Theme:  Disciples Are….Rummage Salers

          In the introduction and first chapter of her book, The Great Emergence,  

          Phyllis Tickle talks about the roughly 500-year cycle of

          renewal the church has experienced over the course of time.  These

          seasons of renewal are likened to a great rummage sale, when the

          church must let go of behaviors and practices and attitudes that are

          no longer needed  and no longer working, and move on into God’s

          unfolding future.  Tickle suggests that North American Christians are

          presently in the midst of such a sale!  Rummage sales can be hard

          for many.  There is heartache in realizing that a treasured tradition or

          way of being does not hold the same meaning it once did.  There is

grief in letting go of buildings and patterns of behavior and a            

comfortable self-understanding.  There is fear of the unknown.  What

are some of the items around Central that we are being called to let

go of in these days and put in the rummage sale?  How do we

celebrate these pieces that have been so important to us, and say

goodbye?  There is also the reality that even as we sell off some of

the accumulation, we also need to be searching for new ways to help

people hear and believe and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the

present.  Many new possibilities need to be explored.  Some will

work, most will not…..but we must be willing to try and fail faithfully. 

Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection were seen as a failure in the eyes

of the world, and yet were an essential part of God’s plan.  Four

          Sundays will just scratch the surface!