May 1, 2025
This past Sunday, nearly 20 folks gathered after worship at 11 am to begin a weekly discussion about the book When Church Stops Working – a Future for Your Congregation beyond More Money, Programs, and Innovation, by Andy Root and Blair Bertrand. One of the initial claims the authors make in the first chapter is that folks, in the church and across wider society, tend to see the present in one of two basic ways: we have lost the bounty of a glorious past and need to reclaim it, or that we’ve always fallen short of the future and need to do better. However, the basic assumption which lies under each of these assertions is that we do not have enough and need more.
But is that truly the case? If we truly accept the claim that God in Christ by the Holy Spirit is the head of the church, then our call, and challenge, is to put our trust in God’s bounty and focus on the abundance that God provides.
As I head into my fifth year at Cross, I think we’re in good position as a community of sisters and brothers in Christ to honestly ask how God has abundantly gifted us, and how might the Holy Spirit be asking, calling, leading us to participate in sharing our gifts with those who truly need them.
In this season of Easter, as we celebrate and remember the resurrection and incarnation of Jesus, how might we let our fears of not enough die so God can raise us, as a community of faith, to new and abundant life?
Pax,
Pastor Scott