“I lift my eyes, to the hills. From where will my help come. My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”
If you have been to any funeral I have planned in the past 7 years, you might have an inkling that Psalm 121 is one of my most favorite psalms. The psalmist speaks of a journey. When we lift our eyes to the hills – we lift our eyes up to the mountaintop. And of course, in the time of the psalmist, at the top of the mountain, one would find the city of Jerusalem, and therein the temple – the very house of God.
However, it is the psalm that comes next that carries the story of importance this day. Psalm 122 begins this way, “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!” I am always heartened by the psalm. It is my reminder that God calls us to gather for worship. And that even in times of great suffering and pain, in the loss of those we love – still, the house of the Lord is a place of comfort; of peace; of joy – calm in the midst of the storm. Here, in God’s house we gather to celebrate new life. We walk alongside those who suffer. We shed tears of sadness for the power of death at work in our world. We hear messages of hope that point us toward the One who promises to be with us even to the end go the age. Dear friends, our church stands as a lighthouse in the storms of life. And it is no surprise that you are the light that shines into the world – a reflection of God’s light working through each of you.
No doubt, you have now heard of the upcoming Miracle Sunday on March 25th. It is our hope that we will indeed “Raise the Roof” of this house of God to the glory of God that day. Over the month of March, we will see and hear more about the needs of this house of God where we gather for worship and ministry and mission. So much happens in this place and so many of us move through this place as we tend to the world around us by sharing the story of God’s love for all people.
We have done our very best in tending the massive debt gathered for more than 30 years leading us to our first debt campaign in 2011. From $2.2 million, you cut the debt almost in half while still maintaining the yearly ministry needs of our church. In 2014, you again honored your relationship with God by hearing God’s call to sacrifice to cut the debt in half again. As of today, just 7 years later, we owe less than $600,000 on our mortgage. A miracle in itself – thanks to your faithful generous hearts. And as we have tended our mortgage debt and our annual ministry needs, we have managed only the most basic and necessary needs of our physical church campus. And now, we find, the time has come.
Over the month of March, we will hear the invitation to consider the giving of gifts towards the $300,000 goal to “Raise the Roof” on our Miracle Sunday, March 25th which will allow us to replace the East/West Hall roof as soon as this coming April. Now $300,000 sounds like a lot of money, and it is! Yet, God does amazing things through people who not only see the need but also choose to gather together in mission for a greater purpose than themselves. Our great hope, as we walk with our Great God, is to tend the immediately needed maintenance as well as increase our giving on our annual basis to tend the overall ministry God entrusts to us for the sake of the world.
I tell you this: every time I have been a part of a congregation feeling the call to tend the needs of its ministry and campus I have always been surprised by what God has done through God’s people. There never seems to be a shortage of miracles when God calls God’s people and in the same breath reminds them of God’s promise to always be with them.
You are a most amazing community of believers. You walk through some of the most difficult and challenging moments anyone could imagine and still you trust the One who calls you by name. Again and again, you teach me what it is to be a person of faith who follows Jesus. You love, you cry, you hurt, you celebrate. Through it all, you return to this house of God to worship, to grow, to walk, and to serve.
“I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!” To hear those words, means I, once again, will gather with people I love to worship the One who loves us. And maybe that, my friends, is the miracle.
So let the call of God go out into this community of believers. People of God, people of deep faith who know the story of God’s love deep in your bones – who are excited to share that love with our children – from generation to generation, it is time to believe, once again, that indeed our God still fashions miracles in our midst. It is time to “Raise the Roof.”
Come, faithful ones, and build alongside your God.
Pastor Chris
