49Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure. – Genesis 41:49
The account of Joseph and the 7 years of abundance makes us pause and consider the abundant goodness of our God. He brought remarkable blessing to Joseph after he had suffered so much. And he blessed the land with remarkable abundance in order to supply for the people in the seven years of famine. Most importantly he brought all this about as part of his plan to send the Savior into the world. What remarkable things God has done!
Dear friends let us pause and give thanks for the wonders that God has done for us. Consider the abundance of his kindness. Our gracious God forgives us our sins and gives us our daily bread. We have all that we need for our daily life and then some. And to top it all off we have the promise of eternal, never-ending, countless blessings in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ! How abundant the love of our God!
Recently events in our congregation have made me pause and give thanks for the blessings that God has poured on us as a body of believers. On August 20 a meeting was held in which leadership from each of our four area WELS congregations discussed the future of ministry in this area. We talked frankly about the financial challenges that face each of our congregations. But we also were able to discuss the many blessings that we have seen as individual congregations as well as collectively in joint ministry. In the past 7 years, these 4 WELS churches along highway 212 have joined together in several ministry efforts and the Lord has done some wonderful things through us and for us.
Our local youth group has enjoyed the blessing of joint ministry. For the last 7 years the congregations in this area have been to hold a soccer camp for the children of this community. We had 94 children attend our camp this summer. And of course we are about to embark on a joint ministry of Little Lambs Learning Center. Here children, from the surrounding communities will be able to hear God’s Word on a daily basis.
Each congregation has been blessed with their own storehouse of blessings and we have been able to work together so well. God be praised! And so at the meeting on August 20 we talked about how we could share such blessings to effectively continue the work of the gospel in this area. The idea of sharing two ministers for the four congregations and the blessings and challenges this would entail was a topic that was discussed. We are still very much in the beginning stages of this conversation and so when you hear about such meetings, please do not think the worst. Do not spread thoughts of gloom and doom and the end of congregational life as we know it. Consider the challenges, but do not be paralyzed by them, do not stare at them and press your nose up against them so that you can’t see beyond them. Instead pause, take a step back, and consider what the Lord has done. Consider the challenges, but then think about, pray about ,the possibilities, consider what things would be like if we could join together and not be so burdened, or so conscious of, or so limited by the funds, or the manpower, or the resources, that we do or do not have. Think about how we could work together to share God’s Word throughout the Hwy 212 corridor and beyond. Think about the wonderful and amazing things that our God has already been doing through us, the miraculous things he is capable of doing in the future, and how he wants us to be a part of his glorious gospel work. Think about it, pray about, and trust that God will lead us in the right direction.