Vineyard Church | Weekly Update September 11th, 2024

I spend a lot of time having a point. If I were a respectable preacher though, I would have three points, all beginning with the same letter: The three Q’s to sanctification, or the triple Z’s of The Olivet Discourse… Alas, since I am about as sharp as a beachball (to quote an old, retired facilities guy), I never have quite mastered the three-point letter matching deal, and I even went to seminary!

Failing to uphold my end of the preacher point paradigm, I will today work to have more than one point. I need to start easy so I don’t pull a muscle, so these points will not be connected, will not make sense as one flowing topic, and certainly not begin with the same letter. I might even digress if I spot an unexplored rabbit hole…

Reflecting on our School Lunch Fund Drive, my mind has meandered to the Battle of Gettysburg and the fight for a hill known as Little Round Top (some males of the species waste their time thinking about the Roman Empire. I, representing a more sophisticated version of the gender, ruminate on the American Civil War). When the internet is out at the house and I am forced into the Blu-ray stone age, I watch the scene of this fight from the movie Gettysburg over and over again. Every time Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlian of the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment yells “BAYONETS!” I stand on my chair and holler, then look for a rebel to smack.

Colonel Chamberlian was always the type of officer I wanted to be in the Marine Corps. He was a pastor and a teacher and took excellent care of the soldiers in his charge, but he is also one of those men who made a decision in one moment that changed the course of a nation’s history. Pastor, teacher, leader, but Chamberlian was decisive and audacious.

After holding the extreme left flank of the Union line for hours under relentless attack from 15th Alabama, Chamberlain became aware of two things that led to a fateful decision. First, his men had expended their ammo. Nothing was left to shoot in defense of the far end of the federal line. Also, the rebels had shifted in an attempt to outflank the 20th Maine and roll up the Union line. The orders Chamberlian had was to refuse the flank and hold the line. Decision time.

Knowing that the fight he had in front of him would affect the outcome of the war, he rallied his men, ordered fixed bayonets, and charged. From the defense, he charged. Down the hill, into the teeth of the rebel assault, Chamberlian’s audacious leadership decision gave the Union Army a route to victory at Gettysburg and turned the tide of the Civil War. One man, one audacious decision.

What if a church were audacious? Not reckless, not lacking stewardship of what God has given, but audacious. Paying around $7,600 of debt for families with kids in schools in Yellowstone County was not a small thing. The generosity of the congregation to work to serve others is always moving to me, and it leads me to this question: What would it look like if we were audacious?

When I read scripture, I see the work of leaders and churches that merged their faith in God with their willingness to be audacious. Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Daniel, David, Esther, Nehemiah, Mary, Peter, Paul, and the supreme example of Jesus are all examples of leaders who obeyed God with audaciousness, taking on risks in crazy situations. Not movements of reckless abandon, moves of faithful audacity… Always about God’s will and trusting that He would be faithful to His own vision. With this in mind, I want to make this invitation:

Pray audacious prayers. Ask God to trust us with his audacious will. We know what we can do, but we do not yet know what we are capable of… Let’s ask God to trust us with his audacious will. If you are willing to pray about this with me, please shoot me a note and let me know so we can be audacious together.

Together… Another point to the ramble. As a Vineyard family, do we value time together in the time between the Sundays? This is an honest question, not one that I am leveraging to attempt to drive behavior. I am realizing that I have a pretty full schedule and I can find myself back on a Sunday morning having not recreated with anyone. I don’t care to continue that, so as part of our Wednesday blog, I will be letting you know somewhere I will be during the week, and leave an open invitation for anyone that might want to join me.

This isn’t a runaway ego thinking that spending time with me is a gift to the masses, it is just a recognition that I want to spend time with you, and don’t always have the opportunity to make an invitation… So, I will make one every week! This week, I will be at the Skyview High School football game at 7:00 pm on Friday at Daylis Stadium. I love watching High School sports, and if you don’t have plans for Friday, consider joining me to eat concession stand popcorn as the sun sets behind Pioneer Park.

Also, listening to the Breakfast Flakes on the way in today I heard that James Earl Jones passed away… I guess he played in some space man movie or other (Spaceballs maybe?), but I think we can all agree that his best work was in Sandlot or Field of Dreams. Something basebally, or his narration of the Bible. Either way, his loss makes me sad, his voice was a gift, and I am grateful we had it. In 1993 he wrote an article about how he came to follow Jesus, a pretty brave move for someone in Hollywood. We can celebrate that audacious move as he stands with Jesus in the resurrection.

Honestly, I thought I had more points than that. I guess not. Hmm. Well, it is what it is. Have a good rest of the week!

Adam Greenwell
Pastor
Billings Vineyard Church | www.billingsvineyard.org