Thankfulness and Opportunity

I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. (Ephesians 1:16-19)

As I was reading that quote from Ephesians, I kept trying to stop sooner. But it just goes on and on saying important words to us as we continue this journey together. As we approach this month of Thanksgiving, I offer sincere thanks to all of you who are part of our community. Together we continue to seek God’s direction for how we will be faithful to our faithful God.

Remaining faithful to God doesn’t mean we remain static. As the world changes around us, we have to change to meet new challenges and opportunities (emphasis on opportunities). The greatness of God’s power will be at work as together we seek a way forward. And I will continue to give thanks for you as you join the conversation about how we do that.

In other words, change is coming. I’m not saying we’re going to become completely different from what we have been, but we have to adapt so we can continue to serve and witness to God’s love. The hardest part of change is not the change itself, but the anxiety over understanding the what and why. I would encourage you to ask when you don’t understand something that is happening.

I have no interest in upsetting the apple cart just for the chaos that it can cause. But there are some ways we can do better to fulfill God’s mission in this place - or even understanding what that mission is. So we will continue to embrace what God is doing to make things new in our work. Like...a different schedule for Advent.

Together we’ll enjoy the riches of God’s glorious inheritance and experience God’s power.