Life is Short ...

Here's a quick reality check. Stevens Creek is known as being a very young congregation and as a result of that we do not have the number of funerals as many traditional churches our size.  Recently, however, things have changed.  In the last six weeks, since December 1, 2010 we have had five deaths connected to the Stevens Creek Road campus.  


Here's the shocker. Look at the ages of the people who have passed away in the last six weeks: 47, 52, 57, 56 and a newborn.


The Bible teaches us to number our days.  Please make it a point to be present, to live in the moment, to connect with your loved ones. Life is precious. Life is short.

The Creek .... A Volunteer-Intensive Ministry

Several years ago I attended a conference at Willow Creek Church in Chicago.  When I walked onto the campus I was overwhelmed by the number of volunteers that served the Lord at that local church.  They were everywhere. I talked to a person in the tech department. He said that he traveled during the week and worked for a major telephone company, but he lived for the weekend so that he could use his natural talents for the Lord.  He was pulling cable and doing what some would consider grunt work, but he saw the spiritual importance of that task.  He knew that without adequate audio that the message of hope could not be given to seekers who walked through the door.  He was not the only volunteer investing their energies in the services that weekend.  The property was filled with passionate people using their gifts.


Stevens Creek Church is no different. We are a volunteer-intensive ministry. We rely on the faithful service of hundreds of people to pull-off a weekend. Some of you would say, "Marty, that's an overstatement."  No, it really is not.  Do you realize that it takes 85 volunteers serving in the children's ministry every Sunday? Then add to that the needs of the middle school ministry, the parking attendants, greeters, ushers, the tech team, the musicians, the vocalists, the drama members and then add to that the needs of our Grovetown campus.


We are a volunteer-intensive organization and we need your help. The Bible teaches us to "pray that the Lord of the Harvest would send workers into the field." Join with me and pray that God would speak to people in our congregation and encourage them to serve.  Right now, we need 20 new coaches / groups leaders in our children's ministry. If you want joy, if you want to impact a person's entire life, then serve in the children's ministry. If Sunday does not work in your schedule, we have opportunities in our Wednesday program.


Take a moment today, as we continue our 21 Days of Prayer, and ask the Lord where you can serve.

Admiring versus Owning

In the late 1990s, Dr. Gilbert Bilezikian came to our church and spoke on the power of community. Many of you may not know "Dr. B." but he was the college professor that the Lord used to inspire Bill Hybels to start Willow Creek Community Church. God used Dr. B to inspire a movement that changed the world. 

Dr. B taught at Wheaton College and while teaching there, he used to walk from his house to work. One day while he was on his way to Wheaton, he noticed a neighbor had put a sign out in front of his door. It's a beautiful, very artistic, very creative sign that had the street name and address and so marked on it. And Dr. B loves beauty. He is from France, and he is a keen lover of beauty. And he said just walking past that sign gave him great pleasure. He just found himself thinking about it.

And the next day when he left his house, he thought to himself, I'm actually kind of looking forward to seeing that sign. And there was this sign out in front. Dr. B had that same surge of admiration. "This is beautiful work of art!" This happened every day. He just would find himself looking forward to seeing that little sign, until one day the strangest thing happened. He was walking past that house, saw that little piece of art, only this time his mind didn't say, Boy, that's cool! This time, his mind said, Why should your neighbor have one of those and not you? Think of how much joy it would give you to possess something of such beauty and have the whole neighborhood see it and know it belongs to you. You ought to have that. You must have that.

And it was the strangest thing, now walking past his neighbor's house did not bring him joy anymore. Now it just troubled him. Now every time he saw that sign it was a reminder of what he did not have, and he knew it would be expensive. He was working as a teacher, did not make very much money. He and his wife were putting their children through school. He knew his wife would not want to go for spending that much money on a sign.

And then eventually one day he was walking past the sign again, and a little voice whispered to him, "Dr. B…" because even God calls him "Dr. B." "Dr. B, couldn't you enjoy that sign without owning it? Couldn't you be happy for the guy who has it? Couldn't you be happy that people get to see it? Couldn't you admire it yourself without torturing yourself over how to possess it? You can admire without having to acquire." And that is what he did. He just agreed with that thought, and he would walk past the sign, and say to himself, I'll just admire without the need to acquire.

This is a lesson that I need to learn. Lord, help me to appreciate the beauty of things without having to possess them.  Hmmm. This lesson would keep most of us out of debt, wouldn't it? So, this week make it a point to appreciate the beauty of that LED Wide Screen Television without having to go buy one. Ooops...now I am meddling.