Entries by David Bender

Every year I eagerly anticipate the Super Bowl.  As I watched last Sunday, I was reminded of the Panther’s Saturday evening playoff game a few weeks ago.  With cold weather predicted and a four hour game ahead, I decided to risk the ridicule of friends from colder climates and to make some serious preparations. So, I stopped by K-Mart and bought a pair of jeans, some thermal underwear, some gloves and an unnamed item to warm my ears. After careful planning, I donned five layers of clothes, three of which sported the Panther logo.  I added the socks and boots and gloves and ear warmers, and I was prepared.  I joined tens of thousands of folks who paid for tickets, travel, parking, food, hot chocolate and so much more, and I cheered for the entire four hours as the Panthers enjoyed their final victory of the year.  I had a great time, and I would do it again.

But, I sometimes wonder about the time, energy and money that I gave to this pursuit.  Many folks believe that our most valuable resource is that of time, and I worry that we dedicate so much of it to our own enjoyment.  Yes, we all need entertainment to escape the pressures and hardships of our lives.  Entertainment can bring folks together, and it can bring a measure of happiness.  But, I must ask the obvious question—comparatively, how much time are we willing to give to the service and worship of our God?  Considering pre-game preparations, how often do we give considerable time to preparing our minds and hearts for serious theological reflection when we are not teaching or for a worship service that we are not leading?  How willingly would we dedicate four consecutive cold hours to serving God and God’s people?  What would happen if the millions of people who watched the Super Bowl thereafter dedicated that same amount of time and energy to praying for this world and to serving those in need?  How might our lives have new meaning and our communities experience new vitality if we served God as much as we watch football?  In the end, I am challenged to look in the mirror and to ask the question: if we rank our life priorities by an honest assessment of how we spend our time and energy, where does playtime rank on that list?  Where does God rank?  Hmmm…       

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ!!  I just wanted to share this good news—I met her. I did not even know that I was looking for her, but there she was. My son, James, a toddler at the time, was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and RSV. In the midst of that exhausting week, I had my overnight bag packed and was heading to his room.

In the elevator, I was joined by a woman in her 50’s. She had no features that stood out. She was neither tall nor short, neither heavy nor thin, neither young nor old. We could have easily ignored one another but for one reality—she was crying. This poor woman was not just sniffling; she was openly weeping, even sobbing. In that cramped space, I searched for the right words. Finally, I came out with, “Tough day?” That’s one of those reasonable responses that gives her all of the power—she could just nod her head, or she could pour out her heart. On that occasion, she chose the latter.

She said, “Yes, a very tough day.” Then, she told me her story. Her father had battled cancer bravely, but the disease was winning. She and her mother had taken good care of him, with this woman shuffling between the hospital and jobs and kids. Now, she had just learned that her mother was in the hospital, and her condition was not good. The poor woman seemed all alone in the world as she said, “What am I going to do?”

Who was that woman? She is the woman we find in Psalm 25. The psalmist describes that person as being in a “desolate pit” and a “miry bog” (verse 2), one who has been “encompassed by evils” and “overtaken by iniquities” (verse 12). You probably know that woman, too. In fact, YOU have probably been that woman. Many of us have watched loved ones suffer with disease, or worried over the safety of our kids, or failed to make a house payment, or ruined a relationship. Many of us have been there in that desolate pit. During those times, we can cling to that prayer that we find at the end of the psalm, “I take refuge in you” (verse 20). May your days be blessed, and may you find your refuge in God.

These few months at Faith have been times of growth, service, meeting new folks, worship, and just having a great time.  God continues to be at work in this church community and in the community at large, and we are blessed and honored to be serving God’s will through this new church.  I wanted to take just a moment to talk about two exciting events we have just experienced.   

First, we were thrilled to take a group of youth to participate in a large mission effort with many other Presbyterian churches in the area.  Youth and adults from about 22 churches spent one Saturday morning engaged in serious, important mission at locations within their counties.  Then, we all traveled to a central location, where we shared a meal, shared our experiences with one another, and shared our learnings and insights.  Our youth team was honored to travel into Lancaster and serve in mission at Hope in Lancaster, Inc.  Our group learned of the great need of good, hardworking folks right here in Lancaster County.  Many folks need help once in a while with food, paying electric bills, rent and mortgage payments, etc.  We learned about folks loosing jobs that have been shipped overseas, and about folks whose have jobs but whose hours have been drastically reduced because of the decline in the house-building market and other markets.  Our team, Will, Darby and Gil, gave of our best efforts that morning in sorting and preparing food items to get them ready for disbursement.   

Second, we were honored to host a puppet team from one of our sister churches, North Wilkesboro (NC) Presbyterian Church.  They brought down a team of approximately 20 kids, along with three adult advisors.  They presented their puppet show three times that weekend, and everyone found their effort both entertaining and meaningful.  One observer commented that the show was the best amateur puppet show that he had ever experienced.  The show ended with a spectacular re-telling of the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus.   

The team presented the show on a Saturday morning at the Indian Land Recreation Center, and we invited the whole community.  We were honored to meet 11 or 13 families from that experience.  That Saturday afternoon, we traveled down to the Children’ Home in Lancaster and again presented the show.  We had the chance to interact with the kids, and they had the opportunity to try out the puppets.  Finally, the puppet team helped lead our Sunday morning worship service.

This summer, we have other great events for kids and their parents—Family Fun Day, Vacation Bible Camp, Free Movie Nights and more.  We hope that your family can join us!!  Come, see what God is doing at Faith!

Greetings in the name of the Lord from Faith Presbyterian Church!  It seems like just last week that we put away our Christmas decorations, sang our last words of “Joy to the World,” and celebrated the birth of Jesus.  Now, we blink and turn around and recognize that we are right in the middle of the 40-day season of Lent. 

This 40-day season, which ends the Saturday before Easter Sunday, reminds us of the gospel story of Jesus surviving for 40 days in the wilderness before the beginning of his ministry.  During those days, Jesus fasted and prayed, and he encountered and rejected the sinful temptations of the cunning tempter. 

This season of Lent invites us to take an honest look at ourselves and our world and, through prayer and self-reflection, to recognize our sin.  Lent invites us to join Jesus in the spiritually enriching practice of doing without some of our favorite things on which we feel dependent—caffeine, junk food, television—and to adopt spiritually healthy practices like serious prayer, earnest outreach ministry, meaningful reading and study, honest worship, and (for some) careful fasting. 

So, why spend these weeks dwelling on the somber challenges of sin, brokenness, self-denial, and fasting?  Why not skip all of these potential “downers” and head straight from the joy of Christmas to the celebration of Easter Sunday? 

For one, we cannot know the full joy of new life without recognizing the reality of our old life.  We cannot meaningfully encounter God’s love and divine nature until we recognize and admit our own shortcomings and human nature.  We cannot become the people that God would have us to be until we recognize the people that we are and repent.  As a professor once broke it down, “We can’t get to Sunday [Easter] without first going through Friday [the day of Jesus’ death].” 

As we anticipate the Easter celebration of Christ’s victory over death, Lent invites us to mourn that death and to recognize the ways that we, as individuals and communities, continue to participate in that death.  How do we participate in Christ’s death?  We do so by placing ourselves—our wants, our agendas, our perspectives—at the center of our universe in place of God.  Through the worship services and spiritual practices of Lent, we pray that we can again claim God as the King of our world and the Lord of our lives.

Faith Presbyterian Church is now it her fourth month of worship!  What a wonderful experience.  I’ve been so privileged to meet folks from such a diverse realm of experience.  We have been praying for some time for the folks who will make up the church community.  It is so great to know some of them, and to know that God is preparing the hearts of others who will become a part of this wonderful ministry.

We worshipped for the very first time on Worldwide Communion Sunday, October 7, 2008.  We had somewhere around 180 worshippers join us for our initial launch.  As I get accustomed to the fairly new skill of “blogging,” I’ll try to include some pictures of that service.  What a special time, and a special service!

Since that launch, we’ve continued worshipping and fellowshipping together.  We have enjoyed a picnic at Andrew Jackson State Park, a catered Advent Lunch with all of fixin’s, including some beautiful music from the Grace Presbyterian Church Hand Bell Choir and our own musicians, Greg and Jing.  We enjoyed a trip to Brattonsville to learn about Christmas in this area through the centuries.  We now look forward to a new phase in the life of Faith, where we hear God calling us to begin new ministries—Bible study, choir, children and youth activities, mission…etc.

Come and see us, and see what God is doing with this group.  Come, there is a place and a ministry waiting for you here.  Come…

Greetings friends:

Thanks for checking out the first entry of my blog!  I’m excited about the beginning of Faith Presbyterian Church, and I’m excited that this web site is about to go public.  I’m sitting at our breakfast room table writing this entry.  As I look around, I see how far this house has come since we our move in April.  The bedrooms upstairs are now in a semblance of good order.  The kids’ playroom, which on moving day looked like the unfortunate result of a toy factory explosion, is now orderly, with each toy having its own place (even if these toys have a hard time finding their way back to their place).  Downstairs, our living room is set up, our bookshelves are full, and our mantle is covered with birthday cards from recent celebrations.  The kitchen has been organized and then re-organized.  We even had the correct plug installed on our clothes dryer, so that room is now functional.  The house, now a home, seems to have reached the stage of comfortable livability…except for one room.

As I type this, I’m looking into our small living room at the front of the house.  It is still stacked high with boxes.  These boxes contain many, many books.  It is not as though we haven’t had time to finish unpacking.  It’s just that we don’t have anywhere to put the books.  Our old house had a plethora of built-in bookshelves that are not a part of our new floor plan.  So, for the time being, the boxes sit there cluttering up a home that is pretty well set otherwise.

Does this scenario serve as a metaphor for our lives?  Many of the people with whom I have contact seem to have their lives in order.  You know the type—good marriage, loving family, meaningful relationships, relationship with God, satisfying job that pays the bills.  In fact, many of us ARE that type, and that’s good.  But, if we are honest with ourselves, don’t most of us have at least that one little room in our lives that is too full of clutter—the clutter of jealousy, of holding onto a grudge much longer than we should, of spending too much time on ME and not enough time on US, of wanting to help people but never quite finding the time or the opportunity?  The wonder of God is just this—God loves us and accepts us, clutter and all.  Even if we don’t “have it all together,” God is with us offering strength in our times of weakness and hope when things seem hopeless.  Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!!

At Faith Presbyterian, you probably won’t find a church-full of people who have every aspect of their/our lives in order.  We will all bring a little clutter with us.  It is my hope and prayer that we will be there for one another as we unpack our clutter.