The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines faith this way:
I've been thinking a lot about faith lately. I've been thinking about how I see it all around me, the way I see it, or the way it appears to me... I think of faith as trusting God. Trusting him to help, to guide, to provide.
I've been at several different churches lately as I've been filling in while ministers go on vacation or as they transition to a new church and I've really enjoyed it. I always try to take time and look around the church and see what they have going on and how they are ministering to each other. I try to visit some with the members or the people there and it's been really a wonderful experience.
But something I have noticed is the amount of faith they show, the amount of faith they exude. Sometimes they show much faith! It's invigorating!
One church in particular, in a small town nearby, had their capital campaign information on the wall. It was all beautifully mounted and filled with information and photos for the plans. At the bottom of the one with the money information on it, it said something like this, "The excess money we take in above this will go to renovate the property we currently have." The excess! Above! They were planning on exceeding their goal!
I can't tell you how this struck me. There seemed to be NO DOUBT that they would raise more money than they needed for the current project! This just screamed of their faith to me. How marvelous. I love that! (BTW, they had $20,000 more pledged above their goal!) See what faith can do!
In another congregation, I saw a lot of worry and fear. This church was worrying about liability issues. Now, I know that it is something that needs to be taken care of, but at the same time to always be in fear of or to be worrying about someone getting injured if they allow outside groups to use their facilities or if they have a community event, well, it kind of shuts the doors of the church doesn't it? What message is being sent to the community? What image is being protrayed?
I will admit that I don't know much about insurance and such but I guess I always thought that the best insurance was Jesus. HA! For that matter I think he is probably the best fundraiser too! That's probably naive of me, I know, but I do believe that there is a lot of truth to it. I feel like this (worry and fear) is a great place for faith to come into play. I'm not saying to be reckless, but to be sensible, be faithful. Can those two words go together in the same sentence? I think so.
All of this and more has been weighing heavily on mind lately. Knowing when to trust God. Knowing when to just have faith and knowing when to protect ourselves and when to ... I started to say worry but well, when we worry, that's when we need to have faith the most! That's when we need to let God do his thing! It's hard to find that balance. It really is, whether it's in our individual lives or in the church setting but honestly, I think those churches who find it or at least attempt to have that balance are the ones that are thriving.
faith
noun \ˈfāth\
: strong belief or trust in someone or something
: belief in the existence of God : strong religious feelings or beliefs
: a system of religious beliefs
I've been thinking a lot about faith lately. I've been thinking about how I see it all around me, the way I see it, or the way it appears to me... I think of faith as trusting God. Trusting him to help, to guide, to provide.
I've been at several different churches lately as I've been filling in while ministers go on vacation or as they transition to a new church and I've really enjoyed it. I always try to take time and look around the church and see what they have going on and how they are ministering to each other. I try to visit some with the members or the people there and it's been really a wonderful experience.
But something I have noticed is the amount of faith they show, the amount of faith they exude. Sometimes they show much faith! It's invigorating!
One church in particular, in a small town nearby, had their capital campaign information on the wall. It was all beautifully mounted and filled with information and photos for the plans. At the bottom of the one with the money information on it, it said something like this, "The excess money we take in above this will go to renovate the property we currently have." The excess! Above! They were planning on exceeding their goal!
I can't tell you how this struck me. There seemed to be NO DOUBT that they would raise more money than they needed for the current project! This just screamed of their faith to me. How marvelous. I love that! (BTW, they had $20,000 more pledged above their goal!) See what faith can do!
In another congregation, I saw a lot of worry and fear. This church was worrying about liability issues. Now, I know that it is something that needs to be taken care of, but at the same time to always be in fear of or to be worrying about someone getting injured if they allow outside groups to use their facilities or if they have a community event, well, it kind of shuts the doors of the church doesn't it? What message is being sent to the community? What image is being protrayed?
I will admit that I don't know much about insurance and such but I guess I always thought that the best insurance was Jesus. HA! For that matter I think he is probably the best fundraiser too! That's probably naive of me, I know, but I do believe that there is a lot of truth to it. I feel like this (worry and fear) is a great place for faith to come into play. I'm not saying to be reckless, but to be sensible, be faithful. Can those two words go together in the same sentence? I think so.
All of this and more has been weighing heavily on mind lately. Knowing when to trust God. Knowing when to just have faith and knowing when to protect ourselves and when to ... I started to say worry but well, when we worry, that's when we need to have faith the most! That's when we need to let God do his thing! It's hard to find that balance. It really is, whether it's in our individual lives or in the church setting but honestly, I think those churches who find it or at least attempt to have that balance are the ones that are thriving.
I agree wholeheartedly... I love the idea of planning for your cup to overflow! Worry never accomplished anything except robbing people of time and joy! If there is a legitimate problem, work on the solution then move on and trust the Lord!
ReplyDeleteAmen!
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