Dear Friends,

“So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so you do also. In addition to all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”

- Colossians 3:12-14

Adjusting my expectations! Of the many lessons the last almost 11 months, perhaps the most important has been about adjusting expectations. From the moment I heard news of the storm of February 6, few things if any have gone according to plan. This call from Paul to put on the “new self” has everything to do with unmet expectations and our response to them.

The distance between our expectations and reality is disappointment and frustration. It creates fear and hostility. We fear we will not get something we want or lose something we have. Hostility arises to defend what we have or to take what we want. Acting out of this fear and hostility damages others and our own souls.

Paul, instead, encourages us to live out our true identity as God’s holy and beloved sons and daughters. Living out this identity involves responding to disappointing and frustrating relationships, events, and circumstances. We reflect the character of our Father when we respond out of a compassionate heart with kind words and actions, a concern for the well-being of others, a helpful use of our strength, a willingness to wait, seeking to help one another, extending grace to others, and learning how to love in even the most difficult people in the most difficult situations.

Things to Know

* This Week’s Worship – We will meet at our normally scheduled times (8, 9:30, 11am). As with last week, due to a lack of available volunteers because of infections and/or quarantines, we will not have Child Care, Children’s Church, or Sunday School for children or adults. All three services will be live action and the 9:30 and 11am services will be livestreamed – here.

* Wednesday Nights – We are postponing our Wednesday night dinners until January 20 (we were originally going to start January 3) We will only have a family dinner that night. Children and adult programs will resume on February 3rd.

* Our teaching series - “Not Just Another Saturday!” We will continue our 5 week study of WPC’s Code statements. I would encourage you to take a listen to last week’s teaching on “Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing. You can see that here: livestream.

* Thank you for your faithfulness always, but particularly in the month of December. Thanks to the generosity and commitment of our covenant partners, our budget is in good shape at this point. We have also gotten closer to our stewardship goal.

Your friend

Steve Wise

Dear friends,

“And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

- Romans 5:3-5

Christmas is upon us – and this year, more than any other in recent memory for many of us – this Christmas looks and feels a little different. Our celebrations are always different from year to year, but perhaps this year is more different than usual.

Today, our staff will celebrate our annual Christmas lunch together. I will be asking this group of people – for whom I am very thankful and of whom I am very proud – to respond to this one question. What is the one thing they do not want to thank God for this year but know they need to because it has opened the way to experience the love and goodness of God in new ways?

In Paul’s words above, what “tribulations” or “pressures” do they celebrate because of what it has and is producing in them – perseverance, proven character, and hope. But notice the end result is greater than hope, it is the experience of the love of God. As the Passion translation paraphrases it, “And this hope is not a disappointing fantasy, because we can now experience the endless love of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!”

So let me ask you (and you can ask me), what do I celebrate this year that I do not necessarily feel like celebrating but I know that without it, I would not have had a deeper experience of God’s love for me in Jesus?

Worship: Please join us for worship on Sunday either live or via livestream as we celebrate Jesus as the Prince of Peace. If you are worried about services being crowded, our 8am and 11am services have plenty of room for you to come and join us.

Stewardship: As we close out our stewardship season, if you have not had the opportunity to fill out a pledge card for our 2020-2021 budget. You can access one on the Realm via the “Giving” tab on the left side menu.

May you be healthy and joyful in this Christmas season!

Your friend

Steve Wise

Dear friends,

“The most important command is this: ‘Listen, people of Israel! The Lord our God, he is the only Lord. Love the Lord your God. Love him with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second most important command is this: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ These two commands are the most important commands.”

- Jesus, Mark 12:34-40

How are you doing? I have probably never asked or been asked this question as often or with as much sincerity as I have these past nine months. I have probably never answered it or had it answered quite as honestly as I have these past nine months. As we walk through Advent in anticipation of Christmas, a valuable spiritual practice would be to ask Jesus to help us answer this question honestly and in a way that helps us grow in His love for us and our love for Him and others.

In what we call the great commandment, Jesus defines the point and purpose of human life in the context of love and relationships – with God and others. Notice the categories He uses - emotional (heart), psychological (soul), mental (will), physical (strength), and social (relationships). Our life with Jesus encompasses each of these categories. Spiritual growth and maturity involve health in each aspect and across the spectrum of these areas. The spiritual dimension is not a compartment of our lives but the whole.

We can use these words as a check-up of sorts. My doctor usually asks me many questions. We can ask Jesus these questions and ask Him to help us answer them in regard to our own lives.

Emotionally – how am I feeling and how are those feelings creating sadness or skepticism?

Psychological – what do I desire and how is that desire creating frustration or fear?

Mentally – what am I thinking about the most and how are these thoughts creating anger or anxiety?

Physically – how does my body feel and how does it affect my moods and my energy level?

Relationally – how am I treating others in my thoughts, words, & actions?

The deepest question centers on my response to God’s love for me. Jesus is less than 36 hours from His crucifixion when He utters these words. His death and resurrection are the demonstrations of God’s love for us. God loves us with all of His heart, soul, mind, and strength in Jesus. The question this poses is: am I trusting or distrusting God’s goodness and love in my life?

After asking these questions, we can spend some time asking Jesus to help us know His love and then to love Him with all we are and to love others as we love ourselves. May we know the deep love of the Father for us in Jesus. May we learn to love what He loves because He loves us so much. May we learn to love how He loves because He loves us so well.

One final note: Thank you so much for your continued support and involvement with WPC during these difficult days. We are so encouraged by attendance at church, engagement with our livestream, involvement in programs, and the faithfulness and generosity you have displayed. As we conclude our stewardship campaign in the coming weeks, we want to thank those who have made pledges for the upcoming year. If you have not done so, would you consider filling out a pledge card either on-line or by sending in one by mail? We understand these are difficult times for many. We begin our budget planning process in the new year. This information helps us to be good and wise stewards of the resources God entrusts to us.

Your friend

Steve Wise

Dear friends,

The cry, “How long, O Lord,” can be found several places in the book of Psalms – the hymnbook of ancient Israel. That phrase certainly resonates in me as we move into our 9^th month of pandemic. Despite our doors being open for worship and fellowship events happening throughout the fall, the plague has diminished our ability to be together in praise, prayer and partnership. I long for the days when we will be able to joyfully gather without masks and other precautions. 

Perhaps you have entertained or been posed the question, “what have I learned during this pandemic?” Many answers come to mind but I am aware that I am unaware of some lessons I have gained – both positive and negative. The encouraging reality is Jesus teaches us some things while we wait that we may not be able to learn any other way. He wastes nothing!

I offer you another question, posed to me by an elder – what 3 things will I never take for granted again? Perhaps you would answer in regard to time, relationships, or community. My list: Jesus, my family, and our church. Jesus taught me a great deal during this time about Himself, me, and life. I am grateful for the soul work He is doing and helping me do. Fortunately, I have not been cut off from my family and have actually enjoyed the time we have gotten to spend together that a normal busy schedule would not have allowed. Finally, our church has risen to the occasion and shown her true colors in some beautiful ways. We have learned the value of worship and how to trust God to not only meet our needs but to give us an abundance from which to share. 

As we head into Advent, I want to invite you to consider to returning to “live action” worship.  Livestream is a nice option in a pandemic, when we are out of town or someone is sick. However, nothing beats the power of people gathered together in the name of Jesus. Something happens when we are together that cannot happen any other way. We are taking every precaution to make the environment as healthy as possible. For those who have been coming, please continue. For those still uncertain, we hope you will continue to worship with us via livestream and stay connected to us. We need each other!

Your friend

Steve Wise

Dear friends, 

As 2020, “The Year of Fear,” continues to surprise us, I am reminded of how Jesus teaches us to pray by first reminding ourselves of the Father’s love for us and goodness toward us. Then we pray for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done.  We invite him into our world and our worlds. I ran across this prayer from Thomas a Kempis from The Imitation of Christ that I found helpful for these days.

“Grant me, O Lord, 
to know what is worth knowing
to love what is worth loving,
to praise what delights You most,
to value what is precious in Your sight,
to hate what is offensive to You.
Do not let me judge by what I see,
nor pass sentence concerning what I hear,
but to judge rightly between things that differ,
and above all to search out and to do what pleases You
through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

2 things to be aware of:

1) Men’s Breakfast Gathering at Spartanburg High School Fine Arts Center on Saturday November 14 from 8:30-10:00am. Dr. Russell Booker will share with us his experiences as a follower of Jesus, man, husband, father, African-American, educator and leader in our community. Russell is a good friend and I am excited about what he will share with us on Saturday. I hope you will make every effort to be there. Please contact Kirk Johnston at kjs83@outlook.com if you plan to be there so we can have coffee and biscuits.

2) Thanksgiving meal and service on Wednesday night, November 18. Dinner at 5:30 and Worship at 6:30. We will have a time of open sharing for people to express things they are thankful for this past year. Brief statements are welcomed and encouraged.    

Finally, with each passing week I grow ever more thankful for each of you and this church body. I also grow in my desire for us to all be together in worship and fellowship!

Your friend

Steve Wise 

Dear friends,

I am so proud of the fact that for the last 7 months of the pandemic, Westminster has worshipped every Sunday morning in our sanctuary. We have been able to livestream services for people unable to attend. We have worshipped together outside for 5 months. Many people have stepped up to help make this happen!!!

As we head into November, our schedule will need to change largely due to weather. Our staff and session have worked diligently to plan for this next phase of our rebuilding of community. This is not our final stage of rebuilding but it is a step in the right direction.

Please understand our choir will not be available for health reasons until at least the beginning of 2021. As a result, our 11am service will be slightly different for the time being. We hope the addition of some praise music and special music will add to the beauty of our traditional songs and elements.

This schedule offers an early traditional service, a contemporary service, and a later blended service in order to optimize our use of space to enable social distancing.

Starting on this Sunday November 1. (We have ordered you an extra hour of sleep just for the change!)

8:00am – Contemplative service

several hymns, liturgy, sermon (no child-care or livestream)

9:30am – Contemporary Service

praise music, some liturgy, sermon (child-care & livestream)

11:00 – Blended

several hymns, praise music, and/or special music, liturgy, sermon (child care & livestream)

We will continue to require masks and perform temperature checks for health reasons. Thank you for your support, encouragement, and understanding over these last many months and in the months to come.

Your friend

Steve Wise

Dear friends, 

         The 3 most important factors in real estate (or so I have heard) are location, location, location. I would argue that the 3 most important factors in relationships – and in church – is communication, communication, communication! So, in an effort to communicate and at the risk of over-communicating, I write to remind you about our newest worship schedule:

8:00am indoor service with hymns, prayers and a sermon.

Expect this service to last around 45 minutes. For health reasons, masks will be required, temperatures will be checked, and we will practice social distancing. We recognize this may not be ideal and appreciate your patience. 

9:00am outdoor

Expect this service to last 45-60 minutes. Masks not required.

10:30am indoor & live-streamed

This is our live stream service (watch it here). Expect this service to last a little over an hour. For health reasons, masks will be required, temperatures will be checked, and we will practice social distancing. We recognize this may not be ideal and appreciate your patience

I know many of us may not be quite ready to return to large group gatherings for a variety of reasons. I do want to encourage you to keep the habit or re-start the habit of worshipping with us – either live at any of the services or virtually through our live-stream services (watch it here). If you are like me, it has been all to easy to forsake some good habits and pick up some bad ones during the Corona-cation.  One of the key spiritual practices, basic movements, or helpful habits of the spiritual life is fellowship – the art or skill of showing up and staying involved. This is certainly not just corporate worship, but it is certainly not less. As we are beginning to start getting back to some semblance of normal, may be thoughtful in establishing and maintaining habits that help us grow closer to God and one another. I am reminded of this pithy saying –

Sow a thought, reap and action.

Sow an action, reap a habit.

Sow a habit, reap a lifestyle.

Sow a lifestyle, reap a destiny.

Hope to see you Sunday or at least be seen by you!

Your friend,

Steve Wise

Dear friends,

“Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another…” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

We are rebuilding our house. The tornado of February left some gaping holes in our roof and rainwater damaged our ceilings and floors. We are learning that rebuilding requires a good plan, hard work, time and many decisions. Things must be done in order. Steps cannot be skipped. One must keep in mind the purpose – to make it our home again, a place for our family and friends to be together.

As a church, we are not rebuilding our facility but we are rebuilding our community. The Coronavirus forced us out of our place of worship, physical distancing created social distance, and, perhaps, some of us have experienced an erosion in our involvement in our faith community. The storm is not completely over yet. We have begun and continue our efforts to re-engage with one another. It requires a good plan, hard work, time and many decisions. But the purpose is to make and provide spaces for us to fellowship and grow in faith together as spiritually mature followers of Jesus.

I am happy to announce the beginning of another phase of our rebuilding and reengaging efforts.

Worship

Starting on Sunday September 13^th, we will be adding an 8:00am indoor service with hymns, prayers and a sermon. Expect this service to last around 45 minutes. For health reasons, masks will be required, temperatures will be checked, and we will practice social distancing. We recognize this may not be ideal and appreciate your patience.

We will continue our 9:00am outdoor service (masks recommended) and 10:30am indoor (masks required and temperatures checked) service which will be live streamed as well.

Fellowship

Wednesday night dinners will begin again on September 9^th from 5:30-6:15. Dinner will take place in the gym and on the grounds. Children will sit with their families. After dinner, there will be separate programs for our children and adults. Masks will be required as per restaurant and school rules.

Our youth activities will resume the following week – Monday September 14 for high school and Wednesday September 16^th.

More information will be forthcoming regarding these opportunities.

Please consider joining us for these worship services and fellowship opportunities. If you are still unable to join us physically, I invite you to continue to worship with us each Sunday via our livestream.

Your friend

Steve Wise

Dear friends,

In our “Spiritual Pre-Season Training” series entitled “Devoted,” we have been studying the four basic moves, practices or habits of the earliest followers of Jesus. These practices led to personal transformation and community growth. Acts 2:42 tells us they were “continually devoting themselves to the Apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and to prayer.” We have studied their consistent commitment to practicing and forming habits of studying God’s Word, showing up and staying involved, and celebrating the Lord’s Supper. This week we look at the practice of prayer.

The Gospels tell us Jesus prayed as a regular habit, often early in the morning. This impressed the disciples enough to ask Him to teach them how to pray. Jesus responded with what has become known as the “Lord’s Prayer.” This prayer provides us with a model of what we can say to God and about God. It enables us to reset our priorities and realign our purposes with God’s. It guides our thoughts and words regarding the relationships, events, and circumstances of our daily lives. It helps us work through our present needs, our past failures (and the failures of others against us) and our future fears.

This Sunday, we will actually practice this prayer together in the context of our worship service. Our order of service will be built around the Lord’s Prayer. A short teaching on each petition will be followed by prayer, a brief moment of reflection, and then a song of praise. Booklets will be provided at both services to follow along. If you are worshipping via live stream, you can download the booklet here.

I am excited about this opportunity to “practice” prayer together. My hope is that you will be able to take this “drill” and personalize and modify it for your spiritual training. May this be another way that we are strengthened by the Spirit to know the height, depth, breadth and width of the love of Christ and be filled with the very fulness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19)

Your friend

Steve Wise

Dear friends,

Recently I officiated at the funeral of a man from our congregation. His wife asked me to read the following passage from Ephesians 4. Paul writes,

“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. - Ephesians 4:1-6 (NLT)

I am impressed by a man whose wife asks for this passage to be read in regard to his life. I want to be a person for whom these words apply! Wouldn’t you want these words used to describe you?

Paul writes from prison. But even there, he is concerned about living a life that is worth what God has done for us in Jesus. In Jesus, God demonstrates our worth to Him – the blood of His own Son. A worthwhile life reflects the high value God has placed on us.

Paul teaches us that the worthwhile life consists of humility, gentleness, patience, and tolerant love that seeks unity and peace in response to who God is and what God has done for us in Jesus.

- Humility describes a person who has an accurate view of themselves and others. Gospel humility is not a low view of self but a high view of others – as created in the image of God, bought by the blood of Christ, and potential Temples of the Holy Spirit.

- Gentleness can be defined as “power under control.” Greek writers spoke of it as soothing wind, healing medicine, or the breaking of a colt. The New Testament paints it as a graciousness exhibited by inner strength. It is the opposite of haughtiness and harshness. One could call it “love in little things” [William Barclay] or “not needing to force our way in life.” [The Message]

- Patience or longsuffering combines the word for large and desire. Patience requires that we value our relationship with people over our own rights. The Message translates it as “…a willingness to stick with things and people.” Far from passive, it is the powerful capacity of selfless love that keeps moving toward a better goal.

- Tolerant love refers to an attitude of endurance in willing the good of another even at great cost to one’s self. The New Living Translation puts defines it as “making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.”

Such a life builds relationships rather than tears them down, creates peace rather than chaos, and unites us instead of dividing us. Paul quotes a “creed” of sorts showing the importance of good theology. Right theology should lead to right behavior; true worship to true relationships; loving God to loving others. Such a life is built on the solid foundation of who God is as He is revealed in Jesus.

This is the life God calls us to live and works to form in us. We are in a time where we have more than ample opportunities to practice these things. Imagine what it would look like if I responded to the latest conflict in my home or controversy in my community with humility, gentleness, patience, and tolerant love. This is not something I can do by myself. It is not something God will do without me. May we respond to His invitation to learn how well-loved we are by Him so that we may learn to love Him and others well.

Don’t forget to join us this Sunday at our 9am outdoor service or 10:30am indoor/livestream service. For more info, click here.

Your friend

Steve Wise