Over these past weeks, we have reflected on what it means to be Connected in Christ — first remembering that we are a connectional church, then hearing Christ’s call to love boldly, and last week discovering that discipleship takes shape as we serve joyfully.
Today, we arrive at this final theme: Lead Courageously.
This season is filled with movement and transition. Graduations are taking place. Families are entering new chapters. Churches continue navigating change and new opportunities for ministry. Many across our conference are also gathering for Annual Conference — a time of worship, discernment, decision-making, and shared ministry.
The truth is, the church has always lived through moments like these. From the very beginning, faithful people have wrestled with difficult questions, changing circumstances, and uncertainty about the future. Those moments are not signs that something has gone wrong. They are part of what it means to be the church, seeking to follow God faithfully.
That is part of what makes Trinity Sunday so meaningful. We worship a God who exists in relationship — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — continually working together in love, guidance, and mission. As the church, we are called to reflect that same shared discernment and shared calling as we seek the Spirit’s direction together.
Courageous Leadership Steps Forward in Uncertain Times
In Joshua 1, Joshua stands at one of the great moments of transition in scripture. Moses — the leader who brought the people out of Egypt and guided them through the wilderness — is gone. A new chapter is beginning, and Joshua now carries the responsibility of leading God’s people forward.
The future is unclear. The people are anxious. Joshua himself surely felt the weight of what was ahead.
Into that uncertainty, God speaks these words:
“Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
— Joshua 1:9
Notice what God does not say.
God does not say, “Be strong because everything will be easy.”
God does not say, “Be courageous because you already know how this will turn out.”
Instead, God offers something deeper than certainty: presence.
“The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
That promise still speaks today.
Many people are stepping into new seasons of life. Churches continue facing change and new opportunities for ministry. Some pastors are being commissioned, ordained, or retiring and wondering what comes next. Others carry quiet fears about the future they have never spoken aloud. Some grieve changes they never expected. Many are simply trying to trust God one day at a time without fully knowing where the path leads.
In scripture, courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is trusting God enough to move forward anyway.
Joshua could not remain standing at the riverbank forever. At some point, faith required stepping forward before he could see how God would make a way.
Joshua moved forward because God was with him. The early church moved forward because the Holy Spirit was guiding them. The church today is still called to move forward in faith, trusting that God’s presence goes before us.
Courageous Churches Do Not Avoid Difficult Conversations
In Acts 15, the early church faced a difficult and deeply important question. Gentiles were coming to faith in Christ, and suddenly long-held traditions and assumptions were being challenged.
For generations, the people of God had understood themselves in particular ways. Certain practices had shaped their identity for a very long time. Now the church had to wrestle with a difficult question:
What happens when the Holy Spirit begins moving in ways that challenge what feels familiar and comfortable?
There were strong opinions. Real disagreement. Uncertainty about the future of the church.
Fear has a way of intensifying moments like these. Fear makes people cling tightly to what feels familiar. Fear tempts people to protect themselves rather than trust what God may be doing next. Anxiety can cause people to see one another as opponents instead of fellow disciples seeking faithfulness together.
Yet what is remarkable in Acts 15 is this: the church did not walk away from the conversation.
They did not pretend the conflict was not there. They did not immediately divide from one another. Instead, they gathered together to pray, listen, speak honestly, and discern what faithfulness required.
Faithful leadership is not avoiding tension; it is engaging it prayerfully.
Healthy churches do not ignore hard questions. They pray. They listen. They discern together. And even when disagreements arise, they remain in relationship as they seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
That is part of what gatherings like Annual Conference are meant to be — not simply meetings and decisions, but the church worshiping, praying, listening, and discerning together where God is leading next.
Courageous Leadership Listens for the Holy Spirit
As the conversation continues in Acts 15, Peter reminds the church of something important: God has already been at work among the Gentiles. The Holy Spirit had already been poured out upon them just as it had upon Jewish believers.
Peter is not speaking theoretically. He points to what he has witnessed firsthand. He has seen lives changed. He has seen people come to faith. He has seen evidence that the Spirit is already active among people once considered outsiders.
In other words, Peter tells the church to pay attention to where God is already moving.
That becomes one of the central questions of faithful discernment:
Where is the Holy Spirit already at work?
Not simply:
- “What are we comfortable with?”
- “What have we always done?”
But:
- “Where is God already bringing life, transformation, grace, and faith?”
On Trinity Sunday, that matters deeply. The Holy Spirit did not stop guiding the church after Pentecost. The Spirit still leads the church today — still guiding, correcting, opening doors, and calling the church forward into ministry and mission.
Sometimes the Spirit comforts the church. Sometimes the Spirit challenges the church. Sometimes the Spirit calls God’s people beyond familiar assumptions into places of deeper faithfulness.
But the Spirit continues to move.
Listening for the Spirit requires humility. Fear tends to ask, “How do we protect ourselves?” while the Spirit asks, “How do we remain faithful to Christ?”
One of the gifts of the Methodist connectional tradition is that discernment is not carried alone. Churches pray together. Leaders gather together. Wisdom is shared in community. No congregation walks alone.
That does not mean agreement always comes easily or immediately. The Jerusalem Council certainly proves that. But it does mean the church trusts that the Holy Spirit is still capable of guiding God’s people together.
The church moves forward not because we trust ourselves, but because the risen Christ is already ahead of us.
Courageous Churches Keep Moving Forward
Joshua did not remain standing at the edge of the river. At some point, faith required stepping forward before he could see how God would make a way.
The early church faced the same choice: would fear and disagreement define its future, or would it trust the leading of the Holy Spirit?
The church today faces that same decision.
Anxiety about the future can tempt churches to become cautious, fearful, or inward-focused. Fear encourages people to cling tightly to what feels safe and familiar. But again and again, scripture reminds us that God’s people are not called to stand still in fear, but to move forward in faith.
And the mission continues.
The church is still called to:
- make disciples,
- love boldly,
- serve joyfully,
- and lead courageously.
The world still needs hope. People still need grace. Communities still need compassion. Christ still calls the church to bear witness to the gospel in every generation.
Because the future of the church has never depended on human certainty. It has always depended on the faithfulness of God.
The church has faced uncertainty before. Every generation has had to decide whether it trusted the Spirit enough to keep following.
The same God who guided Joshua, the same Spirit who led the early church, still leads the church today.
So the church moves forward together — not fearfully, but faithfully and courageously.
Connected in Christ
As this series on being Connected in Christ comes to a close, we are reminded once more that the church does not move forward alone.
Christ still leads the church.
The Holy Spirit still speaks.
God still calls the church forward in faith and mission.
This week, pray for:
- Annual Conference,
- pastors and church leaders,
- wisdom and courage,
- and openness to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
The same God who stood with Joshua, the same Spirit who guided the early church, still leads the church today.
So we move forward together:
- not with fear, but with faith;
- not clinging to certainty, but trusting the presence of God;
- and not standing still, but leading courageously into the future God is preparing.
May we continue growing as a people who love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously as we follow Christ together.
We are connected in Christ so that together we may become the hands and feet of Christ in the world.
Pieces of the Puzzle 