Stewards of the King

Here's a Vimeo of the sermon I delivered at Antioch this past Sunday:

Rick Gerhardt :: Stewards of the King from Antioch Church on Vimeo.

Lunes Nica Update

We've had a couple of great days at the House of Hope. Sunday, after worshipping at the International Christian Fellowship (where our team led the church in an Antioch worship song, Our God Reigns by Justin Lavik), we went to the House of Hope where we played baseball with the kids and then had a pizza party.

Today we did a number of things there, bead sorting (for tomorrow's jewelry making), designing new greeting cards, and tiling the floor of the cafeteria. In the afternoon, part of the team led a workshop with the women and girls that live there, while others played with the little kids, children or grandchildren of some of the residents.

We saw an iguana in the yard this morning, enjoyed a warm rain shower in the afternoon, and are watching an awesome lightning storm (as well as rising lightning bugs) from the veranda this evening.

Eating well, working hard, loving life. Wish you were here.

In Managua

Safe and uneventful trip for our team of eleven from Antioch. While waiting in line for Immigrations at the Managua Airport, all the lights went out. None of the locals seemed much concerned, and power was restored before too long. 80 degrees here at 9:00 in the evening, and not raining (as it has been off and on).

We're very comfortably billeted at the lovely home of the Loftsgard family, once hailing from Bend but now 13 years in Nicaragua. Looking forward tomorrow to a church service, tour of Managua (with mini history lesson), and a tour of House of Hope followed by a pickup baseball game and a pizza party there.

I'll blog about it here, but you can also follow this trip and the Antioch team in Cambodia by going to the Antioch Missions blog.

Why Justice?

I had a chance again last week to answer questions at Redux, Antioch's Q & A service. Here's one of my answers, responding to the question of why Antioch (my church in Bend, Oregon) is so concerned about issues of justice.

Why the Justice Conference? from :redux on Vimeo.

Back from Managua

Well, it seemed like a whirlwind trip, but we're back in Central Oregon after a week in Nicaragua. We learned a great deal, and saw some amazing things that God is doing, transforming people and communities through the local churches and some compassionate long-term missionaries.

As far as service, what we mostly did was help with a powerful ministry to girls being rescued out of prostitution, loved through the healing process, and taught to provide for themselves and their families. Many of these girls have been raped and betrayed into sex slavery at a very young age, and don't know love until they encounter the love of Christ through the women who run and volunteer at House of Hope.

But rather than duplicate effort unnecessarily, let me link you to the blog of my teammate Amanda Wingers, where you will find pictures of these young women and girls, and bit more of the story.

Comeback Victory

(The post below is best read with a British accent.)

Monday evening, the Antioch men's indoor soccer team evened their new season's record at one game apiece with a stunning come-from-behind victory over Fuerza Uno. Trailing 4-1, 5-2, and 7-5, the men in the white jerseys eventually combined commitment to defense, strong open-field passing, and relentless pressure on the opponents' goal to produce a sparkling 8-7 win.

Missing some of its top players, the Antioch side started off tentatively, especially on defense, and found themselves on the wrong side of the ledger throughout the first half. Indeed, the visitors only drew level in the fortieth minute of the (44-minute-long) game and never led until the forty-second minute. They enjoyed balanced scoring, however, with two goals apiece from Emi Popa (on loan from the Romanian league) and Kesh Phillips (seeing his first action of the year), and a hat trick from Nate Gerhardt. With the absence of midfield partner Tyler Fetters, Gerhardt was asked to control the center; he did himself credit, and Phillips, Popa, and steady defender Jason Wilkins helped him to keep the home team continually on their heels in the second half.

Landon Miller added a crucial goal late, and his presence in the opponents' box kept their defenders busy. Antioch also received valuable minutes from newcomer Chris Sterry. Jasper Gerhardt anchored the defense with a gutsy, hard-fought performance, and his telling runs forward repeatedly created scoring opportunities (and two assists) for his mates. Popa's two goals were the critical ones, with the first knotting the score and the second proving to be the game-winner.

Antioch will look to build upon this big win in their next game, Wednesday, January 28th. Some seats are still available for that game (with a 10:10 start time) at the Central Oregon Indoor Soccer Center.

Indoor Soccer

I thought some of my readers might be interested in this sports news from the Central Oregon Indoor Soccer League (Men's A) and the Antioch Church team for which I play goalkeeper and my sons Nathan and Jasper both play.

In the last game of the regular season Wednesday night, the Antioch team surprised the men of Chivas Bend with a strong all-around performance that resulted in a 10-4 drubbing. Chivas, who would go on to win the playoffs the following night, were never in this one, as they trailed 5-0 after a first half in which the Antioch defense played with clinical precision and the offense was firing on all cylinders.

Antioch, a young team beginning to gel at season's end, could do little wrong, and the visitors were reeling under an offensive onslaught. Nathan Gerhardt opened the scoring with a hammered right-footed shot from the left side. Gary Christensen made it 2-nil when he deftly converted a header from the top of the box. When Tyler Fetters slotted home a shot from no less than the midfield stripe, the Antioch fans (Courtney, Joelle, and Krea) went wild.

But the home side was not done. Awarded a free kick in the offensive zone, Nathan Gerhardt caught the Chivas napping (well, actually, busy arguing the call). He back-heeled the ball to his brother Jasper streaking down the right side, who fired it just inside the far post. Brandon Groza volleyed in a cross from Nathan to finish off an inspired first half.

Once the Chivas decided to return after the break, the men of Antioch found the play a bit more balanced, and time and again their defense was put to the test. "Gary played out of this world!" said awestruck keeper Rick Gerhardt. "He personally blocked more shots than I was called on to save." Jasper Gerhardt was also an immovable force in defense, calmly turning away every rebound before the Chivas forwards could reach them.

Nonetheless, the visitors managed to find the goal net three times in quick succession, before Emi Popa made a telling run down the right side and slammed in Antioch's 6th goal of the night. Nathan Gerhardt scored his second of the evening after dribbling through most of the opponent's men, and then a Jasper Gerhardt cross led to an own goal on the part of Chivas' beleagured defense. When Kip Jones notched home a header in the 35th minute (given a nifty pass from Popa), each of Antioch's field players had managed a goal. Chivas would score once more, but Nathan Gerhardt's goal on a breakaway completed his hat trick and the home side's rout. Another goal by Popa set a cap on the victory, despite its being ruled as having crossed the goal line subsequent to the game-ending buzzer.

With this convincing win at the end of the fall campaign, Antioch has shown a promise of even better things to come in the spring, and the team's fans (Courtney, Joelle, and Krea) have every reason to expect great things from future matches.

Art Sunday

This coming Sunday will be the second Art Sunday at our church (in Bend, Oregon), Antioch. A large variety of art--by Antioch folks--will be displayed and available for purchase. And the proceeds will all go toward one or more of our missions endeavors, primarily our partnership in Uganda.

But Art Sunday is more than a fundraiser. It also represents an affirmation of artistry, aesthetics, creativity. Antioch is a church that stands on the truth of historic Christianity and of the biblical worldview. We also recognize, however, that most churches that have cared deeply about doctrinal truth have at the same time marginalized art (and artists). But the historical Christian understanding--upon which a liberal arts education used to be founded--is that there are three laws of the universe against which one cannot fight... goodness, truth, and beauty. At Antioch, we want to maintain the balance represented in that understanding, and so we take time periodically to celebrate the aesthetic and creative dimension of our humanity.

(My artistic contribution to Art Sunday will be one of the ducks pictured above. The larger is a Canvasback drake, and the smaller a Hood Merganser drake, both carved in butternut.)

Wind on the High Desert

At Antioch, we're in a sermon series called Elements. Pastor Ken opened the series last week with "Earth." Today, Brandon Groza challenged us with "Wind." He shared that throughout the Old Testament, the Hebrew word ruach is translated both "wind" and "spirit," and that this "movement of God" (wind/Spirit) has been at work in the world since the beginning. In OT human history, this movement rested on particular people for particular seasons. This Spirit was at work in and through Jesus during His ministry, death and resurrection, and then (in the events at Pentecost recorded in Acts 2) was given permanently to all those who became followers of Christ.

Of course, the Spirit of God is still active 2000 years after the events recorded in the New Testament, and Brandon's challenge was to ask whether we are putting up our sails and allowing God's ruach to move us according to His will, or whether we are piling up barriers to shield ourselves from Him.

To ensure that we keep this challenge fresh in our minds, God has provided our area with a continuous strong barrage of gale-force winds that began last evening and shows no signs of abating. Let's hope He doesn't give us a literal illustration to enforce next week's element, "Fire."

Not of This World

I've listened to great sermons the past two weeks at Antioch. Last week, Pastor Ken Wytsma spoke from James 3, and showed us that the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world are diametrically opposed to one another. Today, from James 4, Brandon Groza explored a related thesis, that we can live according to the world's priorities or according to God's will, not both. If they're not there already, these sermons will soon be available on the website for you to listen to yourself.

Shortly after church this morning, I saw (and not for the first time) a trendy Christian car decal that relates to this topic. It's a decal that always makes me smile. It's an acrostic, the letters NOTW superimposed upon one another, and with the T clearly forming a cross. The message is "not of this world," and represents a personal declaration that the car's owner has grasped the two-kingdoms idea and has chosen to align himself with God's kingdom rather than the world. The great irony (and that which makes me smile) is that if you look closely, there is imbedded in the acrostic symbol a registered trademark--which definitely lends a worldly, materialistic touch that is at odds with the larger symbol's intent.

Art Sunday

At our church, Antioch, we had our first Art Sunday yesterday. It was a celebration of art, in which were featured paintings, photography, pottery, carvings, poetry, and songs primarily by folks from our local body of followers of Christ. It was also a recognition or acknowledgement of the fact that most local churches (or even denominations) today fail to acheive a balance between truth and beauty. There are, of course, churches and denominations calling themselves Christian that still celebrate the arts; many of these, however, care little for right doctrine, for affirming the essential truths that make Christianity what it is. On the other hand, the churches and denominations that stress doctrinal truth tend to have little place for beauty in their buildings or their worship. Such congregations tend to alienate those with great artistic talent. Thus, any particular assembly of Christians can usually be classified (and pretty quickly at that) as either a right-brained church or a left-brained church (where those of the opposite hemisphere are under-appreciated, under-utilized and, as a consequence, under-engaged).

At Antioch, we're trying to be balanced in this regard, to affirm the understanding that both truth and beauty find their ultimate, objective basis in God, who cares deeply about both.

If you missed it, we'll be having an Art Sunday about once every six to eight months.