Got a Mountain? Enlist God's Help and Climb!

Four months ago, the lay leadership of Friendship Lutheran Church and I, watched as a combination of alarming trends threatened not just our church's capacity to do ministry, but its very existence.

One factor was complacency. Complacency seemed to set in after we started worshiping in a new building nearly four years ago. After twelve-and-a-half years in an elementary school gymnasium and the prayer and struggle that had gone into getting into a building, it was only natural for us to take a deep breath. But we seemed to do more than that, slipping into relax mode. We took our building and one another for granted. We forgot that every church and every Christian is called to reach out to others with the Good News of life changed eternally good through Christ's death and resurrection.

The first result of our complacency was decreasing and sporadic worship attendance.

That, in turn, resulted in lowered and sporadic offerings.

That threatened our ability to do the ministries of community service for which Friendship is probably best known--our involvement with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Clermont County, CASA for Clermont Kids!, Habitat for Humanity, and so on.

It also threatened to make it impossible for us to keep up with our church mortgage payments.

It would have been easy for our leaders to wring their hands and do Chicken Little impressions.

But these are people of faith, people who believe that they belong to the God of all creation.

They also know well the history of our congregation. From the beginning, even officials of our own denomination thought it would be impossible for a Lutheran church to take off here in Clermont County. When, back in July, 1990, I asked a denominational official for his advice on whether I should take the call to start Friendship, he betrayed this pessimistic assessment when he said, "Well, even if it goes belly up, it won't hurt your career."

I didn't care about my career. I cared about letting people know how much God loved them.

That same passion motivated our leadership to challenge the people of Friendship in four ways.

They asked that, first, that the congregation daily prayer for the health and well-being of the church.

Second, they asked that our members make regular worship attendance a priority, even in the summer months when all Christians seem to want to "take a vacation from church."

They challenged members to invite their non-churchgoing friends to activities of the congregation.

And finally, members were asked to increase their giving, considering the tithe, the Biblically-honored practice of giving the first 10% of one's income to God's causes in the world.

The result?

We've seen remarkable answers to our prayers. (And not just our own. Starting in June, I enlisted prayer help from thousands of people, including the prayer team at our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America headquarters in Chicago; subscribers to ShoutLife, a sort of Christian MySpace; and the prayer groups of several other churches.) Ever since all this praying began, we have seen first-time worship visitors every single Sunday, unprecedented in Friendship's history. Many of those folks have returned for second visits.

In addition, our attendance has increased, something churches rarely see in the summer months.

So too has our giving. Offerings in the months of May, June, and July wiped out the operating deficit that accrued in January through April.

Why has this happened? In 586 BC, the Babylonian army swept into Israel, the homeland of God's chosen people, the ancient Jews, destroying the temple, God's house, in Jerusalem. Many Israelites were sent to Babylon, where they lived as slaves to their conquerors and where they wondered if their God was still Lord of the universe. In 538 BC, the Babylonian king, Cyrus, allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding the temple.

But the returnees soon became discouraged. They were also intimidated by the enormity of the obstacles they faced. They also were comfortable in their new homes in the Judean homeland. Complacency and fear caused them to completely stop working on the temple.

This was unacceptable to the prophet Haggai. Prompted by God, he asked the people, "Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house [God's temple] lies in ruins?" (Haggai 1:4).

He also shared God's counsel for the governor, Zarubbabel, the high priest, Jehozadak, and all the people:

Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear." (Haggai 2:4-5)

Soon, praying and working for God's cause, the temple was rebuilt.

The God Who helped ancient Israel is still in the business of helping those who trust in Him. We've seen that in our congregation.

And how about you in your personal life? Are you fearful or self-satisfied, afraid to tackle the next mountain God asks you to climb? This happens to all of us.

But the cure is always the same: Prayerfully rely on God and then work, knowing that God is with you and as you pray and work, don't be afraid, knowing that God is with you.

Then, watch what God does!