We are a biblically-based Presbyterian church seeking to experience and share God’s love to transform our homes, community and the world.

Last year was something special, wasn’t it? The trouble we knew was brewing when the year began pales in comparison to how 2020 actually unfolded.  We faced challenges and difficulties that we never could have dreamed or imagined.  We found our lives disrupted in unprecedented ways.  And what we thought was going to be a problem and challenge for a few months has persisted into this new year as well.  Out of necessity and concern for our own well-being, and that of others, we have found ourselves retreating from much of the normal rhythms and patterns of our lives.  Some of us haven’t left the house, other than for work or groceries, since April.  In times of trial and struggle, it is a natural, human reaction to withdraw and become insular, to focus on yourself and your family.  Sometimes, doing so is a necessity in order just to survive.

What is true for us as individuals has also been true for us as a church.  We have had to adapt to an entirely different way of being and doing the work of the church, and that adjustment is still ongoing.  The changes and shifts in our culture over the past decade or so kicked into overdrive because of this pandemic, and to be honest, we were kind of caught off guard.  While some adjustments happened quickly and relatively smoothly (such as shifting to online worship), many of the changes and shifts we need to make are still ongoing.  As we’ve wrestled and struggled this year, as a church we have focused more on ourselves than on our community and our mission.  Not entirely, but significantly.

Time for a Reset

When your computer or phone starts acting weird, one of the first things to try is to reset your device.  Often, this is as simple as doing a restart — just shut it off and then turn it on again.  Sometimes, you might need to reset the device — erase everything and restore it from a backup.  A reset is more time consuming, but is also more effective at cleaning out the bugs and the junk that build up over time.  I wonder if we, as individuals but perhaps more as a church, aren’t in need of a “reset” as well?

The quote at the top of this article is the first sentence on our church website.  It is Northminster’s purpose statement, a sentence that explains in a succinct manner why we exist as a community of faith.  While the world and culture around us has changed, our mission and purpose have not.  While we are all struggling to address and adapt to our pandemic-ravaged world, the Gospel has not changed.  How we present the Gospel might change, how we go about Gospel work might change, but the Gospel itself is timeless and unchanging.  “…to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12–13)

Perhaps we need a reset — as Christians and as a community of Christians.  Reset our faith and our mission by doing a “factory reset” on our spiritual lives.  Get back to the simple basics of the Gospel and the Kingdom of God.  Let’s start this year off by asking if we are truly experiencing and being transformed by God’s love in our lives and in our homes, and if not, why not?  Let’s resolve to get rid of anything in our lives that is keeping us from knowing that love which surpasses all understanding (Eph. 3:12) so that we might love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:28-34).  Then, let us come together as a community of faith ready to take the Gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ to those who don’t yet know the hope, life and love that can only be found through Him.

The challenges of 2020 haven’t stopped with the flipping of the calendar, but the Gospel has never been hindered by worldly circumstances.  In fact, the Gospel has often thrived in circumstances much more challenging than what we’ve faced this past year.  I believe the best is yet to come for Northminster and that God is going to do some amazing and special things through this congregation in the months and years to come.  Let’s commit together to resetting our faith and lives so we can embrace the mission He is inviting us to join Him in doing.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:17–19)

Blessings,

Rev. David Garrison