The Net

At our monthly Pierce Pastors' Prayer Lunch (every 4th Thursday, Trinity Church), Sherry Varkonyi, of First Presbyterian in Tacoma, prayed for the NETworking of our Pierce County churches. Her Spirit-led prayer helped us realize that it is the network of our churches that will catch God's fish in our county (Mat 4.19), and it's the holes in our network (our missing relationships) that let so many fish get away.

DOCKED ASSETS

In a parallel metaphor to that of the "Frozen Waters," the Pierce Pastors prayed this morning about the "docked assets" in Tacoma. It's great to own a boat, but sadly, many yachts stay in the marina most of the year. Similarly, the church has many spiritual and material assets that remain tied to the dock, i.e., remain unused for the Kingdom.

In the Spirit-led prayers this morning, we began to explore the nature of the "anchors" that keep a congregation and their assets from leaving the harbor. On one extreme, the binding anchor could be false doctrine. Short of that problem, a faulty philosophy of ministry could keep us from catching the wind of the Spirit. For some of us the fear of change and of losing "control" keeps us tied to the dock or anchored in the bay. We can remain in complete control of our ship and need fear no storm as long as we're safely anchored and going nowhere!

God grant us the courage to cut the anchors loose and let the Spirit blow us where He will (John 3.8).

FROZEN WATERS

In God's providence, our city is named Tacoma. This Native American name means "snow covered mountain," referring of course to looming Mt. Tahoma (Rainier) on our southeastern horizon.

Now, a snow-covered mountain is the water reservoir for its region. I believe that Tacoma is an immense reservoir of spiritual waters (think John 7.38), but the snows must be melted for the water to nourish the thirsty of our county and beyond (see Isaiah 32.1,2).

Our Pierce Pastors have begun to pray that the radiance of Christ's presence will melt the ice that locks away the spiritual assets of Tacoma, and that we would become the source of living water He intends us to be.