FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Dear Central Church, 

I was with a group of pastors a few weeks ago, and we were having a roundtable discussion about a variety of topics related to the Church. I’m not sure how the conversation turned in this direction, but one pastor started talking about their experience of doing ministry in 2020. One by one, each pastor started sharing about the nuances of leading a local church during this year of so many unprecedented events and circumstances. 

I’ve been in these settings before and it always reminds me of little kids telling stories about past injuries and saying, “Do you want to see my scar?” I remember as a little boy falling off my bike and having a terrible scar down the side of my body. Unencumbered by modesty, I wanted to lift my shirt up and show everyone. 

The two-thousand-and-twentieth year of our Lord was a difficult one to endure. A global pandemic, a divisive presidential election, and a national reckoning on racial injustice all converged to create a challenging season for the Church. If you had 7 people in the same room, you would get 8 different opinions on each one of those current events. 

The Apostle Paul was not afraid to address divisive, cultural issues. In Ephesians 2 he addresses the divide between Jews and Gentiles. The chasm between these two people groups was vast, perhaps more so than the most divided groups in American society today. Paul declares the “good news” that the “dividing wall of hostility has been destroyed…in the cross of Jesus Christ.” (Eph. 2:14,16) In Christ, divided people can become one. 

This Sunday, as we continue our Made for Mission sermon series, we’ll be looking at the second of our core values: life-giving community. This message of peace and reconciliation in Ephesians 2 is at the core of what it means for us to be a community of people that gives life. People need to be connected to these kinds of relationships. 

As you prepare for worship this Sunday, think about the divisions in our world and take a moment to read Ephesians 2:11-22. My prayer is that Central Church would embody the unity, peace, and reconciliation described in this passage. People far from God need to be connected to a life-giving community of people, and Central Church is someone’s best chance to experience that! Let’s be that people IN our community FOR our community. 

 
Until He’s Finished,
Pastor Mark  

P.S. Here’s the prayer we’re praying each Sunday as we journey through this series.

A Made for Mission Prayer:
God, remind me of who we are as the Church; help me find my place in what we do; and let me wake up each day knowing why it matters for eternity.