For all of you who have supported us with prayer and most recently through financial support, we wanted to give you an update.
As you know from the last post our church has been through some stressful times in the recent years. It has been spiritually hard, emotionally painful and financially straining. After you walk through difficult seasons and God allows you to see an area of answered prayer it is an encouragement to the morale. A reminder and that extra push to keep going, to keep persevering.
So, I am excited to announce that two weeks ago we got just that type of answer. Through prayer, and a few months of extra generous giving it was clear that it was time to "bite the bullet", head in to the bank, and pay off the mortgage of our church building 3 years early! Yes, we are debt free as a church. That is huge for a church our size to not have the burden of debt on our hands. If you have ever paid off any kind of loan you know that it frees you up to focus on other matters. In our case it is one less thing to think about in the midst of ministering in and to this community.
Tomorrow evening during our bible study we will have a "burn the mortgage" party and celebrate how God has sustained, shaped and molded our group over the last seven years. Our mortgage being paid off in full being just one example of His provision for us. We will literally burn our mortgage statement as a testimony to God's faithfulness and anticipation as to what the future holds, let's hope nothing else catches on fire!
Some days we still deal with a heavy hearted-ness to think where we are at, and some days we experience gladness for where we are. So often it is a matter of perspective and re-aligning our thoughts with God's word. (I am pretty sure that if amusement parks would have been invented in the apostle Paul's day he would have used some analogy likening ministry to a roller coaster!) At times we walk in to our church and see the pews "half empty", and some Sunday's we see them as "half full".
When we look at them as "half empty" we are reminded of the work still left to do here. God is still on the move redeeming his people and as said in the words of Romans 10:14 "How then will they call on Him who they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?". There is still a mission going on in this little rural town that God has not ended yet.
Through the "half empty" vantage lens we are reminded that "the way" is actually very narrow (smaller numbers tend to make you think about these things) and that not many enter it (Matthew 7:13-14). We are reminded to be thankful that God has been gracious to us and we are to extend that grace and love to others in our community. Smaller numbers has driven us to seek out the Lords perspective on success in a culture where success is heralded as our defining identity. I can't tell you how many messages on success we heard as we were in church plant training. Either they would give the message outright or they would imply that in our churches "numbers" in the door is how we define our success. Yet we see in scripture in scripture that crowds, or numbers, were never something our Lord thought very highly about or put a lot of stock in. He saw right through it and knew that in the midst of much religiosity there were actually very few who were willing to surrender all in regards to following Him. Surrendering all to Jesus meant laying aside their (our) heart's desire for a successful reputation, success in finances, success in family and anything else we have desired above Him. Surrendering all was also a dividing factor between those that were true followers of Jesus and those that were just seeking and following the crowds out of curiosity or any other self centered motives. We personally have had to redefine success in our own hearts and minds and we are learning to be content where the Lord has us and receive our identity and Joy from Him and not anything else. "Learning" being they key word!
On the other days when we walk in to our red carpeted, stained glass windows, Presbyterian styled church with a warm sanctuary, protective walls, fellowship hall, large kitchen, and a church "half full" of people we are reminded that God is our provider. The people in the pew, even if they do not know Jesus personally, have providentially been drawn there to hear his word. His very own words to humanity who are in need of hearing them are proclaimed week in and week out, in season and out of season. We are reminded that people are created in the image of God and they are not a means to our own end. In a consumer driven society we are not to consume people for our own good but to serve others in the name of Jesus, just like Jesus (Matthew 20:28).
We are reminded from the "half full" perspective that it is by Grace that we have been called to serve, one person or many. That it is a privilege to serve for the Lord, and He actually uses it to our good and for our own assurance when we say "yes" to the call. Having even one other person there on Sundays (other than the 10 in our family) reminds us that we are not completely alone on this mission, or in this life. That He has sustained us individually, as a family, and as a church for the last seven years. Whether it is through our own hearts betrayal towards the Lord and others, or others' betrayal towards the Lord and us, we have experienced much Grace.
There is some verses that I continue to come back to in Matthew. They are Matthew 7:21-23 and it is a reminder of why we do what we are doing. Instead of saying to the person who came to Him thinking they were going to hear "Well done good and faithful servant" Jesus says "depart from me I never knew you". I am scared to think about how many people are sitting in so many of the churches out there today (ours included) and are deceived into thinking they will hear one message from the Lord, only to hear the other. The Lord continues to remind us that there is still a mission field here and much of it may be done with in the four walls of our now paid-in-full church building!
To think that He uses ministry as a means for our own sanctification, assurance and relationship with Him as well, makes hard and dry seasons seem purposeful. Our church building is just a minor part in the mission, but a part none the less. So know that for those of you who have supported this ministry in some way shape or form we are very thankful and God is using it. You can always hear sermons or check us out at www.visitlifespring.com and below are some pictures of our church, enjoy!
Miriam
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