Three things coming up for the people of Good Shepherd:   1. This Sunday (1.1.17) we will worship at 10 a.m. at both Moss Road and Zoar Road locations.  1.  "Live" sermons at each called "After The Ball Drops."  Our Latino community will worship at 11:30 at the Moss Road Campus.  We will have nursery for infants through kindergarten. Our regular Children's programming PLUS our 8:30 and 11:30 (Moss Road) and 11:30 (Zoar Road) ministries will resume next week, January 8, 2017   2.   Speaking of next week, we are launching into 2017 with a series called "Creatures Of Habit."  Some of you saw the sermon bumper video on Christmas Eve.  In addition to a series that, obviously, focuses on our habits, we have a special ministry tool:  a 30 Day Prayer and Reflection Guide authored by the people of Good Shepherd.  If you were part of the church during last summer's "Preventology" series, you know the impact of those Good Shepherd-authored guides.   3.  On Sunday, January 15 at 5 p.m. (no Panther playoff game conflict, I promise), we'll be offering a Next Step membership group at both campuses.  I'd love to get to know you better.  To sign up, check here.  

On occasion, I give phone calls to people I haven’t seen around church in awhile. My responses to their responses have me a bit conflicted. If they respond to my “hey, I’ve missed seeing you and want to make sure everything is OK” with “oh, sorry, I’ve just gotten out of the routine of coming but I’m hoping to get back soon” then I respond (internally of course) with “Hallelujah! They haven’t found someone else younger and better looking!” Because my great fear in that phone call is that they will say, “Oh, I’ve started going to __________”— someplace younger, hipper, cooler — or even “No, I’m thinking of joining _______________” — someplace more sedate and comfortable. So I’m conflicted because I’d rather have people not going to church at all(temporarily) than going to another church. Because if they’re not going anywhere, they’ll probably come back here. I think most pastors, if honest, would share this preference. In all those motivations and all that internal conversation, I overlook something quite critical: the people belong to God and not to me; they are members of the Kingdom and not of Good Shepherd. My prayer is that I will soon be able to have Paul’s attitude rather than my own. In the face of church “competition” from leaders with different styles than his own, he remembered that “the important thing . . . [is that] Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.” Amen.

Many of you are familiar with the word "liturgy."  In most minds, the word conjures up images of public worship services that are formal, reverent, and predictable. "Liturgical" churches worship through traditional/ancient music, recite creeds & prayers, and place the communion table in the center of the altar area while the preaching space is off to the side.  If you have attended a Roman Catholic or an Episcopal church -- or even a good many United Methodist congregations -- then you know what a "liturgical" service is like. As you might suspect, Good Shepherd is not typically defined as a church heavy on liturgy. However, I believe that this past weekend of Christmas-oriented worship gatherings captured the essence of "liturgy" at both Moss Road and Zoar Road. That's because the word "liturgy" literally means "the work of the people."  So a "liturgical" service is less about worship style and more about people participation.  And that understanding of "liturgical" very much defines what happened this past weekend.  Here's are five reasons why: 1.Our 5 p.m. Kid-Centric Christmas Eve Service featured four different meditations given by four different GS leaders.  My only role in that service was to start the candle-lighting portion of the festivities. Of the four "meditations," my favorite came from high school senior Rachel Brooks . . . a Jesus-centered young woman I have known since she was in diapers. 2.All THREE Moss Road worship gatherings began with 10 year old David Clayton reciting Luke 2:1-21 FROM MEMORY.  What is the point of getting together on Christmas Eve if you're not going to tell the Christmas story?  And what better way to tell it than to recite Dr. Luke's version of it?  And what better way to do that than to enlist the services of a precocious ten year old?  At all three services, David was unflappable and the ensuing move of the Spirit was unstoppable. 3.Chris Thayer and Sammy Gonzalez preached live at our Zoar Road and Latino Campuses.  That's not unusual for Sammy, who typically takes and then personalizes my sermon for delivery in the Latino service.  Yet the primary method of sermon delivery at Zoar Road is my message from Moss Road on high resolution video.  For Christmas Eve, however, we had Chris go "live."  (We've got some other surprises up our sleeve along those lines for 2017.) 4. On Christmas morning, Madison Reeder delivered the meditation.  I know that a good many churches decided not to have a Sunday Christmas morning service, given all the emphasis put on Christmas Eve.  We ultimately decided to offer one, with the provision that I greatly discouraged staff from attending. So it was "high touch, low tech" in our new Living Room, with volunteers leading the a capella singing of some of our favorite Christmas carols.  Madison's message -- called When God Drops By When You're A Hot Mess -- was  marvelous moment in full circle ministry.  When Julie and I arrived at Mt. Carmel UMC in Monroe in July of 1990, Madison was 11 months old and her family had lifetime ties to that church.  So I have known her all her life.  What's more, on a Sunday in 1994 (I think), I invited her father Bill Reeder preach for me at Mt. Carmel.  Fast forward 22 years, and Madison has moved to Indian Land, SC, (convenient to Good Shepherd) and is one of our children's ministry leaders at the Zoar Campus.  So when I knew I wanted the people to hear a different voice than mine on Christmas morning, Madison was the first person I thought of. She immediately said "yes," and her content AND delivery on Sunday were terrific. 5.I didn't feel great about my own "Pin Drop" message on Saturday night.  I wrestled with it all week.  We changed some of the technical support for it.  And then -- horror of horrors! -- during the Saturday night singing I decided to change the bottom line.  The BOTTOM LINE!  This never happens.  The end result was that I did more "talk to thinking" than my usual "think to talk-ing."  But in the middle of my delivery and even my discomfort, I kept remembering:  "oh yeah . . . this weekend is way more about the work of the people than my sermonic precision.  God's got it, the people are filled with his Spirit, and we're going to be OK."  And so we were. And now you know how we at Good Shepherd became a "liturgical" church.  

  Here is a snapshot of where we are headed this weekend: Christmas Eve -- Saturday, December 24 Moss Road Campus Worship Gatherings 5:00 pm 6:30 pm 8:00 pm Note:  for the first time, we have Nursery Ministry at both 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Our 5:00 p.m. is the most Kid-Centric service. All three services will feature carols, candlelight, extra seating in the spacious new Living Room, and a Scripture experience you'll have to see to believe.  My message at 6:30 and 8:00 is called Pin Drop. Zoar Road Campus Worship Gatherings 5:00 pm 6:30 pm Zoar's services will be identical to Moss with carols, candlelight, Scripture, and a live message called Pin Drop. Latino Campus 8:00 pm Our Latino community will celebrate Christmas Eve in the Living Room at Moss Road   Christmas Day -- Sunday, December 25 Moss Road -- 10 am in the Living Room We will have ONE service at 10 am on Christmas Day in the new Living Room at Moss It will be HIGH TOUCH AND LOW TECH. Kids can come in their pajamas; adults can come even more casually dressed than usual. We'll have coffee, doughnuts, carols, and a meditation called When God Drops By On A Hot Mess.