Magyar Egyház, 2003 (82. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)
2003-01-01 / 1. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 5. oldal The truth is that basically everybody wants changes, because change is a sign of life. Where changes do not occur, there is not much life and there is not a lot of future either. Change is needed in every church. So, pastor and elders should never give up trying to lead the congregation in making changes. To make changes, but not for the sake of changes, but changes that are geared toward making his church the best it can be in its setting and under the circumstances, rather than trying to force upon it a model of a successful community church on the outskirts of the city. May I indicate a few agents of change: 1. Anchor the future firmly in the congregation's past. There must be some real treasures in that sunken world of the by gone century that inspired our fathers and mothers and grandparents to band themselves together in the church they founded, that still exists. I consider it as one of the greatest privileges of mine to have known them and to have worked with them. I love the statement that says, "God does not ask you to be successful, He just wants you to be faithful". But in God's eye to be faithful is to be successful. By the standards of our society the first generation Hungarian Americans, founders of our churches, would not have been considered successful. Many of them had little education. 1 knew some who did not know how to write or read. They had low paying jobs. But the little income was sufficient for the need of the family and to pay dues in church, Nőegylet and Református Egyesület. They have been found faithful over the biblical "little". Nowadays, much mention is made of the success of the American Hungarian Nobel prize winners. But in God's eyes, the greatest among us will be found those, who being faithful over the biblical "little", laid down the foundation of our churches, of the still flourishing societies and national organizations. Therefore, one agent of change in our congregation may be to keep in your liturgy of Divine worship the inspirational Hymn: "Faith of our fathers living still". 2. Another instrument of change may be in our "business as usual" life: Target friends and former members who simply drifted away. If the church is suspicious of newcomers, wondering what the visitor is doing here, for God's sake and for the strengthening of your congregation, reach out to those former members and friends, who are better known to you, than to the pastor. 3. Rejoice in the "baby steps" the congregation takes. In one of the very few reports I received I read the significant statement: Getting together of two or three in Christ name for Bible study and prayer. For the purpose of being strengthened by each other's faith, please enumerate them as you make your report on the life of your congregation. The most important instrument of change available to each congregation is: Continue to preach the good news of what God has done for us, and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit that is ours through Christ. For God's Word is still and will always remain the greatest transforming agent. I close my opening remarks with the title of my report: The Hungarian Reformed Church in America: God's Tittle Acre. He sees our joys and struggles, blesses our faithfulness and finds delight in our labor which is not in vain in the Lord. Rev. Imre Bertalan EASTER QUOTATIONS It’s not from ars moriendi, the art of dying, but from the ressurrection of Christ that a new and purifying wind can blow through our present world. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from prison ... If God is in Christ (2.Corinthians 5:19), then through his passion Christ brings into the passion history of this world the eternal fellowship of God, and divine justice and righteousness that create life; and he identifies God with the victims of violence. Jurgen Moltman, The Crucified God The easter message tells us that our enemies, sin, the curse and death, are beaten. Ultimetely they can no longer start mischief. They still behave as though the game were not decided, the battle not fought; we must still recon with them, but fundamentally we must cease to fear them any more. Karl Barth, Dogmatics in outline The Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ, and as such the Spirit of the resurrection of the dead. The Spirit of the Father and the Son is the devine quickening power of the creation of all things, the power empowering the rebirth of everything that lives. Jurgen Moltman, The Spirit of Life If the last words of Jesus in Matthew are that he will be with us to the end of time, the last words of Jesus in John may be affirming the final fruit of the ressurrection: a believing community of ChrL.ians will remain until Jesus returns. Raymond E. Brown, A risen Christ in Eastertime The answer is Easter is not a necessity. In reality, there is no inevitable happy ending as there is in perverted and perverting cinemas. But the answer of Easter has become possible precisely because the Christ has been buried. The new life would not really be new life if it did not come from the complete end of old life. Otherwise, it would have to be buried again. But if the new life has come out the grave, then the Messiah Himself has appeared. Paul Tillich, The Shacking of the Foundations
