My HUGE Church

I'm currently relishing this deliciously amusing irony-- that God would move me to tiny little rural Vermont, and more specifically, my tiny little (but ever so epic) rural church, and here (all surrounded by little tininess) he would exponentially increase my vision for the grandeur and vastness and massive power of his Church. His "capital C" Church. The wardrobe door swung wide open when I moved here, and I haven't found the end of Narnia yet. I suspect I never will.

Somehow everywhere I turn, God introduces me to yet another warrior. Someone in North Dakota. Someone in Virginia. Someone in New York. Washington. Maine. Someone in England. In Scotland. Dubai. The list goes on and on. So much irony. I moved from Texas, the biggest state in the U.S., to Tennessee, specifically Nashville, which is arguably one of the most central and "connected" cities in the U.S. when it comes to pretty much all things "Christian." Now I live in Vermont, which isn't central to anything, contains fewer Christians than any other state according to most surveys, and is barely connected to anything. ;-)

And yet. . .

This is where I'm waking up. God keeps telling me and better yet showing me that this little tiny church I love so much isn't really tiny at all. Rather, it's all wrapped up in and tied together with ministries far and wide. People literally all over the world are joined to us and us to them through prayer and all sorts of other forms of support. That's because we're not just "our" church. We're "HIS" Church! His great big, beautiful, thriving, mighty Church! I can't even describe the encouragement lavished on my heart and soul by this truth.

Here's why:

We hope to dig roots way down deep into this literally and figuratively rocky Vermont soil and anchor ourselves here for the rest of our earthly days, which means that by definition of the size of our town (and the size of Vermont in general), there is only so much "growth" we can expect within the Middletown Springs church walls. And while we're not really that concerned with numbers in general, certainly our heart's desire is to see God at work! To see his family growing and thriving! This will never happen in huge quantity within the walls of MSCC.

But. . .

. . . we're not limited by those walls. We're attached and connected to countless others from sea to shining sea and across every ocean into countries we'll likely never visit physically. And the stronger the global Church becomes, the stronger "our" little church becomes no matter how many people occupy our building. Because it isn't our church at all, is it? It belongs to a mighty God who is building it every single day one soul at a time, none of which are insignificant. Let me repeat that. NONE of which are insignificant. What comfort! What hope! What joy!

Lord, thank you so much for this dazzling glimpse into eternity! It makes all of my heart sparkle with hope.