Well, in the category of "be careful what you wish for"...I wrote in an August blog posting about how unusually cool much of August had been. This past weekend we met August as temps neared 90. As I write this, Fall has appeared with temperatures a very seasonable 60 degrees. I think they call this "football weather", (though in Washington football is a real sore point these days). I love Fall...always have. I preached one time how its harder to be a believer in the Fall. Spring is better suited to belief as everything comes to life with beauty, warmth and increasing sunlight. In the Fall, everything starts to die; the trees, the flowers, even daylight. Our faith is tested in these months in ways we don't experience in the Spring. But every season of nature is a reminder of the changes of life we all experience. For two weekends I have been preaching a series on Restore, our plan for parish renewal. My goal is to awaken the faithful to the reality of our parish life. I want our parish to experience a Spring of new life through deeper discipleship. This coming weekend my message series will conclude as I present the specifics of the plan and ask folks to commit to our future. As amazingly positive as the response of the last two weekends has been (including my announcement about installing screens for worship), this weekend will be the real test. This is "Count Me In" weekend. Saturday and Sunday's message will be, "okay, you've heard how we can't stay HERE (status quo) and that we need to go THERE (committed to discipleship), so what I can put you down for?" The hardest thing to change in any organization is "culture". This weekend will be the test. Are you really with me? Really committed to change? Ready to get on board? Lord, I hope so. And I pray for it daily. Let us together "restore all things in Christ." Amen. |