So...WELCOME to worship...

and there are cups of cold water available for

everyone to enjoy after worship, just outside the Chapel!

I am Brenda Greenwald, and I have been answering my call to a life in Christ

since that March day, way back in 1979, where I was splashed with the waters
of baptism. Ya dont live in a city like Sheboygan, Wisconsin, ya know, right
down there by the big, ole lake, you betcha, without being ever-reminded of
the waters of Baptism, and the promises they hold. And Baptism has had a
hold on me ever since.

My parents, my grandparents, my church leaders they all fulfilled those

promises of placing the Scriptures in my hands and teaching me the Creeds
and prayers. I learned through STORY, and I certainly learned through SONG.

Come to think of it, most things I learned during those early, faith-forming days
were set to MUSIC. Probably, not too surprising!

To this day, if I need to locate a book in the Bible, youll hear me singing
through the song: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers Deuteronomy...
Nothing like those Wee Sing Songbooks to help one remember those simple
stories of faith.

Honestly, my entire faith-life has been SUNG just like the Psalm we just read,
I will sing of your steadfast love, O LORD, forever. Clearly, Ive taken this part
of my call to heart and Ive been singing or playing the piano ever-since.
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Id crack open the Hymn Books while sitting on my piano bench, and just play
hymn after hymn, singing through the verses, playing through the tunes. This
is my STORY, this is my SONG....praising my Savior all the day long!

Well, a call story is just that: a STORY. A mapping out of all of these little
details that SOMEHOW add up to make some sort of sense.

Its the space in-between all of these many points that is filled with the Spirit
this Spirit we call Holy THAT Spirit is what connects all of these seemingly
disconnected moments and shapes ones call.

Ive heard of the struck by lightning one day stories, of how God zapped
someone into service, but for me, its been more of an ACCUMULATION.
A collection of each choice, each breath that allowed me to awaken to this life
lived with Christ.

Ive been answering my call since the early days of Mission Trips and 30 Hour
Famines, church lock-ins and Vacation Bible School.

Moments shared discovering the difference between

LEARNING a faith and LIVING a faith.

Time spent figuring out how to be a young, Christian woman...

...even when no one was watching!

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Ive been answering my call to a life in Christ since those college days where I
served as a designated driver. Helping a neighbor, and in my case, my next-
door neighbor, was the loving thing to do. By literally answering THEIR call at
2am in the morning, I was answering Gods call to me to watch out for the
other, the lost, the lonely....and apparently, the inebriated.

Now, lets be real: this call process can be downright confusing to both non-
churchy and church people alike.

So, youll be hired. Well, yes, but only after prayerful consideration
and conversation.

So, Youll be interviewed to see if you get the job,

and THEN theyll call you to let you know you have it.
Well yes, but the Call is more of a sense of purpose
and how you can lead in ministry.

So a CALL is a hobby or passion

Well, it can be...AND...its a leading or directing from
God to live out Gods mission here on earth.

See what I mean!? Its been a kick to try and explain and yet, its a joy to talk
about - a joy to try and figure out. Ones call story IS important it really is the
realization that you simply cannot NOT be doing ministry.

You are drawn --- you are compelled --- you are CALLED into a life
that puts the love of Christ and others FIRST.

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I never really resisted my call into ministry I just had to take some time to
discern WHICH call and WHICH ministry to live into. I taught thousands of
elementary school children all about the joys of music for 14 years...and quite
honestly, if youd have asked me if I wanted to return to the classroom during,
say, my first semester of Biblical Greek, why, you would have received a hearty
YES! Be there tomorrow!

I took time to question whether I should remain a music teacher who just
happens to be a super-involved Church Lady... O R ....was I supposed to be
something more intentional when it came to my life in the Church.
I read all the books about discerning a path in ministry.
I listened to all of the people who kindly said Id make a solid Pastor.
It was an incredibly affirming time.
It was an incredibly CONFUSING time.

I dont know if youve ever had to deeply discern something, but it is the
muddiest, murkiest of times. I thought I was losing it! Was God giving me an
answer...or was that just the voice in my head? CHAOS.

I remember standing in my school library, looking around at all of the kids

ridiculously cute artwork on the shelves, thinking There is NO WAY I could
ever leave these children. Those little ones WERE my first call! Our classroom
was full of all the principles and truths that we find at the heart of the Gospel.
My children genuinely loved one another. They were filled with faith in the
power of music. Their hope and innocence and joy taught ME.
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And yet....I could never fully capture the heart of JESUS in a public-school
classroom. I mean, I could get by with singing songs like Joshua Fit the Battle
of Jericho and 8 Nights of Hanukkah everyone once in a while, but there are
just so many ways one can teach about Spirituals....without being able to
mention THE SPIRIT!

Two things pushed me more and more toward Pastoral Ministry and away
from the classroom: (1) One was the concern of money. Once I got past the
fact that I was going to be setting aside the security that came with a paycheck
and trusting in God FULLY, money was no longer a mental stumbling block.

(2) And the other concern was that it felt like my kids were beginning to
worship Ms. G. Thats what they called me. I LOVED hearing Ms. G.....but
then it was beginning to feel too worldly, almost sacrilegious. As someone who
yearned to put God first ALWAYS, I realized this Ms. G was actually getting in
the way of that connection. They were putting their Ms. G above all, and that
didnt feel right at all. I needed to somehow put a stop to that.

In the final stages of my discernment about whether to stay put or head to

Seminary, I kept hearing a particular song on the radio Lord, I Need You by
Matt Maher, a modern version of I Need Thee Every Hour. Each time I heard it,
Id picture me singing it to GOD, as if I was on my knees in prayer. I need you,
Oh, I need you. Every hour, I need you. My one defense, my righteousness, Oh
God, how I need you.

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So, one night, driving back from a school event down in Castle Rock, I turned
on the radio, and this song was playing. But THIS particular time, the song was
already in progress. The first word, Lord was MISSING, having already been
sung, and it just started at I need you, Oh, I need you I heard it differently, as if
the roles were reversed, and instead of ME praying to GOD, GOD was talking to
ME! I need YOU, Brenda Lynn. Hmm. I need God as much as God needs me. I
couldnt argue with that!

Life is FULL of hard choices and HEART choices. THIS was a choice involving
both: My call is affirmed in that moment when Im cantoring in front of the
church...and I sing a refrain that can ONLY be completed by the congregants
and Children of God in the seats before me.

Im called to ministry every time I shared the body and blood of Christ beside
Ruby, a 96-year-old woman who was homebound. By NOT filling the quiet
space with my yapping and letting the SPIRIT fill the space...THAT is me saying
YES to this call.

My life in ministry calls out to me when I spend an evening beside a family as

their loved one slowly dies in the ICU.

With the rawest of unexplainable emotions and uncomfortable moments

just permeating the room - when I can just SIT there, without the faintest
thought of fleeing, I know Im saying yes to my call.

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So, here I am: halfway done with my Seminary education (PRAISE BE).

I arrive in exactly 30 days to serve my 1-year Internship at a fantastic Church

AND SCHOOL in Torrance, CA.

Then its back to Berkeley for 1 more year of schooling.

After that, God-willing, I will be CALLED into service at a church.

Yes, Ill be interviewed.

Yes, Ill be hired.
Yes, its my passion, but more importantly...
This is my STORY, this is my SONG....
...praising my Savior all the day long!

AMEN