Where Will Our Leaders Take Us?

                                                
                                                         CLICK PLAY TO LISTEN

Mike Hosey, Elder

Podcast Powered By Podbean

This Sunday at Fellowship Church we will be commissioning a dozen or so new leaders!

Early in the year, the elders and staff put together a curriculum to prepare these new "leaders-to-be," then appointed mentors to train them in the way they should go.

In the past few months these folks met with each other often, as well as attended regular gatherings of the elders and staff to receive instruction and training. Consequently, they began making a bigger investment in the church to which God has called them.

These people will be the ones that God will use to further the specific ministries of Fellowship Church for the foreseeable future.

One of the things they will be doing is identifying and training new leaders! We expect Fellowship to grow!

But more importantly they will be spearheading our overall goal of taking the gospel message to the 8200 people in our community that statistics tell us either don't know Jesus Christ, or who no longer participate as members in a loving church family.

That's a gargantuan task! 8200 is a God-kind of number! In order to meet that task, these leaders will implement two exciting and necessary strategies.

First, they will do their part to make Fellowship Church a greater presence in the communities where they live and work. They will be present at community events, as well as create community events, and be visible in local gatherings, and take Fellowship groups to local restaurants or businesses. They will make Alachua and High Springs aware of Jesus Christ, and show them that Fellowship Church is one of the many places in our community where they can meet Him!

Secondly, they will guide those people that God adds to our church family, so they can reach a full maturity in their Christian journeys. What this means is that they will encourage and lead Sunday school classes, host small groups in their homes or at church, and individually coach new Christian brothers and sisters!

These are exciting times, so do your part to encourage these new leaders, and let's spur ourselves on to good works (Hebrews 10:24-25)!

Jesus and the Soldier's Way

Mike Hosey, Elder

CLICK PLAY TO LISTEN

Podcast Powered By Podbean

One cannot read the bible and not notice the sheer number of references to warfare.

The Apostle Paul tells us that we are in a state of war, and that we wage our warfare differently than the world does (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). In Ephesians 6:10-20 he tells us to suit up, like a soldier, with armor and sword! In Ephesians 6:12, he tells us that our battle is not with flesh and blood. Jesus tells us that our ultimate enemy is Satan, who runs a stealthy campaign of deception (Matthew 13:37-39).

And even though we are physical beings waging war against immaterial forces, we still are told to fight the good fight (1 Timothy 1:18-19; 1 Timothy 6:12).

In fact, Paul tells us that we are not just ordinary citizens. He uses the words "good soldier" in describing what we are to be like, while telling us that part of being a good soldier is to share in sufferings and not to become entangled with civilian pursuits (2 Timothy 2:3-4)!

In other words, Paul tells us we are to be self-disciplined, trained, battle focused, separated from the easy entrapments of a non-warrior's life, and most importantly self-sacrificial -- because those are the things that encompass good soldiers.

 

In truth, every good American soldier who has died in service to his country is a parallel to Paul's description. They serve as examples of true citizenship in a free country.  Their deaths serve as a reminder to the high price that must be paid to keep a country free.

It is something that we must never forget! As Christians, we would do well to emulate their sacrifices in our own spiritual walks. After all, Jesus said that no man has any greater love than to lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).

Christian and Non-Christian men and women laid down their lives so that we can freely worship God. Let's honor them by exercising that right to worship. But more importantly, lets honor them by sacrificing our lives to a warrior's discipline in taking the gospel message to everyone.

The Meaning of Child Dedication

Mike Hosey, Elder

CLICK PLAY TO LISTEN

Podcast Powered By Podbean

The 18th century English essayist, Charles Lamb, is said to have once quipped in a personal letter that his children "shall" be brought up in their father's religion, "if they can find out what it is."

It was both a serious acknowledgement of parental responsibility, as well as a humorous admission of his own spiritual uncertainties.

He had an urge to dedicate a portion of his children's education to something higher, and therefore produce a lineage or heritage of belief, but he didn't know what that belief was.

Thankfully, most of us at Fellowship do not face that same dilemma.

Whenever we think of child dedication, we often recall the story of Hannah dedicating her son Samuel to God (1 Samuel 1:27-28). In that story, Hannah could not produce children because God had closed her womb. Her society considered this a terrible disgrace.

Perhaps the disgrace was so profound because not producing a child ended a woman's (and potentially her husband's) part of the highly important lineages that were so valued in Hebrew culture. In effect, inability to have children meant an end to her Husband's house.

Ironically, when Hannah's womb was supernaturally opened, she completely dedicated her first child to God. In fact, when Samuel was about 3 years old or so, she left him at the temple with Eli the priest!  A lineage that looked like it would be cut off now included one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament! And then God gave her three more sons and two daughters to replace Samuel.

When we dedicate a child today, we are doing the same sort of thing as Hannah. We are submitting "ownership" of our child to God to use as he pleases.

Interestingly, while Samuel was trained for service to God by Eli the priest, our children are trained for that service by us as parents, as well as our church, which is a community of priests (1 Peter 2:5-9).  

And this ultimately means that our part in the lineage of God's house advances through the ages!

What's in a Name?

Mike Hosey, Elder

CLICK PLAY TO LISTEN
Podcast Powered By Podbean

What's in a name?  Maybe not as much as there used to be. Today we seem to name things because we like the sound of the name we assign.

But in the past we named things in order to record a heritage or lineage, or to associate the object being named with a particular characteristic.

So if you had a name like Windy Bridges, for instance, you were probably the blustery, tempestuous daughter of the local bridge keeper, or possibly the blustery, tempestuous daughter in the clan that lived near or under the local bridge.

If your name was Ron Fletcher, you likely fashioned arrows for your local bowmen; a fletcher is an arrow maker.  And you might have been considered wise. The name Ronald, in Gaelic, generally means one who rules with godlike counsel and power. 

Our "all-purpose" pastor, Damon Baudoin, has a particularly gallant name. In the past, that name would have had profound meaning. Damon, in ancient Greek legends, was the devoted friend of Pythias.

Pythias was falsely charged for plotting against the ruler of Syracuse, Dionysius I, and sentenced to death. Pythias wished to go home to tell his family goodbye and set his house in order. Dionysius agreed on the condition that Damon be killed in his place if he should not return by the execution time.  Damon willingly accepted imprisonment and possible death for his friend. 

Pythias was delayed on his return by pirates, and had to swim back to Syracuse. He returned just before the execution. Dionysius pardoned them both because he was impressed with the loyalty of their friendship.

Interestingly, Baudoin, is the French rendering of the Germanic word Baldwin.  It means - quite plainly - bold and brave friend!

So what should all of this mean for those of us who have accepted Jesus as Lord, and are adopted into that family of God called "Christian?" Well, Jesus tells us in Mark 3:31-35. He says that those who do the will of God can claim that name.  Apparently, He didn't want family members "in name only."

Form Letters and Prayers

Mike Hosey, Elder

Podcast Powered By Podbean
I hate form letters.

I know they are necessary for those who need to get information out to a large number of different acquaintances.  But whenever I get one from any close friend, I cringe -- well, only if I haven't heard from him in a while.

They are so impersonal. There's nothing like getting a cookie cutter newsletter disguised as personal correspondence. I think to myself, "my close friend has lumped me in with the masses! He is not sharing his intellect, or unguarded and real emotions with me.  I haven't heard from in him in months.  I guess I must be one of his 250 closest friends."  

I know. I'm flawed.

But I do love real letters - the kind where a friend has taken the time to handwrite one; the kind where he has chosen his words carefully, and catered his approach to our common experiences; the kind where he shares how he feels about a subject, an event, or the news of the day.

Those kinds of letters are a treasure, and are often better than a phone call. Whenever I receive one, I stop what I am doing and read it. By reading a letter like that, I am able to look into the mind of my friend. I can know a bit about his soul and his heart and how things are really going with him. When he has taken the time and the labor required to produce such a letter, his communication takes on special meaning.

We've lost the art of letters. Now everything is immediate. We don't employ the kind of introspection, sharing and just plain old thinking that communication through letters requires.

And I wonder, are our prayers like form letters? Do we send God superficial prayer notes about what's going on in our lives? Or do we carefully craft prayers that are personal, and reflect our true spirits, thoughts, emotions, plans and needs? Do they have real sharing, real introspection, and just plain old thinking? If they don't, perhaps a handwritten letter to God is in order.