Scripture: Exodus 3:1-12, John 15:16
Dear Church,
For the last five years, I’ve been making a weekly podcast with my friend and fellow pastor Eulando Henton. It’s cleverly titled “2 Pastors take a walk and make a podcast.” We talk about pastor-life, racial justice, transformation and growing healthy & holy multi-ethnic, multi-cultural churches. And we begin each episode by sharing what’s astonishing us.
Because if you make a practice of looking for it, something always is. And if you don’t focus your attention on all the good and beautiful things in life that astonish you, you will quickly become overwhelmed and paralyzed by all the terrible things that astonish you.
To be astonished is to be filled with awe and wonder and amazement. The goodness of God is astonishing, but sometimes sin and familiarity robs us of our attention and blinds us to the incredible goodness of God. One of the marks of the early church was that it was filled with awe.
At the Grove, we’re declaring this summer the season of astonishment. Together, we are going to direct our attention on the active goodness of God. We are going to practice noticing the presence and power of the goodness of God. We are going to let it astonish us. We are going to seek the Spirit to recover our sight & astonishment.
The goodness of God is powerfully, palpably, perceptibly with us every moment of our lives, whether we notice it or not. But life is better–and we are more joyful and loving–when we notice it. Let’s practice astonishment together.
Peace,
Pastor Kate
P. S. Speaking of astonishment, yesterday, our friend Wes Vander-Lugt released his book “Beauty is Oxygen: Finding a Faith that Breathes.” If you want to dive deeper into astonishment, this book beautifully resonant with all the themes of our summer worship series. We’ll be praying over and celebrating it a little later in the summer!
Want to chat about what you have heard? Click here:
https://www.thegrovecharlotte.org/connect-with-us
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