When I took
my motorcycle safety course, I learned that “your wheels follow your
eyes.” If you look at the pothole you
want to avoid, you’ll end up hitting it.
I learned instead to look at the patch of good pavement, and that’s
where my bike would go.
Over the past
several months, our eyes have been on the potholes of our church. We’re very aware of the problems and
difficulties that Old Union is facing, and many of us are worried about the
future of our congregation. But, to
paraphrase my motorcycle instructors, the church follows the eyes. As long as we focus on our church’s
weaknesses and problems, we’ll never get onto the clean pavement. Our ride will keep getting rockier and
rockier. It’s wise to be aware of the
“potholes” around us, but our future lies on the good pavement.
The session
and I encourage you to pay attention to what God is doing in our church. What gifts and opportunities has he given
us? To word it another way, what are we
good at as a congregation? God’s desire
for us is to respond to what he is doing in our church and in the community
around us. He wants us to use the gifts
with which he’s blessed us. He longs for
us to build upon the strengths that we have.
Since
September, the session has been working actively to plan for Old Union’s
future. There’s a good chance it will
look very different from what we’re doing now.
Some of us may be uncomfortable with the plans that God has for the
church. But the session is convinced
that the health of our congregation depends upon following God’s guidance as he
leads us into the unknown.
To move
forward, we first need to know where we are now. You can’t reach a destination without knowing
your starting point. We cannot use the
gifts God has given us if we don’t know what they are. We can’t respond to what God is doing if we
don’t know what he is doing.
The session
wants your help to recognize how God is at work in our church. As always, the best way to learn from God is
through Scripture. Prayerfully consider which
story, or passage, or character from the Bible can help us understand what God
is doing at Old Union. Is there a
passage that captures the spirit of our congregation? Is there someone in the Bible who has been in
a similar position to ours? Is there a
teaching from God that we can take to heart?
Is there a story in Scripture that relates to Old Union? Please make time to discover where God leads
you in Scripture. Remember: we are not
looking for the problems our church has, but for signs of what God is doing and
how he has equipped us.
No later than
January 11, please tell me what Scripture passages you find. Your responses will help the session to
recognize God’s presence and work as it leads us into the future the Lord has
prepared for us.
Peter
