We are the Church

     If I've never mentioned it before, I love our church.  We've been at Epiphany for the past 12 years and when we consider the possibility of moving to a new city or state, our church and the friends and relationships we've built in the time there always count as a pro for staying right where we are.  We have three wonderful pastors who have dedicated their lives to ministry and who regularly speak God's truth with such passion and with such humility, you want nothing else than to just sit at their feet and listen to what the Holy Spirit will speak through them.
   Today, one of our pastors, Pastor Rob told the congregation that he was accepting a Call to a church in Tennessee. He had been prayerfully considering it for about a month and I think we all had an idea that this was it, this was the Call he would say yes to. But just because we had an idea that this move was God's will, it didn't take away the shock and the sadness.  To say goodbye to such a family, a family after God's own heart, a family who after ten years of service has become a cornerstone will not be easy.  
  I guess my reason for writing tonight was to put down on paper, so to speak, something that P. Rob said while breaking the news.  We all know the kids' song:  "I am the church.  You are the church.  We are the church together.  All who follow Jesus, all around the world.  Yes, we're the church together." No, he didn't sing the song, but he said (and I tried writing it down) something to the effect that a ministry is not made out of a person, and a church is not made out of personalities.  I really liked that comment.  I have seen or heard of other churches that were dealt a blow when their lead pastor left or retired because the church body had depended so much on their leadership.  I think that is a great message to any of us who are blessed to have great leaders and Epiphany has not 1, but 3.  It helps to remember, and this was Pastor Rob's point,  that when a body of believers is focused on doing Christ's work without prideful motivations, God's will wins out every time with or without the best sermon-giver or best administrator or best nurturer.
   But, and of course I'm biased, we have some great teachers.  And today P. Rob gave the Best Sermon Ever and so perfectly timed.  It was about bearing fruit, maturing in your faith, how NOT maturing isn't an option.  We can't just get to a stage in our faith and go, "yeah, I'm done." After the service, and I dried my tears because they fell a bit throughout,  I felt compelled to make some changes, some personal, some spiritual and some missional ones.  I love sermons like that.  Ones that make you move and today the Holy Spirit was working through every Word.
   Because Pastor Rob is such a dynamic speaker and leader, his wife Julie is by far one of the funniest and most honest Brits you'll ever meet, and their children (whose two oldest I taught Sunday School to when they were 4 and 5) are such great, hard-working and Christ-driven kids, they will all be missed.  I am happy for them to take this leap of faith and I know it will be blessed.  I have this urge to drive to Tennessee and tell the new congregation just how lucky they are, but they'll figure it out in time.  And in time Epiphany will figure out what to do with the chunk of brick out of their cornerstone and the hole in their heart.