Dear Friends God’s peace to you all
I want to take some time to reflect on one of our Vineyard values; ‘come as you are’. Many people coming to our church for the first time will have encountered this value on our welcome banners and the sentiment is always graciously expressed through those on our welcome teams and others. Anybody and everybody can come. Church is open for everyone; to worship, to explore, to just sit and be, to pour out your heart, to enjoy fellowship or to come to serve others in love.
I think we all instinctively understand this and over the years we’ve seen pretty much every type of person in every type of circumstance arrive. But there is so much more to this value than just the welcome of strangers. You and I can ‘come as we are’ every day, in every moment, to God and be assured of the truth of His gracious presence. Heaven is listening and we can be seen and known.
I’ve struggled these last few weeks due to personal circumstances (my father passed away recently) to come to God as I normally would. My head has been full, my body has been tired, my heart has been heavy and my soul weary. It has ebbed and flowed as any bereavement does and each day is different. But I am learning again the beauty of His kindness, even in great sadness. It’s ok to show up tired, or confused, or angry, or silent, or lost, or overwhelmed or even overflowing with so many thoughts, feelings and words you have no idea if there’s a coherent thread in any of it.
So I’ve come, come as I am, acknowledged the condition of my being, trusted that however I am is ok and experienced the joy of His mercy, fresh each day. When I couldn’t read, I prayed or I journaled, when I couldn’t do that I sat and was quiet, when I couldn’t bear the silence I talked, when I couldn’t make sense of what I wanted to say I said nothing, when I needed to ramble I rambled, when I found myself being ‘religious’ and trying to follow a formula I called myself out and laughed about it. And I danced like a child around my kitchen to the song that put into words the deepest cry of my heart in that moment.
Friends we can ‘come as we are’.
God has called us to freedom, to live and move and have our being in Him. Jesus invites us to be His friends. He has paid the great price to ensure that, through Him, we can truly know the Father and live by the power of the Holy Spirit.
So however you are, just come to Jesus.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
(Matthew 11:28-30 NIV)
Peace
Jason