Dear Rose Park,
My son and daughter love to play; this probably comes as no surprise to you all. They are filled with energy and love to use their imagination. Whether it’s chasing the ‘bad guys’ in the backyard, hosting a tea-party surrounded by their favorite stuffed-animals, or jumping into the pool, Simon and Winnie simply love to play.
As you can imagine, sometimes they play well together and other times there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, particularly if they have to share. A week or so ago the Holy Spirit must have descended in our basement because Simon and Winnie were playing so nicely together and actually encouraging one another. Typically, they argue over pieces and try to topple the others creation, but on this occasion they were helping each other and it was as if they were building each other up just as they were building with Legos.
In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians he writes, “therefore encourage one another and build each other up.” (Thessalonians 5:11). This kind of encouragement is not limited to just four-year-old boys and two-year-old girls playing with Legos in the basement; we all need a little encouragement from time to time. In fact, I experienced this recently and I wanted to share it with you.
After worship on a Sunday morning, I was walking down to the fellowship hall and feeling a bit down. I had just finished leading worship a few moments ago, and I wasn’t feeling very confident on the sermon I had just preached. I felt as if I stumbled through words and was clumsy with the text. I meandered through the sermon and felt as if I ‘landed the plane’ with a few too many bumps. Needless to say, I was grateful to finish the sermon and invite you to pray with me. However, as I entered into the fellowship hall and grabbed a cup of coffee and cookie, two of you on two different occasions pulled me aside and thanked for me for the sermon mentioning how it was exactly what you needed to hear. It must have been the Holy Spirit speaking directly to you, because I’ve listened to the sermon since then and I’m still not sure what I was saying.
This is all to say, thank you. Thank you for your encouragement. Thank you for building me up. Thank you for strengthening my faith in a moment of doubt and worry. I hope and pray I can be a similar encouragement to you and I hope and pray the Spirit gives us all opportunities in the immediate future to encourage one another in the faith.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark