11-07-25

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
November 7, 2025
I’m going to request your prayers as we seriously begin the Search & Call process for an ordained youth minister. We are immensely blessed to have Rev. Amber Mattingly to serve as our Interim Youth Minister. She has her first official meeting with the youth and their parents this Sunday night. What excites me is that we have a solid group of youth who appear to enjoy one another, and some new individuals who are just beginning to get involved. Amber will help us gain momentum by establishing a good structure as we prepare for whoever God is calling to Cypress Creek Christian Church. The prayer I request is not some sort of plea to God for an excellent person. I don’t see God as one who is in the business of bargaining or saying, “I was going to send that excellent youth minister to Cypress Creek, but the church in Oklahoma prayed harder, so Cypress Creek will get stuck with the mediocre one.” The prayer is for discernment for all those involved. Sometimes a candidate can look quite good on paper and even be an excellent minister, but a calling is about the right person meeting the right context. Maybe there is a bias within me, hindering my capacity to see what God wants me to see. I believe prayer can help clear our vision. Or maybe there is some insecurity within the person God believes to be the right person, and just the right word from us might be the needed nudge. I believe prayer can open a door or a heart that is closed. Will you join me in praying often for this important step in our ministry?

God of New Beginnings and Holy Ministry, we turn to you in the belief that you are already at work in making a way, even when we are unable to see all the steps. Provide us with both patience as we discern through prayer. Amen.