No one will accuse us of being early adopters. Three years later, the church has joined 600 million users of the Windows 10 Operating System. We’re in the midst of a computer upgrade in the church office which includes new hardware and software. Good-bye, Windows 7 and welcome Windows 10. Our upgrade also includes the newest edition of the Microsoft Office – Office 2016 first introduced in 2015. Pretty cutting edge of us. And, yes, we know there will be church controversy over our continued refusal to switch to Apple. We ask only for mutual forbearance.
I’ve been thinking about this new OS, operating system, and the software update. Apple aficionados, keep reading (and, yes, Snow Leopard, Mountain Lion, El Capitan, High Sierra, and Mojave are much cooler names than 7 or 10 – and let’s not talk about Vista).
The new OS and Office Suite have changed a few things on my computer screen. Some familiar buttons have been moved or renamed, and a feature or two has been replaced with something brand new. I’ve had to click the Help button a couple of times and find it a bit demeaning to do so. But with a couple exceptions, I like the new. It’s better than the old.
My main exception: The new Word program I’m using to compose this post has a “Clarity and Conciseness” feature in the Edit section. As I was writing the post, a dotted underline appeared in the third sentence of the first paragraph. The editor told me I should find a phrase clearer and more concise than “in the midst of.” It suggested “during” or “amid.” I don’t mind the editor checking my spelling, but, if you don’t mind, I’ll stick with my own words. And, Mr. or Ms Editor, your suggestions are bad.
But, again, all in all, new is improved. It’s a good change.
This past Sunday, we received a group of wonderful new members into the life of LPC. Welcome, Julian and Saima, Cathy and Ken, Jon and Jess, and Elena. We’re glad you’re here.
New members are like an upgrade to our operating system; they bring a little bit of change to ways with which we have become comfortable and to which we have grown accustomed.
When new members are received into our community of faith, they affirm or reaffirm their faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. They promise to be faithful disciples and to contribute to the mission and ministry of the church. And then the congregation makes a promise to them. The question is posed:
Do you, the people of the church, promise to receive these new members as fellow travelers on the way of faith, to share with them the good news of the gospel, to learn from them and receive the gifts they bring, and, by your fellowship, to strengthen their family ties with the household of God?
And we all say, “We do!”
New members bring new ideas and new insights; new perspectives and new stories to tell. Bound firmly together by our common faith in Jesus Christ, being of one mind about the essential things of Christian faith, submitting together to the gracious authority of Scripture, we welcome the new, embrace the possibility of doing things differently and maybe just a little bit better.
A Windows operating system is still a Windows operating system, and the upgrade from High Sierra to Mojave is barely perceptible.
I’m glad we’re no longer using Windows 7. I like the new Office Suite, though I may end up turning off the editor’s clarity and conciseness feature.
Receiving new members is part of our life at LPC. God continues to bless us with new friends, fellow sojourners who wish to join our pilgrim band. And every time they do, it’s an upgrade to our fellowship as we fulfill our promise “to learn from them and receiving the gifts they bring.”
Elena, Jess and Jon, Ken and Cathy, Saima and Julian – welcome to the family, we’re glad that you are here. We can hardly wait to get to know you better and see how God is going to use you and your gifts and your love as a system upgrade!
See you all Sunday!