“Messy Church”

Today I’ve been reminded yet again that life as church is messy. Sometimes we might feel under-equipped, under-prepared and under pressure – but the glory of it is, we are invited by God to participate in His redemptive work in a broken world. What a privilege that is – and how scary too!

This morning I was finalising my preparations for the funeral of our dear friend, Bobby Fry, who passed way recently, and whose funeral it was my privilege to take. Praise God, everything went smoothly and we had a beautiful day and a full house – which is to say, the maximum allowable number of people in attendance!

This afternoon, no longer in my suit, I hopped into the Storehouse van and took some bits and bobs to a guy who has just been rehomed after being in some difficulties – I’m on my way back shortly with a bag of food and a duvet for him.
His story is very different indeed from Bobby’s and his need for help comes in the prime of life rather than at its ending.

I feel so grateful, so blessed that because of this church, I find myself being (on this day, at least) the person on the spot at the point of need in two radically different scenarios. Suit and black tie in the morning for a dear elderly lady at life’s end, shorts and a tee shirt in the afternoon for the rough-at-the-edges guy trying to make a new beginning. Difficult in their different ways? Yes. Feeling the pressure a bit? Certainly. But what a privilege.

Thanks, EBC, for being a church that supports me, the staff team and all our ministries in so many ways. We are, together, the body of Christ. In a messy world, at a particularly messy time, we made a difference together today, and I thought you should know.

Every blessing
 
Simon