Dear Friends,
Yesterday was a defining moment for me. On the day before I
celebrated my 80th birthday, Jean and I had the wonderful opportunity
to celebrate my birthday with some dear friends on our church staff. Some I had
known from my first interim, and some from my second interim, but all of them
have become special to me.
It was a wonderful time of sharing stories, both serious and
whimsical, as we gathered around the table of my favorite Chinese restaurant. I
will save you the details of our time together, however, suffice to
say it was one of the most wonderful and memorable times of my life as I
received cards, unforgettable gifts, balloons and a handcrafted ice cream cake
fashioned by one of our pastors and made from two of my favorite
Aldi’s ice cream products, "Make Fudge Not War,” and “Thank You
Cherry Cherry Much.” (If you are not an Aldi’s shopper you are missing out, but
that’s another story.
I have been blessed to serve in some wonderful churches and with
some great people, but none of them have been more wonderful than the people
with whom I have served the last five years, which has included two interims
and now a regular staff position with two other younger pastors.
My Leadership Thought today was generated by yesterday’s birthday
celebration with staff and a Friday morning Fellowship of Christian
Athlete’s (FCA) meeting with coaches from all over the northeast who meet
by zoom for Bible study. This past Friday the subject was “Defining Moments in
Your Life.”
A defining moment has been described as “a point in which the
essential character of a person is formed. an identify-forming event
that changes you and your circumstances.”
For me, the most defining moment in my life was when I knelt
beside my cot in Lake Geneva, Wisc. at a summer Fellowship of Christian
Athletes Conference in 1962 and gave my life to Christ.
But there have been countless other defining moments in my life,
maybe not as life changing as my conversion, but which have been pivotal in
shaping my life in significant ways. They would include marriage, college
and career choices, friends, family, and business decisions…
I have found the “Defining Moments” study to be an intriguing and
valuable time for me as I was challenged to recall many of those events and
decisions that have made me who I am.
If you are looking for an interesting Bible study you might wish
to ask participants to share any one of a number of defining moments in their
lives and then discuss how those defining moments impacted their life. From
there you might examine defining moments in the life of biblical characters and
how the decisions they made impacted their life and the lives of others.
The main character on which we focused was Paul and his
Damascus Road experience. We discussed how that experience changed not only his
life but the lives of the world around him as his newfound faith gave birth to
rise and spread of Christianity. There are others: Peter’s decision to step out
of the boat and walk on water, or his denials of Jesus, or his second chance to
follow Jesus given on the seashore following Jesus’ resurrection. There is
Moses choosing to step out in faith and lead his people through the Red Sea, or
Joshua boldly declaring, “Choose this day whom you will serve but as for me and
my household we will serve the Lord,” or David making a dent in the head of
Goliath with a small stone from a tiny slingshot, or the coming off the Spirit
at Pentecost, or the miraculous deliverance of Peter and John from prison, or
the resurrection experiences of the women who discovered the empty tomb, or the
“follow me and I will make you fishers of men” challenge. These are just a few
of the many life changing experiences worthy of study.
Identify what a defining moment is and then examine those defining
moments in your life and share how those special moments have shaped your life.
Ask God to show you how you can create a defining moment in the lives of
others. Ask how God judges a defining moment, and what might have happened if
you had not responded as you did to the challenge or decision before you.
Pick your character, share your story, and I promise that you will
have an exciting and memorable Bible study.
Yours in faith and friendship,
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