Tuesday, August 23, 2011

A Community-of-God Endeavor!

The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke 10:26-28

Julio Fonseca is a construction worker in Tegucigalpa, one of thousands. Several years ago Julio could not find any work so he moved his family to the country. This meant withdrawing his children from AFE. But work was also scarce in the country. With no other option, the Fonsecas came back to Tegucigalpa, this time to work in the garbage dump. Their two older children (once AFE students) came back to Tegucigalpa with children of their own.

When the Fonsecas returned, we immediately accepted the four school-age children into AFE (the young girls with babies preferred to stay home to take care of their babies). Tania, Maria, and Julio became students again and children available to sponsor. Around the same time a team from Washington Cathedral visited AFE and fell in love with the Fonseca children.

Tania’s sponsor learned that her family of nine huddled together in a one-room shack susceptible to the elements.Tania’s sponsor did not have a lot of money herself, but did have retirement savings. She leveraged that savings to provide a house for the Fonseca family. The $5,000 cost to build a house included salaries for laborers. AFE hired Julio to build his own house, along with his oldest son, but the construction was not limited to the Fonseca family. Other fathers who had received house-help from AFE joined in and a team of young people from Washington Cathedral came to provide labor.

The Fonseca house truly was a “community-of-God” endeavor . . . a community that stretched across several nations. It began with a church mission trip, moved to sponsorship, then to providing the stability of a home. It was beautiful to see the Washington Cathedral teenagers taking pictures of the Fonseca children as they marveled at their “mansion” (as they called it); knowing that they would share this experience with children’s sponsors, who are also part of the same church. Isn’t it amazing what can happen when we all get together and push! Washington Cathedral has adopted the Fonseca family. If your church would like to become involved in a similar endeavor, contact reyangeldiaz@gmail.com.

Pastor Elise White-Diaz

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Stop & Notice the Mountain (And Other Great Things in Your Life)!

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the skies announce what his hands have made. Day after day they tell the story; night after night they tell it again. They have no speech or words; they have no voice to be heard. But their message goes out through all the world; their words go everywhere on earth. Psalm 19:1-4 (NCV)

The other day I was driving to the church from my home in Woodinville and as I came around the corner (by Chateau Ste. Michelle), in front of Willows Lodge was a man who had stopped his car and was taking pictures. I slowed down and looked out over the grass field to see what he was looking at and all I saw was the grass. I wondered what on earth he was doing taking such effort to take pictures of a plain grass field. A few minutes later, as I came around the corner onto Woodinville-Redmond Road, I looked ahead and saw the beauty of Mt. Rainier looming over the landscape and it suddenly dawned on me, of course, he was taking a picture of that mighty, majestic mountain. I had forgotten about the mountain.

At that moment I thought about how often I don’t notice the beautiful things in my life. I’m so focused on getting to my next destination or getting the next thing on my list accomplished that I forget to appreciate the things around me. The beauty and splendor of God’s creation, the wonderful people God has put around me, the glory of His presence in my life. That day, I recommitted myself to take time and notice the beautiful things God has placed in my life. The words of one of my favorite Psalms echoed in my brain, “The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands . . . . They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.”

How often do you find yourself speeding through life and not noticing the beauty around you? I think that, especially in our times of stress and distress, we forget to see the beauty around us. God’s creation shouts to us, “I was created by the great Creator for your pleasure and enjoyment!” That’s how much God loves us. Today I challenge you to stop and notice the beauty around you―actually, not just today, but every day. Recommit your life to being a person who listens to the silence of the beauty surrounding you each and every day of your life. Then take time to be thankful. It will draw you closer to the Creator and you will be blessed. I was.

Have a great a glorious week!

Pastor Linda Skinner

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

“According to Your Faith”

When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you.” Matthew 9:28-29

I love sales people! I really do! I love them because they are people who cannot afford to be negative and faithless about life. If they are, they see it in their paycheck. They have to be positive, optimistic, upbeat, and enthusiastic or their family will not get paid. These are common ordinary people who are masters of self-motivation and discipline- - - and they have so much to teach us. Recently, I was talking to a friend who has been in our church for years. When I asked him how his business was going, he said something like this, “Oh, I always have all the possibilities that I want, because I help good people solve their problems and I don’t believe in the word impossible.” He went on to explain that it seems like every job he does is one that some competitor has given up on. His secret is that he knows that he can do ithe just has to find a way. When he does that and a little bit more for free- - - there is no limit to the number of jobs or the amount of times his customers want him back. I told my friend, “You are a possibility thinker!!”

There’s a level of performance that’s truly above the natural realm, and to get there just takes a little bit of trust!

I wonder how many people right now are putting themselves in self-imposed quicksand? They are imagining all the ways they might fail. They are worried to death that someone is going to take advantage of them by asking them to do something for free. How refreshing it is to hold a five-minute conversation with someone who dares to believe in deeper, more powerful values and principles.

Many people are claiming to trust God, but in point-of-fact they are rehearsing how their lives and businesses are going to fail. And then they blame God for the mistakes that they themselves sowed into their lives through unbelief.

Right now I am praying for you to move to the next level- - - the level of faith. A faith that will cause you to make the scary phone call, pound out the bold business plan, stretch to do the right thing even if it’s uncomfortable. I believe that Jesus is whispering to you, “According to your faith let it be done to you!”


Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Thursday, August 4, 2011

“It takes a lot of work to hang in there”

“Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.” Ephesians 4:3-4

Sitting in the chairs waiting for premarital counseling is a couple eager to get married. (At least they should be- - - it makes it a lot easier.) The pastor tries to warn them that marriage and building a family is going to be harder than they think. There will be a time when the honeymoon is over. There will be moments when they feel like the other person is so different that they must be from another planet. There will be times of self pity when they feel like the marriage could be so much more. There will be seasons of financial difficulties, emotional struggles, and conflicts over heartfelt differences, the challenges of life, constant distractions by children, work, commitments, etc.

It takes work to build a great marriage!
But it’s worth every ounce of effort!!!

Sitting in the chair is a new person ready to join the church. They tear up when they talk about how their life has been changed by Jesus Christ since beginning their journey of faith at the church. (When I hear the stories of all the people who have grown to maturity in their faith in this church and how God has blessed their lives I am so inspired.)

But just like it is for the young couple getting married, there will be a time when the honeymoon is over (it happens to all of us as human beings). For some, there are those moments when it seems that every sermon is no longer “just for them”; even though it might be for someone else. Some will have a time when they realize that worship requires them to take an active role not just watch the leaders worship. The toughest moment for some is when it becomes apparent that spiritual growth is a product of living the spiritual disciplines of Jesus and not just finding a new commodity. There are those startling times when patience is required, getting off the bench and getting involved is a must, and staying attached to the vine is essential. Some will have the shocking recognition that all of their needs cannot be met in a sixty-minute service once a week- - - this “following Jesus” is requires a lot more work. There’s a lot of growing up to do in the business of establishing a happy, healthy church, but I think if you ask anyone who has grown up here they will tell you it’s well worth the effort.

It takes a lot of work to hang in there with a church family!
But it’s worth every ounce of effort!!!

In Ephesians 4 the apostle Paul said, “Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living though all.”

Your friend for the rest of my life,