Letter to the Church: September 2022
September 15, 2022
This summer on our July break, I was reading through the Pastoral Epistles of Paul and was struck by the heart behind them. Even though the apostle Paul traveled extensively and rarely saw the leaders and congregations he was responsible for starting, they were never out of his thoughts. He took every opportunity to write to them, answering their questions and encouraging them in their continual pursuit of Jesus Christ.
This understanding became the impetus for me to start this new communication with the people of Radiant Church in the form of a pastoral letter that I intend to write regularly to share what God has put on my heart for our spiritual family. Not in any way to compare who I am or what I do with that of the apostle Paul, but over the years, God has given me the responsibility and privilege of leading a local church (Radiant) and traveling and imparting to the Body of Christ abroad. With that in mind, I want to avail myself of every means of helping all of us towards our shared vision and calling. I hope the letters I write and the subjects I address will encourage and benefit us in the days ahead.
That being said, I am excited about what God has in store for us this fall season. Not just because Fall is my favorite season for many reasons (college football and crisp temps to name a few), but I am expectant because I believe that God is speaking loud and clear to the Church, His bride, about becoming a people prepared. “Prepared for what?” you might say. Prepared for both the difficult days we live in and the incredible opportunities that will come to the Church during those challenging days. I truly believe that we are living in a period prophesied about thousands of years ago by prophets and apostles, written about in the pages of scripture. Days that are defined as “spiritually dark” and the people of God who are described as “light amid the darkness.” Becoming a people prepared requires us to look at ourselves at the times we find ourselves and then to the One who sits upon the Throne. Then align our hearts with the eternal reality so that we are not swept away by the currents of this temporal world moving through our culture.
“Becoming a people prepared requires us to look at ourselves at the times we find ourselves and then to the One who sits upon the Throne.”
Starting in September 18, I am going to be teaching a series entitled FLOURISH: Planting Your Life Where God Designed It to Thrive. You may recognize this title as that of a book I wrote and released a few years ago, and you would be correct. I released it just before the start of the global pandemic. Last year when I was praying about it, the Lord spoke to me that the message of FLOURISH was one born out of season and that He had given it to me ahead of time then, for now. I believe the revelation of the Church, the House of God, is a vital message for NOW. It is the key to positioning ourselves to be victorious overcomers living amid a crooked generation in the Last Days. I will spend most of the Fall teaching through this, believing that God will plant this truth deep in the soil of our souls, rooted and grounded in Christ.
More than anything, I want Radiant to be a mature church. Not a perfect church, but a church that is being perfected by a perfect King. A praying church that provokes the American Church from its complacency and addiction to comfort back to its First Love. Even though we are now one church that meets in three different locations, we are unified around a singular pursuit – to be a praying and worshipping church. Not because it’s the “cool” thing to do, but because it’s who we are called to be. More than ever, we need to be pursuing His presence. God is raising up people and churches throughout our culture that are pursuing His Presence and recognize that the days in which we live are no longer “business as usual.” The status quo will not suffice in the days we live in, but there is more available to us in the Kingdom of God than we could ever imagine. Our Lord is beckoning us to say no to a thousand different things so that we can give one resounding “Yes!” to the one thing that truly matters: Him.
“Even though we are now one church that meets in three different locations, we are unified around a singular pursuit – to be a praying and worshipping church.”
To be that kind of church, we’re going to need to understand what the Church really is intended to be. Not an institution, not an option but an environment in which we are called to plant our lives, but a habitation in which the destiny and identity of each of us is shaped and fashioned. It is the Household of faith in which God is working by His Spirit and through His Word.
I want to encourage you to prioritize being in church this fall. Not just to take up a seat, but to be a part of the family God is building as well as to receive what God is speaking to us. I know that for those who will lean in, God will meet us, transform us and prepare us. Do you feel prepared for what is coming on the face of the earth? Do you struggle with your purpose in life? Are you longing to be right in the middle of what God is doing on the face of the earth in the Last Days? Are you overwhelmed by the shifting and shaking that seems to be accelerating in the world? Are you feeling alone in your journey of following Jesus? To all these questions, Flourish will give you understanding, perspective, and encouragement that you are looking for.
I look forward to this Fall with great anticipation from the One who is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all we could ever ask or think.
Pastor Lee
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