About Our Church

Who We Are

 

“For where two or three are gathered in my name,

I am there among them.” (Matthew 18:20)

 

Every generation from the beginning of time has told the story of how God has been involved with God’s creation and creatures. Every generation has a unique relationship to God in the midst of their lives. We are no exception. No one people or culture knows the fullness of God and God’s love for us, but with our collective stories, we get a bigger picture and sense for the nature and nurture of God. God calls us all into the story (into relationship) with Him so that his name will be exalted over all other gods we create and so that we know how precious we are to Him despite the vastness of the universe.

 

The people of Christ Lutheran Filey’s are no exception. We have a story to tell about God and how we have experienced Jesus Christ in our lives and in our worship. God’s Spirit is constantly calling us to be in relationship with Him through Jesus Christ, and we have been tasked to tell that story and to live into that story and to share that story.

 

We have taken the time to think about and discern our story together as a congregation. We’ve asked ourselves, “Who are we in relationship to God?”, “Is our story like any other people’s story in the Bible?”, and “How is God calling us into that greater story?”   In our meetings, several offered suggestions of stories in which we could relate.

 

Several people noted the Exodus story. One responded:

 

The Israelites were in bondage in Egypt, our congregation was in bondage to an old building. The delivery from bondage involved fire, (the burning bush).  The Israelites were afraid to enter the Promised Land; our congregation hesitated with indecision and fear to start the new construction.   The Israelites wandered in the wilderness; our congregation was in the church house. The Israelites entered the Promised Land and had difficulties; our congregation had difficulties in the new building.”  

 

Someone else thought we have just received the manna and quail and are still seeking the Promised Land.

 

Another noted that the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea; the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. They didn’t have chariots like the Egyptians but rather had to depend upon God for their survival.

 

Another referenced Ezekiel’s dry bones wondering if we have just been resurrected and called to new life.

 

Still another: Matthew 19:26 – “But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.’”

 

Of course the Great Commission is what we are all called to do (Matthew 28:19-20) “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” That is always a scripture to live by!

 

All great scriptures! All great stories in which we see ourselves! All great way to be in relationship with the Triune God! But through our discernment, the majority felt that the scripture that most spoke to us was Matthew 18:20:

“For where two or three are gathered in my name,

I am there among them.”

 

The inception of this congregation – the place where we first encountered God together was in a barn –several families coming together knowing and trusting that God would be with them. A building was finally constructed, but God wasn’t confined to the building as some remember the times when God was found in the gatherings on Thursday nights to do crafts, and in the sharing of a meal, and in the rotating from one person’s house to another to study scripture. God was present as we gathered for picnics and in the gathering of our offering for New Hope Ministries.


The fire caused us to re-member that God has no bounds and that the church isn’t the building; it is the people gathered together in fellowship and worship. This is where God is in relationship with us – not in a building, but in our conversations, in our hearts, and in our sharing of concern and love for the other. In our feeding each other, and in our caring for the other – that is where God can be found.

 

Two or three were gathered together long ago in an old barn, and God was present. Two or three or more of us were gathered together in all those many ways over the years, and God was among us. Two or three are gathered today, and God is still with us. As we ponder this scripture, we want it to challenge us to consider where we can gather in the future knowing God will still be with us? Will it be at the Sq. Bean Coffee shop where we gather to study the word? Will it be in reaching out to the daycare and nursery school to read a Bible story to the children? Will it be in a small group prayer meeting? Will it be with an adult who agrees to meet with a youth during the week to do Bible Study other than during Sunday school? Will it be in the invitation extended to a family who is hungry and offered a meal after a Sunday night worship service?

 

The possibilities are endless! Where two or three are gathered in my name, God promises to be.


May you be blessed in your gatherings, and may God’s presence be among you, lighting your path and making it shine before others so that they may also come to believe in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

 

 
© 2024 Christ Lutheran Church Fileys
Connected Sound - Websites for the Barbershop Community