Fingerprints
Congratulations everyone, our HUMC rummage sale took in over $3100 for our mission to Mexico! Here’s a side story on our merchandise. Some donated a portrait of the compassionate Christ that went for $50. But someone else donated a collectible Elvis doll (the thin Elvis) worth at least $50 but he did not sell. It’s nice to know Jesus is still the real King! Presley was never known to be a great theologian but he did make this worthy remark about values, “Values are like fingerprints. Nobodies are the same but you leave them all over everything you do.”
Elvis wasn’t talking about moral values here since one would hope that all people would operate with the same moral scruples. But in general values describe how we do things. Some people do things with an artistic flair others go about life in a straightforward and mathematical way. I once asked an engaged couple to write an answer to this question, “What do I most admire about my fiancé?” The prospective groom was an engineering student. He provided a succinct 10 point bullet list. The prospective bride was a humanities major and she opted to draw an elaborate picture with colored pencils. The two different approaches demonstrated distinct ways of doing things—values. The difference provided us all with a smile.
Churches have values too. We shouldn’t confuse them with theological positions--though there may be some overlap. A church’s values describe how they go about doing what they do. Last year we had extended conversation in our strategic planning session about our values. It was tempting to just say what we should value and just throw them up on the website. We choose instead to look into the heart of our congregation and discover what we truly value right now. We have a vision and a mission but values serve as guardrails to guide us down the road we are traveling toward that mission and vision.
Beginning in June we’re going to look at each of our 5 stated values in Biblical perspective. Our goal is to align our hearts with our labors so that the right fingerprints are over everything we do.
New sermon series beginning in June Core Values:
June 2 John 13:12-35 We are Family-Josh Ray
June 9 Psalm 119:97-112 We are Biblical
June 16 Psalm 100 We are Enthusiastic
June 23 1 Timothy 6:11-21 We are Generous
June 30 Family service Kaley Plaxton speaking
July 7 1 Peter 4:1-11 We are servants
See you in church,
Pastor Tom Anderson
