Church Family Update - June 2, 2020

First, some good news:

Is it possible that it’s June already? How did that happen? Where did May go? The good news is that things are slowly starting to return to semi-normal. My small group is meeting again this week for the first time in months (we’ll be outside and observing social distance!) At our council meeting tonight we are talking about establishing a new protocol for responsibly and carefully re-opening our Sunday morning services. 

And starting next week I’m going to revive the old Coffee with Pastor Jason meetings!! That’s right, starting Thursday, June 11, and every Thursday thereafter, we’re going to get together at 10:00 and drink coffee and talk! Won’t that be fun! Just like old times.

Here are the rules:

1) We will stay outside on the patio the whole time.

2) We’ll be seated at a safe distance.

3) Everyone will have to bring their own coffee

4) You have to bring bad coffee (otherwise it won't feel like an Ebenezer event!)

I look forward to seeing you there!

An item for prayer:

Let’s pray for our farmers today. This is a busy time for them. Some are in their fields and some are still waiting for things to dry out a bit more. Some have been greatly impacted by the current economic situation and others haven’t been affected as much. But all of them need our prayers. Pray for their safety and pray for their crops and pray for their animals and pray for their families. Our society has undergone all kinds of radical changes since biblical times but one thing will never change: we’ll always need farmers. Thanks to each one of you for your hard and faithful work. 

A devotional thought for today:

“But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant.” Matthew 20:26

I’m thinking about leadership today. The reason I’m thinking about leadership because I find it so heartbreaking to see how the lack of good leadership in my home country right now is causing so much pain. When leaders don’t lead well, everyone suffers. 

And what is good leadership? Jesus gave us the perfect definition of leadership both with his words and his example. Good leaders serve. That doesn’t mean they don’t lead. Leaders need to lead. But they need to do so with the humble posture of a servant. Not leading out of self-interest but putting the needs of others in front of themselves. 

Apart from the Bible, my favorite statement about leadership comes from C.S. Lewis’s book, “The Horse and His Boy.” King Lune says this about what it means to be king: “For this is what it means to be a king: to be first in every desperate attack and last in every desperate retreat, and when there’s hunger in the land (as must be now and then in bad years) to wear finer clothes and laugh louder over a scantier meal than any man in your land.”

That quote has been my guide for how I approach leadership. I don’t live up to it. But I try. How about you? In what areas of your life has God given you a position of authority or influence? How are you using those opportunities to be a servant? 

Things would be a lot different in our world right now if our leaders took these words of Jesus to heart. I can’t do much about the failures of other leaders. But what I can do is choose to be a servant today. 

May you find joy in serving others today.

Pastor Jason