Finished the Race

I have the privilege of preaching on II Timothy 4.6-8 at the Sarpy Campus in a couple of weeks. I just love verse 7. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

After spending this past Friday and Saturday at the Nebraska State Track and Field event, I am especially drawn to, "I have finished the race."

During this two day event I saw crowds rise to their feet as athletes literally ran away from the competition and break long standing records. I also saw the crowds rise to their feet to applaud a valiant effort by individuals who were obviously in pain and who finished the race minutes after the rest crossed the finish line.

I'm working on that phrase and how it affects my life and the choices I make in life and how I live my life.

This is what I am mulling over so far.

Regardless of when you cross the finish line you need to be able to say like Paul, I have FINISHED the race. Not, I quit before the finish line, but that I ran toward the finished line and crossed it.

More to come.

On the journey,
Steve Walters
CCC-Sarpy
Campus Pastor

Volunteers make it happen!

This past Sunday we had our Second Annual Biker-Blues-BBQ. What a great time! Typically, we get all excited about record numbers attending the services and meals served. Yet I want to recognize that none of this would of happened without the volunteers at CCC-Sarpy.

Volunteers make my heart smile. Actually, in a multi site setting, we should actually call anybody who volunteers as volunteer staff. Any church will say that they could never do ministry if it wasn't for volunteers.

However, I think that we have the best volunteer staff here at CCC-Sarpy. In this blog I will call them staff, even though they are not paid staff. On a given weekend, we have "staff" who come either Saturday morning to set up either the worship venue and or the children's venue. We have staff who prepare for teaching children and youth each Sunday. We have staff who come in early Sunday morning to get the area ready for coffee and free treats. Then there is staff who stay after church to tear down and pack up all our equipment for storage.

Each weekend I am humbled by the generosity that our volunteer staff give of themselves and their time for CCC-Sarpy to minister to the community.

Sir Winston Churchill said, "We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give."

I am so thankful for the volunteer staff who "makes a life" by how they give.

On the Journey,

Steve Walters

Campus Pastor

Leaving a Legacy

You've probably noticed a pattern in this blog. I enjoy gleaning information, knowledge and ideas from books and articles that I read. It is not that I can't think for myself, but I love being challenged by the thinking and writing of others smarter than me. I pray that I can always be on the learning curve in life.

Richard Geberding in "New Man eMagazine" wrote how men tend to focus on projects and events. He succinctly summarized a typical man's schedule as "plan, act, rest" cycle. He said that men tend to lay out a course of action, execute it and then take a break until it's time to plan again.

Unfortunately, we [I'm inserting women into this now] tend to get so focused on the project that we lose sight of the purpose. Meaning, it is possible our woodworking hobby or desire to garden can leave a legacy, if we see a purpose in what we do, that is, touching the lives of those around us.

Whatever we do, we need to ask ourselves what is the big picture?

Geberding goes on to say,
"Your finest woodwork will someday be firewood. Monday morning's blue ribbon tomatoes are rotting under swarms of flies by Friday afternoon. If we want to leave a legacy, we can't settle for short-term results at long term expense."

I can't help but think of Luke 9:24-25 where Jesus says;
"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?"

May we look at these upcoming summer months as a chance to leave a legacy!

On the Journey,
Steve Walters
Campus Pastor