Last Sunday our church here in Indiana took a major step forward. We left a building that, while loved and revered, was nearing the end of its useful life. One thing everyone knows, whether they acknowledge it or not, is that when you build something it will one day have to be left behind. This Sunday the church takes another major step forward. This week we move to our other building, refurbished and prepared. To those of you who read this who are not here, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal. But to us, it is huge.

          So, in today’s blog, I want to talk about the thing that brought us to this place in the life of the church. Courage.

          Courage, you say? How does courage figure? Faith, OK. Determination, OK. But where does courage come in?

          Well, first, we have a church filled with courageous people. When you farm, you are faced with life and death decisions all the time. Not instant death, but a slow and grinding death. What crops to plant, when to plant, what chances to take? A wrong move, a wrong decision can put a farm on a long, downhill slope to oblivion. If you do not have the courage of your convictions, you are lost. Certainly, faith plays a tremendous role, but without the courage to step out on faith, faith is useless. A farmer gets up in the morning and heads out with no guarantees. For our people here, men and women, courage is just a regular part of life. I doubt if they even see the courage. But it is there.

          Second, that courage has propelled these folks in a Spiritual sense. Seventy years ago, there were two churches in town. Two churches doing quite well. Two churches right across the street. The one on the west side of the road was largely populated by farmers and their families. The one on the east side was populated largely by the town folk and business types. Though different denominations, both churches preached the Bible more than they sided with their denominations. People in both churches were friendly with folks in the other church. There was not a problem. But they were different churches.

          As time went on, though, the town changed. Like all the small towns around here, people began to move out and go to the bigger towns. The church on the east side of the road, Grace, began to suffer because of the exodus of their people. It affected the church on the west side, St. Peter’s, less, but they were affected to some degree. At some point, leaders from both congregations met and decided that both churches would benefit if they shared a pastor. Some would look at that and say it was a necessity, but not so. To pull back on your pride and start to emerge from the whole “my church” thing, takes courage. Simple, unamazing courage, but courage all the same. The country side is dotted with small churches which are struggling, yet lack the courage to shelve their pride to do something positive. And, the country side is dotted with empty and boarded up churches that never had the courage to step forward. As time went on, it was decided that the two churches would start worshipping together. More courage. Now the “my church” thing was becoming even more blurred.

And then came the real test of courage. Both denominations were distancing themselves from the Bible. Homosexuality, abortion and other nonBiblical ideas were gaining in popularity in the denominations. One of the denominations embraced these concepts whole heartedly, the other denomination lacked the courage to stand up to those who favored these nonBiblical concepts, even though the Bible declares such things as sin. The two churches here took the deep breath, clothed themselves in courage, and withdrew from their denominations. That is a massive display of courage. Now you have no denominational safety net, no help when it is needed. Courage to step out in faith.

Along with these decisions came the decision to legally merge into one congregation. You would think that this action was already done, since they were worshipping together. (six months at one church building, six months at the other) This was another step. Many became angry. “Their church” was going away! Pride plays a big role here. Of course, it never was anyone’s church, other than God’s church. It was an act of courage to move forward with the merger.

 And then, at a Board meeting, another act of courage. One of the men stepped up and said we needed to consider the possibility of going down to one building, one worship center. The Board agreed. A committee was formed to explore and make recommendations. It was brought to the congregation. In another act of supreme, but quiet, courage, the church voted to phase out one grand old building and prepare the other, after a complete makeover, to become the single worship center.

 This Sunday, a group of courageous and joyful worshippers will gather together and worship the God they have chosen to follow rather than the god most of the world follows. It has taken just over fifty years, but it has come.

 When we think of courage, we first think of things like battlefield bravery and bravery against long odds. But there is another courage. A quiet and simple courage that doesn’t seek glory and doesn’t embrace pride. The courage that says, “We need to do this thing because it is right and decent and will stand for the future.” No fanfare, no big splash. The splashy kind of courage is often the spur of the moment thing. Certainly courageous, but impossible to sustain. However, that daily courage to face the elements or those who work against Spiritual growth….well, that is a special courage. A courage that walks hand in hand with faith.

 Imagine if politicians had that kind of courage. The courage to put their own agendas aside and do what was right and decent. Imagine if business owners and factory workers and teachers and doctors and all the rest had that courage. Imagine if preachers and other religious leaders had the courage to walk with the Bible, and therefore walk with the Lord. What kind of America would we have?

 Quiet, dedicated courage in action. Sunday morning at 9:30, Urbana, Indiana. Come join us.