Traveling Mercies: Prayer Letter 7

Well, I am a little embarrassed that it has been so long since I have posted.  This is very telling of the last month of my life.  First things first: Announcements.

Address Change!!

GCM in Orlando is moving its offices to a new larger facility and the mailing address for your gift is changing!

Before August 1: P.O. Box 7101 Winter Park, FL 32793
As of August 1: 11002 Lake Hart Drive, Ste 100 Orlando, FL 32832

GCM will automatically change the address on its giving envelope, but please double check! We wouldn't want a gift to go missing. Your support means so much to us.

ps - many of our donors use automatic LifeLink giving instead of mailing a check each month. This may be a good time to switch to LifeLink! We really do prefer it if it works for you. It's secure and it makes sure our ministry funds are never accidentally interrupted. Visit www.mygcm.org

My address is changing as well!

Please leave a comment and I can email you with my new address. 

Ok now to the good stuff.  I recently finished a book that my sister-in-law lent me titled "Traveling Mercies."  It isn't really about much, but she is such a good writer I couldn't put it down.  Much like me, she grew up Catholic and had a skewed view of what it meant to truly walk with the Lord.  She tells stories of her experimentation and addiction to multiple substances (not like me just to clarify) and how God pulled her out of the pit she had dug for herself.  I think what I loved most about the book was her raw honesty in admitting her shortcomings as a mother, a friend, a daughter, and as a Christian.  I think as Christians we often feel the pressure to sin less, or at least I feel that way.  What I have realized is that no matter how deeply I desire to stop sinning, like Paul, I continue to do what I do not want to do (Romans 7:18).  If anything I become more and more aware of how seriously sinful I am because I am constantly learning more of what God intended for my life.  There is good news in all of this though!  By becoming more aware of the sin I am also more aware of my need for grace and how truly amazing it really is.  So let us boast in our weakness so that Christ's strength can radiate out of us (2 Corinthians 12:9).  Let us all be blessed with traveling mercies which, according to Webster mercy is an act "performed out of a desire to relieve suffering; motivated out of compassion."

New Life News

I got an email a few weeks ago from one of our pastors that a girl sent to him and it was so beautiful I want to share it with all of you.  This is what ministry is all about:

I am a student at Michigan State University and am involved in campus ministry and a church in the East Lansing area. This summer I've been set back in my community involvement due to my summer job, which has me in a different city every week. This has been a difficult adjustment, because I hadn't been able to attend a church service for a few weeks and was feeling very down about it.

Last week I set my facebook status asking if anyone knew of a church I could visit in the Canton area. Immediately, an old childhood friend commented on my status. While we had gone to school together from preschool through senior year, we had not spoken more than a hello since our play dates as kids.  She was invited me to your Sunday service in Ann Arbor. 

This excited me to see how God can cross boundaries. I knew that she was a student at U of M and she most likely knew I went to MSU. Her reaching out to me spoke a lot about the difference that God can play in such an intense rivalry. 

Not more than an hour later, I received another comment on my facebook status. Another "long-lost friend" from elementary and high school was inviting me to the same exact service. This girl continued to reach out to me during the rest of the week. She sent me a text message extending her invite by asking me to stay at a house she and her friends were living at in Ann Arbor the night before the service, or to meet together there. 

This extreme act of generosity really took me back. Having only had one class together in high school several years ago, I would have never expected such an invitation, especially just to be able to attend a church service. But the Lord knew how desperately I was craving community and His word. 

When Sunday finally came I walked into your sanctuary to see a verse on the right hand wall. The exact words are escaping me but I remember that it talked about EVERYONE being loved and called to Jesus. Its not the discomfort of years passed, the distance of the drive, or even one of the greatest college rivalries that will stop Jesus from reaching His children. 

I wanted to share this experience with all of you at New Life Church as a form of encouragement. The disciples that you are creating in the name of Christ are successfully breaking down boundaries to spread His love, and trust me when I say that I felt that, I REALLY felt that. Your service was beautiful and more than I could have asked for after the hard few weeks I have had. Thank you so much for this small thing that you have done for me! I hope that I will be able to visit again. 

So beautiful.  I also wanted to share this video from the Leadership Training kick-off retreat.

LT13 Kickoff Retreat from New Life Church on Vimeo.

Standing in awe of God's unending mercy,

Sigourney