On August 25, Pat and I will fly to England to visit my cousin and his family. They live in Oxford and have helped us plan our trip. It has been fun and exciting. We plan to visit with them in Oxford and take day trips to London, Stonehenge and other notable places. A short trip to Edinburgh, Scotland is also in the works as we look forward to taking in the historical beauty of that city and enjoying the International Festival that will be taking place while we are there. It should be quite an adventure.
Right now the word adventure is on my mind. We don’t always use this word when we talk about our faith or the work we do in the church. But following Christ and serving God can at times be quite an adventure. My time in Brethren Volunteer Service back in 1980-81 was an adventure for me. And I have had many adventures in the church and the pastoral ministry since I was ordained 27 years ago.
When you read this, the Summer season will be coming to a close and you will find yourself entering into the Fall season with all of its activities and adventures. At the same time, I don’t want us to forget those adventures that are awaiting us here at the church. Yes, we do have some activities scheduled on our Fall calendar, but I want us to think about what other adventures we can create or be part of. Too often we sit and wait for others to initiate programs and activities. Or we simply wait to see what will happen. My Fall challenge to each of you is to think about what new adventure in faith you could initiate or assist with at Green Tree this Fall. Such adventures don’t have to be big or significant. If you are not currently attending a Sunday School class, why not begin attending one and see where that adventure will take you? If the current Sunday School offerings don’t appeal to you, approach me and let’s get something started. Let’s see where that adventure will take us. If you haven’t talked to someone in a while, approach them and begin a conversation and see where that adventure takes you. If you haven’t prayed to God in a while, sit down in a quiet space and center your thoughts on God and let such an adventure unfold. As you can see, the possibilities are endless.
Life is full of adventures whether they be vacations or trips or events that bring some meaning to our lives. The same is true of our faith journeys. As we continue the work of Jesus, the question remains: what new faith adventures await us this Fall?

Pastor Dave