March 5, 2010

Why do you stand here? (Part I)

Posted by Garry

My son turned five the other day. A few days before he crossed the bridge of manhood, he looked at his grandmother and said, ‘Nanny, I’m done with being five.’

My ever optimistic wife inserted, ‘That’s good buddy, because you will be five in just a few days.’ Shaking his head, and sighing deeply, he whispered just loud enough to hear as he walked away, ‘It’s about time.’

Kids think that way. They desperately, intensely want to get to what’s next. They see nothing but potential. They see what is beyond and they want to get there. They constantly hope and dream. It is just who they are.

It’s not really that way for adults. As we get older we start to ‘settle down’ and ‘get into a groove’. When we find something good, we latch onto it and hold on tight. And in some ways, rightfully so. In a world where things aren’t the way they should be, it is nice to take a few of the variables away and surround ourselves with things that are right.

But what about the adventure? Isn’t there still good to be found in the unknown? Especially in the unknown?

The book of Acts opens essentially asking this question: should we settle in, or joyfully keep moving forward? Jesus gives the disciples the charge to keep going, keep loving, keep sharing the hope of restoration with the world. And then, Jesus is taken up into heaven while they look to the sky. Moments later, two men, or angels ask a question with massive ramifications.

‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky?’ (Acts 1:11)

Our response might be, ‘Exactly, why did they just stand there. They had work to do. They had to share the gospel. They were the messengers to the world that Jesus is the only hope for humanity to be what it was intended to be. Jesus called them to go.’

But, like so often, this isn’t God’s word because it is a story about how God used to call people and how people used to respond. This is in the bible because this lesson repeats itself daily in the calling of those that follow Jesus. And just like the disciples, we have the chance to stay, looking up to Jesus, or we can go get to work following Jesus. This is our story. And, just like my five-year-old, we can be excited about what’s next even if it take us into the unknown through faith and sacrifice.

At Summit we want to go. We want to participate in God’s coming kingdom. We want to be a part of the story that God is writing on history. Through leveraging our gifts, talents, resources, and technology we reach lost people with the truth of Jesus. For Summit Church Waterford to move from vision to reality it will take people believing that God still calls people, that God still loves people, and that people pouring in really does matter.

And so it’s time to go.

August 19, 2009

Journey to the Alter

Posted by Garry

Plans change. I thought I was here for landscape architecture.

On December 31, 2007, my wife, son, daughter, and I pulled into a city about which we knew only one thing: God had called us here. The first weekend, overwhelmed with feelings of doubt, fear, concern, and isolation, we walked into Summit Church. Those overwhelming feelings were almost instantly replaced in fellowship and community.

I have come to appreciate Abraham’s story very much through the process of coming on staff with Summit. Abraham was asked to put his idea of what it means to follow God on the altar (in the form of his son, Isaac)—to sacrifice his own plans in order to trust God more. In a strange, similar way, I feel as though God asked me and my family to put my idea of what it means to follow Him on the altar (in the form of ministry)—to sacrifice my own plans and trust His. In giving up my own plans, and allowing myself to move to the physical place God needed me to be, my idea of serving God in ministry has been resurrected—not through my own merit, but through willingness to be open to God’s call.