We are a missional community on a journey with God. There is a dynamic, always emerging quality to our congregational life as we seek to be open to how the Spirit would be calling us to participate in God's mission in the world.
A phrase that has emerged in recent weeks is "Making Room, Creating Space, There's Room for You." My hunch is that God is inviting us to make room in many ways. We have been learning to make room for others God is drawing into the Kingdom and into our church family.
We have been learning about the importance of hospitality--making room at our tables, in our homes. We are learning how to make room for new ministries that emerge and to allow programs and gifts to be flexible enough that we can respond to the Spirit. We are being called to make room for new ideas, new patterns of thinking. All of this is both exciting and risky. We will continue to live into this statement. We have not arrived! May we continue to express the spirit of Mary, who responded, "I am the Lord's servant...may it be to me as you have said."
And as we anticipate another Advent season, we recognize that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. The Gospel is a story of God coming to us in the ordinary dimensions of life. Our missional activity continues to be centered in our worship of God together as a community. Our missional activity emerges from our relationship to Jesus. So we gather each Sunday to celebrate, to retell the story, to enter in as active participants in the drama of salvation. And at the center of the story is a table. On the table is a meal. Jesus is both host and meal at this feast in the Kingdom of God. Our journey will continue to be shaped by our gathering around this meal and then as we are sent to express the generosity of Jesus around common meals, around our ordinary tables. And this will be a sign that the Gospel is taking root in our lives and in our fellowship.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Brian Miller