I asked several members of the original launch team of West if there was a time they remembered our struggle to trust God or a time when we did trust God in a difficult opportunity and as God always does, God led the way through it and provided.
There are several powerful lessons we can learn from their ruminations.
Today I’d like you to hear from Adam Lumley and his thoughts.
The lesson is one so vitally important, especially as we envision how to be the church in the COVID-19 and Post-Covid world.
It was the fall of 2013, the year we chartered and people were asking “What do we stand for?”
So we started a “What is West” series, our core value series. I secretly called it the “All Means All” series. We had already lost some solid members due to economy, job changes, and family situations. I don’t recall all those details but the “All Means All” message was coming and I was worried. I’m so bad with recalling numbers, especially dollars, but as the months rolled on we took anther hit. I worried and struggled (not with the core value). But I was wondering if God truly cared? Were we going to be able to weather all the losses?
We got our net and cast it.
We kept casting the net, picking up what we could, we fed the people and the church moved. So what if the net disintegrates? There’s more people with nets around the corner.
The core people of this West movement were wound tight. We held things together and we were replenished over time. It made me recall Ecclesiastes 4:12
“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Or in The Message translation,
“By yourself you’re unprotected.
With a friend you can face the worst.
Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.”
West still stands, pandemic be damned and everything else. God simply has work for us to do and we are still doing it.”
Thank you, Adam, for your powerful words.
So, West people . . . we are still called to cast the net. Our role as followers of The Way is to share light and love with all people. How do we need to do that today?
How do you need to do that in your own interactions and relationships?
When we each do this individually and corporately, we form those ropes that aren’t easily snapped. I hope you will join in this West movement even more deeply and intentionally. Make a difference today!