Thanksgiving

O God of all Creation: You have cared for the earth, and have filled it with your riches. Abundance flows in your steppes, through the pastures and wilderness. You provide for our land, softening it with showers, bathing it in light, and blessing it with growth.

The hills sing with joy; the meadows are covered with flocks; the fields deck themselves with wheat; and together they glorify your name!

On this occasion of our Thanksgiving, we as a nation take rest from our labors to consider your many blessings. We thank you for our freedoms, and for the opportunity to contribute our skills, our attributes and our values toward the good of society.

We thank you for the mixture of our cultures, blending us into one people under God. Help us to be a light unto other nations, and to further the cause of freedom and justice all over the world.

We remember those who are less fortunate than we. We lift up in prayer the victims of poverty and racism, and all those who suffer from forms of political and economic oppression. Let the word that goes forth from our mouths speak of your peace, and let us proclaim our hope in Christ as Savior of all humankind.

We pray that you will bless all those who gather here, as we have come to experience your presence among us. Give us your guidance, O God, and empower us for your work. For we claim nothing for ourselves, but return all honor and glory unto you, and offer our thanks and praise. Amen.

From "Prayers for God's People"
Thomas P. Roberts, editor

Yours in Christ,

Jackie Johnson 

 

Philippians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

50 Years in!!

      As we move into the next 50 years of Holy Cross we need to redevelop the missional mindset that was part of the first few years of Holy Cross.  We need to be connecting with our neighbors and inviting them into a relationship with Christ and Holy Cross.  We need to understand that most of our neighbors may profess that they belong to a church but the sad reality of life is most Americans do not regularly attend a church.  Most Christian Americans are CEO’s. (Christmas, Easter and Other special occasions)  

      The whole point of being a church is to reach others with the Good News of Jesus Christ.  So the challenge is to connect with others and invite them to join you in some way at Holy Cross.  It does not need to be Sunday morning worship.  It can be for a Bible Study or a social event.  The youth are taking up the challenge to invite others to join them.  In the month of September 17 different guest joined us for a Youth Ministry Event.

Who are you talking to about the Love of Jesus?

Blessings

Dan Johnson

Welcome

Strategic Process

The Welcome team is the most immediate focus we have for the strategic Process.  We are also focusing on helping other committees and teams understand how they fit into the process and how they can help others understand the process.  We have had several meetings with different people to help form the new Welcome team.

One comment from the meetings that I want to share is:

“We all need to be doing this. We all need to be treating everyone who is in the building like they are an expected Guest.”  This statement gets to the heart of what the change is all about.  We all need to be involved in this.  We all need to be looking at everything we do from the point of view of someone who does not have Christ in their life. 

The other day my boys, Nick and Sam, were helping me get ready for the final mission trip meeting.  We were in fellowship hall and I asked them to look around and tell me if they thought the room was ready for very important guests. We discussed the need to be ready at all times for people to come as guest to Holy Cross. We discussed how important the little things are in putting forward our best “face”.  They then proceeded to rearrange the tables and chairs, to put away unused tables. To remove the blue boards from the back wall and to generally make sure the whole room was ready for guest.  They asked if we should paint the walls since they are marked up.  I laughed and said that was the right way to think but that we did not have the time to do that.

We all need to make sure we are ready to receive guests each week.  So go ahead walk a few more steps so that our guest parking spots are open.  Take a moment and pull that weed in the sidewalk crack.  Make sure you take the trash to the dumpster after you use the building.  It is the little things that make the different. In a book I just finished on visitors it was pointed out that most visitors have made up their mind on whether they are coming back or not in the first 7 minutes. From the time they enter the parking lot the clock starts ticking.  If they cannot find a parking spot or they are confused about where to go we start making a negative impression on them.  That is one of the reasons I am putting up new signs.  Hopefully the new sign welcoming them and directing them for parking will go up in July.

On Saturday June 29^th Pastor Schack and I held a Holy Cross 101 course.  We had a great exchange with the 2 potential new members.  What I want to share are 2 stories that came out of the meeting.  Both stories show the important role that you can play in making people feel wanted and connected. 

Story #1:

Lisa came to Holy Cross for the first time on a Sunday Morning.  She park in back and entered by the Sunday school wing.  She walked in the door and was confused and not sure where to go.  Fortunately someone made her feel welcome.  She cannot remember the ladies name but Lisa told us how this wonderful greeter (unofficial greeter that we all need to be) welcomed her and showed her around the building. She was shown where the nursery is and taken upstairs to the Worship Center and made to feel wanted.

Story # 2

Michelle is the daughter of members and has been coming on and off since she was a child.  But she never felt connected.  Then one day Gerry Rechek invited her son Brock to go to Sunday school.  After this he came back and invited Michelle to sit with him during the “Story” lesson in fellowship hall.  This got her started on the Story and got her hooked.  She is planning to join us and gives full credit to being invited to grow through the story.

I tell you these stories so we can see where the process is working.  We have a ways to go but it is getting better every day.  Now the challenge is to start connecting with those outside the church.

HC2DC4JC

We are less then a week away from the start of the mission trip to Washington DC.  Bags are being packed. T shirts are being washed.  Travel arrangements are being confirmed.  Saturday morning ends over 10 months of planning and begins the start of a, hopefully, life changing week.

Thirteen youth and 3 adults will load into 3 mini vans for a trip to our countries capitol.  We will arrive on Sunday afternoon and begin a week of serving the people of DC.  No not the President nor congress people.  but the poor the hungry the tired masses that make up the other side of Washington.  We will work in soup kitchens and homeless shelters. We will serve along side senior citizens. We will do whatever is asked of us as we try to do more then just make it look good when we are done.

We want the youth to know more about Justice issues.  We want to understand justice.  One of the shirts we will wear has the word Justice on the front and the Micah:
 Mic 6:8  He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? 

We hope to live out those words.

Thank you to all who have supported us on this Journey.  We look forward to returning with some good stories to share.

See you at Holy Cross on July 21st as the youth report back on their trip.

Dan

Strategic Process

The strategic process of Holy Cross is important to the future of our church.  We need to become a church on mission.  The Great Commission is to go outside of the walls of the church and spread the word of Christ and His Love for us.  Christ tells us that the gates of hell will not stand against the church.  That means we need to be outside of our 4 walls and in the world and community around us.  If the first followers of Christ did not leave home and spread the world where would we be?

The whole point of the Strategic Process map is for us to Connect with the community around us.  We then will Welcome them into the church.  Where, we help them Grow closer to God and to each other. Then we invite them to join us as we Serve the world.  

In order to be best prepared for our guests we need to create a Welcome Team.  This team is being formed now.  If you would like to be a part of this important ministry please contact Pastor Schack or Dan Johnson.  This team’s primary focus will be on ensuring that ANYONE who comes to our building for any reason is made to feel welcome and wanted.  They will look at all aspects of the building and property, the worship services, signage, publications etc…

But it is important to remember that we all are responsible to do our part to make Holy Cross a place you want to bring people to on a regular basis.  Some things to keep in mind as we strive to be welcoming:

1)      Guest Parking Spots are for Guests.  Sounds simple.  If a potential guest pulls up and is not easily able to find a parking spot it sets a bad tone for their visit.  Please as members of Holy Cross do not park in the Guest spots.  On a recent Sunday I pulled into the church during the 8:15 worship to see almost every guest parking place full.  I was excited to see guests.  But when I went in we only had 1 guest family.

2)      Help us keep Holy Cross Clean.  Everyone can help clean up.  Is the trash full? Take it out.  Does the restroom need supplies either get some and replace the missing items or let someone know. Did you spill something?  Wipe it up.  It is not somebody’s job to keep Holy Cross Clean.  It is everybody’s job to help take care of God’s house.

3)      Be welcoming.  Did someone sit in your pew?  Try worshiping from a different spot.

4)      Dress Code. People coming to church for the first time, do not understand that you “must” dress up for church.  In fact many people do not have Sunday Church clothes.  But God loves them anyways.  Watch out for the little silent messages we send to those who do not dress the way we think they should.  Church is changing.  We need to change with it.

5)      Greet people.  Our building is easy enough for us to get around.  But someone new to the place may not know what a sanctuary is.  If you see someone new stop and see if you can help them.  If they seem to not want help then be polite and over a good morning.

6)      Outside groups.  One of the best tools we have for connecting with outsiders is our building and grounds.  Outside groups use our building on a regular basis.  If you are here when an outside group is please do your best to offer them the spiritual gift of hospitality.  Please remember that they do not know how to do thing around the place.  We are starting to have some success in getting these outsiders to check us out for a path to Jesus.

7)      Offer Coffee. I have told the story of a visit to another church.  I wandered the building for 25 minutes without being greeted.  I walked past the coffee setup 3 times and never was I offered coffee. Nor was there any sign that I could help myself.  We are Lutherans We live on coffee.  It is an easy way to make someone feel at home.

If we want Holy Cross to celebrate another 50 years we need to start focusing on others today.  We all need to understand the importance of connecting with those around us.  The days of build it and they will come have passed.  Connect with those around you and invite them to join you this Sunday.

Sharing

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is one of the parables that Jesus shares.  It is the one of the person who found something of great worth hid it and then went and sold all he had to be able to buy the item he found.  The item is our relationship with Christ.  Since we have something of great worth that does not diminish if we give it away why are we so afraid of sharing Christ with those around us?  Has we move forward with the Strategic Process of being a church we truly need to improve on how we connect with those around us and introduce them to Christ.

This summer I am coaching my boys in baseball.  I was surprised at how many truly devoted kids we have on the team.  We have 3 kids that attend private Christain schools and 4 kids from Holy Cross.  Additionally we have 1 boy whose dad is on the council at his church.  Despite all of that I still have many kids without a faith background.  I am working to change that.  I, and my boys, are open about what I do with the church.  We have had many faith discussions with the kids and parents.  I am not opening trying to recruit people to come to Holy Cross. I am not telling them without Christ that they will burn in hell.  (I never understood scaring someone into a relationship with Christ.)  But i am talking about how my life is with Christ in it.  How my life is better for my faith.  I discuss how we help to make the world a better place 1 day at a time.

My challenge to you is to talk about your faith with those you meet every day.

Greetings.

The Strategic Planning implementation team has been hard at work trying to discover what does it mean to Love God. Love others. Serve the world. What does it look like to live out this mission statement. We have been trying to determine what structure we need. How do we tell others about the new plan and the new structure?

Well I am turning to you.

The first spot on the map that we are going to focus on is the new Grow Ministry team. The biggest change you will see is the focus on grow groups. We would like to see the whole church involved in some form of Grow group. Grow groups are designed to help us meet our goal of growing closer to God and closer to each other.

Over the coming months I ask that you

1) Prayerfully consider your role is a grow group.

Are you a future leader?

A vocal supporter?

A silent member?

2) Watch for more information coming from the new Grow team.

In the Love of our one and only savior. Jesus Christ.

Dan Johnson

Director of Youth Ministry.