Day 1 of 40 Days of Purpose (Continued)

Day 1 of 40 Days of Purpose (Continued)

Last weekend I attended a meeting of Conference Directors of Lay Speaking in the Atlanta area hosted by the North Georgia Conference. It was a wonderful weekend saturated in prayer. United Methodists are blessed to be part of a connected church, we call “the connection.” And what blessings we receive as a result. Part of that was a bag of favors from the host lay speakers with pecans, peach butter, and a small cookbook entitled, “Peaches, Pecans, and Prayers.” The pecans are long gone, but the prayers will echo forever.

Just as we individually were created by God for a purpose, so Christ founded his Church for a purpose: to be loved by Him and to be His means of love in the world. As a lay pastor, I continue to gain an appreciation for the Church Universal as a means of grace in a world of need. The Church is a means by which grace can flow, not exclusively mind you, for God’s grace saturates the world; but a vital means of grace, none the less. The purpose of the Church of Jesus Christ is central to our faith.

Bishop Robert Schnase, Missouri Conference, has recently written an important book for congregations of the universal Church, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations (see http://www.fivepractices.org/), five practices that must be done in a exemplary fashion if churches are to be fruitful, to be a means by which God’s grace will be poured into them and through them, overflowing beyond the congregation’s walls to a world beyond. If your church is looking for purpose (and aren't we all?), I commend the book to you.