Pastor's Midweek Message

Midweek Message w/o July 6, 2025

Sisters and brothers,

As many of you know, I’m a fan of the Houston Astros. Have been since I was about 8 years old. And yes I’m as amazed as you are that they’re currently leading the AL West by 6½ games. I’ve been to maybe a dozen of their games in my lifetime, mostly road games in DC or Baltimore or even Montreal (back in the day). I’ve got my brick-red 2012 jersey hanging in my office this month; check back next month to see which one I’ll have up. I’m a fan.

Nguyen Le isn’t a fan. He’s a superfan: he and I both started following the Astros when we were 8, but in his case, it was when he emigrated from Vietnam and started becoming American. Over the years, he averages attending over 100 games a year. He’s lost track of how many road and home games he’s attended. He collects Astros artifacts, like an actual first base (still dusted with red dirt), jerseys from players, and so on. He named his first son Ryan, after the amazing Astros pitcher, Nolan Ryan. (He tried to name his second son Nolan, but his wife put a stop to that. So they named him Cooper, as in Cooperstown.)

I’m a fan. Nguyen Le is a follower. I’m aware of how the Astros are doing, and I cheer for them. For Nguyen, they are very much a part of his identity.

Now: how are you and Jesus these days? Are you a fan? Or are you a follower?

This weekend we begin a new sermon series, “Fans to Disciples,” where we’ll wrestle with the question of, what does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? We’ll confront that basic question, of whether we’re just passive fans of Jesus, or if we’re actually following him—loving God and loving neighbor as much as we love ourselves, bringing Christ into the darkest corners of our community—you know, doing the things Jesus said we’re meant to do.

We’ll start this weekend by examining the truth that we’re all being discipled by something. The question is, what’s discipling your life? And how can we learn from the Bible about this question? Then the next week, we’ll move into examining the obstacles to deeper discipleship. There are undoubtedly things in our lives that keep us from following Jesus ever closer: what are they, and how might we overcome them? Later in the series, we’ll hear what’s often called the “parable of the sower,” and hear how it’s really more about the soil than the sower—and how might we become good soil. Finally, we’ll examine what might be a scary word for some, “evangelism,” and explore how we might share our own stories to make a friend, be a friend, and bring a friend to Christ. And I love how we’ll explore evangelism the Sunday before our National Night Out block party, and its hundreds of opportunities for us to witness to the love of God. Funny how God worked that out for us!

Wherever you are on your journey, wherever you are on the spectrum from fan to disciple, I encourage you to be a part of our worship and our series on deepening our discipleship. As I mentioned last week, I think it’s part of what God is always calling us to do—to examine our hearts, to see how closely we’re following God, and where we spot opportunities to follow better, to get going on doing it.

So let’s go.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Eric