Good morning. The scriptural text for this message is Proverbs 22: Verse 6:

 

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

 

I was blessed to have been born into a church that stressed Sunday school for the entire family. My home church pastor was ordained on the day I was born, and I considered him my mentor until the day he died last January. My father died when I was 24 years of age, and Rev. Puff filled this void in my life. He was my Stepping Stone of Faith. I was proud to have been an Elder and Treasurer of the church when he observed his twenty-fifth anniversary with the congregation.

 

A MENTOR is defined as someone who is a "wise and trusted counselor or teacher" or an "influential senior sponsor or supporter, adviser, coach, counselor, guide, instructor, teacher, trainer, or tutor."

 

During my former life as a Property Accountant with Firestone, I was an advisor with Junior Achievement for several years. I recall that one year my company’s treasurer was honored as the National Treasurer of the Year within Junior Achievement. I trust the young lady considered me as her MENTOR that year.

 

An Elder could and should be considered a Mentor to the congregation. We are called upon to be responsible for the spiritual leadership of the church; assisting the ministers in all areas of pastoral care; presiding and assisting at the communion table; delivering communion to shut-ins while Elder on Call; and sponsoring a

Pastor’s Class Student.

 

The Pastor’s class is made up of youth, usually fifth or sixth graders, who are learning about the Bible, faith, and our denomination in preparation for a public profession of faith and Baptism. The male members of the Elders are assigned to boys, and the female members to the girls. This involves developing a one-on-one relationship, sharing your spiritual journey, and answering any church-related questions they may have. We take the student to lunch or dinner, providing a time to develop a personal, lasting relationship. In other words, a MENTOR. The parents are informed of the student’s progress and the elder gives the student an adult from within the church to learn from and share experiences besides their parents. Finally, we purchase and present a Bible to the student when he/she gives his/her public profession of faith. This year will mark my tenth Pastor’s Class Student.

 

In my home church, I was one of five in my Confirmation class, and upon our public profession before the congregation, each of us recited two of the Ten Commandments and our Memory Verse, and jointly recited the Lord’s Prayer, the Gloria Patri, the doxology, and the Apostles’ Creed.

Adviser, counselor, teacher, supporter, guide—these sound like the virtues of Christ. No, we Elders are not Christ, but we are doing His work here on Earth. When you do it unto the least of these, my brother, sister, son, daughter, mother, father, YOU are doing it unto me.

 

Thirty-three years ago come March I married a woman with four children, ages 7 to 17. As I was preparing this message, I forwarded a rough draft to "the kids" and asked for their comments. This is the response from the youngest son, now 40 years of age and the father of three: "You forgot to mention the foundation you gave me as a child….that your influence of spiritual training made a lasting impact on me…and even though I strayed away from Him, my faith was rooted in firm foundation, and I was able to once again hear His calling….One side stressor of your message should be the lasting effects of being a godly father in a sin-filled world…to let your child not just hear your words, but see your commitment to God…your love of God…and in by showing your child with action...you are truly training them in the way they should go…"

 

A parent is a child’s first mentor. A parent builds a foundation for a child, whether it be built on sand or stone, good ground or in weeds. A child may stray from the narrow path, but if the faith is rooted in a firm foundation, he/she may be able to once again hear God’s calling. There are lasting effects of being a godly parent in a sin-filled world. Let your child not just hear your words, but see your commitment to God, your love of God, and by building a stepping stone of faith.

 

You say, BIG DEAL, I could do that!!! Yeah, you could!!! But, are you? Are you mentoring to someone in your neighborhood, your workplace, your school, your church? Let your light so shine that others may see your good deeds and praise God in heaven. YOU are needed for this vital ministry, and God could sure use the help!!

REMEMBER, Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

 

May God be my witness!!

When I was asked to speak this morning, I wondered if the topic, "Stepping Stones" was the determining factor. As one who has actually used these stones in my youth, I may be one of the few in the congregation that knows of them through experience rather than by reading a book.

 

So how did I wind up here at Geist Christian Church? It has been a series of stepping stones that began in Illinois, (next year will be 80 years) covered eight states, seventeen churches and chapels, many countries, and my foot is now on the current stone, Geist Christian Church.

 

As each step is made in life, many things will have an effect on the next step. Family, the Great Depression, wars, politics, civil rights – have all influenced my stepping stones.

 

My earliest memory of a church is the First Christian Church in West Frankfort, Illinois. An ethnically diverse coal mining community in Southern Illinois, an area called Egypt. The First Christian Church, a church of the Restoration Movement, was a tall steeple in town. The Chi-Rho, vacation Bible school, church camp at Dixon Springs. Our birthday offering in Sunday school was taken to the front of the assembly and dropped in a box shaped like a church. That offering was sent to the Saint Louis Children’s Home.

 

I also would attend church with friends at St. John’s Roman Catholic Church, The Apostolic Faith Assembly (a holy-roller church where they spoke in tongues) and the Northern Baptist Church, where I was a member of the scout troop. This broadened my ecumenical horizons.

 

When Pearl Harbor was attacked, everything changed. With some military action still ongoing in the Pacific I joined the Army with a couple of buddies and was introduced to segregated military chapels in Camp Polk, Fort Stoneman, and on a troop ship. I was assigned to a military government unit that landed in Korea. Christmas Eve candlelight service at the Quonset Hut Chapel in Pusan was led by a Methodist Chaplain.

 

I was assigned as an aid to the Military Governor and lived at the Governor’s residence. I was able to attend chapel regularly. President Truman asked Father Flanagan of Boy’s Town to go to Korea to help set up orphanages. He stayed at the residence while in Pusan. While there, he would knock on my door at night and we would go back to the kitchen and brew up a pot of coffee. I baked him a birthday cake. Returning to the States, I started college at SIU in Carbondale, Illinois, and attended the First Christian Church there. A Disciples Church. Not too often as I had a job at a restaurant.

 

When North Korea crossed the 38th parallel, I withdrew from school and re-enlisted. Back to military chapels, now integrated by President Truman by Executive Order in 1948, Fort Knox, a troopship and to Nuremberg. Back to the States in 1953. I re-enrolled at SIU, but work limited my church attendance.

 

After a couple of years, I got a job as Morning Man at the local radio station. My Sunday mornings included a broadcast from the Methodist Church. The most surprising thing was they didn’t serve communion every Sunday. My work at a funeral home gave me an opportunity to visit many local churches including the Jerusalem Christian Church, a Restoration church, in Pomona. It was founded in 1840 and the founder and first Pastor was Oliver Ensign Fletcher.

 

Before I landed the radio job, I met a new hire at the restaurant. One morning while headed for the library, I saw her walking and I stopped and offered her a ride. I suggested a visit to the Pastry King Bakery, so compared to a math class, she chose the bakery. We were engaged at Christmas and married in March. As I met her family, I found out her great-great-grandfather was O. E. Fletcher, the first Pastor at Jerusalem Christian Church.

 

We began attending the First Christian Church in Carbondale. Jack Cannedy was the Pastor. Our daughter, Dorothy, was dedicated there. A job transfer to Mount Vernon, Illinois and the First Christian Church there. Our second child, Jim, was born in Mount Vernon. We moved to New Mexico and joined the First Christian Church in Carlsbad. Fred Mattson was the Pastor. Mick McHarg was called when Mr. Mattson retired. Our move to Las Cruces, New Mexico happened when I took a job at White Sands Missile Range. We joined the First Christian Church where Lee Hobert preached. Our first experience with the Heifer Project was in Las Cruces. I transferred to Baltimore, Maryland to work in a field office of the U.S. Army. The Christian Temple, pastored by Bill Ryan, was our church there. His aunt Grace served in the mission field in Nanking, China. The book, The Rape of Nanking, describes how those missionaries saved several thousand people when Japan invaded China in 1937.

 

A job in the Pentagon caused our move to the new city of Columbia, Maryland, where we joined the Oakland Mills United Church. The Disciples joined the United Church of Christ and The Church of the Brethren to start that church. Our youngest son, Brice, was born at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

 

On a reassignment to the Panama Canal Zone, we attended a military chapel on Fort Clayton and then joined the Balboa Union Church, which was chartered by Congress.

We transferred back to the States in 1977 for a job at Fort Harrison. We joined Allisonville Christian Church where Lloyd Allen was Pastor. Mike Jacobs, a campus minister at Butler, was called when Lloyd retired.

 

In 1985, Vicki was moderator for GIDA and I was on the committee to selecting a site for a new church. We found several thousand homes platted in the northeast corner of Marion County with very few built, so the committee said, let’s go Northeast.

Geist Christian Church had its first service in the Clubhouse at Eagle Nest. We were able to reserve the Clubhouse for Sunday mornings. The choir met in our living room. Families joined and the first baby, Tim Manship arrived. Geist Christian Church bought this soybean field and built our first building in 1987.

 

The first service at the Clubhouse had 31 people in attendance, with several folks from the regional office and the missions building there. The original congregation of ten adults, three teenagers and one sub teen has grown to this congregation. The 21 years has been very exciting. I am looking forward to the next nine years to celebrate our thirtieth anniversary.

 

Sam Pugh, a favorite minister of mine, published a book on his 100th birthday. He wrote, "It took a long time to be a hundred." Now that I’ve reached it, what now? Do I look forward or back? Create or remember? A bit of both I think.

As a young boy, I used to climb walnut trees and the epilogue of his book describes my experience also. And so I would like to close by reading from his book, 100 Years with Sam Pugh.

 

Come Walk with Me

Years ago, when I was a boy in Missouri,

I used to gather black walnuts in the autumn

woods. When I crushed the green walnut hulls

with half a brick, then dug the hard nut out to dry,

my hands were black with stain. But the winter

flavor of those delicious kernels made it all

worthwhile. Now, decades later, I realize that

everything I’ve touched, every place I’ve been

and every person I’ve met has left some imprint

on my life. Some experiences were so strong

that they changed my viewpoint, my attitude,

my convictions, and my way of living – like

walnut stains.

…Sam