Today we celebrated the life of my church. It was the final worship service of my small church, Faith Lutheran Church. There were tears and laughs, hugs and handshakes and in the end we know God had indeed been served well in the twenty years of Faith Lutheran Church.
For me this has been especially profound. It was another ending in a list of endings for me this year. While many shed tears I could not.
As I reflected on the church closing I found the shards of it's past lying among the shards of so many things which I have held close in my life. But also in that pile of brokenness I see hope.
It was especially fitting for me today that our Gospel came from Luke the third chapter. It read in part, "His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
Allowing God to sweep away the pain and brokenness I can celebrate in the abundance of the harvest. I can move forward with knowing that what remains is the hope and promises God has given me. Along with my fellow church members we have been gathered up by God.
Many of those lessons came from my church family and I will cherish them always. And endings only means there are opportunities for new beginnings and I look forward to all God has in store for my life and the lives of my church family.
No comments:
Post a Comment