Last week in my Gracevine article I challenged everyone to invite two people to worship at Grace online or in person. I committed to do this myself. Last Saturday, I realized I needed to keep my commitment. So, I wrote our worship times on some of my business cards and I invited two people, neither of whom I had met previously, to worship at Grace. I encountered these people while I was out running household errands. While I do not know whether either person attended, both people seemed very touched to be invited. This made me realize that I need to make this a regular practice. What if we all committed to do this every week? Imagine what might happen with so many genuine invitations to worship. If you are willing to join me in this journey, let’s pray for God to lead us to keep our commitment every week.
I continue to focus on my daily scripture reading and devotional time, and the practice keeps me centered. Necessity really is the mother of invention, and my discipline in this area of my life is borne from my need to stay close to Christ rather than from any personal virtue. Ironically, with much less discretionary time, I am more productive now than I have been in the past.
As Ms. Niki continues with our confirmation classes, please take the time to pray for the confirmation families and to get to know them. Relationships are the key to discipleship growth in our church.
This Sunday, February 5, Pastor Gary will share a message entitled “Being Disruptive” based upon scripture passages Matthew 10: 34-39 and Luke 12. I think you will understand the message title when you read the scriptures, as Jesus offers some challenging and disruptive teaching in these passages. I look forward to Pastor Gary’s insights on this topic, and I know we will be encouraged by his message.
I look forward to seeing you Sunday! I remain grateful to serve as one of your pastors.
Steve Hart