Sunday Reflections
God be praised for another day and week celebrating the presence of Christ; and fellowshipping with His saints. This past Lord’s Day and week have been both phenomenal and busy. December has, for our congregation, been a time of rest. Well….atleast that was the intention. We canceled all church activities for the entire month of December. My sentiment was this: “We will hit the ground running in 2015.” Passing the halfway mark of January, I can attest to the fact that this was and is true in the case of our congregation! I have adopted something I began years ago in my first pastorate—instituting in our church a theme/emphasis for each month. January has been our “Month of Renewal.” While this is not a new concept to myself; it is fairly new to our congregation. I suppose it is typically an unspoken…for January, in the least. Most people try to begin the new year in renewal. This month I have decided to forego our typical Spring Revival; and have decided to do a local concept of “Wednesdays in the Word.” During our regular midweek activities, we have canceled our regular activities; and we have invited a Pastor and Congregation for one of our sister churches to be with us throughout the month of January, each Wednesday night. This has been phenomenal!!! Thus far, we have been blessed tremendously. This past Wednesday, Rev. Kevin VanHook, Sr., and the St. Peter’s Church of Victoria were our special guests.
Since the new year began, I’ve been led to share from the Book of Joshua. My major emphasis has been to show how God has called the Body of Christ to transition in the midst of the recurring changes in our world. Pastoring a congregation that will celebrate 144 years in a few months, I envision seeing our church ‘age gracefully.’ On this past Lord’s Day, I shared from Joshua 2:9-19.
Here is the outline:
Title: How God Uses Trouble
I. God uses the unlikely, Vs. 1
II. God uses the what’s available, vss. 2-7
III. God uses our faith, vss. 8-16
IV. God uses us where we are, vss. 17-21
I somewhat enjoyed preaching this passage that recounts the steps of Rahab; and how God uses her to make an eternal impact on a generation. But I would have enjoyed sharing it much more had I better utilized my study time throughout the week. Unfortunately, my time was spent earlier in the week doing other things that vied for my attention and focus. Fortunately, God is faithful to His Word, and not my human deficiency.
This has been an unusual time in the life of our church and for me personally. Personally, I am trying to organize my own personal spaces in order to be more free to function and become more effective in all aspects of what I seek to accomplish in 2015. 2014 was a good year; but a rough year! I want to be more organized and functional this year. In addition to completing the 2015 Program Plan (Annual Booklet/Pamphlet that contains the pastoral vision, mission of our congregation, calendar, etc.), I am trying to work on submitting my application for Board Certified Chaplaincy while also submitting my doctoral application prior to deadline. Can you say “Torture”?
It is an unusual time for our church because growth, for us, is possible…but there are natural roadblocks to this growth, as with any congregation over a hundred years of age. At the end of 2014, I was faced with a real dilemma – do I continue to ignore the things that must be altered for the sake of unity and harmony (even though it isn’t growing us) or do I confront the challenges head-on and assume the position of Pastor, knowing God’s vision is our preferring future. Well…whatever else I know about myself, I know that if I continued to do the former, I would eventually surrender and move on. And that if I would do the latter, there would be possible backlash; but the end result would bring about the growth that God envisions for us, and a place I would enjoy pastoring all the more. Well…I’ve begun the process of the latter. Already, I have begun to see the positive effects, as well as the resistance to change. For me, this has been a time of growth for me.. I am naturally. A person who is intolerant of resistance and have never had a problem walking away and moving on. But in pastoring, especially pushing 40, I am moving to the point of not caring who doesn’t like a change when 1) it pleases God and 2) my heart is right. All in all…what we seek to do must always be in the best interest of Christ’s church; and with a love for souls, both inside and beyond the walls.
All in all, I am looking forward to seeing what God is up to; and what He is doing in the life of my family, the ministry He has entrusted unto me; and for the congregation of Mt. Salem. The best is really yet to come!
Kraig Lowell Pullam 