So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
Acts 9:31 ESV
All throughout the first half of the book of Acts, as we see the supernatural birth of the first church unfold, we see statements like the one in Acts 9:31. These are statements describing a work of God. These are statements descriptive of the work of the Holy Spirit. These are statements that embody a thing we have come to know as "momentum."
Momentum is like most other things, it has its good and bad aspects. The fact that momentum exists proves that the lack of momentum can also exist. I've come to see momentum as a vital part of the movement of God in our world today. As a pastor and church planter, I love momentum when it's moving on the side of the kingdom of God, but I have come to loathe it when it ceases to exist. When momentum dissipates, it's like running into a brick wall. I remember during my awkward middles school days I was walking down a small hill between classes with all my momentum focused on downward motion and the people around me. What I didn't notice was the pole in my path. I slammed into it forehead first and all my momentum (and all my pride) came to a screeching halt.
Momentum is what I have used to describe what God has granted The Pathway over the course of the past 8 months or so. We have scene tremendous growth. As our Intentional Communities Director Stacie Hooks puts it, we've been growing in both depth and breadth. It's been fun, exciting and worshipful to watch God move in such a visible way. But as a pastor and as a person, I knew that at some point the momentum would stop. There are many reasons for it, but it always happens. I think that part of my role as pastor, leader, teacher and vision caster is to make sure that our church is falling so in love with Jesus, is so committed to the disciple making vision, and is becoming so disciplined in our walk with God that when the momentum stops, or turns, we are ready for it. We are willing and passionate about fighting through it. And most importantly, we hit our knees and ask God to bring another wave of momentum, resulting in life change, kingdom growth and God's ultimate glory.
We hit that wall in December. I could make you a list of the reasons why. But that list doesn't really matter. What matters is that our young church, full of new and not yet believers, is facing a test. And I want to put the call out to all of you... those here in Tacoma who are in the midst of this test and those all over the country who are a part of what God is doing here... to pray for us. Pray that we would fall deeply in love with Jesus. Pray that we wouldn't lose sight of the mission of God. Pray that we would be disciplined and committed. Pray that God would break through the wall, and a new wave of life change and growth would be birthed.
As I think back to that horribly embarrassing and painful moment in middle school when my head collided with that metal pole and all my physical and perceived social momentum came to a halt, I remember one thing. The momentum returned. I looked around, got my bearings, and continued down the hill. I was still focused on all the same things... getting to class and looking cool (I messed that one up), but I learned something in the process. None of those things could happen if I ran into every pole along the way. I learned, I moved on and the momentum came again.
Thank you for praying for Kingdom momentum in Tacoma.
