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Weekly Devotional

June 25, 2012

God’s Peace be with you all.

Mark 4:35-41  ³⁵ On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side."  ³⁶ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.  ³⁷ A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.  ³⁸ But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"  ³⁹ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.  ⁴⁰ He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?"  ⁴¹ And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

            Yesterday  our Gospel was the above text, and I preached about the fear aspect on this pericope.  For our devotion today, I want you to think about another aspect of this text.  To do so, let me ask you the following question, and you answer it as quick as you can:

Are we a church that is perishing?

Now, if you answered no, good job.  If you hesitated in your answer, or answered yes, then please let me know why you answered this way.  I believe that we are not a church that is perishing.  Why?  Because as I look at our congregation, I see how our focus has shifted from survival mode to outreach mode.  The outcome of that shift is the congregation that we currently have.  We have more involvement in the community (i.e. the current bookbag project we are working on), more people coming to SoG (63 in attendance yesterday!) and our giving is up (averaging over $7000/month).  I see a congregation that strives to do the work of God, and in doing so, continues to be blessed by God.  Our text above though is a good reminder that not all times will be good, and again, as I look at our congregation, we have had our share.  Whether through people moving (hey Doris!), deaths, membership transfers, etc., we have had our down times.  But we have also come out of those times with more good times.  Are there people we miss?  Yes.  Are we excited to see new faces almost every Sunday?  Yes.  Are we a church that is perishing?  No.

In our prayers this week:  The Link Family, Norm, Pat M., Charles Pettit, Daniel, Mike C., Wayne C., Jim A., and Ann.

God’s Peace,