St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church

Contact our Web Master

October 24, 2004

Rev. Carol Lawson

I love to read the scriptures! Sometimes I react by saying, "I wish Christ hadn’t said that", or "I want to be like that", or "I wish I had said that". Sometimes the words express just I’m feeling. I’d like to begin using the words Paul wrote to the church at Corinth found in the 2^nd chapter of 1 Corinthians. Although I am changing the words to the present tense, I don’t believe it alters the message:

"I come to you, not with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaim to you the testimony about God… I resolve to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I come to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching are not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on my wisdom, but on God’s power."

Once upon a time, in the heart of the town, there was a very vital church who took very seriously the Great Commission to "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." And the scripture goes on to tell us "the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it." Mark 16: 15 & 20. Well, if they were to go into the world and preach the good news to all, surely that meant as far as the Tulsa city limits. Life had been discovered to exist south of Admiral so the church asked for volunteers to be missionaries, to preach and teach to the heathens living in the country south of downtown Tulsa. As God called them, one by one, they stepped up to the plate and responded, "Here am I, send me." A little band of missionaries, commissioned by Second Presbyterian Church, answered the call. On, Sunday, October 24, 1954, they met together to worship the God they were called to serve and to organize their plan of action. Now one of those missionaries was "heavy with child", in fact, she was ready to deliver at any time. But being the committed Christian that she was (and still is), the Lord’s work came first. She would just have to put off what she wanted to do because doing the will of God was the most important thing in her life. The following day, October 25, she gave thanks for having birthed a healthy, bouncing baby girl. Now in those days, they kept you in the hospital (yes, there were hospitals back then) a little longer than they do now so she probably wasn’t at worship the following Sunday. But I am pretty certain mom and baby were present in worship the next week and continue to be faithful to this day. I am so pleased to have been that baby and although I wasn’t old enough to be listed as a charter member of the church, having been there since the beginning, I’ve always considered myself to be a "charter baby".

It’s so good to be in worship with today which marks the beginning of celebrating 50 years in ministry together! Wow! Fifty years! Who would have thought? One of my shortcomings is that I don’t have a great memory. I don’t know why that is – I just don’t seem to be wired that way. I’m just not like other people in my family. Our oldest brother, Clyde, can remember details about events and I don’t even remember the event. Gary can remember things that occurred before he was even born, and Kathy can clearly recall just about everything in her life (even those she wishes she could forget!). But I just don’t have that gift. It wasn’t easy, but in preparation for today, I strained my little brain remembering my life growing up in this church, serving this family of believers as an adult, and I tried to discern what God would want me to share with you this morning. As I was reflecting I realized that it wasn’t my life that you needed to hear about, but the many lives that have come together to live for Christ. I really do have many wonderful memories and as I paused to recall them and let myself remember all the people I’ve known, things I’ve learned, there was one memory, then another, and pretty soon, the memories just came "swifter and swifter". In fact, there were so many, and they came so fast, I was afraid I would forget some, and I just knew you would want to hear all of them, so I began to write them down. One by one they began to flow out of my memory bank and onto the printed page. By the time I got through I was exhausted but I had quite a list. I went back over the things I had written, stories I wanted to tell, and realized that in order to make more sense out of it all, I needed to start at the very beginning and arrange them in chronological order. I brought my list with me and hope you don’t mind me reading from it as we go back to week one, October 24, 1954 and remember 50 years of ministry. *

Of course, I’m just kidding! But there are many stories to tell, memories to share. I do believe it’s important to know where we’ve been in order to better discern where we are to go in the future, but I really don’t want to dwell too much on the past memories, about the way things were "back then", "the way we used to do it". Instead of dwelling on the "good old days" in the life of the church, it is my prayer that we will remember what we are called to do in the world and that is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we meet our maker, I don’t believe we’ll be asked about the size of our congregation, or how many worship services we attended, but rather, how many people did we bring to the Lord. How many lives did we change?

We should remember the founders of our church, the saints, who selflessly gave of themselves to create a community that creates an environment of caring and learning. And we should be inspired by the willingness of the individuals who answered the call to go into the world preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s not about me (or you), but about Jesus Christ, what he did for us, what he taught us, why he died for us. As a gathered community we are to be about the business of furthering the Kingdom of God.

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church is the instrument to be used to bring non-believers to Christ. Jesus says that the Church’s worship and its program shouldn’t rest on tradition alone but an alignment of outlook and practice that brings his saving and rescuing power to those who are openly searching for some mending in their lives. People in our community have real problems in a real world and we are called to struggle with this as well, whether for our own improvement as individuals, or for the sake of bringing God’s vision and healing to others. If our church is helping people, if human beings are bring rehabilitated for good, if lost souls are again finding a true home and haven within this faith community, then we should be saying with grateful enthusiasm, look what’s happening through our church!

There are many ways this congregation is touching lives, changing lives. Just think of how many people you have touched by every meal you’ve delivered or dished up; every meal you’ve provided to a hungry person who has no place to call home; how many bandages you’ve sent to missionaries who desperately needed them; how many sacks of groceries you’ve handed out to folks in need. The list goes on and on.

As I’ve said, it’s not about me or you (what we have achieved individually). I’d like to share with you two brief examples of how I believe you as a congregation, a body of Christ, truly reflected what it means to be the church to me personally. Just a couple of the many ways my life has been blessed by this church.

Friday, December 26, 1980, we received the news that our baby had been born. A healthy baby girl was about to be one of God’s greatest gifts to Richard and me. Due to the fact that we didn’t have the capability of instant communication like we do now, it took us a couple of days to spread the word that Kathryn Lynn Lawson had been born and would be coming home to us on Monday. Now keep in mind, this was a very special baby! God had finally answered not only our prayers, but also the prayers of this church family and many others. By Sunday, the church was all a-buzz with excitement! I remember Mary Kay Earl telling me she had never seen everyone so excited before and she thought we were going to have to cancel church! But we didn’t. Instead, we gathered right here in this sanctuary and with thankful hearts we praised God for this marvelous gift of life, for bringing our Katie to us.

Seven years later, our "collective" hearts were broken when my dad died suddenly. We were all stunned. He was a pillar of this church and we just didn’t know how to react, what to say, or what to do. Immediately Wednesday night potluck was canceled, and soon after that, the Women’s Association meeting for Thursday was canceled. No one really felt like doing anything. But we did. On Friday, we gathered again, right here in this sanctuary, where we needed to be, surrounded by family and friends, and with thankful hearts we praised God for this marvelous gift of life we had shared - the life of our husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend, Carroll Griffith, one of the original missionaries from Second Church.

You were there for us during one of the most exciting times of our life, and you were there for us as we faced our darkest hours. "To rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep." That’s just what it means to be the church. To be what Christ calls us to be. Now I realize that some of you weren’t part of that, but I’m hoping that somewhere along the way you have (or you will) run into people who are celebrating the birth of a baby or the death of a loved one and I pray that when God calls you to respond you will answer, "here am I, send me."

The words of scripture for today are about the future … From Jeremiah, "I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and give you hope and future." And from Philipians, "he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. As we celebrate 50 years of ministry together and look forward to our future in ministry, I’d like to close with a passage written by Paul, Silas, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians. Remembering that it’s not about me (or you), this is my prayer for you…

"We constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12) Amen.

To navigate through the web site, click on the buttons at the top or on the side of the pages or on any links within the page.  Use your browser's Back button to return to the previous page if that page does not appear in the buttons available.  External hyperlinks should open in a new window - close it to return to this page.