Vitality Update 10.18.19

Posted on October 18, 2019.
On August 10th, twenty-five of us gathered in the Fellowship Hall for the Vitality Event, “Finding our Biblical Story”.  This was an event to look at Scripture and share together where we see the story of Messiah right now in the Scriptures.  While many ideas were shared, four main passages came to the top.
  1. Matthew 13:44. The Kingdom of Heaven is here at Messiah Church, and it is the most important thing here.  It will take hard work to unearth that treasure, and we must be willing to count the cost of following Jesus wherever he would call us.  
  2. The Book of Jonah.  Messiah had a call and purpose in the past, as evidenced by the number of people in the church throughout the week that were involved in various ministries and activities (Jonah the prophet).  Over time, we ran from that call when things got difficult to a place of comfort rather than continue in the difficult path of God’s call (Jonah flees the call to Nineveh).  God in his mercy kept us steadfast in his arms despite our disobedience (Jonah in the whale).  God has now placed us on our feet again and the call is before us, will we follow him to where he is calling us next (Jonah spit out of the whale)?
  3. Judges 6 and 7. Gideon had a big army that he had big plans to take and conquer the Midianites.  However, God weans down his army from 32,000 to 300, and uses this small number to achieve victory for God’s glory.  Gideon had to pray and trust God through the weaning process.  Messiah should re-commit to prayer and seeking His will for our church so that he could receive the glory.
  4. John 5:2-14.  Jesus heals the invalid by the pool by asking him, first, the question “Do you want to be well.”  At Messiah, we have had much change and transition over the last twenty years, which has led to unhealthy relationships with each other and pain among the body.  We need to consider “Do we want to be well?” and seek health and reconciliation with each other, so that we can listen well to where God is calling us next.
We are thankful for all who contributed and for each of these stories that reflect our current reality and future at Messiah. The Vitality Team saw Messiah in each of these stories presented on that day. 
 
Ultimately after prayer and discussion, we landed on Matthew 13:44. We see that the kingdom of God is still here and is the most important thing here. We see that God is calling us to trust in him to unearth the treasure of his kingdom for the community around us. It will take hard work, new focus, a submitting to Christ and his agenda for our church and relying on the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. We are trusting in His leadership as we move forward together.