A devotion by Pastor Wes Poole
Hebrews 6: 10-11
For God is not unjust; he will not overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we want each one of you to show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end. NRSV
Serving the saints. Ministering to God’s People. Looking outside of ourselves and our immediate circles, and meeting the needs of others with generosity and compassion. Love God, love your neighbor. These are the primary tasks of the faithful believer. That’s not a terribly controversial statement. I doubt that anyone reading this would take issue with it at all. God has given us so much. It is incumbent upon us, as modern day disciples of Jesus, to tell the Story of God’s love for us and then to share what He has given us with our brothers and sisters out there in the wide world. Unfortunately, during the pandemic we have become a lot more insular and necessarily distant from each other. We spend a great deal more time at home, and as such, it is all too easy to forget about the world around us as we try to keep each other safe.
So while we continue to hope and pray for an end to this time of truly unprecedented difficulty, we still don’t know when that might be. Doubtless, many of us have kept to ourselves and an immediate “bubble” of people, and were just hoping for a quick resolution and return to our normal way of life. That hasn’t happened yet, but this is not the time to despair. God will bring us through this in His time. Of that I have absolutely no doubt. In the meantime, social distance notwithstanding, we are still the church; God’s hands at work in His creation. There is ministry that needs to be done and we need all hands on deck to make it so. To that end, I am encouraging all of us to get engaged. We all have contributions to make to our Good Shepherd family. Even though our community looks a bit different these days, our time, talents, and treasures are needed more than ever. We need everyone engaged creatively, spiritually, financially, and enthusiastically. There is so much good we can do to help others and keep our ministry active and vibrant. As fall approaches, we will be searching for new and innovative ways to share the Good News. We want your ideas and suggestions. Let’s think outside of the box. Think your idea is a bit “out there”? Let’s hear it anyway! God has called us all into ministry together. Let’s get on with it! I look forward to hearing from you. As always, you can get in touch with me directly at pastorwes@goodshepherdwb.org or by calling the church and leaving a message. Thanks for all that you do!
Let us pray…
God of creation and creativity, we come to you today and ask that you reinvigorate a spirit of boldness in our Good Shepherd family. When we look outside of ourselves, we see a world that needs to hear the Story of your love for all people. Many of those people are in need. Help us to find creative ways of meeting those needs and telling that Story; for we know that all things are possible in you. We ask these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Be well, be kind, and be safe!
Blessings always,
Pastor Wes †