Each week (usually Wednesday afternoon), I send out a letter to the congregation at West Franklin. It’s a tiny way I hope to shepherd them during the week. Perhaps it might encourage, help, or challenge you as well.
West Franklin Family,
This Sunday we will wrap up an 8-week series on characteristics of a healthy church. I plan to end where we began. And, I may or may not have ChatGPT help me write this week’s sermon. You’ll have to be there to find out (this is my weak attempt at a tease).
The series is not exhaustive. We could talk about characteristics of a healthy church for another 8 weeks. We could continue to mine the book of Acts for more helpful practices gleaned from the early church. I mean, who preaches a series on a healthy church and doesn’t even mention food? And at a Baptist church too!?!?! Yes. There are more characteristics we could explore together.
But as I contemplate what it all boils down to, the word that floats to the top of my mind is respond. At the end of the day, a healthy church is made up of men and women, boys and girls, who gladly respond to the presence and leading of the Holy Spirit. West Franklin, if we - both individually and corporately - continuously and vigorously respond to the Spirit of God, we can’t be anything but healthy.
If you think about it, we are good at responding. We are constantly bombarded with nudges to respond. We hear news out of Washington. Before we know it, we are listening to or watching our chosen media people, getting their hot take on how we should respond. We see a viral clip of an embarrassed couple at a Coldplay concert and are immediately inundated with suggestions on how we should respond. We hear our head coach interviewed at SEC Media Days. We wonder with our friends how we should respond. We get a directive from corporate on a new direction in the company. Seconds later we are at the water cooler talking through how to respond with our colleagues. Our child does something that alarms us. Before we know it, after a Google search, we have around 500 opinions on how to respond. Scrolling social media, we see someone we know at a great vacation spot with their family. We automatically feel the need to respond by doing something similar (or better!) for our family. Oh, we are really-really good at responding.
But here’s the thing: is what we are so busy responding to the ultimate and necessary and healthy thing? I wonder if we are really good at responding to everything BUT the Holy Spirit? Or, I wonder if we truly desire to be open and present with and responsive to the Spirit, but our minds and hearts are cluttered with everything else we are responding to? To be sure, being aware and carefully thinking through ways to respond to situations in our world is good and right and necessary. We don’t put our heads in the sand and ignore it all. There are plenty of things we must respond to. What’s imperative is that we keep it all in perspective. We don’t have to respond to everything that comes at us. When all is said and done, we have One we are to give our attention to. In fact, if I remember correctly, He said if we seek Him first and foremost, everything else will tend to fall into place.
West Franklin, I’ve known you long enough to know that you desire a healthy church. Not just for right now, but for a long time to come. For that to happen, let me encourage you to do the one thing I think it all boils down to: respond. Do whatever you have to do so you can hear from, be open to, be aware of, be present with the Holy Spirit. And as He nudges you along - with care and peace and love and grace - respond to His prompting. It’s what Jesus sent for us post-Ascension. Let’s not waste His reality.
Still Perplexed as to Why We Didn’t Talk about Food,
Pastor Matt