I will be loyal to my church and uphold her with my presence. Read Hebrews 10:23-25. Last week we learned that we uphold the church with our prayers, just as Jesus taught us to pray, Our Father, give us, forgive us, and deliver us. As followers of Jesus, we are in this together. At Wesley Chapel, we take membership vows. One of our vows is to uphold our church with our presence. We are to show up for each other. We show up to worship God together. We show up to serve together. We show up to encourage one another. We show up to hold each other accountable when following Jesus to become like Jesus. We show up to study our Bibles together. When I first became a pastor, my greatest fear was not knowing what to say to a family who was going through a terrible tragedy. Honestly, I had no idea what I was supposed to say or do. When I went to visit Corabelle, I pulled up a chair beside her hospital bed and took her hand. I knew her when she came every Sunday morning to church, dressed in beautiful dresses, and her face had a smile that lit up the room. It was hard to see her struggling to have a conversation. We spent most of the time in silence as I held her hand. After saying prayers, she thanked me for coming. When I recounted the moments with Corabelle to a more seasoned pastor and told him about how I felt so ill-equipped to respond to her, he countered with, “You gave her the greatest gift you could, the ministry of your presence.” Presence has power and meaning. Every time I stand to speak God’s word on a Sunday morning, I am grateful for each and every person who is in person and online for giving their presence to God and to one another. Holy Scripture encourages us, “Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.” 

Lord God, thank you for being the God whose presence is always with us. Give me the motivation to give the ministry of presence to my church family and to those who are in need so that we might all be encouraged in our faith. Amen.