“Spring is sprung, the grass is ris’d; I wonder where the Presbyterians is’d.”

I know that sounds silly, but it’s similar to something my dad used to say to express his excitement over the change of the season. This is a wonderful time of rebirth and growth not only for the land and our souls but also for our church. Presbyterians are looking toward the future and have a vision of ministry that is vibrant and inviting, reflective of the love of Jesus Christ. We treasure our time together in prayer, service, and fellowship.

Even though I mention Presbyterian, my thoughts can be applied to any Christian denomination. We are called to invite all people to faith, repentance and the abundant life of God in Jesus Christ, to encourage congregations in joyfully sharing the gospel, and through the power of the Holy Spirit to grow in membership and discipleship.

Let’s use this time of Spring and lovely weather to invite friends and family to join us in worship. The children of the church have been talking about a “Bring a Friend to Church” idea and I challenge the adults to do the same. Each one of us knows somebody who doesn’t attend a church or is lost, searching for meaning. Let’s hold out our Christian hands and embrace those who need the Lord in their lives and a dose of good old fashion Christian fellowship.

Please bring a friend to church, introduce yourself to visitors, welcome new members into our church family, and share the joy of fellowship with others!

Life isn’t easy and Christian life is no exception. God knows us; He knows we have questions, doubts and fears during hard times. He’s there with us through it all. He’s watching us and waiting for us to realize He can handle our hard questions. He wants us to ask them, to draw us into a closer relationship with Him.

When difficulties come into our lives, we can pull away from God and try to “fix” things on our own or we can stop running around and let God step in. We can seek answers to life’s hard questions by searching Scripture as well as asking God through prayer. The secret is… we have to offer Him the opportunity to answer. Open our hearts, our minds, our eyes, and our ears.

I have a favorite image of God in my head: while we’re running around like crazy trying to solve our problems and going nowhere, God is standing in the doorway watching, waiting for us to sit down and be still so He can do his work. Let’s sit down, be still, ask the hard questions and then let him do His work.

Take your toughest questions to the Lord today. Ask him to reveal his purpose for you through these puzzles and challenges of life so your relationship with Him can grow stronger.

The spiritual man tries all things (he examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things). – 1 Corinthians 2:15 AMP