LAKE TAPPS COMMUNITY CHURCH

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Weekly Update: The Lord Provides

Greetings Lake Tapps,

Over the years I’ve noticed there are two dates which cause me to stop and think about what I’ve done in the past and what the future holds for me; those dates are January 1 and June 1.

You may remember that we started this year by looking at 1 Samuel 7:12, where Samuel erected a stone of remembrance to celebrate the presence and help of the LORD in Israel’s fight against the Philistines.  We used that verse as a catalyst for our own remembrance of how the Lord has led and directed LTCC for over 50 years.  We clearly saw His faithfulness and care for our congregation in the past and we believed He would continue to lead and provide for His body in the future. 

So, we now pause for a moment at the end of the first six months of this year and see how the Lord has, indeed, provided for our church.  In January we believed there were three significant challenges facing us.  The first was the retirement of Pastor Tim and the search for a new senior Pastor.  The second was the search for a new youth leader to fill the position vacated by Evan’s transition to E3 mission work in Seattle. And the third was the unknown future of the Covid pandemic in the life of our church.

At this writing, Covid is still with us.  Many of the restrictions have been lifted and we once again enjoy assembling together to worship.  Although several in our midst have become sick, through God’s grace they have recovered.  We continue to draw on the Lord’s strength as we live with the lingering effects of this virus.

The search for a new youth leader is beginning to produce some encouraging results.  Nathan, who is leading the first phase of the search, has completed initial discussions with several interested people we found in our own network of contacts.  The second phase of the search was recently completed when a job opening description was posted on a youth leader resource website.  The Lord’s presence in this effort is evident by His extending a Spirit of patience and love as parents and members of the body continue to pray for this process.

The last area where we have seen the Lord lead is through the Senior Pastor search committee.  The committee has been hard at work developing specific requirements for a senior pastor.  A comprehensive status report is expected next Friday, so I won’t provide further details at this time, except to say that the hand of the Lord has been very evident through ought the work of the committee.  By His Spirit, there has been a quiet trusting spirit of unity as we’ve worked toward our stated goal.

My hope is that through these few brief glimpses into the past 6 months in the life of our church we can all be encouraged that the Lord is, in fact, still guiding and providing for us.  We live in a culture that thrives on instant results and to some degree has lost the ability to “be still and know He is the Lord”.  He has His timeline, and His plan is always better than ours.  My hope is that as we look forward to the next 6 months, we can do so with confident patience that the Lord is continuing to lead the way.

Gary for the elders