Ambassador Presbyterian Church

At Christmas we celebrate God’s greatest gift, the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  And because of his birth, death and resurrection, we too have been given gifts with which to honor Christ and serve others. God has brought together the gifts of one of our members in a way that promises both to honor God and bless his people.  Clinton Knight has used his artistic love for organ music, his technical knowledge of computers, and his affection and appreciation for his father, the late James Knight, to undertake an amazing project to retrofit a beautiful pipe organ console into a magnificent digital instrument.  

The story of this organ has too many incredible facets to be told in a short email.  You can learn more about it and follow the detailed progress over the last four years at Clinton’s blog on the project: http://homepage.mac.com/clintonk/iblog/B505170200/index.html.   However, you will have the opportunity to see and hear first hand the results of Clinton’s work as the Knights will donate the organ to Ambassador for the new building, in memory of Clinton’s father.  The features and sound will give us another amazing musical medium with which to praise our mighty God in song.   

If you plan on attending the Knights Christmas drop-in this Saturday afternoon.  You will have the benefit of getting a preview of the organ’s ability as Clinton will lead in some Christmas hymns on the instrument, currently housed in his garage.  We are very thankful not only for the amazing gift this instrument will be to our church in terms of worship, but also for the wonderful gifts of God’s people to bring glory and honor to Him. 

Last Sunday, we enjoyed hearing from the Mexico Mission Trip team members over a pot-luck lunch.  Enjoy some pics:

Here are pictures that I took today. Enjoy!

(Click on images for larger view.)

Don't worry, that column will be upright before we move in.

The View from the Soundbooth

7.19.09 Tech Committee Meeting

The tech committee meeting yesterday was a great opportunity for me to step in to the new building…especially since the last time I was on site, there was nothing to step in to.  But now there are walls!…and a roof!

It’s so exciting to see the location begin to take shape.  If you find yourself with a few minutes to stop by a take a look, I say go for it!

Well, so much for frequent blog posts. We’ve just returned to Apex after being away for three weeks and it’s good to be home. After our mission trip to Mexico, we joined my whole family at Fripp Island (our favorite beach) in S.C. Over the years I’ve developed what I call a “theology of place” which is to say that there are certain places where God ministers to my soul simply by my being there in that place. Our week with family at Fripp Island is one of those places. We have been going there for over 20 years, and it reminds me of Rivendell in J.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, a place of beauty, peace, and retreat. Although our time there was filled with activities, it is always a refreshing week.

After Fripp, we stayed on in Beaufort for a week to spend time with my mom and dad. As many of you know, my mom’s health is in rapid decline with a rare brain disease similar to Alzheimers. She has lost almost all motor functions and her ability to communicate is very limited. How thankful I am to God and to my church family Ambassador for allowing me the chance to spend this week with her. There were special moments that I will cherish forever, like singing some of her favorite songs and “dancing” with her which consisted of helping her stand up and then swinging our arms together and shuffling our feet. My mom loved to dance, and these short but sweet encounters were a reminder of life’s little joys. Her faith and grace in the midst of suffering and utter dependence will always remind me of my own total dependence and trust in God. It was also a time to encourage and spend time with my dad who has loved my mom faithfully for almost sixty years and continues to do so. In a day when vows to love for better or worse, in sickness and health are cast aside like so many empty promises, I’m thankful for my parent’s model of faithful love to the end, a love rooted in God’s grace.

While we were with my parents, Cathy and I spent a good deal of time going through boxes of old papers and records that had accumulated over the years. Talk about a walk through history! There were letters and accounts from my great grandparents dated in the 1870’s. There were handwritten letters from my grandmother to my grandfather and from my dad to his parents during his first year of college. There were pictures from all these periods including many of family members I only knew by name. We came across a note from my grandmother to my mom written on the day I was born. It was truly a magical history tour for us. It also reminded me of the value of the written word. In our day of electronic communication, we can stay in touch almost instantaneously, but will there be a record of our lives for our grandchildren and great grandchildren to go through. Will anyone read our blog posts or emails 150 years from now? Will they even exist other than in some distant server in Silicon Valley or RTP? Maybe they will. But holding those original handwritten letters, untouched and unedited, opened up a glimpse into the lives of those who came before me that made me think of Hebrews 11 & 12. I’m hope to resharpen my pen and paper skills.

It’s good to be back at home, and I look forward to being back in worship with our church family this Sunday.

We had the opportunity this past week to go rafting and camping in the mountains together as a family. After a full day of running the rapids, we found a wonderful camp site beside a beautiful mountain stream. As, I sat by the campfire early on a chilly morning, there in front of me stood a tall tree sitting alone on a very small island cut out of the bank. I wondered how such a large tree could grow on such a small patch of ground with rushing water constantly flowing on all sides. The trees roots have obviously grown deep in the fertile, well-watered ground and thus it stands strong and tall, branches bursting green with life. I couldn’t help but think of Psalm 1 where God speaks of the blessed man whose delight is in God’s Word. “He is like a tree planted by streams of water.”

The first week of my sabbatical has been one of adjustment. The past twelve years I’ve been on the rapidly flowing river of pastoral ministry which has brought countless moments of great joy as well as a few opportunities to simply hang on and ride it out. To step off of that river and onto the bank to rest, to reflect on God’s beauty, power, creativity, and goodness and to sink the roots of my heart deeper into his grace and love in Christ has taken time. I feel a bit like Martha, trying to set her cooking and cleaning aside to sit with Mary at Jesus’ feet. Not an easy task, but much needed. That morning by the stream was a turning point of sorts, a move off the river to be planted by the stream of God’s everflowing grace. I’m eternally grateful to my church family for allowing me time to further rooted and growing in Christ. We appreciate your prayers and look forward to what God has in store in the coming weeks.