Sermon Prep
Dan Metzger, pastor at St Marks United Methodist Church in Findlay, goes behind the scenes of weekly sermon prep, addressing cultural and spiritual issues, and what happens the other 6 days of the week.
Sermon Prep
Episode 27 - Faith in Action
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Pastor Dan and Director of Outreach Kellie Bibler talk about showing our faith through what we do and and moving the needle.
Hey everybody, welcome to another Sermon Prep Podcast. This is Pastor Dan from St. Mark's United Methodist Church here today with Director of Outreach and Lady of Many Other Hats, Kelly Bimbler.
SPEAKER_01Hello, wearing all of the hats today.
SPEAKER_00Wearing all of the hats today. And uh we're talking this coming week about there's this passage in James that I think um it's really kind of defines a lot of who he is and and and um is kind of a hallmark of the way James thinks about his faith is um he says faith without works is dead. That's our memory verse for this coming week. And spoiler alert spoiler alert if you're already listening. If you come in to church and you say that you're definitely getting some Smarties. Um maybe some extra church points, maybe extra church points. We'll see. Yeah. Well, you know what? I give those out freely. I don't withhold those from people.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that is true. Yeah, church points for all.
SPEAKER_00Brian Buckley, Brian, if you're listening, uh, he came up with a sheet of what you can redeem your church points for. That's fantastic. Really funny. And it was like so many church points, and you get to like pick the next sermon series, and then one like you get uh you get to have real wine with communion and like all these other things. Like it's it's pretty good. It's pretty good. So Brian, Brian, if you're listening, shout out to you. That was that was tremendous. Well done, Brian. Um, but so James, yeah, James says, faith without works is dead. And he says uh that you know you you say that you have faith. I show you my faith by what I do. And um, and and I think it's a part of, you know, so we're gonna we're gonna talk about that. It's it's something I think Christians have struggled with over the years, this idea of uh trying to earn your faith. And it's not that you that we're saying you earn your faith, you're not you know earning God's approval by doing all these good things. It's that because of my faith, it is so transformed my heart and my life, I can't help but live the way Jesus has called me to live. And by the way, if I say that I believe in Jesus, but then I don't I don't act in such a way that it looks like I even know who Jesus is, then my faith is is meaningless. It it hasn't affected my life in any way. Um so he's just kind of talking about like the evidence of your faith is is what you do. And um so Kelly, one of the reasons I I thought it'd be really good to have you here today to talk about this is uh you really help us to look at all of the different ways in which we can live out our faith here in this church community, um, how the the ways that we put our faith into action and um and so I wanted us to just talk about I thought it'd be fun today to just talk about all of the things that that we do. So um to start off with, why don't you talk a little bit about just um what moving the needle is and where that came from.
SPEAKER_01Sure. So as director of outreach, my job is to kind of find ways that we can connect with the needs in our community or people in our community who need to be served in some way, shape, or form. Goes along with what you were just saying about what James is telling us. So about a maybe a year, maybe not even a year ago, um, we started talking about moving the needle. And moving the needle is basically our way of saying, how are we making a measurable difference in the community that we live? So that means that the things that we are doing are positively enhancing the lives and helping to lessen the burden of the people in need in our community. So everything that we do should be in some way moving that needle towards making it better and eliminating or at least helping to lessen things like food insecurity or um homelessness or that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we when we were starting to talk about like this, has been something I've thought about for years and years and years because um every year I have to do what's called charge conference paperwork, which is where I have to fill in all of the different details about and actually let's be honest, I usually have somebody fill those papers out for me. I don't do very much work at all. But um only on Sundays. Yeah, only on Sundays. But uh, but it it's the way in which we seem to like measure how well our church is doing, and it's how many people are here on Sunday, what's your giving look like, uh, how many members do you have, that sort of thing. And those numbers are are fine. Um I obviously we want people here and in you know, giving and all those kind of things, but uh I've always struggled with you know what's the measure of uh the success of a church? And I don't think those things accurately measure the success of a church. To me, if if we're really changing lives, there should be a measurable impact not just in us but in the people around us. So what if one of the ways that you measure church success is by is the suicide rate going down in your community? Are there fewer people who are hungry? Are there are children um is education improving in your community? Like I I I dare to think that that is that is on the church. Like that that's a part of who we're supposed to be. We are supposed to so impact the community around us that there's a measurable, noticeable change.
SPEAKER_01Well, I think one of the things that makes us uh what you might call a healthy congregation is because we don't just show up here on the Sundays. We do the work between the Sundays outside of the walls of the church. And those are the things that our congregation really wants to do. It's not you and I saying, Go do this. It's the things that we came up with that we wanted to focus on through Move the Needle were the things that the members of the congregation said, Here's where I want you to focus on.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that was such a fun Sunday of doing that. Like you said, here's all the things we think. Well, it's not just what we think, it's all the things we we kind of studied, uh looked at what the different the health department, uh, other different agencies in town, uh, the community foundation, others who said, here's the needs we are noticing in our community. And so we took all the things that our community has said, here's our needs, and we said, All right, well, where do we feel like God is moving us and pushing us? And so um we got those results. We got those results live as we were kind of texting them during church, which is which was really fun. And um, so what were uh so our top three were, and then we'll kind of talk about what we've been doing in these, and then what we're doing kind of going forward, but top three uh were food and security, yes, physical and mental health, yes, and education. Yes. Those were the things that our church said that our community said, these are needs of ours, and our church said we feel like maybe this is where God's pushing us right now. So food insecurity, let's talk a little bit about what we're doing uh as far as um, you know, as as people who are followers of Jesus who are saying, All right, go send us. What are we doing for people in food insecurity at St. Mark's?
SPEAKER_01So, I mean, the great thing was we were already doing something anyway with a give a croc program. So, and honestly, I love how that came to be because there was a member of our community who got a grant and wanted to start it, and she knew that our church were people who did things in our community.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, already so Bob Locker since passed away, such a sweet woman, and yeah, just as I'll never forget her just saying, Hey, I need to come talk to you.
SPEAKER_01And I'm like, She wasn't a member of our church, she wasn't affiliated with us, she just knew that we did things to have an impact in our community. So she came to us. So we've been doing give a croc for uh I don't know, a couple years, I feel like maybe. Um, so and that what's great about that is that we're empowering people to do things for themselves by just giving them a little help. So we provided everyone in the program with a crock pot, and then every month we give them the ingredients to make a meal in the crock pot. Yeah, so we know at least they're doing one meal a month in the crock pot. But our hope is that they're able to use it for other things and you know, feed their families and and help balance things that they have going in their life by, you know, if things are crazy, at least they can throw a meal in the crock pot and come home and have a hot meal.
SPEAKER_00I'm throwing a meal in the crock pot today for our family because life is crazy. Yeah, yeah. That's what we get.
SPEAKER_01So the great thing about that was that program was already going. So um I think in the past few months we've served 28 people in the program.
SPEAKER_00And people from our church, the way that they are able to help is we give them the list of ingredients every month. And then there's some that help pack the bags, there's some that can help deliver the meals. So lots of different ways that you can help in it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and you'll see that throughout. We talk about the things that we do. So food insecurity we knew was a big one. It was the number one thing we wanted to do. So we formed a food insecurity team. So we asked members of the congregation who is passionate about this, um, because it's fun to hear what other people, um, what ideas other people have and and uh things that other people have done. So um always good to partner. Yeah. Um, so we started um along with Give a Croc, we've started to fill little free pantries. Um, so that's something we we started this month that we're gonna be doing. So we say, hey, please bring in these items. And so members of the congregation, all you gotta do is grocery shop, right? Bring them in. And then we have a team here that's gonna be um sorting them and then we'll deliver them to the little free pantries around because we know that there's a lot of people who use those little free pantries and they get used, I mean, they they run out quickly.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yep. So that that's a great way to be able to do that. And we, of course, also we have Daryl the Barrel in the lobby. So we'll just give towards City Mission for that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So, how what are different ways that we can help with food insecurity? So we're trying to hit many different avenues. And another thing that we do is we partner with Bigelow Hill School. So we help to provide a Thanksgiving meal for the kids and their families. So we cook like 12, 15 turkeys and show up and help serve and and help help the teachers there provide that nice Thanksgiving meal. Yeah, it's it's great. You just see their faces and how excited they are and how fun and how appreciative they are.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and and the doc, like everybody brings the turkey to the doc first. The doc smells like turkey for a week. And it's it's great. Yeah. And uh and also with Bigelow Hill, we do the over, is it over that Thanksgiving break? Yes, Thanksgiving break. So we fill up some grocery bags and uh and send some food home with them over the Yeah, because a lot of kids don't get that the nutrition over over break.
SPEAKER_01They just don't have things in their house or there's a lot up a lot more mouths to feed. So we give them a nice, you know, reusable grocery bag full of food that they can can eat though those few days that they're off from school. So um just trying to hit lots of different ways that we can help. And that's really that's just food insecurity. Yeah, and that's not we're not done. We're we're still looking for ways that we can impact.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I imagine that's gonna continue to grow. I mean, that that's gonna always be a need in our community. And there's a lot of different different ways that people are giving food out in the community. This is just kind of how we've we've seen a way that Jesus said, I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. Like this is a part of what we're supposed to do as followers of Jesus is to help feed the hungry. So it makes a lot of sense that that that that was our number one thing uh when we ask people.
SPEAKER_01So and we know that being hungry effects and impacts so many other parts of your life. So, you know, if we can we can get to the root cause and help feed people, that'll help them be more successful.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, when a kids at school, they they don't learn well on an empty stomach. And uh all the different places where yeah, that can impact your your health and uh your mental well-being, all those things. So that was food insecurity. The next was physical and mental health, and physical health, I think, is one of the first things that we did something out of all of this. We um we did a heart health screening.
SPEAKER_01We did, we partnered with the health department and they came here and um set up in one of our conference rooms and um helped people with like blood glucose and heart and blood pressure and and all cholesterol and all that stuff. So, you know, maybe people don't get to the doctor on a regular basis, or maybe they just need it checked in between visits. So we were able to provide that. And I I know my husband and I did it, and we learned a little bit about our health, and we were able to take that to our medical provider.
SPEAKER_00Full disclosure, I did it, and uh they did not love my my uh my results, and uh part of it came out is maybe stress related. You I should not take my blood pressure on a Sunday morning just before I go preach. That was probably a bad idea.
SPEAKER_01You have some problems. It's a good night. It was a great thing.
SPEAKER_00All good, yeah. All good. Um, so as far as physical health, we do that. We've got uh Red Cross blood drives that we do here. Yes. Um, and uh that's something that we we'd already been doing for a while, but you know, continuing that partnership, lifeline health screenings, doing that here, and looking for other ways to be able to continue to to to do things with that. So um, so that was physical health, mental health.
SPEAKER_01We are mental health, we're rock and roll.
SPEAKER_00We're rock and roll. This this next month's gonna be. We we were we had a meeting just before this and talked about like why did we have everything launched in this September? Like, why did we do this to ourselves? Because here we are. Um, so the make it awkward campaign, which is a suicide awareness campaign that we're doing uh this fall with Hicott County uh suicide prevention task force. Um, I'm a member of that. And we kind of said, well, what would it look like for us to partner to do a big outreach in this?
SPEAKER_01So yeah, so we are super excited about this program because we really hope that the community will rally around it and you know all of us will support it. But it's basically having those awkward conversations and checking on your friends and making sure they're okay. Because we know that suicide is a problem in our community and many communities around us, and there certainly are some uh segments of our community that are more susceptible to it than others. But no matter what, people need they need you to check on them, they need you to ask if they're okay. Um, even the people who seem to have it all together, you want to ask them if they're okay too. So this campaign is built around that and making it awkward and saying, hey, here's a puppy. Are you okay?
SPEAKER_00So not really giving somebody a puppy, but there's a video, you'll see.
SPEAKER_01We're not really, but yeah, I'm just kind of teasing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so there's gonna be videos. Um we're gonna announce, I think we're gonna announce this coming Sunday. So I'm not gonna give you the spoiler on here. You have to come to church or watch the service, but uh, we're gonna be doing a sermon series in September around mental health called Let's Talk About It. Um, we're gonna talk about anxiety and depression, and then the third week, we've got a really special guest who's gonna be coming. Uh, we'll we'll announce that.
SPEAKER_01Stay tuned. Don't say anymore.
SPEAKER_00All right, I'm not gonna say anymore because it'll it's something that'll come out.
SPEAKER_01It's so, it's so, it's so cool. It's so cool. So cool. And for those of you that grew up in 80s, 90s Christian music.
SPEAKER_00You're gonna give it away.
SPEAKER_01I'm not giving it away, but I'm saying that you'll love it. Okay.
SPEAKER_00Well, it's gonna be a good time. We're gonna do some community events around it.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I'm excited for us to be out in the community or partnering with schools, county schools, um, Finlay City schools. We're gonna be at the fair, um, out in our community. So look for us around um make it awkward and and make it awkward.
SPEAKER_00I don't know if we said what it is, but it's basically maybe you said what it is. Like have the awkward conversation if you're worried about someone. You don't have to wait for this campaign to do that. Like, if you're worried about someone, have the conversation and got a website, makeitawkward.org, um, that we're gonna be pushing people to and uh really want to be able to help people um with all of these things.
SPEAKER_01So when you see Dan and I out in the community, just come up and start talking to us and tell us that you're you want to make it awkward.
SPEAKER_00You're ready to make it awkward. That's right.
SPEAKER_01Let's go. We're excited about that.
SPEAKER_00So then so that's mental health. Yes. All right, and then uh education. Yes, we're launching another thing.
SPEAKER_01We're so excited about this too. Um it's called Pages and Pals. So we partnered with uh YMCA, Finley City Schools, um, children's mentoring connection. And then um, we have Elsa Schrader from our church here is kind of heading it up. And she is a former educator, so she she's this is her wheelhouse and she knows. Um so tell us a little bit about what pages and pows is.
SPEAKER_00It's gonna be a uh this kind of came from like what if one of our things is what if reading scores go up in schools? Like, well, how is that? How does the church get involved in that? Well, a lot of it has to do with just like developing a love of reading in in kids. And so um kids who are coming already to the early learning center at the YMCA are gonna have an opportunity to have a one-on-one interaction with a volunteer. Uh, the volunteers, we were gonna put it out to the whole community, but wanted to start with the church. Our church already filled up all the volunteer slots uh because you guys are awesome. And we're gonna be um doing a one-on-one after school uh opportunity for kids to come and sit and read a book with uh with an adult and then uh do a little activity around it, and then they get to take the book home with them, and that's their book now. It's all free. Um, and uh, and so by the end of it, uh they'll have nine books that they can take home with them uh this fall, and they'll have uh a new friend, and uh maybe some mentorships happen through children's mentoring through all of this, and uh we're gonna try to do it in the spring too, but just developing this love of reading for kids, I think is gonna be a really, really awesome opportunity and really excited to see where all of this goes.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we had a chance to preview some of the books.
SPEAKER_00Oh, it's great.
SPEAKER_01They're fantastic.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's so actually I have some sitting in the office already. We already started getting them in.
SPEAKER_01So fun, fun. Yes.
SPEAKER_00So that's what we know right. That's what we're doing right now. Yeah, and that's just, I mean, we're just tight. This isn't everything that we're doing, but no. And all of this isn't to give ourselves a pat on the back or anything like that. It this is we want to give opportunities for our church to be able to put their faith into action. All of these are places where our church can say, not only am I putting my faith into action, but doing it in such a way that it will make a measurable impact in our community in the lives of others, uh, that it will bring transformation. And um, you know, hopefully, yeah, hopefully maybe some people show up at church and and and get to know Jesus and all of those things. But our our main goal is uh really to just shine his light and uh and to show love to our community in such a way that it is an expression of our faith, of of who we are as um as a body of Christ. Uh that even if even if people don't you know don't necessarily hear uh the specific gospel message from us, they see it lived out in us. And uh they say, I I want to know a little bit more about that, that we're that we're shining that light in that way.
SPEAKER_01I think it's really that faith and action.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's a it's a beautiful thing. It's something that um I'm just so proud of this church and uh what we've been able to do together already. There's gonna be more coming up at Christmas time that you'll hear about. There's we we've already got more plans.
SPEAKER_01So we don't ever stop.
SPEAKER_00We're we're already we don't. Um we're excited to see what God's gonna continue to do here. Uh, we have a God that does far more than we could ever ask or imagine. Our dreams are small and silly uh compared to God's dreams. And so we're just excited to see where it goes.
SPEAKER_01It's great. You know what? God keeps showing up, all our congregation keeps showing up, and we're we're just doing great things in the world, and we're bringing Jesus to a way that people can see it and can can feel it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So uh if there's anything that you heard about today that you're like, I didn't even know that we did that, I'd love to be involved in that. Would you give Kelly or I a call or an email or uh Morse code, whatever you got to do to get a hold of us? Smoke signals, smoke signals, uh, find a way to get a hold of us. We my hope is, and this is a whole other podcast, but my hope is that everybody has at least one thing they're involved in outside of just Sunday morning. Um, that they're able to find this. Is also not just a way for you to serve, it's a way for you to find some community. And uh the churches, you're not getting everything out of the church if you aren't also finding some community in it. Uh, so it's about more than just coming and hearing a sermon and singing some songs, and it it's about um it's about developing that relationship with Christ and with one another. And so want to help you to be able to do that. So I'll stop now before I roll into a whole other topic and a whole other podcast.
SPEAKER_01So I'm tired. Are you tired?
SPEAKER_00I I'm full of the energy of the Holy Spirit, Shelly. I'm doing great and caffeine. I've got some coffee to me.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I'm momentarily tired, but I'm getting my fourth win. I'm good to go.
SPEAKER_00Let's do it, let's do it. Uh, hope to see you this weekend as we talk about uh putting our faith into action, and thanks for joining us on another sermon prep podcast.