Randy Spleth

A Christmas Video Greeting

A Christmas Greeting
from Sr. Minister Randall U. Spleth

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Randy Reflects - October 2009

Please Disregard this Message

As I sat down to write my reflection for October, I received this email. “I'm working on my email list - disregard this email.” Frankly, I didn’t understand it and still don’t. There was a bit of baiting in the email, daring me to disregard the message to “disregard.” I wanted to send a quick reply. I don’t think that was the intent of the sender, but the fact that it clearly said, “disregard this email” tempted me to disobedience.

At the very least, the email moved me beyond a minor writer’s block. It   caused me to reflect on how many times I “disregard” a message that was intended for a response. I get countless emails and letters, many of which ask, beg, even plead for an immediate response. Some, I disregard. Sometimes it is because I don’t think they are worth responding to. Other times, it is because they get lost in the pile. Occasionally, a request begs for a response which I can’t make. Maybe they would get a better response if they said, “disregard this email or don’t respond to this letter.”

Conventional wisdom says people don’t respond to RSVPs any longer. RSVP or respondez s'il vous plait literally translates, “please respond or respond if you'd please.” We recently had a 70% response rate on a RSVP for a party. I found that encouraging. But I wonder now if “disregard RSVP” would be a better way to go. Would it have motivated the disobedient? When we ask for an RSVP at church, the rate is usually much lower, often less than half of you reply. Some of you respond better than others. Don’t protest. I know this about you. My question is, “How is the best way to get you to respond?” It is a question we ask each year at this time.

Our church begins its annual stewardship campaign to fund our 2010 budget. We need your response. You will receive emails and letters, response packets and reminders. The campaign is held each October for three weeks.

Unfortunately, every year the majority of you do not respond by the first week of November. Many do not respond at all. Would it help if we said, “disregard our letters?”

We need your response but so does God. God has called Geist Christian Church into wonderful ministry, the mission of serving Fishers and Geist in two locations. We are nurturing children, shaping the lives of youth, bringing people to Christ and serving one another. We need everyone to respond in order to support this vital ministry.

So let me give you this simple challenge. Over the next three weeks, please don’t disregard our pledge drive. We need your help. And for those who are tempted to disobedience, disregard this message.

Randy Reflects - September 2009

Making a Big Difference – One Church in Two Locations

One year can make a big difference. The difference between last year and this is summed up in our description, “one church in two locations.” Last year, we were one church in almost two locations. Now we are clearly two; it was a year of surprises.

• I am surprised by how vibrant and successful our move has been from one to two.With the opening of our north campus, we’ve grown in worship attendance by 24%. We planned to be successful.
• I am surprised by what success looks like.
• am surprised by the expansion of our mission field. We built our second campus to serve Fishers but we have attracted people from Noblesville, Carmel, McCordsville, Fortville, even Pendleton.
• I am surprised that our core values are still strong but our DNA is changed. When 300 people suddenly join a congregation, it makes you look and feel different even while you are the same.
• And, perhaps at the top of the list, I am surprised that when I feel tired from the expanded responsibilities and work load, I am still excited and energized by being one church in two locations.

Being multi-site is our new reality and is a new reality in North America. On a typical Sunday in 2009, some 5 million people attend more than 2,000 multisite churches in the US and Canada. Leaders at 45,000 churches are seriously considering adding a worship service at one or more new locations or campuses

in the next 2 years. More than a third of the largest congregations are multi-site. We are less a trend setter than part of a movement. It was a year of surprises and more are ahead. We celebrate the first anniversary of being multi-site in September. I’m preaching again about our identity and our call as one church in two locations. I’ve titled the anniversary sermon series, “Gimme Five” because when it comes to what God is doing in us, we should raise hands of praise and give each other five. I hope to see you for all five sermons and I hope you’ll “Gimme Five.”

Randy Reflects - June 2009

On Being One Church

    On May 13, 1807, a Presbyterian minister by the name of Thomas Campbell arrived in the Philadelphia after a 31 day voyage from Ireland. Upon his arrival, he discovered that the Associate Synod of the North America of the Anti-Burger Seceder Presbyterians, the leadership body of his church in America, was in session. He presented his credentials and letters of introduction and they immediately appointed him to serve the presbytery of southwestern Pennsylvania.

    Campbell was given the village of Cannamaugh north of Pittsburgh as his parish on the third and fourth Sunday of the month. It is there where Campbell got in trouble. Believing deeply in the fellowship of all Christians, Campbell welcomed all believers to the table of the Lord, regardless of whether or not they had a connection with the Anti-Burger Seceder Presbyterian Church. This resulted in an immediate suspension of his standing, followed by a two year period of censure, rebuke and admonition.

    On September 7, 1809, Campbell and a number of like-minded Christians in western Pennsylvania, signed a document written by Campbell titled, "The Declaration and Address." Together they affirmed that the church of Jesus Christ is "essentially, intentionally and constitutionally one." It is the moment of conception of the restoration movement of the Christian Church.

    Each time we gather in worship, we give testimony to this moment. We offer an invitation to the Lord's Supper, an open call to all who believe.

    The 200^th anniversary of this moment of conception in communion is this year. Two celebrations of note will take place. One will be at the close of our General Assembly which meets this year in Indianapolis. Many have registered to participate. If you haven't, you can still attend the communion service, a special worship service on August 2, 2009, at 2:00 pm. It will held at the Indianapolis Convention Center. More information can be found at the Disciples web site.

    The second opportunity is October 4, 2009. Members of the restoration movement around the world will remember the essential, intentional and constitutional nature of the church in a Great Communion service. You can read about it at the Great Communion web site. Our worship services on the weekend of October 4^th also will focus on this day of celebration.

    On the night in which Jesus was betrayed, he not only took bread and wine. He offered a prayer that we might all be one. Each time we gather around the Table, we live out this prayer. I hope you will join me and your brothers and sisters in the restoration movement in these special bicentennial celebrations.

Bible Study for May 30 & 31, 2009

Title: Don't Just Sit There

Scripture: Romans 8:22-27

Text: Acts 2: 1-21

After the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the followers of Jesus regroup in Jerusalem. They cast lots for a replacement for Judas Iscariot. Then, they sit a wait for the promised Holy Spirit. It comes at the feast of Pentecost.

Pentecost was an agricultural festival marking the first harvest of the growing season. It was seven weeks after Passover.

The first description of the Holy Spirit is auditory. It sounds "like rush of a violent wind." Then it comes as a visual appearance like "tongues, as of fire." The resistance to describing the image of the Holy Spirit is consistent in scripture.

Whatever the image of the Holy Spirit, the result is clear. It motivates the followers to become witnesses. Peter proclaims, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins." (Acts 2: 38.)

The Holy Spirit empowers the followers to become witnesses, to build the church, to minister to one another. As soon as they begin to do this, they see clear results. Three thousand join the movement. The Lord added to their number, "day by day." Even their miracle stories become active. Peter heals a man lame from birth who then stands, walks, jumps and leaps. The Holy Spirit calls them into action.

1. Can you describe the Holy Spirit?
2. Do you perceive yourself to be a follower of Jesus or a witness for Christ?

Bible study for May 24 & 25, 2009

Title: In the Shack with God: The Healing Circle

Scripture: Revelation 21: 1-7

Text: Isaiah 65: 16b-25

In 586 BC, the Babylonian Empire under the leadership of Nebuchadnezzar II conquered Judah and Jerusalem, destroying the Temple and leaving the Holy City in ruins. Understanding that any occupying force faces rebellion and insurrection, he took most of the Jewish population captive, sending them to various construction sites all over the Babylonian empire. Nebuchadnezzar II is the architect and king who presided over the famous Hanging Garden of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Forty years later, Cyrus and the Persian Empire conquered Babylon. He immediately released as many captives as would go home. Approximately 40,000 returned to Jerusalem. The apocalyptic vision offered in Isaiah 65 is of this moment of restoration. God is going to build a "new heaven and new earth" on the ruins of Jerusalem. The second Temple will be built.

Jerusalem functions both as the Holy City, as a place in time. But it also serves as a metaphorical location of the "new heaven and new earth," as the apocalyptic center when eternity begins. Whenever the phrase a "new heaven and new earth" is used, biblically minded readers recall the Creation narrative in Genesis 1, "In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). Isaiah 65 is both temporal and eternal.

When the "new heaven and new earth" is created, God promises that "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:4). It is a description of paradise, a place of the final healing.

In the novel The Shack, the main character Mackenzie glimpses this healing. It gives him earthy healing allowing him to return to his family even while he anticipates the heavenly healing his daughter received.

1. Do you experience healing when you imagine the final restoration when God creates a "new heaven and earth?"
2. Is complete earthly healing possible?

Bible study for May 9 & 10

Title: In the Shack with God: A Messy Garden

Scripture: Genesis 1: 1-5, 26-31

Text: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

One of the most powerful stories in the Bible is the Garden of Eden. It is used by theologians and school teachers, feminists and ecologists. The Garden is about more than a place and time.

Bible scholars call Genesis 2 and 3 the second creation story because it offers a different account than that which is found in Genesis 1. Not only is the content different on how humanity came to be, the writing style is different. A different author, the "J" writer or "Jahwist", penned the second creation story. The first creation narrative is attributed to the "priestly" writers.

Genesis 3 begins with the first question of the Bible. The serpent's question isn't about trees. It is about authority and obedience. The ability to consider the question separates Adam and Eve from all of the other creatures in the Garden; it also reveals our disobedient nature.

After eating the fruit, the first thing Adam and Eve discover is not the knowledge of good and evil, but the knowledge that they are naked. The author is using this revelation as shorthand to describe the human realization that we are not divine, but we are different from other animals. It is the birth of personal self-consciousness that both tantalizes the human spirit with visions of what we might be, while tormenting it with evil and brokenness.

1. Do you think God planned for Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit?
2. Do you think Adam and Eve had the power to resist the Temptation?

Randy Reflects - May 2009

What do They Mean?

What do those initials mean? I hear this occasionally when we abbreviate the church’s name to GCC or shorten the high school youth group to CYF.  Churches are bad about using initials. Initials are shorthand for something we think everyone knows.  In reality, it’s insider language.

I grew up in a home where shorthand was used. My mother was an executive secretary, beginning her career when Gregg’s shorthand was at the peak of its popularity.  Along with typing, she took two years of shorthand in high school, graduating with immediate marketable skills. For the first twenty years of her career, it served her well; then, dictation was relegated to tape recorders. Shorthand disappeared; but she used it all of her life. She took notes of phone calls and made grocery lists. She used her own insider language.

Instant messaging is a new shorthand, a quickly evolving language with over a million cryptic abbreviations. Online chat and text messaging allows for quick communication.  Active IMers (instant message users) assume that everyone knows these initials. In reality, it’s an insider language.

Just before worship began on Easter, I received a text message, “CIA!” The only CIA I know is the Central Intelligence Agency. My hurried reply was a question mark (?). The reply came back, “thnk ser.” It took a moment; then I got it.  “Christ is Alive!”  Cool. Christian IM.

I got to thinking. What if we stayed in touch with God the way we text friends and family. Just think how much closer we’d feel to God.  Instant messaging could be a way of living out Paul’s challenge to “pray without ceasing ( 1 Thessalonians 5: 17).” It could become your insider language.  If instant communication is important to stay in touch with those around us, it should be important to be in touch as often with God.

Accepting my own challenge, I created this Easter prayer as a text message to God.

OMG, CIA! LOL <g> u r BFF Thx TTYL.

Next time you text, take a moment to consider one for God.

Blessings,

Randy

P.S. My prayer for non-texters: ”Oh my God, Christ is Alive! Laugh out Loud. Grin. You are best friend forever. Thank you. Talk to you later.”

An Easter Invitation

 Go here for a video version of my Easter Invitation to you

This past weekend in our worship services, we joined Christians around the world to remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Children paraded Palms and shouted “Hosanna, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”  For centuries, this ancient cry has signaled the beginning of Holy Week. The drama of the last week of Jesus’ life is remembered again.

Jesus will drive out the money changers from the Temple and be anointed in Bethany. He’ll share the Passover meal with his disciples. Then, he’ll take bread and wine, present them as his body and blood and challenge them and us to “Remember.”

On that night, he’ll be betrayed, arrested, flogged, tried and convicted. Good Friday comes and we remember God’s Son rejected and nailed to a cross.

It is a week of remembering and I invite you to remember in worship. Holy Week services prepare us to shout on Easter of the resurrection, to embrace God’s loving triumphant over sin and death.

Our Holy Week services will be held at our south campus. On Maundy Thursday, we will gather at 7:30 pm to share communion and remember.

A three hour vigil will take place from noon until 3:00 pm on Good Friday, six thirty minute services remembering the last words of Jesus on the cross. A full length service of remembering will take place at 6:00 pm that evening.

These services will prepare you for Easter.  I hope you can attend. If your schedule doesn’t allow you to be present, I encourage you to read the biblical account of Holy Week (Luke 19-23). Then you will be spiritually prepared to remember the resurrection on Easter.

We will offer six Easter worship services, three at each campus.  At the north campus on Promise Road, services will be on Saturday at 5:30 pm and Sunday at 9:30 and 11:00 am. At our south campus on Mud Creek, service times on Easter are at 9:00, 10:00 and 11:15 am. Visit our web site for directions.

I pray that this week is indeed a holy week for you and that God refreshes your faith in the hope of the resurrection.  May God bless you and all who shout, Christ has Risen, Risen indeed.

Bible Study for April 4 & 5, 2009

Title: [Re]Vision

Scripture: Zechariah 9:9-10
Text:  Luke 19:28-40

The arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem doesn’t just happen. Like a carefully planned spring break trip, everything is thought through carefully. Luke tells us that Jesus is in Jericho prior to his day of entry, a distance of about 17 miles. Likely the trip was a six hour journey by foot due to the rugged terrain of the Judean hills. 

Even though Jesus has traveled by foot during his three year ministry campaign, once he arrives at the suburbs of Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives. He pulls two of his disciples aside and says, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.” Jesus has clearly spent time preparing for this day. He knows exactly what type of colt he wants, one that had never been ridden. He knows exactly where the colt is. He's even worked out a response to the public relations problem of borrowing  a colt. "If anyone asks you ... just say this, The Lord needs it. "

Jesus is casting a very clear vision. He is stepping into Zechariah's prophecy of the long-awaited Messiah. "Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey" (Zech. 9:9).

 When Jesus sat upon that young colt and began to ride into Jerusalem, some of the people around him were wise enough to see the moment as the beginning of salvation. They cut branches down and spread them on the ground in front of him. Many spread their cloaks on the ground. They began to shout, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven!" 

Others have a different vision of what is going on. The Pharisees see an imposter. The Zealots see a liberator. Even his disciples have a different vision than what is actually going on. It begins a week of revisions and new insights into who Jesus is.

1.  When you remember the Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem, what first comes to mind?
2.  What vision do you have of the arriving king?