The Business of Blessing Others

The Reformation is one of the greatest events in history, in which Martin Luther started a movement, one that is still transforming lives today.  This movement began when Luther rediscovered the Gospel, or Good News, of Jesus Christ in the book of Romans and reread the story of Jesus’s life and his Sermon on the Mount.  Today the whole world, Catholic and Protestant, is impacted by that reformation.  One of the biggest impacts was people beginning to read the Sermon on the Mount for themselves, it was revolutionary! It was beyond religious. This month, we began a series on the Sermon on the Mount, called “What Jesus Meant,” and as we focus on this life-changing sermon we can experience for ourselves what countless people before us have been inspired by. When St. Francis of Assisi first read the Sermon on the Mount it changed his life and how he lived out his faith. The present pope, Francis, is a reformer because of conviction in the Sermon on the Mount.  They are life-altering words.

Last week when I kicked off the series, I focused on the fact that God wants to bless us and that he wants us to cooperate with that blessing.  Even more than being blessed, we are to become a blessing ourselves that is why Jesus called us the salt of the world, the light on a hill. We are called and encouraged to spread blessings into our communities and into the darkness.

One of the dreams we have is to spread God’s blessings by working to end elective homelessness in our area. Let’s be thinking and dreaming about it.  I have some ideas and I am sure that you do too.   But the main thing is: let's get about the business of blessing others. And if you are lacking inspiration or feeling discouraged pick up your Bible and read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5- 7). Soak in the life-changing words and rejoice! Shine with God’s love as you bless others.

May God bless you abundantly.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Photo Credit

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4HniklCq-Q

Our New Year needs Christmas

By Pastor Linda Skinner Christmas Eve was a glorious time this year. How I loved sitting in the choir chairs on Christmas Eve and watching the faces of people enjoying the lore of Christmas. A message that comes through the music, the beauty of the manger in the rain, the dancer with the little cherubs and Pastor Tim’s unfolding of the Christmas story once again.

I watched the excitement of parents and grandparents, when their little angels, some with dangling halos, danced on the stage in front of the manger. We were blessed to have one of our high schoolers play the most beautiful cello solo and I couldn’t help but notice his dad sitting on the front row, eyes closed, a smile on his face, enjoying every stroke of the bow on the strings. I almost missed my entry cue on the song (don’t tell Rhonda, ok?). So many people thanked our church for making their Christmas Special.

Pastor Tim shared that in his over 30 years of ministry he has never known a time where we need Christmas more than now. It got me to thinking about how important Christmas is to us 365 days of the year. Some of us celebrate only on Christmas Day with family and friends, other traditions celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas beginning on Christmas Day and ending on January 6, but no matter how you celebrate Christmas is a celebration of New Birth. Not only our Saviors’, but our own as well.

Wednesday night, December 30 (the 6^th day of Christmas), our Women’s Ministry at Washington Cathedral cooked and served a holiday meal for the Camp Unity Community-- a tent community currently located at a church in Woodinville. What a feast it was!

Two months ago when I signed up for that night, I was a little concerned about how many ladies would be willing to cook a meal between Christmas and New Years Day. How many would even be in town? What kind of support could we rally? Well, I wish you could have been there. First, everyone was prepared to serve the meal outside in the freezing cold. Our helpers came bundled in layers of cloths, scarfs, hats, and gloves. Ready to face the freezing cold. Our first miracle was that the church opened up their fellowship hall and kitchen for us to use. Allowing us to be in, out of the cold, but more importantly allowing the residents to enjoy a delicious meal in the beautiful warm area.

Second miracle was the food. I had this crazy idea that I wanted everything to be home cooked. My mom taught me years ago that you give your best to those who have the least. Well it was beyond my wildest imagination. Turkey, Ham, Potatoes, Dressing, Gravy, Cranberry Sauce, Sweet Potatoes, Soup, Cooked Vegetables, Salads, Pies, Cakes – all delicious and lovingly cooked by the ladies of our church. I was blown away (it brings tears to my eyes as I’m typing this). One lady brought some delicious whipped sweet potatoes (enough to feed an army) and she told me her kitchen is being remodeled and she had to cook the sweet potatoes a few at a time in her micro-wave--plus she has a broken arm.

Third miracle was the amount of food. We had enough food for twice the number of people whom we served. I spoke to Chris who runs the kitchen at the church we were using and he said that on New Year’s Eve they were planning to serve Camp Unity and they’d love to use the food to serve that meal. I couldn’t believe that what our ladies prepared was not only so delicious but it was so plentiful that it would bless this community for New Year’s Eve.

The fourth miracle was the people. What a blessing to see our church spending time enjoying food and fellowship with the people of Camp Unity. One family drove all the way from Seattle to a place they had never been, driving in the dark--even getting a little lost--to serve in the name of Jesus.

All of these miracles are a result of people living Christmas in their hearts and lives. As we enter this New Year 2016, maybe in place of all the resolutions that seem to fade by January 15, I’d like to challenge you to think about what you might do differently in 2016 to live out Christmas for the next 365 days.

Take a few minutes and meditate on Romans 12:1-5.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

God Bless You and Those You Love.

Re-Gifting Peace This Christmas

By Pastor Rex Hamilton I have a friend who lives in Orlando, FL and works as the head football coach for a large high school. His name is Andre and for several years, he and I played the re-gifting game. You see, he had received a rather cheesy ceramic angel statue as a gift and decided it would be funny to give it to me knowing I didn’t want the statue either.

Once when our family visited them on a vacation, I packed the statue in my luggage and secretly found an inconspicuous spot in their house to place it. It was weeks before he noticed it and promptly mailed it back to me!

When it comes to the greatest gift humanity has ever received in the birth of Jesus the Messiah, we find that along with his birth came the promise of peace on earth. By giving us His son, he gives us the chance to receive his peace. Shalom. Wholeness of life. Yes, in all the chaos and brokenness of this world, despite our own struggles and pain, we can know real peace.

But God doesn’t give peace separate from Himself, so we have to be willing to receive peace through Him. This means surrender and a willingness to have new life in Him...

This gift of received peace has immense value. Eternal value! It’s far from some unwanted present a friend gives us and we immediately seek a way to get rid of it. No, this gift of peace should be re-gifted to others because of its value and meaning to us. God’s peace isn’t meant to be hoarded, but rather, shared with those around us who desperately need to experience the comfort of God’s wholeness.

This Christmas, lets seek ways to re-gift the peace in God we’ve so freely been given! Who knows the eternal impact it may make...

Photo Credit

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Celebrating Christmas as a Family

By Pastor Becca McCary

 If you've been looking for some ways to help your family connect spiritually with Christmas, I thought I would share 25 ways to Celebrate Jesus this Christmas. I put some of my favorites in bold if you don't have time to read the whole list.

1. Start the season off right, remembering what it's all about by reading the Christmas story in Matthew.

2. Kiss your spouse under the mistletoe. A happy, healthy marriage is a gift to our whole family and reflects the love of God. 

3. Get a Christmas Tree, remembering Jesus great act of love at the end of his life- hanging on a wooden cross to forgive us of our sins.

4. Sing Hark The Herald Angels Sing as a family, written by the great pastor Charles Wesley. It does a great job of reminding us of the Christmas Story.

5. Go for a long walk as a family, reflecting on Mary's Journey to visit her cousin Elizabeth. She traveled 80 miles while pregnant to get to her cousin for some support. How can you support each family member in God's calling on their lives?

6. Drive and look at Christmas lights. John 1:5 tells the Christmas story in one poetic sentence. Read the passage as a family and talk about how you can let more of God's light into your family as you turn to God.

7. Read the "Saint who would be Santa Claus" to learn some Christian history behind this pop culture icon.

8. Set up a nativity before bed and remember all the people sleeping in the cold tonight just like our savior did in his manger. Say a prayer for them.

9. Participate in our Santa Claus Conspiracy and share some joy this Holiday! 

10. Make a Christmas card for your neighbor and invite them to our worship services.

11. Pray for all the single moms you know, who have a daunting but powerful calling on their lives, just like Mary did. 

12. Pray for all the families and young toddlers fleeing their countries for asylum just like Jesus did when he fled for his life to Egypt.

13. Order a copy and read "The Living Nativity, The Story of Saint Francis and the Christian Manger" by David and Hellen Haidle. This children's book made me cry when I read it because it told the good news about Jesus so well, while also teaching some church history too. Seriously, check it out!  

14. Have a Christmas party! Laugh, dance, and enjoy! Celebration is a spiritual discipline and laughter heals the soul.

15. Commit to worshiping together as a family every Sunday this Advent. You won't regret this chance to connect with God and find rest for our soul in worship.

16. Tell your family what your favorite Christmas Carol is and why. Many of these songs have such rich spiritual content! 

17. Read "Saint Nicholas" by Ann Tompert with your kids. It has illustrations but might be a little scary for little ones since it is an account of the Christian roots of some of our Christmas traditions like gift giving and St. Nick caring for children.

18. God showed us love, making himself vulnerable, by coming to us as a baby, so that we could be close to him. Over a cup of hot chocolate, reflect on what relationships in your life could improve with more vulnerability and less defensiveness. 

19. Listen to the song "O Holy Night", reflecting on the reverence expressed in this song.  Share with your family members the things you do that help your heart to revere God.

20. Read Luke 1:46-56, Mary's song of praise. Share with your family some of the things you want to praise God for in your life.

21. Jesus' needs were provided for when the wise men brought him gifts. Is there someone in your life that has an unmet need, maybe for friendship or food or prayer, that you could reach out to this Christmas?

22. Joseph listened to God, and chose to love and care for Mary, even when it cost him his reputation. While eating a Christmas Cookie, consider, is there a person or group of people that makes you uncomfortable to love? How can you embrace a love that takes risks and puts others, even uncomfortable others, before your own ego, understanding, reputation, and assumptions.

23. Embrace Simplicity since the savior of the world had such a modest and simple birth. In the early church, if someone was hungry, and there wasn't enough food to go around, the church would fast for a day in order to have more food to share. Take one day to fast from technology to be generous with your time or take 25 days to fast from eating out so you can be generous to people in need with that money. 

24. Put people first since Christmas is about God being intimately involved with people.Volunteer to serve in the church for our Christmas services with the goal to get to know some people better who are in the family of God. Our faith is best lived out through relationships and you might be surprised at how you see and experience God through relationships at church.

25. Take an evening home to rest and connect as a family. Relax, breath, pray, laugh. Watch a Christmas movie. Sleep. During this busy season we often feel to busy for family, too busy to pray, too busy to worship. During our most busy moments are when we need connection the most. God is speaking all the time, and if we can pause to listen, we will be comforted by his sustaining presence.

I hope you have the most meaningful Christmas of your lives this year! Blessings on all of your families this Christmas!

Photo Credit

Big Faith In A Behind the Scenes God

I, like many of you, love a great action movie full of stunts and special effects. Every once in a while a great film comes around and will buy it on DVD so I can watch it long after it’s left the theaters. Most of today’s movies come with special features on the DVD like “deleted scenes” or a “behind the scenes look” at how the special effects were done. I never watch those features. Why? Because it erases all of my awe and wonder of simply enjoying the movie. I don’t need to know how the stunts were done. Rather, I just need to believe that somehow, someway they made something impossible look real and then I get the benefit of engaging in the story of the film.

Thousands of years ago, the prophet Isaiah foretold of a day in which God would give Israel a Messiah. A king of all kings who would deliver them from oppression and free them once and for all. 700 long years would pass before Isaiah’s prophecy would come true in the birth of Jesus.

700 years of waiting and hoping while God worked behind the scenes.

What was God doing all this time? Who knows. Why did it take so long? Your guess is as good as mine.

Scripture is full of stories where people waited on God. Waiting seems to be inseparable from our faith. We pray and seek God for answers and then almost always, we wait. Sometimes we wait a very long time and yet God comes through. Why? Because it’s His nature to be faithful. Leaving us stranded with unanswered prayers or empty hope is NEVER a part of God’s plans!

When we’re in that place of waiting on God, the point isn’t to try and figure Him out when He seems silent or becoming anxious over wondering if He’s doing anything at all. The point is to live in His peace, while knowing that the waiting is for our benefit.

After all, God said through the prophet Jeremiah, “For I know the plans I have for you. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Are you frustrated with God today? Wondering if he’s listening to your prayers? Are you finding yourself living in more anxiety than peace?

Try this little practice: find a time and place of solitude this week and begin to recall (even if it means going back to your childhood) when God answered your prayers. Often, when we remember His faithfulness in our past, we can be at peace in our today while we wait and He works behind the scenes for our good.

Grace and Peace.

Pastor Rex

Photo Credit

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1V_qtyg8AI

Lifetime Friendships

Lifetime friendships form the real church.  Anything else is a crowd or an event.

Greater love has no one than this to lay down one’s life for a friend.  John 15:14

Throughout two thousand years of history there have been many things that have been called ‘the church’.  Buildings, wars, rallies, crusades, organizations, political regimes, clusters of political/social groups which would unite together to protect their cultural identity, liberals and conservatives, armies and social organizations, tax loop hole people, etc. However, none of those are the bride of Christ or the body of Christ.

As my grandpa used to say, “You can’t climb the ladder of success by using the church.”  The church is about humility, service, authenticity, sacrifice, joy, family, and reaching out to others that are not like your group. A huge crowd is not a church, a beautiful building with gold ceilings is not a church, scholastic degrees do not make a church, nor does a wonderful success story make a church.  A church is when Jesus is present and it is apparent by the love.  It’s when we are friends not slaves.

When my wife, Jackie, and I started Washington Cathedral we made a radical commitment that we expect to honor.  We knew it would not be easy. It fact it would require crazy love.  You’re friends for the rest of our lives.  I’ve turned down a lot of great job opportunities to honor those words.

Those roots mean something, especially to the kids and the senior adults in our community, and we couldn’t quit loving the people of Washington Cathedral even if we tried.  Throughout the years it has meant early morning hospital visits, all nights of prayer, late evening counseling appointments, and middle of the night emergencies. And for many more years it will continue to mean meeting people for coffee to encourage them, praying three hours a day for every friend, attending kids’ games, visiting people in jail, and having friends stay at our home with us. Through all these things we reach out with Christ's love.

I was recently talking to one of the sharp young people who grew up in our church and tumbling out of me came, “I so appreciate your ministry.  You are a valued to friend to Jackie and I.  You always seem to have our back.  I know God has great things ahead for you.”  Those words came from a deeper place in my heart than I knew existed.

Last week, I shared the vision of the church and shared a quote from Mother Theresa, “We don’t get clarity as much as we get trust.”  I trust that our church family will continue to focus on healthy life long friendships as we try to live up to being a great caring network or as the Bible calls it the Body of Christ.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4leT5obUr4

Serve Your City

There’s an old African proverb that says, “If you want to fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” I’ve tried to always remember of this when sitting down to craft a vision for ministry. Why? Because its true.

Most of us can take matters into our own hands to get things done. But the impact will most likely be minimal and brief. Lasting impact and legacy happens when people work together for the common good of the vision. This is called a movement. Movements change neighborhoods. Movements influence generations. Movements are energizing!

This past weekend, we announced our vision for outreach and some of the Serve Your City details. If you missed it, make sure to catch the video!

Think of how we could influence our community with the love of Jesus if families joined together to serve their city. Small groups serving together. Friends, kids and teens within Washington Cathedral serving together. The possibilities are amazing!

The vision of Washington Cathedral has always been about Jesus and making a LASTING impact in our community for the Kingdom of Heaven. This isn’t going to change, so I’d say, let go together in this mission, so that our church can go far!

Grace and Peace.

Pastor Rex

Photo Credit

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87uMEg33OZw

A Taste of Community

Outside of being a little baby, there isn’t a stage in life where having friends isn’t important. As a boy, I can remember “exploring” with my friends in the woods, or riding our bikes all over the neighborhood in search of things to do. When I was a teenager, my friendships seemed to mean the world to me. I wanted to spend as much time possible hanging out with them, watching movies, playing basketball, or talking girls. Some of those friends are still close to me today!

Now as a married adult with 4 children and a busy work schedule, I find myself with fewer close friends, yet their value has grown exponentially. I couldn’t possibly be the person I am today, without their constant loyalty, love and support.

The Bible is full of stories of friendship. David and Jonathan, Paul and Timothy are a couple that stand out to me as I ponder the importance of not doing life alone. These were friends who helped carry each other through very difficult times, yet celebrated well, too when life seemed victorious. That’s when you know you have “community” in your life. People who genuinely share all the ups and downs of your life with...

In Hebrews chapter 10, we as the Church are encouraged to “spur one another on in love and to good deeds”... Think about that word “spur” for a moment. How might you be able to spur a fellow believer this week in love? A phone call? An encouraging letter? Maybe a hug?

This is an important season for us at Washington Cathedral. We need each other! We need to show our community what genuine faith looks like within a people of genuine friendships! What a great witness we could be!

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Rex

Photo Credit

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks3vpXvFR90

The Vision of Worship

Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Exodus 20:8 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. John 4:23

Last week as we began the series “Setting the Table,” we began to share the excitement the church feels as we develop our vision for the next ten years.  We are not going to be reactive to life but proactive. So we are listening for God’s vision as we find our place at the table for one of the most exciting conversations of our lives.

What will your life look like in the year 2025?  Will they discover a pill to make everyone one of us slim, young and athletic with heads full of hair?

No one knows what the future holds.  We can see the problems, which we hear about every day.  But do we see God’s love and power and how he wants to work through us?

We are going to be dreaming about improving our worship at Washington Cathedral in amazing ways.  As the word of God says in John. “The Father is seeking those who will worship in him in Spirit and Truth. “

1. How do we make worship a non-entertainment event and yet pursue excellence?
2. How do we experience the power of the Spirit of God in worship and yet remember that Christ is over culture and our many congregations will worship God with different culture and languages?
3. How do we grow deep in the truth of God’s word so we are not confused in a shallow understanding of Jesus so that people can grow up strong and put down deep roots?
4. How do we make worship like Jesus wants it – reaching out to the least of these in our area showing them the grace and friendship we have found in Christ?
5. How do we launch multiple campuses with many language and cultural groups throughout our area?
6. How do we teach people to be free to be the people that God created and loves so much, without looking down their nose in superiority turning our Holy worship into a political club?

The questions can go on and on and they will.  Because we are determined to teach people how they can have a seat at the table and engage in our community in the exciting vision we have for the future.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hps6HSiEXA