The Pulse: A Rising or Setting Sun

Looking ahead to the future, in 1787 leaders and thinkers gathered in Philadelphia to draft a document establishing the principles that would guide a developing nation. Although they could not have imagined the conflicts and innovations that have shaped our country for more than 200 years, these leaders were motivated by a clear-eyed vision of the future to set a new course with lofty goals. The result of their work, the US Constitution, remains the supreme law and the north star for the United States. It’s incredible to think about how life is radically different because they were able to imagine a nation and society unlike any that came before… and just how close the vision for what would become the United States of America came to falling apart.

For nearly forty years, God has been working within and through Grace Fellowship Church to bring freedom to people in bondage and healing through the painful parts of life – the serious and life-changing work of building up and reaching a community. We are so grateful for what God has done, but we are also confident that God is still working with us and that our future is bright. This weekend, we are looking ahead to our shared future to describe where we believe God is leading our church and how we can adjust our lives to be part of what God is doing

The Convention that drafted the Constitution was contentious. Strong dissenting points of view and competing interests threatened to derail proceedings. Throughout the arguments and dueling speeches, George Washington, the president of the Convention, sat in a wooden armchair with a carving of the sun at the top. On the final day of the gathering, Benjamin Franklin pointed to the chair and observed, “I have often… in the course of the session… looked at that sun behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now at length I have the happiness to know it is a rising and not a setting sun.”

The sun is still rising on Grace Fellowship Church. You and I get to be part of what God is doing here. Don’t miss the weekend services this Sunday at 9:15 or 11AM to get a taste for what’s coming next.

Titus

P.S. Like Paul prayed in Ephesians 1:15-19 (The MSG), let’s ask God to give us “eyes focused and clear so we can see exactly what it is he is calling us to do….”