Welcome, Welcome Back, and Comeback
Grace and peace to you and welcome to the new WMPC Blog. Several times a month WMPC pastors, worship leaders, and other leaders will post spiritual devotions, reflections on worship, information about our church, or other similar items to help our friends and members along their Christian journeys. So welcome to the blog! May it serve you as a valued resource!
In this first blog entry, my first word to you all is “Welcome Back.” The reality of the pandemic and all the unknown it forced upon us means that many folks got out of the habit of “going out” and, in our case, “going out to church.” So, if we have not seen you for a while, then we say, “Welcome Back.” Our church-program year begins September 11 and we can’t wait to see you. So find your WMPC name-tag and join us for a Sunday morning worship service, a Wednesday night meal, a musical rehearsal, a Youth event, a Young Families fellowship activity, a Sunday School class, a Tuesday morning study, or an Outreach ministry event.
I suspect though, that if you are reading this, you are likely someone who has come to church recently or who is planning on coming soon. So, I have a pastoral favor to ask of all of us: we each need to invite someone we have not seen in a while. Who is missing from your circle of church friends? Let’s all be ready to say “Welcome Back” by inviting others to church soon.
Earlier this summer I preached a sermon called “Comeback” (and wrote a newsletter article with the same name). In that sermon I said this:
Whatever our ecclesiology of the future – whatever we see as the future potential of the church – we will rely upon God who inspires our hopes and dreams. The God who inspires the unlikely and impossible. The God who has brought us this far and the God who will show us better days ahead.
One does not need to be a board-certified psychologist to see that this topic has been on my mind. I have read the experts. I have spent what feels like hours in prayer. I often comeback myself to the above statement. Ultimately, the hope for this ministry and our gospel witness and loving service rests in God.
So, join me in prayer for the church year ahead. Welcome to the new blog. Welcome back to campus. And may our comeback, with God’s help, begin.
– By Christopher Edmonston