Henrietta United Church of Christ

Scripture: Philippians 3:10-16

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.

Reflection:

Paul is telling us here about his own personal growth towards being more and more Christ-like. He holds fast to what he has attained, he lets go of the past, and he presses on toward the goal of God’s call for him in Christ Jesus.

This is also how our church becomes more and more Christ-like. Over and over again it has held fast to the deep faith, living hope, and embracing love that it has attained, let go of its past, and stretched and strained forward to answer the next call of God in Christ Jesus.

Isn’t that what it did when the fields all around began to be replaced by suburban homes? It opened its arms to scads of new people, gave up its beloved little country church building, and build this then modern brick building.

Isn’t that what it did when it opened its heart to the needs of the community, and created a caring childcare center and when it created a Sunday School class, square dancing, and handbell choir for developmentally disabled group home residents?

Isn’t that what it did when it stopped looking to the pastor to do all the ministering, and truly became a vibrant “congregation of ministers?”

Isn’t that what it did when we called Pastor Martha as our Associate Pastor to help us keep up with our growing congregation and burgeoning Sunday School?

Isn’t that what it did when we do what it takes to let all the children come unto Jesus, no matter what their physical or mental challenges?

Isn’t that what it did when we made a commitment to accept every person as Christ does, and resolved to “create a safe community for all, regardless of ability, race, age, gender, sexual orientation, or means?”

God’s call to be more and more like Christ never stops. So here we are today, no longer a little, country church, but a dynamic, diverse, generous, compassionate, all-embracing, spiritually-growing, mission-oriented, creation-caring, gifts unwrapping, musically blessed, kid-loving family of faith that just can’t seem to stop attracting more and more people who have been longing for a spiritual home like this, because they experience Christ moving in our midst and because it feels a little like heaven. That’s why I love this church, and I think that’s why we all love this church. And all of this has happened because, as each new challenge came along, HUCC held fast to the deep faith, living hope, and embracing love that it had attained, let go of its past, and stretched itself to answer the next call of God in Christ Jesus.

Today, after we share our food with each other, we will see a new, modified, improved vision of how we can create enough space to answer Christ’s call to open our arms, heart, and church building to everyone who wants and needs to join us in creating this little pocket of the kingdom of God. Our Feasibility Committee is really excited about this new plan and thinks you will be too. And there is no doubt in my mind that this is the year that we will gather up the deep faith, the living hope and all-embracing love that we have attained so far, let go of what lies behind us, and take this next bold, faithful step of answering God’s call in Christ to be God’s faithful church.

Truly isn’t this what it means to “build on our past, celebrate our present, and create our future?”