Since we (Pastor Shelly, Ryan, Bonnie...soon to be Vicar Bonnie at Christ the King in Sebastian!...and me) are at our annual Conference on Ministry Monday thru Wednesday afternoon this week in Leesburg, here's a quick OSEnews before we leave. The following quote from Pastor Shelly's sermon this past weekend was too good to not pass along.
It is from the late David Foster Wallace, who was sort of a cultural hero around 2005 when he spoke at the Kenyon College graduation. Kenyon College is a liberal liberal arts college in Ohio. Wallace appealed especially to college students with his grungy, often unshaven look. But he also happened to have written some of the best selling most critically acclaimed novels and essays of his time. The following is the unexpected message he had for these new graduates.
This, I submit, is the freedom of a real education...(to) get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn't...(and) to decide what to worship.
Because here's something that's weird but true: in the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing...God...to worship...is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive.
If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never fell you have enough.
Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you.
Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear.
Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out.
The insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they're evil or sinful, it's that they're unconscious. They are default settings. They're the kind of worship you just gradually slip into, day after day, getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without ever being fully aware that that's what you're doing. And they will eat you alive!
How's that for something to think about!?!? The Good News is that that kind of worship is what Christ comes to free us from, and to show us God who is the source of all those things that have been placed in our hands-- money, power, health, beauty, intellect--gifts to be held lightly and with gratitude rather than gripped tightly and even worshiped. From that we have been freed. And what better way to keep free from falling into worshiping the wrong things, than to worship the One worthy of worship, regularly! So, it looks like the church has had it right all along, and "going to church" is much more than just a habit or nice thing to do. Worshiping the God and Father of us all, hearing the Word, receiving the Sacraments is Life-giving in so many ways!
Speaking of worship, since we are back to two services on Sunday, along with our Saturday night service, we need more ushers for both the 8:30 and 11am services. Warmly welcoming people to a place where we gather to worship the only One worthy of being worshiped can have a tremendous impact on helping set the tone for a meaningful worship experience for all. We'd love for you to be one of those people. Please sign up by clicking this link USHER SIGN UP.
If you have problems signing up just call the office and they will be happy to sign you or your family up (several times!)
And for more information about life at Our Savior, please visit our website: www.oursaviorelca.com.
See you in church! Pastor Jack Diehl +
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