...a note to you from Pastor Mark...

I was challenged by these verses I ran across in Exodus, Chapter 33:15 and 16b.   "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us from here...What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?"

God had called Moses to lead a nation of about two million people to the land that God had promised them over 500 years before.  And out of all the details he could be thinking about Moses' first concern was that God's presence would be obvious with them and through them.  This was so the pagan nations they would encounter would see God. Moses wanted the people to stick out in a good way.

When is the last time we cared if God's presence in our lives was obvious to people around us?  We are too busy doing our own thing.  How about in our church?  Our primary concern is often filling all the ministries with people, or meeting the budget.  We are concerned with how we look to the community, how we meet needs of the folks we love.  But when was the last time we seriously even thought about the importance of the obvious presence of God among us?

Is it possible that part of the reason people aren't flocking to church is because they only see a bunch of people and not God?  Is it possible that there is church conflict because all we see are other people and our focus is not on our God who is among us?  Maybe church-as-usual is church without God's presence.

So how can we know more of His presence among us?

Moses asked God to 1.  "Teach me your ways...so that I may know you and find faovr with you."  We can honor God's word among us by seeking to know God and obey His voice.  2.  Remember we belong to Christ.  The church is not about what we get.  it is about what we give to Christ and others.  3.  We need to ask God to make His presence known in and through us.

May God be among us in such a way that others will be drawn to Him.