St. Patrick Presbyterian Church, Epc

The Ministry of the CrossI was in my study on Wednesday afternoon, pondering a sermon for Sunday and a vision talk that night, as well as what time I needed to be home to prepare the chicken for the grill, when I got a knock on my door. It was one of our ministry partners—one who is more than a partner, she is a beloved friend. We hadn’t had a chance to catch up since we’d wept together after she got the news some members of her church were killed in a plane crash. After a warm embrace, I told her to come in and have a seat. We exchanged pleasantries and talked about ministry and, after listening to her talk of all the challenges and brokenness she faced in her ministry, I said, “It is just bewildering, isn’t it?” She said, “Yes, it really is; and oftentimes, you just don’t even know what to do or if there is even a fix.”  My head was already spinning from our text this week and, after looking at the three episodes we will talk about Sunday, I too was just baffled at how difficult ministry really is. Our text