Sermon for April 18

What Next?

I was really looking forward to getting back in our building. Moving toward whatever the new normal is going to be. This local outbreak, however, has set us back. Our schools are closed, but you already know that. We need to pray for this pandemic to quickly come to an end. I don’t know about you but I am tired of being afraid of my neighbor.

My last message was on Easter Morning at Rock Lake. It was glorious. Later that day it became cold and rainy, but that morning it was a proper cathedral of God.

Those who were able to attend the Sunrise Service may recall I mentioned my plan was to take Easter off from our series of messages based on the Apostle’s Creed. I was then going to finish up after Easter, today actually. But God had other ideas. Isn’t it funny how God frequently steps in and makes things happen the way He wants them to be? Normally, when I let God take control, it turns out much better than it otherwise would have. Anyone recall the last two lines in the Creed? They are, “I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.” That is the foundation for a perfect Easter message. Thus, God decided I should end our series on the Creed on Easter morning. The morning on which Jesus Christ was resurrected and showed us the way to paradise. I never cease to be amazed at the way God takes care of the details.

You may recall my story about offering to write a book for the board members of the North West Division of the Wesleyan Covenant Connection. They wanted to bundle their testimonies into a comprehensive form so they could reach out to others. My vision was to organize them along the lines of the Apostle’s Creed. They didn’t take me up on my offer, but God did. God gave me a mission to examine the Creed and examine the minimum that one must believe to be called a Christian. Then God turned that mission into a ministry, and we have spent the last six months fulfilling that ministry.

Now What!? That ministry has been fulfilled. That mission has been accomplished. Now What? Everyone needs a God given mission. My life – all our lives have been a series of missions. We may not have realized they were God given, but they were. Sometimes we had concurrent missions. Missions that overlapped. Sometimes many at once. I am a life-long father and husband. For several years I was an Air Force Officer, a soldier and at times a warrior. Then, I became a teacher and football coach. There is no way I could have done any of that by myself. Those were God-given assignments. Sometimes missions can turn into ministries, into missions that build faith.

One of my missions while in the Air Force was to command troops. I was fortunate to have several commands spanning several years. One of my commands was a maintenance squadron of over 300 aircraft mechanics. My job was to motivate them, and I worked hard at it. It was both stressful and lonely. Every squadron has an Air Force Chaplin assigned. For most that meant saying grace at the annual Christmas party. Our Chaplin was an Episcopal minister named Dave Benna. He expanded his assignment as our squadron Chaplin by ministering to me. He would walk through the squadron about twice a week to check on the troops. While there, he would check on me. When he thought it necessary, he would look me up and down and say, “Frank you need to come to communion today.” I never questioned him. He served communion every day at lunch time. So, when he told me to go, I would go to the chapel instead of the Officer’s Club. I always felt better afterward.

I’m not sure what mission God has in store for me next. My job is to listen to what he has to say the same as I listened to Dave Benna when he told me what to do. I am interested in studying the very early church in the days following the resurrection and ascension. Thus, I plan to focus on the first half of the Book of Acts and see where that leads. If God doesn’t change my plan, I will assume I’m doing what he wants me to do.

What mission does God have for you? I hope God has moved at least one of you to inspire this congregation with song. If not that then what? God has missions for all of us. He may even have a mission for you that can grow into a ministry.

Pray with me. Lord, I await your guidance, but I can’t simply be idle until I feel your hand on me. I believe You want me to do something, anything even if it is wrong. I believe you can steer me, but it is up to me to start.