More With Less

More With Less

Now What? - Part 3

Sunday, August 27, 2023
Exodus 5:6-20, Luke 9:1-6, Philippians 4:19 

Pharaoh replied, “You are lazy bums, nothing but lazy bums. That’s why you say, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifices to the Lord.’  Go and get back to work! No straw will be given to you, but you still need to make the same number of bricks.”                                                                         -                                                 

Exodus 5:17-18

Jesus called the Twelve together and he gave them power and authority over all demons and to heal sicknesses.  He sent them out to proclaim God’s kingdom and to heal the sick.  He told them, “Take nothing for the journey—no walking stick, no bag, no bread, no money, not even an extra shirt.  Whatever house you enter, remain there until you leave that place.  Wherever they don’t welcome you, as you leave that city, shake the dust off your feet as a witness against them.”

Luke 9:1-5

Listen to this Week’s Sermon here:

Craig J. Sefa

More With Less

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Most of us have heard Pharaoh’s words echoing through various seasons of our lives and certainly in our culture.  Work harder!  Produce more with less!  And of course we know all that is produced goes back up to pad the pockets of those at the top.  Meanwhile, the laborers pay double and triple the rent on salaries that are lower than they were 20 years ago.  When they struggle to make ends meet, we all become Pharaoh’s declaring - “You are lazy… get back to work!”

Sadly this same mentality seeps into the church world.  When our churches struggle to pay the bills or attract new members, we feel like we are not “producing” what we should.  And there are countless “church growth gurus” selling overpriced quick fix programs that make us feel like we are lazy and good for nothing if we don’t have all the same programs as the mega church down the road.  Pharaoh’s voice is prolific and his words haunt us everywhere we turn.  We think of ourselves as hard workers, but in the end, we find ourselves like the slaves in Egypt, working ourselves into the grave in every area of life with very little to show for our efforts while Pharaoh continues to make us feel like we haven’t done enough.

Then we turn to the gospels and find Jesus, our kind our loving master.  Finally, we’ve gotten Pharaoh off our backs and we can live under the gift of mercy and grace.  But wait… Jesus tells us to go out with nothing as well.  Like Pharaoh, it appears at first glance that he expects the disciples to make bricks with no straw, to heal the sick and cast out demons without even so much as a guaranteed place to sleep at night.  Is Jesus just another hardened task master making impossible demands on our lives?

If we look a bit closer we find that Jesus does give them one thing Pharaoh did not, and it’s the thing that makes all the difference.  Luke 9:1 tells us that Jesus gave them all the power and authority needed to do the work he called them to do.  Matthew’s gospel ends with a reminder that Jesus will go with them, that he will be present with them even to the end of the age.  In Philippians 4:19, Paul tells us based on his own experience that God will provide for our every need. 

What if we took Jesus’ command to take nothing with us seriously? 

What would happen if we trusted in his power, his authority, and his presence more than we trusted in our own limited resources? 

What if the greatest power of all comes from the humility of dependence rather than independence? 

What if we stopped working for Jesus and started letting Jesus work through us?

Back to Church

Back to Church?

Now What? - Part 2

Sunday, August 20, 2023
Matthew 4:18-22, 10:1-8a

 As you go, make this announcement: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’  Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with skin diseases, and throw out demons. You received without having to pay. Therefore, give without demanding payment.

Matthew 10:7-8

Listen to this Week’s Sermon here:

(note: My wife Rev. McKenzie Sefa & I are presently preaching the same series at our respective congregations. Due to some recording difficulty at my church, I have included her version of this week’s message below. Enjoy!)

McKenzie Sefa

Back to Church?

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There is no question that the global pandemic of 2020 and 2021 had a significant impact on the way we do “church.”  In some ways, the ongoing move toward building online communities for worship, study and prayer has made church more accessible for many who were previously unable to participate due to health issues, job schedules, etc.  On the other hand, there is something about gathering together in person that can’t quite be replicated, no matter how good our online offerings may be.  I have heard from laity and clergy alike over these past few years that it’s time to stop making our services and bible studies available online because we need to “get people back in church.”

There are a few problems with this theory, well-intentioned as it may be.

1. Eliminating online offerings cuts off people including shut-ins who are not otherwise able to participate.

2. There will always be online opportunities for people to choose from.  People are less likely to return to “our church” than they are to simply find another one to watch online.

3. Though we may like to blame the pandemic for our lower attendance, the truth is that church attendance in the U.S. has been in rapid decline for over two decades.  The pandemic may have sped up the process a bit, but going back to the way things were before 2020 will not address the real problems.

As of 2019, Gallup polls report that only 46% of Americans belong to a house of worship (of any religion).  This is the first time since the 1930’s that the number has dropped under 50%.  What’s more, only 30 to 35% actually attend religious services at least once or twice per month, so “belonging” to a religious institution does not always translate to participation and attendance.  Furthermore, those who identify as “nones” or having no religious affiliation has risen to between 20% and 30% depending on the study. 

This may sound like bad news for the church, but I would argue that it may actually be good news in at least two ways.

1. It is a reality check that we can’t blame any one thing for our decline and it invites us to look at ourselves more closely to evaluate why so many have felt disconnected from our congregations for so long.

2. More importantly, it gives us an opportunity to rethink our metrics.  What if physical attendance in a religious service for one hour a week is not the marker of faith we thought it was?  What if God is at work in people’s lives outside our budlings the other 167 hours of the week as well, and dare we say, even among those who will never darken our doors.

What if getting people in church was never the point? 

Jesus doesn’t gather people to worship him and pray to him.  He gathers them to teach them, to equip them, and to send them out to heal the sick, to cast out demons and even to raise the dead. 

May we go out from our church buildings and do the same.

Back to Normal?

Back to Normal?

Now What? - Part 1

Sunday, August 13, 2023
Numbers 13:25-14:10, John 17:11-19

The entire community raised their voice and the people wept that night.  All the Israelites criticized Moses and Aaron. The entire community said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt or if only we had died in this desert!  Why is the Lord bringing us to this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our children will be taken by force. Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?”  So they said to each other, “Let’s pick a leader and let’s go back to Egypt.”

Numbers 14:1-4 

Listen to this Week’s Sermon here:

Craig J. Sefa

Back to Normal

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Painting Pictures of Egypt

by Sara Groves

I don't want to leave here
I don't want to stay
It feels like pinching to me
Either way
And the places I long for the most
Are the places where I've been
They are calling out to me
Like a long lost friend

It's not about losing faith
It's not about trust
It's all about comfortable
When you move so much
And the place I was wasn't perfect
But I had found a way to live
And it wasn't milk or honey
But then neither is this

I've been painting pictures of Egypt
Leaving out what it lacks
The future feels so hard
And I want to go back
But the places that used to fit me
Cannot hold the things I've learned
Those roads were closed off to me
While my back was turned
The past is so tangible
I know it by heart
Familiar things are never easy
To discard
I was dying for some freedom
But now I hesitate to go
I am caught between the Promise
And the things I know

If it comes to quick
I may not appreciate it
Is that the reason behind all this time in sand?
And if it comes to quick
I may not recognize it
Is that the reason behind all this time in sand?

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How are you painting pictures of Egypt? 

What are some things that you cannot go back to?

Where does nostalgia for the past hold you back from living into the future?

What is God inviting you to leave behind in order to fully live into the next season of your life?

Miracles in Our Midst

Miracles in Our Midst

Back to School Sunday

Sunday, August 6, 2023
John 6:1-15

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said,  “A youth here has five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that for a crowd like this?”

John 6:8-9 

Listen to this Week’s Sermon here:

Craig J. Sefa

Miracles in our Midst

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We often think of Jesus performing miracles and we often wonder why we don’t see miracles more often in our lives today.  Some claim that miracles ceased after the days of the apostles.  Others deny that miracles ever really happened at all and attempt to come up with other explanations for such supernatural stories.  Still others say that miracles happen all the time, if you only have enough faith.  This last thought has led to significant pain and spiritual harm to those who, like Job, appear to do everything right and still do not experience healing or wholeness in this life. 

There is one thing about Jesus’ miracles, however, that we tend to overlook.  Many of Jesus’ miracles depended on the involvement of others.  So many of the people Jesus healed were brought to Jesus by their friends, some with great difficulty and sacrifice like the paralytic lowered through the roof of a house.  Many were required to do something to complete the miracle, such as the lepers who were told to go and present themselves before the priests or the blind man who had to wash in the pool of Siloam.  Before Jesus turned the water into wine, Mary told those around him to do whatever he said.  Then he instructed them to fill six stone jars with water.  How many of these miracles, I wonder, would not have taken place without the cooperation of others?

That brings us to today’s miracle, the feeding of the 5,000.  When the disciples come to Jesus saying there is not enough food, they suggest sending everyone home.  Jesus likely knew that many of those gathered already suffered under poverty and may not have had a meal to go home to.  Even if they did, he was not about to send people away when they came to him hungry for something more.  So Jesus responds, “You give them something to eat.”

At this point the disciples begin to sound like a typical church council.  “We don’t have enough,” they say.  “It would be far too expensive.  It would take more than half a year’s salary to buy this much food and even if we had that kind of money, there is no place around here to buy it.  It’s impossible.”

Jesus simply tells them to give what little they have and see what happens.  And of course we know the rest of the story.  Their 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish turned into 12 full baskets of leftovers after everyone had their fill.  We focus so much on the miracle that we again miss that it required the disciples to give what they had and to step out in faith.

But John adds one beautiful little detail the other gospel writers appear to overlook.  In his telling, it was not the disciples who had the loaves and fish, it was a young boy, a child.  This boy is the one who is willing to give his measly little lunch if it can help someone else.  He doesn’t apologize for not having enough.  He doesn’t think his gift is too small.  He simply gives what he has with no clue what good, if any, it will accomplish.  Is this what Jesus means when he says we must have the faith of a child? 

Perhaps miracles are indeed still happening all around us, but if we want to see them, maybe we better stop worrying and complaining and simply start doing what Jesus says.