is jokingly referred to as the ‘community of 1,000 churches’, I couldn’t help but think of my own city of Elgin.  Elgin also is known as a city of many churches.  And although we don’t struggle with the level of problems facing North Lawndale, we too have our share of challenges- from gangs and teen pregnancy to poverity and food pantry shortages.  

Yet as I read the gospels, I find that Jesus preoccupation was with people in need. He is not concerned about our claims to love and serve him, but our willingness to demonstrate that love through caring for ‘the least of these’. 

One of Jesus’ favorite images of the Kingdom, God’s loving in-breaking rule, was a dinner party.  And anyone who ‘s been to a dinner party knows there are certain rules of etiquette.  The first rule is – you don’t eat until everyone is at the table (This is one of the rules at our home that dad is most apt to break).

But do we as Jesus’ party guests do the same thing?  We’ve learned that its rude to eat before everyone is seated and served, but when we enter into God’s rule and we see this incredible meal laid out before us, we start gobbling it down. Do we demand, “Feed me, Feed me!!” rather than being focused on what Jesus is focused on, which is gathering all those who aren’t yet at the table. 

So as we look around our neighborhoods, our city, our places of work, let’s ask ourselves – Who do I know and care about that is not yet a regular guest at God’s table? What can I do to help that person connect with the God revealed in Jesus? How would these places change as more and more people came to dinner?

Pray, think, dream. The party has started. We have the invitations in our hands. Don’t be afraid to take a risk.

Mark

God Whispers

The other day I was driving around town and listening to the local public radio station.  They were reporting on a study that was recently published concerning Chicago’s suburban schools. They said that over the past 15 years, more minority students have moved to the suburbs. But the study showed that suburban black and Latino students are attending increasingly segregated schools. 

The report mentioned two districts the specifically illustrated this problem: District 300 (which includes Carpentersville, Dundee, etc) and U46 (which includes Elgin).   It said that these school systems most clearly showed the growing division between races and cultures.

As the program came to an end, many thoughts came to my mind. First, I whispered a prayer of thanks to God, for giving me an opprotunity to help lead such an increadibly diverse community of Christ Followers.  In a day when 90% of churches are made up of one race and culture, FCC looks very much like the city we live in. 

Second, I heard the whisper of the Spirit speaking into my spirit.  It simply said, ‘This is the churches hour’.  Like Mordecai speaking to Esther and saying,  ‘And who knows but the you have come. . .for such a time as this’, I believe that God has placed us in this time and place to accomplish His Kingdom purposes through us.   In a city that is apparently growing more divided, God wants to raise us up as a living example of  His dream for our area.  That God is, right here, today, building a community where the old divisions, agendas, sterotypes, have died and been buried in the waters of baptism and something brand new is being formed.  A place where there is ‘no more Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female’, but there is instead an unbreakable unity because of what Jesus Christ has done for us!

Church, this is our hour!  Jesus said that the day would come whenthe things whispered in secret would be shouted from the housetops.  Will you join me in shouting the message to our divided city what God is doing here at FCC?  Will you share it with your friends, neighbors, co-workers, everyone you meet?   God is up to something, and as for me, I want to be smack dab right in the middle of it.  I pray you do as well.

See you this weekend.

Mark

Being the Light of Christ in a Dark Place

If you haven’t had a chance to read the recent article about FCC’s own Mark Rotundo published in the Northwest Herald, check out the link below.  Also, continue to keep Mark, Erin and the kids in your prayers.

http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2009/04/07/r_3brrl0gurdaxm5lt4etrwa/

Starting Over

Coming in to the office today, I couldn’t help but notice how ‘green’ everything is becoming here in Elgin. It has been a long, brutal, winter and it is as if creation is suddenly coming back to life.
Many of us have also been suffering through a tough winter of sorts. A troubled economy, job losses, financial strain.
Yet, as I look at the trees and flowers staring to bud, I cannot help to think of the message of Easter. That, because of the Resurrection of Jesus, the world is now a different place. Regardless of what the pundits and talking heads might say, we as Christ followers know we live in a world full of potential and possibilities.
I thank God for the spring (and although I’m not looking forward to the summer heat, at least I’m not living in Texas anymore). Spring reminds me that winter’s grip has at last been broken and something new and beautiful awaits us.
Likewise, Easter reminds me that evil no longer has ultimate power. It has been replaced by something greater: A power to change lives and circumstances. A power to raise up that which had been torn down. A power to bring life and color to that which was once dead or dying, whether that be our dreams, our circumstances, our relationships, our community.
Will you join with me, in seeking to live out the good news of Easter. Let’s announce with our lips and our lives that ‘our present sufferings are not to be compared to the glory that awaits us’.  The gray days are giving way to a deeper and lasting reality and ‘gates of hell’ will not stand against God’s dream for us and the world.

Spring has sprung! Let’s live like it!

Getting Started

Wow! I cannot believe I’m actually doing this.  I’m one of least computer savy people I know, and I’m actually writing my own blog.  The Apocalypse must certainly be around the corner. 

I also cannot believe that it has been over half a year since I became the minister here at First Christian Church of Elgin.   I have enjoyed getting to meet all the wonderful people who are part of this community of Christ followers, and I’m looking forward to the BIG things God has planned for us.

This week, I wrap up my teaching series Defiant Hope in Troubled Times.  I appreciate all the feedback I’ve received over the last few months on how God has used these messages to encourage you and keep your eyes on the BIG picture. 

We are going to be looking at how to have hope despite anxiety.  Our 24/7 news cycle constantly bombards our minds with the bad, leaving us loaded down with worry and fear.  Now, more than ever, we need to rest on the power God provides through our brothers and sisters in Christ.

This week, I read about two elderly ladies shopping at the mall.  One was in a wheelchair and the other was pushing. At one point, the one sitting down turned around and said, ‘Let me know when you get tired, I’ll push for awhile.’

Carrying around the weight of our all our fears can get tiring real quick.  But the good news is that God wants us to ‘cast all our anxieties on him’ (I Peter 5:7).  That might mean regularly bringing our cares to God in prayer, or it may mean humbling ourselves enough to ask for help from the people God has placed in our lives.   But one thing is certain, God doesn’t want us to buckle under the weight of all our fears.

Look forward to seeing all of you this Sunday!

Peace,

Mark