Church Family Update - September 2, 2020

First, some good news:

We had a productive and joyful council meeting last night. 

As the fall season approaches our council has been in conversation about the coming ministry year. The circumstances of the past 6 months have been unprecedented in our lifetime and it appears these challenging times will stretch on for some time to come. The health concerns presented by COVID have required us to be both flexible and creative in our approach to ministry. 

We place a high value on making sure that everyone in our congregation feels connected and cared for. Now more than ever we need to make sure that concerns are being heard and needs are being met. One way we can achieve this is by making sure that you feel connected to your district elder. 

Every household at Ebenezer has been assigned to a district elder. Sometime in the next couple of weeks you will receive a letter from the church providing you with contact information for your district elder. By way of follow-up you can expect to be contacted by your district elder sometime this fall to see if you have any needs or concerns. 

This is just one small way we're seeking to care for one another during these challenging times. Ultimately our hope and trust are in the Lord. He will guide us through this storm and lead us safely home. 

A devotional thought (and a challenge):

“And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” Isaiah 58:11 

Throughout the Bible, healthy gardens are a sign of life and health and joy and blessing. In the verse above God promises that He will bring us through hard times (scorched places) and make us like a watered garden. As is so often the case with biblical promises, God does not give us a timeline. He doesn’t say when He will make us like a watered garden. But He promises that He will do it. 

I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to walk through the Ebenezer community gardens this year but they’re beautiful. I was walking through the garden last week while I worked on the sermon and I was struck by the fact that our garden is a powerful, living picture of God’s promises to us. 

God will guide us. 

        God will satisfy us. 

        God will make us like a watered garden. 

        He has promised. 

Here’s my challenge to you: Find time next week to come out and visit the Ebenezer garden. It could be on Sunday after the service or some other time during the week. I checked and it looks like the weather will be pretty decent this coming week (I say that with fear and trembling, knowing how quickly the weather changes around here!). 

When you come to the garden, here’s what I encourage you to do: Remember God’s promises to you. Remember that He has promised to guide you and satisfy you and cause you to flourish like a watered garden. Then thank Him for His precious promises. And then pray for our church. Pray that He would guide us and make us like a watered garden. 

If you take this challenge and come out and spend a little time in the garden praying and thanking God, I think that you’ll find that you personally are blessed and our whole church family will be blessed through our prayers. 

Have a blessed day,

Pastor Jason