I spent last week in Montana with twenty-five pastors on what we call Sharpening Week. We started each day with a book discussion and some lessons about mindsets, and then we discussed some of the things going on at home. Suicide, sex offenders, divorces, doctrinal battles, and discouragement were just some of the topics that came up.
During one of the discussions, one of the men said, “This is so healthy. These things are heavy, but I’m going home with such hope.”
I do not know how to fix problems, but it helped me to remember that fixing things is the Holy Spirit’s job. I am here with you, and we are here as a church for each other. We bear each others’ loads, but the Lord carries you. The Lord strengthens you. The Lord takes your cares and burdens and weights. The Lord is with you.
Church is so much more than a matinee show we attend in order to get a weekly spiritual fix or a nice little boost for the week. It is a family. We are united through Jesus Christ and gather to worship God in a special way.
Everyone in the world needs a church, whether they realize it or not. Today, my dad (our church’s founding pastor) is preaching on worldwide missions—the need to see the Gospel spread to all nations and all people.
But what’s the point of missions?
Well, it is because the heavy things we face are not only here in Temecula, not only here in California, not only here in America. People face weighty issues—caused by sin—all over the world, and the only answer is Jesus Christ. Missionaries in India (like we had here on Wednesday) are preaching the Gospel and lives are being changed. Church planters in 29 Palms and Durango, Mexico (like we are having here in a couple of weeks) are preaching the Gospel and lives are being changed.
People face weighty issues caused ultimately by sin, and the only answer is to tell them of the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Please pray fervently these next few weeks for our church to be revived in our heart for the Gospel. -Pastor Ryan