Vision Series - Equipping Center

February 1, 2004

Rev. Ronald Burcham

Typed from audio transcript

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Amen.

The last statement in our Vision says that Gloria Dei will be an equipping center, a place where God's relevant word is applied to our life and leaders are trained. The best way I know to further explain what it means to be an equipping center is by example. And that's why I've asked Tania Schramm to come forward and tell us a little bit about how Gloria Dei at least has been an equipping center for her and her faith journey.

“Thank you, Pastor Burcham . Good morning. My name is Tania Schramm, and I'm the leader for the ChristCare group, New Beginnings. When I was first asked to talk about my experiences with Gloria Dei as an equipping center, my first thoughts were of the training I received to become a ChristCare group leader. But after some reflection and conversation, I realized that the ministries at Gloria Dei have equipped me in many areas of my life. While I still have a long way to go, Gloria Dei continues to play an integral part in my growth as a Christian and as a person.

In 1999, I became a Christian. I can't give you an exact date, but I do remember it clearly. I had been growing more and more discontented, feeling like something was missing from my life. A friend at work, who is now my husband, was a member of Gloria Dei, and while he never witnessed to me directly, I admired his quiet confidence and peace with himself in the world. I wanted that also. So I went on a personal vision quest to learn more about God.

Over a period of about a year, I attended different churches and read the bible and other books about faith. One day, while riding my bike out on the trail, lost in thought, it hit me like a flash, “Okay, Lord, I believe. I believe in You, that You are actually there, and that You sent Your Son Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Well, now what?” I was still lost, not really knowing what to do with my newfound faith. I hadn't found a church where I felt comfortable yet and didn't have a community of believers to share with. By that time, Dave and I were dating pretty seriously and he invited me to come to church to Gloria Dei with him. After visiting for a while, I was ready to join the church. I felt this was a place that encouraged learning and where I could grow as a Christian. Through Discovery 101 and 201, I learned the basics of the Christian faith, in terms that I could understand, and the vision of Gloria Dei. I had finally landed.

In January 2002, I was baptized and became a member of this church. Right about the same time, Dave and I were starting to plan our wedding for the summer of 2002. That spring, we signed up for the Preparing for Marriage class offered at Gloria Dei to learn about God's plans for marriage and each other's expectations. It was a tremendous experience. As we grew closer together, exploring God's Word on marriage, it equipped us for our new roles as husband and wife; but the journey never ends. It just changes. I was still hungry for knowledge about how to live as a Christian, and I wanted to build some friendships with other Christians. Dave and I decided to join the ChristCare group for young couples, and it was a pivotal experience in my growth as a Christian and in our growth together as a couple. I learned how to read the bible and apply it to daily life skills, like how to listen, how to care for people without trying to fix them or the situation, and how to pray with and for my husband and friends.

But when Heather asked me to consider ChristCare leadership training, I was surprised. I never imagined myself as a bible study group leader. Me? Not likely. Sure, I love to talk and I'm pretty outgoing but I had so many doubts. Since I wasn't raised as a Christian, I didn't think I knew enough about the bible, Jesus, the Lutheran Church , or pretty much anything to be a leader. What I was forgetting was that God was the one in charge and the very things I saw as weaknesses, He would turn into strengths. And Gloria Dei has an amazing training program, which did prepare me for facilitating the ChristCare group. The training was practical, Christ-centered, and powerful. It also has equipped me for far more than ChristCare. It has equipped me to act as a leader in other areas of my life.

For example, a few months ago, we had just finished up some continuing education on communicating assertively. Now I don't like conflict and normally, when conflict arises, I run away and hide. I would much rather deal with conflict passively, by stewing about it and talking about it with other people later. But surely, after that training, a situation came up with work where I inadvertently upset a coworker. In return, she lost her temper a bit with me. Instead of taking it personally, hiding in my cube, and stewing about it all day, I knew I needed to handle the situation differently. Drawing upon what I had learned in training, I took a deep breath, got out of my chair, and walked into her cube and said, “I can see what I said has upset you, and I'm sorry because I didn't mean to.” It turned out that on top of a bunch of other things that were going wrong in her day, what I had said struck her really wrong. We were able to talk through it, and I was able to give her some support and venting time for the bad day she was having. What could have been a negative thing turned out okay because I trusted God to help me use the skills I had learned.

Gloria Dei has also equipped me to be a witness. At times, I really surprise myself with the words that come out of my mouth. Emboldened, not even really me speaking because me is still scared and tentative, but God is bold. For example, just the other day, we were talking at work about Mel Gibson's new movie, The Passion of the Christ . I don't know how we got on the topic, but people were talking about seeing the movie. I'm really blessed to be in a secular job surrounded by Christian coworkers. It's a good place for a fledgling Christian like me to be able to speak her mind. Before coming to Gloria Dei and even before the sermon last week, I might have kept my mouth shut about the movie. Actually, anyone who knows me knows that I never keep my mouth shut. But I may not have been ready to talk about my faith in that setting. I may not have been ready to say, “I admire Mel Gibson for what he's doing, for saying ‘Jesus died to take away my sins,' and for making this movie.”

So I'm still not ready to stand on a street corner with a sign, but I do feel ready to be a witness and, when the time is right, I will take a deep breath and trust that God will carry me through. Thank you.”

Thank you, Tania. I think I should just say Amen and sit down. That's what it means to be an equipping center. You see, we lead real lives and we deal with real issues and we have real questions. The fact of the matter is that God has real answers and God gives real direction, and that's why our vision is that Gloria Dei will be an equipping center so we can navigate through life based upon God's Word and His direction and His answers for our life. You see, we believe that God has just as much to say about our daily life as He has to say about our eternal life and we need to hear what He has to say because God's Word is relevant for us today, just as much as it was 2,000 years ago. And we need to hear God's relevant word for the lives we live, because our lives are no different than the rest of the world. Issues that you deal with, that I deal with, the circumstances we find ourselves in, they're no different than the lives of everyone else who live out in the world, and we need answers and we need direction.

Our children need answers, and they need direction. I look at what my kids are having to deal with now at their age, and I never ever had to face anything like it. The amount of information that is available to them through media, television, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, it's overwhelming. And most of it is good, but so much of it is bad. The influences are there. The temptations are there. The choices our children have to make at younger and younger ages, the things they have to deal with. They have to deal with drugs and alcohol and language and sex. I'm not talking about high school. I'm talking about middle school and grade school. They need answers. They need direction.

What about our young people in high school and college, the things they face that you and I haven't even had to face and the questions they need to answer, the tragedies that happen in their lives, the violence they're exposed to. They need a place to turn to. They need answers. They need direction.

And what about us? What about us as adults as we try to navigate through life? What does it mean to be a good parent? How is there a balance between disciplining my children and yet showing them I love them? What are the most important things I can give to them? How can I make the decisions I know are right and have confidence in that? Or how about the things you face every day, the pressures, the uncertainties of going to work and not sure if next month or the month after that the company is going to be sold and you might be out of a job? How do you live with that kind of tension and pressure? How do you manage everything in your life and how do you find balance? How do you deal with anger? How do you deal with a work environment that, at times, is ruthless? How do you manage your finances in a respectable way? All the questions we have, the day-to-day things of life that confront us on a regular basis, we live real lives. We have real issues and real questions, and God gives real answers and God gives real direction. God has just as much to say about our daily life as He does about our eternal life.

The book of Romans 8:32: “And He who gave up His Son freely for all of us, will He not also along with Him give us all things?” In other words, if God was willing to give up His Son, Jesus, for you, if God the Father was willing to take your sins and attribute them to His sinless Son, if God the Father was able to stand by and watch His Son die so you could have new life, do you think He'll stop there? Do you think He wouldn't also give us everything else we need for this new life that has been purchased through the blood of His Son? God is concerned about our daily life just as He is concerned about our eternal life, and God wants to equip us and give us the tools for Monday through Saturday, not just Sunday.

2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All scripture is God-breathed. It's useful for teaching, rebuking, training, and righteousness.” Why? So that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped. God says that He has given us His Word, He has given us His scripture so we could be thoroughly equipped to face day-to-day life, not just the eternal questions but the questions that happen on Monday morning and on Tuesday afternoon. God wants to equip us with His Word so He can answer the real questions and deal with the real issues and that is why Gloria Dei shall be an equipping center. That's why we see it as part of our mission, part of the vision, that we will equip people with the true word of God. We'll equip them by, first of all, being God's instrument to call people to faith, to let them know that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior but not stopping there but then to equip them with day-to-day lives so they have a basis to make decisions and deliberations so when choices come along, they have something to turn to because God's Word is there. God's Word speaks about our families. It speaks out our relationships. God's Word speaks about finances. God's Word speaks about friendships. God's Word speaks about what is right, and God's Word speaks about what is wrong. God's Word tells us that He empowers us through prayer and He promises us to give us His Holy Spirit. Gloria Dei will be the equipping center, the conduit where that message from scripture can be delivered over to the people where His relevant word can be applied to your life and to my life.

That vision will become a reality. It will become a reality when we stop the disconnect between Sunday morning and Monday morning or maybe the disconnect that happens between Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon. In other words, the Word of God that is preached on Sunday morning or studied in His book, it's relevant for Monday. It's relevant for this afternoon, that the guidance that God gives to us and the direction He offers to us is guidance and direction that is supposed to be followed, that the answers He gives to us are supposed to be heated. When we stop the disconnect, when we see that our spiritual life is something that happens 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, that it's not just a Sunday morning experience but it's a lifestyle, it's a life-changing experience. When there's no disconnect, the vision becomes a reality.

When we turn to God's Word and look for direction and answers and when we follow what God has to say, there will be a force about us and a confidence, a confidence and a force that other people will notice and they will want also in their lives. The vision will become a reality by God's grace. In fact, the entire Vision that we've been talking about for now 5 weeks will become a reality by God's grace. Gloria Dei will be a place of grace. That is, this congregation here will be a place where we can grow in our faith, where relationships are built, where we are a beacon to our community, where we're courageous in outreach, where we are an equipping center. But the pivotal point, what it all hinges on, is that we come together as the body of believers, that we come together as the body of believers gathered here at Gloria Dei and we see ourselves as having one purpose, that is, we are going to bring Jesus Christ to people for the first time and a lifetime, that becomes a burning passion within us, that we are not satisfied that 50% of Polk County does not have a relationship with Christ, and our purpose is to bring Christ to them but not to leave them there but for a lifetime to help them develop and grow and mature in that relationship with Christ. When we have one purpose and we have one vision, one vision that this will be a place of grace, a place where people grow, where relationships form, we're a beacon to a community, we're courageous in reaching out, and we're an equipping center, when we have one purpose, one vision, and we're all going together in one direction, we will be a force in this community like is never seen before. And our impact will stretch around the world when we come together with one purpose, one vision, going in one direction.

Gloria Dei will be a place of grace, because this will be a place that is filled with God's grace. Amen.

Copyright 2004 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church