Have you ever heard of the word: “re-upping?” The definition is: “re-enlist – to renew an arrangement or covenant agreement or contract.” I came upon this word praying about a “re-launch” for myself several months ago when I proactively agreed to return to parish ministry here at the Mingo United Methodist Church!
I appreciated the word in its full meaning which described what God was asking me to do. God’s call was to re-up my calling and to re-up my leadership and commitment to the vision and mission that God has for me as the pastor and for our church.
Galatians 6:9 “re-ups” us when it says: Let us not become weary in doing good for God, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
In the scriptures, the word “anago” is used in reference to the believer and to the church.
It was a nautical term used in the Bible to “set sail” or to “relaunch”! On Sunday, October 14th, we will be celebrating our 120 years as a church alive and looking to the future! What a great opportunity for us to “re-up” our covenant as a church – the people of God here in Mingo! As a part of our United Methodist heritage, John Wesley urged the people who called themselves Methodists to “re-up” each year in their commitment to service and to ministry beyond the church
(“The World is our Parish”) and to “re-launch” ourselves!
Today, some of us refer to our beginnings as a church over 100 years ago, but we are also challenged because we have not renewed our covenant agreement with God. On October 14, we are going to refresh that commitment! We are going to “re-launch” our unified commitment to God and the commission to “go make disciples” and “serve those in need.” We are going to make a special Sunday of it! It’s a great time to invite persons to come and write themselves into our story of faith in the past and passion in mission in the year ahead! As a part of that Sunday, we are going ot invite you to be in attendance and to write a note of encouragement and “re upping” to the church in 10 years. (Instructions will be distributed the next two Sundays – September 30th and October 7th.)
We are going to put our legacy as Christians on paper in a renewed covenant between ourselves and God. Begin to share the news! Begin to pray about your involvement and leadership. We will be asking you to consider what you need in the coming year to grow in your faith as a basis for the “launching” of study groups, small groups and sermon series.
God is with us!
Pastor Phil Dicks
