Sunday, August 11, 2019 ~ Ninth Sunday of Pentecost

Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor

Sermon: “Preparing for Our Future”

Gospel Lesson: Luke 12:32-40

© 2019, Dr. Tamilio

I’m sure that all (if not most of you) know that certain stories and even certain verses appear in more than one Gospel account.  For the last year-and-a-half we have been reading Matthew 6:21: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  This is not only the theme of our Capital Campaign; it was also the theme of this year’s Annual Meeting and Conference of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches.

I mention the last year-and-a-half, because that is when we launched our Capital Campaign.  We are a little more than halfway through and have surpassed the halfway point of of our goal, which is to raise $170,000.

This is good news.  The (somewhat) bad news is that the money we raised is what economic theorists call low-hanging fruit: money that is easier to get.  It will take some effort to procure the rest of these funds.  The Capital Campaign Team is in the process of soliciting donations from businesses in the Canton area.  We also hope that those of your who have yet to make a pledge to the Capital Campaign (the recommended amount being the equivalent of your annual pledge), if you have yet to make a pledge, we hope you consider doing so.  The money we raise will be used for some necessary repairs; some of them we have already made.  Other monies are going to be used to expand our ministries and to augment worship and other church programs.

I give this brief review, because the Lectionary has given us this verse from Luke today — and because we are only a few weeks away from the new program year, this is a great opportunity to begin reflecting on the year ahead and to prepare ourselves for our short- and long-term future.

We have long-been “the good neighbor church in the community” — a congregation that is Christ-centered and biblically-based.  We will continue to be this.  We’ve seen the results: younger families have been visiting and returning to worship with us, and we’ve had more baptisms lately than I have ever seen in my career, and there are more on the calendar!

How can we amp it up a bit, though?  How can we ensure that the faithfulness of this church only grows?

The Rev. Dr. Michael Chittum, the Executive Director of the NACCC, is in the process of launching a pilot program focused on church revitalization.  In a recent correspondence, he wrote the following: “A need identified by many of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches is for the church to be renewed.  That is, renewal for a congregation is to have a sense of renewed purpose, renewed commitment, and renewed life.”  Chittum goes on to briefly describe the program that is being launched in conjunction with the Center for Parish Development (or CPD).  He will be working with CPD “to develop a pilot program for 6-12 of our member churches in 3 geographical clusters to start their journey discerning how the can become the congregation God wants them to be in their communities.”  Now although we are not one of those churches, we can take a line or two from Chittum’s communiqué to discern how we can benefit from such thinking.

I choose this line: “renewal is for a congregation to have a sense of renewed purpose, renewed commitment, and renewed life.”  Notice what this line doesn’t say.  It doesn’t claim that renewal is about putting more people in the pews.  It doesn’t say it is about increasing pledges.  If I were to ask Michael, I’m sure he would say that this type of growth will logically follow a renewed sense of purpose, commitment, and life.  I would agree.  If people are committed to the goals and objectives of an organization, they will most likely want to join it and support it financially.  So, in the year that is upon us, how can we begin thinking about a renewed sense of purpose, commitment, and life?

According to our website, our mission is seven-fold:

• Proclaim the Gospel (Good News) of Jesus Christ.
• Support persons in exploring and developing their relationship with God.
• Celebrate God’s love through worship.
• Maintain a ministry of Christian Education; meeting the needs of children, youth, adults, and families.
• Provide support and comfort to persons in times of need and personal crisis.
• Be visible in the community, as an active reminder of Christ’s presence in the world.
• Reach out to Canton, surrounding communities and the world, sharing the love of God in acts of service and good will.

Of course, this list is not exhaustive, but it does a very good job of telling people what we are all about.  Reminding ourselves of these points on a regular basis is important.  Footnote: I do not think we need renewal.  In fact, I think we have been undergoing a sense of renewal for several years now.  However, there is always room for improvement.  Challenging ourselves prevents stagnation.

• How can we better proclaim the Gospel?
• How can we better support those in our community who are in need, be it spiritually or financially?
• How do we meet the educational needs of children and adults in Canton?

These are questions that all of our ministry teams need to answer, for sure, but it isn’t just them.  These questions go beyond the members of our Deacons, Christian Education, Outreach, and Resource committees.  All of us have to answer them.  All of us are responsible for proclaiming the Gospel and serving God in the service of others.  All of us are called to participate in the many activities our church offers and to invite new people into the fold.  We all need to give our time, talent, and treasure to support our collective ministries.  We need to do this not just as ambassadors of the Congregational Church of Canton, but, more importantly, as disciples of Jesus Christ.  None of what we do is about us; it is about what God is doing in the world.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  The more we give of ourselves and our resources, the more committed we become to this congregation in the year ahead is a testimony of where our hearts lie — a testimony as to what is most important to us and to our families.  For me, it’s simple.  This September will mark my seventh year as your pastor.  This is the longest I have stayed in all four churches that I have served.  There is a reason for that.  I could not be happier here.  But more than that, this is where I believe God wants me to be.  We’ve accomplished quite a bit during these seven years, if you think about it, but there’s much more that we have to do.

Our hearts are here.  Our God is here.  May the coming year see us rise higher than we can imagine in Jesus’ name.  Amen.