Hello,
I came across the wackiest Scripture this week. Ezekiel isn’t the easiest book of the Bible, pretty doom and gloom sometimes. And in chapter 9, it says that in a vision, Ezekiel hears God tell an angel to go throughout the city of Jerusalem, and mark the foreheads of all the people in the city who are moaning and groaning, because they will be the ones saved from future trouble. Strange, isn’t it!? But the point is that the people who are complaining are the ones who see the sin going on around them, and are grieved by it. The ones who aren’t moaning and groaning are acting like nothing’s wrong.
I’m not big on complaining, personally. But I think there’s a striking spiritual lesson here. We should be grieved by sin. It should bother us. And even if our voice is the only one saying it, we should be the ones who say- this isn’t right! Of course, it doesn’t end there. As the book of James reminds us, if we see a problem and don’t act to fix it, our faith is meaningless (James 2:18). But sometimes as Christians we think to moan and groan about the awful things in the world is unfaithful somehow, and Ezekiel shows us that’s not true. It’s the first step toward making things “on earth as it is in heaven.” So let yourself express your grief that things are not as they should be. And then, find one small thing you can do to make one tiny fraction of it better.
This week, our ministry teams are completing their budget requests for next year, and next week our Finance Team will be working to complete our 2026 budget. Please pray for all the leaders involved in that, for God’s guidance in our decision making. It’s not about the money; it’s about the ministry that the money will fund.
A couple days ago we received a note from the Board Chair of Neighborhood Schools, the charter school at our West Campus. He writes:
Dear friends,
Thank you and First Methodist Church so very much for supporting our efforts with our children and families! Your gift of backpacks and school supplies will help equip the children we serve with the supplies that set them up for success in school…Thank you all for believing!
Well done church. Let’s keep it up. Looking forward to worshiping with you this Sunday, when we’ll learn more about a change of heart in St. Peter.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Lindsay Kirkpatrick
Senior Pastor
[email protected]