Storyline Fall 2020

SUR
REN
DER
“What good would it do?” Mark 8:36
I came to Christ in high school. It was actually
as a result of the ministry here at FAC. Early
in my faith journey I was challenged with this
notion of the surrendered life, with the idea
of living life with an open hand; of allowing
Jesus to be not only my Saviour but my Lord.
And through many of the seasons of my life
and our life as a family we've been drawn
into circumstances which required us to
recommit to that.
It’s been 12 years since I joined this amazing
staff and family. I want to talk about the
story that led up to that and how it connects
to this idea of picking up your cross and
following Jesus. I had been a pastor of
another Alliance church here in the city and
when that role came to an end I was given
the luxury of a bit of a break. The plan was
that after that break I would begin to think
through what my next ministry serve would
be. The challenge was that as the end of that
sabbatical break came into view there was
absolutely nothing taking shape in the way of
a next opportunity. Just silence … So, I went
out and got a job in the marketplace and we
continued to think and pray and to just work
our way through what it meant for us that
we might not be aiming towards another
place of pastoral ministry. This was a really
challenging time for us because this was
really the first time we'd been in a situation
where, having left a ministry, we didn't
know where the next one was going to be. It
brought us into a season of real dependence;
of asking, “God, what are You up to? Where
are You taking us?“ And the longer the
silence continued, the more clear it became
that God was up to something that was quite
different than what we had anticipated.
As we navigated our way through this
process we had to come to grips with the
reality that God might be done with us in
terms of pastoral service. So as we prayed
and wrestled with that, we gave it over to
God and said, “If You're done with us in
vocational ministry, that's OK. We love You
and will continue to serve You as You lead
and guide us.“ As we leaned on Him we
came to the strong conviction that there
was still a place for us to serve and so we
just continued to wait. It became clear to me
that God was wanting to do a really different
work in us when I was reflecting on a prayer
that I'd prayed for years. It's an old prayer of
surrender by Charles Wesley:
Put me to what You will ...
Put me to doing, put me to suffering,
Let me be laid aside for You,
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to Your
pleasure and disposal.
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