The week between Christmas and New Years is one of my favorite weeks of the year. My dad worked as a store manager for Walgreens for most of his life. The weeks before Christmas were his busy time of the year, and our family as a whole rushed from place to place to celebrate like many other families. The week after Christmas always brought quiet, reflection, and much needed family time together. This is now doubly true for my own family since Christmas is still the busy time of year at work.
The week between Christmas and New Years is that week when, hopefully, those words, “all is calm, all is bright,” are realized. The week brings reflection. Reflection brings feelings of accomplishment or regret based on how the past year has gone. If we were to fast forward to the end of 2023 what would we have regrets about? What might have to happen for us to feel accomplished? What needs to happen for Mt. Calvary to have a satisfying and accomplished 2023?
In my first few months at Mt. Calvary, one refrain I have heard from you is that we have to grow. This is a God pleasing desire. It is one rooted in some regrets and some aspirations for the future. I agree that we need to grow. But, why should we grow? Here’s what I mean: we don’t want to grow just to pay the bills with more ease. We want to grow because God is in the business of saving and transforming people. He wants to restore his world. He wants to restore you. We call this the mission of God. We want to grow because God cares about people. He has called his church to care for people. Hopefully, church is a place for people to receive hope, forgiveness, a hand up, and even tough love from time to time.
It is understandable to ask, “how are we going to grow?” I am increasingly convinced that we will grow when we are growing. We will transform lives when we ourselves are transformed. Others will be saved when we take the truth that God has saved us and place it at the core of who we are each and every day. God has saved you from others, from oppressive contemporary life, from the devil, from yourself. We will grow when we are authentically and genuinely different. We will grow when people know us as a place that is radically transformed and different.
This Epiphany season we will be walking through a sermon series called, “The 6 Ps of Mission.” This will explore that question, “Why do we want to grow?” The penitential season of Lent will give us the opportunity to practice the mission more intentionally. Watch for the sermon series, “6 Spiritual Habits Every Christian Should Do.” Additionally, watch for more information about community groups and outside partnerships.
I hope and pray that the year 2023 is decisive for Mt. Calvary. I would like to close with this analogy. If the church is a car, the Holy Spirit is the engine. He powers the church. Vision is in the driver’s seat. Vision determines where we are going. Relationships are in the passenger seat. Relationships are vital for the journey. They are the co-pilot informing the vision. The structure and buildings of the church are in the backseat. They are important but they are tools for the vision. This Spring we will attend to the necessary and important work of structure and buildings (there is a new roof coming!), we will continue to grow in relationship and love for one another, but I hope we will by the power of the Holy Spirit arrive at a vision, a direction, for where we are going. This will require some sacrifice of time and commitment. Please make a renewed effort to attend the next few weeks. This is going to be an all hands on deck process. This is God’s church. This is your church.
In Jesus Service,
Pastor Kurt