On Sunday, Rick began his final series about leaving a legacy of faith — what it means to leave such a legacy, and the core values that we should seek to pass on. Rick’s message is appropriate for any church body, at any time — but we all know that there is a special poignancy to hearing it now. Even beginning this message brings a little tear to my eye. (note to self — don’t forget to bring tissues to church!)

At the beginning of the 11:00 service, we were treated to a beautiful song sung by Hillary O. This particular song has long been a favorite of mine, and was very significant at this place and time. I want to share with you part of the lyrics for this song — this might be a good time for many us to consider adopting such an anthem:

I want to leave a legacy,
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love?
Did I point to you enough
To make a mark on things
I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace who
blessed your name unapologetically
And leave that kind of legacy.

You can see the rest of the lyrics, and listen to the entire song, by Nichole Nordeman, here.

And — if there was ever any doubt in your mind that God is a poet, I hope you got a chance to see Dave come forward to make his first confession of faith at the conclusion of the 11:00 service — not a transfer of membership, but a confession of faith. As we were all standing there, no doubt contemplating the culmination of Rick’s pastorship with us, we experienced the great joy of witnessing a sparkling new faith-life begin.  If that wasn’t a living, breathing picture of a faith legacy, I don’t know what is.

I had the great pleasure of meeting a new BCC friend at my daughter’s gym class recently. She asked if I was the one who had set up the blog, and mentioned that she has the BCC Webpage set as her homepage on her computer. I was a bit sheepish when admitting that I had set it up, because I know that there have been very few posts. Its easy to let blogging sift down to the bottom of my list, especially if I’m not sure anyone is reading it. And then it occurred to me — blogging is kind of like praying in that respect. You can’t always tell whether there is anyone on the other end — but you keep pushing forward in faith. And, sometimes the effect of the process on the writer/pray-er is really more important than what might or might not be going on with your audience.

My new friend didn’t actually say that she read the blog — but she knew it was there, and she’s mentioned it to other people. That’s enough for me. We aren’t currently in a structured 40-days-of-prayer cycle. But, I’m going to keep blogging along. If you are reading this, I hope you’ll keep reading, and maybe even make a comment! And, if you are interested in participating by posting your own entries, just let me know! If there is something you want to see somebody write about — let me know that too.

Go with God~

We are halfway through our 40 days, and have touched on many of the eight keys to discipleship.

What key is speaking to you?

In our Fall 40 days of prayer, when we were all invited to write down the “fruits of our prayers”, there were almost no “fruits” related to keeping the sabbath and to give generously.  I’ve been trying to reflect especially on those two.  Both of them are hard ones for me.  I’ve been way too busy most of my life for Sabbath time to come easy.  And as one with a Scottish heritage, its practically genetic for me to be tight fisted (that means, I have this reflex when money hits my hand, to close my fist tightly around it).  I’ve learned a lot about giving generously though.  Its been a long, long road, but Martha and I are now tithers.  And guess what, giving money is just like any other form of Christian giving, the great paradox of Christian life– you always get far more in return than what you give!

Thanks to Don Day for an outstanding prayer today (Friday, May 23).

I thought I might start out by writing about why I like participating in our 40 Days of Prayer journeys. I am absolutely convinced already of the value of spending quality time with God every single day. I usually plan to have my most intentional time with God first thing in the morning — it always makes my day go better! But… sometimes when that alarm goes off at 5:00am… its very hard not to hit the snooze button (several times). Participating in this kind of church-wide experience gives me that little extra bit of motivation to keep going, or to get started again.

In the same way that I appreciate the strength of a community effort, I also appreciate peeking inside the mind and heart of specific community members — those who write the prayer guide for the day, and those who write on blogs (:)) . I have found it to be incredibly encouraging to observe the way other folks speak about their faith. Even in a church community, it is possible to start to feel a little isolated spiritually — as much of the spiritual stuff is what’s going on inside us. The 40 Days of Prayer Guide is a wonderful opportunity engage with 40+ other people in our community and see the spiritual stuff that is going on inside of them!

If you are participating in the 40 Days of Prayer (and that is NOT a requirement to participate in this blog!) — why? What is about this experience that touches your spiritual life?

Welcome again, everybody. Thanks for visiting The Broadway Spirit team blog. We’re still recruiting team members, so be sure to let us know if you are interested in joining the team. The first response of most folks when they think about writing or commenting on a blog is “I have to think of something good/wise/important/etc. to say”. You do not have to think of something grand to say! We want to hear just your ordinary thoughts and experiences. You never know when that might be just the thing someone else needs to hear Please don’t hesitate to join in — we’re all family here!

This blog is a group blog — all members (and friends) of BCC are invited to contribute content to this blog. The more folks we have contributing, the more interesting and fun it is for all of us If you are interested in contributing, please leave a comment on this post, and we’ll send you an invitation!

Welcome to the new blog for the members of Broadway Christian Church (Columbia, MO)

When we entered into our Listening and Learning: 40 Days of Prayer journey, we also experimented with a blog for the first time — inviting our members to converse digitally about their own journey. The feedback was positive, and we are inspired to revive the blog as we begin our next 40 Days of Prayer, focused on the Keys of Discipleship.

We are inviting all BCC members to participate in this conversation in cyberspace — by reading, commenting, and contributing.