MILESTONES: GEMSTONES OR MILLSTONES?
OR 
What do milestones represent? They can be gemstones or millstones. A gemstone usually reminds us of a meaningful event like the one a diamond does for a marriage. On the other hand, millstones can represent an unwanted burden around our neck that can sink us. This week our church is celebrating a milestone: ten years in our building. Given the sacrificial efforts that were made and continue to be made to have this building, it is a milestone that sparkles like a gemstone. However, our challenge is not to allow this milestone to become a millstone. Buildings can do that you know. If they divert energies away from the mission of the church, they can sink a church. We need to remember that a church is not a building. The church is the dynamic expression of the body of Christ in its community. A church building is just a place in which we prepare to go out into the world as the visual presence of Christ. As our church celebrates this milestone, we challenge ourselves to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the community of Lincoln. We will strive to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, help the lonely, and heal the sick. We will strive not only to verbalize the gospel but also to live it by obeying Jesus’ greatest command: to love God with all our being and to love our neighbor, no matter who he or she might be. What we desire written on our milestone are the words of Jesus: “In as much as you did it to these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matt 25:40).
Pastor Mike Bradaric, Lincoln Hills Community Church