A Little Bit about a Few Things

Safe Sanctuaries Training 

You may notice a few less people in worship today. That is good news! Over fifty adults who volunteer with children and students are in the building being trained to provide a safe and nurturing environment for our children. As the leader of a camp for kids in the summer, I have been through the training. As a parent of a sixth grader and a kindergartener, I’m grateful for all the adults who are devoting two and a half hours in our children this morning!

Prayer Wall - WePrayOmaha.com 

I want to encourage you to visit our new prayer wall. It is easy to access from a computer or mobile device and is a way we can support each other through prayer. I visit this site each morning and am finding it a great way to pray and connect with others in the congregation. 

Pray for our Mission Trips 

Our Belize Mission Trip is June 9th to June 17th. We have 15 people who will be providing medical, pharmacy, and optical services to men, women, and children in Belize. 

Our middle school mission trip is June 24th to June 30th in St. Louis. We have 35 students and adults who will be serving and growing together. 

Our high school mission trip is July 7th to July 15th in Savannah, Georgia. We have 64 students and adults who will be making a difference in the lives of the poor and elderly, forming friendship, and connecting with God. 

Vacation Bible School 

One of the highlights of every year is Vacation Bible School. Sunday, July 15th to Thursday, July 19th are the dates this year. Save the date! I encourage high school students and adults to serve our children and families by volunteering. 

September 9th to October 14th – 40 Days in the Word 

40 Days in the Word will be our fall sermon series and small group study. As a pastor, the most common question I get is something like this: “How do I read the Bible in a relevant way so that I can apply its principles to my life?” We will learn the Word, love the Word, and live the Word. New small groups will be forming and existing groups will be restarting. It will be an incredible experience!

October 21st to November 18th 

We will spend this time celebrating what God has already done, embrace what God is doing, and dream about what God will do in us and through us during our capital campaign to purchase land and to resource God’s vision for our future together. 

I hope to see you Sunday morning. 

Craig Finnestad

Thoughts on Mother's Day

The Bible tells us to honor our mother (Exodus 20:12). For some of us this task is simple and natural. For others it is difficult and contrived. Some mothers are nearly perfect. Others have made so many mistakes that only God can clean up the mess. Either way, God says, “Honor your mother.”

My mom, Bonita, is imperfectly perfect. Despite her demanding job as an accountant and parenting my three older siblings, she loved me like I was the only one to love. I ran track and cross country in high school and college. She drove thousands of miles to see me run around a 400 meter track countless times. She was my biggest fan – celebrating the victories and encouraging me on the days I wished I was on the golf team instead of being a distance runner. 

She is not perfect, but as far as moms go, I am blessed. She enjoys and loves her many grandchildren. But she still loves me like I am the only one there is to love. 

The role of being a parent is holy and sacred. Even if the parents are neither holy nor sacred, the role of parent is still sacred. Being a parent is ordained by God, the creator and sustainer of life. Being a parent has responsibilities and rights. The responsibilities are many. 

Entire books have been written on parenting: but praying, playing, listening, and modeling a Christian life are a good start. These responsibilities are for the parent of a six year old child and the parent of a sixty year old child. The rights are many as well: smelling the hair of a sleeping baby who has recently been bathed, laughing with the child exploring life, watching the child hit baseballs or dancing dances or singing songs, witnessing the child become who God wants the child to be, and having that child care for you when you are no longer able to care for yourself just like you once cared for the child when he or she was not able to take care of himself or herself. 

Today is Mother’s Day. God’s command to honor your mother applies today as it does every day. Honoring them doesn’t mean putting them on a pedestal or worshipping them. It means seeing them for who they are and who they are not. It means loving God and our neighbor as faithfully and selflessly as mothers at their best have tried to love us. It means listening to them, praying for them, playing with them, and taking care of them to the end of their days on earth. 

To mom, Amber, and all the mother’s reading this—Happy Mother’s Day! 

The best is yet to come… 

Craig

Commitment and Reward - Lincoln Marathon and Commitment Sunday

About four years ago I was standing on Main Street in Hopkinton, Massachusetts at ten o’clock in the morning with about 25,000 other people from all fifty states and over one hundred countries. We were waiting for the gun to go off to start the 112th Boston Marathon. A nor’easter was bearing down on New England. It was cold and a forty-mile-per-hour wind would be blowing in my face for the next three hours as I ran the 26.2 miles into Boston. The rain was relentless. 

Just like most other marathons I have run, I finished in about three hours. It wasn’t easy. I actually ended up in the hospital with hypothermia, but the toughest part about the marathon isn’t making it to the finish line, the toughest part is making it to the starting line.

Some of the weRun group from the 2011 Lincoln Marathon

You’ll notice a lot less people in worship today. Over 70 runners from The Water’s Edge are running the Lincoln Marathon or Half-Marathon. Many family and friends will be cheering them on. I’ll be doing the half marathon in Lincoln with Amber. We did her first 5K last fall. This race is ten miles farther than she has ever gone before. 

Each runner has had their own unique journey to get to the starting line. One morning or one evening, each of them had to take a scary first step. Many times each runner had to make the choice between quitting and continuing. They chose to continue. They have run through aches and pain, doubts and fears, heat and cold. The easy part is driving to Lincoln. The hard part was the regular training. 

The marathon at its best is a metaphor for life. The desire to win means nothing without the will to prepare to win. The desire to finish strong means nothing without the will to prepare to finish strong. Talent is not enough. Commitment produces results in all areas of life: running, relationships, and discipleship are no exceptions to this rule. 

You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally. -1 Corinthians 9:24-25

By next Sunday our finisher’s medals will be hanging on a mirror or tucked away in a drawer. At best it will be an occasional reminder of commitment producing results. 

Next Sunday is Commitment Sunday at The Water’s Edge. We will be asked to commit to pray, to be present, to give, to serve, and to witness. Committing in these areas of life allows us to connect to each other and to God. The result of our Christian commitment is the eternal gold that never tarnishes. 

I look forward to committing with you. 

The best is yet to come… 

Craig

Faith

Most religious words have been overused and misused and maybe even abused. They have either lost their original meaning or nobody seems too interested in them anymore. 

Not so with faith. It still has life to it and always will. Doesn’t matter if it is the stuffy, old preacher looking down at his notes through his reading glasses or the prisoner testifying to his fellow offenders—our ears seem to perk up when we hear the word. 

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. –Hebrews 11:1 

Kierkegaard notes faith is humanity’s highest pursuit. Some make it that far, but none go further. Faith isn't the ability to believe into the distant future. Faith is believing God and taking the next step. 

Faith is best thought of as a verb and not a noun. Something we do and not something we have. A journey and not a destination. And it’s a gift from God – we can’t create it – we can only receive it and respond with it. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Risk is part of faith. Refusing to take an adventure for something extraordinary is a guarantee for achieving something ordinary. Risking means possibly losing one's footing; not risking means losing oneself. 

Possibility is part of faith. Faith is believing the possibilities and not accepting limitations. Hope is the painting; faith is the painter.

Dependence is the beginning of faith. At times in our life we have been pushed and will be pushed to our limits. Here is the world. Bad things happen and so do terrible things. We’ll discover, sooner or later if we haven’t already, that independence from God doesn’t work out. And dependence is the beginning of faith. 

Trust is the maturity of faith. The trusting disciple just doesn’t believe in God, but also believes God and trusts God. The disciple trusts that God can do more with six of our days depending on Him, than he or she could do in seven days independent of Him. The disciple trusts that things like praying for our enemies makes no sense, but because it’s God’s idea then it is a good idea. 

Redemption is the product of faith. Redemption means a ransom has been paid. Redemption spends less time looking at the brokenness from the past than it does at the possibilities of a blessed future. 

You have a choice and so do I. We can either error on the side of faith or the side of doubt. Choose to receive and respond to God’s gift of faith today and all days. 

The best is yet to come… 

Craig

A Little Bit About a Few Things

Confirmation 

Today is a great day at The Water’s Edge: We welcome our first Confirmation Class. These sixteen students have learned together, worshipped together, and served together. They have been equipped with the tools necessary to help them thrive as a disciple of Jesus. 

Confirmation Sunday isn’t the end of a journey. It is the beginning of a journey. It’s kind of like the kickoff to a football game. All the training has been done and the game has started. We have great big dreams for a student ministry that deeply impacts the lives of our students and students in our community. To the Confirmands: you are not only the future leaders of our church. Your ministry starts today: sharing Christ with the people in your life and the world. 

Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. -1 Timothy 4:12

Attendance and Giving Report

Our average worship attendance so far in 2012 is 511. This is 100 people higher than 2011 and is 25% growth over 2011. Our average attendance in children’s Sunday school for 2012 is 122 students per week. This is an increase of over 30% which means we continue to reach families with young children. Thanks so much to all the students and adults who work with our children. You are such a blessing! Our giving has also increased over 2011. Last week, the week after Easter, was our largest offering of the year! We will be receiving a detailed financial report in worship next weekend.

Congregational Care Ministry

This is exciting. A congregational care leadership team has formed and is planning ways for us to care for each other. This ministry will be launched in the next few months. You will see details emerge over the next month or two. Two things: 1. I believe God is leading all of us to serve in this ministry. Whether it is delivering a meal to a family that just had a baby, walking beside somebody who just lost a parent, doing a few home repairs for a person who is not able to, or dozens of other things—I believe God is leading all of us to serve in this ministry. 2. Pray for this emerging ministry. It will be one of the most important things we do in 2012.

Land

The leadership team and the land and building team has determined that the Harrison Street property is the best location for our future. Negotiations with the owner are nearly complete. The capital campaign will continue in the fall and the owner is very agreeable to our timeline. Exciting days are ahead of us!

The best is yet to come…

Craig

Gratitude

I'm speaking about gratitude this Sunday. Here are some things I have been thinking about this week:

Gratitude. It’s a choice. It’s an attitude. It changes lives. Your life and the lives around you. 

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. -Melody Beattie

We live in a culture of more is merrier and bigger is better. Envy prevents us from being grateful for what we have because we are distracted by what others have and are preoccupied with what we don’t have. It’s not likely that if we are not thankful for what we currently have that we are going to be thankful for what we get in the future. 

Gratitude is a Choice 

The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished. Nevertheless, they set aside a day of thanksgiving. When we choose gratitude we will discover a simple truth of life—happiness doesn’t make us grateful; gratefulness makes us happy. 

Gratitude is an Attitude 

Paul writes about this. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. –Colossians 3:15 

Always be thankful. Have an attitude of gratitude. Give thanks for everything that happens. Know that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation. An attitude of gratitude allows for abundance to appear and fear to disappear. 

For Gratitude to be Gratitude – It Must Be Expressed to God and Others

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it i like wrapping a present and not giving it. God gives us a gift of 86,400 seconds today. How many of these seconds are we offering the simple, yet potently powerful prayer: “Thank you!” Gratitude connects us to God like only gratitude can: our Creator and Provider. Our expressed gratitude connects us to others as well. Expressed gratitude is the spark that lights a fire in another’s life. 

I don’t recall a time in my life when I have been more grateful to God and to others. Amber, Benjamin, David and I offer our thanks to you. You have been God’s instrument of grace in our lives at a time we have needed it the most. 

The best is yet to come… 

Craig

Silent Prayer

Time of Silence #1 - Start with a time of silence. Enter the silence with no agenda. Just listen for hints of God. 

Scattered. Cluttered. Restless. Anxious. Bored. Broken. Overwhelmed. 

I come to You. 

I haul heavy burdens from the past. 

I carry busyness and distractions from today. 

I bring uncertainty and fears for the future. 

The world sends constant messages and keeps littering my life. 

I want to disconnect from the world’s voice and be still with You. 

I want to know You and be lead by you. 

Time of Silence #2 - Be silent. Relax. Enjoy the silence. You probably don’t get a lot of it.

You have created me for You and for You alone. 

Teach me that my heart and my mind will be restless until I find rest in you. 

Time of Silence #3 - Be silent. Give your burdens to God. Meditate what your life would look like if you fully accepted and experienced God’s forgiveness. 

You have created me to know You. 

Not just to know about You, but to know Your embrace. 

Time of Silence #4 - Be silent. You are alone with God. Simply spend time together. 

Almighty God – These things I ask of You: 

Replace scattered with focus. 

Replace cluttered with simple. 

Replace restlessness with harmony. 

Replace anxiety with peace. 

Replace boredom with passion. 

Replace broken with blessed. 

Replace overwhelmed with overwhelmed by Your presence. 

Time of Silence #5 - Close the prayer with a final time of silence. Be open to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. 

Amen.