The church of God will grow

Sunday September 21^st, Jonah 3:  ¹⁰ When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

Jonah 4: ¹ But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. ² He prayed to the LORD, “Isn’t this what I said, LORD, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. ³ Now, LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” Nostalgia has been described as six parts fantasy, three parts regret and one part history.  We often remember the good old days in ways they never were.  When Jonah saw the changes in Nineveh his reality changed and he was still able to make it all about himself.  In our churches we remember what it was like in the past in some very fanciful ways and then project this false reality onto others.  The reality is that the church is changing and will continue to change as each new person comes to join the worship community as well as when some of the ones we are used to being there, are no longer there.  When that false reality is bucked, new people just leave.  The keepers of the memory, whether true or false, are left with ever dwindling numbers and the mission is Christ is stifled in that place.  The church of God will grow and reach others with the good news of God’s love and grace, but each congregation has to ask itself if it is ready to be a part of that vision and mission.