From Pastor Frank
Past Letters
Coming Soon!Summer has finally arrived and it has been a very busy summer thus far. Annual Conference has come and gone, and I have been reappointed to Weis Library for the next year. We will begin our fourth year in ministry together. Time passes quickly! What I would like to focus on in the next year is what I call “The Great Priority.” Many of us have heard of the “Great Commission” and the “Great Commandment,” but it seems that the “Great Priority” has been ignored. The “Great Priority” is found in Acts 1:8. These were Jesus’ final words to His disciples.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Jesus gave the priority in which the Church was supposed to do their ministry. First, we are to be a witness in the city or town where we live. Secondly, we are to be a witness in the region around our city or town (Western PA). Thirdly, we are to be witnesses to the “Samaritans,” who are people we do not relate to very well. They are people near us that we may not agree with their lifestyle or beliefs. There may be social economic walls or racial walls. So after we have taken care of our home and our region, before we go out into the whole world, we must witness God’s love in the area around us.
Then, lastly, we go to the world. The Church has not paid attention to the “Great Priority” and we have paid a big price for it. Because we have been sending people to places far from home to minister a few weeks on mission trips and yet have neglected the ministry near home, people who live near the Church do not see us as having any impact or being relevant to our communities. That is one of the reasons why I suggested we build the playground at The Refuge. As we get out into our community and help and do projects in the name of the Lord, people will ask, “Who was responsible for doing those?” And the answer will be, “The good people of Weis Library.” And soon the people in our neighborhoods will associate our name with good things that are happening in the community. Then God will receive all the glory and people will again be attracted to the Church. I am not saying we should not be going to the world, but I am saying we need to do more in our own back yard than we have been doing.
I will begin a new sermon series on Sunday, July 17. The title of the sermon series is “Nehemiah: How to Lead Anything”. Each year I like to take one book in the Bible and preach through it. This year it will be Nehemiah. This is an important series because it is all about leadership. The leadership we have been experiencing in the political realm shows a lack of moral ethics among some of our national leaders. This causes more and more distrust of our leaders. As the leadership goes, so goes the nation. The same is true in our homes and our Churches. We all lead something. Many of us are leaders in our homes or our places of work or in community organizations. Nehemiah gives us many insights into great leadership qualities. We will look at things like, how to tackle the impossible, how to face opposition, how to be prepared to lead, how to finish well and how to leave a legacy. I look forward to getting to know Nehemiah with you all.
In His Service,
Pastor Frank