Keeping Score

   We need to keep score. I am not talking about keeping a score of the ways we've been wronged. I am talking about keeping score of the things that have gone right. How do we do that?
   In large indoor arenas, the scoreboard hangs over the very center of playing surface. Fans at a football or basketball game can look up and see who is ahead and how their team is doing putting points on the board. In outdoor stadiums, the scoreboard is on one end of the field, but the score can also be found in other spots, too.

Ted Williams jogging past the Green Monster's scoreboard

   One of the country's most famous sporting venues, Fenway Park in Boston, has the scoreboard integrated into the wall of left-field itself. The scoreboard, added in 1934, forms the lower half of the Green Monster, for its size and color, is still updated by hand from behind the wall throughout the game.
   Is it too late to have a scoreboard installed in the walls of our church during the renovations happening right now? Why, you ask? Because I think keeping score is important.
   Stretch with me here, but I think Jesus even modeled keeping score for his disciples. In Luke 10, Jesus sends out his disciples with specific instructions and specific tasks. They returned telling of what happened while they were out. Luke 10 captures it with, "The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." (see Luke 10) He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." Jesus is celebrating the wins they had while they were out being the disciples that he was teaching them to be.
   Andy Stanley teaches that every organization needs to work hard at identifying what a 'win' looks like. We all need to know what it looks like to get it right. I've heard three stories in the last few days of how Epworth is winning:

• Recently one of our teenagers, at a funeral for a loved one, stood in front of the crowd and shared. That is a win.
• A group of 17+ ladies have committed to praying 'around through' things that God is putting in front of them during the Season of Lent. That is a win.
• A regular visitor to worship brings their child to Epworth and trusts our volunteers to help pass on faith to their precious boy. That is a win.

   The truth is, Epworth people are faithful. Epworth people are getting things right. Epworth people are growing. We are putting points on the board, and living out the mission Jesus gave to His followers. Well done, church.
   Grace and Peace, Scott