It's a sign!

           

A Good Sign?

          I recently brought a good friend of mine to the church I serve.  She took a picture of it and later posted it on Facebook.  As you can see in the picture there is a detour sign pointing away from the church!  We didn't even notice this while looking at the church to take the picture.

            Now there has been construction for the past couple of weeks in this area and each time I drive into town I try to remember which way I can go without getting stuck in construction and of course each day is something a little different as the construction moves down the road.  I imagine for some getting to church can feel like navigating through major construction only to find a detour sign at the door when they arrive.

            The "church” is changing...well...at least for some.  However the world is changing for all of us.  As the world changes, the church for the most part may seem slow to respond.  We sometimes send out mixed messages which only lead to a detour sign indicating there is a better solution, a better, community, a better place for comfort another direction to go rather than to God.

Galatians 1:23-24--they only heard it said, “The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me.

            The negative rumors you have heard may have truth to them, we have heard them too.  We have been working on repairs and while certainly there are still problems and we do not have everything figured out but it may be time to give us a second chance.

            Paul may have changed his song about Jesus but what didn't change was his passion, the church may be finding a new way but the message, at least for us, is still the same:  it all comes down to love. 

How that love--God's love, looks may be hard to describe and frankly hard to accept but that has always been the problem!

Walter Brueggemann wrote in The Bible Makes Sense: "It is a free gift to have a brother or a sister to love.  It is a joyous task to love them in ways that heal and transform."

            So here is the truth we (the church...at least our church in Hallowell) really is under construction on the inside, the walls are painted, we are handicap accessible, and yet we understand that how we "do church" may not meet the needs of our brothers and sisters.

The Gift of New Beginnings!

           We invite you to join us in the work and we are willing to meet you on the road if necessary. All the signs may indicate there is another way yet those of us who have stuck around want you to know, in the words of Mark Twain, "The reports of our(my) death are greatly exaggerated."

            We are here, the church is here and there is more to the story----a detour doesn't mean the end but only the beginning of a new way.....so maybe it is the best sign to have outside our door!