Church Family Update - August 26, 2020

First, some good news:

Our Executive Council had a productive, joyful and gentle meeting last night! If you have any items you would like discussed at Council please let our clerk know.

Prayer requests: 

I have not been made aware of any new prayer concerns in our church family. In light of last Sunday’s Scripture passage, let’s keep our church Council in our prayers. The Council members serve faithfully and sacrificially amidst the busyness of their own personal schedules and we’re blessed to have such committed servants of the church. Let’s specifically pray for wisdom, energy and unity.

A devotional thought:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” Matthew 13:31-32 

The first church I served as a pastor was in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Right now Kenosha is in the news for all the wrong reasons. Another senseless shooting resulted in violent riots which have in turn led to more shootings and two fatalities. It’s a heartbreaking cycle. And next week it will probably happen all over again in a different city.

Violence begets violence. That’s a fact of human nature. But it’s not the whole story. Grace also begets grace. That’s why the words above from Jesus are so encouraging. In this parable, Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed. 

It’s commonly believed that Jesus was referring to the black mustard plant which begins from a tiny seed but can grow up to eight feet tall. I’m especially encouraged by the implied pace of growth fo this parable. Mustard plants don’t shoot out of the ground instantaneously. They grow slowly and steadily over time. And so it is with the kingdom of heaven. 

Violence often begets violence but grace begets grace. You don’t hear much about it in the news but slowly and surely the gospel message of grace, love and forgiveness is spreading and growing. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness shall not overcome it. 

To be an ambassador for Christ is to be a messenger of grace. It means to be a proclaimer of peace and love in a world of violence and anger. Cycles can change. Patterns of violence can turn into patterns of grace through a simple act of love and forgiveness. 

The kingdom of God is spreading and it will continue to do so. We have Jesus’s word on it. How are we going to participate in the spending of that kingdom this week?       

Have a blessed and gracious day!

Pastor Jason