First of all, a couple words of thanks are in order!
The Chambersburg First Church of God (http://cfcog.cc) – What amazing and gracious hosts you were to all of us. I can’t say enough about how pastors Lawrence Metzler, Chad Chute, Chris Clugh and their staff and teams at Chambersburg First welcomed us, served us and just went above and beyond in making sure people were well cared for during their time at the General Conference Sessions. This is a congregation that seeks to serve others and that was demonstrated over and over during our time in Chambersburg. Thank you for being such wonderful hosts.
Over the last few days I’ve been reflecting upon the General Conference Triennial Sessions which were held in Chambersburg, PA last week. I’d like to offer some of my own observations and learnings from the week.
A couple of observations:
A couple of challenges:
We’re an aging body. There’s no delicate way to state this, but I couldn’t help but think forward to a few years in the future and ask “who will take the place of these faithful folks who will no longer be able to serve?” The issue of discipleship and raising up the next generation of leaders is beyond the discussion stage, we must take action and we must become more intentional about raising up and equipping the generations that follow so that they can continue the work of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We must take diversity more seriously than we do presently. One of the bright spots in the CGGC in North America right now is what the Lord is doing to bring racial diversity into our body – this is most evident in our work with Latinos and Spanish-speaking people and African Americans. The Kingdom of God will be represented by every tribe and nation, tongue and ethnicity and I believe that the Lord has been at work to bring a much richer diversity to the CGGC than at any time in my lifetime or memory. That diversity wasn’t represented in the delegation at the General Conference Sessions to the degree that it should have been. This will have to change if we are to become all that God is calling us to be as a church body. This will take intentionality on our part to ensure that all of our body is represented well as we move forward in the future.
A closing thought:
The real work begins now. It’s one thing to come together and talk about reaching, restoring and reproducing. It’s one thing to learn about discipleship and mission or showing grace and truth to the homosexual community, but how do we actually do this? Will we put it into action? We received some great information last week, but our faith isn’t just about information, it’s about what we put into practice and actually live out.
If we had a great experience at General Conference Sessions but nothing else changes in the next three years then we’ve wasted a lot of time, energy and resources because it’s not just about what we know and understand, it’s about what we do as a result of that knowledge. Let’s not waste this opportunity my brothers and sisters. Let’s ask God to move us into greater faithfulness to Him so that the world would see and know the Glory of Jesus and the peace that’s only found in Him!
Christ’s Peace,
Lance