Calvin & Blogs: Work Under The Sun Part 2

There is no separation into categories of Christian wok and secular work. The Latin word voccare means calling and is where we get the word “vocation”. What ever work you are doing is your calling – your voccare – from God. The man who teaches the Bible as the way he earns his pay – as I do – and the man who sells cars or programs computers or is a gardener are on equal footing in terms of the spirituality of his work. We are each doing the thing our Creator and Savior asks of us. Christian work is the work you as a Christian do that is assigned to you by God.
A testimony I remember from years ago was a man who was explaining how he had been had been called away from his former job to join the staff of a para-church ministry and work as a missionary. His point was he wanted not to just give God what he called his “tired” hours. He saw that evangelism and teaching the Bible and leading a group were acts of service to God but sitting at his desk in his former situation was just waiting till 5 pm and he could again serve God. I have no problem with his new call but I do have a problem with the poor way he saw his former call.

George Herbert in his poem The Elixer states it properly.

A servant with this clause
Makes drudgery divine:
Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws,
Makes that and th’ action fine.

Valley Rescue Mission Project

Title: Value Rescue Project
Description: Valley Rescue Mission is one of the local ministries our church supports and they have asked us to join the “Sock Drive” they are sponsoring this fall. Thanks to you who have already placed brand new socks for children and adults in the cardboard bin in the narthex.
The bin will be there through September to give everyone an opportunity to donate.

Start Date: 2012-08-19
Start Time: 10:45
End Date: 2012-09-30
End Time: 12:00

Leadership

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church is governed by 2 groups — Elders and Deacons.

The elders are responsible for the spiritual leadership of the church, and the deacons are responsible for the fiscal leadership.

The current elders are:

Doug Emerich
Dimon Kendrick-Holmes
Mike Mason,
Bobby McGowan
AJ Morris
Matt O’Shields
Bob Ross
Billy Whitley

The current deacons are:

John Anderson
Tim Dodds
David Clickner
Chris Gibson
Jim Jackson
Nathan Rodeheaver
Allen Whitley

Calvin & Blogs Work Under The Sun

Summer is over – I am always glad to see it arrive but ready to move on when it is September and Labor Day. We probably have moved far from the intent for which Labor Day was established but it is a good time to think again about what God says about our Labor (and rest) “under the sun”.
Work is given to us in the Garden before the fall and not after. There is certainly an element of futility (Romans 8 20) in our work and the results of our work now are under the weight of the fall but work itself is not a curse. God is a worker and we who bear his image are also workers.
All work has dignity because it comes from God. Because our culture is only Christian in it’s symbols and history we have taken on the poor values of a passing world in regard to work. The world values work because it pays money – and the more money the more value it has. It values work because it gives fame and status. But the Bible tells us all work that comes from God has value that he assigns to it. Paul tells the Colossians to do their work as unto God and to do everything to the glory of God. If you are waiting on the world around you to give you value and meaning you will chase the wind. But the Bible points us to lasting and solid understanding about our daily tasks. The work Adam and Eve were given in the garden was not just busy work. Their work mattered because God had made the garden and God had made them. The man who sits at the chairman’s desk and the man who cleans offices at night each have the same opportunity to serve God and have dignity in their work because they are doing what their Creator has assigned to them. Remember this in how you think about all of your tasks and in how you speak to and treat those with whom you share your work day.

Small Groups

The small groups at St. Andrews are forming now for the year. These groups are where we covenant together to know and follow Jesus Christ together and where we practice the “one anothers” of the Bible.
We will have groups that meet Sunday, some on Tuesday and some on Wednesday.

To find a group or for more information about groups call the office – 706 327 7750