As most of you know, over the month of August we essentially had the song “Build Your Kingdom Here” by Rend Collective on repeat. Kelly Herman, our Leap of Faith Worship Leader, even admitted to growing a wee bit weary of this upbeat song! Since I am sure you just successfully got it out of your head, allow me to put it back in again. Here are the lyrics to the chorus:
Build Your kingdom here
Let the darkness fear
Show Your mighty hand
Heal our streets and land
Set Your church on fire
Win this nation back
Change the atmosphere
Build Your kingdom here, we pray.
As we are approaching the end of another year we begin to look toward Church Conference. This year, Church Conference will take place on October 19th in the Sanctuary of our Church at 1:00 pm. Though this season comes with filling out a lot of papers, it also offers us an opportunity to reflect on what God has built among us over this past year.
At the 2024 Church Conference, the Conference Superintendent Paul Ritchey challenged our churches to spend some time in prayerful discernment with our eyes wide open to the needs around us. Then he challenged the lay members of the church to begin a new ministry that serves those needs. Little did he know we were already doing this. The Home Goods Closet was already being prayed over and already in the works. Fast forward to this Church Conference, and the question he is going to be asking us is, “How did you participate with God in the building of God’s kingdom?” We are getting work done!
God has given us an energy that is needed to take on the task God has set on our hearts through that time of prayerful discernment. A desire to serve God through seeing our communities cared for, needs being met, and those people facing oppression receiving love, has grown within us. It has grown to such a level that it is pouring out of every heart, and we are doing what we can to serve the Lord. As the song goes, our church is a place that darkness fears, and the mighty hand of God is being witnessed. We are participating in the healing of the land by taking an atmosphere of hate and fighting it back with love.
There is yet another season ahead of us that has a built-in opportunity to show the community who God is and what God is up to. The pumpkins are coming and so are the people! We get to show neighbors, friends, and visitors a little glimpse into the kingdom of heaven.
The pumpkins are one great example of how God is giving us the energy we need to continue to fulfill the tasks God has put on our hearts. Diane Bartley has served our church through the pumpkin patch faithfully alongside Lou Ann Scott and then on her own for the past couple of years. As with every good, long-running ministry, leadership changes happen, and the ministry continues to flourish. One of those new members God has brought into our midst to extend our energy is Jess Duvall. She will be working alongside Diane this year as she steps into leadership of the patch next year. Diane will be transferring her crown to another pumpkin queen. This is how kingdom building works. We all answer the call, because we know God is calling us ALL. We all step into the work of God, because we know we all have something to offer. Just as we taught our kids at VBS, God is calling you, too! Now let us continue to be available to the power of the Holy Spirit, so God can continue to build God’s kingdom here!
From one light to another,
Pastor Hannah Loughman