Organic Faith

Given

Organic Faith gathered this past Tuesday for the last installment in our four part series on different aspects of worship.  We’ve talked about peace, brokenness, and grace, and this week we explored the final theme, “given”. 

For thousands of years Christians have been gathering on a weekly basis in order to remember again that God offers grace in the face of brokenness and brings us peace.   But what happens after these gatherings have ended?  What does it mean to step back into the world as a Christian with these themes on the top of your head?

This was the focus of our readings and discussion on Tuesday night, and in the end a theme shown through.    We gather together for a time of worship and in a way, press the reset button on our life.  The world around us throws so many different things at us and so there is a real need to gather as a community and to once again be reminded of the peace and grace that Christ extends to us. 

First-century Christians lived in a world of extreme oppression.  The Roman Empire had authority in ways that we can hardly imagine and so, every Sunday the early Christians would gather to be reminded once again of the hope that they found in the message of Jesus.  But not only that, as the early Christians pressed the reset button on their lives they were really taking in a new script to live by.  They were no longer sent into the world as individuals living under the Kingdom of Rome.   They were sent into the world as a community living as workers in the Kingdom of God. 

And this is what it means for us today to be given.  Sure, we don’t live under as oppressive a system as the first century Roman Empire, but we do live in a world of pain and brokenness.  And amidst this world of brokenness we are sent, or rather we are given, to be a community that lives by a different script, to live as workers in the Kingdom of God, sharing the messages of God’s peace and grace in the places that need it most. 

The Source of our Peace: The Grace of God

Here is a video that I was going to use in our discussion of Grace but that we never got to.  It's a new take on the Prodigal Son story that I refer to in this post. 

“Amazing Grace”

Organic Faith recently explored and discussed the concept of Grace at our Tuesday night Church gathering. 

We began the evening with a time of peace.  So often in our fast-paced world we only have time to sprint along through life.  Amidst our sprinting we can easily miss the love and presence of God that is all around us day in and day out.  And so, when we gather together as a community of faith we often gather together longing for a moment of peace in our lives.   We know that Christ extends to us the “peace that surpasses all understanding” and so, on this night, we began our evening by gathering together to once again turn away from the chaos of the world and turn our lives towards the peace of Christ.

Following our time of peace we listened to a story from Jesus.  In Luke 15:11-32 Jesus shares the parable of the Prodigal Son.  In this parable a rich Father has two sons.  One of the sons asks to have his inheritance given to him now so that he can leave the house and start a life on his own.  The father allows this and so the son leaves and begins to waste all of the money.  

In no time he’s complete broke and finds himself cleaning up after pigs just to get by.  In this, his lowest moments the son decides that he will go back to his father and ask to work as a servant, since he knew that the servants of his father lived far better lives than his life at the moment.

So, the son returns to his father and is joyfully greeted by the father.  The father calls for a feast to celebrate and rejoice the return of the prodigal son.  However, amidst all of the celebration the other son, the one who remained with the father throughout, looks on in disgust.    He never left his father; where was his feast? 

As Organic Faith talked through this story together we asked ourselves the question, which role do we play?  Are we the lost, yet returning son?  Or are we the faithful, yet jealous son?   We began to realize that at different moments in our lives we fall into all of these roles.  

We often become lost but eventually see our faults and come crawling back to God in search of forgiveness.   And we often are angry by the very wide net that God casts; loving and forgiving so many people whom we could never love. 

But regardless of which position we chose to take in a given situation the important point to realize is that the love of the Father is there all along.  When we chose to leave the God the Father He will always, joyfully welcome us back.  And when we struggle with the having to forgive those who wrong us in our own lives the love of the Father is present. 

That is what makes grace so amazing.  And as Christians, that is source of our peace: in the unending love and acceptance of God through Jesus Christ. 

The source of peace = A Community of Love

Take a look at this painting.  Last week at Organic Faith’s church gathering we talked about this very old work of art.  You probably have a lot of ideas at the moment about the photo’s meaning.   We all sure did last Tuesday night. 

What if I told this painting was an Icon of the Trinity?  You see it a little differently now, don’t you.

Notice, how they are all sitting together, and yet the focus, the center of the painting is right in the middle, as if you are supposed to sit there with them?

This image that we see is supposed to depict the Father, Son, and Spirit all sitting together and yet the central focus seems to be on the space where we  can fit in at there table. 

Here’s what I’m getting at.  There is a fancy term that people use when talking about the Trinity it’s called “perichoresis”.  You’ll notice in the painting that the Father appears to be looking at the Spirit, and the Son seems to be looking at the Father, and the then the Spirit seems to be looking at the empty space at the table.  The idea behind “Perichoresis” is that the Father, Son, and Spirit all existence in this loving community,  they are three and yet they are still one being, one God.   This love they have for each other flows between all three figures, the Father, Son, and Spirit literally are a community of love.   And this love they share moves between them, as the Father looks to the Son and the Son looks to the Spirit, the love flows back and forth both giving and receiving. 

 But notice that in this painting, the figure of the Holy Spirit is looking at the empty spot.  This is the same spot that is in the center of the painting, the space that you might feel invited to sit at. 

That’s because this is God’s hope for us: that we might know and feel and be apart of God’s community of love.   

Our topic of conversation last week was Peace, and what greater peace is there then to understand that God is love, that God exists as a community of love, and that God wants you to feel and become apart of God’s love? 

That’s what some might call “the peace that surpasses all understanding”.  Whatever you call it, I hope we don’t just go in peace, I hope we can stay in this peace. 

Recaping a evening of Brokenness

"I never realized that broken glass can shine so brightly."

Last night Organic Faith gathered for their usual Tuesday evening gathering and although a group was small the conversation was very big.  

You see, a few weeks back we discussed 4 different songs that tend to make up the DNA of a church service.  The titles of these 4 songs were “Peace” , “Broken” , “Amazing Grace” , and “Given”.  In the coming weeks we will be exploring each of these songs, their themes, and their unique place within weekly gatherings.  

Yesterday, we tackled the song Broken, and the theme of brokenness in our lives.  You can listen to the song by clicking here .  As we talked through our discussion on the lyrics and song we reflected on the upbeat and happy sound of a song entitled “Broken” and additionally on the idea that brokenness can be a blessing.

We then turned to the original story of human brokenness: the story found Genesis Chapter 3.  This story of Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit has a lot of wise insights into the idea of where human brokenness finds its roots.  In the story of Adam and Eve they are given paradise with one rule – do not fruit from that one tree.  And then thanks to the crafty serpent they disobey the one and only rule they’ve been given.  They live outside their means and seek to “become like God”. 

How often is this the very source of our human brokenness?  We try and become gods, we try and live beyond what we are really capable of and it is in these selfish decisions that we meet the heart of our human brokenness. 

But as the song “Broken” suggests, maybe we need to realize that brokenness can shine brightly.   Because by discovering our own brokenness we then realize that we need God more than ever and come back to a place of reliance on Him above all else. 

And, as we do at every Organic Faith church gathering, we had bread and wine to share throughout our time together.  Because even though our brokenness often does return us to reliance on the Creator, sometimes we need an imagine of hope to push in that direction. 

And what better reminder, what better promise, than remembering that God became a part of humanity and became a part of human brokenness through the person of Jesus.   Through all of Jesus’ ministry on earth we see examples of him restoring people from their brokenness; through healing the sick, through feeding the hungry, through eating and speaking with the outcasts of society.  And then, Jesus put to death the very human predicament of brokenness with his death on the cross and then restored unity with God through his resurrection.  

The image associated with the beginning of human brokenness is the eating of the forbidden fruit, but then the hopeful image of the restoration of this brokenness is the eating and sharing of bread and wine. 

We are all broken, but brokenness is a blessing that turns us back to our Creator and allows us to realize that we are ultimately not  in charge.  The one in charge is the one who died to free us from our human struggles and the one who invites us to once again “come and eat”.

Reflecting God’s Glory

On Tuesday we met for an evening of fellowship, conversation, and Bible study.  Organic Faith’s own Andy Fitch led us through an evening that centered around Exodus 34:22-35. 

In this passage Moses comes down from Mount Sinai and his face is glowing as a result of his direct encounter with God.   And when the Israelites see Moses they react with fear and so as a result Moses begins to wear a veil over his face that he then removes when he goes to talk with God on top of Mount Sinai. 

Probably not a story you heard about in Sunday school.

Our conversation centered a lot around what it means to reflect, react, and give glory to God.   As we talked through the scripture we asked ourselves, what would it mean for me to be Moses in this passage?  What about if I were the Israelites? 

Through all of this conversation we shared bread and wine together for one reason because it’s a great snack, but also because that specific combination of food and drink reminds us of the meal Jesus shared with his disciples. 

And although we didn’t come to any grad, universal conclusions to our questions about reflection and reacting we did come to some new ideas.

Because in our lives, just like Moses there are times when we have those mountain top experiences with God and it feels as no one else understands.   But then there are those times when we are the Israelites and we are the ones that get so jealous of our friends mountain top experiences, or we just don’t understand what’s going on with them.   And we feel so left out or confused that frankly, it almost scares us. 

But whether we’re Moses or the Israelites we need to realize that the glory of God is a good thing.  And so if we’re Moses, maybe we should think twice about putting that veil on.  And if we’re the Israelites, maybe we need to realize that sometimes God does something different and if it truly gives glory to God then maybe we shouldn’t be so judgmental.

And here’s the really interesting part.  Through our entire 2 hour long conversation about all of these things, we were eating bread and drinking wine.  Again, we didn’t come to any startling conclusions, but in some way Jesus was present in the entire evening.  As we live our lives and seek to give God glory, to reflect His glory to others,  and as we react to the many different ways that individuals reflect God’s glory in their lives, Jesus is present there too.  

New Project Playlist released

It has been a small hiatus but we're back with a new project playlist to enjoy.  Our theme this time was "One for the Kids" can be found here

Check it out and let the music speak to you and your soul.

Recapping Saturday

Friends-

A handful of you made it out on Saturday to help with the planning and the visioning for Organic Faith as we enter our second year together. 

We began the morning by taking some time to consider our own dreams and our own needs and taking time to admit to one another what we felt was missing from our lives. 

And after sharing our dreams and our struggles with each other we took the time to ask the same questions about the city of Buffalo.  What is missing in the community we find ourselves in?

Obviously, these are big questions and while we brainstormed some incredible answers to these tough questions by no means have we found their ultimate answers.  We’re in the process of considering all of, but we aren’t there yet, slowly we’re going to move closer to addressing some of our own personal big needs and some of the big needs in Buffalo.   Slowly, but surely.

Here is what we did decide.  We’re not in a place yet to attempt anything grandiose in terms of addressing the needs of Buffalo.  But we are in a place to listen to wherever God might be leading us as a community.  

Additionally, we are already in a place to be building the inward part of our community and addressing the personal needs we all carry.   The big list of “what’s missing in my life” that we came up with is a list we can already begin addressing.   There are things missing in our lives and we believe that God is in the business of Life and healing our brokenness.  And so, we are without a doubt already in a position to gather as a community, remind each other of God’s promises and allow God to lead us so that we can bring healing to each other and this city.

That may sound vague so let me get specific:  In the coming weeks, take time to listen to the ways God is speaking in your life.  When you hear of a need in the city of Buffalo make a note of it.  Together we can start to see what issue(s) God might be leading us to address. 

Finally, we are going to continue to gather, to pray, to worship, to learn, and to listen to where God might be leading us. 

A recap of "The Inward Journey"

Last night was the beginning of a new step in the journey for Organic Faith.   Our weekly “Pub Church” gatherings have been shifted into a new style of gathering that hopes to bring our community to a new level of depth.   We're trying to keep an outward focus in this entire gathering but we're calling it The Inward Journey.

We gathered around a spaghetti dinner complete with bread, salad, and wine and took time to simple enjoy our meal and time together.    Our main topic of discussion for the night focused around three different Gospel texts: Luke 13:10-18, Luke 7:33-34, and Matthew 11:28-29.

In reading through and discussing these three texts we began to see the ways that Jesus constantly worked to tell the people in his day that having a relationship with God wasn’t about blindly following rules and regulations but it was about living life fully.  We noticed in our conversation and struggles with the texts that Jesus was constantly in the process of bringing healing and life to situations and people that were sick or stagnant. 

As we further reflected on the readings we spent time as a community considering our own passions, our own struggles and joys with church and religion today.  We realized that as we attempt to follow Jesus that our focus needs to be on life, and those things that bring life and healing to the world and to ourselves. 

As a small but passionate community we are learning what it means to follow Jesus and we are learning what it means to bring life into our own lives where sickness and death once stood.   And perhaps most importantly, we are learning how to share what we’ve experienced with others and we’re calling this whole process “church”, and YOU are more than welcome to join us on the journey. 

Coming this Fall

  For centuries churches have gathered together as communities around a few simple principles: scripture, prayer, and a shared meal.

  Organic Faith is a name that suggests returning to the roots; returning to a simpler, more natural way of doing things.  We are striving towards a faith that isn’t complicated .  Therefore, in an effort to actually do what our name suggests and to strive towards a life of an organic faith, we’ll be gathering together around the fundamentals of Christianity: scripture, prayer, and a shared meal.
Those who participated in Pub Church over the past year may wonder what will happen to this gathering.  Do not worry, Pub Church will show up from time to time.
 
But, starting this September Organic Faith will begin weekly gatherings, call them “church” if you like, focused on scripture, prayer, and a shared meal.    We have faith that God will work through these times together – to lead us, guide us, challenge us, and grow us because we believe that its not about what we do, but about what God does.

So, you’re invited to come to “church” with us.  It’s going to be a little different than what you might be used to, but we believe and we have faith that God is going to work through those ancient practices, scripture, prayer, and a shared meal, to grow, challenge, lead, and guide us once again.   So, join us for church and begin the journey with us of having a faith that is organic.
 

To the Next Step

Organic Faith is entering it's second year and so it is time for moving forward, growing deeper, and taking the next step as a community of faith. 

Having nearly completed our summer experiment of "church" we'll be moving into having intentional conversations about the direction of Organic Faith.  We'll be asking the big questions of "who are we?" "what are we called to be?" "what do we need?" "what can we give?" and many more. 

And you can join the conversation.  If you live in Buffalo check back often for announcements of upcoming conversations and feel free to drop by at any time and join in.  And if you just follow Organic Faith over the web feel free to add your opinions to our web conversations on the ning site (link is on the right-hand column).

As this journey continues we are always being called to take the next step.  Even though that can be scary and different and something that we're completely unsure of at times, God calls us to move forward into the unknown but God also assures us that He journeys with us.  With prayer and patience and faith Organic Faith is attempting to take the next step in our story knowing that God not only calls us to do so but that God journeys with us through the entire process.