Tuesday, April 5, 2011

SOMETIMES THEY GET IT!

Do you want to know what stirs a pastor's heart more than almost anything; that thing that causes us to say "Yes, this is why I'm still in ministry." It's when someone in the pew comes to you and says, "I get it, God's moving in my life and I'm going to do something about it." I had that experience today and my heart is overflowing with joy. I was asked to fill out a missions recommendation form so that one of our members could be on mission with God in a medical missions ministry. It's a person who said they are tired of setting in a pew, and they just can't do it anymore. They have to get busy for God!
Praise the Lord. This is the message God has been burning in our church for the past three months. Sunday we had a guest speaker, Dr. Phil Young from the TBC who challenged our church to be a missional church, that is, a church that is a biblical community of Christ followers sent to live out the mission of God. Preaching from John 9, Phil showed that the biblical ministry of Jesus was incarnational, intentional, indigenous, and made a strong impact on the local community. The church is called to do the same. It was a powerful and challenging message.
Sometimes even the best messages elicit very little response, but I knew the message had struck a never when our member came to me after the service and said, "I need to talk to you this week." Sometimes that's not something I like to hear, but in this case, I knew God was behind it. And he was.
I'm thankful for what God is doing in Magna View. We've gone through a lot of changes and transitions over the last several years. It's not been easy, but it's been good. And I know God isn't through changing us. I pray and I believe He is shaping us into a church that has a local and world-wide impact for Him. I believe we're just beginning to see a great work of God.