Dear Ginghamsburg Church Family,
One cold, snowy, winter day I found myself lost in a dusty old book about the disappearance of Rear Admiral Sir John Franklin in the Canadian Arctic. In 1845, the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror set sail from England under Franklin’s command. Their mission was to explore the Canadian Arctic in search of the Northwest Passage. The book described the provisions these 19th century explorers brought with them. Each sailing vessel carried an auxiliary steam engine and a twelve-day supply of coal for a long voyage. Instead of additional coal, each ship made room for a 1,200-volume library, an organ to play Christian hymns, fine china place settings for officers and men, cut glass wine goblets, sterling silver flatware, and gallons of concentrated spirits, ale & porter. But the expedition carried no special clothing for Arctic conditions, only the uniforms of Her Majesty’s Navy. Tragically, in 1847 both ships and the entire party of 129 men disappeared into the Canadian Arctic and never returned. Years later, Inuit travelers came across the frozen remains of the expedition and found men dressed in their finery and pulling a life-boat laden with place settings and boxes of chocolate.
The truth is that Sir John Franklin and his crew had too many distractions and were totally unprepared for the multitude of challenges before them. Common sense should have told Franklin to have a single focus when attempting to travel the uncharted waters of the icy Arctic to discover the Northwest Passage!
Here's what our church can learn from this: We need to narrow our focus on our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Too many churches are so consumed by internal conflict or denominational strife that they fail to embody the gospel mandate of Jesus. They focus on the distractions of cultural or political advocacy, instead of prioritizing new birth, revitalization and holiness of heart and life. John Wesley’s advice to his preachers was always to focus their efforts on proclaiming the gospel of salvation. “You have nothing to do but to save souls,” Wesley told them. “Therefore, spend and be spent in this work.”
In the spirit of Father Wesley, I appeal to our Ginghamsburg family to obey Hebrews 12:1-2, “So then, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly and let us run with determination the race that lies before us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end.”
Ask this question: In what ways have we allowed ourselves to get sidetracked and distracted by matters that are not core to the mission of Jesus? Over the next 30 days, let’s do three things:
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Narrow our focus on becoming the most Jesus-loving, disciple-making and sharing-Jesus’-love church we can be!
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Prioritize Sunday morning worship. Begin each week by acknowledging God is first in our lives and families. This Sunday, we are beginning a new four-week teaching series entitled, “Get into the Game!” In my message, I plan to share how we are stronger together and how God uses our collective work to strengthen our faith and impact those around us.
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Pray this prayer every day for the next 30 days: Lord Jesus, whatever it takes, please increase our resolve to pursue only what you call us to do. Prepare our hearts to follow your call, equip us with the tools needed to accomplish your mission and deliver us from the fragmenting effect of fruitless distraction. Amen.
Sisters and Brothers, I charge you to: love Jesus, follow Jesus, grow in Jesus, be transformed in Jesus, and share Jesus this week!
Dennis
