09/16/2025
This past Sunday, I overheard a comment made in jest about how our church was "quite a motley crew." It was a throwaway comment, but it struck something deep in my heart.
As I reflected on the words, I recalled that Jesus, too, gathered "quite a motley crew" of followers. Fishermen, tax collectors, zealots, merchants, religious leaders, a (formerly) demon possessed woman, prostitutes, and a whole host of others. He attracted the poor, the brokenhearted, the infirm and the lame. He gathered those lost in spirit and those who seemingly had lost their mind. He welcomed the addict and the unclean. He touched the l***r and the dead. And every single person who encountered Him was never the same. They built a community, and began to take the message of love and truth to all who would hear. And we all know how that worked out...
I've had the one of the greatest privileges of my life to be the "shepherd" of this growing flock at New Life Assembly in Scottsburg. A quick inventory of our church family includes those who have fought - and still fight - the battle with addiction. There are those who sometimes struggle to make ends meet. Others are in the midst of the worst health battles I can imagine, and at times, just barely hanging on. But hang they do. We have those whose marriages have failed, and some who still grieve a spouse that has entered into eternity. We have those who know the pain of losing a child, and others who are experiencing the joy of new life for the first time. Quite a motley crew, indeed!
But there is something else. As a pastor I see it so clearly, an unseen bond that is pulling all these different people together into something profoundly beautiful. A community of people committed to doing life together and learning in real time what it means to "love one another."
Do we always get it right? No. But that's what makes this crew so special. They walk in grace with one another. They love each other well. They come when needed and give sacrificially. They weep and they laugh, they pray and they worship. And they forgive. Perhaps, they don't realize it, but they have created a family, bound by love and by a shared faith in the One who died that we might be one. I love that I get to be a part of it.
If you are lost and longing for a family, but scared thinking you won't fit in, or that you won't be welcome, come and see for yourself. We are always ready to add a new member to our motley crew. No matter where you've been or what you've done, you are welcome here. It's time to come home. Join us as we work, and watch the horizon.
Our Captain is coming to get us soon.
