"The C Team: Peter" Series

Ok, once again there are no birthdays or anniversaries to tell you about but I do have one important reminder...revival starts next Sunday and will run through Friday the 21st. Also, don’t forget we will have small "finger" foods....hopefully not made of real fingers on Sunday and a full out potluck on Friday night. So, hopefully everyone can make it for that. Right now I have my work schedule arranged so I will be able to be here and I am looking forward to it. Also, don’t forget about the flyers we have in the back for revival. We only have a week to get the word out so let’s make them all disappear today. If you really want to be annoying go to Wal-Mart and start putting them on the windshields of cars...that really annoys me when people do that. Of course I am kidding...our goal isn’t to annoy people but let’s make the flyers disappear today and put them up where people will notice them.

Second, there is a new list out on the bulletin board...going back to last week it is our "help wanted" list. These are some ideas where you can get plugged in and help out. First, let me say that I appreciate all the work that you do around here. Those of you who clean the building, prepare communion, study for Sunday School lessons, teach our kids...all of these things are very much appreciated. I do not want to seem as if I am downplaying or unappreciative of what goes on around here. I am and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. However, there is much more to be done and to be frank...we need your help. Perhaps number one on the list is I am looking for someone to handle our ministry to Randy and the other Airmen in his unit. It is a pretty simple ministry to get involved in. You simply need to box up the shipment of items and take them to the post office. You will be reimbursed for the postage. The simple fact of the matter is that Anne, being pregnant can’t lift the boxes to take them into the post office and with church, work, and school, I am already pressed for time. So, if you have the time and are willing to take over this ministry then talk to me and I will be happy to turn it over to you. There are other things on the list as well so just let me know and we’ll get you involved and plugged in.

We’re starting a new series today and we are going to start out with a little bit of audience participation....another quiz. You all know that I am a bit of a television watcher...or I used to be...so we’re going to play a little bit of trivia and the question is...what 80’s TV show had these words at the beginning:

In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the…A-Team.

Man, I loved that show when I was a kid. They fired like 3,000 rounds of ammunition an episode...and no one ever got hit...either America was a little bit more innocent then and some would debate me on that....or they were lousy shots. Now, some of you...you have been anxiously awaiting the start of this new series on the apostles and you are asking the question...what in the world does the A-Team have to do with the apostles? Well, I’m going to tell you.

Just by the very name....we assume that the A-Team was the best of the best...after all...they were the "A" Team. But....the apostles...they weren’t the best of the best...so I am calling this series the "C" Team. Think back to school when you were getting grades...what did "C" mean? It meant average...nothing spectacular but nothing horrible either. It meant everyday, average Joe grades. And, that, my friends is exactly what the apostles were....everyday, common, average Joes.

One of my professors in my summer classes...well he took offense to my statement to that affect. He promptly pointed out to me that the apostles were responsible for writing much of the New Testament and for the spread of Christianity....I think I offended him a little bit but....the truth remains...the apostles...all of them....with the exception of Paul....they were not educated past the minimum level.

Rob Bell, who is the founding pastor of Mars Hill church in Michigan, he puts this concept very well. He is an innovator in teaching and has founded a company called Nooma that puts out different DVD’s that are designed to teach in new and innovative ways. In the eighth video his company put out called "Dust", he illustrates how very unexceptional the apostles were.