Pulling Together

Hello saints, servants, sons (& daughters)...

I hope this letter finds you encouraged. We talk a lot at the SPV about grace and in the same conversation do a lot to tear down the notion that our works have anything to do with our relationship to the Father (and completely standby that by the way). Sometimes I think we lose sight, however that the stuff of the Kingdom is hard work at times! Caring for a crying baby in the nursery so that mom can remain in the sanctuary to worship or working in Kid City is hard work! Setting up the rooms for Family Promise or going down to Williams Park in the hot sun is hard work! Cleaning the building (including scrubbing toilets) when no one is looking so that the building is ready for us when we gather or spending hours practicing your instrument so that you're prepared for worship or taking adequate time to listen to someone's situation so you know how to pray or advise them and any number of other things that go on in the life of ministry during the typical week is all hard work! And I just want to acknowledge all of you who are "doing the stuff" whether visible or unseen and say THANKS! So if you have some time and don't mind a little bit of hard work, please join one of the many teams at the SPV pulling together to make this thing work. If you are burnt out or find yourself in a "performance treadmill" trying to get God's attention, take a break, get some rest and realign what your relationship with your Heavenly Father is truly all about. And may we never forget that being a part of The Kingdom requires equipping from time to time. "Equipping the saints for ministry" is a real thing. We have all been created in Christ Jesus to do Kingdom work that the Lord has prepared in advance for us to do. But just because it's work and sometimes even hard work doesn't mean it can't be fun and extraordinarily fruitful.

Chris