Hello Church Family,
I hope that you are doing well and having a great week. It was awesome yesterday to see Pastor Josh preach from the inside of our church building officially as our senior pastor. God has been so good to us to place our new pastor here in the midst of one of the biggest challenges to face the Church in many years. I am thankful as I know you are too that God has blessed us with this man to shepherd our congregation.
I just wanted to share one simple verse with you, but one that is so meaningful to where we are in our world today. Ephesians 4:16 says, “From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” We are the church and we are joined together by Christ. It would be easy in a time like us for us to become disjointed, but I truly feel that we are more connected than ever. I am hearing from so many of our leaders and church members that connection is happening everywhere and in many ways. It may be a phone call, a Facetime call, a quick drop by, a card, a note, or other means, but the church is staying connected and probably more so than ever. I believe that there are some in our nation’s leadership who thought that they would silence the church during this time, by not allowing us to meet, but I think it has made us stronger. The Church is united because Christ has joined us together and He is holding onto us in His strong right hand. I love the next part of the verse that says the body is growing and building itself up because of love. WOW!!! This is so true. Right now, I feel and see more love coming from God’s people towards God’s people than I can ever remember. We have to continue to show love for one another and do it more so as this “stay at home” time carries on and wears on us more and more. The last phrase is equally meaningful as it says, “as each part does it work”. That means that all us can do our part to show the love of Christ and to keep the connection going.
What is your part? It may be checking on your neighbor today. It may be sending a note in the mail. I was talking to a gentleman in my office Wednesday and he shared with me he just went to the post office to buy stamps, because of the number of cards his wife was sending out to people. That is a tremendous ministry. You may consider calling someone in your Life Group or calling someone in a video chat just so they are making a connection. We can all do our part, we can all share in this work. Let me just say as I close, how encouraged I am by all of you. Thank-you for being the body of Christ and thank-you for sharing His love in these difficult times. I am so thankful to be part of this body.
Have a great week.
Mike Summy
Children's Pastor