Greetings Church! Happy Fall!

In the cycle of life, we find periods of growth, strength, and success. We also find ourselves at times, mired in periods of decline, weakness, and defeat. In both cycles of life, it is easy to place the burden on ourselves instead of leaning on God’s promise. We place a lot of responsibility on ourselves. When things fail, we take the blame. Likewise, when things go well, we take the credit.

In the life of the church we are no different. For decades, churches have been sold on this idea from some church growth organizations, that if you get a screen, a band, or use upbeat worship, that your church will grow. We tend to look at churches that have a vibrant worship style as growing and thriving. We may see a preacher who can draw hundreds to worship. It is easy to fall into this trap. Don’t get me wrong, I like a peppy worship service, but churches are growing with the old organ and/or the flashy new worship style. They are growing because they feel a connection to each other and to God. Church is the people; people who feel connected in struggles, celebrations, and that there is someone else that is at that same stage of life. Life is hard and lonely at times. People are looking for a relationship to join together in life’s cycles trying to understand the word of God.

As I have been following God’s lead on our scriptural text on Sunday mornings, we honor our past and sustain our present so that we can prepare for our future. I am reminded that Paul shared that Christ needs to be the center of the church, the church needs to be built on the rock. God wants to knit His church together in love, bonded together in peace, united in one faith under one Lord striving in harmony with one accord.

Paul stressed the importance of unity and that the body is one despite having a variety of functions. Each part of the church is important, needed, and essential to work together.

The cross is where life begins, where unity starts and peace envelops. It is now that time in our cycle to carry that cross in 2024 and to the years ahead. What is your gift? What is your connection you can offer? Where do you find importance in this world, or something you want to change? Maybe you want to feed the hungry, end discrimination, or provide a safe place for someone to be who they were meant to be.

As we seek to minister to this community, it will take ALL of us working together. On Sunday Nov, 24th we will be having our commitment Sunday. A time in the service will be given for the leadership to share a vision for 2025, and ways that you can help carry that vision forward.

This is being done so that when future generations look back at us they will say we were a bunch of imperfect people in connection with one another doing our darndest to serve the God of Love, so that no one in this community ever missed the opportunity of His love

I hope and pray that you will join us on this journey as we launch new (not so flashy) opportunities to connect and serve the community we call home.

We Press On together with God’s Love!