When I meet people and they ask me where St. Patrick is, my first tendency is to say, "Well in a few months we will be at the corner of White and Byhalia." And I say that with some pride, I might add. My tendency is to go on and tell them about the new building and where we are in construction. But then on reflection, I realize that that is only true on one level. On the one level, we might say that St. Patrick exists at a certain geography, but if we are to believe the Bible, and if our core values are correct, then if you ask me where St. Patrick is located, my sermon title for this week is a more accurate picture of where it is - Christ Plays in a Thousand Places! St. Patrick exists wherever the people of our church are in their ordinary lives.
One of the major values we will talk about this week is that the gospel is embodied in a place. What that means for each of us is that wherever we are and wherever we have relationships, that is our place of ministry. St. Patrick does not have a mission program. You know why? You are the missionary and where you are is the mission field! This is the game changer. When the people of God get a hold of this, everything in the Christian life changes. All of life now has a new purpose. There are no longer compartments of life that have God in them and those that don’t - it is all holy to God and all about how God is using you, where you are, to bring restoration and peace.
This Sunday we will talk about what this means for each of us. This is also the last Sunday before Lent begins next Wednesday. If you have questions about Lent and why St. Patrick finds it very healthy to observe Lent as a Church, there will be a paper I wrote on the table before you go into the Sanctuary. Hope to see you Sunday.
Blessings,
Jim
