Gifts for This Season

This quote was sent in Sojourners Verse and Voice:

"Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect."

- Oren Arnold
American editor and free-lance writer

Prayers for Street Youth Ministry

During Advent we collected new socks for Street Youth Ministry. Terry Cole, a member of Covenant Presbyterian Church, serves as a missionary to youth and young adults who live on the streets near campus. Each month, he sends a prayer newsletter. Here are some of the prayer celebrations and concerns that he highlights this month:





Answered Prayers:

"Jane" had her baby. Despite lots of social work, she was not prepared and was unable to keep the baby. However, both are healthy and the baby is safe. Praise for that. Jane has worked through at least part of the grieving for this event.
Helpers have begun to appear. I had a helper stuff the print newsletter this month and have another offering to do it in the future. I have two people offering administrative assistance. I have one helper offering to collect my thought together into a volunteer training program so that I can take prepared people with me to the streets in ministry.

"Luke" has stabilized again into a successful pattern of sobriety and work. He is making plans to manage his money much better this coming semester. He is looking forward to his classes in January.

My co-worker is taking treatments for his cancer and his attitude is wonderful. He's a real fighter. Continued prayers are needed for his full recovery. It's still a long road ahead.

Praise for this email system. Its use has been donated to the ministry. I hope that it will result in simpler management of the mailing lists. People can now sign themselves up and I can allow volunteers to administer the mailing list without using my personal email. The company is Vertical Response.



Prayers for Clients:

"Jason" has had significant issues with the justice system but has cleared his name and served his time. He returned to the street this summer and began coming to Bible study. He has seemed distant at times but very clearly has begun to form a relationship with Jesus. This holiday season he is having difficulty with how his family is treating him after incarceration. Pray for him to come to terms with the pain of his experiences and relationships.

"Billy" has huge issues with anger and alcohol. He has very few people who act as any type of support network for him. He recently confided in me how a step-family member used to abuse him. Pray that he can continue to work through the anger issues caused in his past and remain open to the possibility of the Gospel and its healing power.

There are many who seem to be turning more heavily toward alcohol. this month I think it goes with the pain of Christmas for them. Christmas is either a wonderful or terrible season. There seems to be little in between for the street youth. Pray for them to hear the Gospel story one more time during Christmas and for their ears and hearts to be open. Pray that I know how to safely and lovingly work with them, exactly where they are.

A client I worked closely with in drug counseling has been incarcerated in another state. Pray that in this time he will not only become clean but that someone will be there to continue to witness to him. His mother, who came down to Austin to be with her son, has also traveled to be nearer him. Pray for travel safety for her.


Prayers for the Ministry:

Pray that I will continue to have good vision for how to organize volunteers. Pray that I use time well to organize and train volunteers. Pray that it is enriching for the volunteers and makes more time for deeper and more direct ministry to the youth.

It is the peak of end of year fund raising. I don't know really where we are in terms that I usually share with you. In November, we actually had a break-even month. December is tougher because of end of year taxes and expenses. God has been good to SYM this year and will continue to provide. We need about 20 more regular donors, but I'll wait until January to figure out exactly what things look like.
One source of income this year is ending. We are losing a $1600/month because it's time has ended. It's nothing bad... the terms of the income source are just completed. This make one fund raising goal for 2010 clear: to replace this $1600/month. Pray for discernment and networking to the right people who can gladly and joyfully give to fill this need.

I would like to have better relationship and volunteer management skills..One of the best companies in the market for non-profits is right here in Austin, called Convio. Pray for a contact or relationship to develop such that they might donate their software services or help SYM in some way to become a great cultivator of community relationships.

I rarely feel in danger in any way. However, pray that I can continue to move safely among the street dependent and am given supernatural abilities to say and do the right things for His name's sake.

We are grateful to pray in partnership with this ministry.

The Advent Conspiracy

One of the difficulties during the season of Advent is how Christmas seems to push in upon it, particularly the aspects of consumerism that find their way into this season.

Time Magazine recently published an article about a group of Christians who are challenging American trends of consumerism during this season. Time calls this group the 'Advent Conspiracy.' The article mentions that many Christians initiate campaigns at this time of year to demand that greetings of "Merry Christmas" be given to them and others at stores. But the 'Advent Conspiracy' group of Christians criticizes these campaigns as attempts to allow consumerism to trump the true joy of Christmas.

You can read the article here.

What will you do to live Advent in expectation and hope? And then, how will you celebrate Christmas apart from consumerism?

Austin Agape Christmas Extravaganza!

As finals have come to a close, it's time to celebrate holidays and have an enjoyable break away from university life. We recently held our annual Christmas party at Marco's place. (Thanks for hosting, Marco!) Here are some pictures of our enjoyable evening together! (Also courtesy of Marco!)

Remembering the Gaza War

At this time last year, Israel and Hamas were in active combat against one another in the Gaza Strip and Southern Israel. Palestinian and Iraeli lives were affected deeply. Though the Gaza War was only a three week offensive, devastation remains, both in physical form as buildings lie in ruins and in emotional form as Israelis and Palestinians struggle through memories and the mental strains of trauma in the form of PTSD.

Please listen to the following two news stories to hear the human angles of this conflict:

A Year Later Gazans Still Feeling Aftershocks of War

Shell Shock Lingers for Israelis After Gaza War

Let us pray for peace in this region:

Holy God,

May peace be given, nurtured, and sustained in this war-torn region of the world. Where there is hope, let it flourish. Where there is love, let it abound. Where there is justice, let it shelter all. Be our Peace, our Hope, our Love, our Justice. May you be sought and found. Transform the turmoil, the rubble, the broken hearts - and transform us that we may be partners in the peace You envision. Amen.

Thinking and Praying About Copenhagen

This week, climate experts, policy makers, and government leaders are gathering in Copenhagen, Denmark to plan and negotiate international law concerning carbon emissions. Please pray that leaders will work together with fairness and equity, and that they would seek justice for the nations who are most adversely affected by climate change. These nations have some of the lowest carbon emissions, yet they are affected so negatively by rising sea levels.

If you would like to know a bit about the UN meeting at Copenhagen and learn who the major players are, please visit Copenhagen 101.

And a prayer from Sojourners:

Creator of the world, we continue to pray that world leaders meeting in Copenhagen would come together to face this challenge that confronts us all. Those who have the least resources and who are least equipped to face the problems caused by climate change often end up bearing the brunt of the consequences; we pray for them also, that you would have mercy on them and keep them safe. May we all recognize our roles in the responsible stewardship of the earth. Amen.

Sermon: What Are You Waiting For?

Matthew 7:21-29

Well friends. . . here we are. It seems like a normal blasé day for many reasons. . .It’s cold out there! Am I right? And rainy too. We had those glorious three minutes of snow on Friday, but other than that, the weather’s just been dismal. Blasé. An important football game was won last night. . . but just barely. Bla-sé. In fact, the UT-Nebraska game had to have been the most frustrating, boring, disappointing game until the very end! – literally, the very end – when there was a sudden, collective spike of blood pressure across the city of Austin, while we waited and waited with bated breath for Hunter Lawrence to finally kick that blasted field goal! – the one which held the potential to uphold or utterly obliterate all hopes for a Longhorn National Championship this year. We made it, but-just-barely. Blady-Blady-Blady-Blah-Blah-Sé. . .And in the next few days: More potential for blasé living, right? Routines are no longer holding us up. Instead we’re scrambling around – and perhaps even dreading – some of those finals that are coming whether we like it or not. And there’ll be more cold weather as we walk in coats and scarves to find the rooms for those finals. . .

In so many ways, today seems like a normal blasé day as we prepare to finish the next few weeks. All in all, it would be easy to mentally check out, put our lives on auto-pilot, and simply live on the surface of it all. Who knows? Maybe we’re doing that already.

So. . .here we are on what could be a blasé Sunday evening. But something else could be said, of course, and should be said. As we end this semester – even as we’ve experienced normal blasé days – Sunday after Sunday we’ve sat in this room, in this worship space, and something has happened. We’ve been challenged. Really challenged. Challenged to the core.

Like the disciples who climbed up that mountain with Jesus, we’ve sat right here and listened to some of Jesus’ most powerful words – The Sermon on the Mount. And it’s not just that we’ve been challenged to live differently, though that is true. We’ve been invited to live fully. There’s a life fuller and richer and deeper than any of our blasé designations. And it’s right before us! – break in right in front of us all the time.

All through the sermon, Jesus has been putting options before us. And among those options, he points in the direction he intends for us, which is full of the abundant life he has created us to experience. Far from blasé if we will but follow. Options before us. . .

Live as the salt and light you are in this world!

. . .or forget your identity and experience a half-life without flavor or illumination. . .

Live fully in the Kingdom that is breaking into this world!

. . .or plunge your experience into Gehenna, that reeking, ever-burning, destruction-filled garbage heap on the edge of Jerusalem. . .

Live by loving your enemies – overcoming their hatred with a love that transforms you both!
. . .or boil-over in wrath-filled vengeance and destroy your own peace. . .

Live in witness, pointing to the One who knows you, redeems you, and invites you to fullness!

. . .or wear a mask of religious superiority, pointing to yourself and missing the
opportunity to lean in the direction that this One brings for you and for the world. . .

Live with the knowledge that your Loving-God knows your needs before you ask!

. . .or writhe with fear and gut-wrenched anxiety that you are not even worth your needs. .

Live in self-examination, aware of what clogs your vision and trips up your steps!

. . .or put all your energy into the microscope you build for others, analyzing and judging their every move, their every step. . .

Live as one who finds the gift of the narrow way – the life-filled path that calls for growth!

. . .or walk the wide and broad road, the one that leads to ease, which is no growth at all. .


We have options here. And the invitation is right before us. The Sermon on the Mount is about Life – Real Life. In fact, we could say it’s about life and non-life – Life and Death. Oh, maybe not in the same way that those preachers on the West Mall would say it’s about life and death. . .about some God who is hell-bent on destroying you until you shape up. . .No, not that. . .But it is precisely about life and death because our God is a loving God and wills us to experience the fullness that life brings. When it comes to us, God wants all our ways of death to die. And for that reason, we need to hear what life is and what non-life is. And in the last few weeks, we’ve been honest with ourselves: We often find ourselves caught right in the middle them both.

And so. . .here we are. Though it may feel like it, this day isn’t blasé at all! It’s a grace filled opportunity to see once again that God calls us and this world to Life.

Jesus has some more words for us this evening – some more invitations at the end of the Sermon on the Mount: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell – and great was its fall.”

We’ve heard Jesus’ words to us in this Sermon. The question is: Will we act on them? Will we put them into practice? Will we build upon the foundation of love, worth, justice, and peace that Christ calls us to live toward? What will it look like as we build upon God’s dreams for our very lives? We’ve been given words of wisdom. Now we have the opportunity to act upon them. That in itself is an opportunity of grace. I wonder what we can build together as we truly live in this community.

Yesterday, there was a large gathering in the sanctuary for the memorial service of Cherrie Carapetyan. Many of you know Ara Carapetyan, the conductor of our church’s Chancel Choir. He and Cherrie were married for 56 years, and last month, Cherrie died after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease. What a life-filled woman! Some of you knew her, and you can probably attest to that too. I’ll never forget the moment when I saw Cherrie for the life-filled woman she really was.

Ian and I moved to Austin in 2005. For the first few months of our time singing in the choir, I experienced Cherrie as a quiet, sweet, passive lady. I was correct that she was loving and kind, but boy was I wrong about passive! Cherrie had already been battling Parkinson’s for a while – though I was unaware of this when I first met her. One of the potential symptoms of Parkinson’s is that it can make a person’s voice soft and quiet. In effect, a person with Parkinson’s can lose the ability to project. So I initially experienced Cherrie as extremely quiet and reserved. WRONG. When Ara and Cherrie invited the two of us for dinner, I saw a side of Cherrie that I had not allowed myself to see, and I simply loved it! This woman was outspoken and absolutely hilarious. She had quite a wit about her, and I enjoyed it for hears. She was vivacious and full of life.

And she let others into that life. During the sermon yesterday, San quoted Ara as saying, “Cherrie was the most inclusive person I’ve ever met. In fact, she was RIDICULOUSLY inclusive!” She was known for her hospitality – for the ways she invited others into her home and made them feel like they simply belonged there. And for this reason, perhaps it’s no surprise at all that the sanctuary was filled with people who had been touched by her life – people not only from Austin, but from Houston, and Dallas, and Atlanta – places where the Carapetyans had lived over the years. Cherrie wasn’t perfect, but many people knew her as one who acted upon the words of Jesus – one who included others, who invited others to truly belong. That foundational act of rock-building touched many people. Cherrie’s life touched people.

And for the period of time that was yesterday’s service, a group of people had been gathered together in one place. And we could say that those people had been built together which is quite amazing really. That congregation was built together by God in and through Cherrie’s life. We were there out of love for Cherrie, but we weren’t worshipping Cherrie. We were worshiping Jesus Christ, who is the builder in and through our lives. In that moment – in a service that was stunningly powerful in word and music – we were a monument built together, pointing toward the One who builds us all – the One who claims us, nurtures us, guides us, strengthens us, and sends us out for service. He sends us out to act upon his words – to build on foundational rock.

And thank God that’s true. We’re often caught between Life and Non-Life. One moment, we act on Jesus’ words and build upon a foundation of rock. Moments later, we neglect – and at times purposefully act against – Jesus’ words, building on sand. Thank God that he takes our humble bits of rock and sand and builds us up continuously. And he builds us together with others. And that makes him the true and lasting foundation upon which all our lives are built.

And our Builder – Our Foundation – again invites us to true living tonight. And so I ask us some questions as we close the Sermon on the Mount: What is it these days that is holding you back from living the full life God has intended for you? And what can you do to change your direction yet again, and be led by the loving hand of Christ who wills fullness for you? He invites you to Life Abundant. What are you waiting for! What is each of us waiting for? Roederer, what-are-you-waiting-for! What are you waiting for?

What’s holding you back? Fear? Anger? Anxiety? Un-truth? What is it that keeps you away from fullness? Greed? Broken relationships? Laziness? What is it? How can you let go of those hindrances? How can you let go of them, letting them wash back out with the tide as you begin to build and be built upon rock? What do you need to do? What do you need to act upon?

We’re in the season of Advent when we reflect upon hopes and expectations – when we think about what we’re waiting for – What are you waiting for? How is Christ coming to you these days? How is Christ calling you to plunge into life right now?

As we finish this series on the Sermon on the Mount, I think it’s good to take an opportunity to answer all of these questions. There are pieces of paper under your chairs tonight. I invite each one of us to write a word or phrase on these pieces of paper to remind us of what’s holding us back, and if you’d like, you can place it in the offering basket during communion. Or perhaps we might write a prayer. But basically the questions are these: As you have sat at the feet of Jesus this semester, how is he calling you to live right now? How will you act upon his words? How ill you turn away from mere sand and build on rock?

Let’s take about two minutes of silence and reflect before communion.

-Renée Roederer, Campus Minister