My little black Subaru made the trip from the coast to the mountains twice in one month. The difference of the foliage colors in the timeframe of two weeks, was astounding. Truth be told, my car beeped as I crossed a lane more than once marveling at the beauty and intensity of the fall colors painting the mountainsides. How quickly things had changed!
Life is all about transitions and change. Not all change is good, but some change can be pretty great! I am one of those people who is both stuck in my ways and ready to experience new things. I don’t want to try German Potato Salad made with any other recipe than the one my mother made. If you put a prize-winning sampling in front of me, I will not even taste it. In many ways, tasting it and possibly liking it feels like a betrayal to the memory of my mother. A simplistic example but you get the point.
Most of the time, when we resist change that might be powerful, it’s because we are afraid of what we might lose. We rarely consider what we might gain. We aren’t gamblers, so why risk it right?
What if we change the time of our service and people stop coming? What if we change it and new people start coming? What if we mix it up a little and add some contemporary music for those hearts who love it? What if that makes some people stay home or what if different people start coming? What if we make changes and the people in the building start changing? What if that makes us uncomfortable? What if we bring lost hearts to Christ?
During this season of beautiful transition and of letting go of things, consider what beauty could wait for our congregations and the kingdom of God, if we get up, mix things up, and reach outside of our walls. The creativity of our God who could paint a mountainside year after year with a million shades of glory, doesn’t want to be confined. His love will never change, but how the world learns about Him might take some creativity on our part.
“Jesus Christ never changes! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
Hebrews 13:8 CEV
If you would like to view past editions of A Message from Kim, follow this link: https://sounddistrictnc.org/category/from-district-lay-leader/
If you would like to connect with Kim please do so through her email, k.smith@nccumc.org