This is a pretty incredible week for us as Christians. During the Holy Week that we enter into today we move from honoring a Lord, as our children helped us experience this morning, to finding a Savior. This coming week for us needs to be an internal quest so we don’t make the same mistakes as those that welcomed Christ in with shouts of joy and praise only to nail him to a tree a few days later.

This coming week needs to be an examination of our hearts, so we carry the weight of the cross with us throughout our daily lives. This coming week needs to be a break from the normalcy of our lives as we stand in awe of the sacrifice poured out over our lives so that we could live under the umbrella of God’s grace.

Because this week should be a break from our normal lives, I also wanted our Palm Sunday service to be a break from our normal worship. I am going to ask you to participate in ways that might make you feel a bit uncomfortable, but in the end, I believe they will bring you closer to understanding just how incredible God’s love is for his children!

I am trusting that many of you this morning know a little bit about the last week of Jesus’ life. He was welcomed into Jerusalem like a King, but he soon made enemies with his teachings and unwillingness to shrink into the shadows of the city. As Jesus challenged the teachers of the Jewish law, they plotted against him.

We move from praise to plotting pretty quickly, and not only from the teachers of the law, but from those closest to Jesus as well.

I want to read a few short verses for you from the Gospel of Matthew, as the disciples and Jesus prepare for the Passover meal, we are privy to the actions of one of Jesus’ closest followers.
Matthew 26:14-16 (New American Standard Bible)
14Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
15and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him.
16From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.

Are we so different than Judas in our own lives? Are we that far from praise and cursing, sometimes in the same breath? So I must ask you this morning some hard questions. What is your price of betrayal? How often we put the most important relationship of our lives on the shelf for the sake of simple leisure. Perhaps it is for love, or lust, or maybe your betrayal has more twists and turns to it. Maybe you have gotten so good at your betrayal that you don’t even recognize it any more.

I have a confession to make this morning. It is something that has been eating away at me for exactly a week. Last Sunday morning, as I was driving to help get things prepped for this service I saw something on Read Street, and yet I kept driving. Just three short blocks from our church I passed a man digging through a dumpster, and I chose to drive by to fulfill my duties at church. I ignored God’s creation in order to worship God. So often our betrayal of God is more about our inaction than it is about our wrongful actions.

So what is your price of betrayal? John Piper wrote the following words in his book God is the Gospel:

The critical question for our generation – and for every generation – is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?

Is that not the ultimate betrayal? To look the greatest gift in the world in his bloodied and beaten face and settle instead for the silly and mundane things of this world.

We are all guilty of betrayal. We all have the blood of Jesus on our hands. It is by both our inaction and action that we lead Jesus to the cross. We, you, me, all of us, we are Judas Iscariot! Let that sink in this morning.

I don’t want to leave you in that place this morning so I am going to read another passage from the Gospel’s, and this time I am going to look at John and read to you Jesus’ reaction to our betrayal. Using the Message I want to start in Chapter 13, verse 1.
John 13:1-17 (The Message)
1-2 Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that the time had come to leave this world to go to the Father. Having loved his dear companions, he continued to love them right to the end. It was suppertime. The Devil by now had Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, firmly in his grip, all set for the betrayal.
3-6Jesus knew that the Father had put him in complete charge of everything, that he came from God and was on his way back to God. So he got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron. When he got to Simon Peter, Peter said, “Master, you wash my feet?”
7Jesus answered, “You don’t understand now what I’m doing, but it will be clear enough to you later.”
8Peter persisted, “You’re not going to wash my feet—ever!”
Jesus said, “If I don’t wash you, you can’t be part of what I’m doing.”
9″Master!” said Peter. “Not only my feet, then. Wash my hands! Wash my head!”
10-12Jesus said, “If you’ve had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you’re clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene. So now you’re clean. But not every one of you.” (He knew who was betraying him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you.”) After he had finished washing their feet, he took his robe, put it back on, and went back to his place at the table.
12-17Then he said, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. I’m only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn’t give orders to the employer. If you understand what I’m telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life.

That is Jesus’ response to betrayal. It is not anger, it is not jealousy, it is not even sadness, but instead it is a love that none of us in this space can fully grasp.

The washing of the disciples’ feet is a beautiful act of servant hood, but when experienced through the eyes of Judas it is pure grace. Can’t you just picture the piercing eyes of Christ as he lovingly washes the feet of Judas? And that is the same response that Jesus has for us as well. While we were still sinners Christ died for us all!

Do you get it? Do you understand that kind of love, that kind of beautiful, mysterious, vulnerable love?

I would imagine if I asked you to think of someone who betrayed you in your past, your first thoughts would be of anger, resentment, or even revenge. But Jesus, God made flesh, does not have the heart of a sinner. Jesus looked upon Judas and literally poured mercy on his mud-caked feet. And that is exactly what Jesus is offering to you this morning, undeserved mercy.

And why have we been so loved? It is so we can attempt to share that same love and mercy with others in our lives. I can’t help but think that Jesus’ words to his disciples in the Upper Room were partly for the sake of Judas. “What I have done, you do also.” He was calling his dear friends and followers to be servants to the world, but also to one another. He was preparing his followers to forgive, to love, and to show mercy to Judas, just as Jesus had done, and yet we know that Judas did not give them that opportunity.

But we, my friends, have the honor of following in the footsteps of Christ, and sharing the grace we have been given with the world. Jesus did not journey to the cross, so that we could hoard the love and mercy that he poured upon us for ourselves.

There is a price of betrayal, and it has been paid for in full by the blood of Jesus the Christ!

April 18, 2011 <> Mike Warneke

John 3:1-17
1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” 3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” 4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. 10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

I come to you this morning with a heavy heart, or a burdened heart if you will. As I have come to love this church and the people who make up Central over these past two years, I can’t help but yearn to see a transformed people chasing after Christ with abandoned hearts.

I think that we often come to church myself included, and have certain expectations for the message. Often we want to be entertained, we want to laugh, or we seek to find encouragement. I think so many of us are so used to being entertained by the world around us, by television, by our iPhones and all of the other gadgets that we surround ourselves with, that we sometimes miss out on the call of God. An entertaining message often allows us to leave happy, but it doesn’t always allow us to leave changed. My prayer for our time together this morning, is not so much that we would leave happy, but that we would leave changed, conformed more to the nature and attitude of Christ.

As I read through the scripture lesson for today, I couldn’t help but feel a burden for Central. If we are to be born again of the Spirit of God, than surely it is for a new purpose. I think we can so easily focus on the last two verses from this passage that we forget to think through what a born again life should look like. We are sometimes so overwhelmed by the grace of God; we forget that we are going to have to stand before the face of God.

I want us to think back to just a few short moments ago when Linda was sitting on the steps with those wonderful little children. For me it seems like just yesterday that Abel was born. I am sure you can blink and the children of this church are practically full grown. Now I want you to think back, a little longer perhaps for some of you, to the miracle of birth. Do you remember as I do of being fully in awe of the miracle of the entire birthing process; of all of the little things working out perfectly to allow a little life to be sustained inside a mother’s womb? Now I don’t know about you, but I would think that the God that we all serve and honor would want this second birth to be just as miraculous. Please don’t pass off Jesus’ chosen words as a random comparison. To be born again in the Spirit should and is a miraculous transformation that leads to new life.

And perhaps your response this morning is very similar to that of Nicodemus, and you wonder, “How can this be?” A new birth from above does not make sense without the knowledge of Jesus as Savior and the Holy Spirit as our Comforter and our Guide. And I must make note of verse 17, it is in our hands to choose if we will live a new life born of the Spirit or will we choose our own condemnation by choosing to live outside the light of Christ.

The choice is in our hands, and I pray that this morning those of you that are still considering a life with Christ might be drawn ever closer to the wonderful mystery and grace found in a life born anew.

Now I don’t know about you but I get pretty excited when I think about a new birth in Christ, about being born anew to live anew. I think about all of the possibilities that God can and will do through my life, if I simply allow him access. When a new child is born into this world, they are surrounded by the dreams of the parents, the grandparents and even the siblings. We have these grand dreams and hopes for them, and I can’t help but think that God has the same in mind for us as we are born anew in the Spirit.

But here is the kicker, God doesn’t want our leftovers, he wants our lives.

Our Wednesday Small group is currently studying the book, Crazy Love by Francis Chan. In this book he is challenging the readers to become overwhelmed by the relentless love of God, but he is also calling the church to stand up and truly be the church. Francis makes it very clear how often our focus is on the temporary instead of the eternal. This new birth in the Spirit helps not only gives us a new life, but new eyes as well, to see the eternal things above those things in this world that will fade with time.

What scares me most are the people who are lukewarm and just don’t care. I think that if I did a poll of the readers of this book [Crazy Love], many of you would say, “Yeah, I am definitely lukewarm at times, but I’m not really at a place to give more to God.” Many of us believe we have as much of God as we want right now, a reasonable portion of God among all the other things in our lives. Most of our thoughts are centered on the money we want to make, the school we want to attend, the body we aspire to have, the spouse we want to marry, the kind of person we want to become… But the fact is that nothing should concern us more than our relationship with God; it’s about eternity, and nothing compares with that. God is not someone who can be tacked on to our lives.
- Francis Chan, Crazy Love page 94

We have to find in this new birth a new way of living as well. Our lives should be changed, our faith should be something that we rely on daily, because we are living lives that are hinged on our faith, we are living lives that simply couldn’t function without God’s guidance.

Walking in genuine intimacy and full surrender to God requires great faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Back when I was in Bible college, a professor asked our class, “What are you doing right now that requires faith?” That question affected me deeply because at the time I could think of nothing in my life that required faith. I probably wouldn’t be living very differently if I didn’t believe in God; my life was neither ordered nor affected by my faith like I assumed it was. Furthermore, when I looked around, I realized I was surrounded by people who lived the same way I did.
- Francis Chan, Crazy Love page 122

What in your life requires faith? That is another key to this new birth, this new life, we are born anew and our lives need to reflect this in the way we rely on our faith. This is an especially difficult challenge in our culture when we are surrounded by such great material comfort, when our storehouses are full and our retirement is secure.

Are you putting yourself in situation where you have to completely rely on your faith in God? We often suffer from the poverty of having too much. We surround ourselves with so much noise, and with so many things that we often are simply giving God our crumbs instead of our all.

Being born in the spirit anew means we have a different source of life. We change from the realization that our parents or even ourselves sustain us, guide us and care for us, to the ultimate understanding that God is our one and only true sustainer. And so often in the teachings of the church I think we can get so focused on the don’ts of our faith that we don’t learn how to risk, how to love, how to rely on faith and how to forgive with the passion that is only found in this new birth through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

From his book Radical, David Platt writes,

When we gather at the building, we learn to be good. Being good is defined by what we avoid in the world. We are holy because of what we don’t participate in (and at this point we may be the only organization in the world defining success by what we don’t do). We live decent lives in decent homes with decent jobs and decent families as decent citizens. We are decent church members with little more impact on the world than we had before we were saved. Though thousands may join us, ultimately we have turned a deaf ear to billions who haven’t even heard his name. “
- David Platt, Radical page 105

I don’t know about you, but that quote by David Platt stings a little bit. What true, eternal impact are we having on the world? This new life we are given through the spirit is one that should be changing the world through love, peace, and forgiveness. Because of our faith, we should be taking great risks for God that will have an eternal impact on our families, our communities and our world. We are ultimately called to be disciples and because we are disciples it is our job to lead others to Christ as well through our lives, our words, our risks, and obedience to all that Christ calls us too.

I want to share one more quote with you from David Platt, on what a born anew life does not look like!

We take Jesus’ command in Matthew 28 to make disciples of all nations, and we say, “That means other people.” But we look at Jesus’ command in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest, “ and we say, “Now, that means me.” We take Jesus’ promise in Acts 1:8 that the Spirit will lead us to the ends of the earth, and we say, “That means some people.” But we take Jesus’ promise in John 10:10 that we will have abundant life, and we say, “That means me.” In the process we have unnecessarily (and unbiblically) drawn a line of distinction, assigning the obligations of Christianity to a few while keeping the privileges of Christianity for us all. (REPEAT LAST LINE)
- David Platt, Radical page 73

It is not our jobs as born again believers to take some of Jesus’ words to heart, while others we simply ignore or rationalize away as not being for us. We are all obligated, if we call ourselves Christian men and women to live lives that wreak of the Spirit of God. We are to have the aroma of Christ. People are supposed to smell the love of Christ on us from around the corner. I want us to look at one last passage from scripture to give us some insight into the born again life.
Mark 12:28-34 (New International Version, ©2011)
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” 32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

I am currently reading a book entitled Free to Be Bound, by a wonderful author and true disciple Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, and he comments on this passage from Mark with the following words.

Jesus takes this quote to love your neighbor from a part of Leviticus where the people of God are reminded of their obligation to take care of the poor and the strangers in their land. He says that this social vision is inseparable from true worship. You can’t say that you love God and not love your neighbor. A church that doesn’t make a difference in the real world is no church at all.
- Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Free to Be Bound page 154

Now I don’t know about you, but I want to be a part of a church that is changing the world. I want to be a part of a born again people who know that this message of Good News is not just for themselves but a gift that they are privileged enough to share with the world. I want to be a part of God’s people that are dreaming together, that are serving together, that are loving and forgiving together.

And this kind of living is so hard to do on our own. That is why God gave us the gift of the church to begin with, so we as brothers and sisters can live these things out together in community; so that we can rely on one another for accountability, for strength, for vision, and for the encouragement to seek out the born again life.

I want Central to be such a church, but it then becomes the responsibility of each of us to live lives that cannot be separated from our faith. It becomes the responsibility of each of us to help our children grow in passion and truth for the Lord. It becomes the responsibility of each of us to love and forgive with joy because we know what it is to live in love and to live in grace. It becomes the responsibility of each of us to take great risks for God relying only on our faith and His grace to see us through.

This is what I want “us” to be, and I pray over the course of this Lenten season that we will grow closer to who God is calling “Central” to become. Amen.

March 20, 2011 <> Michael Warneke

My wife, Abby, and I recently had the privilege of seeing 127 Hours this past week, and I must say that four days later it is still on my mind. The film, by Danny Boyle, does a remarkable job of recreating the true account of Aron Ralston and his incredible struggle for survival  in Bluejohn Canyon, Utah. In May of 2003, Aron was rock climbing and mountaineering in the Bluejohn Canyon when a boulder slipped and pinned Aron’s right arm for five days. After the excruciating physical and emotional trauma of isolation, physical pain, and starvation, Aron makes the decision that saves his life, to break his own arm just above his trapped wrist, and over the course of an hour I cannot begin to imagine,  he severs off his right arm, the skin, tendons, arteries, and the nerves. Following a heroic 17 1/2 mile journey to freedom he is rescued and continues to climb and mountaineer to this day.

As incredible as this story is, as is the performance of James Franco in the film, it was the dialogue that got me thinking the most. In a way of staying sane while trapped in the canyon, Aron uses his digital camera and video camera to document his thoughts and feelings, as well as messages for his family and loved ones. The words that spoke to me the most, and this is complete ad lib I must confess, are when Aron discusses how this boulder has been waiting for him his entire life. All of his prideful and selfish decisions have lead him to this very moment in his life’s journey, where he was trapped, alone, with no one having the slight hint of his whereabouts.

I am going to change gears here a bit and talk about an awesome little book by Mike Foster and Judd Wilhite entitled, Deadly Viper Character Assassins. This is an incredible little read on issues of character and integrity, and guarding ourselves against the pitfalls of life that ruin careers, marriages, and even lives. In the first chapter, Character Creep, they go on to emphasize that it is all about managing the small things in your life. Most people don’t wake up one day and say to themselves, “I want to ruin my marriage today.” No, it is the small decisions and flirtations overtime that go unchecked and unnoticed by others, until you find yourself in bed with a co-worker or friend from the past. It is the ridiculous amount of times you have had a few drinks and gotten behind the wheel making it to your destination safely, but it only takes one second, one moment to take the innocent life of another.

I am not perfect, far from it, but I am trying to be successful in the little things. I am attempting to be victorious in the mundane day to day activities of life and relationship, so that in the end my journey is where I desire it to be. Just as Aron Ralston’s decisions found him alone in Bluejohn Canyon, your own decisions, the tiny minutia of life, have lead you to where you are today. You may be just where you wanted to be, or you may feel trapped, alone, and scared. The beauty is, I doubt that you have to cut off your right arm to start on your journey to freedom; most likely it is a matter of changing your day to day decisions. Decisions to forgive and not hate; decisions to be generous with your time and your love, and not cling to all that is “yours;” decisions to be a man or woman of integrity and character, and not be oblivious to the effect your actions have on the world around you.

I want to end with a quote by Frederick Buechner that I had the honor of sharing at my grandpa’s funeral nearly 7 years ago. “Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.”

Enjoy the grace that is life, and may your everyday decisions lead you down the path that leads to life eternal.

February 10, 2011 <> Michael Warneke

What is it about sports, and more specifically what is it about football, that has the power to make grown men and women act like foolish children? Now before I get too far into this post, I must first admit that I am a huge Green Bay Packers fan, I have been even before the mighty Brett Favre came to town (I can actually recall cheering for Don Majkowski back in the day). So I am in fact very excited about the upcoming Super Bowl, and it will indeed be fun to root against a Steeler team that most of my childhood friends from West Virginia will be rooting on with passion. So how on earth can I relate the upcoming Super Bowl to my faith?

I guess the connection became clear for me a few years ago, as Brett Favre made his last run in a Packer uniform and nearly took his team to the Super Bowl, but came up just short in overtime against the Giants. I can remember this game rather clearly because I was with my family in upstate Indiana celebrating a late Christmas. And I can also remember because I clearly got entirely too wrapped up in the game, and was on the verge of real anger when it was all said and done. I was allowing myself to get upset by grown men hundreds of miles away who were simply playing a game that I had played as a youth. I was embarrassed by how upset I got, and in a clear decision vowed to never allow sports to have the same hold over me as they did that cold January day outside of Mishawaka, Indiana.

There are very few things in this world that deserve our admiration and devotion, and I am now of the mindset that football, as much as I enjoy it, is simply not one of them. I once heard Francis Chan talk about how committed fans are to their football teams that they will pay ridiculous amounts of money to sit in the freezing cold to enjoy a playoff game, but are unwilling to sacrifice even a percentage of that to spend time with God. We too often love God by default. We spend time in worship if there is simply nothing better to do, or if we happened to wake up on time. Surely the God of the universe deserves more of us than Aaron Rodgers and the rest of the Packers.

I will be happy to see my Packers play on Sunday, I am simply not going to be affected in the same manner that I have been in the past. My Lord and Savior is the only thing that deserves my unending devotion and admiration, and I will continue to struggle to respond to the grace that has been bestowed upon my life with diligence and humility.

Enjoy the game, and try not to let it bring you too much joy or too much sorrow despite the outcome.

February 2, 2011 <> Michael P. Warneke

In preparing for this message, it has been somewhat difficult for me. In the midst of losing my cousin Teresita at the turn of the calendar, Abby just lost a childhood friend to cancer as well this past week. My mood as I begin this new year is a gloomy one at times. Although I am excited about the possibilities and promise of a new year and a fresh start, I have been reminded in concrete ways that we live in a broken world.

And as many of us take a reprieve from our normal work days tomorrow to remember the legacy of Dr. King, I couldn’t help but want to speak on the topics of justice and dreaming for the Lord. With a topic in hand, it has been more difficult than I thought to organize my thoughts and resources for this message. And I must say that it was the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that helped pull me out of the funk.

I was blessed to read through Dr. King’s “I have a dream speech” this past week that he delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. If we look at this past half century it is easy to stand in awe of how far we have come in technology, communication, and medical advancements. But it is also easy to see that we have far to go in our care for the world’s poor, the enslaved, the marginalized and the forgotten.

One of the sections of Dr. King’s speech that moved me the most was a portion that is not always quoted, but I want to share it with you this morning.

“As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only”. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Those last words from this portion of Dr. King’s speech come from the book of Amos, and I want to read to you what proceeds that last line about justice and righteousness.

Amos 5:21-24 “²¹I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. ²²Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will not accept them. ²³Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. ²⁴But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”

Why is Amos painting God’s attitude toward us in such a negative light? Those certainly aren’t comforting words for us as a church, or for you as a believer. Perhaps those words sound so harsh, because there is a little truth to them. As I read through this passage from Amos and Dr. King’s speech I was truly humbled by the Spirit of God. I was humbled by the fact that I am so easily satisfied. Because I believe that God is asking his church the same question today, “When will you be satisfied?”

And sadly my answer is not the same that was given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial some 48 years ago. I am all too easily satisfied in my life. It really doesn’t take much at all if I am honest. Sometimes all it takes is a warm bed, or the knowledge that my family is safe. Sometimes all it takes is if I make it through the yellow light just in time, or that there is something good on television at night. My standards of satisfaction are not where my God would want them to be. And I would imagine you find yourselves all too easily satisfied at times as well.

So, what will it take to wake us up? Today, slavery is more prevalent around the world than at any time in human history, and UNICEF reports that there are nearly two million children alone enslaved in commercial sex trade.

In David Platt’s book entitled Radical, he sheds light on this dilemma in our Christian lives. In recalling the churches ugly history with slavery, he says the following words: “Churchgoers with good intentions worshipping God together every Sunday and reading the Bible religiously all week long, all the while used God’s Word to justify treating men, women, and children as property to be used or abused. They actually thought they were generous when they gave their slaves an extra chicken at Christmas.” David continues, “This frightens me. Good intentions, regular worship, and even study of the Bible do not prevent blindness in us. Part of our sinful nature instinctively chooses to see what we want to see and to ignore what we want to ignore.”

David Platt puts into words the truth that all of us are capable of in big ways and small. If it doesn’t directly affect us, it sadly doesn’t directly concern us either. But this has to change! I’m convinced that sometimes the best gift God can give us, is to shatter the dreams that we have for our own little lives, and give us a God-sized dream for the world and not just ourselves. The cure to this evil and sin that David Platt talks about is the widening of our family. It is when we begin to feel responsible for the things that God cares about, not just the things that Mike or Bruce or Kim care about.

My prayer for this coming year is that we would be much less satisfied by the world around us. My prayer is that we could take Dr. King’s and the words of Amos to heart and hunger and thirst for righteousness. And not simply for those in our families, or at Central, but our brothers and sisters in chains spread across this globe. As you continue to dream for your future, and the future of your son’s and daughter’s may you not limit the reach of their lives. May we be world changers as we yearn for the hungry to be fed, for the enslaved to be set free, and for the comfortable to be ruffled into action.

I want to close with a passage from Paul’s letter to the Philippians. It in fact gives us a starting point to begin dreaming for God and not just ourselves. It gives us the first step in being unsatisfied Christians for the sake of the downtrodden, the forgotten and the lonely.

Philippians 4:10-14 “¹⁰I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹²I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³I can do everything through him who gives me strength. ¹⁴Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.”

May we learn in this coming year to share in the troubles of the world in new ways, and may we not be satisfied until God’s kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven. Amen and Amen.

January 20, 2011 <> Michael P. Warneke

I have had the fun task today of creating a poster of an upcoming event at our church, and it has rekindled old feelings, and allowed me the rare form of grace found in the joy of anticipation. So often we are filled with dread, anxiety, or nervousness as we look to the unknown that lays ahead, and sometimes all it takes is the right event, homecoming or reunion to fill us with excitement.

In a little over a month our church will be hosting the Watoto Children’s Choir from Uganda, Africa. If I ever find myself in the future with extra funding I would put all of my dear friends and relatives on a plane set for Africa, and specifically that of Uganda. Because my money bags are sitting empty I will soon have the joy of bringing Africa to my friends and family here in Indiana. On Wednesday night, November 17th we will be hosting an incredible concert by the Watoto Children’s Choir at 7 PM in our sanctuary. This concert is free to the public, and everyone both young and old will enjoy the singing, dancing, and testimony of these beautiful little children.

For nine lucky families, there will also be an opportunity to host the children in your home the evening of the concert. You will get to spend some extra time with two or three children and one of many adult chaperones, as you learn their stories and have the privilege of giving a face and a name to what hope in the flesh looks like.

Here is a little extra information on Watoto and their incredible mission:

WATOTO CHILDREN’S CHOIR FROM UGANDA

Watoto means “The Children”, and these children are on a mission. Through their inspirational songs and compelling stories, the Watoto Children’s Choir is spreading a message of hope for Africa’s children.

The goal of Watoto is to raise the next generation of Ugandan leaders by pursuing excellence in academic and practical skills, integrity in conduct and moral values, so that each child becomes a responsible and productive citizen. Watoto is currently caring for over 1600 parentless children by providing physical, emotional, educational and spiritual care.

Since 1994, the Watoto Children’s Choirs have toured internationally as ambassadors for the orphan children of Uganda bringing a message of hope to countries such as Australia, Canada, Europe, USA, South Africa, Brazil, and Israel. “Concerts of Hope” inform people of Watoto’s vital work and afford audiences the opportunity to participate in restoring hope and dignity to some of Africa’s most needy children.

Each child in the choir has experienced tremendous personal tragedy, having lost one or both parents in the African AIDS crisis or other calamities. Now through their music and dance, they share Watoto’s vision:

“Rescue a Child, Raise a Leader and Rebuild a Nation”

The choir’s music and multimedia presentation is a soulful fusion of gospel and contemporary African style. Dressed in colorful costume, the children’s enthusiastic song and energetic dance has moved audiences world-wide.

Michael P. Warneke <> October 13, 2010

I never thought that I would write a blog in reference to a Beyonce song, but if you want to put your hands up while you read this blog you are more than welcome to do so. This week I am writing a letter of apology to all of the single ladies; the  mothers and fathers, and the single men and women out there, and how often “the church” has let you down.

As I am reading through a book by Julia Duin, entitled Quitting Church, I was truly taken aback by all of the ways the church has failed the single men and women out there. We so often do not address issues of importance to this demographic, and we honor families at such a high degree, that we often belittle those that are currently walking through life on their own. It is scary how many folks are letting go of their church roots these days and the stats for single men and women is quite astounding.

There was a study done at the University of Virginia in 2005 that showed that only 15% of single men attend church in relation to 32% of married men. On the side of women only 23% of single women attend church, and 39% of married women find themselves in some form of church on an average Sunday morning. I am sure that life changes have something to do with these statistics, any big change forces us to look at the big picture. Marriages and having kids, I would imagine,  are one of the prime reasons for people to head back to their church roots. However, Too many of our messages leave out the single life, or treat the single man or woman like they are inferior, or that God has blessed or called them to be alone.

I truly believe that some people have a special calling to devote their entire selves to God’s service, and once you are in a committed relationship your devotions are divided whether you like it or not. But here is the thing, the church cannot value a family of 4 over a single man or woman. If you are single and have been burned by the church, made to feel inferior, or pushed aside for the sake of the family I am very sorry.

Please except my apologies in the form of Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” I ask for your forgiveness on behalf of the collective church and I pray that if you are seeking a place of worship that you will be excepted as you are with open arms, and that your gifts and abilities will be valued and used for the edification of others and the glorification of our God.

September 30, 2010 <> Michael P. Warneke

As I was preparing for a recent lesson I came across a listing of additional studies by a certain author that shall remain nameless, and the work brought to light for me a lot of what is currently contributing to the large exodus of the American church. The title was about confronting the controversies, with a sub-title about Christians taking on the tough issues. Now I have not read this work, or done this study, so perhaps I am completely off base but on the cover are printed various “controversial” topics such as: death penalty, homosexuality, separation of church and state, prayer in schools, evolution, abortion, and euthanasia. Are these truly the tough issues that we are facing as Christians?

Personally I would like to shine the light on a few other topics instead that would make it on my top five list of tough issues for Christians: loving in the midst of hate, forgiving time and time again, learning to live with less so that others can be blessed, the humble act of including those on the outside looking in, and belief and trust in the midst of pain and hurt. Those are the things that I want our church to focus on, those are the relevant things that can bring change and hope to this world instead of political stances and more division.

I just can’t picture that when I arrive in heaven, God is going to be concerned with my stance on euthanasia as much as He is going to be concerned with how I reached out in love to others. I am not convinced that God is going to ask if I tried as hard as I could to get prayer back in schools, as much as He is going to care if I was willing to go without so that others could live. Those are the real questions that ought to have us gathered around the collective campfire hashing out how we can love more, forgive more, serve more, include more, and possess less.

I just picked up a book entitled Quitting Church, and it is a fascinating study on why so many people are running from church instead of to the church these days. Although there are numerous contributing factors, one of the largest is simply relevance. Is the church willing to talk about what is truly important? And perhaps we first need to decide on what is truly important, and not simply to us, or our current culture, but to God and the words of Christ. Christ was neither irrelevant during his time on earth or during the 2,000 years that followed, and it is sinful of His Church to change this now!

September 23, 2010 <> Michael Warneke

It seems that I may have a bit of a problem with reading. It is not that I can’t, and it is not that I don’t, I simply have extreme highs and lows with my life in the pages. I started out life by taking about a 20 year boycott of reading anything for pleasure. It was at this stage in life that I chose to take a break from college, sleep in my comfy Oldsmobile, take a four month road trip around the country and for the first time read for true pleasure. I fell in love with the likes of Kerouac, Salinger, Sherman Alexie and Bryce Courtenay as I lived out my own “On The Road” experiences. To simply look back on this past year, I have had months where I have read a half dozen books, and others where I only found myself turning a couple of pages.

Now that I am in full time ministry, I find myself rotating my pleasure reading with books on faith, community and leadership. Some are more enjoyable than others, and right now I have found myself engrossed in a book that is a little bit of both. I good friend of mine here in Evansville recommended this book to me and I am glad that I have picked it up. The book is entitled Tattoos on the Heart, and it is written by Father Gregory Boyle, the founder of Homeboy Industries in L.A. chronicling his love and service of the misfits, gangsters and saints that he came across on the streets and in the detention centers surrounding the city. His work within these neighborhoods and communities echos the work that Mother Teresa did in Calcutta.

I am in the finishing pages of this book and I have been challenged not so much by the things that Boyle has said, or the stories that he has spun, but simply by his choice to stand with the very ones he hoped to love and to help pull them out of the mire they were born into.  Below is an excerpt from the chapter entitled Success:

“If we choose to stand in the right place, God, through us, creates a community of resistance without our even realizing it. To embrace the strategy of Jesus is to be engaged in what Dean Brackley calls ‘downward mobility.’ Our locating ourselves with those who have been endlessly excluded becomes an act of visible protest. For no amount of our screaming at the people in charge to change things can change them. The margins don’t get erased by simply insisting that the powers-that-be erase them. The trickle-down theory doesn’t really work here. The powers bent on waging war against the poor and the young and the ‘other’ will only be moved to kinship when they observe it. Only when we can see a community where the outcast is valued and appreciated will we abandon the values that seek to exclude.”

I know that in my life I so often over think things. I think I have to be an expert to help out or give assistance. I often feel like I have to have the perfect words in order to speak wisdom or hope into a situation. But I am learning something here, sometimes to live a life of purpose and impact depends just as much on the placement of our feet as it does our heart. Who are you standing beside? I hope and pray that as I continue to walk with my friends in Uganda and stand beside them in life, that the  lines of exclusion would be erased, and the value of an African child would one day be equal to that of an American child. Here’s to standing when our words simply can’t be heard!

September 16, 2010 <> Michael Warneke

Life certainly has its ups and downs, and the church where I serve has really been hit hard with tragedy lately. From the attack of cancer on young mothers to the difficult loss of a young child in a car accident, the faith of our congregation has been fully tested. It is so easy to lose track of our faith and to begin to rely on our doubts rather than our trust in a God that is eternally full of grace and wisdom. And that is why I want to focus on the construction of altars as taken from the life of the forefathers of our Jewish roots.

From Noah to Abraham, and Jacob to Moses we see these pillars of the faith stop and construct altars to God. At times they are told by God to do so, and at others they build altars of remembrance on their own. Are you currently building altars in your faith journey? Are you taking the time to commemorate the moments in your life when God shows up in big ways and small? Have you constructed an altar to honor God for the moments that you undeniably felt His presence in your life?

These altars of remembrance and honor are the very things that will get you through those valleys in life. One of my greatest sins continues to be my forgetfulness. In the midst of heartache or struggles I tend to forget God’s faithfulness in the past, and I find myself with a broken and often me-centered perspective. I lose track of all of the blessings, of all of the moments of grace in the face of difficulty. We all hurt, we all struggle, and we must come to terms that pain and death will be a companion of this life whether invited into our lives or not.

If you are in the midst of a storm right now, search through your life for those moments where God was vibrant and real, and if you are in a time of peace and plenty right now, take the time to construct an altar in honor and praise to God. An altar that can be of strength in the future, that can battle the pain, anger and doubt when God seems to have disappeared in the face of your trials. He is there, sometimes we just need our memory jogged, and a gentle reminder of His power, His grace, and His comfort.

September 8, 2010 <> Michael Warneke