So I thought today I’d share with you a prayer attributed to Francis of Assisi, a monk from the twelfth century.  I encourage you to make his prayer your prayer this week.

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.” – Francis of Assisi

This weekend we heard the story of Olympic Gold Medalist Chad Hedrick.  For 10 years, Chad was the overall world champion of inline skating.  In 2002 he exchanged pavement for ice when he became a speed skater, quickly winning the All-Around World Championship in Norway.  At the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, he won three medals: the gold in the 5000m, a silver in the 10,000m and a bronze in the 1500m—becoming only the third Winter Olympian to win 3 medals in a single Olympic Games.

Chad and his family have been a part of our Capital family for the last year. I invited him to share the story of his spiritual journey with our community before he departed for the Vancouver Games.  If you missed the video or the live interview, you can view it below.

Also, keep an eye on Chad in the coming weeks:

www.chadhedrick.com

Chad Hedrick Interview, US Olympic Speed Skating Team from Kelly Johnson on Vimeo.

As most of you know, on Tuesday a magnitude 7 earthquake struck the island of Haiti, creating one of the greatest natural disasters of our lifetime.  There are several factors that make this disaster so terrible.  The epicenter of the quake occurred in a densely populated area, where poverty levels were high, and the quality of building construction wasn’t.  At present, the Red Cross estimates that 50,000 people have been killed.  More than a million people are now without homes.  Access for aid workers is difficult, because Haiti is an island, and the port was destroyed. Lines of communication have been seriously disrupted. And on top of everything, many of the responders are also victims—people who have lost their homes and their loved ones
Most of you are asking: WHAT CAN I DO?  Our government and first responders discourage us from going.  At this stage in the process, we need leave these efforts to the professionals, because most of us would just get in the way and become an additional resource drain.

But there are two things we can do as followers of Jesus: We can PRAY.  We can GIVE.

At all three of our weekend services, we will receive an offering for our partner on the ground in Haiti—the Convoy of Hope.  The Convoy of Hope is a humanitarian organization with resources leveraged around the world to help those in need.  Their ministry in Haiti feeds 7000 children each day, and I’m thankful that their warehouse was restocked just before the earthquake.  This enabled them to establish a command center just outside the capital city of Port-Au-Prince within 24 hours of the disaster.

But they need help.  They need our prayers.  They need our money.  Right now.  When you come to church this weekend, please come prepared to give generously for our friends who really need our help.

www.convoyofhope.org

Here’s a link from MSNBC with a reference to our partners:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34846230

When Jesus dwelled among us, one of his favorite ways to communicate his message was through story.  In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke), one third of his recorded words were his parables—short stories designed to capture the attention of his audience and evoke a response.

Stories are a powerful tool for any communicator, because everybody loves a good story.  Definitions are helpful; Explanations are important.  But a story can take a truth and make it more memorable.  A story can give it flesh and bones and make it practical.  A story is like a breath of fresh air.

I see this on your faces every week.  After a while of listening to my voice lulling you into a restful slumber, I’ll interject, “So the other day…” and you come right back to attention.  Stories can be powerful vehicles for truth.

In our culture, movies are one of the most powerful examples of story. Good movies can make two hours feel like twenty minutes, because they tell stories about people with whom we identify, admire or empathize.  The best movies leave us thinking about our own lives.  And that’s where God comes in.

God speaks in many ways.  He speaks through the Bible, through people, through circumstances.  Sometimes he surprises us with his methods.  Once he made a donkey talk to get his point across (Nope, not a reference to Shrek.  Check out Numbers 22.).  So why couldn’t he speak through Hollywood?  Certainly, God doesn’t speak through every film.  But often, filmmakers create characters, crises and comedies that compel us to look inward and upward.

Starting this weekend, we will fire up the popcorn machine and begin our annual series God & the Movies. In this series, we will look at some of Hollywood’s films to see how God tells his story through their stories.  Bring a friend and come ready to hear from God.

One practical tip: the popcorn tastes better with sweet tea…

NOTE: Because of copyright restrictions, we are unable to reproduce these messages on CD or post them on the Internet.  Sorry for the inconvenience!

This Wednesday night we return from our summer break to our Wednesday Night Bible Study.  We’ll begin this fall looking at the Epistle of James.  This week’s study will examine James 1:1-4.  For those going a season of difficulty, this is the passage for you!  Join us this Wednesday at 7:00pm.  Childrens and youth ministry provided.

Through our study of the Psalms at our weekend services, we’ve seen again and again the important of honesty in our conversations with God. A few weeks ago, I quoted C.S. Lewis who said, “We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us.”

Here’s a quotation from a seventeenth century believer who has similar thoughts as Lewis. Whatever you do—just keep talking to God!

“Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one’s heart, it’s pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles, that He may comfort you; tell Him your joys, that He may sober them; tell Him your longings, that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes, that He may help you to conquer them; talk to Him of your temptations, that He may shield you from them; show Him the wound of your heart, that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil, your instability. Tell Him how self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride disguises you to yourself and others.”

“If you thus pour out all your weaknesses, needs, troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. You will never exhaust the subject. It is continually being renewed. People who have no secrets from each other never want for subject of conversation. They do not weigh their words, for there is nothing to be held back; neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of abundance of the heart, without consideration they say just what they think. Blessed are they who attain to such familiar, unreserved intercourse with God.”

Francois Fenelon
1651-1715

This weekend we talked about being people who delight in the teaching of the LORD (Psalm 1:2a), and I wanted to give you a practical way to learn to do it. One of our favorite axioms around Capital is “We don’t just work through the Bible. We allow the Bible to work through us.” I’ve found one of the best ways to do that is to practice the spiritual discipline of scriptural meditation (Psalm 1:2b).

Most days I will take a short passage of scripture and pick it apart. I dwell on it, asking God what he means. I ask him how it applies to me, and I invite him to work the truth into my heart and mind. Then I try to take it with me through the day, remembering it on the drive time or between meetings. I don’t rush the process. I don’t take on massive amounts of Scripture. Sometimes I’ll spend 3-4 days on one passage. I’ve found this to be one of the most powerful ways God speaks to me.

If you click the link below, you will find a list of suggested verses. I encourage you to read through the list and choose one that especially applies to your life today. If you’ve never done this before, you may want to start slowly. Perhaps spend just five minutes of focus during the least distracting part of your day. Then take it with you. You may want to print them onto a small card, so you can refer to it throughout your day.

May you allow the Bible to work through you, sinking into your heart, mind and soul, that you may know Him more!

Psalm 119:11 – I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

LINK: Meditation Verses

Tonight will be our last Wednesday Night Bible Study before the summer break.  We’ll take a look at the last commandment in our 10 Commandments series: “Thou shall not covet.”  Join us tonight at 7:00pm.  Youth & children’s ministry provided.

I look forward to our study next fall—an exegetical study of the Epistle of James.  Coming in September!

Five years ago last weekend, I became the Lead Pastor of Capital Church.  Over the last five years, our church has grown in many ways—not just numerically.  But I think I’ve grown more.  I have thoroughly enjoyed these last 5 years, and I look forward to many more years of journeying together with you as we discover what it means to “love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength,” and to “love our neighbor as ourselves.”  Thank you for being a part of the journey with me.

Troy

Are any of you worn out? Do you feel like the pace of your life has become to fast? Are you overwhelmed by responsibilities and TO DO lists and emails and commitments? Maybe you need Sabbath. In his book The Sabbath, Abraham Joshua Heschel describes this ancient, holy day saying:

        “He who wants to enter the holiness of the day must first lay down the profanity of clattering
        commerce, of being yoked to toil.  He must go away from the screech of dissonant days, from the
        nervousness and fury of acquisitiveness and the betrayal in embezzling his own life.  He must say
        farewell to manual work and learn to understand that the world has already been created and will
        survive without the help of man.  Six days a week we wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the
        earth; on the Sabbath we especially care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul.  The world has
        our hands, but our soul belongs to Someone Else.” *

Does your soul crave rest and refreshment?  I invite you to join us this Wednesday night as we examine the fourth commandment to discover what it means for us today to “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” 

The Wednesday Night Bible Study meets each Wednesday in the Capital Café at 7:00pm.  Children and youth ministry provided.