For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
– Psalm 100:5, NRSV
In the Call to Worship, we read:
One: We celebrate the Body of Christ, past and present.
Many: We celebrate the people who have sought God’s way.
One: We stand on the shoulders of those who have been faithful:
Many: those who listened to God and walked in God’s ways!
It was nearly ten years ago that I wrote those words of liturgy. I wrote them, originally, for the opening worship service of Annual Conference — that year, a service planned and led by the young clergy of the conference.
As we gathered together to plan the service, we “young clergy” (at the time, any clergy under the age of 35) spent a lot of time talking about what messages we wanted to communicate during the service. In the end, we chose to honor those who had come before us, our forebears in the conference and in the faith. We stand on the shoulders of those who have been faithful.
I continue to stand on the shoulders of those who have been faithful. We all do. As we draw near to a special church anniversary — 25 years here at 2540 Center Street! — I’m mindful that we continue to stand on the shoulders of those who have been faithful. Our building’s foundation rests on the shoulders of those who have been faithful. The ministries we offer in and through our building rest on the shoulders of those who have been faithful.
Friends, I’m grateful for those who have been faithful. I’m grateful for their hard work, their hope, their leaps of faith. I’m grateful for their shoulders! I invite you to join me in giving thanks for them!
What’s more, friends… I invite you to share their stories with me. I invite you to share the names of people who helped make the move to our current location possible. If you were part of our Wesley family during those days, I invite you to share your reflections and memories of that day. I’ll be sharing those names and many of those reflections at our socially-distant parking lot worship service on Thursday, June 25.
(Want to share your thoughts and reflections?
Email me at pastorcandy@wesleychurch.com.)
In the meantime, may we all remember and give thanks for our forebears in the faith, those who have paved the way for us, those on whose shoulders we now stand.
And may we look forward to the generations to come, to those who will stand on our shoulders, and those who will stand on their shoulders, from generation to generation.
It may just give us the perspective we need for this very moment.
After all, friends:
Our God is bigger than coronavirus.
Our vision is bigger than coronavirus, too.
We are people blessing people.
We are Wesley Church.
Blessings,
Pastor Candy
Want to know more?
- Learn about our church and its ministries: https://wesleychurch.com/
- Make a gift to support our mission: https://wesleychurch.com/giving-2/
- View our recent messages: https://wesleychurch.com/sermon-message-on-video/
- View previous devotionals: https://wesleychurch.com/pastor-candys-devotionals-2/
