Rev. Peter C. de Vries, Ph.D. has served Old Union since November 1993.
To learn more about Rev. Dr. de Vries, go to FaceBook, Linked-In, or his blog.
FROM THE PASTOR
It’s time for us to wake up as a church. It’s time for us to remember what being a church is all about. Yes, it is wonderful that we are a friendly, welcoming congregation. That’s part of what it means to be a church, but only part. Yes, we need to maintain our facilities well and be financially stable. But that is only part of what it means to be the kind of church that Jesus wants us to be.
We have all the right language, but we need to pay attention to what it means. For more than a decade, our slogan has been “Encourage one another and build each other up” (1Thessalonians 5:11). Let’s think together about the message this carries.
First, to “encourage” someone means more than being a friendly and caring presence in their lives. We “encourage” people who are “discouraged.” Our work of encouragement includes working against the forces and practices of discouragement around us. How can we bring more love and justice into the world? Next, in order to encourage someone, you need a source to base your encouragement upon. We can encourage because we have hope to offer. And the hope we have to offer is Jesus Christ. The best way to encourage someone is to tell them, or to remind them, who Jesus is, what he has done for us, and what he will do for us. Put simply, encouraging someone means telling them the gospel.
Second, we claim to be a church that builds people up. We live in a world that seems intent on tearing people down. Our calling as a church is to counteract these forces of destruction. And we have a fancy theological word to describe these destructive forces: sin. The tearing-down that hurts us most deeply is not only the consequence of the sins of other people, but even more, the effect that our sinfulness has in our own lives. To build someone up means to offer support and guidance as they repent or turn away from their sins. To build someone up means compassionately to help them grow in their love and knowledge of Jesus Christ. In other words, the work of building someone up is the work of discipleship.
Telling people the good news of Jesus Christ. Helping people grow in discipleship. That’s what we’re really saying when we talk about encouraging and building up.
Let’s go one step further and identify the “one another” that we’re encouraging and the “each other” that we’re building up. If we think that our calling is only for “each other” in our congregation, we become inwardly focused and lose our relevance in our community and in God’s world. When someone once asked Jesus “Who is my neighbor?” he essentially asked Jesus who his “each other” was. Jesus responded with the story of the Good Samaritan: caring for someone you would consider to be an enemy. If you can call to mind the person (or the kind of person) that annoys or angers you the most, that’s exactly whom God wants you to encourage and build up.
I love the fact that we use 1 Thessalonians 5:11 as our theme verse. But I wonder if there’s another way we can also describe ourselves:
“Old Union Presbyterian Church: Bringing People to Christ Since 1806”
Peter
It’s time for us to wake up as a church. It’s time for us to remember what being a church is all about. Yes, it is wonderful that we are a friendly, welcoming congregation. That’s part of what it means to be a church, but only part. Yes, we need to maintain our facilities well and be financially stable. But that is only part of what it means to be the kind of church that Jesus wants us to be.
We have all the right language, but we need to pay attention to what it means. For more than a decade, our slogan has been “Encourage one another and build each other up” (1Thessalonians 5:11). Let’s think together about the message this carries.
First, to “encourage” someone means more than being a friendly and caring presence in their lives. We “encourage” people who are “discouraged.” Our work of encouragement includes working against the forces and practices of discouragement around us. How can we bring more love and justice into the world? Next, in order to encourage someone, you need a source to base your encouragement upon. We can encourage because we have hope to offer. And the hope we have to offer is Jesus Christ. The best way to encourage someone is to tell them, or to remind them, who Jesus is, what he has done for us, and what he will do for us. Put simply, encouraging someone means telling them the gospel.
Second, we claim to be a church that builds people up. We live in a world that seems intent on tearing people down. Our calling as a church is to counteract these forces of destruction. And we have a fancy theological word to describe these destructive forces: sin. The tearing-down that hurts us most deeply is not only the consequence of the sins of other people, but even more, the effect that our sinfulness has in our own lives. To build someone up means to offer support and guidance as they repent or turn away from their sins. To build someone up means compassionately to help them grow in their love and knowledge of Jesus Christ. In other words, the work of building someone up is the work of discipleship.
Telling people the good news of Jesus Christ. Helping people grow in discipleship. That’s what we’re really saying when we talk about encouraging and building up.
Let’s go one step further and identify the “one another” that we’re encouraging and the “each other” that we’re building up. If we think that our calling is only for “each other” in our congregation, we become inwardly focused and lose our relevance in our community and in God’s world. When someone once asked Jesus “Who is my neighbor?” he essentially asked Jesus who his “each other” was. Jesus responded with the story of the Good Samaritan: caring for someone you would consider to be an enemy. If you can call to mind the person (or the kind of person) that annoys or angers you the most, that’s exactly whom God wants you to encourage and build up.
I love the fact that we use 1 Thessalonians 5:11 as our theme verse. But I wonder if there’s another way we can also describe ourselves:
“Old Union Presbyterian Church: Bringing People to Christ Since 1806”
Peter
Old Union Presbyterian Church | 200 Union Church Road, Mars, PA 16046
724-538-8672 | [email protected]
724-538-8672 | [email protected]