About seven months ago I raised the question: “Would anyone notice?” It is a question that I continue to mull over. Think about it for a moment. It might seem like an episode from The Twilight Zone, but imagine this. The Bridgton Alliance Church building sits as always on route 117. The Lawn is mowed. The church building is well painted. The driveways are clean. Everything from an exterior standpoint seems normal, but the church is empty. There are no services, no staff, and no use is made at all of the facilities. My question is, would anybody notice? Would the Bridgton News write an article lamenting or even commenting on the closing of a 40 year old church? Within the community would anyone notice that the church was no longer there? More importantly, would anyone care?

These are important questions? It is one thing to cloister ourselves within our four walls, singing our songs, preaching our message and greeting our friends. It is quite another thing to make an impact on our community. If we truly desire to be “a light that shines beyond our walls,” the effect we have on our community should matter to us.

We recently had what I would describe as a particularly “Acts of the Apostles” or “Acts 2” type of service. By that I mean that we prayed together, we sang together, we took communion together. We had a baptismal service and we took in a new member. Following the service, I received both phone calls and E-mails concerning the service. One person was gushingly complementary thanking us for our outreach into the community. That was a very positive element, an indicator that we are moving in the right direction. 

Much has been done recently to reach out. Many small acts of kindness have been carried out, and some larger projects undertaken such as the renovation of the American Legion Hall and the roadside cleanup. All of this is important.

Working in rural Northern New England is not particularly easy. We work within a relatively small and somewhat resistant population base. But we need to keep in mind that fulfilling our vision statement is not a question of circumstances but of choice and of passion. Are we passionate about what we are doing?

In Acts 2:43 we read “A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshipped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.” This is the testimony of a group of believers who passionately cared about what they were doing. We gulp when we read that they sold what they had.   One needs to be responsible, not foolish. This is true, but their actions reflect their passion and is it not true that ultimately much of what we accumulate; we do so for self-gratification and since when has fulfillment or self-fulfillment come through self-gratification? As business consultant Jim Collins states in his book “Good to Great” “What truly matters in life lies not in what we achieve but in what we contribute.” Jim who looks at the church as something of an outsider, nevertheless made the statement that “What the church is doing is far too important to be left in the hands of mediocrity.” He states that there are many factors involved in greatness, but a major key to success and greatness is passion. As he put it, we need to be “neurotically productive,” that is, so given to what we believe that nothing will hold us back.

The thoughts that I share at this time are shared not because I feel that we have not been making progress, because we have. I bring them up simply to encourage us to keep moving on. We know where we are going. We have been heading in the right direction and we need to keep the momentum going.   With the impetus of the wind of the Holy Spirit on our backs I believe we have been seeing and will continue to see Acts 2 results. If you ask me, “What results?” I would respond, the Acts 2 results that we are beginning to see and which I particularly desire to see, are summed up in that phrase “And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.” It is my prayer that that description might truly characterize our work here throughout the coming year and the years to come. Certainly as we do fulfill our purpose, people will care about our presence, and we would be missed if we weren’t here.