As I write this, I look back at the Greeter article that I shared as we began this year of 2024. It was entitled, “We Are Church.” I suspect that I forget that, at times. Do you? As we go about our weekly routines and come back to the building on Sunday mornings, it allows us to become apathetic in seeking God always for His guidance, leading, vision in all that we do. As I write this, I am reminded how Jesus, the disciples, and the early Church never had a comfortable routine. They had to pray and seek God constantly for His leading so they could actively be in the right place and the right time to see the Kingdom of God advance. Yes, it was early days for the Church. Yes, it was a dangerous time for the Church. Yes, there was risk that the message they had to share was at risk of being snuffed out. I am convicted, as I write this, that our assurance that the Church building will be there as we pull into the parking lot and that I won’t be the only one who comes to the building on a Sunday morning has allowed me (and perhaps you) to be lulled into the comfortable relationship with God. However, I suspect there is something missing if
we are comfortable.

Are we seeking to be led by God? To be REALLY led by God? Led in our personal lives: day to day, who we reach out to, who we pray for, who we call or visit spontaneously, who needs a helping hand, what we buy with our limited resources, who we invite over for coffee or tea or dinner, or how much we give in our
offerings, who we should invite to come with us to the church, what book of the Bible we should be reading and soaking in at this very moment…? Are we in a dynamic relationship with God as individuals and, collectively, as the Body of Christ at Green Tree Church of the Brethren in Oaks, PA?

If there is anything that I pray for more than anything… if there is anything I long for more than anything else… if there is anything I would risk for more than anything else… it is that each person who is part of Green Tree church (now and every future person that God brings together with us) would have a deep, personal desire to be led by God in every area of life. A stretching relationship with Him. A relationship that they won’t hold back risking for Him. But… I can’t do that for you. Our personal relationship with
God is where that “fire” burns within each of us such that we are focused on being led by Him in every aspect of our lives. It comes by seeking God and His Holy Spirit to be actively engaged in our daily lives. As we have been walking through The Pattern of Heaven series and looked at the Tabernacle, I remind you that God lit the fire on the altar initially but, it was the priests who kept it going.

Leviticus 6:12–13

“The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously, it must not go out.”

As the priesthood of believers (1 Peter 2:4-5; Revelation 5:10) it falls to us to keep the fire fueled. God led the people through the wilderness experience in a pillar of fire (Exodus 14:24). The Holy Spirit dwelt in the flames of fire that fell at Pentecost in Acts 2:3-4. God is your consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). As the
Holy Spirit lives and dwells in us, we are reminded by Paul in 2 Timothy 1:6 that we are to “fan into flame the gift of God.” The Pattern of Heaven includes each of us keeping the fire burning and being willing to pack up and be on the move when the pillar of fire or the pillar of cloud moves.

As we have been seeking God for His vision for Green Tree Church of the Brethren, your personal relationship with God and the “fire” that burns within you (His Holy Spirit) is important. It’s vital for both you and for us, collectively. “We are Church.” My prayer as we are in these last 2 months of 2024 is that each of us will fan the flames that Jesus died to give to us. It was a gift He gave when He went to heaven. Take a look at John 16:7 and you will see that Jesus intended us to live in the dynamic flames of a relationship with God, through the Holy Spirit. May you surrender yourselves to that relationship even more fully in these last weeks of 2024.

~Pastor Kim