I remember a time, many years ago when several of my friends and I were frustrated.  We all flew for the Navy, and had just returned home from a very long and hard cruise.  During those days, we did many challenging things; things that were new and hard and had never been done before.  We had all become accustomed to flying on and off aircraft carriers.  The challenging became the norm.  To top it all off, we did it well.  We had a perfect saftey record.  No one had been hurt in those months at sea.

     Our Commanding Officer was very proud of that record, and he was being replaced in two months.  As a result, he was determined to maintain that record.  So, we just didn't fly.  The airplanes which we had flown so intensely for seven months, now just sat in the hangar, and so did we.  Morale sank.  We were miserable, the men working on the planes were miserable, and we just ended up fussing about it all, enduring the days until we had a new Commanding Officer, who would get those planes out of the hangar and into the air where they and we were designed to be.

     This weekend in worshp, we are going to be reminded how this is a fitting illustration of our lives as disciples of Jesus.  We are simply not designed to live life in the hangar.  God has designed us, saved us, and sent us to fly.  When we don't stay active in our primary task, when we become safely moderate instead of boldy serving, we find ourselves frustrated and fussing at one another.  We were never meant to be safe in the spiritual hangar.  Our faith is designed to give us wings.

     I would like to invite all of you to join us in worship this weekend as we listen to the story of Esther.  She did what so many of us yearn to do.  She started as a nominal person of faith, in fact, hiding her faith from all those around her.  But then, something happened that changed her into a woman that not only saved her people but also changed the world.  In this day and age, where we tend to so naturally put a bushel over our lights, we need to hear her story and once again find our faith wings.  Come join us as we talk about this some more!

See you there,
Pastor Pete