A Team Effort

As I write this on Thursday, we are exactly one month from the 50th anniversary of one of the most momentous events of my lifetime. I was just a kid on July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon. If you are a young adult that's probably not that significant for you, but for my generation, it was a really big deal.

I still remember vividly the excitement of that historic night when we got to stay up late and hear Armstrong say, "One small step for man..." as he took that first step onto the surface of the moon. Even after a half a century and all the hundreds of astronauts that have made it into space since then, it's the name Neil Armstrong that is still most associated with the NASA voyages.

 In reality, Armstrong was one of 218,000 people involved in making that first lunar landing happen. He may have gotten most of the recognition, but he would have been the first to tell you that it was a team effort. He never would have made it to the moon had it not been for a team of thousands of committed individuals who had worked day and night for years to make it happen.

I came across another story recently that illustrates the same point in a different way. It was about a horse-pulling contest held at a county fair--that is, the horses competed against each other pulling different amounts of weight.  The second place winner pulled a sled of 1,000 pounds. The first place winner pulled a sled of 1,500 pounds. But when the two horses were teamed up, together they pulled 4,000 pounds of weight. That's the difference teamwork makes. 

Our walk as believers--and the ministry we carry out as the church--is likewise a "team sport." God intends for us to work together to do what we could never do by ourselves. As our church's core values state--and the outdated signs on our warehouse walls remind us--"every member is a a minister," and "what we do, we do together."

That is never truer than when we as a church join together for a wonderful ministry effort like this week's Vacation Bible School. The theme has been "InTents" and the week has been "intense," and loads of fun. So many of you have worked tirelessly to plan and prepare for our VBS, and we've had more than eighty youth and adults come together to give of yourselves as partners in ministry this week. Truly, the Lord has been honored, and I'm excited to see the fruit that He is bearing in the lives of the children, as well as the adult and youth workers. 

A great big "Thanks" to each of you for your sacrifice and service, and thanks be to God for the eternal things He has been doing in the lives of boys and girls this week. Please continue to pray that "He who began a good work...will continue to complete it in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 1:6)

I'm sure glad we're on the same team, and what a joy it is to be your pastor. I'm praying for you, and I look forward to seeing you on Sunday. 

 --Pastor Ken