Sunday’s
groundbreaking was a great event for our church family. It was
exciting to see so many people gathered together, celebrating this
exciting time for our church! Before I ramble much further, some
thank you’s are in order: to Ray Barnes for his stellar leadership of
our Building Committee, to the Building Committee for their faithfulness
over the long haul, to Chris Jarvis for leading our Church Council and
helping us to make sure we stay focused on the truly important things,
to Dave Jarvis for grabbing the initiative and taking those great
pictures on Sunday, to Debbie Smelser, Mark Smelser, and Susan Castro
for a wonderful lunch, to everyone who turned over some dirt (or tried
to). Thanks to all of you!
Our
DS, Rev. TR Chattin said something striking on Sunday. She said,
“This is the house of God. You are the household of God.”
I think she captured in those few words the emphasis on mission and
ministry that we have talked about maintaining during this phase of
construction. Having a sanctuary of our own will be a tremendous
asset, but the building is only a piece of the plan that God is putting
together at
Christ
Church
- and probably not the most important piece.
The
most important piece is us, the “household of God.” To me,
that means that our fellowship stays strong; that we matter to one
another in good times and bad. It means that our worship is
honoring and glorifying to God; that God’s fame is the end result of
our Sunday morning. It means that our service has meaning and
value; that we serve throughout our community in the name of Jesus
himself. It means that our faith matters, not just during our
small group times, but every moment of every day. It means that we
honor God by finding new ways to do ministry that touch
Frederick
with the power of the Gospel.
To
be the household of God is to be a living, breathing, vibrant, Body.
It is a body that isn’t defined by, contained by, nor constrained by a
building. I’m absolutely thrilled that the construction of our
building is underway. I’m even more ecstatic that this
household, this BODY, is more alive than ever with the spirit of God.
As
the months pass and construction continues, we will most certainly
encounter obstacles. We will need patience and restraint to see
this through to its completion. After the long wait to get to this
point, the 8-10 month time frame for construction will seem like an
eternity. Like any family, we will have times of tension and
stress. But God has plan, and that plan is for our well-being not
for our calamity. God’s plan is about our future.
God
truly is up to something great!
Godspeed,
Pastor John