Grateful

I was talking with a few other pastor friends at a meeting in Lincoln this week. We talked about things pastors talk about. None of which are overly interesting. Then we started sharing stories as we ate our burgers and fries. It is always cool to hear stories of grace and redemption. A few started doing a little complaining about their congregations. It was a safe space—we are pastors and can’t tell anybody anything. And the complainers are in good company. Paul complained about his churches. Moses complained about his people. Nehemiah did too. During this part of the conversation, I remained silent because I didn’t have anything to say. 

A few hours later as I was driving on I-80 between the Waverly exit and the Gretna exit, I was feeling grateful because I couldn’t imagine serving a better congregation than The Water’s Edge. 

The church, at is best, is a bridge between God and people.
I'm grateful for the people of The Water's Edge.
Taken at Platte River State Park a few months ago.

No complaints about volunteers. Hundreds of you serve in the church and the community. You come early to set up chairs and stay late to tear down the stage. You welcome people at the front door. You play in the band. You lead our children. You mentor youth who have recently been released from jail. You stand in front of grocery stores and collect food. You travel to places like Belize and Uganda. You lead small groups. Grateful for your time and energy. 

No complaints about money. We could always use more to do more things, but as I look back on our short history I remember a few of our families have invested over $100,000 in God’s Kingdom by supporting The Water’s Edge and our related ministries. Dozens of others have given tens of thousands of dollars. Grateful for your sacrifice. 

No complaints about the staff. They are a committed bunch of folks who could all be doing something else but they choose to do this. They are servants, leaders, developers, and disciples. Each of them goes the extra mile many times during a typical week and faithfully strives for excellence. And they put up with my big ideas and occasional last minute antics. Grateful for your commitment. 

No complaints about people wanting to do things the way they have always been done. You invite your friends. You come up with brilliant ideas. You take risks. You extend grace. You want to see our church and God’s Kingdom prevail and are willing to do what is necessary to respond to God’s grace to make it happen. Grateful for your vision. 

The past seasons of our life together have been a blessing. Dozens of small groups have produced hundreds of friendships. We have served thousands in our city and the world. Children and students have encountered the Gospel. We have multiplied in size and welcomed hundreds of families into our family. We have grown closer to God together. Grateful for God’s blessing. 

Our future is exciting. We are opening our community garden in the next month. We will be creating and affirming our building team. These men and women will be charged to lead the congregation in building our first building at 198th and Harrison as we seek to serve and welcome people in Omaha and beyond into a life changing relationship with Jesus. And in just over a month, we will have five Easter worship experiences to celebrate that Jesus has risen from the dead and because He experienced new life we can too—abundant life in this world and eternal life in the world to come. Grateful for grace and life. 

The best is yet to come… 

Craig