Each week (usually Tuesday afternoon), I send out a letter to the congregation at ClearView Baptist Church. It’s a tiny way I hope to shepherd them during the week. Perhaps it might encourage, help, or challenge you as well.
ClearView Family,
As you can imagine, as friends, family, colleagues, and others learn of my new assignment as Pastor of Clearview Baptist Church, I have received a lot of the following: “How are you liking your new church?” Or, “Are you getting settled in?” Or, “What are you learning about ClearView?” They are fantastic questions. I love them and answer them to the best of my ability. Yes. I am liking my new church. I am very slowly getting settled in. I am learning A LOT. I am grateful for the curiosity and interest in pastoring and ClearView.
One comment and question I received, however, set me back. I wasn’t expecting it. It forced me to pause and seriously consider my response. When he found out about my new position, a pastor friend of mine in Michigan text me this:
“…what good news that you’ve found a new place to give away your pastoral heart. Do you feel hopeful?”
What a wonderful question. “Do I feel hopeful?”
It’s a question that gets beyond the initial excitement of starting a new job. It’s a question that purges into the depths. It’s a scary question. If the answer is “no,” then there’s a problem. It’s not an offensive question, but gets close to the line of feeling exposed and vulnerable. If I ask a spouse how his marriage is going, he will more than likely respond with “good” or “fine.” But if I ask, “Do you feel hopeful about the future of your marriage?” that is a different deal. It takes the surface question a bit deeper into an inward space of what we are really thinking about things. A question like that forces you to consider something that had been hidden underneath, untouched, or even ignored.
After I considered this for a while and honestly evaluated my heart I responded with, “Yes! Very hopeful.”
Here’s why: I’m hopeful about ClearView and being your pastor because YOU are hopeful about ClearView. It’s written all over your face. It’s in the conversations you have with me and one another. It’s expressed in the notes you send me and felt in the treats you feed me. Hope about what God is doing and going to do at ClearView is the through-line of every thing I have encountered with you over the last 3+ weeks.
Yes. I felt hopeful before coming on board because I knew God had called me here. And yes, I was hopeful because a child of God always has hope ("the best is yet to come” and “keep your fork”). But being around you and slowly getting to know you has only expanded my hope. I feel hopeful, ClearView, because YOU are so hopeful.
What do you say we stay that way? Remain hopeful. Expect God. Look for God. Celebrate God and His works. Thank Him in advance for what He’s up to. What if one day Clearview Baptist Church was known in our city as being the church of HOPE? Who knows? It could happen. From where I sit, we are already well on our way.
I’ll see you Sunday if not before with my Bible open to John 1:43-46.
Feeling Hopeful,
Pastor Matt
I love this. I remember the night of the meet and greet so well. The smiles on everyones faces said it all. It was excitement and hope. Excitement that comes with hope probably is a better description. The best IS yet to come and I am thankful to be apart of it!