from our Pastor

Can we become a place where the needs of people are met: where families come to be encouraged, supported, and inspired; where young adults are mentored about the need to be consistent with God in their everyday lives; where language groups are able to come and find help for their speech, comprehension, and socialization issues?  Can we become all things to all people?  Probably not.  Paul, however, said that he sought to become all things to all people so that by some means he might save some.

 

We need to know that there are some out there that God truly would have us to be accountable for.  Maybe there are those who visit who need to be contacted.  Maybe there are those whose lives are in an upset.  Maybe there are family or friends who have been sitting on the sidelines and have forgotten about faith or forgiveness.  The challenge of God is not to remain a spectator, who observes the changing condition of man, but rather a lighthouse of hope to a world headed for a rocky collision; a collision that will be disastrous.  Let your light so shine, don't hide your light under a basket, but rather be a beacon for Life!

 

What a novel idea, a LifeWay.  I suppose some could quaintly claim that they are a part of LifeWay, but they are unwilling to let their light so shine.  They are a part of a building but not a body.  Many do claim to be a part of a location, but their life-statement is something less than a living, current relationship with the Light of the World, Jesus.  People who are hungering and thirsting for life expect, require, demand an authenticity that is vital and measurable.

 

We could easily claim membership in a church, while people desperately need a source that is connected to the power from on high.  The Bible shares: "That in the day of God's power, people will be volunteers"   (Psalm 110:3).

 

Volunteers - ready to be connected to reach a world in need of healing and hope.  I believe that was Jesus' mission of long ago, and I don't think it has changed.  To be a LifeWay is what God has called each of us to be individually and collectively.

 

I believe LifeWay can become that place of healing and hope, but we the people must embrace our part, our mission, and His message.  "If it hadn't been for the Lighthouse, where would this ship be?"

 

In Him,

Pastor Darrell