WHERE IS GOD IN ALL THIS?
This past Saturday, a group of our youth made a life-changing journey to Baton Rouge to volunteer with the 2013 Louisiana Special Olympics Indoor Games. As you can see from this photo, there was lots of laughter and joy as God used the athletes competing in these events to bless all those from North Cross who participated in this day.
Hearing the stories from all who attended reminded me once again of the joy we have of being part of this great community. The past few weeks, you have seen in worship and our e-mails that there is a lot of activity going on at North Cross. While it is great that we have plenty of opportunities for study, service, community, and worship, it can be easy to lose sight of why all these things are offered.
Those who have read these e-mails for a while know that we are called to live out our faith not as individuals, but as a community of faith.
In all of this, though, there is one thing of which we cannot lose sight - that we worship a God who is in the business of showing up at the most unexpected of places and in the most unexpected of ways.
Just this weekend, we encountered God in some big and small ways, in large groups and small. Here's a list of just a few things that happened within our community, all of which were encounters with our God which happened when people came together:
A sizable group worked with Special Olympians, experiencing God through service to others;
Some visited members who are in the hospital, recovering from surgery or expecting children, sharing in prayer and encouragement in times of pain and uncertainty;
Children and adults of various ages gathered before worship for study and fellowship in Sunday School, being led by staff and volunteers, while welcoming first-time visitors who are looking to move to the area, extending the ministry of hospitality;
We gathered in corporate worship to sing, pray, listen, give, receive the sacrament of holy communion - encountering God in many ways as we come not for our sake, but to praise and worship our creator;
Some of our trustees gathered after worship to take care of a minor issue in the yard, and had the problem fixed by 5:00, using gifts given to them by God to diagnose and fix the problem, and being good stewards of God's resources by finding the right solution at the right price, all while enjoying the fellowship that comes from responding to the Holy's Spirit's call to be in community;
Sixteen of us gathered at 4:30 to continue our journey through Disciple Bible Study, working our way through the scriptures, being surprised, inspired, and challenged by our shared study and the discussion we shared as part of our weekly meetings through a God who has worked for millenia in taking care of God's chosen people in ways we cannot imagine and still wrestle with to this day; and
Our youth and faithful volunteers gathered for food, fun, fellowship, and learning, all in the pursuit of God's will as they seek to live faithfully in a time of life that is very hard in and of itself, much less without responding to God's grace through faith.
And, yes, I am sure this is a partial list, but there are seven ways in less than 48 hours that we can testify to God's presence in our lives and the life of this community through our shared time together, all of which is a result not of our efforts but of God's grace.
There are, to be sure, many times in our lives where it is easy and natural to question the presence of God in the world, much less in our lives. This is why it is so important for us to take advantage of these opportunities for us to be the community of faith together - if for no other reason than to strengthen and encourage one another through reminding each other of the presence of God's grace.
Grace and Peace, Lamar