A Letter To The Church
A letter to the church
Greetings to you each in Christ! May the warmth of our shared fellowship always comfort us.
Below you will find a letter I wrote to our church as part of our 1 Thessalonians Sunday school class this past Fall. If you have any questions please let me know.
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Daniel, a redeemed child of the King, a servant of Christ and an indwellee of the Holy Spirit!
To our church who meets on Ninth & Monroe and throughout the world, your long and faithful witness to the gospel and steadfastness in believing the Word of God are so encouraging — grace and peace to you in abundance!
I remember our church in prayer; our warmth among friends, our labor in the Lord’s work and our current troubles with leadership. Remember, the sustaining love of the Father which has kept you for so long will be steadfast allowing you to; greet new friends, rest in the gospel and step confidently into the next season of ministry together.
Christ is the author and perfecter of our faith, He and His Word are the foundation for the true faith. I urge you to maintain your Bible based view of the world and your place in it. Do not be like the Israelites who turned from God to pursue an earthly king; do not abandon Bible beliefs to pursue the socially popular view or the in vogue business strategy. In seeking to uphold biblical beliefs, do not become rigid in your application of the truth, seek the way of Christ by embracing the downtrodden and confused, not rebuking them — Christ reserved the strongest rebukes for those in leadership! In ministering to those around you, open your hearts, your homes and your friendship to serve God and uplift others.
Some formally in our fellowship left, asserting that the lack of friendship caused them to leave. The warmth of your friendships burns bright — among those who have entered its ranks. How can you extend your friendship to more people at a quicker pace? Maybe you can leave some ministry tasks undone to deepen friendships with those seeking a friend. Maybe your next Bible study or Life Group would be better spent sharing a coffee or a round of disc golf to help fortify the relational ties within our body!
To every thing there is a time and to every ministry there is also a time. You have labored hard and long in the work of the Lord! In doing so your crowns will wear many jewels. However, the ministry approaches that drew past generations into deeper relationships have become dated and stale to many you seek to invite. How can we take a season of rest and reliance in the Lord before re-visioning and re-imagining what each of our ministries should look like? How can we shape our ministry to reflect the perceived needs of our communities rather than the revered patterns of our history? How can we enter into the new paradigm the Lord brings to us — one based on shared relationships not attendance or activity? We must elevate the depth of friendship over the breadth of activities in our ministry planning — it is time to restart our post-quarantine church. Stepping into the future; Christ-centered, Bible-believing and Friendship-focused must be our theme!
Cast your hope on Christ! Cast it not on the plans of men, nor the success of the past or the vines which produced fruit last season. Cast your hope on Christ; seek Him, seek His Word and live it out among our neighbours. Pursue relationships over programs and enter the messy side of ministry together with your brothers and sisters in Christ!
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Your brothers and servants,
Daniel for the elders