Dear Grace Family,
How do you spend your downtime? Or are you like me and respond to that question with, “what is downtime?” As far as the life of our church goes, May is a month of downtime. We have a limited number of volunteers pulling off an exhaustive amount of ministry, so May, August, and Christmas are natural times we’ve built into our life together to take a break. However, not all of you are at the age/stage in your life where you feel the need to slow down right now. Some of you don’t like the fact that we aren’t together on Wednesday nights for a month. If this describes you, I have good news. You should feel free to reach out to different folks in our church and see if they want to come over to your house for a meal, fellowship, prayer etc. on Wednesday nights in May. Just because the church isn’t gathering doesn’t mean the church can’t be scattered throughout Starkville in this way. One word of caution to protect your heart. Don’t be upset or disappointed if the folks you invite are too busy to accept your invitation. If some say no, keep going down the list until you find some to say yes. I’ve heard it said from several members who’ve been here over a decade that we have more fellowship right now than we’ve ever had in the life of the church. Hallelujah! This is a sign that our desire is to actually know one another and not just to share worship space on the Lord’s Day. The next phase of this fellowship, then, is that what we do formally will continue to pop up organically. I’d even rejoice if we realized we could cut back on some of our gathered fellowship because we are filling up one another’s homes instead. So, for those who need a break, enjoy May. For those of you who are lamenting our downtime, I can’t wait to hear all about how much joy and laughter you shared with folks from Grace at your house. The Lord will be pleased with it all and will use it to build us up. See y’all on Sunday!
Humbly yours,
Seth