Church Street

Church neighboring daily life.

Living Rick Shafer Living Rick Shafer

Relay

A small experience reveals a big love.

Maybe you are familiar with an electrical component called a relay. With relays, you can use a low voltage signal to switch a high voltage circuit on and off. A small thing helps you realize a big thing.

This morning I had a ‘relay’ moment during my run (sort of a bad play on words I guess).

The story begins a few weeks ago.

I got out early to run. It was chilly so I wore a pair of blue gloves. These aren’t expensive gloves—just thin polar fleece. As the sun came up—and after a few miles of running—I got too warm. So I took off my gloves and tucked them into my waistband. Well, somewhere between there and home, I lost one of the gloves.

I hate losing stuff and I prayed that I might find it. Not the biggest deal. Just a cheap glove. But still.

The next few times I ran my loop, I kept my eyes open for the glove but never saw it. Oh well. Eventually I forgot about it.

Now, this morning I went for a run. It was a little cool to start and I wore a sweatshirt. After a while, I started getting warm so I stopped to remove the shirt and tied it around my waist. For some reason, this reminded me of the glove I lost a few weeks ago. As I started running again, not ten steps further down the street, I saw a patch of blue off to my left in a vacant lot. I went to have a look—and—it was my glove!

That was my ‘relay’ moment. I found treasure in a field. No, not the glove. That was a small thing. The big thing was God’s answer to my prayer. It was his care for me in the small thing that was the big thing. The glove just helped me see it.

Had I found the glove right away, I would have been grateful. But finding it weeks later, stopping where I did to remove my sweatshirt, being reminded of the glove, and then finding it right there—well—that was really special!

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Living Rick Shafer Living Rick Shafer

Together, we are…

The church has received an identity too.

What is the Church, if not a Royal Priesthood and an embodiment of the Royal Law: "Love your neighbor as yourself"?

(1 Pet. 2:9, James 2:8, Matt. 22:37-40, 1 Cor. 12:12-31)

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Living Rick Shafer Living Rick Shafer

Same, but different

We can occupy the same kingdom and experience it differently. It’s a reason we need one another.

You and I have been rescued from Pandemonium, a place of brokenness and horror.

Now we explore Eden together.

But our escape was from different provinces.

So our journey is both same and different.

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