Circuit Thoughts

The church lost its little house this past week. In the wee hours of the night, a flame was spotted coming through the roof. No one was hurt and no one was living in the little house. We did lose many things that were in storage and things we had been storing for others. I don’t know if the house is a total loss, but it will be a challenge to deal with regardless of what the insurance adjuster says.

As a church we feel the loss of something that has been there since 1956. The little house was built to replace the original parsonage that was there since 1887. In that house there were families that had been raised and children that had been fed. Later the house was used as classrooms for the children and adult classes. It doubled as the nursery area for VBS. We watched movies and studied scripture in that house. A few times I met with young couples in preparation of getting married. It was a part of the fabric of the Doniphan United Methodist Church.

And now it is destroyed. The items that had been stored for so long are ruined. The books and sundry items are now ruined and useless. There may be some salvage, but it will never be what it was. What will come later, we can only speculate and lift up to God.

Yet, in this loss, we know God is with us. No one was hurt, and the main church was left unscathed. Many are sad the parish house will be no more, but we will be able to continue on in ministry.

I know how I feel about the loss of this house and I cannot imagine what it is like to lose the home you live in. I cannot imagine what it is like to lose everything due to fire or storm or other disaster. The only thing I do know is that no matter what we are going through God is with us.

Isaiah 43:2, “When you pass though the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flame will not set you ablaze”.

Just as God assured Israel that he would not abandon them, so he promises us he will never leave us. Matthew 28:20 tells us that Jesus will be with us always, even unto the end of the age.

The point is, we suffered a loss that could have been much much worse. We have fellow churches that have suffered greater catastrophe that we can know. There are members of our community that have lost everything.

But in all of our loss, there is one thing we cannot lose, and that is the love of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, our Savior. No matter how bad things get, Christ will never leave us, and will walk with us through any storm or disaster.

The only thing we need to do is believe and have faith.

God bless and I’ll see you in church.