Band of Brothers Men’s Ministry: The Screwtape Letters

This fall about 45 men from The Church of the Cross are meeting on Tuesday evenings to listen to and discuss CS Lewis’ classic book, The Screwtape Letters. In the Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis gives us the correspondence of a worldly-wise old devil to his nephew “Wormwood,” a novice demon in charge of securing the damnation of an ordinary young man. This is an amazing book about temptation, spiritual warfare in everyday life, and the ultimate triumph of good over evil and God over the Devil. The Screwtape letters were originally broadcast via radio. Taking our cue from Lewis’ original broadcast, we are listenning to about thirty minutes of The Screwtape Letters via an audio recording performed by Joss Ackland, followed by small group discussion about living life in awareness of the spiritual battles that surround us.

The Spiritual War

We have these HUGE movies: The Passion (trailer), The Lord of the Rings (trailer), Star Wars (trailer), The Matrix (trailer). They are huge in terms of box office sales, but they are also huge in terms of the Epic way that they deal with the battle between good and evil. Last Summer (August, 2005) I did a series of sermons on Ephesians 6: 10-18 called The Spiritual Warfare. I recently came across the slides that we created (David Sadd and I) for this series and realized that they are worth sharing for other pastors or teachers who may want to tackle the subject of Spiritual Warfare.

Another resource that I would highly recommend is William Gurnall's The Christian in Complete Armor and the excellent daily devotional, The Christian in Complete Armor: Daily Reading in Spiritual Warfare, based on his three volume exposition of Ephesians 6: 10-18 written in the 17^th century.

5 Essentials For Fall 2006

The fall is a time of starting up again for many of us. Vacation is over, and oyster season is fast approaching here in the south as the “R” (September, October, November…) months come upon us. Often during these times, we need to re-evaluate who we are and how life is going in our work, school, families, and communities. Have we overcommitted? Have we committed to the wrong thing? Or, could we just use some guidance in managing it all?

Thankfully God has something to say about how to live out our lives. Jesus reminds us in John 10:11 that the enemy has come to kill and steal, but he has come that we may have life, and have it to the full. So, how do we do that? How do we live in a 24-7-365 culture with all of its challenge and excitement? This fall at our Sunday morning CrossPoint service, we will look at 5 essentials from the book of Proverbs that address central areas of our lives: priorities, parenting, prevention, people, and purpose. Using the Wisdom of Proverbs, we will answer questions such as, “How do I prioritize my time when everything seems so urgent all the time?” Or, “How do I persevere in raising my kids to adulthood so that they become healthy contributors to society in the future?”

I look forward to seeing how God will use this series to help all who are seeking to know Him.

NOTE: I am a pretty firm beleiver that the preachers job is to expound, or unravel the Scripture for the gathered community. That is why you will find weekly sermons at CrossPoint that work through books of the Bible. However, there are certain books that do not read like books. Proverbs is one such book. The book of Proverbs makes for a fantastic topical sermon series, and the sermon series that you will find below draws upon Proverbs topically, forming collections of single passages, rather then a particular pericope.

September 3, 2006 Pastor Jay
Priorities as Pathways: How to Separate the Urgent From the Important
Proverbs 3:5-6; 13:14; 15:24; 23:19
^3:5-6Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. ^13:14The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death. ^15:24The path of life leads upward for the wise to keep him from going down to the grave. ^23:19Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path.

I. Our Paths:

• Ancient to Modern

II. Our Decisions:

• Separating the Urgent from the Important

III. Our Priorities:

• The Marginless Life "I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide my car needs washing. As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mailbox earlier. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car, so I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first. But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first. I take my checkbook off the table and see that there is only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking. I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the Coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye - they need to be watered. I set the Coke down on the counter, fill a container with water, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So, I get some towels and wipe up the spill. Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do. At the end of the day the car isn't washed, the bills aren't paid, there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter, the flowers don't have enough water, there is still only one check in my check book, and I don't remember what I did with the car keys. Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired…"

September 10, 2006 Father Owens
Parenting as Perseverance: How to Deal With the Demands of Raising Children
Proverbs 22:6
^22:6Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

September 17, 2006 Pastor Jay
Prevention and Restraint: How to Keep Yourself from Maxing Out
Proverbs 22:3; 23:4; 23:10; 25:28; 21:20; 29:18
^22:3A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it. ^23:4Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. ^23:10Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless. ^25:28Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control. ^21:20In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has. ^29:18Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.

I. Life’s Boundaries and Margins

• We like Margins and boundaries: paper, bank account, talking, first class, the highway, sitting in this room. Sometimes our lives become margin-less- the cushion disappears

II. When Margins Disappear

• We get stressed out: bank account, late, Summer and Adam’s Wedding
• Our focus turns inward: Edge of the stage, or in your face. Children be quiet until your father gets through this section.
• We become callous- you begin to disconnect. There but not there. You begin to think that not smashing into the edge is the point. Vietnam Pilot.
• You become unable to be in relationship. You have no time, strength, reserve, for relationship.

III. How Margins Make Us Thrive

• Our anxiety levels go down
• This allows us to become other-centered instead of self centered.
• When we are other centered, we can begin to connect with God and those we love.
• Margins allow us to hear God and hear others and to Love God and Love others.

IV. Finding Your Rest and Relationship in the Margins

• Answering the Question: Is It Good?

September 24, 2006 Pastor Jay
People and the Problem of the Tongue: How to deal with Gossip
Proverbs 11:13; 16:28; 18:8; 20:19; 26:20; 26:22
^11:13A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret. ^16:28A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends. ^18:8The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts. ^20:19A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much. ^26:20Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down. ^26:22The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts.

I. A World of Gossip and the Wisdom of the Sages.

Psalm 101:5 “Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I put to silence.”
Romans 1:28-32 “They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.” ·

Defined: Gossip is privately or publicly sharing anything about someone else, whether true or false, that might harm that person in some way.

Yetelle’s Feathers (Yittish Folklore from the 19th century)

III. Gossip as Relational Violence
1. News is verbal violence The Woodcutter's Horse
2. Rumors are verbal violence The Worship Leader's Problem
3. Slander is verbal murder

IV. Learning from the Great Rabbi
Matthew 18:15 If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.
1. If your brother sins against you
2. Go and show him his fault
3. Just between the two of you

October 1, 2006 Pastor Jay Communion
Purpose and Plans: How to Live a Life that God Will Bless
Proverbs 16:1; 16:4; 19:21; 20:5
^16:1To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue. ^16:4The LORD works out everything for his own ends— even the wicked for a day of disaster. ^19:21Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails. ^20:5The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.

Purpose and Plans: How to Live a Life that God Will Bless

Proverbs 16:1; 16:4; 19:21; 20:5
16:1To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue.

16:4The LORD works out everything for his own ends— even the wicked for a day of disaster.

19:21Many are the plans in a man's heart, but sit is the LORD's purpose that prevails.

20:5The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.

Introduction: Stepping Out Into the Unknown

I used the Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring Trailer to illustrate the desire that we have within us for a special purpose in life- a quest. Yet, often times, the quest does not come to us because we are not faithful with the basic purposes of life that God has designed us for.

Here is a Creed song mixed with LOTR scenes

I. Making Our Plans Line Up With God’s Purposes.

The water jug:

II. What Are His Purposes for Us?

• General purposes: Citizen, Man, Woman, Child, Creature
• Special purposes: Husband, Wife, Vocational
• Unique purposes: I was designed for this. I am doing what only I can do at this time. I am not replaceable.

III. Stepping Into His Purposes

Fountain Pics

Pics by David Sadd

Worship: The Prayer-atorium

It's funny when I read church growth books. They say funny things like, "The younger generation doesn't care about where they worship. In fact, church buildings scare them." I have actually heard stuff like this. I guess if you had to suffer through parochial school or you where dragged into church as a kid, then church might scare you. But what about the HUGE numbers of us that never even had any exposure to church when we were young? Churches never scared me when I was a kid. I mostly didn't want to go into them because they smelled. Yeah, they smelled mostly of mildew and dust- the church smell. But I was never scared. I was scared of some bar rooms in town. I knew really bad stuff went down in those rooms. People I loved would spend lots of time in there. That scared me. But, not churches. I mostly thought churches were irrelevant, not scary.

I think "My" generation, whatever that means, is unafraid of the sacred. In fact, I think that "My" generation and all generations who are living in a Post-Christian era (where church is not the main institution in our towns) are rather interested in church. We have the same fascination with churches as we might have with Buddhist Monasteries or Islamic Mosques- "Lets visit and see what they do to connect with God."

I lead worship in a beautiful building. It also happens to double as a school gym, and a banquet hall, and a place to teach lots of people. We call it a multi-purpose room. Some of us call it a praise-nasium or a prayer-atorium. We have really big and really beautiful screens that we use to direct people's eyes to God. We have a cross, a holy table, a lectern, and some really old pews in the hall. We also have a massive fountain with Scripture on it and three crosses coming out of the top of the fountain. We have really big and really beautiful screens that we use to direct people's eyes to God. We have a cross, a holy table, a lectern, and some really old pews in the hall. We also have a massive fountain with Scripture on it and three crosses coming out of the top of the fountain. So far no has complained that they are scared. So far, since all generations love beauty, most people have just said, "Wow, this is a beautiful building."

A New Bishop

We voted for a new Bishop in South Carolina Today and came up with a ¾ majority vote for Mark Lawrence on the first ballot. Mark is the 14^th bishop elect in South Carolina and the first ever Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry graduate to be elected Bishop. Welcome aboard Bishop Lawrence!

Lazy Labor Day Picnic

Our friend and neighbor Sarah Wright, who works as a journalist for the Bluffton Today, did a great article about our outreach event that we called the Lazy Labor Day Picnic. Bluffton is a pioneer town. Even though it has a historic downtown with traditions and a pretty set culture, the "rest of Bluffton" is brand new. We are setting the tone for the future by creating event where the community can gather, families can enjoy a day together and God can be glorified. It's called Christian community and it is epidemic.


Lazy day, big party
Church of the Cross puts together a picnic and invites the entire town on their collective day off.

Lisa Alston, far left, hands a cone of freshly spun cotton candy to Michelle McCrosson and her daughter, Olivia, 5, at Monday’s Lazy Labor Day Picnic at the Church of the Cross on Buckwalter Parkway. Kim Rowland/Bluffton Today


Lydia “The Circus Girl” Slocum, 5, balances on her father Jay’s hands in the pair’s crowd-pleasing act during the talent show.

Kaylee White, 8, gets a butterfly painted on her cheek at the at Monday’s Lazy Labor Day Picnic at the Church of the Cross on Buckwalter Parkway.

Bob Beine, far left, waits on a bench in the lobby of the church as two girls enjoy some popcorn Monday.

Children watch from the edge of the stage as they wait to perform in the talent show.


Sophia Nimmer, 4, performs a dance in the talent show.


Elaina Sadd, 9, from left, Devin Arrants, 7, Sabina Vaughan, 8, and Andrew Sadd, 5, watch as Lollipop the clown twists a balloon animal.


SophieAlbert, 7, far right, winds up Monday to throw her ball at a dunking booth as 9-year-old victim Garrison Dorell’s leg dangles above the water.

STORY BY SARA WRIGHT
BLUFFTON TODAY




PHOTOS BY KIM ROWLAND
BLUFFTON TODAY




For Nicholas Peckich, 6, it was a chance to do some stuff he loves to do all the time anyway, but this time with an audience.
With music playing, he jumped, rolled, cart-wheeled and generally put on the moves.
For father and sonWayneand Tucker Arrants, it was a chance to play guitar and violin and sing “Cat’s in the Cradle” by Harry Chapin, inspired by a recent church sermon to put what matters most first. (Tucker, 8, also put on a premiere ballet performance with friend Emily Vaughan, 10.) But the high point, quite literally, may have beenwhen “Circus Girl” Lydia Slocum, 5, towered near the stage rafters, balanced on the palms (not psalms) of her (very tall) daddy, the Rev. Jay Slocum.
And that was just the talent show. The Church of the Cross threw a partyMonday afternoon on its Buckwalter campus, and everyone wholives on Buckwalter Parkway was invited.
Actually, everyone was invited, but the church directed volunteers to drop off postcards for the “Lazy Labor Day Picnic” to all the Buck­walter developments nearby.
“Comefor food,” the card said.
(There were hotdogs, chips, water­melon, iced tea, lemonade, pop­corn, ice cream and cotton candy.) “Comefor fun.” (There was a tal­e ent show, live band, bounce house, dunking booth, cake walk and face painting.) WhenBaylor Davis, 7, saw the invitation in her drop-box at The Farm, she knew she planned to accept.
She brought the card in to show hermom, Shay Davis, and con­vinced the rest of her family. Baylor, her older sister Brooke, 10, and her younger sister Brilyn, 4, all walked the cake walkMondayasmomand dad (Walter Davis) looked onMon­day. (Baylor’s older brother Blake, 14, was getting a second helping of cotton candy.) Baylorwona plateful of cookies.
Mission accomplished.
Slocum said the idea of the picnic was “to give people an experience of what Christian community feels like.” “Wewanted to offer a fun, safe place for everybody to hang out.
We saw the need to do something like this because both the All Saints Day (the church’s carnival-like alternative to Halloween) and the Easter egg hunt were extremely well attended both by people of the church and of the community,” said Chris Long, a church volunteer.
“Weas a community need more opportunities to get together – the broader community, not only the church,” he said.
About 3,000 invitations were distributed, Long said.
Not everyone invited attended the party, scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m., but the church’s large parking lot was full. The weather was balmy despite a downpour that wrapped up about 2 p.m.
Long said church members considered moving some activities inside, not sure what the weather would do.
“I was terrified. Iwas like ‘What’s going to happen?’” said Elaina Sadd, 9, whosaid she had looked forward to the picnic all week.
As the first of the guests arrived, Lisa Alston was learninghowto makecotton candy for the first time. The thick, sticky stuff kept glomming onto the sides of the swirling metal chamber rather than sticking onto the paper holder.
“Out of about 15 or so I got one good one,” she bemoaned.
“Sometimes you have to shut it off and take off the buildup. Let it roll,” said cotton candy coach Margie Sykes.
A few minutes later the cotton candy – and the sky – had switched to blue, and Alston was handling a growing line of eager partakers like a pro.
“I’ve got it down now,” she said.
Meanwhile, youth minis­try director Steve Chisholm was all wet. He said he found his experience in the dunking book “terrifying.” “It was pretty easy (dunking Chisholm),” said Logan Brian, 11.
“All you have to do is hit the black spot.” Mary and Miguel Sanchez brought their daughter Christina, 3, to the picnic and sawmanyneigh­bors there.
“It’s for family and kids. It’s nice.
You get to meet people from the community,” said Miguel.
Mary agreed. “This is a real nice thing they’re doing for the com­munity.
The people are so nice,” she said.
Christina bounced in the castle until she was ready to be covered in butterflies by Lollipop, a face­painting clown. The event was free to the com­munity. The Buckwalter Band jammedout “Meet with Me,” “God of Wonders” and “Jesus Paid it All.”
Contact Sara Wright at 815-0817 or sara.wright@blufftontoday.com