Open Letter to the Rock Bridge Staff

Yesterday we had our monthly all-staff meeting at our Calhoun offices.  While we had fun, there was a general feeling of opposition to God's work at Rock Bridge.  Many people in our body are struggling with sins, the tough economy, marriage difficulties, etc.  We were very burdened to pray for God's deliverance and to pray for our faith to be greater than our questions.  So here is an open letter to the great staff of Rock Bridge from me:

Rock Bridge Staff--

Serving alongside of you is a true joy and blessing for me.  I see your heart for people and your desire that they meet Jesus and never get over Him.  I love hearing your stories of life change & spiritual growth that are happening in your ministry areas.  Your faithfulness, hard work, and hearts for Jesus remind me that God in His sovereignty brought you to Rock Bridge as part of His good and perfect plans for your lives.  Much of what you do is unseen and underappreciated, but God sees all and is a rewarder of faithful obedience.  

And yet I know that ministry is tough and it is 24/7.  In a very real sense, you can never "leave" work at work because your ministry is your heart ... and your heart goes home with you and your heart can get hurt.  It hurts to see people hurt.  It hurts to see the consequences of sin.  It hurts to see people deceived by lies instead of embracing the love of God.  And it just takes one discouraging comment or negative email to overturn ten encouraging ones.

So in a season of exciting growth & life change that is coupled with spiritual warfare & times of discouragement, we are right to seek God as we did Tuesday in the hopes that seeking Him will remind us of His faithfulness, His heart, and His will for our lives.  We are right to seek Him for the people of Rock Bridge and NW Georgia, trusting Him to work in their lives for His glory and their blessing.  As I continued to seek Him this morning, I wanted to share with you a few things that perhaps will help your own search.

1) God is guarding His glory.  We know that God is for His glory and calls us to be as well.  We know that one of the main things that robs God of His glory is self-reliance.  In tough times, God reminds us that "apart from Him [we] can do nothing."  Paul himself never lost the thorn in his flesh but he learned that God's grace was sufficient.  We cannot lean on our own understanding but must simply trust in the Lord with all our heart.

2) God is asking us to renew our belief in and commitment to His appointed methods.  God has set apart His Word as the means for birthing and building faith.  God has appointed prayer as the means for making His Word effective in hearts.  We must stay true to these divine weapons of warfare that bring glory to God.

3) God is teaching us to delight Him in alone.  The results of ministry can never be our primary source of satisfaction and delight for that would be idolatry.  The fuel for sacrifical ministry, for costly love, and for servant leadership must be the deep, unending satisfaction we draw from Christ Himself.  He promised us complete joy that is only dependent upon our connection to Him.  The psalmist declares that His love is better than life (Psalm 63:3).  Only in the eternal well spring of Christ Himself will we be able to stay fresh to pour our lives out as a drink offering (Philippians 2:17) of service.

Finally, let us pray that our lives would shine with the light of Christ (Matthew 5:16) and that the fragrance of God would cling to us every day (2 Cor. 2:14-15).  Let as ask God to take away the works of flesh and replace them with the fullness of His Spirit.  May God remove our fears and irritations and replace them with love, joy, peace, patience and zeal to love people into the Kingdom.  God has made His light shine into our hearts and it is a "marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9) that rescued us from the kingdom of darkness.  May we never cease of praising God for our glorious salvation and may we never tire in our Spirit-fueled labor to help people grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.

God bless each of you!

Matt