Leadership Line with Dr. Swanson
Isaiah 43:19
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
I have always loved Isaiah’s prophetic words to Israel reminding them that even when they could not quite see it, God was doing a new thing in their midst. Such is the case at First Presbyterian Church. God is doing a new thing, a thing so different that it is upending 70 years of church practice.
What is it? Primarily, it is moving away from a consumer/attractional model in which we are running programs to try to get people to come to us while moving toward a missional model in which our body is equipped to live for Christ in their day to day world. The reality is that our culture does not come to church as they once did. They do not see the church as relevant, and what’s more, they view the church as being out of step with their values and morals. This trend will only progress, so if they’re not coming to us, we have to go to them.
In order to do that, however, we need each other. We need community, so we have restructured our Sunday morning experience so that it is centered on relational opportunities: worship together, designated fellowship time, and classes built around conversation. If we are to stand firm against the cultural head winds, we need to gather together each week to know the love of God and of others, to “dwell” with others who will be our encouragers, our teachers, and our shepherds. As you have heard me say, we gather in order to scatter. If you let go of either one, you lose the full nature of gospel living.
My prayer is that you will work through the grief you may be feeling over what you have lost in these changes and then be enabled by God’s Spirit to embrace the new thing He is doing. Why? So that in this very culture, there may be “a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” May this be the priority of our lives as we seek to serve Christ who alone is the hope of the world.
Let’s gather again on Sunday! I’ll see you then.
God bless,
David