What a beautiful hint of Fall is in the air this day! We have finally made it to October, the long summer is passed and Autumn is just around the corner. Twice today I have heard the phrase - "this season in your life." It has caused me to think about what season am I in...and what promise is it leading to? I am in a season of searching, of seeking for God's direction.
One thing about blogging is that I am writing about me and my feelings - I am not writing in the hopes someone will tell me the answers...but rather inviting you into the journey for yourself or along with me. If you see a big rock looming ahead, please don't let me stub my toe, but for the most part I don't write for someone to tell me I'm OK or that I am right or that I'm wrong...but please do tell me what your perspective may be or what you hear God saying....
I am seeking God's direction in finding a vision for ministry and for this church that will transform us into the church God desires. We are standing in history at a time of literally decades of decline. Starting in the 1980's there is a steady decline downward in worship attendance and membership numbers. The world has changed since that time 20 years ago (there is evidence it even began 40 years ago) and the church has not necessarily changed with it. The church is no longer a place where the world looks for answers or comfort or wisdom. We've blown it; our relevancy, our accountability, our trustworthiness have all been lost by the sins of those who came before. So we cannot be a church that exists for itself anymore. If our faith is not strong enough to propel us out into the world to share with others, then it is our obligation to grow that faith, through study, through worship, through sharing with others in small groups. Not a choice, not a worthwhile hobby, not an option, but a must! It is what God asks us to do, it is an expectation of a follower of Christ!
If we do find our faith sufficient to share, then we need to be about ministry that helps the poor, the widowed, the children; ministries that will change their life into disciples that will go and repeat the process for someone else. As lives are changed the world will change.
I pray for a season of hunger and need, so that we may turn to God to satisfy. I pray for a season of anxiety so that we might look beyond the routine to find our comfort. I pray for a season of change so that God's will be done.
As the season of our amazing world changes right before our eyes, I pray that I can change too, into one that can grow and build and share; and reflect the nourishment I've been given (like the autumn leaves), so that the dormant place we find ourselves this day will hold the hope of new life to come. It may be our only hope!
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