SPACE FOR GRACE: July 2016

Friday, July 29, 2016

Farewell Friday Email

Dearest Middletown Christian Church:

Each time I return from ministry in Costa Rica, I am reminded that we accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is the Lord's work. While on my recent mission trip to Costa Rica, I was profoundly reminded of the importance of sowing seeds of the Gospel and God's love and grace. As I stood in the barrio of La Carpio, I was deeply grateful that God had allowed me to plant a seed of God's love in the heart of Maykol in 2007 - 9 years ago. As Christ followers, we plant seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted knowing they hold great potential and promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This work of planting seeds allows us to do something and do it very well. It may be incomplete but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest. We should sow seeds everywhere we go because we all need to know and feel God's love. And, we should sow seeds generously - with hearts full of love, faith and hope!

Thank you, Middletown, for serving alongside me as we have done our very best to sow and scatter seeds with the purpose of advancing the Kingdom of God. We have done our best, like farmers, to sow seeds of God's love in our homes, friendships and marriages. We have done our best to sow seeds of God's love in the hearts and lives of children and youth in our church through weekly ministries, in our community through opportunities like The Learning Center and Buddy Break, and in our world through mission trips to eastern Kentucky, St Louis, Sunset Gap, Chicago, Kansas City, Costa Rica and Honduras. By the grace of God, we have stepped out of our comfort zones to sow seeds of God's love in the lives of refugees, in the lives of the homeless, in the lives of the hungry, in the lives of the addicted, in the lives of those living in poverty, in the lives of those in prison, in the lives of the discouraged and depressed, in the lives of the abused and neglected and in the lives of those who feel forgotten.

What does a farmer do when he has a barren field? He doesn't complain about it. He doesn't even pray about it. He just goes out and starts planting some seed, because nothing is going to happen until he plants the seed. So, keep sowing seeds for the glory of God. Keep scattering the seeds in your homes, in the lives of your children, in your workplaces, in your circles of influence and in places of deep need.

Thank you once again for allowing me to be a part of advancing the Kingdom of God through the scattering of seeds! I am deeply grateful for all of the kind emails, flowers, gifts, hugs, words of encouragement and love that I have received over the past few weeks as I announced my resignation. For all that has been, all that remains, and all that will be, I pause, praise the Giver of Life, and whisper "thank you" over and over again.

I look forward to seeing you on Sunday as I will be preaching my last sermon as Associate Minister of Middletown Christian Church.

By God's Amazing Grace! Keep Living out the Love of Jesus Christ!

Tomara Brown

Sunday, July 24, 2016

A Spiritual Feast

For what has been, for what remains, for what will be - I give thanks!

Today, I presided for the last time as Associate Minister over The Lord's Supper at Middletown Christian Church. When I first began serving at Middletown over 5 years ago, I had not experienced celebrating The Lord's Supper on a weekly basis. In the Baptist world, I celebrated it once a month and in my younger years - once a quarter. However, I have grown to love and appreciate the important invitation I receive each and every week to remember...

At The Lord's Supper where all are welcome, I receive the invitation to direct my attention to Jesus' crucifixion - to remember that God sent his one and only son into this world so that whoever believes in him would not perish but would have everlasting life. For me, The Lord's Supper is an invitation to identify with Christ's death and resurrection in the power of the Holy Spirit. And, I have the privilege to come to the table with my brothers and sisters, to have communion with Christ. It is at this table that I am reminded of what Christ has done for me: he has reconciled me to God.

And, that's worth feasting over every single week.

With my brothers and sisters at the Table of the Lord,

we celebrate with thanksgiving the saving acts, forgiveness and presence of Jesus Christ!
we confess that Jesus is the Christ and proclaim him Lord and Savior of the world!
we accept our mission of witness and service to all people!
we rejoice in God's covenant of love which binds us to God and to one another!
we yield ourselves to God that we may serve the one whose kingdom has no end!

Blessing and Honor and Glory be to God forever and ever! Amen!