One Sunday night, several years ago, at what was probably then the peak of our church, I was sitting alone in a pew before services and delighting in watching my church family fellowship. I remember such an incredible peace and really loving my church. People were coming in, the musicians were setting up, there was hugging, and laughing - I was just taking it all in and felt so tremendously blessed to be a part of this family. As I was sitting there pondering these things and relishing the love, the friendship, the worship - my thoughts went to the church I had attended as a child and young teen. At the time, it seemed like a vibrant church, too - I don’t know numbers, it was a small church, but I remember having several friends in my Sunday School class and when the sanctuary doors opened, it seemed like people poured out. I had a good time there - even though saying I was a Christian infant gives me too much credit. For whatever reason, my parents quit going there and have only graced the doors of another church since then a hand full of times. I am not sure what happened but by this time, the church looked run down, the pastor’s house next to it was in desperate need, the yard wasn’t being kept up - I wasn’t even sure services were taking place there anymore. I became sad and started wondering what happened to that church - how could it had seemed so full of life and now look so dead. I wondered what was happening to the pastor there and where did all the people go.
Well, church service was now getting ready to start so everyone was finding their place and a couple sat down in front of me. This is a great couple, to this day they are still a part of our church and actively involved - I say that because of what happened next. They were having a conversation and I honestly was not trying to eavesdrop, but couldn’t help it - they were right in front of me. They were talking about another member of our church - in a not so pleasant light - I know they never would have wanted me to hear; or anyone else for that matter - I also believe they never would have wanted to hurt the person they were talking about; they were just conversing between themselves, and right or wrong, I think we have all done this at one time. I am not judging, but IMMEDIATELY my perception of my church crashed around me and I felt God tell me to start praying for the love of my church.
Since that time, A LOT has changed within our church. Our senior pastor and youth pastor were both called away, we have had a change in staff, our numbers decreased, but God has continued His work. We have a new pastor and youth pastor, new staff, and new faces within our family. I’m just now reminded of a verse I read in my devotions today, Isaiah 43:19, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”. I honestly just remembered that - He is so good!
In Revelation 1, Jesus tells us He is in the midst of our churches, He is the head of the church (Colossians 1:18) and in Philippians 1:6, we are told that He who has begun a good work will continue it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Please commit to praying for your church, your pastor, the existing ministries, and new ones God wants to use you for. I’m setting this up for where I think God is leading our church right now - I mentioned in the previous post about recently praying for our church and God showing us how He uses our personal situations to mirror what is taking place on a much larger scale within our churches, or His people. The story above is one of many times since that God has used me or my prayer partners to overhear or witness something within our church that we needed to address in prayer. We are the watchmen on the wall….I will speak more again in a later post, but for now….Pray!
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