When the Vital Church Initiative Implementation team met with ministry coach Naomi Garcia in August, Garcia asked the team to comment on the progress of implementing the prescriptions outlined by the VCI consultation (see the document in the upper right hand of this blog page for more details about prescriptions).The team gave Garcia an optimistic report of progress in all areas. Worship has been enhanced and Brighton First is launching a new disciple-making program in the fall. The Administrative Board will adopt a 2-year church strategic plan in September. Garcia observed that Brighton First is not only following the directive of the VCI prescriptions, but leaning on the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
This is an observation that I felt needed reporting. Often, we get so caught up in the program and the detail, in goal-setting, promoting, recruiting and evaluating, that we forget to note the presence of the Holy Spirit in what we do. If our ministry truly honors God and advances the good news of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit will infuse it.
Recently I came across an image that reflected the importance of the Holy Spirit in the work of the church. The Holy Spirit is to the church is like microbes are to the human body!
I've been reading Ed Yong's newly released book I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes within Us and a Grander View of Life. Yong writes "The latest estimates suggest that we have around 30 trillion human cells and 39 trillion microbial ones - a roughly even split. Even these numbers are inexact, but that does not matter: by any reckoning, we contain multitudes."
Yong speculated that if a human body completely disappeared, if every cell in the body was suddenly gone, a shimmer of archaea, bacteria and eukaryotes, would remain. The "microbiome" of every human body weighs a few pounds, exists on the bodies external surfaces and internally, as well.
When in balance, our relationship with the microbes that inhabit our bodies is one of mutual support. In fact, without the assistance of microbes, essential functions of our bodies would be diminished.
Yong speculated that if a human body completely disappeared, if every cell in the body was suddenly gone, a shimmer of archaea, bacteria and eukaryotes, would remain. The "microbiome" of every human body weighs a few pounds, exists on the bodies external surfaces and internally, as well.
When in balance, our relationship with the microbes that inhabit our bodies is one of mutual support. In fact, without the assistance of microbes, essential functions of our bodies would be diminished.
This description of unseen and important life within us reminds me of the work of the Holy Spirit. For the Body of Christ, the church, the Holy Spirit is essential to health, growth and direction. Jesus promised that he would send the Holy Spirit to empower, guide and equip. Without reliance and trust on God's Spirit the church can lose direction.
I do believe that when a church is moving as a vital force in the world that God is like the "shimmer" of spirit that infuses the ministry.
I do believe that when a church is moving as a vital force in the world that God is like the "shimmer" of spirit that infuses the ministry.
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