Hearing the Music

And They're Off

And they're off!  We recently have come through Kentucky Derby and the Preakness season and this weekend is the Indy 500.  In races of this nature it is common to hear the commentator announce the start with the aforementioned phrase.

 I have this phrase on my mind this week with respect to Gracehill and their particularization.  As we have announced, this coming Wednesday, we will host a particularization service on behalf of the Great Lakes Presbytery to officially celebrate the fact that in the Lord's providence Gracehill is moving from church plant status to that of it own stand alone church in the PCA.  It is a great testimony to the Lord's faithfulness that has stayed with this fledgling church since its conception in 2017.  The Lord has navigated this group through ordinary challenges of a church plant along with the extra-ordinary challenges of pastoral changes, location changes and Covid.  The Lord has provided for them financially and with local leadership.  So they stand now, ready to continue on as a particular church.

Part of the reason the phrase "And they're off!" came to mind is that, like a wedding ceremony, this service is not the end of the road for Gracehill, but rather it is a new beginning.  It is our prayer that they will continue as a faithful church well into the future, preaching the word, administering the sacraments, practicing hospitality, drawing hurting, confused and needy people to the sweetness of a relationship with Jesus. 

It is to this end that even as we celebrate this milestone with Gracehill, we want to remain committed to church planting.  As the American landscape adjusts to in excess of 40 million de-churched people in the last decade, having fresh Gospel centered, grace motivated, well governed churches is essential in inviting people to return to church or to even try it for the first time.

Photo by Fábio Alves on Unsplash

What Makes the Church the Church

This Sunday we wrap up our Sunday school offerings for the school year as we embrace our rhythms of work and rest. It is appropriate, as we pause, to take a moment to appreciate all those who serve on a regular basis, because they are really what makes the church the church. Sunday to Sunday there are folks that you see: doing music, greeting, teaching, cleaning up, etc... But there are many more serving that are rarely seen: in the nursery, the sound booth, in our children’s ministry, more cleaning, feeding college students, etc... Without the various members of the body pulling together, on Sundays and throughout the week, the church simply wouldn’t be the church. 

While every function of the body is important, training up the “next generation” is among the most crucial things that a church does. As we pass down the tenets of the faith to our kids, we not only connect them to the most vital truths of the universe, but we ensure that a witness that will continue long after we ourselves are gone. However, children’s ministry is also one of the most labor intensive activities of the church. Recently Debbie Bukovietski, our beloved Children’s Ministry director, reminded us that on any given Sunday morning we have greater than 100 souls to account for between the ages of birth to 10. Over the course of a Sunday morning, nurseries, Sunday School and Christ Kids Worship all function with a predominantly volunteer work force. Praise the Lord for the way that He has provided for these needs through you! Let us continue to pray that we will have the collective zeal for this work as we look through the summer towards the fall!

Whether it is the children among us or engaging those with disabilities or the wounded or the lonely, we follow our Savior outside the camp where the needy are. It will be this theme of following the Savior outside the camp that will be our focus in this penultima study in Hebrews (cf. 13:7-21). Ultimately it is among the needy that we will all be found!

Presence

As some of you heard, this past week we had to put down our faithful companion of 14 years, Daisy.  While the rational side of the brain knows that it was the right thing to do, for her and for our sanity, the reality is she is missed. Daisy was a great lookout at the window and greeter of guests. She loved to take walks, threaten local squirrels and stand proudly astride the bike cart as the wind whipped her ears back. But what I miss most is her presence. I can't tell you how many times in the last few days I have instinctively looked for her, moved my feet for her, thought I heard her, went to close the door so she wouldn't get out, etc ... only to realize she was no longer present.

The negative space, i.e. missing her presence, has highlighted for me a Presence that I may at times overlook, but will never go away. Listen to how David, a man who knew life on the run, put it: "Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. (Psalm 139:7–10)". It will be many a morning until I forget what I am missing with Daisy gone, but I will let that loss remind me of the Presence I will never lose.

We are coming into the home stretch with the book of Hebrews. This week we finish out chapter 12 and take up the first 6 verses of chapter 13 (Hebrews 12:25-13:6). Here the preacher leverages the high theology he has been expounding into incredibly practical applications - be hospitable, care for prisoners, maintain a sexual ethic, and be content with what you have. It may be just me, but it seems pretty relevant for today!