Letter From The Editor 2023
Dear Reader,
It is with a joyful and grateful heart that I write this letter to you. It is an incredible thing to reflect on the sovereign plan of God and to realize that this letter effectively marks the one-year anniversary of the More Than Sundays blog at Cross Creek Church. As we hit this milestone, I thought it would be appropriate to provide an update on where we have been and where we intend to go, to explain a little more clearly what we are all about here, and to thank both you and God profusely for the privilege of serving you in this manner. I believe I speak for our whole team when I thank you for your readership and for your encouragement as we have started this ministry and endeavored to keep it.
A Year In Hindsight
There is a small chance a few of you will remember advertisements early in 2022 for a D-Group called “LEAD” here at the church. I joined hoping for an opportunity to “discern by doing” – sometimes, when you’re not sure what God wants you to do next, you’ve got to try some things that God leaves easily within reach and see what sticks. As a part of the group, we were each paired with a member of the church staff to get acclimated with an area of ministry and do a project, and I was paired with our church administrator at the time, Meredith McNamee. For a number of years, I had dreamed in the secret places of my heart of being able to write meaningful things for the Kingdom of God. I even felt God would call me to do it at some point. So when Meredith gave me options for projects to do, and when I saw one of those options was to start a blog at the church, I knew God was telling me it was time to get started fulfilling the dream He had given me.
Even after months of preparatory work, it became evident this would have all the characteristics of a real ministry. By that, I mean that we figured out that no amount of planning would change the fact that we needed to build parts of this plane while we were flying it. God’s grace ended up being sufficient for us in this, too, and the blog was born. We’ve seen team members come and go, tweaked formats and frequencies, and worked to find a groove in an area in which none of us had any real experience. Meredith ended up following her husband Peter to another ministry opportunity four or five months after launch, and it was at that point she offered me the reins as editor. I remember wrestling with the decision and telling her that I would be open to being the interim editor until we could find somebody else. I also remember Pastor Michael approaching me the next Sunday and saying, “You know this isn’t going to be temporary, right?” I did.
The goal for the past year has been to set a good foundation. We’ve written about the nature of God, the dangers of sin, the grace of Jesus Christ, the basics of faith, the importance of prayer, where we have been in our personal walks with God, and more. I have been impressed both by the team’s wit and wisdom and by their willingness to share the deep, personal details of their lives for the glory of God and the benefit of others. I have been encouraged by the handful of comments I have received about the work we have done, and I am assured and convinced that, as we have proclaimed the Word of God to the vast space of the Internet, it has failed to come back empty.
The Mission
Through the last year, there have been two words that have formed a guiding principle for me on this blog, and those would be “Practical Christianity”. We are lay people writing to lay people; in other words, the writers you see featured on this blog – with a couple of exceptions – are just like you. We don’t have rigorous theological training or impressive spiritual accolades, but we all know a very real Savior. We know what it is like to take the first wobbly steps of faith, bang our heads and knees as we’ve fallen, and see slow but promising progress. Distilling this “faith” thing in a way “the rest of us” can understand is what we shoot for.
Our mission is to build you up in Christ. If you don’t know Christ, our goal is to bring you to desire Him as Friend, Brother, King, Savior, and God. If you do know Christ, our goal is to help you keep Him in clear focus in all areas of your life. If you find yourself even a little closer to Him in even a small area of your life when you read one of our articles, then we have accomplished what we set out to do. In essence, this is where we got the name for the blog: We hope your faith can become something you experience more than just on Sundays. We hope it can become your life.
Oh, The Places He’ll Lead Us
We have great plans for the coming year. The main plan is to keep writing like normal. That might not look grandiose, but we believe it is the work God has set before us and prepared for us beforehand, and that is something special in and of itself. Lord willing, we will also have one or two special series posting sometime in the coming year – we are praying for the graces to make that happen.
Our great hope for the next year is also to grow the team, and we could potentially use your help with that. We would like to extend a warm invitation for you to become the next member of the blog team should you feel so led. If you feel you are gifted in writing, researching, editing, or some other talent you believe might be beneficial to the blog, please reach out to me at thomas@crosscreekfountain.com so we can discuss next steps. It has proven to be a rich and rewarding ministry, and you don’t need to be a genius, have a Pulitzer Prize, or be able to bring people to their knees with your words to join. We are looking for people who understand they are sinners, love the God who redeemed them, and have a desire to honor Him with the gifts He has given them. I will be praying that the decision is clear and simple for you regardless of what it is.
Final Words Until Next Time
It is tempting to be facetious and warn you about what can happen when you say “yes” to God. Such a warning would be useless. God puts us in the position to say “yes” even if we don’t realize it’s happening, and when He finally brings me to eternity, one of the things I’d like to ask Him is about the joy He experiences knowing what will follow each of those “yeses”. This blog has been a blessing both to me and the team, and I hope it has been a blessing to you as well. I thank God for bringing this church into my life, for giving Meredith the idea for the ministry, and for the consistent graces not to be dumb enough to say “no” at any point along the way.
Please join me in thanking everyone who has contributed something to the blog either to get it started or keep it running: Meredith, Peter, Tyler, Taylor, Meghyn, and Pastor Michael. Please thank and encourage our current team members especially: Gracey, Cristina, and Laura. Lord willing, you will be hearing more from them very soon. Of course, I’d also like to thank you, our readers, for your patience, your love, and your attention.
I would kindly request your prayers for us that, as we continue in this ministry, it will not become a source of pride for us and that we will always do it for the glory of God. Please also pray for God to continue to do wonderful things with the imperfect things we create.
May what we do in this ministry lift up a sweet aroma to God, and may what you find here assist you in lifting up your own. There is no greater pursuit and no greater reward, and it is our pleasure to join you on the journey in whatever capacity you will allow.
Thank you again, and God bless you with His peace, His wisdom, and His hope. All the glory belongs to Him.
Yours forever in Christ,
Thomas Luckett