Because of the cross…

 Sunday I made two important announcements.

1.  Sunday November 7, will be our last Sunday at Club 19.  In fact I just got word today that the children’s area has to be dismantled tomorrow so construction can begin on the club.

2. We are STILL having difficulty closing a deal with Queensgate Theatres to meet there on Sunday mornings.  (Even though I’d been assured for weeks that there was “no problem”.)

Here’s what bothers me the most about having to make those announcements.  I’m convinced that God is not unaware of this whole situation…and has been all along.  I just HATE the fact that it gives some peoplereason to say that God is somehow “failing” us because we don’t have a new venue yet.  It bothers me that it seems like all of the faithful prayers of actionchurch people have been ignored. To be painfully honest it saddens me that after all our prayers of faith for God to provide an amazing place where we can impact York county in amazing ways…anything with four walls and ceiling is starting to be the acceptable description of the next actionchurch venue.  There seems to be no reason that God would allow such an embarrassing and stressful situation happen to people that genuinely love God and have sacrificed much to serve him by serving others.

Except for the whole Cross thing…

Because of the Cross it all makes sense. 

In the book Plan B, (Read it…Seriously), the author Pete Wilson writes about the cross being the most desperate moment in history.  The very moment that brings us Salvation was a moment of profound hopelessness for everyone who had put their faith in Jesus as their Savior.   Jesus died.  God allowed it.  Evil rejoiced.  Those who had said that Jesus was a fraud… and not the Son of God… were “proved right”. 

God allowed the people that faithfully followed him to suffer what seemed to be a crushing defeat…because it paved the way for a miracle they couldn’t have even imagine.  That’s the story of the Cross.  That’s the central story, the primary example, of our Faith.

Because of the cross, I’m sure that no matter how much you feel like your life is “over”, how much you feel it is “destroyed”,  God can make it more fulfilling and beautiful than you can imagine.   Because of the cross, I can trust that our present difficulties as a church are not the end…but just the beginning of a better story than we can even imagine.  Because of the cross, I can be certain that even though things seem to never turn out the way I “plan”, I can be glad because my plans, dreams, and wildest hopes pale in comparison to those of God.

And it’s all because of the Cross…

and that’s good enough for me.

One thought on “Because of the cross…

  1. That’s exactly it. After I read the first paragraph I was going to comment to not be discouraged, that God is never late, etc. But then I read the rest and you hit the nail on the head, Don. Whatever happens it will be no doubt it was God’s doing just like the cross.

    Hang in their, my man.