[0:43] Let us pray let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight award our rock and our redeemer amen, so this evening um i thought i would talk a little bit about why we come here

[1:04] each wednesday and wait. You know, on face value, it would seem a little silly to come here each week. We’re usually a very small bunch, and it doesn’t seem like a lot is happening. And truth be told, we could all pray evening prayer at home. But there’s a lot going on here that we can’t see. So throughout the week, cards are handed out all over this city. The people standing on the side of the road, sitting on the sidewalk, in coffee shops and bars all over. You know, these people might be lonely, they might be homeless, they might be unemployed. They might be all of those things and often are all of those things. And each and every one of those people is given a card and invited here to this place, to this address, to this church with red doors, to help them find help, but also hope.

[2:03] So you see, we wait here because God wants us to be a part of this. He doesn’t require us. He doesn’t need us, but he wants us to be a part of his activity and love in the world. God’s call to us is to love and serve our neighbor. And it’s really hard to love and serve our neighbor when we’re at home. We have to go out. We have to meet others. We need to be put into positions where we are of need. So that’s why we are here tonight. We’re here because God calls us. We’re here to share the warmth that we know in the church with someone new. We’re here to wait on the Lord and see what he will have us do.

[2:55] Now, I don’t know about you, but God has been very patient with me. I’m really slow to listen. I’m very slow to obey. He’s got to patiently work on my heart to get me to do anything, it would seem. So here on Wednesday nights, we repay God’s patience with us by ourselves patiently waiting on others. So out there in the rain tonight, there are folk who have our card. They feel God’s call, but they haven’t gotten the courage yet. And in God’s good time, they will come.

[3:38] So while we wait, let us pray for those who will come. Let us fellowship and grow closer to one another. And in all of this, we are patiently preparing. For those who God calls us to serve, we are building a warm house that we can welcome our neighbors into. We are building the place where God will dwell among us and where we will see his mighty hand do the work only he can do. And I’m reminded of really this time last year, we had been meeting at First Wesleyan for, gosh, three, four months, constantly waiting, not a lot of traction. And then out of nowhere, one Wednesday, someone was waiting at the front door.

[4:34] And that someone ended up being someone we worked with for many, many months and were able to get housing and a job and all sorts of great things.

[4:44] And so I know that God can work And we just need to wait And be patient on him And that he will use us And we will get to see him do mighty works And miracles before us We’re just patient enough To allow him to bring the right people to us Amen.