What an exciting week we will have as we host a Family with Family Promise for the first time in a while. I am so grateful for all who volunteer to help and make our families feel special and welcome. This is the gift of hospitality. Making sure all those who come into your life, no matter how long or short a time that is, feel welcome. More importantly is that in offering hospitality, they feel seen. What a precious gift it is to feel like you matter to someone else. I believe that is what Jesus offered to everyone he met during his lifetime. I think of the women bent over for years that Jesus healed on the Sabbath and for whom the religious leaders didn’t see and even chastised Jesus for “working” on the day of rest. But instead of being locked into the religious laws, Jesus offered the gift of being seen and healed to someone who had been “unseen,” bound to her infirmity for eighteen long years, and now freed by Jesus who saw her.
When we work for the benefit of others, we in essence say to them, we see you…we see your struggles…we are here. And the only way we truly know what someone needs is to sit with them and have a conversation. Ask questions about them and then listen to what they have to say. In our willingness to be a church who hosts families for Family Promise we say to our community members: we see you and we love you enough to open our doors and help.
With our debt now in our past and as we look forward to celebrating paying off our mortgage, I look forward to other ways we can reach out into our community offering hospitality in ways we haven’t even thought about yet, but God has, and I am quite sure God is putting a plan in place right now for our next steps in mission to the central Brevard community.
I want to thank everyone who sent cards, offered a prayer, or in all the ways you ministered to my family in the death of my dad. I can’t begin to tell you how loved I felt. I certainly felt all the prayers sustaining us during the difficult days that followed his death on June 14th. I know there will be days throughout this next year that will take our breath away as dad will not be there with us, but I also know that God will be there with us through it all. My deepest thanks to you all. You are a wonderful and supportive church family.
This Sunday, I will be preaching on the next section in our series, “My Heart: Christ’s Home,” that revolves around “The Study.” The scripture passages will be Ephesians 3:16 – 17 and 1 Samuel 3:8 – 10. I would encourage you to read through those passages before Sunday. 1 Samuel 2 would also be helpful to read as I show how not “studying,” or paying attention to your relationship with God in all things in life can lead to difficulties as I contrast the lives of Samuel and his mentor Eli. I look forward to seeing you all on Sunday.
Until then, may God grant you peace and tranquility.
Peace,
Pastor Beth