Bill Berger.org

Hello All Saints'ers!

This is new for me, something I want to try. I want to write something of an open letter talking about all things All Saints. So, here we go...

1. I really enjoyed last Sunday and our guest music leader, Holly Starr. I really appreciated the energy and passion she and her band put into the songs and from what I could tell, a lot of you did too. I want to thank Tonette Beach for being such a great organizer and leader.

2. I want to invite you all to be at our Cozy Community Christmas this Wednesday, December 15th from 7-8 pm. This is something that is very native to All Saints as we desire to be a blessing to our neighborhood and city. One of our values is to create "compelling spaces" so that we can be welcoming and give room for the Holy Spirit to engage hearts and minds. This is an event that will do just that. Again, Tonette Beach has done such an amazing job organizing this event and it will be a good one. The City Kids have hung mittens on over 100 of our neighbors doors inviting them to attend. I am looking forward to seeing ALL of you All Saints'ers there to meet and greet our neighbors and each other.

3. I want to remind you that we are a church that exists so that people can grasp the reality of an abundant life in Christ. That means we are always on mission, we are always facing outward to our city rather than inward to the already convinced. There are almost 2 million people in the Seattle metro area and many of them have no idea who Jesus is and how much he loves them. Let's continue to do what it takes to reach those people. I remind you to continue praying Luke 10:2 at 10:02 everyday.

4. Here's a challenge for you: invite some friends to All Saints during the Advent season. It is almost 100% of the time that when I meet a new person at All Saints they tell me someone invited them. I love that!

5. This Sunday, December 12th, there will be two bins located in the Commons where you can bring donated items for either New Horizons or Sacred Heart Shelter. A comprehensive list of what is needed will be available inside your handout on December 12th as well.

In addition to the above giving opportunities, All Saints, too, has a few things on it's Chrismtas list this year. We are hoping to raise funds to assist two projects: building a back door deck for safer entry into the building ($1500), as well as media equipment to assist the audio, visual and music teams ($3000). If you are interested in helping All Saints build a safer back entry way and purchase much needed equipment, please feel free to give online or designate which fund you would like to contribute to on your giving envelopes on Sunday.

6. This Sunday the team from El Salvador is going to share their missions experience. I encourage you to be there and listen to some amazing All Saints'ers who are on mission. It will be a beautiful time.

I love All Saints Church and I am so honored to be one of the ministers there. I love you all.

Pastor Bill

Time Sensitive

"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time..." Ephesians 5:15-16

I waste time. I lose track of time. I have no idea what time it is. In a society that is so conscious of time we sure can invest it poorly. I had an "iron sharpens iron" conversation with a friend and we started talking about how we can be so foolish with our time, how we let opportunites for investment and soul enrichment pass us by. We both shared the same conviction. It was very eye opening and very humbling.

In his amazing book, "Spiritual Leadership," J. Oswald Sanders said this, "The quality of a person's leadership will be in part measured by time: its use and its passage."

I have taken inventory of how I use my time. I realized how much time I waste and how much time I use that will produce zero fruit. I had to make some changes. I see that time is spent never stored. I want to use my time that will produce fruit that will last into eternity. By God's grace, I believe this awareness is going to produce a large harvest.

The first time waster was Facebook. I appreciate how FB is great for connecting and staying in touch. I don't think FB is evil or bad, I actually think its a terrific tool and blessing for some. For me, I noticed how I could click over to FB and look at profile pages and pictures, play mob wars and chuckle at clever quotes for 25 minutes here and 15 minutes there, it began to add up. I would guesstimate that it could consume 2-3 hours of my day! I confess that I misused it. I also didn't think it was the most effective place for me. I would want to be so unique and so thoughtful and try to post thoughts and links that would "impress" or show my cleverness. That was an epic fail. I could post a thought and get no response, however, if I would post something sports minded or silly I would get more responses. That was not the result I was looking for.

I also observed how much time I spend just being busy. I began to observe that at the end of the day I didn't have much to show for what I did and kept feeling behind the eight ball, never satisfied with a truly productive day. I was not paying attention to what things were priority and what things were time drains.

After making some changes and doing a better job of planning my day and week, I am seeing so much more awareness and productivity. I am spending more time in prayer, I am reading many more pages in the books that have been piling up on my desk, I am wearing out the battery in my Kindle in record time. I am taking the time to invest in leaders and finding much needed mentors to challenge me as a Christ follower, husband, father and pastor. I am much more present with my bride and my children.

I want to practice my day like Martin Luther, "In fact I have so much to do, I shall spend the first three hours of my day in prayer." I am in the practice of "taking the time" for things that matter.

 

 

Celtic Prayer to begin the day

Prayer from Celtic Daily Prayer morning canticle:

Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me.
Christ, as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.

Post-liberal or Emergent? Hahahahah! funny.

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Excited about some new discoveries, rekindled friendships, strong mentors and an amazing wife and kids. I am grateful for the peace and hope of Jesus. More to come...