오늘의 선교 연감
Mission Yearbook: Minute for Mission: Evangelism Sunday
I had the privilege of celebrating 150 years of ministry with the Community Presbyterian Church in Lake City, Colorado, last weekend. It was a beautiful celebration because I was with a beloved friend and former colleague, his family’s hospitality and the majesty of the Rocky Mountains.
However, the weekend of celebration was beautiful for another reason: the church’s hiker ministry. This ministry serves hikers hiking the Continental Divide Trail. Hikers experience wondrous hospitality. They can have their clothes washed. Each day, volunteers at the Hiker Center offer a special treat. They can pick up needed supplies, and every Sunday the church prepares a hiker meal. I experienced the grace of God and the movement of the Holy Spirit as the church family worked together to prepare a meal and welcome about thirty hikers from all over the country into an experience of communion.
At the end of the day, I processed the celebrations. In the morning, we celebrated 150 years of ministry with hikers, church members and people from the community. That afternoon, we prepared a meal together so that hikers would be received and welcomed in a way that brought them life. And as about one hundred people were sharing a meal, I was consumed by one word — belonging.
There is nothing difficult about evangelism. It is simply living and sharing good news, and it always begins with belonging. When we belong in a community of love and grace, we experience healing and transformation. Our behavior begins to change over time, and we begin to live into the beliefs that undergird that community.
Evangelism starts with belonging. Include people in your lives and let God do the rest. For one day, a group of hikers and people in a faith community shared lives and a meal. The spirit was moving because there was a sense of belonging. I don’t know what will happen to the hikers when they return home, but I know they will seek a place where they belong. Maybe they will find their way to your community. How do I know this? Because the belonging I experienced last weekend caused me to wake up again to my own longing to belong to a group of people living out the love of God for the flourishing of the people around them.
Remember Zaccheaus (Luke 19:1–10). He belonged in Jesus’ presence. His life changed (he gave away half of what he owned). And he lived out his beliefs through transformation, which caused him to repay people he cheated four times. All because he caught a glimpse of endless love from the branch of a tree.
Rev. Dr. Ray G. Jones III, Director, Leader Development, Presbyterian Life & Witness
Let us join in prayer for:
Ruth Adams, Director, Assistance Program, Engagement & Church Relations, The Board of Pensions
Ahmad Ali, Vice President and Managing Director, Investments, The Board of Pensions
Let us pray:
Gracious and loving God, we seek you because you seek us first with love, grace and purpose. We are transformed by your invitation to join you in life and ministry. Break our hearts over the things that break your heart. And continue to lead us into glimpses of your life-changing love so that we may enable others to belong in ways that cause them to glimpse the same love. Thank you for using us to be part of what you’re doing to renew relationships, communities and Creation. Amen.