i am he that comforts you

who are you to be afraid 



“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
-Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

It used to be that churches did mission by going it alone, starting another congregation. These days, the opposite is true. With fewer resources, congregations are having to learn how to work together. To share assets. To combine what we have, so other things are freed up (ideally for mission).
This is a BIG change. It does not come easily. 
It’s deeply embedded in our DNA to want to do our own thing, to be autonomous. Plus, many of us remember the days when each congregation was filled to the gills, when there was no need for collaboration…
Well, those days are past.
That’s a pretty blunt statement, isn’t it? I believe it is true, so I will say it again: those days are past
All those past habits, they threaten to get in the way of doing mission now. Clinging to our old ways. To something that is no longer. To our own little buildings. To our own preferences. To seeing, not just other Christians but lutherans for heavens sake(!), as competition. All that, gets in the way of mission these days. 
Old habits die hard, and that is true. But thank God we have a savior who can work with death! Isn’t it good news that God hasn’t left us the way we used to be? That apparently God has found us worthy of this trial? (2 Thessalonians 1:5)
Here’s the truth, as long as we keep trying to save the life we used to have, we will die. But, perhaps if we stop trying to save our old life, Jesus can make a new thing happen. Isn’t that what Jesus is always doing? Finding people who are dead, and then raising them up to new life?
I didn’t come up with this, by the way. Jesus said is first and better, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” (Mark 8:35)
We’re about to sign a three year contract between Trinity and Faith. This is to share the expenses that comes with a pastor.
This is a big change, and their is anxiety about what that will mean. So, let me tell you frankly, no one on any of the councils (myself included) have any designs. However, we do know that we can’t just keep on doing things the way we’ve always done them
The first step was trying this for a year. The next step is committing to try it for three years. This is both more of a commitment, AND not much of one. Frankly, “contract” is secular language, and I am not wild about it. However, there are those of us who would rather act like a corporation than do something like share a call. Such is life…
This contract will force us to think a little more long-term. This contract will commit us to one another. This contract will free us to look at one another as partners
What comes next? Who knows. That’s God’s business. 
What we do know, though, is that our call is to follow Jesus. We don’t get to call the shots. What comes next? We will only know when God gets there. With, of course, prayer, discussion and discernment. 

So let’s act like this mission is God’s not ours, okay? 
I will, if you will. 

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