GOD @ WORK
During the past several months we have seen a lot of things developing at Middletown Alliance Church.
We have seen our Easter Egg Hunt bring in over 200 people to our campus. We have seen our building being
remodeled right before our very eyes. We have seen God continuing to bring new folks to us on a regular basis.
We are also in the process of gearing up for the Classic 10K event in June, where we will serve our community
by volunteering. We are developing plans to build a multi-purpose building, kid's park and picnic area with
pavilion.
Starting on September 12, we will be having two worship services. One at 9AM, the 2nd service at 10:30AM. Then
Sunday School from 11:45AM to 12:30PM.
These past events and current plans all take a big dose of faith on our part. As I was thinking about this, I
was reminded from the Bible of the sending of the 12 spies into Canaan. If you remember the story, Moses, as
God's agent, executed the plan, which was really God's plan first of all.
The spies came back with a glowing report of the land. Unfortunately, they also came back afraid, so the
nation of Israel did not enter the Promised Land for another 40 years.
What we see in this story is that God wanted them to take the land and enjoy its blessings. And all the people
had to do was trust God, but instead they doubted.
Today, we are doing God's work through our campus, our ministries, and our community. And if we are going to
do God's work in God's way, we must exercise faith.
What we see from our story is that the failure of God's people to enter Canaan teaches us some important
truths about the nature of faith: Faith begins with vision, vision inspires courage, and courage results in
action.
In other words, we need to have some idea of what God wants to do & what He can accomplish through our
efforts.
Our story tells us that the spies went to check out the land, and it was just as God had said in Numbers
13:27. It was a beautiful and fruitful land, a wonderful place to live, especially after the desert
experience!
But something happened to obscure the vision of what could be. Ten of the spies were impressed with all the
difficulties the nation would face if they tried to take the land... Canaan's people were strong, the cities
were fortified, and there were giants on top of that!
On the one hand, these were practical men, so they could not ignore these issues. But unfortunately they
allowed these obstacles to become so big in their minds that God was eclipsed. In other words, they lost the
vision.
On the other hand, Joshua and Caleb operated on the principle that God is greater than circumstances. Although
they were realistic enough to face the problems of the enemy and giants, they also knew God wanted them to
live in the land and believe that God was with them.
They also saw the potential of living in a land of milk & honey and they recognized that the opportunity was
now. In other words, Joshua & Caleb had caught the vision, and they believed God could make it a reality.
As I look at our vision of glorifying God by being disciples, who make disciples & realizing God has given us
this campus to use effectively in fulfilling His vision, a couple of things come to my mind.
- Sometimes I lack faith in how God is going to develop our ministries. That mostly happens when I focus on
the smallness of our building & the fact that financially I'm not sure how we can build a multi-purpose
building. But in the midst of that thinking, God reminds me that my focus needs to be on Him & how He wants to
accomplish His plan, not the building & finances.
- Sometimes, my little faith in God & even us as His church leads me to shy away from attempting to follow
God. In the midst of this, God reminds me that real faith means being willing to take risks to follow God.
God has given us a vision & is waiting for us to act on it. He has given us a vision of what we can be and do.
Do we have the courage to follow the vision? Will we act on it?
We need to remember that God honored Caleb and Joshua for their faithfulness and obedience… Joshua led the
conquest of Canaan and Caleb captured Mount Horeb when he was 80 years old.
And because they were willing to put faith into action, they succeeded where those without such faith failed.
We need to remember that real faith does something.
Also we need to remember that doing God's work means entering new territory and facing some giants. The
question for us to think about is this: Are we grasshoppers? Or are we giant killers?
Yours for following & fulfilling God's vision - Pastor Dave
