Friends,
I have a confession to make. These past few years have, from time to time, have distracted me from my belief in the power of God’s transformative action. And how easy it has been to be distracted in the last few years, what with political dissension, a global pandemic, personal hurdles, natural disasters and everything in between happening. It’s not necessarily that we’ve lost faith or belief, but we get bogged down in messaging that causes us to forget that in the midst of everything we worship and serve an all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful God who is able to do the miraculous even when our actions fall short, and things move out of our control.
I was grateful for that reminder in this week’s Dynamite Prayer. If you’re joining us on this journey, you’ll have read on day four about unbelief. In the final sentences of the devotion for the day, the authors give us some advice: “beware of any type of faithless resignation about ‘what is,’ and choose instead to view everything and everyone with potential for God’s transformation-including yourself.” When we find ourselves thinking, “that could never happen,” we have the opportunity reframe our thinking and our prayers in a way of believing to say, “God can do this. With God, all things are possible.” Will we always see our prayers answered in the way that we ask? Maybe not, but dynamite prayer helps us expand our vision to dream bigger, to pray on a God-scale. Let’s work to pray without hesitation, for all things, knowing that God is with us in everything, always and hears those prayers.
I hope you’ll join us for the remainder of these weeks in Dynamite Prayer. We still have books in the Partin Center and worship spaces, and the good news is that you can jump in with us where we are at any point.
I also want to invite you to be in prayer for and join us for the Martin Luther King, Jr. parade this Monday, January 15th. Meet us at the Peck Center (at the corner of Elm Street and 11th Street) at 11:30AM wearing your red “Love Shows Up” shirt. The route follows the regular parade route, so if you are not walking you are invited to watch from the church steps. This is just one of the many ways that we can live out our calling in the community. It’s a busy time in the life of our church as we enter this new year, and I’m excited to serve alongside of you in the coming months!
With Love and Peace,
Pastor Rachel
