BROADCASTS.com

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.\xa0 \u2026\xa0 So Christ himself gave\xa0the apostles,\xa0the prophets,\xa0the evangelists,\xa0the pastors and teachers,\xa0to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ\xa0may be built up\xa0until we all reach unity\xa0in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God\xa0and become mature,\xa0attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:7,11-13)

\xa0

This is my last Wilderness Wanderings devotional for a while.\xa0 As many of you know I\u2019ll be off on Sabbatical through this summer reading up on technology\u2019s impact on the church and our faith life.\xa0 I\u2019ll also be reading up on mentoring, though.\xa0 The reason, is that mentoring seems more and more to be an important part of ministering here at Immanuel.

Equipping God\u2019s people for works of service has always been part of the role of us pastors and teachers.\xa0 But actually, it\u2019s also the work of the whole church: Paul says that Christ has given gifts to each one of us for this building up to maturity as a body.\xa0

There was an initiative back a while ago before my time in this church where a mentoring ministry was to start up, I think just amongst men as a men\u2019s ministry.\xa0 Be that as it may, as the story goes, a bunch of people signed up to be mentored.\xa0 Great news!\xa0 However, the ministry was short-lived, because hardly anyone signed up to be a mentor.\xa0 Many recognized their need to grow up to maturity in Christ, but few felt that they had any grace or maturity worth offering to someone else.

But that\u2019s not true.\xa0 Grace has been given to each of us.\xa0 And it has not been without effect in this church.\xa0 Whether you realize it or not: you have been a mentoring church.\xa0 A place where leadership is cultivated, opportunities are given, and a free and easy collegiality lives that allows failures and learnings to be navigated.\xa0 This is a church where people do grow up to maturity in Christ.\xa0 It\u2019s also a place that continually cranks out leaders.

Not all the mature in Christ become leaders in the formal sense.\xa0 And, not all of those leaders who\u2019ve grown up and been shaped here remain in the church.\xa0 But more and more often: the two are intersecting and culminating in the calling of more of God\u2019s people from Immanuel to be pastors and teachers.\xa0 I\u2019ve said it before, but it\u2019s worth saying again: we signed off on FOUR seminary applications in this last year and a half (that is, during the pandemic), and many more young people in our church are contemplating various avenues of ministry right now: I count at least SEVEN.\xa0

I think that\u2019s really awesome to see the work and gifts of God coming to fruition in real time in our church through some of our members.\xa0 It\u2019s not the only place to see God at work, but it\u2019s a neat one.\xa0 While so many are fretting over the future of the church: God is already off doing a new thing in our midst, calling a whole crop of new pastors out of Immanuel to help lead his church grow to maturity.\xa0 So, apparently God isn\u2019t too worried about the future if he\u2019s calling leaders into it.

And that\u2019s why: I think it\u2019s time for me, in this Sabbatical, to pay attention and get equipped myself so that I can come back and rejoin whatever cool thing God is up to here with hopefully some more maturity and intentionality on the other side!\xa0 \xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0

And, in the mean time: Jennifer Heidinga, one of our recent seminarians, will be taking my place in offering these daily devotions with Pastor Michael over the summer.\xa0 So, encourage her, and be encouraged by her as you witness for yourselves God at work in our church.

\xa0