Dear West Family

Welcome to 2023 and to the first letter of the year.

Last week, the preaching team went away for a few days on a retreat. Someone close to me noted that they thought that perhaps we did too much retreating as leaders of the church and that if perhaps we retreated less then we might be able to advance more. They are no longer that close to me. No one has relational capacity for that sort of honest insight these days.

Anyway, the retreat was great and very fruitful. We read Hebrews for hours, prepped over 150 pages of detailed sermon outline notes, prayed for you all a lot, and also broke every single one of our New Year’s resolutions by eating too much, exercising too little, and getting to bed later than responsible adults should. We do probably need to reconsider the timing of these retreats so that we at least get to pretend that our resolutions have a chance of gaining some traction. 2024 will be different. I am gonna eat so clean, you won’t even believe it.

While we were away retreating in the metropolis of Kingsland, Texas, West had its largest Sunday (in terms of attendance) of any non-Easter Sunday since we have existed as a congregation. This got me thinking about a couple of things. Firstly, I love how God does that sort of thing without many of the “paid professionals” around to remind us that He really doesn’t need us to do this whole building of His church thing. He joyfully invites us, and we get to participate with freedom and abandon, but there really is no place for any sense of self-importance in a community like this. Praise God for that! But also, it got me thinking afresh around what we actually want Sundays to accomplish. I know that the bump in numbers represents a measure of resolution activity from a number of people and I am very grateful for that, but it got me wondering what some of the actual purposes of gathering together on a Sunday are. If we make a resolution to be at church to simply tick off a religious duty or somehow to appease God, are we actually doing anything meaningful at all?

I couldn’t get Hebrews 10 out of my mind as I pondered this. Hebrews 10:25 is the verse that pastors love to remind people that they really should go to a church service on a Sunday, and it is well suited for that purpose. The writer warns that they shouldn’t be like those who neglect to meet together regularly, thus reminding us once and for all that the gathering of the saints is an essential activity in the life of the believer. But, there are three imperatives in the verses leading up to verse 25 that I think describe some of what we are supposed to be experiencing when we do gather.

Draw near.
Hold fast.
Stir up.

Look at it in the text with me.

“... since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. 

- Heb 10:21–25 (ESV) Emphasis added

So, this Sunday, please come back! Don’t neglect this essential habit of gathering with God’s people. As you do though, perhaps it would be helpful to have these three actions in mind for what you are supposed to be doing while you are there.

DRAW NEAR!
In worship, in prayer, in attentive listening, in communion, bring your real self behind the curtain which was opened by your faithful high priest. Don’t fake it, don’t stay distant, don’t pretend, don’t play it cool. Draw near.

HOLD FAST!
As you are reminded in songs, and readings, and sermons, and ordinances, and community, of the truth of the wonderful love and mercy of God, take hold of it and don’t let go. We arrive battered from the lies of the world and we need to take hold again the truth of God’s reality. The image here is like wrapping a rope around your wrist when you don’t feel like your hand can take the strain. As we believe what we hear, we wrap that rope around our wrist and become more and more certain that the other end of that rope is connected to a God who will never let us go.

STIR UP!
Think of the potential for love and good works in all of the wonderful people around you, and consider how you might encourage people to walk in the fullness of those good works which God prepared beforehand that they might walk in them. Ask the Spirit to show you someone you can encourage, and then obey His whisper.

Friends, with these imperatives in mind, the gathering of the saints becomes something that we would never want to neglect.

Draw near.
Hold fast.
Stir up.

See you Sunday.

PS The music this week is from the Las Vegas band, The Killers. Their name is ominous but their music can be super sweet at times. This song, Be Still, stopped me in my tracks this week. Turn it up loud, especially if you are prone to melancholy of the soul.

The Killers - Be Still

Press on,
Ross