We Can Make a Difference - Tim Mueller

from Tim Mueller's witness during worship on October 16, 2016

I grew up here at Trinity. Our parents met here and us kids had the opportunity to grow up taking advantage of the children’s and youth programs. 

My wife Julie and I have attended Trinity together since 1985 and were blessed to have had our children Emma and Danny participate in many of the great programs offered by the Children’s and Youth Ministries. Emma continues to work here as the Youth Assistant.

When Pastor Mike asked me to talk during worship, he suggested I consider ‘Why do we give?’ For us, it is really more of a question of ‘How can we not give?’

First, I nurture my faith at Trinity and find this historic Sanctuary a place to connect and cherish the challenging discussions and fellowship in our Sunday School class. Mainly, I am here because of the people at Trinity. I am sincerely inspired by so many of the people here on our staff, lay leadership teams, service and mission groups, amazing Music and Arts Ministry and members who smile and greet each other and visitors with the same warm and welcoming spirit. I’m inspired by some of my closest and dearest friends who we know through our Sunday School class, 2x2s Growing in Faith Together.

I am inspired by the commute most of us make to get to Trinity every week. I’ve heard Trinity referred to as a ‘regional beacon’ and I celebrate this. Over 83% of Trinity members live more than 3 miles from the church. I’m inspired because this takes commitment, and we are all here because we want to be. I believe God is present here and is working through all of us.

I continue to be inspired by some of our members who have been here since I can remember and have had a profound impact on my life. They walk the talk and demonstrate what it means to be a part of the church and support each other through their gifts, presence and active participation. Selfishly, getting my weekly hugs from Anita, Roberta, Joan, Willa, Nancy, Margaret, Liz and others recharges me and gets me ready for the coming week.

I am inspired by our Youth, who in my opinion have more wisdom and input to give than we generally give them credit for. Next Sunday, Oct 23^rd is Youth Sunday, and I encourage everyone to attend as it is one of my favorites of the year. I am inspired by our Young Families and their children with bright smiles, enthusiasm and untethered questions. They are the future of our church. I am inspired by our Young Adults and was fortunate to have made some new friends last spring during the Trinity Runs Colfax event coordinated by Brian Lee. Although older, and certainly slower than most, if not all of them, they welcomed me to participate in the weekly devotions on Thursday evenings. It was a great experience.

The theme of our current campaign is We Can Make a Difference. I believe We Have Made a Difference, We Are Making a Difference and We Can Make a Difference. Our unique location and amazing congregation empowers us to continue to do so. Our financial support translates into staff and the many programs offered, along with the operations and maintenance of our historic and thriving church buildings. Julie and I will participate in Generosity Sunday on Nov. 13 and submit our estimate of giving commitment. We encourage you all to do the same.

God Bless and Thank You,

Tim

Mission Moment - Trinity Runs Colfax

In the Old Testament, the prophet Habakkuk laments to the Lord and asks God to listen and to save his people. God answers Habakkuk by telling him that outsiders will be sent as an act of judgment. Upon hearing this, Habakkuk laments again. God responds to Habakkuk a second time and says:

“Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay. Look at the proud! Their spirit is not right in them, but the righteous live by their faith”

I’m telling you about Habakkuk because I think we may have, at some point, lamented to the Lord about the Sunday road races. In response, it seems that the races keep happening. This year seemed to be the appointed time for us to do something different. This year, the 11th annual Colfax Marathon was held on May 15th, on Pentecost Sunday, the 50th day of Easter. Rather than lament, we lived by our faith as Easter people and found a way to embrace this race, hence Trinity Runs Colfax

●     12 runners of Team Trinity ran a total of 196.5 miles in 37.7 hours (average pace of 11’ 30” per mile). We had 4 runners in the full marathon, 6 runners in the half marathon, 1 runner in the 10-miler, and 1 runner in the 5k.

●     As we ran our race, some of us said prayers for our homebound brothers and sisters. Many of you prayed for us and the thousands of runners running that day.

●     To support the job training programs at Metro Caring and DenUM, I asked if you would be willing to pledge a penny for every mile we ran to give a small gift. Many of you responded. As a result, we have raised nearly $2500 for Metro Caring and DenUM.

●     A small group gathered every Thursday evening at the home of BillieAnne and Jason Kennedy during the weeks of Easter to read the Trial of Miles, Miles of Trials devotion, have a discussion on what it means to be Easter people, and listen to Bruce Springsteen.

●     Emma Mueller and Cami Twilling designed a Trinity Runs Colfax t-shirt. These shirts were worn by our Chancel Choir, Youth, children, and many of you on race day

When I was running in the marathon two weeks ago, I saw a vision on 17th and Broadway. From a block or two away, I saw a bright yellow beacon. As I approached this beacon, I saw a group of children, youth, and adults cheering marathoners with signs and encouraging words. I heard a choir singing and making a joyful noise. I saw a church blessing and being blessed by the community. I saw us.

As your Lay Leader, I hope we celebrate what we’ve done and to rest up. The 12th annual Colfax Marathon will be May 21st, 2017. I’m no Biblical scholar, but I heard that the number 12 is mentioned nearly 190 times in the Bible.

We're Here for Good

By Rev. Jasper Peters, Associate Pastor

In taking steps toward a healthier and more vibrant life, small, meaningful, intentional steps are necessary. At the end of January, our church completed a year-long process of discerning our future. This all-church event was equal parts beginning and end, finalizing the initial discernment, and hopefully launching us into a rich future.

We wanted to share the nuts and bolts of the Vision 2020 process. Here you can view our initial findings, including data, reading material and some early survey results. In this post, my hope is to sketch out the less tangible parts of how the work will proceed. This is, admittedly, more difficult to define. It can be even more difficult to measure. In some ways it is like a vaccine: it might be hard for the casual observer to see effects, but the long term effects on health can be seen and measured.

In January, Trinity Council and your Trinity Staff gathered to begin to put our visioning into practice. We produced a large number of recommended actions. Some of these were small, granular, and are simple to accomplish. Others are large in scale and will require months or years of work to bring to fruition. Large and small, simple and difficult, they were all listed and compiled to form a living document. This document is held and managed by Trinity Council. Through partnership with every area of ministry through our church, the document is and will continue to be a call to action for us, individually and collectively. At the first Council meeting after our Vision was laid out, the church began to work at ways of bringing these dreams to life.

As we go forward, you will probably not see every new initiative or project labeled as “Vision 2020.” As such, I realize that it is reasonable to wonder what was the result or effect of this project. In reality, much like that vaccine, or a regular dose of vitamins, the effect is not always visible, but is important nonetheless. My hope and sustained belief is that the result of Vision 2020 will be seen through the kind of ministry and programming decisions we make as we move forward. Our first, best example of this is the #TrinityRunsColfax2016 project, culminating on Sunday, May 15. Additionally, more new projects, ministry, and service opportunities are being developed and deployed nearly every week! This is an exciting time for our congregation, our city, and the Church as a whole.

Grace and Peace,

Jasper