Pastor's E-letter 10/18/19
I am an avid coffee drinker. Every morning, I start my day by walking my dog and drinking a warm cup of coffee. Because this has become such a habit for me, I bought a Mr. Coffee with one of my favorite features: a delay timer. Now, when I wake up, I can expect my coffee to be ready and hot, making getting out the door easier during the week.
One morning recently, in the rush, I poured my cup of coffee, barely awake, and set out on my walk with my dog. About a minute in, I took a big gulp and immediately spit it out. Instead of fresh, perfect coffee, I was drinking day-old, lukewarm, stale coffee. The difference was noticeable and extreme. I finished my walk without my trusted morning companion and made a new pot, throwing away the old, lukewarm coffee in favor of something fresh and warm.
While I am certainly a caffeine junkie, I love coffee for the experience of drinking it, and the comfort it provides. I’ll drink coffee just about any old way: hot, cold, black, fancy with cream and sugar, frozen, the list goes on. The difficult part of that coffee was that it wasn’t any of those things. It was lukewarm, stale. It had lost its comfort, its ability to do what it was supposed to.
If you’re familiar at all with the book of Revelation, you’ll know that my lukewarm coffee story has a purpose. This week in worship, we’ll conclude our Dear Church series with arguably the most famous of all seven letters: Laodicea. Laodicea is the lukewarm church. Instead of being fresh, cold, and crisp, or hot, warm, and comforting, Laodicea was like my stale cup of coffee. It had lost its flavor. They believed they didn’t need God because of their wealth, and they suffered for it.
Jesus stood at the door and invited them into true discipleship, and Jesus invites us into true discipleship too. As we conclude this series, we’ll reflect on just what it means to love God in extraordinary ways and to be a church on fire for God’s kingdom and God’s presence in the world.
We also wanted to remind you about three opportunities to strengthen and live out your discipleship. Tomorrow night is Trunk or Treat at 5pm. We’d love to see you on campus for that! Sunday, October 27th, we will have “Ask the Pastors” in worship. Please don’t forget to send your biblical and theological questions to our Administrative Assistant, Rachel Kalleward, at Finally, that afternoon, we’ll reach out into our community for our Mental Health Awareness Fair from 2-4:30pm in the Dining Room and Worship Center, with plenty of resources and experts to learn from.
We do not have to be like my stale cup of coffee. We can be a church on fire for God, a cool drink of water in the presence of a chaotic world, and living out true discipleship.
I hope you’ll join us.
See you Sunday,
Allee