Words of Welcome

John 4:7-10, 16-29 We’ve all had life-altering conversations. John has already told you his story about how he came into the church. I want to follow up with a couple of my own, even though I’ve essentially been in the church all my life. There have been moments, nonetheless, that have helped change the course of my life. I could mention Brent Smith’s invitation to join in a bible study while in high school, or Dennis Helsabeck’s invitation to go to Twin Oaks Christian Church, but of the many conversations that helped form the direction of my life, I’d like to mention two. The first story takes place in the summer of 1981. It was the final week of my brief tenure as a youth minister. I spent that week serving as one of three teachers at a high school church camp. At that point I didn’t really know what I would do next. I’d thought about seminary, but I wasn’t sure that I was either called to ministry or something else. That week I met Gary Railsback, the new recruiter from...

Mark 1:14-20 I know that some of you here today, maybe Lance or Elmer, could tell some really good fish stories. You could talk about dragging a shed out onto the ice and doing some really fun ice fishing; or maybe you could tell us about going out on Lake Huron and catching a really big bass. Something like that. Alas I can’t join you in telling such tales. I’ve lived my life near rivers and streams and lakes and oceans, but I’ve only caught one small fish, and that was when I was but a child. Since I can’t tell a good fish story, I’m going to rely on a famous author. In The Old Man and the Sea , Ernest Hemingway told the story of Santiago the fisherman. Santiago was an old and experienced fisherman, but at one point he’d gone out to sea eighty-four straight times without catching a thing. He would have given up, except this young boy kept cajoling him and encouraging him to keep going in the hope of making that last big catch. Yes, it was that boy’s faith in his fishi...