Do you have Columbus Day off? How about joining us for Lunch Bunch?
We gather in the Lighthouse at 11:30 am. Bring a dish to share and enjoy a time of fellowship.
Lunch Bunch
Monday, October 14
11:30 am
Join the Journey, 10.6.19
Question: What have you needed to release to follow Jesus?
Answers:
Resentments
Control x 100
We all have something we want to cling to. What is yours?
Brian's Blog: Pray and Pray and Pray
On Sunday John Stacey asked me: How’s the transition going? And specifically he asked what was the process for the arrival of a new pastor.
I told him the transition team had only met twice so far. It is this super team. The first steps had involved brainstorming about many things (which I wrote the end of August), and one of those things was looking at what we believe we need as far as pastoral leadership here beginning July 1st.
Here’s the process:
We identify what we need in pastoral leadership and communicate this to the District Superintendent, Erin Martin.
She and Brian stay in communication about possible people who might best fill that need.
She will then bring that person selected and possibly a bunch of people to the cabinet (made up of all the district superintendents of Oregon-Idaho and Washington and our Bishop). This group discerns who would be the best person for our congregation. They all have the best heart for this unique congregation.
Then this person approved by them will be brought to meet with our leadership team (church council, and others can come as well.) Barring any difficulties after that meeting, he or she will be appointed to this congregation to begin July 1, at our annual conference in June.
Right now we are in the pray stage of this journey. So, pray and pray and pray for God to move in the heart of this person, put blessing upon this heart and call him or her to know that God is calling them to say “yes” to this opportunity. Pray also for all of us here - that as you move from my leadership to this new person you would have hearts ready as well. Recognize this person comes with his or her own set of gifts and yet with a clear call from God, and a heart to serve. This process has been repeated many times with other congregations in our conference, but at Westside this is all new. This will only be the second time there has been a pastoral change in our history. I was the first change from the founding pastor Dan Pitney. So, you all, you are unique.
What the transition team wants most is that you all could be readied for this transition. That means doing the work this year of remembering that cool stuff we have all experienced together, and then preparing to anticipate all that God has planned as the new person comes. God loves this church and is building us as a place to flood this community with love to impact homeless youth, change the destinies of our houseless neighbors and bring Jesus to our neighborhoods.
How Well Do You Follow?
What might we learn about these disciples along the sea (Mark 1: 14-20) when Jesus walked along and called them to leave their nets and follow him? What might we learn about their hearts, their fears, their lives, their commitments by the way they left it behind, father, family, income? What other choices did they have? What could they have said to Jesus? How might they have said “Give me time.” But we notice they do not speak, they do not object, somehow the character and persona of Jesus so charged them that without exception, they left their nets and followed.
When you look at this response and their willing hearts to follow, it speaks volumes. I’m left with the question - how much do I follow Jesus just like that? How often do my actions reflect theirs? That I respond to Jesus without question, without pause.
A friend of mine asked me to pray for her in this manner: “Pray that I would hear clearly, obey immediately and love fearlessly.” What a list! Could that summarize how you want to respond as well?
Another friend says, “I asked the Lord why he kept speaking to me in this manner, and the Lord responded, ‘because you listen.’” He listens. God, open my ears and open my heart to respond. This friend is seeing God do really beautiful things through his life. He prays for people in all kinds of places and many, many people are experiencing healings that testify to the beauty and love of Jesus.
On Sunday we are going to just be reflecting upon these first disciples as we look into the realm of being stewards of what God has placed in our lives, within our spheres. Jesus asks us to follow. That means listening and responding. Maybe take steps to do so in such a way that others look up and ask, “Hey, what is it about you, anyway?”
The long and short is this -- don’t miss worship. God is moving at Westside and you don’t want to miss out.
Renovations Completed
New and Improved
Thanks to All!
Huge thanks to all of those who helped with the restroom renovations last month.
It took a team to accomplish this great work. Thanks to Gerry Edwards and Ed Duffield for leading the team, which included Paige Flanagan, Debbie Gabel, Monte Ypma, Kari Suppes, Pastor Chavez, Chris Edwards, Riley Edwards, and others we may have missed. Thanks to everyone for your patience as well!
The total cost for new fixtures, counter, paint, partitions, flooring, and molding was just over $5100. We thank Sandy Edwards posthumously for having the vision for this project.
If you haven’t seen the changes yet, come on Sunday!
Awakened Group Begins Tonight!
Do you want to experience the move of God through you? Want to practice listening and praying for others?
Rick Moyer and Gene Tracy, friends of Westside, are starting a new group on Friday evenings. They will meet weekly in the Lighthouse from 6:30 - 9:00 pm, beginning tonight.
This group is open to anyone seeking to grow in the Lord, learn about healing, be healed, or grow in the use of the gifts of the Spirit.
A place of healing, transformation, and renewal. Come.
Meet Sloane (and feed her family!)
There are times in our lives when friends and family ask, "What can I do to help out?" The answer is usually to help them with a meal.
With the beautiful addition of Sloane to their family on September 24, the Staceys could use a little help. Go to this link, https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/n59vyd, to sign up to prepare and deliver a meal in October. Don’t cook? You can also order Grubhub or restaurant gift cards!
The website gives you lots of info, including address, preferred delivery time, and food preferences. So please sign up if you can.
And you might get to meet Sloane!
Join the Journey, 9.29.19
Question: In what do you most place your confidence in your life?
Answers:
My sister’s love.
My family.
God alone.
Not what but when. My God, Jesus, Holy Spirit.
God
My family.
Jesus, love, and grace.
The Unseen.
Brian's Blog: All This Time
The couple in front of me boarding the flight and I started to talk in the jetway. I asked, “Are you traveling for pleasure?” And the woman teared right up, “My father,” she choked out, “down in Florida. He has cancer and might be dying.”
“So sorry to hear that,” I responded. “Clearly this is hard news.” We moved down the jetway.
“I don’t know what to do with it,” she said. “But this guy,” she added, bumping into her partner dude who was 12” taller than me and three times as wide, “he said we needed to go. So we got the funds together and we are going. And also, we are expecting our first child and my dad doesn’t know this yet. And on top of that, it is his (again bumping the giant next to me) first trip on a plane.”
Clearly she did a lot of talking for he hadn’t spoken.
I looked up at the guy standing next to me, looking slightly chagrined at her revelation, and said: , “No way! Your first plane trip? And congratulations to you both. Babies! So exciting!”
“Yep,” Mr Giant responded to the fact of his first flight, looking a bit sheepish that she’d brought it up at all, “And I’m a little nervous.”
“Well, from the looks of it, you could pick up the plane if need be.” At this, he laughed. “But, sometimes it helps to recall that lots of people fly every single day and there really are minimal problems. You’ll do fine,” I said as he ducked to enter the plane. Yes, ducked. And then walked sideways down the aisle.
They got into row 18, window and middle seat, and the man who had stood so they could enter, exhaled this huge, frustrated sigh, as they were seating themselves, and literally rolled his eyes up to the ceiling of the plane looking so annoyed to see this giant sit in the middle seat meaning that his own seat just shrank a bit. I chuckled and prayed they might chat, really the giant was quite pleasant.
An hour later, as we got off, they were waiting and looking lost in the terminal gate area.
“Congratulations on surviving your first ever flight!” I told the giant. And then, “You guys doing ok? Are you a bit lost?”
She spoke right up, “We don’t know how to find where our next gate is.”
“That much I do know,” I said. I showed them to the departures display and helped them find their gate. They thanked me and then, before I departed, the woman said, “This is really strange, I know, and kinda stupid, but, we both think you look just like Ryan Reynolds! You have his same build and jaw and hair. You could be him playing a fatherly role.”
I laughed. That was a first. I checked out his picture later online and was flattered, but decided the comparison was quite a stretch!
She continued: “Could I take your picture so I can prove to others I met you?”
“Sure, but you know I am really not Ryan.”
She laughed and snapped a picture of me with her husband/boyfriend.
I wished them well, said goodbye, and we started to walk in opposite directions to our gates. The words of a woman named Trista, whom I had just met the previous week returned to me. She had said, “We are practicing saying these seven words, ‘Could I pray for you right now?’”
As I remembered that, I felt a clear prompt to turn around and offer to pray for them -- they were headed for her dad’s side with a child within and didn’t know Jesus, from what I could tell. It took a while, but I found them, and said, “I’m Brian Shimer by the way.” “Dustin” said the towering man with glasses. “Christina,” she said.
“Great to meet you. I returned, for as I walked away I felt like I needed to come back and ask if I could pray for you right now?”
Clearly uncomfortable with the idea but open to it, after all it was Ryan Reynolds asking, she said, “if you’d like.”
We moved a bit to the side by a big post out of the flow of traffic.
I prayed: Binding up the cancer cells in her dad’s body and offering them to Jesus. Placing them all, including that baby, into God’s care. By the end of my prayer they were both crying. Christina couldn’t speak.
“I wish there were more people like you in this world," Dustin said. "Everyone is so selfish all the time. No one stops for anyone." I knew what they meant.
I added: “Well some do stop, don’t they? And actually this is Jesus. He loves you and sent me to stop. You know that idea that people don’t stop, reminds me of a story..."
I told a brief preface to the Zacchaeus’ story from Luke 19 and then said "and this is what the Bible says, ‘when Jesus came to the spot, he looked up and said Zacchaeus you come down. I must stay at your house today...’.” And then we talked about this story of Jesus stopping, knowing Zacchaeus’ name, and inviting himself to Zacchaeus’ house. We noticed that this same Jesus is also inviting himself to their home as well. I asked some brief questions and after discussing this a few minutes, the conversation shifted, they were heading off, and we bid one another goodbye. But this time I could continue praying for them and her dad Mark in Florida for continued healing.
Meeting this couple for this random encounter, praying with them, sharing with them, uplifting Jesus to them, and then parting from them, reminded me of the fact that our lives are filled with brief and longer encounters all along the way. Daily we meet people briefly whom we may not see again, and then with others we have the opportunity for more long term relationships. As I am living each day of this year, I am so grateful for the time God has given us together. All this time.
I was struck with that especially when I stumbled upon this picture of me with Dylan and Jesse Theriot taken around 9-10 years ago just how much time has passed! These two young men are now teens! SImilarly, you all and I have had this wondrous and unique and delightful privilege of a long time to walk together, work side by side, see God build us up into a community actively engaging our community and growing into all God has for us. We have shared so many times of prayer, of story, of sharing, of tears and laughter. It has been and it continues to be a marking time of my life. I’ve become more myself here because of all of you!
The Sultan and the Saint
You are invited to a free screening of “The Sultan and the Saint” on Sunday, October 6. Narrated by Jeremy Irons, it tells the story of St Francis of Assisi meeting the sultan of Egypt face-to-face during the Crusades.
St Matthew Lutheran Church, 10390 SW Canyon Rd, Beaverton, is hosting the event in partnership with the Institute for Christian-Muslim Understanding (icmupdx.org.) The hour-long film will begin at 2:00 pm, followed by a “kindly discussion” on the movie and a sundae/dessert bar.
Would You Do This?...
The woman was trying to follow those prompts. Those moment by moment nudges. And she got into her car. The prompt was to turn here. Then turn there. She did not know this part of the community in which she lived, but kept following. Finally, she found herself parked in front of one of those quik-stop markets. And then the clear message said, “Go inside and stand on your head.” Her heart went wild. “What, Lord? Is that you?” Nothing followed. So, she got out of her car and went in.
The place was quiet, there was one other customer and a young kid working the cash register. After that person left, this woman went up to the kid and said, “Look what I can do,” and there, right in front of the cash register, she did a kind of handstand using the pole to catch her feet. She was feeling really stupid, embarrassed, and vulnerable. She put her feet down and stood up. And was surprised to see the incredulous look on this kid’s face, and tears on his cheeks.
“What is it?” she asked.
He struggled to speak and then said, “I was really frustrated today, and feeling like God didn’t know I existed and I wasn’t certain about God either. So, I said, ‘God, if you exist have someone come in and stand on their heads at work.’ I knew that was never going to happen, and felt stupid for even putting it out there. But then, you come in and do just that.”
The two looked at one another. The woman, as shocked as the kid, that God had answered her and led her right to this place. She ended up helping him come to Christ and he ended up coming to her church.
God. God speaks and leads and guides us in this life.
I love that story. It is such a reminder that even when we think the prompt is foolish or stupid, still God might be directing us. We have to let go of our uncertainty to be disciples. This applies to all of life. We have to “let down our nets” in this life and the only way to do so is to let go. This month we are focusing upon this theme to ask what we might need to do, to release, to more fully follow Him.
What might that be for you?
Don’t miss worship, for when you do, not only do you miss out, but we do as well!
Come, let us worship and adore Him!
BHS Beaver Den Needs
Community Partners Hopes for the families of BHS
The Beaver Den is a service in Beaverton High School that provides free food, clothing, personal items and school supplies to students and families in need.
With the beginning of a new school year comes new needs. If you are able, please bring the following to church to be donated to The Beaver Den:
non-perishable food (canned foods, pastas, cereal, peanut butter, etc)
toilet paper
shampoo and conditioner
body wash both male and female
razors both male and female
shaving cream
laundry pods
dishwasher pods
toothbrushes
toothpaste
Purchase one or two items every time you go to the grocery store. These items will be necessary all year. Thank you so much for your generosity!
Save the Date for Action Assembly
This year’s Charge Conference Action Assembly will be at Beaverton First UMC, 12555 SW 4th St, on Sunday, November 17, from 3:00 - 6:00 pm.
All are invited to this event which is part worship, part business. You’ll hear testimonies from people in various ministries throughout our district on the theme “Embracing God’s Reconciliation of All Things.” Our district superintendent, Erin Martin, will speak. There will be singing. And there will be a brief time of confirming Westside’s intentions for next year, with all Westside members voting.
Eight other churches from the west side will also be in attendance.
Plan to attend. You’ll be uplifted.
"Awakened"
Do you want to experience the move of God through you? Want to practice listening and praying for others?
Rick Moyer and Gene Tracy, friends of Westside, are starting a new group on Friday evenings. They will meet weekly in the Lighthouse from 6:30 - 9:00 pm, beginning October 4.
This group is open to anyone seeking to grow in the Lord, learn about healing, be healed, or grow in the use of the gifts of the Spirit.
A place of healing, transformation, and renewal. Come.
Survey for Beaverton High School
Dr. Anne Erwin at Beaverton High School is a marvelous leader in this area, setting the school sights on the following core values: Excellence inspires us; Learning transforms us; Community connects us; Tradition unites us. At the community partner meeting, she said she wanted every student and staff member to feel included, respected and loved. "We are talking about love a lot more these days," she said. So cool!
At this meeting, we were asked to take a survey that is on the BSD website seeking community input on how to specifically apply funds recently received through a bond issue. The survey takes just a moment but also takes some knowledge of what is really needed.
You can access the survey here https://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/get-involved/student-success-act .
The survey asks you to share "what is going well in the district," perhaps you could answer that question, and then the share "what are some of the needs." At this morning's meeting, we were asked to not just state the need but possible solutions. Here are some of the needs and solutions we discussed. If you are willing, go take the survey, the more community members who state their opinion, the better.
Number of students struggling with mental health issues-- need mental health support persons and school psychologists on staff
Number of students struggling with homelessness -- need for homeless liaisons at schools
Number of students needing counseling -- need for more counselors funded to assist the students.
Number of pressing issues that distract us from future needs -- need to fund dreaming into the future
Number of students coming as ESL students in immersion English classes - need more instructional assistants
Thank you for taking the survey and thank you too for praying for our local schools. They need more prayer and need us all to be part of their work. In those prayers thank God for leaders like Dr. Erwin and Jared Freeman, the principal we work with at Meadow Park School.
Let Go and Cast Your Nets
This Sunday begins our stewardship campaign. It’s an opportunity to thank God for all you’ve been given, and to prayerfully consider how you can give back.
One obvious answer is through giving to the church. Your gifts not only keep the doors open and the lights on; they support our outreach in the community and worldwide through connectional giving. Perhaps you can afford to give a bit more this year. Consider “stepping up” one percentage point.
Less obvious is the giving of your time and talents. You can find a lengthy list of all the ways you can support Westside on the lobby table: for example, join a team, volunteer with one of our outreach ministries, or simply commit to attending Sunday worship every week. Be involved.
Mark your calendars now to attend on Sunday, October 27, for Extravagant Generosity Sunday. You won’t want to miss it!
Join the Journey, 9.22.19
Question: What statements most populate your prayers?
Answers:
Love to all. God bless grandkids.
Thanksgiving prayers for others.
Thank you.
Prayers for family and prayers of thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving, adoration, confessions, thanksgiving, supplication.
I’m here. Use me as you wish. Thank you for… [a long list.]
Healing, comfort, and peace.
Fill me with the Holy Spirit.
Prayers of thanksgiving. Prayers for our congregation (prayer requests.) Prayers for my family.
Petitions, thanksgiving, praise, and conversational ramblings. :)
Brian's Blog: Follow His Lead
When we were in the Dominican Republic we did a trust walk. Have you done one of those?
We paired up and the first instruction was to only use your voice not touch to direct your blinded partner. We each were leading our partners around the room, voice only: “Take two small steps forward and stop. Turn to the right. etc.” Then we were to be led by our partners, us blinded, and this time without voice, only with touch. The interesting thing was that with both exercises each person leading and following was unique. Each had his or her own style of leadership and own way of following. Some followed confidently, taking bold steps when instructed, others meekly, taking little half steps one after another.
On Sunday Sep 18th at our Transitions Team meeting, I repeated this exercise for the 8 team members present. (I’m grateful for this team!)
It was fun to watch the teams work together, this time. Some were so detailed in instructions, others less so, some quieter, others louder, some stuck only to the instructions, others were super encouraging. The leaders also led from different positions. Some leaders led from the front, others from the side or still others from behind. And each managed to lead their partner successfully. It became clear that leadership clearly can be valid from in front, the side or behind those being led. It also can be quiet or loud, bold or subdued and still accomplish the goal. This was important to realize as we discussed that there is not a “one-size-fits-all” style of leadership.
As we are walking this year of transition, looking back at all the great experiences we have had together and looking forward to what Jesus yet has for us, this was an important thing to notice. We also discussed an Old Testament story that captured how the leader there involved his followers in executing their own solutions, how he was respected and loved by those following, and how much trust they had in him. That trust element both in the story and the trust walk certainly is a crucial aspect of being a leader. People need to know they can trust you. As we discussed this all in light of whomever God may be bringing to Westside beginning July 1, we noted how much the desire is for the new leader to know and love Jesus and be someone who follows the lead of the Holy Spirit.
Be on the lookout for this: The team is going to set up a prayer location in the sanctuary for our new, incoming pastor. We don’t know who is coming yet, but we do know, this person needs our prayers for him or her to be hearing God’s call upon them to move to a new place, and given a willingness to heed this call. This person also has a life, now, which needs to be covered in prayer. There will be a journal in this place too, for you to write scriptures and words God is giving you for this new person. Write your prayers there for this person. We plan to present this to him or her upon arrival here. What a gift this will be.
As we journey in this year, we have noticed a diminishing attendance in worship. Part of this is life, but part of this is perhaps connected to this transition year. Some people just hate change and may leave early so that it won’t hurt so much. Actually, this heightens pain for by doing so one unplugs the gift gained from being in community, and loses out on the time we could spend together NOW!
We don’t want that for you. Some people say, “I’m going to miss you so much,” yet are not coming to worship where we could be together in God’s presence time and again. My encouragement to you is this: Come. Don’t miss a Sunday. Stay engaged.
First, Scripture makes that admonition: “Don’t give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing. But do so all the more…” (Hebrews 10). You see -- it was a problem then! There’s nothing new under the sun. So, come!
Second, Jesus called you and me to follow HIM which meant automatically following into a community. We cannot learn to love without having brothers and sisters around us who are challenging to love and practicing! :-)
Third, each week Jesus is doing something here you can only be part of when present. We plan worship for God encounters to happen. Last week we experienced several of these. It was incredible.
Finally, do you realize YOU are a crucial part of this community? We cannot be the same without you. So, don’t let anything hinder you from meeting together. Come. Worship. Engage. And come expecting to see God move in some way.
See you in worship…
Paul's Radical Words
The tension in the house could be cut with a knife. Thomas was angry, all the time. His anger was controlling and mean-spirited. It caused his wife, Carol, and their children to feel like they were cowering, tip-toeing around him, hoping their actions didn’t cause another outburst. They also felt trapped. Where could they go? Who could they tell? Carol’s attempt to talk to the pastor about her husband’s behavior brought the sickening response, “You just need to submit to him, Carol, and things will improve.” How was she to submit to rage? Was there no means for accountability of Thomas’ behavior?
This story has been repeated time and again in many homes here and elsewhere because of pulling verses out of context and misinterpreting God’s intent. The word “submit” has been used as a battering ram against women, their ability to think and lead and serve Jesus. The problem was that the verses written by Paul and by Peter in his first letter, regarding how people lived out their faith at home and at work had been interpreted without regard for the world to which Paul and Peter were writing in the first century. The consequent interpretation then reflected the warped human relationships after the fall, as God had told the woman then, “Your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you,” (Genesis 3:16).
What if we looked at these codes from the worldview intended? What if we stepped back in awe that both Paul and Peter had taken what was the “norm” for the culture of the day and turned it on it’s ear by including those never mentioned? How might we understand Paul’s genius when we notice that he called for men to “love their wives?” Does it sound radical to our ears? Of course not, for we have heard it and ignored it for centuries. But to the first century ear, that would have sounded like telling men to spread their arms and fly. It wasn’t said. And what about the fact that wives, children and slaves were included, at all. Again, this was not done.
Last week we looked at Paul’s calling to the Colossian Christians to look up, to seek the “things” and set their minds and hearts upon “Christ” who is above, seated at God’s right hand, not on earthly things. This then flowed into his call to kill off or die to or take off everything that was part of that old life and instead dress in the new resurrection garments known by compassion, love, patience, etc. This week we are looking at how those “clothes” might look when worn in our daily relationships at home and work, and how might they best be expressed.
Perhaps this primer on relationships might strengthen your own. Don’t miss this opportunity to reflect with one another.
Feast this Sunday
ICYMI:
There’s definitely a chill in the air!
So, let’s feast on soups and bread for the upcoming Fourth Sunday Feast this weekend.
Bring your best chicken noodle, vegetarian chili, or whatever your specialty is, and let’s break bread together. For the non-cooks, bring the bread!
In the Lighthouse, after worship. See you there!