ITLOTC 12-19-14

 ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Advent 2014

Omnipassive

This last Sunday I began my sermon on joy explaining my apprehension to preach about it.  It's difficult to imply, even if subtly, that we should be a joy filled people when we are constantly aware of the suffering around us.  I sometimes wonder if this has been intensified by relative ease with which we now have access to global information.

In my senior of college I took a capstone marketing class.  In one of the final days of class our professor noted this phenomenon of proliferated information and pointed out that most people see a few culture changing events in their lifetime.  He then went on to suggest that we, at young and eager age of 22 (in 2004), had already seen four: the falling of the Berlin Wall, 9-11, postmodernism, and the dawning of the internet.

For my parents it was the assassination of Kennedy and Vietnam.  For the generation before that it was Pearl Harbor and WWII.

For me it was the murder of 26 people at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, CT in December 2012.  I realize that event did not have the political magnitude as some of the others on this list nor does it represent the largest sum total of human suffering from a single tragedy, if such a calculation could be made.  But something changed in me.  I remember watching the news break from a TV down in the weight room at Columbus Avenues the Center.  I was then and still am at a loss for words when I think about what happened.  Somehow I get a little numb when I think about it.  Not angry or even sad.  Just overwhelmed.  It's just too much.

Whenever I find myself unable to process the events of life I turn to my faith and look for something to match my experience.  For that reason I've taken great comfort in Paul's words in Romans 8:26 "We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans."

The complexities of Sandy Hook were magnified for me by the fact that these events happened on the Friday before the Sunday in advent in which the church highlights joy.  It seems as though a tragic symmetrical mirror was placed between now and then.  Just two days after we celebrated joy in this advent season there was a school shooting Peshawar killing 148 people, mostly children and teenagers.

I don't know what to say or feel.  In my sermon on joy I worked hard to point out what joy is and is not.  I suggested that it has an eternal character rooted in the transcendent and that we often find its authentic nature in the midst of suffering, where it's doppelgänger happiness, always disappears.  Here is a confession.  I don't know where the joy is in Peshawar.  I can't imagine it.

And yet for so many in the world, joy is full.  A college friend welcomed her third child to the world on Tuesday.  Other friends found out the gender of their first child.  My dad got a great report from his oncologist on Monday.  Millions gave sacrificially so that someone else could have a better Christmas.

Early on in my theological reflecting I discovered that our gospel which is so much about life is also so much about death.  Now that I've reflected some more I think that's because our lives which are so full of life are also full of death.

Aristotle said that God was the unmoved mover.  Consequently he reasoned that God is impassive, meaning without emotion, because to have emotion would be to change how God feels.  A change in feeling would imply a change in God and because God is already perfect any change would be for the worse.  Early Christian theologians adopted a version of this.

This always bothered me.  Sure, the early church talked about Jesus' two natures and how human nature suffered, empathized and all those things, but they stood firm on the fact that God didn't.

One day, as I was walking away from my doctrine of God class in college, a friend suggested that God is omnipassive.  Perfectly present in every emotion with all of us at all times.  I'm not sure if that passes the orthodoxy test, but that's consistent with my experience.

God in the person of Jesus is both on the floors of the school in Peshawar and in the gender reveal cake of expecting couples all over the world.  And right now, that's what getting me through.

Grace and peace ... and because I'm trying to be faithful ... even joy for Peshawar.

Christmas Schedule Information

UBC will be having church services on each Sunday morning through the holidays.  We will not have a Christmas eve or Christmas day service.  Enjoy your families and/or visit another one of the great churches in town.

The church building will be closed December 22nd-26th.  However, a pastor will be available during this time.  Please see the contact information listed below.

ITLOTC, aka this newsletter, will be taking a two week break as the seasons wind down.  Look for the next edition on Friday, January 9th.

Mugs

**** Leaving this in here one more week in case you forgot last week *****

Hey Friends,

We are in the process of getting rid of our coffee mugs that are chipped and stained beyond our ability to tell if they are clean or not.

If you are like me (Craig)-- (A person who has been described as just a little too addicted to coffee, even though I can stop anytime, LEAVE ME ALONE ABOUT IT, OK!)-- you will probably be getting at least a couple of coffee mugs for Christmas. Why don't you go ahead and create space for those mugs by bringing us one or two of the ones currently taking space from your cupboard this coming Sunday? As it stands, we could use about 20-25 new coffee cups.

UBCKids Info

The kids will be joining us in the services on December 21st and 28th!  As usual, the Nurture and Sprout Rooms will be open to you if you need it, but we want you all to know that, as a whole, UBC understands that kids are kids!  We consider it our joy to get to share parts of this special season with ALL of our UBCers; both big and small, old and young, developed and undeveloped prefrontal cortices, alike!  Service-Survival-Kits (seasonally appropriate snacks, color-sheets and crayons) will be provided in the foyer for those who would like them!

Work is Worship 12-21-14

Mug Cleaners: Craig

Coffee Makers: Toph

Greeters: Jeff and Teri Walter

Shutdown Team: Cavemen Announcements:

• Sunday Sermon Text: Luke 1:26-39 /Advent Theme Love
• Please be in prayer for baby Evie Bates who is being dedicated this weekend
• Advent Sunday School Continues.  It will be located in the backside.
• On December 28th, our service will be comprised mostly of carroll singing and scripture reading.  Please come celebrate the arrival of Jesus with us on that day.

Do you have an Emergency? Do you Need to talk to a Pastor?: 254 366 9779

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: Teri Walter: terijan@gmail.com

Jana Parker jparkerslp@gmail.com

Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Kaley Eggers: kaley.eggers@gmail.com

David Wilhite: david_wilhite@baylor.edu

Jamie McGregor: jameson.mcgregor@gmail.com

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu

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

Paul Taft: ptaft@extracobanks.com

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.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@baylor.edu

Michael Heins: mheins@hot.rr.com

ITLOTC 12-12-14

 ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Advent 2014

Tiger

Is what I call him.  It's a nickname I picked up from his dad.  A nickname I discovered at his wedding, which was here, at UBC back in 2011.  It's crazy that, that was only three point five years ago because so much has happened.  Tye you may or may not know, was accepted and on his way to law school when we asked him to stick around.  Though courtrooms promised Tye a more robust financial future, he was overcome by the dazzling complexities and opportunities that come with what we call ministry.  One Dave Crowder stepped down in December of 2010 and Tye and Haley had already been helping out quite a bit by filling in.  It was a natural step to ask Tye fill in as an interim worship pastor.

We've got Tiger for two more Sundays, but I thought I would use this space to craft a formal farewell.

After the search committee conducted the process they recommended to the leadership team that Tye be the new Worship and Arts pastor.  We were all able to sigh in relief.  We all wondered how we would fill in the shoes of such a gifted musician.  Tye was the man.  Not because he could fill those shoes, but because he figured out how to shop for his own pair altogether.

Tye grew up at/with UBC.  He first came here in 2003 as one of the many Dudleyites from the extravaganza that is known as FBC Amarillo.  With West Texas swagger in hand, Tye tackled the Baylor storm.  As a philosophy major, Tiger ate lifes largest problems for breakfast and graduated slightly more cynical, a lot smarter and with at least four good friends.  After that Tye tried his hand at seminary, but Truett couldn't contain him so that only lasted one semester.  It was the American Studies program that called Tye forth to receive his masters.  After writing a riveting thesis on Cowboy Boots Tye looked back West where frontier justice found it's roots (AKA Texas Tech) to teach him the law.  But lo, he found his home where it had all started, with the saints gathered together University Baptist Church.

Now, in the year of our Lord 2014, that same Spirit that brooded over the waters in Genesis has called Tye forth once again.  This time south, to New Braunfels, where the college football teams aren't quite as awesome, but the waterparks are really something to behold.

So we, those left behind, grab our kleenex and join the litany of thank-yous that have been uttered by the saints throughout history.  Thankful to God for spoiling us yet again, with the electric ability of one of the Greater Zion Victory Choir's greatest ... Tiger Barrett.  Thankful for the pastoral care he offered us.  Thankful for the great music he composed and shared.  Thankful that his fingerprints will continue to be found all over this place.

As a parting gift I leave you with these five facts concerning Tye

1. As much as it pains me to say--with those skinny jeans, thick black glasses, foodie diet, and unpredictable hair style-- Tye just may have been the coolest one among us (the staff).

2. We are almost half as sad to lose Tye as we are to lose Katie.

3. The Homestead Heritage restaurant is projecting a 7% loss in sales in the upcoming year.

4. Tye is not an Enneagram 4 because he's done with the Enneagram.  He's an Enneagram number you've never heard of.

5. and most interesting of all ... no one knows his middle name.

Mugs

Hey Friends,

We are in the process of getting rid of our coffee mugs that are chipped and stained beyond our ability to tell if they are clean or not.

If you are like me (Craig)-- (A person who has been described as just a little too addicted to coffee, even though I can stop anytime, LEAVE ME ALONE ABOUT IT, OK!)-- you will probably be getting at least a couple of coffee mugs for Christmas. Why don't you go ahead and create space for those mugs by bringing us one or two of the ones currently taking space from your cupboard this coming Sunday? As it stands, we could use about 20-25 new coffee cups.

 Alumni Share Meaningful Reflections

If you were in church this last Sunday you heard us ask our undergraduate population to consider sharing about UBC's impact on their life with their parents and inviting them to be a financial partner with the church.  As part of that effort Craig has created a blog and solicited stories from alumni about what UBC has meant to them.  As I read them I was moved and thought they would be worth sharing.  Enjoy.

Big XII News

The Baylor mens football team is the Big 12 champion ... which has sent me reflecting.

Jesus is one person with two natures ...which this the church calls a mystery

The Big 12 is one conference with two champions ...which this the church also calls a mystery

UBCKids Info

This week in UBCKids we will be celebrating Jesus' Birthday a little early!  (Which will involve a sweet treat as every birthday should!)  We will talk about how birthdays celebrate the unique and amazing gifts that one's life brings to the world and when we celebrate Jesus' Birthday on Christmas, we are celebrating the unique and amazing gifts that His birth, life, death and resurrection give us!

Also, the kids will be joining us in the services on December 21st and 28th!  As usual, the Nurture and Sprout Rooms will be open to you if you need it, but we want you all to know that, as a whole, UBC understands that kids are kids!  We consider it our joy to get to share parts of this special season with ALL of our UBCers; both big and small, old and young, developed and undeveloped prefrontal cortices, alike!  Service-Survival-Kits (seasonally appropriate snacks, color-sheets and crayons) will be provided in the foyer for those who would like them!

Work is Worship 12-14-14

Mug Cleaners: Jacob and Byron

Coffee Makers: Michael and Kayla

Greeters: Ryan and Joel

Shutdown Team: The Golden Glitter Girls Announcements:

• Sunday Sermon Text: Psalm 126 /Advent Theme Joy
• Please be in prayer for baby Roxy Parker who is being dedicated this weekend
• Advent Sunday School Continues.  It will be located in the backside.
• On December 28th, our service will be comprised mostly of carroll singing and scripture reading.  Please come celebrate the arrival of Jesus with us on that day.

Do you have an Emergency? Do you Need to talk to a Pastor?: 254 366 9779

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: Teri Walter: terijan@gmail.com

Jana Parker jparkerslp@gmail.com

Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Kaley Eggers: kaley.eggers@gmail.com

David Wilhite: david_wilhite@baylor.edu

Jamie McGregor: jameson.mcgregor@gmail.com

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu

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

Paul Taft: ptaft@extracobanks.com

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.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@baylor.edu

Michael Heins: mheins@hot.rr.com

ITLOTC 12-5-14

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Advent 2014

A Farewell (from the McCartys)

Josh asked us to contribute some thoughts about our time at UBC and what it has meant to leave.  I think it was his way of forcing us to sit still and process what we were thinking, what we have learned, what this community has meant to us.  (Either that or he wanted out of writing a newsletter for a week…)  I’m not a writer, but we do have a story and if there is one thing I have learned here, it is important to share your story.

 

I (Beth) slipped into UBC many years ago.  I was that girl on the back row...back when we still had the old orange pews.  I wanted to find a place that it was ok to ask questions, to discover a faith for myself.  I wanted to feel apart of something, and I wanted it to feel real.

 

I listed that day to Kyle speak about being a part of the church…of this community.  He talked about how all the parts were important…no matter how big or how small…everyone was needed…everyone mattered.  I stuck around and I slowly found my place.

 

Tom and I both started at UBC in college and early in our careers.  We let ourselves be a part of the community as we began to shape who we were as people. 

 

Time went on. The church watched as Tom and I met, became friends, and then (finally) fell in love. Our church became an extension of our family.  You stood witness as we took our vows and celebrated our marriage.  You came to the hospital to visit and meet Aiden and Asher as they each arrived. We dedicated our boys here and we watched as you became a part of our their lives.   We celebrate holidays together, grew our families, laughed and cried together, and genuinely shared life. Like our parents watching us grow as children, UBC has witnessed the many milestones that come with this stage of life.

 

This family continued to be there when life got really hard.  We asked for help and we felt you wrap your arms around us and carry us through some hard times.  This is what we come for.  For community.  To live life with people.

 

We encourage you to dive in.  Don’t isolate yourself.  Allow others into your story and share life with them.  It’s not always easy.  It can be awkward.  You will feel vulnerable.  But the life that it gives...  Wow.  You get to experience what true unconditional love can be.  Its like you get to experience a glimpse of  heaven on earth. 

 

This community surrounds you in pain, celebrates your joys, and encourages you in your questions. These people care about you, about your spirit.  Allow them to…and then be there and do the same for others.

 

This is hard, I have put it off…because I don’t know how to say goodbye.  I don’t want to say goodbye.  I know the friendships we have made here are lasting ones.  We have kindred spirits, vacation buddies, business partners, friends with children our children grew up with.  You don’t say goodbye to that.  Instead you find a way to snuggle them down into a part of the heart that doesn’t really ever let go.  You share Christmas cards, you visit, you don’t say goodbye. #ThankGodforInstagram

 

You can’t truly say goodbye to a community that has forever changed your life.  It’s impossible.  These people, these memories, this church is too engrained into who we are.   You take it with you wherever you go.

 

But, I’m not so naive that I don’t believe things wont change.  Distance, new environments, life…it changes these relationships.  What doesn’t change is that for a moment in life we shared life with these people who helped to form who we are.  Because of that they will always be with us.

 

 Loving God, embracing beauty & living life to the fullest (no matter where we are),

The McCarty’s

Study Hall

When Jesus wanted to study, he went to church (Luke 2:46).  UBC will be open for you study from 10am-midnight on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.  We will have drinks and snacks throughout the day, and we will have our traditional pancake extravaganza at 10pm on Wednesday night.  Bring your friends, and you will get bonus points on every test during finals (not a promise, but it might happen).

Work is Worship 12-17-14

Mug Cleaners: Sara and Vince

Coffee Makers: Chad and Joel

Greeters: Paul and Linda

Shutdown Team: The Blue Flames Announcements:

• Sunday Sermon Text: 2 Peter 3:8-15  /Advent Theme Peace
• Please be in prayer for babies Davis and Shanks who are being dedicated this weekend
• CCMSTCCE (Caesar Chavez Middle School Teacher Christmas Card Encouragement). Be on the lookout December 7th for more information in the foyer.
• Advent Sunday School Continues.  It will be located in the backside.
• On December 28th, our service will be comprised mostly of carroll singing and scripture reading.  Please come celebrate the arrival of Jesus with us on that day.

Do you have an Emergency? Do you Need to talk to a Pastor?: 254 366 9779

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: Teri Walter: terijan@gmail.com

Jana Parker jparkerslp@gmail.com

Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Kaley Eggers: kaley.eggers@gmail.com

David Wilhite: david_wilhite@baylor.edu

Jamie McGregor: jameson.mcgregor@gmail.com

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu

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

Paul Taft: ptaft@extracobanks.com

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.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@baylor.edu

Michael Heins: mheins@hot.rr.com

ITLOTC 11-28-14

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Ordinary Time

Timing ... A Spiritual Discipline for Social Media 

The last two times I preached I talked about words.  The importance of words.  How words carry immense power and, in the tradition of John, a creative power.  This weeks news has solicited all kinds of words, which has sent me reflecting on another value of thoughtful expression.  Timing.

Good words timed poorly can do as much damage as bad words.

I believe that the difference between now and 10 years ago is not that people have more opinions, it's that those opinions are now easier to come by because the way social media has proliferated information.

There's an obvious solution to this problem ... shut down my Facebook account.  I've considered it.  Were it not for my need to be able to edit the UBC page, I think I would.  There's another solution--not share our opinions.

I'm well aware that in some social circumstances silence can be deadly.  Holocaust survivor Ellie Wiesel said "I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."  I'm also aware that social media has played critical roles in political revolutions.   But I'd like to also submit that often social media does nothing more than add noise to problems that are already drowning in a sea of undereducated loud voices.  In these instances, silence could prove to be a gift.

Because of social media it's probably obvious that my reflections have been generated by the news from Ferguson, MO.  Because I'm a white privileged male who has known a middle class existence most of his life, and because my opinions have been formed mostly by an a priori ivory tower eduction, I just don't think I have much to add to this discussion.  I can admit my complicity in a systemic problem and fall on God's mercy asking the Holy Spirit to continue to open my eyes to the way i'm unknowingly racist.  Other than that, the best things i might say, probably come in the form of a question.

But that's me and my experience.  I don't know what yours is.

Because of my subject position on this particular issue, I choose to listen to voices I trust.  Let me share one with you.  Delvin Atchinson is a friend of mine.  We went to Truett at the same time.  Delvin is the pastor at Antioch Missionary Bapist Church here in Waco, and probably the best preacher in town.  Delvin posted this, this week:

Which reminded me of something I read in Job this last year that became very meaningful to me.  Job a few chapters into listening his friends pedal what I like to call cosmic-karma-distribution-theology responds, "If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom."

I realize that more in this newsletter than any other I sound like I'm standing on soap box,  but I think this is important.

If there is one thing that social media contributes to our development I would suggest that it is that it exposes our insecurities.  As we engage, debate and dialogue it becomes clear what we feel we need to defend.  As Stanley Hauerwas points out, "any time you feel pressure to protect your God, you can be sure you are worshiping and idol."  I would add that any time you feel the need to protect your "gods" of ideology, the same proves true.

Mike Brown's parents asked for two things.  Peaceful protests and four and half minutes of silence to match the four and half hours his body lay in the street.  I'm not sure we gave them 45 seconds.

I return the original topic of this post.  Timing.  There are many helpful constructive things that have been said about this tragedy.  There will be many more.  I urge you to find the right time to say what you must.

nUBCErs Party Follow Up

Thanks to all of our new folks who come out to our event last Friday night.  And a BIG thank you to Jeff and Teri Walter for hosting.

Work is Worship 11-30-14

Mug Cleaners: Vacant

Coffee Makers: Vacant

Greeters: The Haines, Jana Parker, Sara Laminack

Shutdown Team: The Cavemen Announcements:

• Sunday Sermon Text: Mark 13:24-37
• CCMSTCCE (Caesar Chavez Middle School Teacher Christmas Card Encouragement). Be on the lookout November 30th and December 7th for more information in the foyer.
• Advent Sunday School Begins Sunday.  It will be located in the backside.
• Advent worship will be after church this Sunday
• Study Hall – December 9/10: You need to study, and UBC is the best place. It is that simple. UBC will be open 10am-midnight both days, and pancakes will be served at 10pm on the 10th.

Do you have an Emergency? Do you Need to talk to a Pastor?: 254 366 9779

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: Teri Walter: terijan@gmail.com

Jana Parker jparkerslp@gmail.com

Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Kaley Eggers: kaley.eggers@gmail.com

David Wilhite: david_wilhite@baylor.edu

Jamie McGregor: jameson.mcgregor@gmail.com

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu

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

Paul Taft: ptaft@extracobanks.com

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.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@baylor.edu

Michael Heins: mheins@hot.rr.com

ITLOTC 11-21-14

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Ordinary Time

What is Christ the King Sunday

You may or may not notice that I have "ordinary time" listed in the newsletter in the summers.  That's a nod to the church calendar.  A subtle reminder that even our calendars have a 1st allegiance to Jesus.  This Sunday is New Years eve ... for the church.  It's the last before a new year.  Craig has written a thoughtful piece on the purpose of this Sunday that has been used in the liturgy of this Sunday in past years.  As is often the case the revolving door at Baylor, we have a lot of new folks.  I thought it'd be meaningful for Craig to share his thoughts with us.

The next couple of Sundays are special days in the life of the church, especially for us “Christian calendar nerds.” UBC has followed the Christian calendar to some extent for several years now and in earnest for two years. We do this for at least a couple of reasons. One, I spoke about at the beginning of advent last December—The liturgical year helps us make a statement: We are not like the rest of the world. Though we are affected by the seasons of our surrounding culture—The academic year, the fiscal year, the seasons of new television programs and awards shows, and the seasons dictated by the placement of the sun-- as followers of Jesus, the rhythm of our lives is ultimately dictated by the rhythm of HIS life.

But there’s another reason why Christians for centuries have followed the liturgical year. The Christian calendar is didactic. It is a tool that teaches us WHO Jesus is and HOW we should follow him. Following the Christian calendar is a tangible way of practicing discipleship. We not only learn how we should live by the songs we sing, the prayers we pray and the sermons we hear. We learn to follow Jesus after years and years of following his rhythm.

 Last December 1^st, the first Sunday of Advent, we represented all humanity by asking the tepid question-- Is there any hope to be found anywhere for our broken condition?

Over the course of the next four weeks the light got brighter until Christmas day when Immanuel—God WITH US—made his appearance into the world.

We followed the Wise Men giving gifts to the young Christ child and we walked with Jesus to his baptism.

In late February of this year we began Lent, a season of penitence, following Jesus into the desert. We followed him out of the desert on Palm Sunday, proclaiming that he was the one who came to save, and then on March 5^th we rubbed ashes into our foreheads to remind us that the brokenness of the world ensures that we will all die. Two days later we followed Jesus to the cross, the ultimate symbol of shame and defeat.

The answer to our original question seemed to be this: No, there is NO hope for the world.

But on Sunday morning, April 20^th, our hope was restored. We followed Jesus to an empty tomb and rejoiced that death has been defeated and our sins forgiven!

After celebrating his ascension into heaven and his promised return, we remembered the triune nature of God on Trinity Sunday and then began 25 weeks of Ordinary time. During ordinary time we asked ourselves this question—What happened on that first Christmas, the journey through the desert to the cross, the empty tomb, the ascension to heaven and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit onto the church… does any of that actually matter to our lives?

This Sunday, Christ the King Sunday, the last day in the liturgical year, the church answers that question and the first question—Is there any hope? With a resounding YES! Our hope is found in crowning Jesus the King of our Lives. And the implication is clear—if Christ is the King of our lives, then no one or nothing else is—neither wealth nor poverty dictates who we are, Jesus does. Presidents don’t dictate who we are, regardless of what party they represent, Jesus does. Our families are not our King and neither are we our own King, Jesus is.

Sunday we celebrate Christ the King Sunday by singing songs and hearing Scripture that proclaim where our allegiance lies. We also will celebrate it by hearing stories from those in our community as they reflect on the presence of God in their lives throughout the past year.

Made In Waco

Emily would like to offer a large thank you to all of you who helped with Made in Waco.  I'd to add to that, a huge thank you to Emily for leading another great event.

Thanksgiving Love Feast

You're probably going to have Thanksgiving dinner with your family.  You're probably going to have Thanksgiving dinner with your mi casa, but champions for the Lord, make sure you have thanksgiving dinner with one another.   When?  This Sunday night at 6:00 P.M.

Advent Workshop

UBC annual advent workshop for children will take place next Sunday (11-30-14) after church.  If you would like more information on what this is about and how to get your children involved, contact josh@ubcwaco.org.

Advent Sunday School

Join us during the Sunday School Hour (Sundays at 9:30) for the four Sundays of Advent (November 30th, December 7, 14 and 21) for a special all-church Advent Sunday School. This will be a relaxed time of decorating the church for Christmas, getting to know each other better, and reflecting on the meaning for the season. We will be using the Advent Conspiracy model as a springboard for our time together. Oh, and there'll be donuts and hot chocolate.

Work is Worship 11-23-14

Mug Cleaners: Haines Family

Coffee Makers: Logan & Allyson

Greeters: Graham Dodd & Joy Wineman

Shutdown Team: Golden Glitter Girls

  Announcements:

• Sermon Text: Christ the King Sunday Texts
• CCMSTCCE (Caesar Chavez Middle School Teacher Christmas Card Encouragement). Be on the lookout November 30th and December 7th for more information in the foyer.

Do you have an Emergency? Do you Need to talk to a Pastor?: 254 366 9779

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: Teri Walter: terijan@gmail.com

Jana Parker jparkerslp@gmail.com

Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Kaley Eggers: kaley.eggers@gmail.com

David Wilhite: david_wilhite@baylor.edu

Jamie McGregor: jameson.mcgregor@gmail.com

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu

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

Paul Taft: ptaft@extracobanks.com

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.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@baylor.edu

Michael Heins: mheins@hot.rr.com

ITLOTC 11-14-14

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Ordinary Time

The Church Together

If you remember back to my first week back from sabbatical I preached on my own experiences and how I felt like God had delivered me from, among other things, cynicism.  I'm still working on that and finding life in the process.

As a discipline in the process I've made a commitment to be more ecumenical than I probably have been in the past.  There are plenty of other churches in Waco that I admire and have been in fellowship with, but I've kept my distance from others.

There is a group of interdenominational pastors/priests/rectors in Waco that meet once a month.  I've gotten the invitation for about a year now and have not gone.  But lo, with a renewed commitment I accepted the first one that came my way this fall.  Our lunch was held in the Baylor Club at the new stadium and was hosted by Drayton McLain.  There were other important speakers there like Judge Starr and few other fancy people that I can't recall.  As it became apparent that the guest list was full Baylor Celebrities I became intensely curious.  Why were we gathered in this state of the art facility, with this amazing meal, with these important people and about 100 local pastors?

As the story unfolded it became apparent that we had gathered to listen to an idea be pitched.  A few folks in Waco, mostly important people, wanted to fill up the stadium for a Palm Sunday evening service.  Moments before this I was marveling at how great it was 100 pastors had gotten together to hang out and now we were talking about filling up a stadium.  My heart sank.  Cynicism crept back in.  I listened closely and fought the instinct to ask the question, "Why are we doing this?"

Let me explain.  There are a lot of great reasons to get together to worship God.  Images of McLain stadium filled with worshipers reminds me of Revelation 4 and 5.  But I also think the desire to fill up a stadium stands on a razors edge, constantly in danger of falling into idolatry.  Said differently I think we could tell ourselves all kinds of stories that seem like they are about God's glory, but are really about our own ambitions.

That meeting was about month ago and Wednesday I went to my second.  There were only 12 of us and so I found the courage to raise some of my concerns.  The conversation that followed was very meaningful and my concerns were assuaged as I listened to my brothers share their passions about seeing what God could do through the unity of pastors in Waco.

About six years ago, not long after I started pastoring, I read a lengthy article by N.T. Wright on the book of Romans.  In it, Wright argued that the point of the letter isn't actually all the weighty theology that's found in chapters 1-8.  Nor is the point the sometimes controversial material found in 9-11.  Wright thinks that the point of the letter is the particular issues that the church is dealing with in 12-16.  It is first and foremost a letter about ecclesiology.  About unity.  All of chapters 1-11 lay the ground work in service to 12-16.  This was new to me and quite astonishing.  In all that I had hear about Romans growing up, and that was a lot, almost none of it came from those chapters at the end.

After I considered Wright's proposal in Romans, I began noticing how pervasive this concern is not just in this letter, but in all of Paul's letters.  Paul is deeply concerned about the unity of the church and sometimes fiercely so.  That was a sobering discovery for me.  How serious must God take this issue?

I was reminded of this thought from Paul at our meeting on Wednesday.  This particular gathering was hosted by Aaron Zimmerman who is the rector at St. Alban's.  After our "business" meeting we gathered in the St. Alban's sanctuary.  There we were, probably the most unlikely choir in Waco.  A few Baptists, an Episcopalian, a Catholic Priest, and a few non-denominational pastors.  Aaron led us in a time of worship.  We sang hymns, read scripture, and confessed belief.  And I couldn't help but feel that God was pleased.

Meet Our Newest addition to the HR team 

Mathew Crawford

Vocation: (could be your job or something you love doing/believe you were made for): Teaching (though for now my profession is being taught how to teach)

favorite movie: The Fountain

best restaurant in Waco: Torchy’s Tacos

Bible verse/chapter/book that has been meaningful for you: Isaiah 43:2

best television show: Breaking Bad

favorite holiday: Thanksgiving

something you might not know about me: I once played the ‘Rock-n-Roll’ but have now lost my touch.

Made in Waco

Made In Waco is FINALLY here! Join us Tomorrow from 10:00-3:00 to help support local artisans and pick up a few gifts for your friends, family and YOURSELF! And DON'T WORRY! We STILL have ways that you can help us out!

If you were wondering what to do with yourself from 11:30-1:30 or 1:30-3:30 tomorrow, I have a great idea! Come help us out in our concession stand and in many other ways at Made In Waco! I think it's perfect! I knew you'd agree! Thanks in advance for emailing Emily at emily@ubcwaco.org and signing up immediately!

If all of this cold weather has gotten you in the mood to cook, but you're worried about packing on the pounds before the Holidays, have I got a deal for you! Last year, UBC's baked goods were a HUGE hit in our concession stand and we hope to have a repeat performance this year! So, you can bake like crazy and bring ALL of it up to UBC before 10:00 on Saturday! Please put one serving of your delicious treat in a baggy so it will be ready to FLY off the shelves!

And, of course, COME to Made In Waco on November 15th from 10:00-3:00 at UBC! It's will be one of the best decisions you've made...possibly ever.

nUBC’ers Cookout - Friday (11/21) 6pm

If you are new to UBC in the last year, we would love for you to join us for a cookout at the Walter’s house next Friday night.  This will be a great time to hang out with the staff, and get to know other UBC’ers.  So we can prepare enough food, please sign-up in the lobby at church Sunday morning, or email toph@ubcwaco.org to let him know you are coming.  We hope you can make it!

Thanksgiving Lovefeast - 11/23 - 6pm

It is everyone’s favorite holiday: UBC Thanksgiving Lovefeast!   Lovefeast is coming up, and we need people to cook some turkeys and ham for us.  We will purchase the turkey, we just need you to cook it!  If you are willing to help cook a turkey or ham, please sign-up in the foyer on Sunday and let us know.  Also, if you would like to bring a dessert, please sign-up for that as well in the foyer.  Everyone else, bring a side to Lovefeast.  If you have any questions, please contact toph@ubcwaco.org

Work is Worship 11-11-14

Mug Cleaners: Jacob & Byron

Coffee Makers: Kayla & Michael

Greeters: Tessa & Leigh

Shutdown Team: Blue Flames Announcements:

• Sermon Text: Matthew 5:33-37
• Advent Workshop will be November 30th after church. More info to come.
• Study Hall - December 9/10: You need to study, and UBC is the best place. It is that simple. UBC will be open 10am-midnight both days, and pancakes will be served at 10pm on the 10th.
• CCMSTCCE (Caesar Chavez Middle School Teacher Christmas Card Encouragement). Be on the lookout November 30th and December 7th for more information in the foyer.

Do you have an Emergency? Do you Need to talk to a Pastor?:

254 366 9779

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: Teri Walter: terijan@gmail.com

Jana Parker jparkerslp@gmail.com

Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Kaley Eggers: kaley.eggers@gmail.com

David Wilhite: david_wilhite@baylor.edu

Jamie McGregor: jameson.mcgregor@gmail.com

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu

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

Paul Taft: ptaft@extracobanks.com

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.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@baylor.edu

Michael Heins: mheins@hot.rr.com

ITLOTC 11-7-14

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Ordinary Time

Politics?

"My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place."

John 18:36

Jesus said that.  He also prayed for God's kingdom to come.  I get confused.

This past week was marked by another American political election.  I've been eligible for 15 of these now.

My friend Ben posted this picture as a gentle reminder of why that's important.

There are plenty of stories from human history that have tyranny and oppression as their villain.  I get it.  Voting is a privilege and I'm grateful for all the people who have died to make that possible.  I think it's important to vote.

And yet I confess I have become extremely apathetic to voting.

Not because a divided government will get nothing done.

And not even because 90% of Texas's political race outcomes were predictable six months ago.

I get worn down by seeing Christians using political platforms as moral barometers.

I think there was a time when I was naive enough to believe that politics didn't matter.  I'm past that now.  They do matter and some moral solutions that are good for humanity can be achieved best by political action.

I bet if I said that no one candidate or political platform completely represented the Kingdom of God few people would object.  Those kinds of generalizations are safe statements to make.  Most of us could find at least one thing we disagree with our favorite politician about.  But to my astonishment this never keeps people from tagging Jesus to their political presuppositions.

I read a discussion thread this week about an issue that is extremely decisive.  One of the participants had been deeply wounded by a topic and consequently spoke with passion.  That experience elicited my empathy.  I have not suffered nor been effected like this person has.  Part of their passion filled speech included a statement that "Jesus would ..."  I can think of few things more blasphemous.  This, to me, is the quintessential meaning of taking God's name in vain.

This brings me to my main point.  In a recent sermon I defined idolatry as anything in our life that we try and get the kind of life form that only God can give.  To me this is the biggest problem with Christians and their politics.  It's where we tend to get our life from and perhaps the bigger indictment is this ... this is where our hope lies.  In this way Christians look no different than the world.

When I read Christian commentary on politics, I feel like the author of Ecclesiastes.  Cynical.  Like nothing new under the sun will be said.  That being acknowledged I did like retweet one thing on twitter that I appreciated.  Shane Claiborne posted this:

Perhaps the initial tension I raised in Jesus' words can be resolved this way.  Jesus' kingdom is not of the world.  Not of this style.  Not of the this imagination.  But it is coming to earth as it is in heaven.  And it is coming through his church who conquers through the blood of the Lamb.

Important Update from Emily!!!! 

Hello, UBC!  I want to convey my appreciation for the kind words and encouragement that Jeremy and I have received since announcing our departure!  We have never felt so loved by our UBC family!  But, even though we took all precautions to insure that we did not make our move public until we were TOTALLY sure that it was an inevitability, it seems that life thrown us another curveball.  I am excited to announce that the circumstances surrounding our move to Mississippi have changed and our family will be able to stay in Waco for the foreseeable future!  We sincerely apologize for the back and forth of all of this.  We deeply value UBC, the community and the roles in which we have served during our time here, and we would never want to appear flippant about these things that we cherish so much.  To those of you in our community who felt called to step into my role as Children's Pastor, I am incredibly grateful for your willingness to serve the children and families of UBC.  It is awesome to know that we have so many in our community who share my passion for our sweet kids!  So with our sincerest apologies, deepest appreciation and trust in God's plan for our family and for UBC, we look forward to our future here in the community that we love so much!

Sincerely~

Emily

Made In Waco

It's the final countdown!  Please join us for Made In Waco on November 15th from 10:00-3:00 at UBC!  We are SO excited about our vendors this year and we hope that you will ALL join us to celebrate our local artisans!  Not only that, but I have some GOOD NEWS!  We have ways that the less-crafty-UBCers can help make this event a success!

1. Visit the Made In Waco event page via UBC's Facebook page and LIKE the HECK out of it!  TWEET it!  POST it!  INSTAGRAM it!  RETWEET it!  Make it such a social media sensation that Lebron James and Taylor Swift feel like they are no longer cool because they are only hearing about it now!  BLOW IT UP!  (Disclaimer: UBC does not endorse the use of any actual incendiary devices for the purpose of promotingMade In Waco on November 15th from 10:00-3:00 at UBC!)

2.  ATTENTION PEOPLE WHO CAN MAKE CHANGE OR MAKE TREATS!  Be on the look out Sunday for sign-ups for our concession stand!  We will have three two-hour shifts and we would LOVE to have YOU behind the counter!  If you can't make it to Made In Waco on November 15th from 10:00-3:00at UBC, I'm sad for you, but don't worry!  We need YOU to bring homemade individually wrapped baked goods to sell to our guests!  These can be dropped off any time before next Saturday so get your ovens preheated and strap your aprons on!  This is our chance to show the WORLD that the UBC Community is a hotbed of Culinary Genius!

3. Check out the big table in the foyer on Sunday for Made In Waco cards!  You can take them with you and distribute them to your pals, community boards and all of your local hang-outs so that EVERYONE will want to come toMade in Waco November 15th from 10:00-3:00 at UBC!

4. And, of course, COME to MadeIn Waco on November 15th from 10:00-3:00 at UBC!

nUBC’ers Cookout

If you are new to UBC in the last year, we would love for you join us for a cookout at Jeff and Teri Walter’s on Friday November 21, 2014, at 6pm.  We will provide the food and drinks, and we would just love for you to be there.  This will be a time to get to know some other UBC’ers who have been around for a while, and meet some of the other new folk.  If you are thinking of joining us, please sign-up in the foyer at UBC on November 9th or November 16th.  If you have any questions, or want to sign-up through email, please contact toph@ubcwaco.org.

Meet Our Newest Finance Team Member

Hannah Kuhl

Vocation: (could be your job or something you love doing/believe you were made for): Social Worker for Waco ISD

favorite movie: Elizabethtown or any other Cameron Crowe film

best restaurant in Waco: Claypot - Pineapple Fried Rice

Bible verse/chapter/book that has been meaningful for you: James

best television show: Gilmore Girls #teamjess or Parenthood also known as Gilmore Girls 2.0

favorite holiday: I can't help it - the magical season of Christmas

something you might not know about me: one of my favorite places is the Automatic Car Wash. I break into involuntary fits of high pitched laughter. It's like being in a washing machine!!! I also like the smell of skunk, so there's that.

Work is Worship 11-9-14

Mug Cleaners: Sara & Vince

Coffee Makers: Chad & Joel

Greeters: Ryan & Joel

Shutdown Team:  Cavemen

Announcements:

• Sermon Text: 1 Kings 18 .  Please be in prayer for and ready to celebrate our guest preacher David Wilhite.
• nUBCers at Walter's on Friday, November 21st at 6:00 PM.  More information to come.
• Advent Workshop will be 30th after church.  More info to come.
• Thanksgiving Love Feast!!!! At UBC on Sunday November 23rd at 6:00 PM

Do you have an Emergency?  Do you Need to talk to a Pastor?:

254 366 9779

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: Teri Walter: terijan@gmail.com

Jana Parker jparkerslp@gmail.com

Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Kaley Eggers: kaley.eggers@gmail.com

David Wilhite: david_wilhite@baylor.edu

Jamie McGregor: jameson.mcgregor@gmail.com

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu

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

Paul Taft: ptaft@extracobanks.com

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.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@baylor.edu

Michael Heins: mheins@hot.rr.com

ITLOTC 10-31-14

ITLOTC

(in the life of the church)

Ordinary Time

Happy All Hallows Eve

The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs by Fra Angelico 

Christians don't say goodbye, they say see you later. 

Very early in my life I learned that I did not like cliches.  I also learned that cliches become cliche because they are, for the most part, experientially verifiable.

At the conclusion of my senior year at Bethel University I planned a series of strategic goodbyes.  On the top of that list was one my resident directors Michelle.  Michelle had been extremely formative in my emotional and spiritual development.  When I found Michelle we exchanged hugs, meaningful words, and then she punctuated our conversation with "Christians don't say goodbye, we say see you later."

Have you ever known someone who oozed so much character and goodness that everything they said, no matter what they said, dripped with meaning?  Michelle is like that.  Her words are grace, not so much because of their content, but because of the authentic nature with which her character encases them.  I took Michelle's words seriously ... which sent me reflecting.

Christians don't ever say goodbye.  Why?  Because as the movie Wit so eloquently pointed out, in the tradition of John Donne, death is a comma, not a period.  It's the reason Paul has swagger in his letter in 1 Corinthians 15, and why the martyrs marched to their deaths with such a cavalier joy.

If you weren't at church this last weekend you missed a rather large announcement.  Our Worship and Arts Pastor Tye and our Children's Pastor Emily are both turning the pages in their story.  Tye has taken a call as the Worship Pastor of Oakwood Church in New Braunfels, and Emily is celebrating a professional opportunity that came for her husband Jeremy that will take them to a different town.

I don't want to be overly dramatic.  In all likelihood we will see Tye and Emily on multiple occasions after December 31st.  But that is not the goodbye we are saying.  We are saying goodbye to these relationships as they exist now.  We are saying goodbye and thank you to Tye for the gifts he shared with through his music and Emily with our children through her creativity.

And yet ... the truth is even these relationships remain intact because the work our friends have done belongs to the eternal.  And that is all of our destinations.  Right after Paul gives a rousing resurrection speech in 1 Corinthians 15, he points out that for this reason our labor is never in vain.  And neither are our relationships.  The reality of eschatological truth works backwards in the Christian life shaping every present moment with what the church has called faith.

So over the next few months as Tye and Emily's time with us winds down, we rehearse all the meaningful emotions that come with saying goodbye and letting go.

Idolatry teaches us what we cling too tightly to.  What is improperly ordered in the catalogue of the affections of our hearts.  Saying goodbye can often be a form of deliverance and renewal.  It reminds all of us that all of us ultimately belong to God before we belong to each other.  So with courage, glad and sincere hearts we give these gifts in form of our friends back to God.  And we say thanks be to God--we'll see you later.

An Apology

In a previous newsletter I've written how important I think it is for pastors to apologize when needed.  Because I'm given the microphone for 30 or so minutes every week and conduct a monologue, I think it's especially important that I be conscious of what I say.

This past week I put a picture of a blue whale on the screen as part of a sermon illustration.  The picture of the blue whale also included a 747, a few dinosaurs and a human.  It's purpose was to compare and contrast the enormous size of the blue whale.  Most of what I say in a sermon is scripted, but I went off script for a second and said, "this picture is about 6,000 years old."

It was subtle, but it was a jab.  No one has said a word about that comment.  I suspect given what I know about our congregation, most people didn't care and probably even the majority agree with the sentiment that the world is very old.  But as Sunday wore on I was bothered by my comment.  I would like to apologize for making that comment and this is why.

As I've grown in my Christian faith for the last 33 years, I can look back and recognize critical developmental moments.  More often than not, large and potentially painful changes in my own theology happened by someone who graciously and carefully walked me through those changes. They were patient to field my questions and never gave me the impression that my objections were naive and/or stupid.

I think it's important that people know what their pastor believes.  So I don't want to hide my beliefs on the age of the earth or my perspective on creation, but I do apologize for not being gentle.

I was talking to a friend this fall who gave me a really helpful quote, "we need to be kind to every previous version of ourselves."  That has been meaningful and liberating for me.  So to an old version of myself, I say thank you for your passion and care for this issue.  You are a critical part of who I am and belong to the kingdom every bit as much as present me does.   Thank you for your generosity in listening.

Time Change!!!!

Don't forget to turn your clocks back an hour on saturday night.

Special Thanks

At the conclusion of this fall quarter two valuable UBCers are stepping down from the finance and HR teams.

Tom McCarty has served on the finance team for the last 5 years and for a 3 year stint prior to that.  One thing that I'll miss the most about Tom is his fervent optimism.  Very often when I would be tempted to get down about the financial state affairs, but Tom's peace and trust would invade the atmosphere.  In those moments I would be reminded of the God's faithfulness to our community.  I'm grateful for his service.

Lacy McNamee has served on the HR team for the last several years.  Lacy led passionately through some major changes at UBC.  One thing I've learned from Lacy is the value of integrity.  She has been insistent on doing things the right way and made the culture of UBC better for it.  I'm grateful for the time she has served our community.

On that note ... I'd like to introduce one of our newest HR team members!!!

Meet Maxcey Blaylock

Vocation: (could be your job or something you love doing/believe you were made for): Marketing Communications Specialist at Baylor University

favorite movie: A Knight's Tale and Beauty and the Beast

best restaurant in Waco: Hmmm... Baris? Maybe? So many good choices!

Bible verse/chapter/book that has been meaningful for you: Romans 5:3-5. It has offered encouragement to me many times.

best television show: Castle

favorite holiday: Christmas

something you might not know about me: Well... I kind of can't ride a bicycle. I'm sure I could if someone's life was in danger and the only way to save them was to ride a bike. But otherwise... It's just hard because if you try to go slow then you fall over :(

Work is Worship 11-2-14

Mug Cleaners: Haines Family

Coffee Makers: Emmy Edwards & Stephen Adkinson

Greeters: Maxcey & Gerhard

Shutdown Team:  Golden Glitter Girls

Do you have an Emergency?  Do you Need to talk to a Pastor?:

254 366 9779

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: Teri Walter: terijan@gmail.com

Jana Parker jparkerslp@gmail.com

Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Kaley Eggers: kaley.eggers@gmail.com

David Wilhite: david_wilhite@baylor.edu

Jamie McGregor: jameson.mcgregor@gmail.com

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu

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

Paul Taft: ptaft@extracobanks.com

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.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@baylor.edu

Michael Heins: mheins@hot.rr.com

ITLOTC 10-24-14

ITLOTC

(IN The Life Of The Church)

Ordinary Time

Sacred/Secular 

I remember when I first came to UBC back in the fall of 2004.  There were many values that I fell in love with, but one that I remember poignantly was the language they are using to dissolve the dichotomy between the sacred and secular.  What that meant for me was that they weren't just admitting that they loved U2 and Garden State, they were finding Christian messages in those forms of art that were aiding in their formation.

That was new for me.  And it was also cause for pause.  While I loved this newfound appreciation for a world what was often withheld from me as a child, I had also had enough bad experiences with "worldly" things to know that being desensitized was a real spiritual phenomon.  On one of our old websites we included a conversation about this that was authored by our former pastor  Kyle.  I remember the first time I read it.  Kyle had anticipated and calmed my fears.  This isn't verbatim, but he said something like, "nothing is secular does not mean nothing is sinful."

Good ... he understood me--now I was more confident that I could get on board.

I was thinking about this moment from my past because this issue is coming up yet again as I prepare for Sundays sermon on worship.  Interestingly, though this value is so deeply engrained within our DNA, I'm still not completely sure how to work out all of the kinks.  I haven't found all of the right language.

For example, our staff was recently doing an interview with some former UBCers who were undergoing an ordination process.  The purpose of our interview was to talk with them about the church side of that process.  One of my questions went something like this, "we believe that sacred/secular division is a poor one and yet when we read scripture we are taught both that God created this world good and that in certain instances God does things like tell Moses to kick off his sandals ... because was standing on holy ground.  Was that ground sacred or more sacred than the ground next to it?"

I haven't answered that question, but I believe in the merit of the discussion.

I once heard a friend say that "secular" was a term used by the church fathers to describe the state of affairs between the fall and 2nd coming.

Lucky for UBC the man that is considered an academic wrangler of church fathers goes to our church ... so I called him to talk about it.

He pointed me to Augustine's City of God.  In this book Augustine argues that city of man exists within the city of God.  It's best not to think of these as geographic locations but rather spiritual realities.  Brokeness exists within God's good creation.   The word secular comes from the Latin word saeculum which means "generation, lifetime" or I think in Augustines case "age."  What Augustine suggests is that this broken saeculum exists within God's saeculum--or this broken age exists within God's age, just like city of man exists within the city of God.

Which brings me full circle.  After the respondents fielded my question about the sacred and secular in that ordination interview, Craig reminded us that Kyle used to talk about that which has been redeemed and that which is in need of redemption.

There is a sort of dualism that pervades our experience.  I just want us to be careful about what language we use because I think it matters.

When Paul was contending with the philosophical juggernauts on Mars Hill in Acts 17, he identified the unknown god as the one he knew.  It was a savvy move.  To bolster his case he did theology by quoting a pagan poet from the island of Crete, "in Him we live, move, and have our being," Paul says in verse 28.

Here's why I think this matters.  Had Paul been convicted that there were sacred and secular dualisms present he might have been inclined to present his Greek counterparts with Truth packed in Jewish presuppositions and experience ... and that would have landed flat and the whole thing would have ended poorly.  But because Paul believed that creation was good and the God was so awesome that Greeks couldn't keep him out, he was able to identify the holy longing behind the pagan poets quote and bring a statement was partially redeemed into full redemption.

This is a difficult and beautiful task the church has been called to.  I hope you'll join us in it.

Marfa Trip reflection by Joshua Blake

Did you see any snakes? No. Coyotes? No. Roaches? No. These are the first questions people ask after I tell them I went camping in Marfa. On the contrary, I saw beautiful things which pretty much sums up the trip and the town of Marfa, where unexpected beauty exists. Marfa is a desert town, however, it’s anything but sterile and desolate. It has out-of-place art, stars for days, and terrain unlike any I’ve seen in Texas. And to think that I almost didn’t go on the trip, because I thought I was too busy. When the trip was first pitched, I thought there is no way I can go with my schedule, and then my friend/coworker Dustin pressed me to go. Long story short, everything worked out for me to go and I am so grateful it did. I did not realize how much I needed to breathe cool, dry air, experience west Texas sunrises, view and listen to art (even if they were dressed up in Halloween costumes), feel a sense of accomplishment from a hike, and share all of this with new and old friends. On the drive back, I realized that God wanted me to go on the trip, but at first I didn’t believe/think that God would want it for me. I thought he wanted me to work and take care of business at home. He does want me to care of my responsibilities, but he also offers opportunities of rest and rejuvenation. He offers living water and some times that water comes from unexpected places at unexpected times. I truly hope that UBC makes this an annual trip, so everyone has the opportunity to embrace beauty (in unexpected places) and live life to the marfullest (even when we think we are too busy).

SWCC Halloween Festival

This week, we are helping our friends at SWCC throw the biggest party this neighborhood has scene. There will be food trucks from all around Waco, inflatables, games, and lots and lots of candy. This is our second annual SWCC/UBC Halloween Festival, and we need your help. We still need people who are willing to help run a game from 6-8pm, and we also need folks who are willing to bake a cake/pie/brownies/cookies etc... for the Cake Walk. If you can help out, and you haven't signed up yet, email toph@ubcwaco.org or sign-up on Sunday. The festival is this Wednesday night, the 29th, from 6-8pm at SWCC. If you are a family with kids at UBC, we would love for you to come out on Wednesday, bring the kids, and just have a good time. We can't wait to see everyone at the party this Wednesday!

Jesus Said Love Outreach

This coming Friday, October 31st, we are sponsoring our first outreach with Jesus Said Love. We will have two prayer services for the outreach on Friday: 7:15am and 12:15pm. Both of the services will be 30 minutes long, and we will spend time lifting up the outreach team, the dancers, and the clubs in prayer. If you have any questions, please contact toph@ubcwaco.org

Meet Our Newest UBCer

Name: Graham Porter Gonzales

Birthday: 10-11-14

Weight: 7 lbs 9 oz.

Height: 20 1/4 in.

Enneagram Number: 6

Last Soccer Game of the Year

We’d like for you to have an opportunity to fellowship in the Lord and support are very awesome friends Paul and Marci Jobson.  The womens soccer team plays Texas at home this Sunday night.

Game starts at 6, but Josh McCormick is tailgating starting at 4.

Here are a few notes from him:

Come join us for the official unofficial UBC Baylor Soccer Tailgate. This is the seasons last home game. We will have a gas grill and serving table either in parking lot or grassy area by baseball fields. Get there early and get ticket for free t-shirt.

What to bring: -Loud voice -General disdain for UT -Anything you want to cook -any sides made famous by someone's great grandmother -whatever you want to drink -chairs if you like to sit

Work is Worship: 10-26-14

Coffee Makers: Logan & Allyson

Mug Cleaners: Byron & Jacob

Greeters: Joy & Graham

Shutdown Team: The Blue Flames

Announcements:

• Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 7:7-12
• The UBC youth group will be going to Jump Street in Dallas on October 25th. Interested persons should contact Craig@ubcwaco.org.
• UBC Girl’s Day, Saturday, October 25th @ 11am: Meeting at Farmer’s Market, getting pumpkins, then heading back to UBC for pumpkin carving and fellowship
• Wednesday, October 29th, UBC partners with South Waco Community Center for Halloween Festival. Those interested in volunteering should contact toph@ubcwaco.
• Friday, October 31st Jesus Said Love Outreach … more information to come. MADE in Waco will be Saturday, November 15th more information to come.
• Advent Workshop will be 30th after church.  More info to come.

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: Teri Walter: terijan@gmail.com

Jana Parker jparkerslp@gmail.com

Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Kaley Eggers: kaley.eggers@gmail.com

David Wilhite: david_wilhite@baylor.edu

Jamie McGregor: jameson.mcgregor@gmail.com

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu

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

Paul Taft: ptaft@extracobanks.com

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Tom McCarty: tomjmccarty@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.

Lacy McNamee: Lacy_McNamee@baylor.edu

Callie Schrank: Callie_Schrank@baylor.edu

Jeff Walter: jeff_walter@baylor.edu

Michael Heins: mheins@hot.rr.com

10 Suggestions for Simplicity

A few of you asked about the list of 10 ways to simplify that was given in the sermon this morning.  Most of these are taken from Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline.  

1. buy things for their usefulness instead of their status
2. reject anything that is producing an addiction in you
3. develop a habit of giving things away
4. refuse to be propagandized by the custodians of modern gadgetry
5. learn to enjoy things without owning them
6. develop a deeper appreciation for the creation
7. do not participate in buy now pay later schemes
8. reject anything that breeds the oppression of others
9. don't go to something that is scheduled
10. say, "no, I can't"

ITLOTC 10-18-14

ITLOTC

(In the Life of The Church)

Ordinary Time

Simplicity and Sabbath

(this solicited a genuine LOL from me)

I love Fall.  Football.  Kind-of cool weather.  All things pumpkin spice.  The two weeks of it that we have in Waco are probably my favorite season in the south.   But something is tempering my appreciation.  It seems to be the season most filled with chaos.  Tomorrow I will be preaching on the spiritual discipline "simplicity."  What that actually means is something that is difficult to get down in a few paragraphs of a church newsletter.

So I want to address part of it--namely time.  We can simplify our lives spiritually by how we use our time.  As my own kids have gotten older I've noticed something developing in the lives of our young families.  We. Have. So. Much. Going. On.  And I bet you do to.  We were talking about this phenomenon in our emerging parents class this semester when my friend Rob recommended a book--Wayne Muller's Sabbath.  Muller's book had been on my list form some time, but Rob's recommending was the nudge I needed to pick it up.

Thomas Merton calls our incessant need to be doing (activism and overwork) a form of violence.  At first I thought that term too strong until I began pondering some of the pastoral conversations I've had over the years.  Violence, I suppose, is anything that undoes our health ... in whatever form.  On more than one occasion, I've noticed unhealthy lifestyles born out of overcommitment and a general inability to say no.

Employing Merton's definition Muller writes, "Sabbath time can be a revolutionary challenge to the violence of overwork, mindless accumulation, and the endless multiplication of desires, responsibilities, and accomplishments.  Sabbath is a way of being in time where we remember who we are, remember what we know, and taste the gifts of spirit and eternity."

As someone who thrives on "doing" I used to find the notion of Sabbath almost useless.  "An excuse for laziness," I thought.  When I read Abraham Joshua Heschel's book on Sabbath something changed.  Heschel argues that the 7th day of creation was not a day off for God.  On that day He created, and we are called to actively create what the rabbi's called menuha.  Menuha is sometimes called rest, but that translation doesn't do enough.  It's the active creating of tranquility, serenity, peace and response.

We have been called to cut out a day, not to turn our brain off, but rather to lay aside the labor which if done in excess can steal from our human identity and in turn cultivate the peace that exists from knowing you belong to God.

It is fall break weekend at Baylor and for many other professionals around Waco.  This means most of us will fill up our weekends with something fun, but also something that we will need an additional two days to rest from when we are finished.  Good rest ... God rest is different.  It quiets the soul and restores the human.  We need this experience as humans.

As a practical suggestion in tomorrows sermon, I'm telling listeners to say no to something.  For me it was this newsletter.  The newsletter is supposed to out on Fridays and for the most part, I've been pretty faithful in doing that.  Yesterday I created a rare two day weekend for my family by taking Friday off.   Getting the newsletter done nagged at me all day.  But then I thought about my own advice. I decided that my family was more important than one newsletter.  And the decision gave me life.

The line between wisdom and foolishness is thin.  Cutting out the right thing takes discernment, but I'd ask you to think about this week.  How might God be calling you to rest?  To create menuha?

nUBCer's ... In Review

Last Sunday we hosted our first ever nUBCer's gathering in the backside.  We just wanted to thank everyone who came out to get to know the church better.  It's honor to have you worship with us at UBC.  We will be doing more of these events from time to time, but if you are new to UBC and would love to hear more about the church and events like these please email toph@ubcwaco.org and/or craig@ubcwaco.org.

Craig Nash giving some history on the church.

UBCers, new and old, alike fellowshiping in the Lord

Marfa Fall Break Trip

Please offer a brief prayer for our UBC folks traveling back all day tomorrow from their Marfa trip.

Guys Night ... In Review

Last Friday, October 11, UBC hosted it's first guys night.  It was a memorable night that including scouting random dead cows that died for mysterious reasons, using a zip line that we were unsure could support that weight of the participants, and grilling meat on a fire.  Vegans starved as hair grew on our chests.  John Eldredge was supposed to come a special guest speaker, but on surveying the layout decided he wasn't man enough for the festivities.  Bad dad-jokes were told, bodily gases were emitted without apology, and memories were made.  Please consider joining us for our next extravaganza.  On a more serious note, we'd like to thank Michael Heins for providing us with his space for a fun evening.

Craig "Bull" Nash relaxes in a chair after punishing the man landscape with his rugged his Honda Civic.

We thought about not cooking anything and eating it raw.

Miller Nance laughs at the ground below him as he flies from one tree to another without a safety harness.

Some UBC "boys" skipping puberty and heading straight into manhood.

Work is Worship: 10-19-14

Coffee Makers: Chad & Joel

Mug Cleaners: Chris & Hannah

Greeters: Paul & Linda

Shutdown Team: Cavemen

Announcements:

• Sermon Text: Ecclesiastes 7:29 The UBC youth group will be going to Jump Street in Dallas on October 25th. Interested persons should contact Craig@ubcwaco.org. UBC Girl’s Day, Saturday, October 25th @ 11am: Meeting at Farmer’s Market, getting pumpkins, then heading back to UBC for pumpkin carving and fellowship Wednesday, October 29th, UBC partners with South Waco Community Center for Halloween Festival. Those interested in volunteering should contact toph@ubcwaco. Friday, October 31st Jesus Said Love Outreach … more information to come. MADE in Waco will be Saturday, November 15th more information to come.

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: Teri Walter: terijan@gmail.com

Jana Parker jparkerslp@gmail.com

Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Kaley Eggers: kaley.eggers@gmail.com

David Wilhite: david_wilhite@baylor.edu

Jamie McGregor: jameson.mcgregor@gmail.com

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu

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

Paul Taft: ptaft@extracobanks.com

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Tom McCarty: tomjmccarty@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.

Lacy McNamee: Lacy_McNamee@baylor.edu

Callie Schrank: Callie_Schrank@baylor.edu

Jeff Walter: jeff_walter@baylor.edu

Michael Heins: mheins@hot.rr.com

ITLOTC 10-10-14

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Ordinary Time

Dying Well

I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better

Philippians 1:23

I'm listening to Science Friday this afternoon.  Today's show features guest Atul Gawande, who wrote Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End.  Most of what he and Science Friday host Ira Flato are talking about has to do with what medicine can vs what medicine should do.  More particularly they are discussing the quality of life those have who have it extended by modern medicine.

This reminded me of a learning moment I had back when I was attending seminary at Truett.  I took a CPO class, which in case you don't speak seminary curriculum, means I spent a semester at Hillcrest in a quasi-internship doing chaplain work.  This was back in 2007 when Hillcrest was still at its old location on 30th.  One day in a debriefing session our supervisor Ross was talking to us about the possibility of Hillcrest moving to a new location out towards the highway. He explained that ever since Providence had moved out of the area, Hillcrest, then geographically closer to economically challenged areas, began servicing the majority of ER visits.  In that year alone he explained, Hillcrest did $65 million worth of unpaid healthcare.  Ross was making the point to have an ethical discussion about healthcare, but we were stunned by the numbers.  As we began talking healthcare numbers he pointed out that (I might not be remembering these figures precisely, but it was something like this) 1/3 of health care costs are accumulated in the last 3 months of a persons life and 1/3 of that from the last 3 days.

I'm concerned that as a society we don't know how to die well and even more concerned that the church is complicit in the problem.

In last few weeks I've written about Christians & ISIS and Christians & Ebola.  It is worth pointing out that in both of these posts the potential conclusion I was drawing comes with costly results.  Namely, death.  The subtle presupposition at work in both of those entries was that death is the not the worst thing.  And even more poignantly, for Christians death is a comma, not a period.  This summer when I was on sabbatical I assigned myself Karl Barth's book on baptism.  In the book Barth said something that jumped out at me: "the baptized never die."

It's takes that kind of courage ... that kind of faith to do what Christ calls us to do.  To go the places that Christ calls us to go.  I'm reminded of Paul who when awaiting a potential death sentence so casually wrote to the Philippian community, "I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better."

Lest I seem too detached from the reality of death's sting, let me confess that I still fear death.  Maybe not dying, but losing.  Losing my family and departing and moving into the unknown ... or maybe the uncontrollable.  But those fears are not reasons to avoid talking about death or more importantly to speak truthfully about death.  And the truth is, Jesus has laid death in its grave.

Stanley Hauwerwas says that it's too late to begin preparing for death when you are dying.  So as a disciple, I do work on preparing for my death, even now at the vibrant ripe age of 33.  Part of that formation means looking to the saints who have died well.

Mike Toby is the former Senior Pastor of FBC Woodway.  Mike passed away in December of 2012.  He died of an aggressive form of brain cancer.  Almost two years ago to the date, October 14, 2012, Mike woke up with a numb hand.  A few days later he was diagnosed with cancer.  Though I never knew Mike, I, with the masses, mourned his suffering and death.  But I also admired him.  Mike chose not to treat his cancer at all.  He had decided that he had a good life, and that he wanted to go quickly.  From time to time in that brief two month period Mike would offer updates to his community through family, messages or a video.  In his messages, something became starkly clear.  Mike was testifying to the truthfulness of the gospel through his thoroughgoing commitment to dying well and dying without fear.

I'll never forget that.  I leave you with a video he posted that I found especially moving.

Made In Waco

It's time for UBC's second annual Made in Waco: Handmade Market! Made in Waco wants to celebrate the amazing artisans that our city has to offer by giving them a place to display and sell their creations and gives the rest of us a chance to buy them! Last year we had a fantastic array of jewelry, soaps, clothing, baked goods, knitted items, stationary, decor and more! Perfect for those one of a kind Christmas gifts and indulgences!

If you are interested in being a vendor, please go to ubcwaco.org for more details on how to get involved and to download an application. Vendor applications and payment are due by October 31st! For those of us who are more appreciators of handmade goods, join us on November 15th for this unique and exciting display of the best of what is Made in Waco!

UBCYP (University Baptist Church Young Professionals)

 We are having our first ever UBCYP event, Friday October 17th, at the Griffin’s house, at 7pm.  If you are a young professional, grad student, or just want to come hang out, this event is for you.  There will be snacks, drinks, games, etc….  We would love for you to come and meet other UBCYP’ers at UBC!  The Griffin’s address is:

Byron and Maggie Griffin

2301 N 52nd St.

Waco, TX 76710

If you have any questions, email or call toph (254-498-2261).

Guys Night ... TONIGHT!!!!

We our having our first annual (or first in a long time) Guy's Night this Friday.  We are heading out to a lease just outside of town, and we will be out there starting around 5pm.  We will have drinks, plates/napkins/etc..., and stuff for smores.  Bring whatever you want to grill and your own sides.  There will be a large bonfire, a place to fish down by the river, and we will hang out till the cows come home (or run as off the property).  Bring a camping chair, if you have one.  If you need directions, email toph@ubcwaco.org .  This is for guys of all ages: dads and sons, grad students, college, etc...  Hope to see you all Friday night.  If you decided at the last minute to come, call Toph (254-498-2261) for directions.

Work is Worship 10-12-14

Mug Cleaners: Sarah & Vince

Coffee Makers: Kayla & Michael

Greeters: Linda and Paul

Shut Down Team: Golden Glitter Girls

Announcements:

• Sermon Text: John 15:1-7
• The UBC youth group will be going to Jump Street in Dallas on October 25th.  Interested persons should contact Craig@ubcwaco.org.
• UBC Girl’s Day, Saturday, October 25th @ 11am: Meeting at Farmer’s Market, getting pumpkins, then heading back to UBC for pumpkin carving and fellowship
• Wednesday, October 29th, UBC partners with South Waco Community Center for Halloween Festival. Those interested in volunteering should contact toph@ubcwaco.
• Friday, October 31st Jesus Said Love Outreach … more information to come.
• MADE in Waco will be Saturday, November 15th more information to come.

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: Teri Walter: terijan@gmail.com

Jana Parker jparkerslp@gmail.com

Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Kaley Eggers: kaley.eggers@gmail.com

David Wilhite: david_wilhite@baylor.edu

Jamie McGregor: jameson.mcgregor@gmail.com

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu

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

Paul Taft: ptaft@extracobanks.com

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Tom McCarty: tomjmccarty@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.

Lacy McNamee: Lacy_McNamee@baylor.edu

Callie Schrank: Callie_Schrank@baylor.edu

Jeff Walter: jeff_walter@baylor.edu

Michael Heins: mheins@hot.rr.com

ITLOTC 10-3-14

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Ordinary Time

Ebola and Christians

Like some of you I'm paying close attention to Dallas and its diseases.  On the mornings after I drop my children off at school I tune in to hear the latest on the ebola case being addressed in Dallas.  As of now 100 people have allegedly been exposed to this man and about 15 or so of them in a manner in which they could have possibly contracted the disease.  A family of four is now being quarantined in an apartment.

At first I was angry.  My lack of empathy and irrationality immediately asked why they let anyone fly from West Africa back to the States.  And then I reasoned that if anyone wanted to do that, that was fine as long as they were willing to live in an isolated warehouse for 30 days until they had been cleared.

I do think making smart decisions for the common good is important and I'm glad we have government officials dedicated to the caring of this issue.  But after things became clearer in my head I thought about my response.  Two things seem to be a failure in my own discipleship.

1. My first instinct was not to pray for this man and the people who had been in contact with him.  I think one of the hardest parts of the gospel is the consistent and pervasive demand to love the other ... even at the expense of yourself.  Surely this individual is scared and feels the magnitude of his circumstances.  Instead of being concerned about him, I chose to be concerned about myself.

2. The other thing that came to my mind was something I read in Rodney Starks book The Triumph of Christianity.  In chapter titled "Misery and Mercy" Stark answers the question, "how did Christianity grow so fast in the first few centuries?"  Stark's answer is essentially that Christianity loved those who no one else would.  In the year 165 AD a devastating epidemic swept through the Roman Empire.   Historians suspect that this may have been the first appearance of smallpox.  About a century later, the plague showed up again and this time people recognized early symptoms. As a precaution people threw their loved ones out on the streets with the already dead and dying.  Can you imagine that?  Tossing your child out the door to save the rest of your family.  But there was nothing else to do.

The religious system failed.  If people went to the temple to pray, they found that their pagan priests had fled.  The philosophical systems were no better.  They simply blamed the circumstances on fate.  Even the medical professionals left town.  Documents from antiquity record that the famous physician Galen fled Rome for his country estate where he stayed until the danger subsided.

The Christians, however, would care for the sick and dying ... at the risk of their life being exchanged for the sick.  In a pastoral letter to his members in Alexandria Egypt the Bishop Dionysius wrote about the courage of his people:

"Most of our brothers showed unbounded love and loyalty, never sparing themselves and thinking only of one another.  Heedless of danger, they took charge of the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ, and with them departed this life serenely happy; for they were infected by others with the disease, drawing on themselves the sickness of their neighbors and cheerfully accepting their pains.  Many,  in nursing and curing others, transferred their death to themselves and died in their stead .... The best of our brothers lost their lives in this manner, a number of presbyters, deacons, and laymen winning high commendation so that in death in this form, the result of great piety and strong faith, seems in every way equal to martyrdom."

I'm reminded of Kent Brantley who was working in Liberia with Samaritan's Purse to fight the disease on Africa's turf without the comfort of America's medical infrastructure at his disposal.  I reminded that at it's best, Christ following produces some of the most remarkable people.  And I reminded that this is not a safe calling, but it is a good calling.

UBC Podcast

Some of you have asked about the podcast this summer.  We have recently gone to a new format and sermons can now be found on iTunes by searching "ubc waco."

nUBCer’s Lunch

We are having our first ever (or first in a very long time) nUBCer’s luncheon on October 12th, after church in the Backside. If you have started coming to UBC sometime within the last year, we would love for you to join us for lunch. We would love the opportunity to get to know you better, make sure you are connected in the life of the church, and share with you a bit about our history. After church, go grab your lunch and bring it to the backside, and we will plan on starting around 12:15. If you have any questions, please email toph@ubcwaco.org

JSL

This Sunday UBC is hosting our ministry partner Jesus Said Love.  Brett and Emily Mills will do an interview as part of the service and there will be a Q & A with them after church as well.  Please be in prayer for Brett & Emily and the JSL/UBC partnership.  They are awesome and their ministry is God glorifying.  We are so excited to have them.  You can learn more about the ministry here.

Kaley 

As Toph point out Sunday, there are a lot of UBCers on mission in their own lives doing wonderful things.  I'd like to share one particular story with you.  Kaley Eggers recently became a foster parent.  She has been blogging through her journey and it is beautiful.  Do yourself a favor and read this.

Satan Slayers

In their last two games of the season the Slayers dropped both.  The slayers end their season 2-6.  The one stat that doesn't show up in the books is heart ... and the Slayers had a ton of it.  The one-two punch of Byron Roldan and Jacob Robinson booked the losses, but the formation of character and the fun had were both chalked up in the win column.

The Slayers were a team of vibrancy and fun.  They found a way to play this great American game of softball and make it a transcendent encounter.   We'll always remember watching the wheels turn in coach Millers head as she strategized about signals to call.  We'll never forget Byron Roldan's change up "the stinky cheese."  Not soon will we forget the play by play commentary of Arna Hemmenway and Jacob Robinson.  The Slayers gave us to something to believe in.  Something to strive for ... and for that we are grateful.

Coach Miller has this to say after the game: "it didn't end the way we wanted, but in another sense it did.  What I got from these kids [choking back tears] ... you can't put a price on that.  I tell every senior class that they've built a foundation, but some foundations are stronger than others."

Work is Worship: 10-5-14

Mug Cleaners: Haines Family

Coffee Makers: Emmy Edwards & Stephen Adkinson

Greeters: Ryan Graf & Joel Berner

Shutdown Team: Blue Flames

Announcements:

• Sermon Text: Philippians 4:8 Friday, October 10th, Guys Night at Michael Heins’ lease on the Brazos River (men of all ages including dads and little boys are welcome/encouraged to come)
• UBCYP (University Baptist Church Young Professionals) October 17th - Epic Game Night Extravaganza - 7pm - more details to come in the next few weeks
• Fall Break Weekend (October 16-19) UBC will be taking an Embrace Beauty trip to West Texas. Those interested should contact Tye@ubcwaco.org. More information to come.
• UBC Girl's Day, Saturday, October 25th @ 11am: Meeting at Farmer's Market, getting pumpkins, then heading back to UBC for pumpkin carving and fellowship
• Wednesday, October 29th, UBC partners with South Waco Community Center for Halloween Festival. Those interested in volunteering should contact toph@ubcwaco.
• Friday, October 31st Jesus Said Love Outreach … more information to come.
• MADE in Waco will be Saturday, November 15th more information to come.

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: Teri Walter: terijan@gmail.com

Jana Parker jparkerslp@gmail.com

Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Kaley Eggers: kaley.eggers@gmail.com

David Wilhite: david_wilhite@baylor.edu

Jamie McGregor: jameson.mcgregor@gmail.com

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu

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

Paul Taft: ptaft@extracobanks.com

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Tom McCarty: tomjmccarty@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.

Lacy McNamee: Lacy_McNamee@baylor.edu

Callie Schrank: Callie_Schrank@baylor.edu

Jeff Walter: jeff_walter@baylor.edu

Michael Heins: mheins@hot.rr.com

ITLOTC 9-26-14

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Ordinary Time

Derek Jeter

And what shall be their education? ... gymnastic for the body, and music for the soul.

Plato, The Republic, Book II

i

Last night New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter gave his hometown crowd one last gift.  With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth he hit a walk off single.  Only one other player has ended his career with a walk off hit.*  But it shouldn't surprise us.  If there is one thing we have learned about Derek Jeter, it's that he delivers epic moments.  He hit a home run for his 3,000th hit and he delivered walk off home runs in World Series games.  Epic moments are what he does.

I, like so many Americans, have spent a lifetime disdaining the New York Yankees.  In a league where there's comparatively little penalty for buying your championships, the Yankees represent everything wrong with the fiscal side of competition.  And yet as much as we dislike the Yankees, baseball fans found it near impossible to not like THE New York Yankee, Derek Jeter.

Why is that?  Two reasons.  First, Derek Jeter played his entire twenty  year career with one team.  In an era where players are loyal to paychecks, it's rare to find someone who plays an entire career in one place.  Someone might object that, that's because Jeter started and played his entire career where paychecks are the most lucrative.   True, but there was at least one contract negotiation in which a lack of loyalty might have landed Jeter somewhere else.

The second reason is the most important reason.  I'll get that in a moment, but let me share a few things first.  I remember having a discussion back in 2005, when Lance Armstrong was in the midst of winning one of his 7 Tour de France titles, about Armstrong being the most drug tested athlete of all time.  My conversation partners and I were gleaming when thinking about Armstrong's drug free awesomeness.  I remember when allegations came out that 7 time Cy Young award winner Roger Clemens had taken performance enhancing drugs.  I listened to his passionate denial and believed him, until I stopped.  I remember when Ryan Braun was suspended, then cleared only to be suspended again.  That's to say nothing of baseball's great hitters like Alex Rodriquez, Barry Bond and Mark Mcgwire.

We've grown weary of athletes.  Instead of being awed by inflated statistics, we're now suspicious.  That's why players like Derek Jeter are so special.  They are rare.  It's one thing to be great, it's another to do it with integrity.

Every major sport gives us about one per era.  Basketball has Tim Duncan.  Football has Petyon Manning.  And Baseball has Derek Jeter ... until Sunday.  It's not just their lack of drug consumption that makes them special, it's their presence.  They way they handle themselves on and off the court.  It's the way they don't use social media and it's the things they don't say in post game interviews.  They are classy.

When the church father Tertullian became suspicious that Christian theology was being conflated with Greek philosophy in an unhealthy way he asked, "what has Athens to do with Jerusalem?"  You may be wondering what Cooperstown has to do with Grand Rapids, Colorado Springs or "insert name of city where you think Evangelicals have successfully waged and won a culture war."

 A couple of years ago I had the honor of preaching my dads retirement service.  It was the bottom of the ninth in Tomahawk, WI.  It was obvious to me that the thing to talk about was my dad's faithfulness.  27 years of pastoring that one congregation.  I used 2 Timothy 4:6-8.

"6 As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing."

The difficult thing about integrity is that it's not something you check off a list and are done with.   It's something you check off your list everyday for twenty years or twenty seven years.  And that can be exhausting.

My dad in one of our wisdom-filled Gandalf conversations once told me that it only takes one bad choice to ruin your integrity and a lifetime to develop it.  It's hard work filled with discipline.  But that's what are called to as Christ followers and Jesus helps us do it.  As of today Derek Jeter has had 11,191 major league at bats.  His walk off last night was special.  But the reason it was special was because all 11,191 of Jeter's at bats were special.  They were done the right way.

And that matters.

*it should be noted that Jeter will DH in this weekends series against Boston as a curtesy to Red Sox fans, but played his last ever game as a short stop.

Communion Services

Have you ever walked into a church an noticed that a table and not a pulpit stood at the center of the stage?  This happens more frequently in high church traditions such Catholic, Episcopalian or even Presbyterian.  Free church traditions have often reduced "church" to worship, which means music, and a sermon.  The table at the center communicates something.  Namely, that communion is a vital part of the life and worship of the community.  UBC does not a have a table at the center of our stage, but we recognize that we need to grow in our understanding and appreciation for communion as a form of worship.  In addition to our monthly communion Sunday service we will be worshiping together on Wednesday mornings at 7:15 to celebrate and partake in the Lord's Supper.  Services will last about 20-30, please consider joining us.  Our first service is Wednesday October 1st.

Satan Slayers

The Slayers got Slayed in a pair of losses on Monday night.  Odd Squad 2 and another team from somewhere in the greater Waco Metropolitan area beat down the Slayers in a pair of games called early due to a ten run rule.  Byron Roldon picked up his second loss of the season and Micah Wolters picked up his first.   The Slayers suffered a bunch of errors in both games and had trouble getting the bats going.  Wolters offered one of the few offensive highlights hitting a lead off home run in the second inning of the first game.  Here's a few soundbites from Coach Dani Miller:

"We did some things well, but we got a lot to work on.  In the first game our infield made too many mental errors and in the second game our outfield was out of position."

"Micah [Wolters] has been a late season gem in terms of free agency.  When the front office told me we got him off of waivers I was excited.  Looking forward to big things from Micah."

In regards to 3rd baseman Luke Blaylock who took a screamer to the head:

"The team doctors are watching Luke, but he seems to be doing good.  Luke's a tough kid and we expect him to be back in the diamond next Monday night."

Emerging Parents

This Wednesday night, October 1st, the Emerging Parents class will meet at UBC from 5:30-7:00.  Child care will be provided.  If you've never been before, here's how Emerging Parents works.  We meet in the backside from 5:30-6:15 to eat together.  We (the adults) then move to the one of the classrooms for discussion and learning and the children go their respective classrooms.  Interested persons should contact josh@ubcwaco.org for more information if you are not already on the parent email list.

Work is Worship: 9-28-14

Mug Cleaners: Chris & Hanah Kuhl

Coffee Makers: Logan & Allyson Bayer

Greeters: Graham Dodd &

Shutdown Team: Cavemen

Announcements: 

• Toph is preaching this weekend.  Please be in prayer for him as he prepares a message challenging our community towards mission.  Sermon Text: Matthew 21:23-32
• Next Sunday, October 5th, Jesus Said Love with join UBC for an announcement and a Q/A lunch after church
• Friday, October 10th, Guys Night at Michael Heins’ lease on the Brazos River (men of all ages including dads and little boys are welcome/encouraged to come)
• Fall Break Weekend (October 16-19) UBC will be taking an Embrace Beauty trip to West Texas. Those interested should contact Tye@ubcwaco.org. More information to come.
• UBC Girl's Day, Saturday, October 25th @ 11am:  Meeting at Farmer's Market, getting pumpkins, then heading back to UBC for pumpkin carving and fellowship
• Wednesday, October 29th, UBC partners with South Waco Community Center for Halloween Festival. Those interested in volunteering should contact toph@ubcwaco.
• Friday, October 31st Jesus Said Love Outreach … more information to come. MADE in Waco will be Saturday, November 15th more information to come.

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: Teri Walter: terijan@gmail.com

Jana Parker jparkerslp@gmail.com

Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Kaley Eggers: kaley.eggers@gmail.com

David Wilhite: david_wilhite@baylor.edu

Jamie McGregor: jameson.mcgregor@gmail.com

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu

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

Paul Taft: ptaft@extracobanks.com

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Tom McCarty: tomjmccarty@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.

Lacy McNamee: Lacy_McNamee@baylor.edu

Callie Schrank: Callie_Schrank@baylor.edu

Jeff Walter: jeff_walter@baylor.edu

Michael Heins: mheins@hot.rr.com

UBC "Philosophy Talks" with Chris Tweedt...

Three times this semester Chris Tweedt will be presenting three "philosophy talks" for the folks at UBC. Chris is a Ph.D. student in Philosophy at Baylor. He's the husband of Melinda, the dad of Charissa, Alexa, Max, and a forthcoming TBD. He and his family lead a Mi Casa. They love UBC and Chris wanted to share some of his gifting through a series of presentations/conversations with the UBC community. These will take place in the Brown Room. We would love for you to join us!

Philosophy Talk 1

Wednesday October 1, 2014 at 7:00pm

"Knowing about God Through Experiences"

People come to have beliefs about God in many ways, some good, and some misguided, producing false or unwarranted beliefs.  The question "What are the right ways of knowing about God, the ways that give people true knowledge of God, and which ways produce these false and unwarranted beliefs" is one that contemporary philosophers of Religion ask often. Some believe you don't need reasons or evidence to form beliefs about God, but that certain types of experiences will suffice. In this talk Chris will explain this view and we will discuss its benefits and issues.

ITLOTC 9-19-14

ITLOTC

(In The Life of the Church)

Ordinary Time

ISIS and the Church 

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds,

I'm struggling.  I get my news in car through my radio and almost everyday for the last two weeks it has been headlined by ISIS and its threat to America.  I'm struggling because as I hear reports come in about what is happening I get angry.  I want justice.  I want to see my enemies punished.  But my angry need for justice is tempered by Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount and elsewhere.

• You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. (Matt. 5:38-39)
• Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Matt. 5:43-48, Luke 6:27-28)
• Put your sword back in its place...for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. (Matt. 26:52)
• Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Matt. 5:9)

My dad was and my brother is in the military.  I'm proud of both of them.  No one hates war more than soldiers and their families.  For all the talking I do about sacrifice Christians should make/I should make, my brother and dad have made more.  Here's something else, I don't think America is a Christian nation and thus I do not hold her to my Christian expectations. Whether or not the United States goes to war, is a decision that the church doesn't make.  But I am concerned about my response.  I'm concerned about what's happening to my heart.

Whenever I have a conversation with someone and I bring up the words of Jesus, inevitably someone asks something like, "so if someone broke into your house and threatened to hurt your family you'd just stand there?"  No I wouldn't, I'd probably hit them with a baseball bat.  And then I confess my sin and pray for God's forgiveness.  And had I seen the horrors of the Holocuast or all the other forms of injustice between now and then, I'd probably have picked up a gun and fought.  I want to own how complicated this question is.  How strong the propensity to defend, even if with violence, is within me.

The truth is I'll most likely never confront someone from ISIS and statistically speaking no one will break into my house.  I'll take that form of grace.  But even if those events never occur, I'm always having a chance to respond.  There's an adage floating around that says something like,  "Thoughts become words. Words become actions. Actions become habit.  Habits become character.  And your character becomes your destiny."  I think this why Jesus so gingerly connects anger with murder and lust with adultery.  The road between them may be long, but there are no exits.

You know what will happen to me this week?  Someone will cut me off on the road.  My children will deliberately disobey me.  Someone will make a remark that I think is wrong and will really make me mad.  In all of these scenarios I hold something precious.  A choice.  The ability to plant that seed of anger in my heart or not.  I have the choice to let those thoughts become words.  Or I can pray for my enemies and bless those who persecute me.

I don't know if there is a war that God would ever have us fight, but I do know that I have million choices to make before I come to that one.  I don't know if I'll ever come face to face with my enemies across the Atlantic, but there's plenty of people in my life here that give me choices to love or hate.  And those matter.

Do you have an enemy in your life?  Someone who really angers you?

If so I consider you to spend some time meditating on these verses:

Romans 12:2

Philippians 4:8

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Ask God for the grace to love your enemy in the small thing so that you might the character to love them in a big thing.

Meet The Newest UBCer

Name: Roxy Reese Parker

Birthday: 9/2/114

Weight: 10 lbs 6 oz (extra full of the Joy of the Lord)

Height: 22.5 inches

Enneagram Number: 7

Family Breakfast This Sunday!

Join us this Sunday morning, at 9:30am, for our annual Family Weekend Breakfast! If you are a student, and you have family in town (or you just want a free delicious breakfast), come to the backside at 9:30am Sunday morning for a delicious meal. This will be a time to meet other UBC'ers, fellowship, and learn more about UBC. If you have any questions, please email toph@ubcwaco.org.

Satan Slayers

In a valiant effort the Satan Slayers dropped a pair of games on Monday night.  Jacob "God bless You Please Mrs." Robinson and Byron Roldando both recorded "L's" on their stat books.  Coach Miller: "neither of them could find their command tonight ... it happens.  I started signaling to Will [Knight] to call for the stinky cheese and mustard, but those guys insisted on throwing change ups."  Offensively the slayers had trouble getting going as well.  Aside from a par 3rd inning there wasn't much to get excited about.  Injuries might have had something to do with it.  The Slayers suffered about 4-5 injuries and had trouble filling a full roster with healthy ballers.  It seems that front office didn't do enough when they picked up veteran, mennonite 1st baseman Andrea Kramer off of waivers, the Slayers could have used a few more abled bodies.  Coach Miller: "Great teams don't make excuses, but our players were dinged up tonight.  All we can do is learn from this.  We'll get in the film room tomorrow night and Rod [pitching coach] will work with our rotation this week.  We compete. We win. We are the Satan Slayers."

The Slayers will be in action again this Monday night as they get set for another double header.

UBCKids Volunteer Training

Volunteer training time has arrived! On September 21st, we will be talking about The Nurture Room (0-Walkers) and the Sprout Room (Walkers-Young 2’s). These rooms don’t have curriculum, but there are still sign-in, play-time, diapering and general-care procedures that we need to cover! On September 28th, we will be training those who want to work in either the Bloom Room (Older 2’s-Young 4’s), the Branch Room (Older 4’s-Kindergarten) or the Root Room (1st Grade-4th Grade). These rooms have curriculum, so we will be talking about their formats, helpful hints for each age group and other procedures. In each of these trainings we will be putting teams together. Each room has four teams of 2 or 3 people who rotate on a 4 week cycle. If you have someone you’d like to work with, make sure that they are at the training, too! Afterwards, I will send out the new dates and a calendar link for reminders! We will be holding the trainings RIGHT AFTER CHURCH and I’m hoping to keep them under 30 minutes so that we can all enjoy lunch with our friends, so please make your way to the BACKSIDE quickly so that we can get started!

Work is Worship 9-21-14

Coffee Makers: Michael Scott & Kayla Larvins

Mug Cleaners: Byron Roldan & Jacob Robinson

Greeters: Tessa Chevlin & Leigh Curl

Shut Down Team: Golden Glitter Girls

Announcements

• Sermon Text:1 Samuel 3:1-11
• Sunday, October 5th, Jesus Said Love with join UBC for an announcement and a Q/A lunch after church
• Friday, October 10th, Guys Night at Michael Heins' lease on the Brazos River (men of all ages including dads and little boys are welcome/encouraged to come)
• Fall Break Weekend (October 16-19) UBC will be taking an Embrace Beauty trip to West Texas.  Those interested should contact Tye@ubcwaco.org.  More information to come.
• Wednesday, October 29th, UBC partners with South Waco Community Center for Halloween Festival. Those interested in volunteering should contact toph@ubcwaco.
• Friday, October 31st Jesus Said Love Outreach ... more information to come.
• MADE in Waco will be Saturday, November 15th more information to come.

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: Teri Walter: terijan@gmail.com

Jana Parker jparkerslp@gmail.com

Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Kaley Eggers: kaley.eggers@gmail.com

David Wilhite: david_wilhite@baylor.edu

Jamie McGregor: jameson.mcgregor@gmail.com

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu

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

Paul Taft: ptaft@extracobanks.com

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Tom McCarty: tomjmccarty@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.

Lacy McNamee: Lacy_McNamee@baylor.edu

Callie Schrank: Callie_Schrank@baylor.edu

Jeff Walter: jeff_walter@baylor.edu

Michael Heins: mheins@hot.rr.com

ITLOTC 9-12-14

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Ordinary Time

There's Room in my Theology for Fireworks 

In our worship planning meetings we've been talking about communion for the last few weeks.  Consequently I've been forced to revisit, yet again, what I believe is happening in that moment.  We are University Baptist Church.  That word Baptist necessitates that we are a particular theological something.

... a brief interlude occurs as I search through mothballs in the credenza of my bookshelf to find this book from my Baptist Identity class ...

In the book that I've just taken a picture of, you will find the Baptist distinctives.  The set of ecclesiological supposition that make us who we are.  Baptist celebrate two of the Catholic Church's seven sacraments.  We don't usually call them sacraments we call them ordinances, but we do take communion and  baptize believers.  I am told by my book that we have a symbolic understanding of baptism and the Lord's supper.

Confession, I agree that these are symbols and I agree with those that would tell me these are more than symbols.  Right around the time of the Reformation everyone was revisiting what it meant to participate in the Lord's Supper.  Two five dollar words worth learning are transubstantiation and consubstantiation.  I don't want to seem flippant, but I really don't care what truth is about about the ontological nature of the bread and wine juice we ingest.  I care about, in God's grace, how He uses that moment in our worship to form us despite our imperfect understanding.

My "what Baptists believe book" I was reminded that Baptist also believe in the autonomy of the local congregation.  Perhaps this is a bit licentious, but I take that to mean a bit of theological autonomy.  I give that qualifier, to suggest I don't feel bad about believing that our communion moment is symbol AND more than symbol.  One of my baptist professors reminded our class that the word "ordinance" means "means of grace."  That language was forged by Cathlolics and hung unto by Protestant during the reformation even though they narrowed the scope of sacraments and nuanced the definition.  I'm glad they kept the language, I think it is helpful and theologically true.

My journey in understanding what happens when we take communion evolved over the years in conversing with friends and professors.  I'd like to share a few of those moments.

Moment 1: Lembas Bread 

In college I took a class on JRR Tolkien (imagine that).  I had the privilege of taking the class with a thoughtful friend who was Catholic.  If you don't know the story of the Lord of the Rings, Frodo, one of the main characters, is gifted with Lembas Bread, given to him by the elves of Lothlorien.  Frodo sets out on a perilous journey.  Very often Frodo is sustained and refreshed by eating small bits of the Lembas bread.  It seems obvious now, but my friend pointed out that was Tolkein's obvious nod to Tolkein's Catholic understanding of the eucharist.

Moment 2: The Community

A couple of years ago UBC celebrated an evening service in which we took communion.  Might have been Maunday Thursday.  After the service was over and we were in the cleaning up phase my then 5 year old son snatched some of the excess communion bread and ate it.  On the way home was talking to his little sister and asked her if "she got some of the community?"  Confused, my wife and I talked him through what he meant.  Through conversation we discerned he was talking about the communion bread.  After we established that was what was being addressed he replied, "yes the community."  Later I posted that conversation on Facebook with the suggestion, "that'll preach."

Moment 3: The Fireworks 

Sometime in these last few years I was eating lunch with my mentor.  On this particular day we were chatting about communion and how it functions in our Baptist life.  He essentially affirmed the standard line about baptist communion and then said, "but i've got room in my theology for there to be fireworks in that moment."

It seems to me that the Spirit has subtly and graciously invited me to understand that God does something special when we take communion.  I think about all the critical moments in my journey ... in our journey ...  when the act of taking communion together preached a louder and better sermon than ever could have.  That communion seems to aid us as we journey together.  It gives life in way that eating a sandwich at home by myself doesn't.  It's a means of grace, inching me along closer to Jesus.  I think about what I'm ingesting, namely the body of Christ, and that we are his body and somehow as we drown in the mysteries of God we really take the community further within ourselves.  And I think about how the fireworks just might go off.  God used a donkey to talk, a post-menopausal grandma to start a nation, and a few fish sandwiches to feed 9,000 people.  He can certainly use communion to set the fireworks off.

This Sunday we will celebrate communion together.  I'd like to ask that you use these 48 hours to prepare for that moment.

Meet Our Newest UBCer

Name: Zaid Xavier Ganaway

Birthday: 08/14/14

Weight: 7 lbs 7 oz

Height: 20 in

Enneagram Number: 3

UBC 2014-2015 Community Ministry Partners

(This Sunday Toph will be making an announcement about our 2014-15 community ministry partnerships, but here some additional information for your refrigerator)

Cesar Chavez Middle School

Cesar Chavez Middle School (CCMS) is our oldest community partner, in fact, back in 2008-2009 we won the “Golden Apple Award.” Through the years we have provided mentors, helped with tutoring, held soccer camps, and led in teacher in encouragement. Currently the school has asked us to focus on reading comprehension and mentoring, and we will also continue teacher encouragement. If you would like to be involved with our with CCMS, please email toph@ubcwaco.org . South Waco Community Center The South Waco Community Center is a newly renovated facility that offers recreation opportunities and community activities for all ages. Throughout the year the SWCC offers a variety of programs: GED and ESL classes, tax help, after school tutoring, Parent’s Night Out, SAT prep, etc… The community center also hosts big events for our neighborhood. UBC is committed to support the center in whatever ways are needed, and we have become a key partner in helping with community events. The Halloween Festival in 2013 had close to 1500 people from the community, and over 50 UBC volunteers. If you are interested in helping our neighbors, or just playing ball during open gym and building relationships, contact toph@ubcwaco.org for more information.

Jesus Said Love

Jesus Said Love is our newest partner and they exists to share the revolutionary love of Christ with women in the commercial sex industry to awaken hope and empower change. In the Fall of 2014, UBC will become one of their church partners. We will be a part of the LOVE team, and we will sponsor at least one outreach a year. The LOVE Team is a group of men and women who are the hands and feet of Jesus Said Love. Within the LOVE Team there are teams of people who help put gift bags together for club outreaches, gather for times of prayer on outreach nights, assist with JSL events such as dancer baby showers, and help accomplish many other opportunities that may arise. If you would like to be on the LOVE team at UBC, or you have any questions please email toph@ubcwaco.org

UBCKids Volunteer Training

Volunteer training time has arrived! On September 21st, we will be talking about The Nurture Room (0-Walkers) and the Sprout Room (Walkers-Young 2's). These rooms don't have curriculum, but there are still sign-in, play-time, diapering and general-care procedures that we need to cover! On September 28th, we will be training those who want to work in either the Bloom Room (Older 2's-Young 4's), the Branch Room (Older 4's-Kindergarten) or the Root Room (1st Grade-4th Grade). These rooms have curriculum, so we will be talking about their formats, helpful hints for each age group and other procedures. In each of these trainings we will be putting teams together. Each room has four teams of 2 or 3 people who rotate on a 4 week cycle. If you have someone you'd like to work with, make sure that they are at the training, too! Afterwards, I will send out the new dates and a calendar link for reminders! We will be holding the trainings RIGHT AFTER CHURCH and I'm hoping to keep them under 30 minutes so that we can all enjoy lunch with our friends, so please make your way to the BACKSIDE quickly so that we can get started!

Satan Slayers

The UBC Satan Slayers snagged a pair of victories on Monday night.  Highlights include three time Waco Church League Softball Cy Young Winner Byron Roldon who threw 4 frames giving up just three hits.  On the other side of the plate the offensive efforts were led Kelsey "lay down the" Lawson who hit for a cycle.  In the post game press conference coach Dani Miller said, "this was a great start. these kids left it all on the field tonight."  When asked about Roldon performance she replied, "that's the sort of thing we expect from Byron.  He just keeps getting better."  After hearing chatter about a possible championship trophy Miller was quick to reply stating, "we're not worried about championships ... we're worried about tomorrow.  Right now it's our job to get mentally prepared for a really great 7th and James squad and that's what were going to do."  You can catch the Satan Slayers in action again this next Monday night as they take the field for another double header.

nUBC’ers Lunch

** there was a misunderstanding between me and toph this last week.  I listed this in the newsletter last week, but the correct date for this, is this coming Sunday the 14th.  Our apologies. **

We are going to start a new tradition this semester as way to get to know more people at UBC and make friends that are friends forever. If you are new to UBC, or if you have been here a while and just want to meet some new folks, we would love for you to join us for lunch. After church this Sunday, we will have several UBC’ers (Kaley Eggers, Byron Roldan, and Teri Walter) in the coffee room who have a crew they eat lunch with after church, and they would love for you to join. If you would like to go to lunch, just make your way to the coffee room and find out where everyone is going. We will plan on doing these informal lunches a couple of times a semester. If you have any questions, please email or ask Toph (toph@ubcwaco.org).

Work is Worship 9-14-14

Coffee Makers: Chad & Joel

Mug Cleaners: Sara Joyave & Vince Cooley

Greeters: Paul & Linda Taft

Shut Down Team: Blue Flames

Announcements

• Sermon Text: Matthew 16:19 & 18:18
• Fall Sunday School options and other opportunities found here
• Sunday, September 21st Family Breakfast in the backside of UBC at 9:30 AM
• Sunday, October 5th, Jesus Said Love with join UBC for an announcement and a Q/A lunch after church
• Friday, October 10th, Guys Night at Michael Heins' lease on the Brazos River (men of all ages including dads and little boys are welcome/encouraged to come)
• Wednesday, October 29th, UBC partners with South Waco Community Center for Halloween Festival.  Those interested in volunteering should contact toph@ubcwaco
• Friday, October 31st Jesus Said Love Outreach ... more information to come
• MADE in Waco will be Saturday, November 15th more information to come!

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: Teri Walter: terijan@gmail.com

Jana Parker jparkerslp@gmail.com

Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Kaley Eggers: kaley.eggers@gmail.com

David Wilhite: david_wilhite@baylor.edu

Jamie McGregor: jameson.mcgregor@gmail.com

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu

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

Paul Taft: ptaft@extracobanks.com

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Tom McCarty: tomjmccarty@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.

Lacy McNamee: Lacy_McNamee@baylor.edu

Callie Schrank: Callie_Schrank@baylor.edu

Jeff Walter: jeff_walter@baylor.edu

Michael Heins: mheins@hot.rr.com

ITLOTC 9-5-14

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Ordinary Time

Inerrancy: What do I believe about the Bible?

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16

This Sunday I'm going to talk about the bible and its relationship to the Holy Spirit.  In preparing my sermon I jotted down a statement about inerrancy, that to be honest, is a peripheral issue.  I didn't want to chase a rabbit trail in the sermon, so I'm using this writing moment to address the issue should some concerns arise.

Defining inerrancy is difficult.

Here is a definition from Wikipedia that is a construction of the thoughts of two theologians: Wayne Grudem and Norman Geisler.  "Biblical inerrancy, as formulated in the "Chicago Statement On Biblical Inerrancy", is the doctrine that the Bible "is without error or fault in all its teaching"; or, at least, that "Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact".

Sounds good, right?  So why, then, do I not affirm Biblical inerrancy?  Truett professor Roger Olson has written a blog that will explain how I feel better than I can.  Lest you don't click on that link, let me a share a few reasons.  In the Chicago Statement, inerrancy receives about 100 different qualifications.  So many qualifications, that some have said that the actual word "inerrancy" dies a death of a 1,000 qualifications.  Here's one example Olson gives in the blog post:

"The biggest qualification is that only the original autographs were inerrant. Think about this. The claim made by most conservative evangelicals (and, of course fundamentalists) is that biblical authority stands or falls with inerrancy. If the Bible contains any real errors it cannot be trusted. Then they admit every Bible that exists probably contains errors. Only the original manuscripts on which the inspired authors wrote can be considered perfectly inerrant."

But at the end of the day, it's not even really the theological nuance in the definition of inerrancy that makes me feel the need to distance myself from the word.  When I first came to UBC I think the thing I loved most about it was not necessarily what I perceived was UBC's belief it was her attitude towards her belief. It was a humility that understood that we are a depraved people and that depravity effects even our ability to know, even with the gracious help of the holy spirit.

It's dangerous to make blanket statements and so I say with a slight hesitation, but very consistently I find that those for whom the word "inerrancy" is important also have an attitude towards that view that strikes me as incredibly unhealthy and unChristlike.  Very often inerrancy is used not as theological tool safeguarding the edification of the church, but rather as divisive litmus test which has an aim of pushing others out.  It's the attitude towards the belief which bothers me.

Because I've been pushing us as community lately to not just be deconstructive, but also reconstructive let me take a minute to address the question: How do I read my Bible? As with any issue there seems to be range of approaches.

I begin with Barbara Brown Taylor whose voice will appear again in my posts over the next few days. In her memoir Leaving Church she writes:

"I do not pretend to read the Bible any more objectively than those who wrote it for me. To read it literally strikes me as a terrible refusal of their literary gifts.  I will keep the Bible, which remains the Word of God for me, but always the Word as heard by generations of human beings as flawed as I. As beautifully as these witnesses write, their divine inspiration can never be separated from their ardent desires; their genuine wish to serve God cannot be divorced from their self-interest. That God should use such blemished creatures to communicate God’s reality so well makes the Bible its own kind of miracle, but I hope I never put the book ahead of the people whom the book calls me to love and serve."[1]

Some of you may find Taylor's statement a little frightening, and some of you liberating.  I understand both of those emotions.  If Taylor represents a middle ground then there's certainly extremes on both sides of her.   A step further would be to stand behind Gordan Kaufman’s theological statement that scripture is special because it “contains glorious literature, important historical documents, exalted ethical teachings.”[2] In my opinion Kaufman does not say enough. But on the other end of the spectrum we find an equally problematic approach. John R. Rice, a fundamentalist evangelist and publisher, argued for inspiration of the Bible as “dictation” and treated the human authors as mere penmen of the Holy Spirit.[3] Claims like this substantiate Emil Brunner’s criticism that Protestants are often guilty of creating a “paper pope.”

Though I find affinities in Taylor’s thoughtful observation, I find that I can in good conscience latch onto Karl Barth’s approach wholeheartedly. Barth develops a threefold understanding of God’s Word:

1. Jesus Christ
2. Scripture
3. The churches’ proclamation of the gospel.

Barth argues that God’s Word always has the character of event. Thus we find the primary mode of God’s revelation in the second person of the Trinity … not on paper. Of the Bible itself Barth says, “[it] is God’s Word to the extent that God causes it to be His Word, to the extent that He speaks through it.”[4]  Barth’s contribution, which is bolstered by John Calvin who acknowledged that apart from the Holy Spirit the Bible would be to a sinner a dead book, is important for this reason.

So what I do I believe about the Bible?  I believe the Bible is a gift from God.  I believe it is essential the life of the believer.  But I also believe that truth is a person, Jesus Christ, and the bible testifies to that truth and that as amazing as the bible is, without the Holy Spirit it is useless.  And lastly I believe about the bible what the bible believes about itself.  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

[1] Barbara Brown Taylor, Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith, (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2006), 216.

[2] Gordan Kaufman, “What Shall We Do with the Bible?” Interpretation 25 no. 1 (1971): 96.

[3] Donald K. McKim, What Christians Believe About the Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1985) 57.

[4] Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics I/1, The Doctrine of the Word of God, Part 1 trans. G. W. Bromiley (Deinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1975), 222.

Sunday School & other Fall Opportunities 

... starts this Sunday.  In case you missed it, here is a link Craig posted earlier this week that describes what's happening this fall.

Love Feast!!!

UBC first love feast of the Fall will be Sunday night at 6:00 PM.  Please bring a side or main dish to share.

nUBC’ers Lunch

We are going to start a new tradition this semester as way to get to know more people at UBC and make friends that are friends forever. If you are new to UBC, or if you have been here a while and just want to meet some new folks, we would love for you to join us for lunch. After church this Sunday, we will have several UBC’ers (Kaley Eggers, Byron Roldan, and Teri Walter) in the coffee room who have a crew they eat lunch with after church, and they would love for you to join. If you would like to go to lunch, just make your way to the coffee room and find out where everyone is going. We will plan on doing these informal lunches a couple of times a semester. If you have any questions, please email or ask Toph (toph@ubcwaco.org).

UBC Ladies Night

Well, ladies- it looks like Galentine’s Day is coming early this year!

This Thursday (September 11th), UBC women are gathering to get to know one another over some incredible deep-dish pizza. We’re meeting in the back room of Rosati’s (824 Hewitt Dr, Woodway, TX 76712) at 7PM, and we would love for you to be there! Who knows? You may find the Amy Poehler to your Tina Fey, the Gayle to your Oprah, the Thelma to your Louise, or even a whole sisterhood with whom you can share a pair of traveling pants. We hope you’ll join us as we celebrate friendship, womanhood, and Chicago-style pizza!

(If you have any questions, feel free to email Kaley.Eggers@gmail.com.)

Work is Worship: 9-7-14

Mug Cleaners: Paul & Linda Taft

Coffee Makers: Emmy Edwards & Stephen Adkison

Greeters: Ryan Graf & Joy Wineman

Shutdown Team: The Cavemen

Announcements:

Sermon Text: John 16:12-16

Love Feast: Love Feast Tonight @ 6:00 PM.  Don't miss it!

Emerging Parents: Our first emerging parents class was this last Wednesday night.  The emerging parents meet the first wednesday of each month.  if you'd like more information contact josh@ubcwaco.org

HR and Finance Teams

We are approaching that time of year when some of our faithful members of both the human resources and finance teams are due to rotate off. As such we are looking for capable and willing UBCers to step and replace those people.

We are looking for 1-2 new human resource team members and 1-2 new finance team members.

Interested persons in either serving or nominating another UBCer should email josh@ubcwaco.org

A description of each role and the qualifications for each have been copied form our bylaws and pasted below.

Human Resources

The Human Resources/Staff Support Team shall exist for the following purposes:

To establish procedures for the hiring of ministerial and non-ministerial staff, and to enact those procedures when advised by Leadership Team to do so. To advise Leadership and Finance teams on issues regarding long-term staff needs. To create and implement staff review procedures. To advise Leadership and Finance teams on matters regarding staff compensation, benefits, grievances and termination. To be a liaison between the congregation and staff during times of conflict after all attempts at personal, one-on-one resolution has been made. HR/Staff Support Team members shall have been an active participant in the life of UBC for no less than one year, have received a bachelor’s degree (or roughly an equivalent amount of experience in personnel management, ministry, or other related field,) and have a demonstrable understanding of organizational management.

Finance

Purpose. The Finance Team shall exist for the following purposes:

To serve as the primary advisory group for the Leadership Team in all budgetary and financial aspects of the church. To oversee, in coordination with the ministerial staff, yearly budgetary processes, working to create a financial ministry plan in alignment with the ethos, mission and values of UBC. To advise the staff and Leadership Team on any emergency financial matters that may arise with regards to the physical infrastructure of the church building, as well as those matters pertaining to compensation and benefits of personnel. To assess the current financial status of the church on a monthly basis and advise the staff and Leadership Team on matters concerning changes in planned ministry expenses. To advise the Human Resources/Staff Support team on all financial matters regarding new and existing personnel, including available resources concerning salaries, salary increases, insurance, taxes, etc. To advise the church body on all matters relating to stewardship, financial integrity, etc. Qualifications. Finance Team members shall have been an active participant in the life of UBC for at least a year, have received at least a bachelors degree level of education (or roughly an equivalent amount of experience in business or finance,) and have at least a basic understanding of financial reports and budgets.

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: Teri Walter: terijan@gmail.com

Jana Parker jparkerslp@gmail.com

Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Kaley Eggers: kaley.eggers@gmail.com

David Wilhite: david_wilhite@baylor.edu

Jamie McGregor: jameson.mcgregor@gmail.com

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu

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

Paul Taft: ptaft@extracobanks.com

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Tom McCarty: tomjmccarty@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.

Lacy McNamee: Lacy_McNamee@baylor.edu

Callie Schrank: Callie_Schrank@baylor.edu

Jeff Walter: jeff_walter@baylor.edu

Michael Heins: mheins@hot.rr.com

Fall 2014: Weekly Opportunities @UBC...

Looking to get more connected to the life of UBC? Check out the following opportunities!

Unless noted or clearly implied (i.e., "Freshmen Sunday School Class,") all of our groups are open to EVERYONE regardless of age, gender or life situation.

---

Sunday School

9:30 a.m.

 Each of our Sunday School classes are open-ended. You can join them at any time during the semester.

Revelation: Faithfulness in the Midst of Empire

When John received his apocalyptic Revelation, he was living in a time not unlike ours. In fact, he was living in a time not unlike all times—Where powerful people and systems seek to rule, while believers in the resurrected Christ claim only one ruler. This class will study the book of Revelation with an eye toward being faithful to the reign of Jesus in our lives.

Led by: Mathew Crawford

Location: Red Room

The Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament

In the midst of the history, poetry and prophecy of the Old Testament is a group of books that stands apart, employing an ancient form of literature known as “Wisdom.” Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon are not only some of the greatest works of literature history has ever known, they help guide us to deeper levels of discipleship and formation, which is what our goal is for this class.

Led by: Arna Hemenway and BJ Parker

Location: Piano Room

The Upside: "Life Together"

“Life Together” Class

New to Waco? been here for years? looking to build community?  This class is a place for people who – for however long – have chosen to “do life” here.  We are professionals, married couples, adults of undisclosed ages, all the way to empty nesters.  This semester we will go through different scripture passages that teach us how to do “Life Together.”  Our guide will be the writings of Dietrich Bonheoffer, who wrestled with his Christian identity during Nazi Germany (although there’s no assigned reading or homework).  We hope to learn from the scriptures about how to embody faith in our homes, with friends, and in our community.

Led by: The Walters and Wilhites

Location: The Brown Room

 Freshmen

If you are in your first year of college, this is the group for you! This semester, in addition to getting to know each other and learning about UBC, we will be going through the book of Luke.

Led by Toph Whisnant, Bonney Dennis and Sean Delbecarro

Location: Rock and Roll Room

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OPPORTUNITIES THROUGHOUT THE WEEK

Post-graduate Women’s group - Monday nights at 8:00

Meet other women at UBC- that are in the “real” world, a time to fellowship, build relationships and learn together. This semester we are diving into the book  7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker.

Contact Lindsay Carney at : lindsay.r.carney@gmail.com if you are interested!

Pub Group-- Wednesday nights at 8:00

Let's face it-- Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name. Our Pub Group meets once a week and hangs out, talks about whatever the hot topic of the week is, and is a great chance to connect with people in a relaxed atmosphere. For more information, email will.ray.knight@gmail.com.

Location: Dancing Bear Pub

Mi Casas-- Various nights throughout the week

Throughout the week small groups meet at the homes of UBC'ers to share a meal, talk about their weeks and form community in meaningful ways. Each group has its own "feel" and personality. If you are interested, please email craig@ubcwaco.org and set up a time to visit with me so we can determine the best way to get you connected. Space is limited and fluctuates throughout the year.

Other Groups

In addition to our already established groups, if there is an opportunity you would like to be involved in that does not currently exist, and you are willing to provide leadership for it and recruit participants, please let us know and we will help you get it started. Email craig@ubcwaco.org

ITLOTC 8-29-14

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Ordinary Time

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Culture of Honor

Last week my Facebook page with filled with ALS Icebucket challenge videos.  This week, those have been replaced by pictures of McLane Stadium.  It's exciting isn't it?  I don't know if you feel this way, but to me it feels like a gem on Waco's crown.  It's not just a football stadium, it's a symbol of what Waco is becoming (thanks in large part to winning football games).  Now everyone traveling from Austin to Dallas and back again has to reckon with the fact that Waco is about more than David Koresh.  Waco is becoming a place to be.

All that to say I get why people post pictures of the stadium.  I had an interesting conversation about pictures this summer.  When I was about to snap a photo of a famous European landmark my friend asked me if I wanted her to take it.  Grateful for the offer, I told her no.  "Why do you want the picture then?" she asked.  Her point was that you can get a picture of anything off of the internet.  Probably a better one than the one you take.  The reason to get a picture, she explained, was to put yourself in the moment, otherwise it's just another picture.

I disagreed.  I took pictures from my vantage point to help me remember what I saw and how saw it.  Sure my iPhone 4 is a little old and I'm admittedly a poor photographer, but I take pictures to celebrate the experiences I had.

Last Friday a friend asked if I could go to lunch on Monday.  I replied, "Yes, please. Time and place?"  The reply, "1130 McLane Stadium."  Wait did I read that right?  That weekend I went out and bought a pair of khaki pants.  On Monday I joined a select group of people who had lunch in a fantasy part of the stadium that I'll most likely never get into again.  We were the trial group for lunch buffet.  It was thrilling.  After the lunch my friend took me and another guy all around the stadium.  I'm not sure how rare my experience was.  Maybe you've done the same thing, but to me if felt like a big deal.

(A shot of the presidents suite)

Later that day as I was flipping through my photos admiring the stadium I thought not about the stadium itself, but about my friend who invited me--that he had thought of me.  I don't have a ton to offer Baylor, especially fiscally, but this didn't discount him from inviting me.

----------------

Bill Shakespeare said that brevity is the soul of wit.  There are few things that I enjoy more than a thoughtful, humorous and subtly placed comment.  It's the stuff of America's best comedy.  It's Jim from The Office, Michael from Arrested Development & Chandler from Friends (just in case you're an older reader).  I also think it is from these grounds of wit that the sarcasm that characterizes so much of American discourse grows.  And while I also enjoy (and participate in) the entertaining value of sarcasm, I sometimes wonder if we are losing the ability to offer a well placed and meaningful exchange.  I'm talking about sincere encouragement.

I entitled this entry "culture of honor" because what I'm really after is about more than encouraging words.  I'm thinking of any action, encouragement, or sentiment that is about the edification or building up of a friend.  A saying, note, action or email that's sole purpose is to communicate to another human being, "hey, you matter and I'm glad to share this moment with you."

I looked up the definition of "honor" expecting the verbal tense to describe what I was meaning, but somehow those definitions seemed inadequate.  I felt honored by my friend.

Last week I preached from Romans 1:11-12 "for I long to see you that I may part some spiritual gift to you, that it may establish you ... that is that I may be mutually encouraged by the faith of both you and me," (my paraphrase).  I think Paul is calling us to do something with gift of language.  That he's calling us to be a part of a culture, that even if ever so subtly, is always aware that we are speaking to another who is created in the image of God (Gen 1:27) and fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).   That reminds me of this quote I saw on twitter this week:

It takes work to keep that perspective--to live in a culture of honoring people.  But I think it's a worthwhile endeavor.  My prayer is that UBC would move this way in our discipleship.  That we would continue to be a people who are smart and intelligent in the we consume and critique culture, but also that we'd be a people who create our own in response.  I pray that we would speak meaningful and deep words full of wisdom and care.  I pray that we encourage one another and build each other up.

Meet Our Newest UBCers

Name: Charles Martin Davis

Birthday: August 7th 4:16am

Weight: 5lb 0oz

Height: 19in

Enneagram Number: 1

Name: Harrison Bradley Davis

Birthday: August 7th 4:22am

Weight: 6lb 0oz

Height: 18.5in

Enneagram Number: 7

 UBC Kids Ministry Update from Pastor Emily

This week is a busy one for UBCKids! First, we will have Kindergarten Commission this Sunday! This is a chance for us to celebrate this BIG moment in the lives of these kids when they begin their journey towards being Baylor alumni! (Because...they KNOW where they're going!) But it also gives us a church community a chance to pray for these kids and commit ourselves to taking this journey with them as their brothers and sisters in Christ! We also will be unveiling some of the WONDERFUL works of art our kids created this summer while we learned about our creative God and what it REALLY means to worship! Check out our Create! art gallery after church in the game room to see how our kids were inspired by God's Creation!

Here's what's coming this fall! Sunday School: For our smaller UBCKids (0-Kindergarten) we will have fun and fellowship in the Branch Room! We will have all of these guys playing and loving life together in the Branch Room while the adults talk about boring "adult" stuff! If you are one of the many who consider goodbyes a little tough, no need to fret! We will make sure that your little one ends up where they need to be for the service! Also, color sheets, good times and friends are provided, but it is BYO-Donut from the coffee room! For those UBCKids who are too sophisticated for color sheets (1st grade and up) we have a class to suit their big kid taste! As we all know, God is EVERYWHERE...even in Legos! This year, we will be learning about God one Lego at a time in our "Faith-Builders" class! Each week we will build together and learn about what Faith in God really means! Join us as we explore our creativity and bring Biblical lessons to life in a geometric way!

During the service: We have a perfect place for every UBCer...even the tiny ones! Our Nurture Room is a safe and loving place for babies 0-Walkers! Sprout is fun place of exploration for the horizontally mobile-upper 2's! The Bloom Room teaches the fundamentals with the ABC's Of God's Love to those UBCKids who are from 2- younger 4! In the Branch Room, the older 4's-Kindergarteners begin our "big kid" curriculum by following the lectionary with the adults! The Root Kids (1st grade-4th grade) get to worship during the music but will get their own version of the sermon in the "Red Room" (first room on the left)! For more information, see the UBCKids board or email Emily at emily@ubcwaco.org.

During the week: For our more mature UBCKids, we have the new weekday classes, Venture! These are, actually, two new classes during the week for 4th-8th graders! Our girls will be exploring what the Bible says about all things girl, while our boys are doing their guy thing! Each week, we will have fun with JUST girls or JUST boys as we learn a new skill (that is essential for being an awesome girl or boy!) and explore what the Bible says about it! Think, "The Dangerous Book For Boys and The Daring Book For Girls meets The Amazing Story Of God's Love!" For more info, please contact Emily at emily@ubcwaco.org!

We are beginning our search for new UBCKids Volunteers! We will be holding trainings on the 21st and 28th of September, so if you are interested in helping out, EMAIL ME! I'd love to get to know you and find a place for you to serve with our amazing kids!

Sunday's Music

Jameson McGregor will be leading the music on Sunday. Jamie is a Truett student and is a member of the leadership team here at Ubc. Here are a few other things we think you should know about him.

1. Jamie always wears black clothes. 2. Yes, he does use beard oil. 3. He and his wife Adair have two cats and one very cool dog named Duncan.

HR and Finance Teams

We are approaching that time of year when some of our faithful members of both the human resources and finance teams are due to rotate off. As such we are looking for capable and willing UBCers to step and replace those people.

We are looking for 1-2 new human resource team members and 1-2 new finance team members.

Interested persons in either serving or nominating another UBCer should email josh@ubcwaco.org

A description of each role and the qualifications for each have been copied form our bylaws and pasted below.

Human Resources

The Human Resources/Staff Support Team shall exist for the following purposes:

To establish procedures for the hiring of ministerial and non-ministerial staff, and to enact those procedures when advised by Leadership Team to do so. To advise Leadership and Finance teams on issues regarding long-term staff needs. To create and implement staff review procedures. To advise Leadership and Finance teams on matters regarding staff compensation, benefits, grievances and termination. To be a liaison between the congregation and staff during times of conflict after all attempts at personal, one-on-one resolution has been made. HR/Staff Support Team members shall have been an active participant in the life of UBC for no less than one year, have received a bachelor’s degree (or roughly an equivalent amount of experience in personnel management, ministry, or other related field,) and have a demonstrable understanding of organizational management.

Finance

Purpose. The Finance Team shall exist for the following purposes:

To serve as the primary advisory group for the Leadership Team in all budgetary and financial aspects of the church. To oversee, in coordination with the ministerial staff, yearly budgetary processes, working to create a financial ministry plan in alignment with the ethos, mission and values of UBC. To advise the staff and Leadership Team on any emergency financial matters that may arise with regards to the physical infrastructure of the church building, as well as those matters pertaining to compensation and benefits of personnel. To assess the current financial status of the church on a monthly basis and advise the staff and Leadership Team on matters concerning changes in planned ministry expenses. To advise the Human Resources/Staff Support team on all financial matters regarding new and existing personnel, including available resources concerning salaries, salary increases, insurance, taxes, etc. To advise the church body on all matters relating to stewardship, financial integrity, etc. Qualifications. Finance Team members shall have been an active participant in the life of UBC for at least a year, have received at least a bachelors degree level of education (or roughly an equivalent amount of experience in business or finance,) and have at least a basic understanding of financial reports and budgets.

Work is Worship: 8-31-14

Mug Cleaners: Chris & Hannah Kuhl

Coffee Makers: Hannah Boman & Byron Roldon

Greeters: Graham Dodd & Joy Weinmann

Announcements: 

Sermon Text: "1 Thessalonians 5:19-21"

Love Feast: UBCs first love feast is coming up on Sunday, September 7th!

Sunday School: Craig will be giving an introduction to Sunday School classes for the fall, this Sunday August 31st at 9:30 AM in the backside.  A small breakfast will be provided.  The following Sunday, September 7th, both adult and children sunday school classes will begin.

Emerging Parents: Our first emerging parents class will be this Wednesday, September 3rd at 5:30 PM.  If you have any questions or would like more information please email josh@ubcwaco.org

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: Teri Walter: terijan@gmail.com

Jana Parker jparkerslp@gmail.com

Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Kaley Eggers: kaley.eggers@gmail.com

David Wilhite: david_wilhite@baylor.edu

Jamie McGregor: jameson.mcgregor@gmail.com

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu

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

Paul Taft: ptaft@extracobanks.com

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Tom McCarty: tomjmccarty@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.

Lacy McNamee: Lacy_McNamee@baylor.edu

Callie Schrank: Callie_Schrank@baylor.edu

Jeff Walter: jeff_walter@baylor.edu

Michael Heins: mheins@hot.rr.com