Click play to hear the teaching from Sunday, February 28, 2010 by Dennis Brice.

Click play to hear the teaching from Sunday, February 14, 2010 by J.R. Briggs

Click play to hear the teaching from Sunday, January 31, 2010 by J.R. Briggs

you want a statement to sum up the mission of God
go ahead
find your statement
make one up to help you
feel secure inside your safety cage of words
belted in by cords of cliches
locked up by logos lifted from sunday school memories

but give me a story
give my friends a story
so that they are not sentenced to meaningless lives

don’t give me a story that I can easily believe in
give me a script that I struggle to understand
that stretches my faith,
that demands life insurance
give me a story that will rip me from my career
and pummel me into a quest beyond my capabilities
i need something worth dying for
i have most of my life left to give
but I need a story worthy of my investment

give me a story that I can touch
and smell
a story with real people
a story with a face.
a story with my face
my role
my place
my script
because I am
preselected to be a player
in this story that rolls its plot out in front of me
likearunawaycarpetunravellingfasterthanicanrun
in more directions than I can predict
in more colors than I can comprehend
a story that woos out my potential
and calls me
out of myself
to be who I really am

give me A story
give me THE story
give me MY story

tell me that God is bigger than you
BIGGER than your statements of ink
BIGGER than your powerpoint animations
than your projections of numbers
that make you impressed
but that make God stoop

give me a story that
makes me gloriously
a l i v e
to the purpose of God
makes me run without breath to keep up with His spirit
and at the same time
inviting me to
dance slowly
erotically
with
God
in an
end
les
s

m
o
m
e
n
t

of warm passion
nesting me in peace
and safety

tell me the story in new words
so that I don’t trip over lame phrases of impotence
so that my mind does not vanillarize
over trivial expressions
used mindlessly by millions
who use words to steal mystery
from a transcendent God
who speaks freshly
with new mercies every morning
!surprises!
that awaken me from sleep mode
that spark in me new thoughts
dreams of impossible feats
daring adventures
miracles of the Almighty
performed by the hands
and prayers
of backstreet
backstage
people
in goodwill rags

you want a statement?

go ahead
i dare ya
double-dare ya
to box up The Omnipotent
to catch the Spirit of God
to nail the Son
on a cross-word puzzle

go ahead and try
but I won’t hold my breath
and you won’t hold the mission of God on a bumper sticker.

Click play to hear the teaching from Sunday, January 17, 2010 by J.R. Briggs

Click play to hear the teaching from Sunday, January 3, 2010 by J.R. Briggs

There is a Christmas song that I was confused by as a child.  The meaning of the “Little Drummer Boy” seemed to get lost in all of the ‘pa rum pum pum pums.’  It’s easy to gloss over its meaning and get annoyed by the repetition.

It seems that there are many people who either love or hate “Little Drummer Boy.”  This week, even my hairdresser exclaimed to me when the song came on the radio, how much she disliked it.  I smiled and thought about how I actually loved the song now - and not just because James often played it at Christmastime on guitar.

The song is a great reminder that there is nothing we can bring Jesus but the gifts He has already given us.  It’s a reminder that all of us are poor and truly have nothing to offer except ourselves – just like the shepherds on the first Christmas, that came just to worship.

It took a lot of begging and pleading but I was finally able to convince James to record a rough version of “Little Drummer Boy.”  So, if the song isn’t already a favorite of yours, I hope you will listen to it with new meaning this time – and maybe you will come to enjoy it as I have.

[Click to download a version of “Little Drummer Boy” by James]

Merry Christmas!
From the Chesters

Click play to hear the teaching from Sunday, December 20, 2009 by J.R. Briggs

Click play to hear the teaching from Sunday, December 6, 2009 by Dave Allem

Click play to hear the teaching from Sunday, November 22, 2009 by J.R. Briggs