Dear Well Partners and Friends,
Each morning is new. It’s a new beginning and what happened yesterday is in the past. As I sit at my desk, I am watching the world wake up and it wakes up as it always does. I mean the sun comes up at different times and the birds start chirping a little earlier than I like, but things happen in order. So, is it really new? It’s a new day, but the order and thought behind it is not. In a few months, I will be sitting at my desk in a different house, but I know the order will continue. What I am getting at is our God is a God of new things, but they are not really new. Did you just make that confused face? Did your brain just twist a little? You read it right. But maybe I should re-word it a little to make my point. God is a God of new things, but the purposes behind those things are not new. Since the dawn of creation. God has been blessed and frustrated by the work of his hands. He is not shocked at either the frustrations or the blessings happening all the time. Often it is hard for us to wrap our heads around this thought and we begin to ask, "So why didn’t God correct the ship, as soon as it veered off course? Why did God give the human heart free will?" We could literally fill a book with questions like these, but it really comes down to one thought... God wanted a creation that would figure it out. A creation that would serve and love him because he is and not because of who we are. That’s a pretty big risk. If we were in Vegas, the odds would not be in favor of the human race getting things right. The Washington (no-name) Football Team has better odds at winning the Super bowl. (Ok, sports analogy and taking a shot at my team? Check!) Think about this. The creator of the universe already had the angels. For the most part they do what they are told. When it comes to mankind and the relationship God desires with man, even Peter said that the angels are confused about the why in God's love for man and redemption through grace. I mean if it was up to you and I, we would probably bypass the frustration and get straight to the celebration in a job well done with angels alone. If we did that, would that celebration be worth it? The paradigm of allowing us to "choose" is another picture of God’s message for us. God is sovereign; that is a foundational concept of our faith. So, being sovereign, he knows all things, right? So why did God decide to take a risk to see if his creation (man) would choose to follow him? I believe it is because taking risk has potential for a deeper satisfaction. The Bible is full of risk takers: Moses, Abraham, David, Nathaniel and so on. Nothing great ever comes from watching on the sidelines. In Matthew 25, Jesus speaks on the three servants and the talents. You know the story. The master gives 5 talents to one, 2 to another and 1 to the last. The first two guys take a risk and double their investment. The last guy... well he digs a hole and buries it. The master comes back and rewards the risk takers and berates the "played it safe" guy. Why is this outcome not what we expect? I mean, I like the guy who played it safe. I can relate in having some aversion to risk. I would imagine it relates to many of us. It's in times like these I think about the saints who abandoned it all. Not just the apostles, but the Calvin’s, the Luther’s, the Bunyan’s and so on. God took men and women who were willing to get a little uncomfortable (take risk) and not play it safe in a mighty way for the kingdom. As a people we need to pray and think about big things. We ask God for the day to day, but what about that big mountain ahead of you (the one that is stressing you out)? God delights in the big requests. He delights in the faith of his children. So is all risk good? Contrary to a patch on my shooting range bag that says, “Bad decisions, make great stories”, all risks are not good and certainly do not always make great stories. However, any risk for the furtherment of the Kingdom is! Our life here is certainly precious and the Lord blesses us so that we may enjoy this life and bless others at the same time. But risk for the cause of Christ has an eternal reward that cannot be calculated in the here-and-now. That is just the way that it is. There is no doubt that planting a church has risks. It’s also not a new concept. The method may be a variation of the original model, but the purpose behind it is certainly not new. I would also argue that the risk compared to what God can do with a group of people with a common focus and sense of determination has no comparison. Will we all agree on every administrative details? Probably not. That’s just being human. Will we all agree on the mission, keeping the gospel message centered with a heartfelt desire on ministering to our community? That I am certain! May you be blessed, Pastor Doug
DEVOTIONAL PRAYER
A Prayer for Risk Takers
Father, as Pastor Doug tells us, we want you to delight in the risks we take. Let our willingness to sacrifice comfort, certainty, and even a sense of stability be a sacrifice you find pleasing. We provide these emotional offerings to you as a sign that you are worthy of whatever life may throw at us. Help us as a church to keep our sacrifices focused on you and to have a sense of excitement at what you can do in uncertain times. We love you and worship the God that is bigger than all life's risks. Amen.
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