Clay Church South Bend Indiana

Burkina Faso Prayer Group

Jen Witt — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:15:37 +0000

Dee Dee Sterling is preparing for a one-year stay as a missionary in Burkina Faso, Africa. She will be leaving in mid-September. To become part of her prayer team, type ”AFRICA” in the response section below.

Sermon May 13, 2012

Sue Zumbrun — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:27:01 +0000

8 Big Ideas: #5 from Clay Church on Vimeo.

A Mother’s Prayer from Clay Church on Vimeo.

Choir Anthem

Music May 13, 2012 from Clay Church on Vimeo.

Become a Stephen Minister

Jen Witt — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:34:18 +0000

Stephen Ministers provide confidential, Christ-centered care to those who are hurting and going through difficult times. A new training class starts this August. Applications accepted until June 17th. To express interest in applying, type “STEPHEN” in the comment section below.

ManWeek 2012

Jen Witt — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:38:36 +0000

June 10-17, 2012. Save the dates! ManWeek 2012 is returning to Clay Church with events and activities designed to help men connect, grow spiritually, and share. To get involved, type “MAN” in the comment section below.

Marriage Matters

Jen Witt — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:56:39 +0000

Wednesday, May 23rd, 6-7:30 p.m., Clay Church North Campus. This Month’s Topic: 1 jar + 36 sticks = a year’s worth of date nights with your spouse. Having a healthy, growing marriage requires friendship, fun, and romance. There’s no better way to encourage these things than having dates with your spouse. Great dates require more than just going to see a movie. Let Bob and Kathy Besse help you take the guess work out of planning fun, Michiana-area dates. Join them and create a date night jar filled with a variety of fun and romantic ideas. Cost is $4.00 per couple to cover supplies. Registration is required to ensure there’s enough materials for everyone. Free childcare is provided. If you are interested in attending, type “MARRIAGE” in the comment section below.

All in the Family

Jen Witt — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:24:11 +0000

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. I Corinthians 12:27

I have had several questions and comments about the 2012 General Conference (GC) of the United Methodist Church, so I thought I’d share just a little bit about it. Most of it you already know, but here we go.

The United Methodist Church (of which Clay is a part) elects lay and clergy “delegates” to attend the General Conference, the governing body of the United Methodist Church. They meet every four years to “do the business of the general church” and this year they met in Tampa, Florida.

This conference includes exciting things like mission, vision, worship, discipleship plans, world-changing, and where we’re headed in ministry together.

This also includes less exciting stuff like budgets, personnel, agencies, arguments, decisions, how much money the church has, and how much it doesn’t have!

The General Conference sets a “game plan” for the direction of the church in the world. The GC, in fact, is the only body that actually speaks for the church. The rest of us speak for ourselves! The agenda of GC gets lots and lots of headlines, some sensitive, some ouchy, some painful. But, we’re in a “free church” where members are free to speak their minds and hearts on all kinds of issues related to faith and living our faith in the real world. I think we all breathe a collective sigh of relief when it’s over and we see the decisions that were made: some we agree with, some we don’t.

I think of the United Methodist Church as one big family (notice I didn’t say “big HAPPY family”). We’re a typical family in lots of ways: There are incredibly profound and important things about our life together, what matters to us, and how lives are changed by God’s love. There are also uncomfortable things that go with being free: Some people can say things (just like you and me!) that others don’t agree with or cause someone else to get discouraged. In the end, the General Conference votes on “those things” and the work is done for another four years.

Someone said, “home is where they have to let you in.” I often think of that when I think of the church of Jesus Christ. We are an imperfect family of God trying to do God’s will. We may disagree and argue about things that matter to us, but in the end, it’s a family. They have to let you in, even if you disagree.

As you know, our families aren’t perfect. Every family has a weird uncle (or two!) that says and does strange things. He’s kind of embarrassing, but still loved and included. He’s welcome at Thanksgiving dinner, and he never disappoints: He says what he thinks, does strange things, makes us laugh or cry, but we’re still glad to see him, and somehow glad he came to dinner again.

The 2012 General Conference was a family gathering, a reunion of sorts, and is now all closed down in Tampa. The whole family gathered. They were all duly elected to represent someone in our funny family, and they did. They spoke their minds, kindly, or unkindly. They lived out their own faith in the midst of the somewhat dysfunctional and sometimes unfocused family gathering. Some of it made us proud. Some of it made us cringe. Some of it was clearly just a waste of time. But, in all, everyone got to speak who wanted to speak. Everyone got to vote and express themselves. Everyone was still at the table.

This is what happens in a free church. We get to live out our faith, speak out our truths, and let our voices be heard at the family table. Once we do that, the family has spoken, and we go back to our work of feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, bringing the good news of God’s love to the lost, sharing a cup of water, living generously in our communities and neighborhoods, and seeing the kingdom come in the way we live our lives.

And very few of us can argue with any of that, even in this funny family of ours.

Pastor Herb

Sermon May 6, 2012

Sue Zumbrun — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:09:19 +0000

By Rev. Herb Buwalda

8 Big Ideas: #4 from Clay Church on Vimeo.

Blessed Are You

Jen Witt — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:38:26 +0000

Blessed Are You

Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying…. Matthew 5:1-2

When Fred Buechner (Whistling in the Dark) looks at the Beatitudes of Jesus — The 8 Big Ideas — he notices what we all notice: his blessings or commendations aren’t reserved for those with special credentials but for ordinary folks like us who sense an extraordinary and mysterious call to life:

People who have little to give but everything to receive(poor in spirit),
People who authentically grieve their losses (mourn),
People who are gentle but persevering (meek),
People who aren’t “righteous,” but hope they will be some day (hunger and thirst),
People who aren’t necessarily overcomers, but have learned to be kind (merciful),
People who may not be totally pure, but still have held on to an innocence and freshness (pure in heart),
People who haven’t made peace everywhere, but try to bring it to the world (peacemakers), and
People who have been hurt by life but somehow keep going (persecution).

People like us?

Buechner says, “They’re not what you’d call a high-class crowd – peasants and fisherfolk for the most part, on the shabby side, not all that bright. It doesn’t look as if there’s a hero among them. They have their jaws set. Their brows are furrowed with concentration….It’s not his (Jesus’) hard times to come but theirs he is concerned with, speaking out of his own meekness and mercy, the purity of his own heart.”

When Jesus delivers these “8 Big Ideas,” we might imagine the crowd all looking back at him. Staring at him? Wondering? Maybe wondering, “What in the world he’s talking about?” Or, “Where he’s going with all of this?”

Maybe we are also in that crowd — ordinary people that we are hearing an invitation to an extraordinary life.

“Blessed are you….”

Herb

Sermon April 29, 2012

Sue Zumbrun — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:26:33 +0000

8 Big Ideas: #3 from Clay Church on Vimeo.

Music on April 29, 2012 from Clay Church on Vimeo.

GO AND TELL

tpkauble — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:28:37 +0000

Spiritual Vitamin April 25

“Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you…” Mark 5: 19

Go and tell….something Jesus WANTED his followers to do then, and something Jesus WANTS his followers to do now.

Go and tell what has happened to you.

Go and tell where you are going.

God and tell how God’s love makes a difference.

Go and tell why it matters that we live differently.

Go and tell what matters to you now.

Go and tell about your struggles and challenges.

Go and tell what “love’s got to do with it” (Thanks, Tina!)

Go and tell why you do what you do, and don’t do what you don’t do.

Go and tell what makes the difference.

Go and tell why your life is radically different than it was before.

Of course, the list is endless as we Live In Faith Every day. Go and tell, go and show, go and give, to and share, go and care, go and love, GO AND TELL!

I’m going to make it easier for you to do that today. Here is a “LIFE@CLAY” video prepared by our staff.

LIFE @ Clay from Clay Church on Vimeo.

You can also find it on the Clay Church facebook page.

Here’s what I’d like you to do:

GO AND TELL!

Copy this link http://vimeo.com/41020359 and paste it on your facebook page with a status update. Say something like, “This is my church!” or “I love being a part of Clay Church!” or “This is LIFE@Clay Church!” or whatever else you want to “tell” to your friends about our life together. Put it in your own words, make it your own.

Or, send the link on email to a friend.

Or, send me an email and we will give you a copy of the DVD and you can share it with a neighbor visiting in your home.

However you do it, just do it — Go and Tell!

I’ll be watching for FACEBOOK to light up this week as we go and tell others!

Herb