1776, DALLAS, MADISONVILLE, HEBREWS, AND YOU

As I watched the official dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Library tonight, I was, once again, in awe of how remarkably unique this picture is in the world - five former leaders and in many cases rivals gathering together to celebrate the office that only they truly grasp. Looking closer at this picture, though, my mind started to wonder what this scene would look like to those men and women who fought the American Revolution. There's no possible way they could have imagined as the went through the countryside of the Atlantic coast states that 230+ years later that a peanut farmer from Georgia, a highly-decorated World War II veteran, a boy from a small town in Arkansas raised by a single mother, the son of that World War II veteran, and a man who was born to parents of different races would someday gather on a college campus in Dallas, Texas to open a library.

Sitting through various highly-productive meetings this week with various committees of the church, remembering that we are not even 15 years into our ministry as a congregation, there is no possible way that we can imagine what God's work will look like here long after we are all gone. The question that all of our leaders - nay, all of us - must wrestle with is simply this: Do we truly believe that we have a future far brighter and greater than we can possibly imagine, and are we willing to do whatever it takes to make that future a possibility?

One of the most memorable verses for me of all the scripture is found in the first verse of the eleventh chapter of Hebrews: "Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for; the conviction of things unseen."

The men and women who fought the American Revolution had faith in their hopes and convictions about that which could not yet be seen, and, while it has ebbed and flowed over the centuries, through their actions lived out their beliefs in such a way that what they did impacts us all today, and brings five very different people together in Dallas on a beautiful spring day.

I'll be asking myself, our staff, our leaders, and each of you as we come upon the beginning of our third year together, simply this: "Are we doing, through our involvement in this congregation in all facets (prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness), preparing for greatness that we will never see in ways that we cannot imagine, having faith in the hope of God through Christ, and convinced that our humble efforts here and now will have a payoff that we cannot see?"

Be sure to not miss any of the important events going on in our congregation's life. Where we may be tempted to see one more calendar-filler, may we maybe take time to look at things from a macro (not micro) viewpoint, trusting that through these ministry opportunities we are building upon our past while creating a past for others to build upon down the road.

See you Sunday!

Lamar