Over the summer we instituted a new way of sharing joys and concerns. It’s been a little slow in getting started but there are signs we will get there. If you have a prayer concern and/or a joy that you would like shared with the congregation, please write it down (legibly) on one of the prayer concern cards found in the gathering space. Then get it to one of the ushers or me prior to the beginning of the service. (If you come in late, you can still give it to the ushers and they will get it to me.) I will share your joy and/or concern with the congregation at the appropriate time. What we would like to hear you share during the prayer time is how you have experienced or seen God at work in the past week. We believe it is through these brief testimonies that all of us will come to better know the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
As part of our intentional discipleship process to help us become more used to watching for God in our daily lives and in sharing what we see and/or experience with others we are asking each small group, Bible study, and meeting to begin with a time of having everyone briefly share a God sighting or God experience at the beginning of each gathering. This includes choir, the trustees, the church council, the small groups and Bible studies, Hispanic ministries, the youth group, children’s ministries, and the rest. It may challenge us at the beginning, but as we become more comfortable sharing with each other, we will become more comfortable sharing with those who don’t yet know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
So here’s mine for today. I had the privilege of meeting with a couple who is getting married. They told me they had not been going to church but had discussed it and decided that for their marriage and future family it will be important for them to begin to get involved in a church to help them grow in faith. God had given them this important insight into their need for the support of the Christian community to strengthen their relationship and to make their lives better.
God is with you everywhere and always. Keep your eyes, ears and hearts open so you will see what God is up to and be ready to share what you have seen or experienced.
In Christ’s love,
Pastor Anne