Have an Open Door

“I have set before you an open door,

Which no one is able to shut”

                 Revelation 3:8

Dear St. Markians:

         The week after the congregation voted to proceed with the new door for the Willow Street side of the Fellowship hall area, I contacted the door company and placed the order. Now a days, as you can imagine, it will take several months for the materials to be ordered and sized just for our specific needs. But what a wonderful gift it will be once it is completed. When set up and on, the door can open to all who approach and wish to enter.

                  That is a great image, to be a church that has doors that open for all who wish to enter. The current doors, have worked for over 60 years, but are not up to code for handicap accessibility. The knob must be manually grasped, which is not that easy for some. Then it must be turned and pulled, swinging the door back towards yourself, which again is not the easiest method for an entrance. But this new door, like the current one at the handicap entrance will be automatic, opening wide to all, without any hindrance or limitations.

         That is the promise Jesus gives to his early church in his Revelation to John. He says that he puts before you an open door, knowing that even when we are weak, we can enter before the Lord and receive his blessing. In the same way, we as a congregation are to have that same open door mindset. We are to be open to receiving those who are weak or lost, in need of faith and help. We are to open our hearts without hindrance or limitations, to follow in the way of our Lord Jesus, who went out of his way to seek those who were troubled and open them to the love of God. 

         For too long we have stood closed, comfortable with the old method, assured that if anyone really wants entrance they can approach the door, they can grasp and pull the knob, they can try to find their way in. But Jesus calls us to be ministering like an open door. To find new ways to reach out and be a neighbor to others. To have the door of our hearts, faith and love accessible and seen by all. 

                  May we emulate this new door, and be a Church of Christians that are open to the work of God through us.

                                                                        In the peace and grace of God,        

                                                                                         Pastor Kirk Griffin