In Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut writes of moments, events, periods of time in our lives being like pearls. These pearls when strung together make up our life – our strand. We all have these pearls – significant events – your birth, education, wedding, birth of a child, death of a loved one, etc. The pearls are nothing more than memories of past experiences, some joyful, some hurtful or sad. Many can be easy recalled, these are the "remember when" statements. Other pearls are recalled with a trigger of music, a scent or an image. The point is that these pearls shape us and color the way we see and approach the world. Collectively the strand molds us into the people we are today.

 

As I was preparing for this message, I

explained to my daughter about pearls representing experiences and asked her if she had any memories of her faith or when she felt close or distant from God. Without much hesitation and a fair amount of drama, she retold the story of when she was in the kindergarten Sunday school class. All the children were coloring when a boy dropped his crayon on the floor. Upon retrieving the crayon, he took a peak up my daughters dress and then proceeded to tell the class what color panties she was wearing! Have no fear, there was no long term damage done but it did make quite an impact on her and a memory that she’ll probably retell time and time again. It wasn’t quite the pearl I was looking for…. Yet, my first pearls come from my childhood as well…

 

I come by my faith as an assumption of my parent’s faith. Accepting God and church life were simply never a question. My earliest remembrance of church is Sunday school and vacation Bible school dunking Oreos in Kool Aid. I remember singing with passion I’ve Got the love of Jesus down in my heart and This little light of mine; I’m gonna let it shine. I feel blessed to have been given this gift by my parents. It is the best inheritance they could have ever provided.

 

It was this foundation of faith that gave our family an anchor when my mother was diagnosed with cancer. She was 58 years old: had been married 38 years, was looking forward to retirement, traveling and spending time with her grandchildren. She handled her illness with grace and dignity and by her calm demeanor strengthened all of us around her. She never complained, or questioned why this had happened to her. She simply accepted her fate and put her faith in God and knew He would see her through. In her things we found words written on a post-it note: Pain is Evitable; Suffering is Optional. These are likely words that she read and wrote down as a mantra. It speaks to her humble and gracious character. She was not afraid of death and often comforted her daughters, her friends and even her young minister who weren’t handling her illness as well as she was.

 

It was at this time that I felt God was both close and distant. He was obviously close as He was comforting and strengthening my mother. Yet I wondered where he was and why he was allowing this beautiful creature to be devoured by disease. There was a hospice nurse that our family became especially fond of. In the words of Anna Quindlan, "She showed up; she listened; and tried to laugh". She actually did much more than that… she trained us and gave us courage to care for our mother at home. During the final difficult week of my mother’s life, the nurse explained that my mother’s comatose self was doing battle – that the physical body was still fighting and wanting to remain with all of us that she loved and loved her. And her soul – the part that loved God and could no longer be bound by a ravished body was longing for complete healing and to be taken home. This battle between body and soul made sense to us and gave us comfort. I don’t think that I will ever forget those words.

 

My mother passed away with her husband, her four daughters and my Alan surrounding her. Collectively we held and touched her until her breathing slowed and then she was gone from us. It was at that moment that I felt Jesus in our room –He lifted her from our arms and carried her away. Just as gently and lovingly as you lift a sleeping child as not to wake them. I’ve never given birth but being there as my mother died was something that I can only compare to the awe of birth. It was simply beautiful – knowing that she had been returned to the One who had created her.

That was twelve years ago. Since then, I’ve added other "pearls" to my strand – I married my husband and became an instant mom to two beautiful girls, joined this congregation and became an active participant in many groups – It is in this place that I have been challenged and invited to go deeper in my faith. For this place and all the people, I am forever grateful.

 

So what brings me before you today is a nothing terribly interesting or unique – like you I am simply a culmination of all the experiences I’ve had and all the people that have influenced me. What remains constant is the thread that holds my pearls together and that is The Love of Jesus, Love of Jesus Down in my Heart and that’s a firm foundation.

 

I want to begin with one housekeeping item: On behalf of all the Elders, Kathy {Beckwith}, for you and your committee, I want to thank you for all the hard work that you’ve put into this weekend. Many of us just showed up and did our thing, but we know that you did a lot and I know I speak for all the Elders: We thank you.

My name is Lynn Moeller. My wife Lisa and I first joined Geist Christian Church back in 1988 and it’s been a long, long time and a very enjoyable time to be a member of this church. I first want to tell all of you that I very much enjoy being an elder at Geist Christian Church. I’m honored and I’m humbled. Of all the activities that I currently do in my life today, being an elder in this church means more to me than anything.

I also want you to know that I work with a really good group of people that are committed to this church. The Elders at Geist Christian Church have one thing in common: We want to do anything that we can to support the ministry of this church.

 

That’s what we want to do.

 

When Kathy first asked me to speak tonight (a few weeks ago), she said, "Lynn, you can really talk about anything that you want to talk about tonight. But there are a couple of things that I’d like you to at least think about. Number one, you might mention something that you really enjoy about being an elder. And also, number two, you might talk about something that has something to do with our theme tonight, which is ‘Stepping Stones to Faith.’" So, Kathy, I’ll try to get both of them in there.

Being an elder at GCC has been a huge impact in my life. When I think about how I’ve grown in my spiritual journey, Geist Christian Church has been very, very meaningful. Tonight I’m going to talk bout three activities that go on here that have been very meaningful in my stepping stones of faith.

 

The first activity I’m going to talk about is our great music program. I am so inspired when I come to Geist on Saturday night or Sunday mornings. I am so excited. I must confess there’s some nights when I’m a little tired or I’ve been doing yard work … then I come here and Greg, you are just awesome. You and your team of musicians and singers, you inspire me. You make me want to come here. I love your music. You do a great job for this church. I can’t imagine any other church having a better music program than we have at Geist Christian Church. And so to Greg and to all the singers, thank you for what you’ve done for me.

 

The second activity that means so much to me is the guy that gives our sermons, our Senior Minister Randy Spleth. I have heard Randy give sermons at Geist Christian Church for 19 years. You cannot possibly come to this church and not have your life changed when Randy gives his sermons. His sermons challenge me. His sermons educate me. And his sermons motivate me.

 

I can’t tell you how many nights I sit right out there in that pew and I swear Randy is talking directly to me. It’s almost like he knows exactly what’s gone on in my life that particular week, and what I need to hear that night when I come to church. Randy Spleth is one of the most influential people in my life today. I have a question for all of you: outside of your immediate family, how many people have been a center of influence in your life for 19 years? That’s what Randy has been for me, and for that, I thank you.

 

The third activity that has been very important to me at Geist Christian Church is getting involved in small groups. I truly believe that small groups are the lifeblood of the church. When Lisa and I first joined Geist Christian Church, we got started in a Sunday school class taught by Mike Jackson. There were about 10 or 12 of us in that Sunday school class and we would study the New Testament. We would read the scripture and then we would go around the table and talk about what the scripture meant to us, what was meaningful in our life that the scripture talked to. It was amazing how to everyone, as we went around the table, it meant something a little bit different to each one of us. It was a great way of meeting new people, and it was a great way of learning.

 

I can tell you this: ever since I’ve been involved at Geist, I’ve wanted to be in small groups. As our congregation continues to grow and to grow, it’s meaningful for me to somehow keep it small. I can’t think of a better way to keep Geist Christian Church small for me than to join small groups.

 

One of the groups that I always enjoyed was being a deacon, and I know we have several deacons here tonight. I used to love to prepare the communion; it made me feel like I was contributing something to the service.

 

Today I’m in a small group that’s taught by Courtney Richards. Courtney does a wonderful job. She knows just when to lead and just when to listen. Those of us in the Bible study come from many different backgrounds. Some have older children, some have smaller children, some have no children at all. Some are single, some are married. It doesn’t make any difference. We have fun and we learn together. We study the scripture that Randy is going to preach on the next weekend and it’s been a very, very meaningful Bible study for me.

 

It is my prayer and it is my hope that all of you here tonight, if you’re not involved in a small group, would challenge yourself to join a small group at Geist Christian Church. It’s been extremely meaningful in my life, and I think it would be for you as well.

 

Now as I look out tonight in the sanctuary, there may be some of you here at Geist Christian Church for the first time. And if tonight is your first night at Geist Christian Church I just say one thing, welcome. We’re glad you’re here and I hope you come back many, many times. Some of you have been around for a few months, some of you have been around for many years, and some of you have been around for a long, long time. But we all have one thing in common, and that is that we are here at Geist Christian Church today. And in my opinion there’s never been a better time to be a member of Geist Christian Church than right now. We have a wonderful staff in place. We’ve got a great music program here. And what really excites me going forward …

As many of you know we’re getting ready to start a second site. We’re going to build a second site in Hamilton County and I am so excited to be a part of it. It’s going to be a wonderful opportunity for all of us to grow, and all of us to serve. We’re going to need worship leaders, we’re going to need Bible study leaders, we’re going to have choirs to fill. We’re going to have a role for everybody here. I know that I’m awfully excited to be a part of it, and I hope that you’re excited to be part of it as well. It’s going to take all of us to commit to this to really make it as effective as it can be.

 

Now, one of the things that going forward – there may be some times when we’re all going to be challenged – when we go to this new site. Are there going to be times when we shake our heads and wonder if we can do it? Sure. Are there going to be some times when we think maybe we’ve bitten off more than we can chew? Maybe. Are there going to be times when we ask how are we going to pay for this? You bet. Is it going to be easy? No.

 

But I have never believed that being a Christian is about making your life easier. I believe that being a Christian is about making your life better. I believe being a Christian is about making your life more complete. I believe being a Christian is about making your life more fulfilled. But I have never, ever believed that being a Christian is about making your life easier.

 

If you go back and look at the New Testament there is story after story after story about how the disciples and those early Christians, many of them gave up their life in spreading the good news. So no, I don’t believe it’s going to be easy. But I think we are going to do it. And think we are going to be successful because I think God wants us to be successful. I think this is exactly what God commands us to do, is to spread the good news into Hamilton County.

 

When we go forward and we get ready to move to our new site, there are probably going to be times when people come up to you, and they may ask you after church or give you a call at home and they may ask you to do something. And when they ask you to do something, you may feel that it’s a little outside of your comfort zone. Many times when people come up to me and ask me to do something – like tonight! – that is a little outside of my comfort zone, the first thing I always want to say is, "Why me? Why are you asking me? Why don’t you ask someone that is more qualified? Why don’t you ask someone that has more free time than I do?"

 

That’s what I always want to say. But then you know what, I go home. I think about it. I pray about it. And many times the Holy Spirit starts working in my life and many times I say, "Sure. Why not? I’ll give it a try." I will tell you this every time in my life when I have done something that has been outside of my comfort zone I have grown. Every time I have done something that has been outside of my comfort zone I have always felt that God was with me. God doesn’t want us to fail. God wants us to grow closer to him, and it is when we stretch our faith, he will be there for us.

 

In closing: I’m in my fifties now, have been for a couple of years. And it’s funny, when you go through that midlife thing. There are some things that were so important to you in your 20s and 30s that well, maybe they’re just not as important to you anymore. Well I can tell you that something that’s very important in my life right now is getting to know Jesus Christ better. It’s something that’s very meaningful to me and it’s something that I want to accomplish. And as an Elder at Geist Christian Church, I wish the very same for all of you.