Sunday, May 26, 2013

Picking up kernels of a broken church

Psalms 119:35
Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.

There are times when one thing is on the minds of the entire congregation. Right now that question is: "what now?."

Let me explain.

The pastor of my church quit recently or as they like to say, "put in his resignation." it's all been really hush-hush. Most of the congregation didn't know the pastor was leaving until the day he left. It left the entire church in a sort of hazy flux asking themselves, "what now?"

So, what do we do now? The answer is simple.

PRAY.

Pray for the pastor that he finds employment elsewhere that more than adequately meets his and his family's needs.

Pray for the church staff that they are blessed and spiritually fed so that they in turn can feed us, the congregation.

Pray for the Deacons. Pray extra hard for this. Pray for discernment on the part of the Deacons so that they use wise discernment in the days and months that follow as they try to find a new direction for the church. Pray that the Deacons find a silver thread on this murky road that lies before them. And pray that this thread leads them to God's Will.

Pray that the congregation plays their part by inviting newcomers and singing the praises of the church to the community and not bad mouthing the situation as it stands now. There is always room for healing.

And lastly, pray for yourself. Pray that you heed God's will for your life and that you follow the signs he leaves for you.

Right now we are all walking on a dark road with a barely working flashlight. We can only see a few feet ahead of us. And as we walk forward we find kernels. Think breadcrumbs. We ask ourselves as we pick up each kernel: is this worthy to keep or part of the deadwood we need to leave behind on our journey?

I pray that the kernels we keep lead us to the cross.

Blessings.

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