Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26
From Rev. Timothy Hughes, Senior Pastor
In the fifth chapter of Luke, we are told about how men, faithful to their friend, cut a hole in the roof of the house where Jesus was teaching. Their hope was that by lowering their friend through the hole Jesus might heal him. Then, in the book of Acts, while Peter was reclining on the roof, he received his vision from Christ informing him that the hope of the Gospel is for everyone, even the Gentiles. There is even a scandalous story regarding King David spying on the lovely Bathsheba while she bathed on her roof. While rarely considered, roofs are important things. Shelter, after all, is one of the basic needs for humanity.
Those in the know with our church can probably guess where this newsletter article is heading. It is time, in fact we are a bit overdo, for fixing our roof. And after many years of keeping the rain off our heads during worship our current shelter is starting to fail. For this reason, the Elder Board, in cooperation with the Property & Maintenance and the Stewardship teams for the church has contracted with Diamond Roofing to repair our church.
Have you ever considered the miracle story of Jesus healing the paraplegic man from the perspective of the homeowner? Well, perhaps now is your chance. My hope is the homeowner was overjoyed that his residence was the location of such a wonderful act of grace. My hope is he saw the repair work, which needed to get done, was a small price to pay; that this sick gentleman was able to be made well; and that everyone else present was able to learn more about the power of the forgiveness of God.
May we too consider the work of God within the walls of this church an investment well worth the cost of keeping our roof in good repair. The bid for the job is right around $100,000. This is no small fee I know. However, the wonderful men and women who serve on our Stewardship team are already working together to develop a plan on how we can rise to the challenge.
Of course the plan, whatever the finer points, will include a very simple concept: People who value what Jesus is doing within our church will be asked to financially support this project.
And my oh my, is there already some wonderful news to share on that front! A wonderful couple who know of our church and value our ministry, even as they themselves do not attend here, felt led by Christ to help us on our way. By way of their generous donation, we are already $35,000 toward paying off the repair work, which hasn’t even yet begun! Isn’t that wonderful!
This leaves us with an anticipated expense of $65,000 to make our roof ready to house our congregation’s worship, praise, and miracles for coming generations. You will have the opportunity to be part of this legacy of Jesus’ continued ministry in our church. Won’t you consider giving generously?