Friday, October 1, 2010

From the UCC Network - Devotional 10/1 "Church: You’re Amazing"


Daily Devotional August
Church: You’re Amazing
Excerpt from Revelation 2:12-29
“I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.”
Reflection by Anthony B. Robinson
These aren’t easy times to be the church, are they? The financial bottom-line is nipping at your heels. Some group in the congregation is complaining of this or that. And you have to contend with headline-grabbers who attach the name of Christ and the church to their sorry, stupid schemes.
So here’s a word of encouragement and appreciation for you and your church. “I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance . . .” God is watching and God sees that you are amazing. Really.
I get to work with all sorts of congregations all across the country. I am regularly stunned. Stunned at their incredible faithfulness, at the love I see, at the acts of service and the amazing perseverance of the church and people of the church. The media are blind to this. Worse, we too are often blind to the goodness and faithfulness unfolding week by week in our own congregation.
But in every congregation I visit I see love and faith, service and perseverance.  I see the poor fed, the children taught, adults seeking deeper lives, strangers welcomed, love lived and God praised. Church, you’re amazing.
Prayer
Lord, give us eyes to see the faithfulness and goodness right in our midst, and to praise you for it. Amen.
About the Author

Tony Robinson, a United Church of Christ minister, is a speaker, teacher and writer. His most recent book is Changing the Conversation: A Third Way for Congregations. Read his weekly reflections on the current lectionary texts atwww.anthonybrobinson.com.