“We are glad that you are staying with us!” Since declining the Divine Call to serve another church as their pastor, many people have said these words to Rebecca and I. We are very thankful for everyone’s responses. We are very humbled by everyone’s responses too.
As I have said many times, Rebecca and I have been abundantly blessed to serve God’s people at St. John’s, Cordova. It has been true over these past 15 years…and it continues to be true today as well. God’s love, mercy and forgiveness does wonderful things among His people!
I have also said that deliberating a Call to serve another congregation is a challenging endeavor, because it calls one to think about what the Lord wants…what the Lord’s will is. Not what I want…not what my will is.
Therefore, there is a good reminder in the Call process that the ministry is not mine. The ministry is not about me. The ministry is about the Lord. The ministry is the Lord’s.
Having said this, I look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for us as we move forward. Some things we already know: He will continue to work through His word and Sacraments. He will continue to gather us as His people to worship Him, receive His gifts and grow in His ways. He will continue to strengthen us and enable us to live as His people. He will continue to be faithful among us and to His promises for us. This we know.
But I also invite you to pray about what we don’t know. To pray about how the Lord is seeking to use us in furthering His kingdom into the communities in which we live. How He is calling us to connect with people – to share His love, mercy, forgiveness, life and salvation. How He is calling us to share His word of truth – that calls people to not only see their sin but enables them to see His good and blessed design of life for them.
If we look around, I think it is easy to see more and more people who do not know the Lord. Who don’t know His word. Who don’t know His blessings. Who are not living in His blessed design.
And because of this, it is easy to see people who are struggling – in their marriages, in their families, in their lives. This is not to say that knowing Jesus makes life easy or perfect. But it is to say that knowing Jesus gives hope. Knowing Jesus gives purpose. And knowing Jesus gives meaning to life.
So, I invite you to pray. To pray about the Lord’s ministry at St. John’s, Cordova. To pray about how He calls us to receive His gifts and to take those gifts into our communities. For this is not our ministry but the Lord’s. And as His ministry, we can always thank Him for staying with us!
The Lord’s blessings be upon us as we go forward in Him.
Pastor Tuma