Election Day Communion

On Tuesday, November 6 millions will be voting for a new president along with other amendments, state and county leaders. This is important work for free people to responsibly engage, and we have reminded the church to take this work seriously. I’ve reminded the church many times that there are faithful Christians at Spring of Life who will choose to vote for Barak Obama, others will choose to vote for Mitt Romney, others will choose to vote for another candidate and others will choose not to vote at all. I am aware that these differences will not bother God as much as they will bother some of us.


Therefore, on a day when many of us in the church will be choosing differently, we thought it would be important to remember to choose one thing together.The most significant thing that the church has to offer the world is the self-giving love of Christ that recognizes our differences and unites us in a way that no nation or state ever can. For this reason, Spring of Life will be offering Election Day Communion in a very public and invitational way outside, near the entrance to the church property. We will have a 20 minute liturgy with all who gather to receive God’s grace and place their life under the authority of Christ. The times will be 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, and 6:00 pm.

Let’s meet at the same table,
with the same host,
to remember the same things.

We’ll remember that real power in this world — the power to save, to transform, to change — ultimately rests not in political parties or presidents or protests but in the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus.

We’ll remember that, through the Holy Spirit, this power dwells within otherwise ordinary people who as one body continue the mission of Jesus: preaching good news to the poor, freeing the captives, giving sight to the blind, releasing the oppressed, and proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor (Luke 4:16-21).

We’ll remember that freedom — true freedom — is given by God and is indeed not free. It comes with a cost and it looks like a cross.

We’ll remember our sin and our need to repent.

We’ll remember that the only Christian nation in this world is the Church, a holy nation that crosses all human-made boundaries and borders.

We’ll remember that our passions are best placed within the passion of Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).

We’ll remember that we do not conform to the patterns of this world, but we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).

We’ll remember that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness.

And we’ll re-member the body of Christ as the body of Christ, confessing the ways in which partisan politics has separated us from one another and from God.

On Tuesday, November 6,
make a choice to remember.
Let’s meet at the Lord’s Table.
Let’s remember together.
Please join us for communion on Tuesday, November 6, at 7am, 12pm and 6pm.

Election Day Communion is a grassroots, multidenominational campaign inviting churches to express their unity in the face of increasing polarization, by holding a communion service on Election Day, November 6, 2012. Originally started by two pastors with no funding or organizational backing, Election Day Communion has quickly grown to include more than 425 churches from over 20 denominations. www.electiondaycommunion.org

A Call to Ministry

Recently we finished a series of sermons on different "call stories" in the Bible. My friend Evelyn Teran (pictured left) will be presenting her understanding of God's call on her life to ordained/licensed ministry in the United Methodist Church at Spring of Life's Charge Conference on Monday evening at 6:30 p.m. Below is her written account. We celebrate Evelyn's gifts for ministry and are grateful to be sharing this journey with her.

I was born and raised Catholic but at the early age of ten I experienced a renewal of my faith through the Disciple of Christ church. I started to develop a passion for ministry as I was able to participate in various ministry opportunities such as Sunday school, youth group, choir, bible study, prayer services and hospital visitation with a group of young adults. Even when my parents remain attending to the Catholic Church, they liked the idea that I was attending the Disciple of Christ church because they were able to witness and experience my dedication to ministry. Since my early youth I have been drawn to pursue a spiritual journey that will lead me to a spiritual formation that reflects the grace and the love of God for me and others!

Through the years I have experienced this call as making disciples of all nations. In 1989, I moved from Puerto Rico, to the state of Virginia, where I became a member of a Pentecostal Holiness church. After serving in the church as a Sunday school teacher and volunteer for various other ministries such as drama team, Hispanic Ministry, and as an usher, I was approved and sent to Youth with a Mission, a missionary international and worldwide organization.

During my six years of missionary work I was given the opportunity to disciple and evangelize to nations in the South Pacific, Europe, and North Africa. I became part of the leadership team that trained and equipped others missionaries. During the time I was committed to the mission field I was still looking forward to one day becoming the pastor of a local church. As part of my journey I have been given the opportunity to serve as a youth pastor and also as pastor of a small Hispanic congregation on a military base in Germany.

Throughout my 25 years of ministry serving God and the community I finally have been able to enter a pathway that will lead me to the final acceptance of my calling.  I have a passion for discipleship, leadership, and community.  I believe God has prepared me for a moment like this where I can serve the church with my talents and spiritual gifts. For the last four years I have dedicated myself to the Central Florida area serving as a hospital Chaplain and have been able to support and empathize with people during their darkest hours. I have as well had the opportunity to minister with prayer and counseling to staff and family members of the hospital. I believe God has guided me to serve as a Chaplain to form and affirm my pastoral identity with the intention to prepare me to do the work of a local pastor.

As I was seeking God and ways to better serve Him in the community His hand led me to the Spring of Life church. As I started to function as the leader for the Hispanic Ministry I found myself engaging in a pastoral role. Within this new role and my cross-cultural experience I believe that God is calling me to embrace a multicultural ministry that is compatible with the Gospel of Christ, where every nation and every tongue will worship together. In my calling I feel directed by God to lead and encourage others to walk in unity.

I believe I have the skills and spiritual gifts to teach, exhort, and discern to help and disciple the church to come near God and to develop an understanding of His love and grace. For the past few years I have pursued and accomplished pastoral clinical education in preparation in response to my calling. As I reflect on my journey I know that I have love and passion for the word, order, and sacrament within the church. I am passionate about empowering others to fulfill God’s call in their life, unifying and strengthening the church with the intention of making disciples of all nations. Within this journey one of my most sacred “memento” was the first time I was able to serve the communion for the Hispanic Ministry in Spring of Life, I felt the love of God in my heart affirming my call to serve others!

A Community of Extravagant Generosity

From support for those fighting cancer, giving to stop hunger now, doing minor home repair, to providing funds and labor for a wheelchair ramp, I see the generosity of the people of Spring of Life. I see many of you continuing to practice habits of good financial management in your own households so that you are free to give when God calls. You continue to push back on the culture of over-consumption as an act of worship. This hard work of financial discipleship is what we learn in Financial Peace University, and over time, we discover the joy of generous giving and the peace of being debt free.


Last Sunday in worship we heard Lenora talk about a call to ministry that she sensed for herself as well as her business (Cambridge School of Ballet). You might not think that teaching people to plié and grand jeté would be able to help put an end to human trafficking or provide clean water for people in Africa, but this was the vision that God laid on Lenora’s heart. Wow, can a business answer a call to ministry too?

A couple weeks ago in the Disciple Bible study on Wednesday night we read about God’s covenant (promise) that he made with Abraham. God said, “I will bless you and make your name great. I will make you a great nation so that you will be a blessing.”

“ . . . so that you will be a blessing.”

I remember one time after I had finished a funeral for a young man in my church, his dad came up to me and handed me a check for leading the service. I pushed back, trying to be gracious, and said, “Hey thank you, but I don’t need it. I’m well taken care of, thank you.” He just kept holding the check out and said, “Well, you know this doesn’t have to line your own pockets. Please take it.”

“. . . this doesn’t have to line your own pockets.”

Right. We are blessed so that we will be a blessing. God wants the world to know that he is a generous and self-giving God who notices the cries of the poor and oppressed. And so, we order and manage our financial life and our business so that we can reflect our generous, self-giving God to the world.

There is a person in our church right now who has been left alone by her family and unable to work right now because of surgery she recently had to remove what they thought was cancer in her abdomen. Thankfully, it turned out not to be cancer, but she remains vulnerable without a spouse, without family, and without a job to pay for food, shelter and healthcare. As you can imagine, she is afraid and lonely.

Those who know her at Spring of Life have told her. “We are your family. You are not alone. We are praying for you and we will make sure that you have food, shelter and friendship to get through this hard time.”

God says to his people: Do not to neglect the orphan, widow and vulnerable in your land because at one time you were vulnerable too. (see Exodus 22:21-22)

“. . . at one time you were vulnerable too.”

God is good to remind us when we have more than enough food, clothing, shelter; more than one means of transportation and a vast support network of family and friends that at one time we had none of that.

“What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?” 1Corinthians 4:7

“. . . what do you have that you did not receive?”

The truth is that we need friendship with those who are vulnerable as much as the vulnerable need friendship with those who have material resources. Interestingly, the Bible says, “God is close to the brokenhearted” and “blessed are the poor.” Jesus, himself, chose a life of homelessness and called the rich young ruler who wanted to see eternal life to sell everything, give it to the poor and come be a homeless follower too.

So Jesus doesn’t model a life of throwing a few bucks at the poor, he lives among the poor, in friendship, and by so doing, redefines blessing for the world.

Questions for reflection:

What about giving brings you joy?

Are there barriers to generous giving in your life? What are they?

What do you have to give when you are feeling vulnerable and alone like the woman in our church?

What do you have to receive from friendship with the poor?

How do you think it is true that the poor are blessed like Jesus says?