"I'm Baaaaaack"

Yesterday I saw Jon Gibson's portrayal of me coming back from Sabbatical...it was just a little disturbing to say the least (if you were not here Sunday check out week 9 under the current message series at www.elivinghope.com). I give him credit...it was funny.

So, the question of the week has been, "How does it feel to be back?" I can honestly say that Sunday night I was a nervous wreck...I felt like I was starting at a new job. I felt scared, overwhelmed and wondered what would be waiting for me. I am glad to report that once again I have found fear to be a liar. It has been good to be back. I am starting to feel in the groove of things and it is great to start seeing my church family again.

Actually, I want to take a moment to share how grateful I am to be a part of a church that gets it. You know, when I headed out for sabbatical, I told the Church Board that I felt this would be a good time to see if over these ten years I had done the unhealthy thing and built a church around me as the pastor or if we are a part of a church that is about Being the church with or without the pastor. So, today I looked over the attendance and saw that we were only down by about 10% these past eight weeks.

Isn't that cool! 90% of our church family are really getting it! You are awesome! You understand that church is not about a pastor or a building or an hour on Sunday...you, me, we are the church! By joining us on the path while I was away you showed that you get it! You get that church life is about being connected to one another, not just a pastor. You showed that you can hear from God regardless of who is sharing the message. You showed that your faithfulness is to God not to any one pastor. You showed that your desire to serve one another and serve others in our community is wrapped up in your love for Christ with or without a Pastor. Praise God for you!!!!

I am so proud to call you my church family and I cannot wait to be back with you this Sunday! I have something that is very meaningful to me to share with you and I hope and pray it will be the same for you. So, I will see you this Sunday at 11 AM and I hope you will plan to hang around after the worship experience to connect with one another and share a light lunch together. I love this church!