Pastor Larry Sundin
Pastor Larry Sundin
One of my favorite Scriptures is tucked in at the conclusion of the 23rd Psalm where David declares: “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” What I love about this particular Scripture is the word picture found in the Hebrew word for “follow.” In the Hebrew language the idea is that God pursues us with His goodness. This word was used primarily as a hunting term. So, we can think of it this way: Our God is continually chasing after us so that He might bless us with His goodness and mercy.
That’s the image that comes to my mind as we prepare to celebrate our 8th anniversary as God’s family known as Rock Springs Church. God is good! He has been so good to us and continually spreads His goodness through us. One of the ways He spreads His goodness is through each person who lovingly serves others with little or no fanfare throughout the year. God has blessed us with so many faithful and loving servants: Like Linda Balzan and Connie Drew who’ve prepared and delivered dozens of meals to the hurting and suffering in our church as part of our mercy team. Like Mike Casey, Jeff Lund, and George Remaley who faithfully set up and run sound, video, and Zoom for our worship gatherings every Sunday. Then there are servants like Linda Walker, Sharon Green, Lou Bartlett, Becky Sundin, Michele Conrad, and Joann Parkin who lovingly include and help other women learn to follow Jesus together each week in their Journey Groups. And of course, there are those faithful men like Dan Conrad, Bobby Bartlett, Steve Bishop, Mike Casey, Jim Green, and Dennis Schweitzer who are building into other men to help them learn to follow Jesus in their Journey Groups. These are just a few of the people God has given us to partner with Him to be a blessing. In fact, as I sat down to write this article, I estimated that we may have as many as 90 or more Christ followers who are partnering with us in some capacity to spread the goodness and mercy of God in our Church and community. And when I think of how each person allows God to work through them and bless others, I’m filled with joy and appreciation for how good God truly is. God’s hand is on the people of Rock Springs Church!
But then, at the end of the year I received a simple report that tells the story of all the ways God has used our church family to be a blessing in our world. First in Eloy, through our gifts and service to Eloy Food Bank; our partnership with the Eloy Police Department through their Shop with a Cop ministry; and with our donation to support the ministry of Pastor Fred and Mount Zion Church. Secondly, through our generous and prayerful support of the street ministry of Regeneration Church in Ocean Beach, Calif. Third, through all the people who organized, gave, and helped pack nearly 1700 Christmas Shoeboxes that went to bless children around the world. And finally, through the special offering we gave that went directly to help Churches who are ministering to the suffering citizens of Ukraine. Altogether Rock Springs gave nearly $73,000 to mission work in our community and around the world this year. So yes, God is good. But He’s not done pursuing His goodness to us and through us.
So, as we gather to celebrate our 8th anniversary as a church on Feb. 5, we are going to celebrate our great God who pursues us with His goodness and mercy. Perhaps you’d like to celebrate with us. Rock Springs Church gathers for worship every Sunday morning in the Hermosa Ballroom at 9 a.m. We’d love to welcome you!