ITLOTC
(In The Life Of The Church)
Ordinary Time
Words
Matthew 12:36-37: "I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
I wanted to chase a rabbit that I won't be able to address in Sunday's sermon. Here's what I would have said on another day.
First, something from this sundays sermon
I just finished a book called The Name of the Wind. It officially belongs to the genre of fantasy nerd … so I’m not going to waste your time trying to explain much about the names or the characters. Just know that what I’m about to write below is a conversation between a university professor and a student. You could say the professor among other things is a linguist of sorts … and they are having a conversation about words.
Student: I still don’t understand about names.
Professor: I will teach you to understand, the nature of names cannot be described, only experienced and understood.
Student: Why can’t it be described? If you understand a thing you can describe it.
Professor: Can you describe all the things you understand?
Student: Of course.
Professor points at a boy: What color is that boy’s shirt?
Student: Blue.
Professor: What do you mean by blue? Describe it.
And then something I read a while back
A few months ago Radiolab did a fascinating program on perceiving colors. The specific color in question is blue. The program begins by noting that about 150 years ago William Gladstone began reading through books from antiquity noting both that some objects were describe with a peculiar color (sheep = violet, honey = green) and that some colors were not mentioned at all. At one point they interview Guy Deutscher who is the author of Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages. Deutscher decided to do an experiment with his daughter. He made a point never to describe the color of the sky to her. I'll quote at length here.
In theory, one of children's first questions is, "Why is the sky blue?" So he raised his daughter while being careful to never describe the color of the sky to her, and then one day asked her what color she saw when she looked up.
Alma, Deutscher's daughter, had no idea. The sky was colorless. Eventually she decided it was white, and later on, eventually blue. So blue was not the first thing she saw or gravitated toward, though it is where she settled in the end.
One of the points of the program is to explore the relationship between language and perception. The suggestion is that we can't perceive what we can't describe. If we don't have a word for blue we cannot see blue. If you are more interested you can read this summary.
Hebrew people and their words
God spoke the world into existence with words. God let Adam name animals. God changed Abram's name. God changed Sarai's name. God changed Jacob's name. God told Hosea to name his kids something awful. When was describing Jesus in John 1 and echoing the creative word in Genesis One, he picked the word, "word" to describe Jesus. In the bible, words have a life of their own. They have a power. They aren't used casually.
There's a Hebrew davar it's tangled up in the Genesis 1 text and John 1 texts I just referred to, but let me give you an easier example to follow. Isaiah 55:11 says, "so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."
Davar proceeds from the mouth of God and does not return empty. You get the picture. Davar means to give status to. To assign being and life and creative force.
Matthew's words
For this reason Matthew's words make me pause. How many cavalier things do I say everyday that are, without my intention, shaping the world in a very real way? Let's create a world that will be justified.
Membership Update
A few years ago, with the blessings of LT, a committee was put together to pursue the idea/possibility of membership at UBC. After some great work by the committee, the LT felt there were still some questions of how this idea of membership would be implemented at UBC, and the conversation was given back to the staff to continue to guide the process. We are picking up the conversation again, and here are the key questions the committee will seek to answer: how do we create a greater sense of ownership at UBC; and how do we foster a greater sense of accountability and discipleship. The goal of this committee will be to answer the questions above (as well as others that might come up), and to help create a system of belonging at UBC that is true to historical tradition within the Church and true to UBC’s unique identity within that historical tradition. The OAR Team will meet for the first time on September 13th. If you have any questions, please contact toph@ubcwaco.org
Children's Ministry Information
We have had a great time in our UBCKids Sunday School this Summer, but it’s time for something new…(drumroll, please…)
Beginning September 13th, "God in the (kids)Movies" is BACK, but with a twist! This year, our kids in grades 1st-4th (or above!) will be starting the year with Phil Vischer (AKA The creator of VeggieTales and voice of Bob the Tomato…for those of you who aren’t up with the who’s who of Hollywood...) and his newest project, "What’s In The Bible?”! Phil has created a video series that, after watching it in its entirety, (the first time out of curiosity…the 5 or so times after, out of sheer enjoyment!) I can only describe as educational-inspiring-hilarious-enlightening-engaging-awesome! I have described it to some as “Seminary with puppets and animation”…who wouldn’t want that?! Has anyone at Truett considered this idea…because, they should! We will watch one video each week and build a creative journal as we deepen our understanding of this great book we all love and may not know enough about (yet!), The Bible!
For those parents who have kids younger than 1st grade that want to attend Sunday School, or for the younger siblings of those kids attending Sunday School, YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN! We feel pretty strongly that 2 hours of curriculum is too much for most tiny tots, so we provide a safe and happy environment for free-play during this time! Because it requires additional volunteers, please let Emily know if you intend to take advantage of this time so that we can plan to have the appropriate supervision for your tikes! Feel free to email Emily (emily@ubcwaco.org) to let her know what to plan for or with any other questions or concerns you might have!
Volunteer Training:
Are you fun? Do you like to hang out with people shorter then you? Do you love God, embrace beauty and live life to the fullest? Well, UBCKids has a place for you! All current and future volunteers mark your calendars for the UBCKids Volunteer Training on September 13th! There will be food and insight into the UBCKids program and policies…and did I mention FOOD?!
Join us on September 13th (from the end of church until 1:00) for the UBCKids Volunteer Training to help share God’s love with the littlest UBCers!
Made In Waco:
UBC is committed to finding God’s beauty in the world around us, even the beauty we create and appreciate is an extension of God’s love for us! To celebrate this, UBC hosts an annual handmade market called Made In Waco! We realize that handmade and crafted things take time, so we thought we’d let you know now that Made In Waco will be held on November 7th at UBC and we’d love to have you take part! For more information, email Emily at emily@ubcwaco.org!
Satan Slayers Recap
The Slayers opened their 2015 campaign with a pair of losses. Their first loss came at the hands of the night crew from Uncle Skip's tire shredding factory. It was a barn burner. The Slayers had the game in hand until some guy named Wally hit for the cycle ... twice ... in one in inning. Wally's 3rd cousin from Marlin subbed for the tire shredders and he hit three home runs. Coach Roldan later commented saying, "I mean what did you expect, we shred satan, these guys (and gals) shred tires." We hear you coach. Sometimes metaphysical warfare doesn't translate to W's on the diamond. Highlights included a Brad Rettler grand slam and a Kelsey Lawson web gem.
In their second loss the church squad lost to a familiar organization ... the Antioch Community Church semi-pro city league softball team or ACCSPCLST for short. I thought about trying to craft this paragraph in a way that didn't look bad, but that'd be a failure in journalistic integrity. The Slayers got slaughtered. In fact, had they not eked those pair of runs in the 3rd inning, the game would have been called because of runs. When I first saw the score of this one on the ESPN ticker I thought it was a football game. I mean I've seen Baylor non conference football games that were closer than this.
After their second loss I caught up with MVP hopeful Kelsey Lawson. Here's what she had to say, "we just need to make better plays."
Yes, yes you do Slayers.
Lawson continued, "but I liked the people, that guy Rob is hilarious. And Evie made some good plays at third base."
When questioned about his sour outing reliever Jacob Robinson responded, "did you know we have a team song? It's centerfield by John Fogerty. It gets me jacked up!"
To make matters more complicated the city of Waco incorrectly recorded the UBC squad's name. Instead of Satan Slayers, the scoreboard read "Satan Slavers." You can imagine the media frenzy. Already struggling with a fast and loose reputation in the local community, the Satan Slavers have added injury to insult. When we contacted UBC's lead pastor Josh Carney he replied:
"What, satan slavers? I thought we all agreed on hashtag champions4thelord. Heads are going to roll in the marketing department."
Apparently coach Byron Roldan took the evening pretty hard. Here's a bit from my interview with coach Roldan from after the game.
Majkowski: Coach you guys seemed like you just couldn't get it together tonight. What happened?
Roldan: What kind of question is that Flip? Did they teach you that in journalism school? You were here tonight, what did you see?
Majkowski: Coach I know it was a tough night, but can you elaborate on what you think went wrong?
Roldan: I'll tell you what's wrong Majkowski. We're a small market team and our fan base is abysmal. If we could get some decent media coverage, we might be able to generate a small fan base increase ticket and merch sales and THEN I COULD BUY A PITCHER IN THE OFF SEASON THAT'S WORTH A DARN AND SNAG AN OCCASIONAL WIN. Let me ask you a question. When did you get to be such a smart alec Flip? Was it before you overpaid for that piece of paper from the university of plagiarism or after? You're terrible.
Majkowski: All right, back to you guys in the studio.
Survey
A former UBCer and good friend of our Hannah Howard is studying Anthropology and a few other words I can't pronounce at a school in Virginia named after famous Americans. I can't remember which ones. Anyhow she is great and needs your help. I know what your thinking ... "I don't need to take this survey, because everyone else will." Nope, everyone else just had that same thought, so if you don't take this survey then the world will go into chaos and the stock market will crash. no pressure, no diamonds. you can fill out the survey here.
Work is Worship
Greeters: Evie
Coffee Makers: Chad & Joel
Mug Cleaners: Haines
Announcements:
Sunday Sermon Text: Matthew 13:31-32 ... and possibly some other bible verses: "Matthew's Farm Part 1"
Our next town hall to prep people for the October leadership team meeting will be after church on September 20th.
Pub Group this Wednesday at 8pm at the Dancing Bear. Come have a pint with some other UBCers and talk about stuff (and things). 21 and up.
Parents Breakfast: Sunday September 18th from 9:30-10:15.
New UBCers Lunch after church on September 27th. More information to come
On September 18, UBCYP (ubc young professionals) will meet at Jamie's house at 7 for food, fun, and good times. There will be a sign up sheet in the lobby starting this Sunday for those who are interested.
Do you have an Emergency? Do you Need to talk to a Pastor?:
254 498 2261
Leadership Team
If you have a concern or an idea for UBC that you’d like to share with someone that is not on staff, feel free to contact one of our leadership team members.
Chair- Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net
Joy Wineman: joy.wineman@gmail.com
Stan Denman: Stan_Denman@baylor.edu
David Wilhite: David_Wilhite@baylor.edu
Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu
Sharyl Loeung: sharylwl@gmail.com
Jon Davis: jdavis83@gmail.com
UBC Finance Team
Do you have a question about UBC’s financial affairs? Please feel free to contact any of your finance team members.
Tom Haines: thomas_haines@baylor.edu
Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com
Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu
Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com
Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com
Lacy Crocker: lacykcrocker@gmail.com
UBC HR Team
If you have concerns about staff and would like contact our human resources team, please feel free to email any of the following members.
Maxcey Blaylock: maxceykite@gmail.com
Mathew Crawford: mathewcrawford@yahoo.com
Callie Schrank: Callie_Schrank@baylor.edu
Jeff Walter: Jeff_Walter@ubcwaco.org
Rob Engblom: Rob_Engblom@baylor.edu