Dear Faith Family,
I'm wagering that you've received a larger-than-normal number of communications from your places of work, businesses you frequent, apps you have downloaded, and your social media feed over the last few days. I'm also willing to bet that a major reason for these additional notifications has to do with our state officially "Reopening" today.
Regardless of how you feel about the situation, we all have to respond to it, And it seems like everyone is more than happy to share their response, so why not our faith family too!
So, here is how Christ City Church is responding in life together at this moment: with hopeful, considerate, perseverance.
It is no coincidence that the change in public policies coincides with a season of focused bodily fasting and a weekend of church-body affirmation. Over the last month, we've been aligning our whole persons (hearts, minds, souls, and bodies) with God's Spirit, aiding us to participate with His will being done on earth as it is in heaven. Fasting as a response--as we saw in Isaiah 58, Zechariah 7-8, Ezra 8, Matthew 4, Mark 9, Luke 2, as well as Acts 13 and 14 (just to name a few!)--moves God's people to hope for restoration (healing/health), wholeness (peace) and completeness (happiness) for themselves and others. A hope that commissions us to consider our place in God's actions towards the vulnerable and forgotten, those walking out-of-step with God, those who do not yet know Jesus, and especially those with whom we share life daily. A hope that empowers us to persevere for the good, and not just the desired.
Whether we knew it or not, our corporate focus and collective practices have prepared our response to this particular moment. Brought together (wholly aligned) in our fasting as we build one another up in love to maturity in Christ (Eph. 4:1-16), we act out of confident hope in God's merciful restorative work, conscientious of our participation with God in the lives of others, and joyfully persevering until faith becomes sight.
Perhaps the last two paragraphs seem a bit dramatic, especially in response to state policy. And maybe you're right. But here is the thing, while every situation in our cultural moment seems to demand a new response from us, the consistency of our Father's character and actions means we can be consistent too.
For Christ City, that means we'll continue to keep our Gathering Guidelines in place for the time being, out of consideration for one another. At the same time, we have begun patiently and expectantly planning for being together again in ways we have all sorely missed over the last year.
So, that's our response to this day--hopeful, considerate, and persevering. By God's grace, it will be our response tomorrow too!
Love you, faith family! Praying God's blessing over you this week. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to let me know.