Certainty In Times of Uncertainty
Do me a favor. Take a look at this picture and let me know what you see. Can I tell you what I see? I see two teenage girls, Allie and Sarah, who just committed their lives to following Jesus through baptism last Wednesday night. Through the sacrament of baptism, they died to their old selves by being dunked under the water and were risen again with Christ as they were brought back up again.
I also see a young woman in the middle named Amy Ferguson. Amy is the daughter of our lead pastor Dave and his wife Sue. They have raised quite a tremendous young woman who has led many of her friends to Christ and influenced a young generation of leaders here at Community. Amy baptized Allie, and Sarah was baptized by one of our Student Community leaders and faithful Community attender, Sue Lueders.
Know what else I see? I see a miraculous celebration of baptism that was made possible by the generosity of time, relationships, and treaures of people at Community. It is absolutely critical during these economic times we’re in that we do not let the Church get squeezed out. It is tempting to think that our generosity is something that can get thrown out first when we look at our personal monthly budgets with perplexing thoughts of how to make it happen.
But will we? Will we allow the uncertainty of our economy to hinder the work God is doing through the Church? Will we allow the uncertainty of our own personal finances to keep the Church from bringing hope to the rest of the world? Instead, might we consider the reverse and accelerate the Jesus Mission?
Won’t you join with me in prioritizing our generosity above all else, trusting God that He will provide our material needs so we don’t have to be tempted to shrink our investment in the Jesus Mission? Allie’s and Sarah’s friends and neighbors and all those they will meet throughout their lifetime depend on it. And I’d bet that yours and mine do as well.
An investment in the market is not certain. An investment in the Kingdom most certainly is. I’ll take the ROI pictured above any day!
Congratulations Allie and Sarah! And thank you Amy, Sue, and Community for making it happen!
2 Responses to “Certainty In Times of Uncertainty”
October 13th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Hey Julie,
I see a wonderful example of God winning. An testimony to great mentoring. And, it’s also a special testimony to the blood, sweat, and tears of the three young women’s parents.
Seems like it was a special day of rejoicing!
Keep the faith
Ed
August 21st, 2010 at 11:48 pm
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