Good Morning Family!
I have to say that we are incredibly blessed to be a part of this church family. How the Lord worked in our lives to bring us here was nothing short of miraculous. He knew that all who have come to be a part of this incredible church family, including us, needed this. I have said before that we have never experienced being a part of such a genuine and caring church family.
The reality is that what He has done here has nothing to do with any one person, but it has everything to do with the whole. God Himself has built this local church into a safe place, a place called home. And although I say it is safe, it is also challenging. Being a part of a family of God that gets along so well is no accident. Being good stewards of what God is doing here takes a lot of work. It takes real effort to serve together with each other’s best interests at heart.
But that’s what I have seen over and over through the years here. Brothers and sisters giving unselfishly. A welcoming community, with no one looking at another with animosity. No one having any sense of entitlement. No jealousies or power struggles, but a respect and courtesy between each individual.
I’m just being honest here, I don’t know about you, but for many years, some of those negative things were common occurrences that many of us have seen all too often in ministry situations. Robin and I have come to the conclusion that life is too short and the Kingdom of God too important, that there simply isn’t time to spend on those trivialities and so we are sensitive to do all we can do to not allow a foothold of those things to gain traction in the church family. We had often wondered if there was ever going to be a time in our lives when we would be able to just do ministry alongside the family of God and not have to put out fires, cater, or constantly be worried about the “next shoe to drop”. Then, God put all of this together… and He continues to do so. Everyone whom God has led here, knows this and works toward this common goal of unity… and it shows.
Earlier I said this all takes hard work, and it does. It is hard work protecting the family of God. And it is hard work that each one of us does in accordance with how we value His church. We do that every time we think of our self last and think of another first. Today, we are looking at a passage of scripture that calls us to count the cost of prioritizing the Kingdom of God over self; count the cost to follow and then to see that the cost of following is so worth it.
As always, my prayer is that we would all, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.” II Timothy 2:15
Your Shepherd of the Hills,
Bro. Steven
Dr. Steven Gann
