Facebook Memorials
We have a love hate relationship with Facebook.
Now that we’ve barely survived another election cycle, we may be more on the abhorrence side of the spectrum.
Early this morning, however, something happened that made me appreciate once again the power of Facebook. It gave me pause, intentional time to stop and praise God. Yes, Facebook reminded me of God’s faithfulness, His grace that has enabled a whole lot of grit. Though I would rarely include Facebook in the practical list of how to be grateful, today it made the list. The following post served as a memorial stone for me in the quiet hours of this Fall morning.
Check it out:
You probably can’t read the mouse print of the original post. It reads like this,
“Today was a BIG day at Sojourn Chattanooga.
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After praying at our Sojourn Covenant Member’s Meeting this past Wednesday, we went public today!!!
Sojourn Chattanooga’s first church plant - Bluegrass Community Church - will launch in 2018 with planter and pastor Mike Meredith.
Gospel goodbyes are tough.
Mike is a close friend.
He is a brother in arms, a fellow pastor, and a gospel-boss.
He loves Jesus.
He loves people.
He loves Jesus’ bride.
Our families are close friends. Jen and my wife love and care for each other too. Well, we just love them. We’ve laughed a ton together and prayed through just as much together. Our kids love each other. They’re in home-school co-op together.
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Gospel goodbyes are tough.
Would you pray with our family?
Would you pray with our church?
Pray for the Meredith clan as they start the transition.
Pray for their kiddos.
Pray for Lexington, Kentucky.
Pray for Sojourn Chattanooga,
for people to be inspired to live on generous mission;
for people to respond to God’s grace in giving cheerfully, sacrificially, and within their means;
for people to hear the call from out sending God to leverage their lives, to die, and to go plant their lives in Lexington too.
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It’s hard, but it’s beautiful.
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Unless something dies, resurrection doesn’t happen.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and DIES, it remains alone; but if it DIES, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
How is that a memorial stone?
Now, one year later - Mike and Jen have been sent by Sojourn Chattanooga. We had no idea the road that the Lord would take all of us on this past year as a church. One thing that we can all say is that God is sovereign over houses, jobs, launch teams, finances, and the birthing process of a church.
Sojourn Chattanooga said goodbye to the Meredith family a little over a month ago. They have since moved from Chattanooga to Lexington, Kentucky. This past week, they held their first Meal Night in Lexington, demonstrating some down home southern hospitality and conversation with their neighbors. Please join me in continuing to pray for the Meredith family.
You can keep up with them here.
What about your memorial (Facebook Memories)?
As you take some time off this week, planning for maximum Thanksgiving intake - take a few moments and look back at this past year. Yes, you may have had no idea the road that God would take you on as an individual or family. Take some time to focus your attention on God’s sovereign-loving kindness - He is sovereign over your home, job, family, finances, and everything that happened this past year. He is sovereign, too, over the Thanksgiving table and all of the family drama. This Facebook memory served as an impromptu memorial stone for me. In Joshua 4, when the refugee people of Israel were crossing into the land of promise, they were encouraged to gather 12 stones from the Jordan River.
“When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.””
As you look back over this year, what are some things that you need to remember about God’s faithfulness in your life?
Photo by Arūnas Naujokas on Unsplash
