A Church With or Without Power?

As of Tuesday night, Faith Community continues to be without electrical power from the aftermath of Hurricane Ike which blew through here Sunday. Notice how I phrased this. I specifically mentioned "electrical power."

A pastor in our district who serves a church that hasn't lost electrical power called me today to tell me that she wanted to put a message on her church sign that said, "Our church has power. All are welcome." Catching the double meaning, she said, "maybe I should be more specific!"

Well, let's hope that every church is a church that recognizes that it has the power of the Holy Spirit to live out the good news of Jesus' resurrection in our community and world!

Today marks the 2nd day of a 40 day Prayers, Presence, Gifts, & Service church-wide stewardship campaign at Faith Community. This week's readings are on the theme of preparing us for what God has in store for us during this journey which will last until Sunday, October 26. For the first two daily readings, I've been jotting down some reflections in my workbook that came with the free book for the campaign.

Yesterday, I wrote in my workbook how spiritual journeys have a way of helping me to sift through what's important and to learn to truly listen to God. My thought from today's reading is that I am looking forward to the journey but I also have a little fear in how my life might change by becoming a more fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ.

For those of you who are participating in this campaign, I hope these 40 days are meaningful to you. And for all of us, may we always remember that whether or not our church has electricity, we do have power...the power and presence of the Holy Spirit!