Sunday Download

Sunday was day that reminded me why it is such a great priviledge to pastor ADBC:

• You provide Christmas for 36 children. What an incredible sight to see all the gifts on the steps. My wife’s Senior High BCG group adopted a family and delivered the gifts Sunday afternoon - She told me that the family they provided gifts for was headed by a single mom who had lost her home and had moved in with her sister. The gifts provided by her group would Christmas for two children. What a great way to show the love of Jesus.
• The folks from the Academic Learning Center came by at the 9:45 service to thank us for providing for the needs of their children. They were still amazed by how generous you were.
• I overheard one of our members meet a new family with a new born - and offer quickly to babysit!
• The young man who was baptized did so even though his family had threatened to cut him off if he was baptized. His obedience to Christ took courage.
• We celebrated a Christmas lunch with the Deacons - what a great bunch of servants we have. Because of their ministry, first time guests are welcomed, the sick are visited in the hospital and the needs of church are met.

This is a great church!

This Sunday

Cool stuff this Sunday. Remember the tree? We’ve (actually Jim Arnemann) taken parts of the tree and used them to tell the story of this sermon: Not Here: It’s Impossible. We’ll be talking about God doing His most important work in three unlikely places.

No Bible Community this Sunday. Childcare for 4 and under in each service. Bring the folks from out of town and join us for a great time of worship.

PLUS - be here for Christmas Eve! Candlelight, Christmas Carols, and something really cool that we’ve never done before!

If You reach Out, You'll Get Slapped

An NPR story today reported that some progressive Democrats are upset with Obama for appointing moderate Democrats and (gasp!) Republicians to his cabinet.

This is not a comment about Mr. Obama’s cabinet choices - but a simple observation: Didn’t he promise to build bridges? Besides, having members of the opposite party serve in the administration is nothing new - FDR appointed a staunch Republican, Henry Stimson, as Secretary of War on the eve of WW II.

This is the challenge of leadership - you tell people what you will do, they like it, you do it, and it is not to their liking! If you truly reach out to the diverse people, you get slapped.

Leadership is the art of not get hit by the slaps coming from the extremes.

Off the Page

I hope you will take the FISH challenge in 2008 - to read the Bible through in a year. I’m almost done with this year.

I’m finishing up in Job. I was reading Job 4-6 and thought Eliphaz - one of Job’s so called friends. When Job was in need, he thought it was a great time to correct Job’s theology. WRONG.

I thought about some Eliphazs in my life. It’s not that I don’t need correction. But you don’t need to read Hebrew to hear the condescension in Eliphaz’s voice.

When you offer correction, get the condescension out of your mouth and out of your heart.

Of Government, Taxes, and Christmas...

He had sat through so many of these discussions over the last 40 years – how do we raise revenue for the government? Funds were needed for the Army, the Navy, Public Works, and Social Programs. The elite resisted the imposition of higher taxes – so once again, the government was caught in a bind.
Like all governments, they had several revenue streams – a sales tax on slaves, an inheritance tax, rent from government land, and a population tax, based on the census of the population of the provinces of the empire.
People in the meeting were posturing for the emperor – each wanting to impress him with their brilliance. Ideas, by turns inspired and insane, were bantered about, examined, and rejected. But he had learned the best way to achieve consensus was to let everyone have their say, listen thoughtfully, see which way the political winds were shifting, and then speak – usually to point out the obvious by asking a question. That’s how he had survived forty years in the seat of power.
His wisdom, born of experience, was tempered by the urgency of other tasks – to lead an empire, you must juggle many priorities. Waiting in the outer court was a commander of a Roman legion with important information that needed to be weighed. It was time to bring this discussion to a close. He cleared his throat and all conversation stopped. The Emperor was about to speak.
He asked, “When was the last time we had an empire wide census?” It was a blindly obvious question. Those who had laid out complex taxing systems sheepishly replied that it had been some time – perhaps more than a decade. He asked another obvious question; “Have any babies been born in that period of time?”
Good leadership is helping people connect the obvious dots. Of course there had been more babies born, which equaled a population increase. They had been apportioning taxes on old population numbers. If they recounted the population base and levied taxes on that number, they could raise revenue without raising tax rates. Good politics.
The counselors and bureaucrats lavished praise on the wisdom of the Emperor, and told him that plans would be made immediately to execute a new census. They rose, bowed, and made way for the next meeting. The Emperor, having solved one more problem in a lifetime with thousands, move on to the next meeting.
The wheels of government turned slower in those days, but the process was the same. There were meetings held, procedures drawn up, execution orders sent out, all designed to put a population in motion to be counted.
In a far off corner of the empire, in a place the emperor never heard of, a young couple with a secret were wondering what excuse they might come up with to get to their hometown of Bethlehem – because every Jew knew the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. Imagine their laughter when they found out a far off Caesar, solving an age old government problem of taxes and revenue, provided the answer.
And one again, God worked good in all things – even in government bureaucracy and taxes – to bring about His good and perfect will. In this case, He brought us a Savior, born in the right place, just so we could have one more reason to believe.

From all of us here at ADBC and on behalf of all the Smiths – Clay, Gina, Abram, Hannah and Sarah – May God grant you eyes to see His work – and may you believe in His power at work on your behalf this Christmas.

Weekend Download

A packed weekend - four Passion Play performances, three worship services - great spirit through all.

We had 16 professions of faith through the Passion Play performance. Well over 20 families who indicated they were not churched. Attendance was over 2,400. Great performances by cast and crew. Hats off to Robbie Miller who really stepped up to play Jesus - a very demanding role. Also great job by the set crew - hands down the best set we’ve ever designed and built. PLUS, I got to play an inebriated host for the wedding at Cana - and several people told me I was a convincing drunk. Wonder what they were saying?

Normally the Sunday of Passion Play weekend is low energy - but not this Sunday- lots of positive response - several people have told me the wood chips helped them to focus on what they needed to do next. One lady even showed me her wood chip - she had written a very important character issue she was focusing on. A husband told me his wife suggested he pick up several wood chips. I have noticed several chips around the stump. Be praying that God will help you know how to release the “NOT ME” attitude.

I am loving this series! I believe that God can do the impossible - I’ve seen in my life and I want you to see it in yours!

A Few Favors For Christmas

I want to ask you for a few favors this Christmas:

• First, if you read the Bible through this year, would you let me know what it meant to you? Many of you made this commitment in January as part of our FISH (First Improve Spiritual Health) emphasis. I would really like to know what this meant to you. Please drop me a note or email at wcsmith@adbc.org to tell me how God used this spiritual discipline in your life.
  

• Second, around Christmas time, I invited you to send me your family’s picture. The pictures you sent were placed on a board in my study. Every week I would pray for two or three of the families whose pictures I received.
  

I want to invite you to do it again. If your family is one that takes an annual Christmas picture, would you include me on your list? I would love to pray for you and your family during the coming year. Please send the card to me at ADBC, 1305 Loring Mill Road, Sumter, SC 29150. I will post these cards on my bulletin board in my study and I will regularly pray for you.

• Will you please pray this week for our Christmas production, The Answer. We have given out all the tickets and now we want to see God move as His story is told. Pray specifically for our cast and crew, that they would be empowered supernaturally in their efforts. Pray that people will take their next step toward Jesus.
  

• Will you also please pray for our Open Door Offering. As you will see in this edition of The Compass we have received about $25,000. This actually puts us ahead of where we have been in past years. I believe that the goal of $105,000 came from God, but in this economy, we all know it will take God moving among us to reach this goal.
  

Please pray that we will be able to reach this goal, so we can help missionaries, HIV/AIDS orphans in Africa, the poor in Sumter, and support those who minister to people who have crisis pregnancies.

If you could help me with these things – sharing with me your stories about reading the Bible through, sharing a picture so I could pray for you, and praying for The Answer and the Open Door Offering I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you!

Be the Answer...

When the work group that made decisions about the Open Door Offering met, we talked about wanting to support local ministries in Sumter. We offered suggestions for various faith based ministries in our community, and the work group selected two: United Ministries of Sumter, which helps the poor and the needy; and the Light of Hope Pregnancy Center, directed by one of our own members, Carol Ann Paul. To be honest, we didn’t ask either of these organizations if it was okay to include them – we figured in this tough economy, they could use all the help they could get.

I would like to share with you some excerpts from a letter I received from Carol Ann:

What an encouragement and a blessing it was to learn of Alice Drive’s decision to support Light of Hope Pregnancy Center through this year’s Open Door offering. It is a special blessing to me as the $5,000 is a specific answer to prayer.

…From the day I assumed leadership for Light of Hope, it was apparent to both me and our board of directors that running this center was too big of a job for one person … I’ve continued to pray that God would provide both the funding and a woman with pregnancy center experience who could help me with counseling, speaking engagements, and training volunteers… And within the space of a month, God provided the person …

I prayed, “God, if you want me to hire (this person), then show me where the money’s going to come from … The following Sunday when I came to church, I learned of Alice Drive’s inclusion of Light of Hope in our Open Door Offering!

I can’t tell you, Clay, what an extra special blessing it is to come to worship each Sunday with fellow believers who are invested in this ministry. From the Stitches of Love gals who make the quilts to several Bible Community Groups who supported walkers from Alice Drive in our Walk for Life, it makes the battle to save the unborn feel so much more possible when every Sunday, I’m surrounded by people who partner with me in this work.

The Open Door Offering is a chance for you to be a partner in the work of God to save the lives of children – here in Sumter, and around the world.

If God has blest you this year, please give a gift of gratitude. If you have not known the joy of giving, please give to this offering so God can know you do love Him and you are growing forward.