I was there when….
If you’ve been around Chapel Hill for a while, you probably have those moments—those shared community moments—that stand out in your memory. You know, the reminiscences that start with the words, “I was there when….” I have a bunch of them. I was there when we baptized my kids. I was there when we ordained Larry and Megan and Ellis. I was there when the earthquake hit and when we had a ceiling fire. I was there when we opened the doors of our new sanctuary. I was there when we did our first Harbor baptism. I was there when my daughter preached her first sermon at her home church.
I believe this weekend will be one of those “I was there when…” moments. This is Consecration Sunday. This is when the rubber meets the road. For weeks we’ve been talking about your elders’ vision of a church that is going to move “Beyond These Walls” as never before. A vision of multiplying LifeGroups and professions of faith, of releasing more leaders into ministry and mission, and of loving Gig Harbor in ways never before possible. You were inspired with the news that a few dozen of our families had made commitments totaling more than $2.6 million, more than half of our total debt! You’ve heard the stories, asked your questions, and taken your own journey of prayer and discernment with the members of your family and LifeGroup.
Well, this weekend, action kicks in. This is the moment when we answer for ourselves the only question that really matters in the end: what is Jesus calling me to do? What part is Jesus calling me and my family to play? What your pew-mate gives is irrelevant. What matters is that you have laid this before the Lord, invited him to command you, and decided to obey that command.
At the end of the service, we are going to walk forward together and place our commitments on the altar. We will join in a time of prayer, and we will sing to God’s praise. And in years to come, when those pieces of paper translate into burned mortgages and freed-up resources to serve and love our community as never before, we will look back on June 3-4, 2017, and say, “I was there when…”
I sure hope you will be. It would be a shame for you to miss this historic moment.
Keep praying! This is so exciting!
Pastor Mark
P.S. Don’t forget, this is Pentecost! What color do we wear? Red! A symbol of the fire of Pentecost—and, what the heck—a symbol of the debt that we are about to destroy!