This week’s picture is for all my seed-sowing, plant-watering, crop-harvesting friends out there whose idea of a good time is watching their corn grow on a hot Friday evening…ok, that’s pushing it a bit! Yet it is pretty satisfying when the literal fruits of your labor begin to pay off. The zucchini that I’m holding in the photo is my first one of the season and there will be plenty more where that came from over the next few weeks. And if you’re like me, and you grow a garden, you probably have more vegetables than you can handle during the growing season, especially zucchini. They seem to multiply like rabbits. So guess what? Starting this week and continuing for the next month or so, we are opening up “The McLane Market”, a small tent adjacent to the main worship tent where you can bring your veggies and bless others in the church through a simple act of generosity. Look for the “McLane Market” sign.
The second thing about this weekend: Saturday evening is our “McLane Movie Night”. Be there or be square. It starts with a great time of worship at 6:00PM, followed by a great meal at 7:00PM, followed by the movie “Up” under the “Big Top” beginning at 8:00PM. And speaking of the movie, we’ll be viewing it on a special large screen via an outstanding audio-visual system. AND GET THIS. Some volunteers are planning and providing some fun activities (you’ll have to wait until Saturday to find out) and great food for the kids including funnel cakes, cotton candy, flavored ice and popcorn in the tent during the movie. You’ll love it, moms and dads. The kids will be bouncing off the walls by bed time!
The most significant part of this coming weekend, however is not popcorn, produce or a movie. It’s “Baptism 2.0”, the second attempt at finishing what we started a few weeks ago with our annual baptism service. In talking with Daryl and Andy, our site pastors from Union City and Church in a Bar, we’ve decided to conduct the baptisms this time at three different locations, one for each congregation. Many of you have asked why we made this decision. The simple reason is that we felt this would make the experience more personal and connected to the specific congregation that played the primary role in the spiritual formation of those getting baptized. As such, the ‘boro will meet at McCoy’s pond this Sunday at 6:00 PM. Union City will meet at Olczak’s pond this Sunday at 6:00 PM and Church in a Bar will meet at Presque Isle next Wednesday, July 28th at 7:00 PM. I hope you can attend one of these. It powerfully reminds us why we do what we do.
On a final note, if you’re looking for a simple, but really helpful summer serve opportunity, I could really use some servants who would love to arrive an hour early before the Saturday service or the 9:00 AM Sunday service to clean, set-up and arrange chairs. If you’d like to strengthen your serve muscles, simply reply to this e-mail and I’ll give you a call with simple next steps to get you plugged in.
Bill
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Jesus words in Matthew 6:19-20 )
If I told you that many people are prisoners to one or two or three experiences in their past, would you agree? My guess is there would be a pretty strong consensus on that one. But let me ask you this: What are those one or two or three experiences for you? What areas of your life would you love to have a “do-over”, a second chance, a mulligan? Personally I would love to take a mulligan on my early 20’s. I have carried a significant amount of disappointment and shame from that period in my life.
We’re going to talk about second chances or “do-overs” this weekend in our “Lost Episodes” series because the scriptures are filled with one second chance story after another. One of my favorites is found in John 21 and includes one of my favorite characters of the Bible; Peter. For those of you who are living with the shame and bitter disappointment of past failures, I hope this story will provide you with a new appreciation of God’s radical grace and a hope for the future.
Our God is the God of second chances. He sent His one and only son Jesus to this earth so that each and every one of us could experience a moral “do-over”. The Bible uses another word for this…redemption. John Ortberg in his book Love Beyond Reason writes: Redeeming is what God is into. He is the finder of directionally challenged sheep, the searcher of missing coins, the embracer of foolish prodigal sons. His favorite department is Lost and Found. He is the God of the do-over. He is the Lord of the second chance.
And on a logistical note, weather permitting, all weekend services at the ‘boro will be held under the “Big Top” for the remainder of the summer. Was that fun last week or what?
You’re probably wondering about this week’s picture by now. Just a reminder to strap yourself in for the next couple of months because we have some really exciting stuff planned. Check it out and get it on your calendar. • This Sunday at 10:30 AM – McLane Church in Union City will gather with folks from other local churches for the ecumenical worship service at the gazebo on the school district grounds • Saturday, July 24 – Family movie night under the “Big Top” after the evening service in Edinboro featuring the movie “Up”. • Sunday, July 25 - alternate baptism services at McCoy’s pond for the Edinboro congregation and at Bill and Denise Olczak’s for the Union City site. Time for both is 6:00 PM • Saturday, July 31 – “McLane’s Car Cruise-In” from 3:00-6:00PM in the church parking lot with the worship service to follow. More info. will be coming, but this will include live music from a local blues band featuring our own Paul Macosko and food from the grill. • Thursday and Friday, August 5-6 – We have 65 people registered to attend the Willow Creek Association’s Leadership Summit, an outstanding two-day conference dedicated to helping leaders become better leaders. • During the month of August, in conjunction with our weekend services, we are going to set up our own “Farmer’s Market” by encouraging folks who grow gardens to bring in additional fresh produce to share with other church families.
Who said church couldn’t be fun? Stay tuned.
Bill
P.S. – 79 folks from the McLane family attended the Sea Wolves game this past Tuesday…pretty cool. I expect to see some hats this weekend.
If you were going to compare our church to an amusement park (and believe me, sometimes that analogy works way too well), this weekend would be entitled “The Ravine Flyer” because this weekend centers around some events that are not only going to be thrilling and fun, but life-changing as well. I thought about calling it the “McLane Flyer”, but that registers pretty high on the “cheese factor” scale.
Anyhow, the ride begins on Saturday at our ‘boro campus with our work day event. A small army of volunteers will be arriving at 7:30 with their sleeves rolled up ready to tackle multiple projects such as painting walls and curbs, pulling weeds, erecting a tent, and cleaning windows around the church. If you haven’t signed up and are still considering, let me give you a little nudge. We are going to create the perfect fusion of work and fun, capped off with an awesome lunch featuring our own Brian Kelly’s bar-b-que chicken (I’m sure you’ve seen his famous recipe in stores… o.k. maybe not).
The ride continues on Saturday evening as with our first outdoor service of the summer in the “not-new-but-really-cool” used tent. And trust me, when you see this tent, you won’t forget it. You will conclude that McLane Church really is a “different” kind of church…more on that Saturday. Don’t forget to remind your kids about the hot dogs, hamburgers, cotton candy and other fun food at the conclusion of the service.
But the “McLane Flyer” doesn’t end there (I like cheesy). It keeps picking up momentum, cruising through two Sunday morning worship services where we will seek to understand the purpose and power of baptism in the life of a Christ-follower. And then the weekend will reach its highpoint at McCoy’s pond with our annual baptism service at 6:00PM. This is where the life-changing part of the ride comes in as we watch people that we love, whose hearts have been transformed by God’s grace, enter the waters of baptism. The music will be live, the water will be warm, the food will be hot, and the fish will be nibbling!
Make sure you reserve your seat for the “McLane Flyer” this weekend. Strap yourself in and put your hands in the air and let our awesome God take you on a ride you won’t soon forget.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21 )
Bill
P.S. – This week’s picture captures a “Yeah God!” moment for our church. Last Saturday McLane’s Union City congregation sponsored a Father’s Day family fishing derby for the community at Caflisch Park and 250-300 folks came out. “Awesome” is a great word to describe how God used that event to connect our church to so many folks in the community. The day concluded with a worship service in the park with nearly everyone participating. Yeah God!
It’s been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and we could use many words to describe this week’s picture of my niece’s all out assault on her first-ever birthday cake. But to me it says, “I love this so much that I am in it up to my elbows!” At one point she started using it as a facial scrub and by the time she was finished, clean-up required not a wash cloth but a garden hose.
You know what? It might not be birthday cake, but most of us can identify something, whether it’s a vocation, a recreational pursuit, or a relationship, that unlocks deep levels of satisfaction and joy inside of us; some pursuit that we love so much we just can’t get enough of it.
I often wonder what it would be like if you and I loved Jesus that deeply and had an “up to our elbows” commitment to His church. Wow! How different would we be? How different would our community be? That’s what we will be talking about this weekend as we conclude our current series entitled, “McDNA; the Essentials of McLane Church.” I hope that you can be a part of one of our weekend services, because we’re going to conclude the series with a really practical and powerful way to express our love and devotion to Jesus and His church--don’t miss it. We will also be unveiling our plans for summer services in Edinboro this weekend and you are going to love it! I’m going to leave you hanging until the weekend with the specific details, but I’ll give you a clue as to what the summer is going to be like: we are going back to the future. That’s it.
In Union City, we will be at Caflisch Park Saturday afternoon for a Free Family Celebration from 3:00 – 7:00, including a worship service at 4:45 PM (no services Sunday morning). Daryl and his team are excited at the wholesome fun they will be providing to the community, along with the 200 trout they will be stocking in the stream for a fishing derby.
Finally I wanted to thank all of you who signed up for the church work day coming up on Saturday, June 26 from 7:30-Noon. Trust, me there will be plenty for us to do and we are going to have a blast doing it together. We still need 15 more volunteers to accomplish everything we have planned for that morning, so if you haven’t signed up, we can definitely use you. I’ll see you this weekend.
Every great organization is driven by a set of core values or core beliefs that impact every decision they make, influence every dollar they spend, and shape every product they produce, whether it is Google, Apple, Amazon, or Best Buy. There is no greater organization in the world than the church of Jesus Christ. It is actually a living organism and is built on the greatest set of core values the world has ever seen, the Bible.
This weekend we will be diving into part two of our series entitled “McDNA: the Essentials of McLane Church.” It is a series on our mission, core values and vision as a church and what makes us tick. This weekend we are going to be talking about our core values; there are ten of them. They all flow from the truth of God’s Word and influence how we are called to reach the region where God has placed us. I wonder how many of those ten you could name (maybe we will have a pop quiz this weekend). I can’t wait to have a discussion about them since they are values that I am very passionate about.
As a church, we will go to the mat for these essential values. During the service this weekend, we are all going to have an opportunity to evaluate just how effective we are at pursuing and living out these values. If we are going to be truly effective in our mission of eliminating barriers to give people access to Christ, we must be tirelessly committed to living out these values. They form the “banks of the river” for our mission; keeping us focused and enabling us to create the kind of culture at McLane Church that gives people access to the most important relationship in the world, one with their Savior, Jesus Christ.
On a side note, for all of you aspiring leaders and for those wishing to have more influence in the world around them, Sunday morning we are going to be showing an informational video about the upcoming Leadership Summit at Grace Church in early August. We will show this video in the Adult Education Room in Edinboro at 10:15 to 11:00 AM. If you feel God prompting you to learn about becoming a more effective leader at church, in your business, at home, or at school, I encourage you to join us Sunday and discover what the Summit is all about. It is a wonderful opportunity to invest in your own personal growth to expand your influence for Christ in this world.
I hope you will have a great weekend. Whether it is planting your garden, mowing your lawn, visiting a slew of graduation parties, or taking a nap, I hope you do it all with the knowledge of the ever-abiding presence of the Savior in your life.
God bless, have a great week, I’ll see you this weekend!
E-News from McLane Church
This week’s picture is for all my seed-sowing, plant-watering, crop-harvesting friends out there whose idea of a good time is watching their corn grow on a hot Friday evening…ok, that’s pushing it a bit! Yet it is pretty satisfying when the literal fruits of your labor begin to pay off. The zucchini that I’m holding in the photo is my first one of the season and there will be plenty more where that came from over the next few weeks. And if you’re like me, and you grow a garden, you probably have more vegetables than you can handle during the growing season, especially zucchini. They seem to multiply like rabbits. So guess what? Starting this week and continuing for the next month or so, we are opening up “The McLane Market”, a small tent adjacent to the main worship tent where you can bring your veggies and bless others in the church through a simple act of generosity. Look for the “McLane Market” sign.
If I told you that many people are prisoners to one or two or three experiences in their past, would you agree? My guess is there would be a pretty strong consensus on that one. But let me ask you this: What are those one or two or three experiences for you? What areas of your life would you love to have a “do-over”, a second chance, a mulligan? Personally I would love to take a mulligan on my early 20’s. I have carried a significant amount of disappointment and shame from that period in my life.
P.S. – This week’s picture captures a “Yeah God!” moment for our church. Last Saturday McLane’s Union City congregation sponsored a Father’s Day family fishing derby for the community at Caflisch Park and 250-300 folks came out. “Awesome” is a great word to describe how God used that event to connect our church to so many folks in the community. The day concluded with a worship service in the park with nearly everyone participating. Yeah God!
It’s been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and we could use many words to describe this week’s picture of my niece’s all out assault on her first-ever birthday cake. But to me it says, “I love this so much that I am in it up to my elbows!” At one point she started using it as a facial scrub and by the time she was finished, clean-up required not a wash cloth but a garden hose.
Every great organization is driven by a set of core values or core beliefs that impact every decision they make, influence every dollar they spend, and shape every product they produce, whether it is Google, Apple, Amazon, or Best Buy. There is no greater organization in the world than the church of Jesus Christ. It is actually a living organism and is built on the greatest set of core values the world has ever seen, the Bible.