Pastor Weekly - 4/23/25

Hello ICC Family!

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing:

Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,

I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God,

through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Philippians 3:13-14 (ESV)

I have been trying to track down the origin of the phrase, “How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time!”  Apparently, the thought behind this saying is so widespread, it is said to have originated on almost every continent.  I saw it attributed to Desmond Tutu of South Africa.  But also to an ancient Chinese philosopher.  And Saint Francis of Assisi as well.  And some American general named Creighton Abrams.  So, while it remains unclear where the saying came from, the idea behind it must be universal.  To get started with a project… to accomplish anything big and difficult, you just have to get started and then make steady progress.  I think that idea reflects Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians in the verses above - to make progress in our discipleship day by day and step by step so that we eventually finish the race and win the prize of heaven.

Eating an elephant is also how I have been thinking about our building upgrades.  When the elders and I started discussing what improvements needed to be made on our church building, it seemed overwhelming - especially given the funds we have available for such things.  But we developed a plan, and determined to begin taking steps towards a refresh.  It started with a new church sign that was installed in December.  Now we have painted the sanctuary and taken down the heavy curtains.  The feedback has been incredibly positive!  And after just taking a couple of steps, the entire project no longer feels so overwhelming.  Progress has been made, which is encouraging and will motivate us to keep going!

My hope is that we can have the same mindset and determination as individuals and as the corporate body when it comes to sharing Jesus.  As we talked about at the beginning of our current sermon series… nobody feels like they evangelize well.  It seems like a daunting task - to share our faith with unbelievers.  A bit like eating an elephant.  Whenever we hear evangelism sermons or talk about it yet again in discipleship… it seems like we are all expected to instantly become a different person.  Every introvert needs to become an extrovert, and every person scared of confrontation needs to become perfectly fine with disagreement and debate.  But changing everything all at once is not how progress is made!  That is why we wanted to try to come up with some simple, bite-size applications for beginning to share Jesus.  Those are our BLESS application points:

B - Begin with Prayer

L - Listen with Care

E - Eat Together

S - Share the Story

S - Serve in Love

Nobody is expecting you to be a Billy Graham.  Nobody is expecting you to bring a new person to church every week.  But we have all been changed by the incredible love and mercy of Jesus.  We know him, and we really do want others to know him as well.  There has to be a way we can do that regularly - even as introverts.  I would ask that you spend some time this week contemplating and praying about how the Lord would have you start eating the elephant of evangelism.  I would suggest that perhaps the first step is for us all to quit thinking about it as if it were an elephant-sized problem.  Sharing Jesus’ love is actually an opportunity - and a blessing - and another way to worship Jesus and give back to him.  Be thinking about some steps you might be able to take.  If you are willing, perhaps we can have a time to share them during the service as we wrap our series this Sunday.

Blessings to you!  And know that I am praying for you!

Pastor Aaron