Pastor's Letter September 2009

September 2009

Dear Church Family,

We have used this summer in its fullest for our TurningPoint family. Nominating Committee has helped us find our leadership group for this next year, we have submitted our application for full church status, and we have put in a bid on a new building. We have also worked hard to get our church family’s children into Roseburg Junior Academy and to help those in need in our community. So yes, the summer was full with lots of activity. But in our busyness, have we made sure that we have stayed with our Lord? Have we been good at worrying over the “big dinner” and forgetting the one “dish” that is right before us? Sometimes summers can do that to you.

So, in the middle of doing church…how do we keep to the “one thing worth being concerned about”? How do we discover this most important item and not let it be taken away from us…even by doing well at church? To begin with we need the one thing that most of us do not have…time.

Well, we all have an equal amount of that. So the question probably has to be put more in terms of how we spend that time. In the story of Martha and Mary, time and where it is spent is the focal point. Luke 10:38-42 tells us the story of these two ladies.

Martha, large and in charge, sees the need to get things going. Luke says that she was “worrying over the big dinner she was preparing”. We like to eat. And someone needs to prepare it. Martha sees the need and answers it.

Every week at TurningPoint we gather around the table after the worship/study time is over. I think that this time of fellowship together is of great importance and can be as valuable as our time together in worship. But so many of us do not realize the amount of work it takes to get things together in a timely manner. Our hospitality team works hard and sometimes at the expense of worshipping with the church family. But most of us would agree that we eat pretty well at TurningPoint potlucks. Mainly because so few “potlucks” happen. And often just a few prepare food for us all.

Could we lighten their load and help them sit longer in worship if each family brought more to share? Could the Mary’s of our group think about the Martha’s and help them sit longer at the feet of Jesus? Yes. We could do this by sharing from our kitchens more of our bounty.

But Martha still has a problem. Not with cooking. But with Mary! She says to Jesus, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me? No, says Jesus, I can’t take away the one important thing that Mary has found. Time with Jesus is the only thing really needed. We need something to eat. But we don’t need a “big dinner”. Something light will do if it means that we are then able to stay with what is truly important.

No matter what we say or do, most churches are filled with both Martha’s and Mary’s. We need things done. But we must never forget that in getting things done, there is only one thing that counts. And that is time with Jesus.

We can do many things here at TurningPoint. But let us all strive for the one important thing…to be a church whose prime focus is being in the presence of Jesus.

In His Matchless Love.

Pastor Tim