Hi Saving Grace Family,
We have now occupied our new facility for a month. I find this hard to believe because I enter into the new worship center almost daily and the new space still feels foreign. I know why. The worship environment I experienced for 6 years has changed. The change is not bad but it is different. Sometimes it takes time to get comfortable with change. If you have found that the change in the new worship center has taken some getting use too, I validate your feelings. While the worship environment has changed there are some things that will never change. Saving Grace will always remain committed to our Lutheran doctrine and our vision “to connect all generations to Jesus.”
To be sure there are challenges. You may mourn something you miss from the old worship center. I mourn that I can no longer stand in one location on a Sunday morning and personally greet every worshipper. There was a simplicity to the connections I was able to make every Sunday morning. The many entrances and exits in our new facility make it impossible for me to connect with each Sunday morning worshipper in the way I want. In these moments of mourning, I am reminded of the old (cliché, but true) Christian rhyme, “The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is the people.” We, you and me, capital ‘C’ are the Church.
I share all this information recognizing the joy of worshipping in our new worship center and serving children and families in our preschool does not come without its challenges. Brothers and sisters, we are not delt an “either/or” option. The option is not EITHER we reach more people in our community OR we serve the current congregation. I believe we can do BOTH. Jesus commands us to do BOTH. And by the power of Holy Spirit, Saving Grace will do BOTH.
I thank you for your commitment to care for those currently part of our worshipping community. I thank you for your partnership in proclaiming the Good News to connect more people to Christ. Let’s get after it Saving Grace!
In Christ,
Pastor Tim
