Lost to Found: Embracing Christ's Love
- Jul 19
- 8 min read
Lost, Found & Transformed was presented to my home congregation on Sunday, July 19th 2026. Though I'd spoken in church before I was more than a little nervous to share this project. But it would be nothing unless shared. Below is a transcript of that talk.
I have a LOT of questions! And I don’t think I am alone. I think there are a lot of people in this room and outside those doors that have similar questions.
Please answer, it’s just you, yourself and God, but be brutally honest.
Have I ever, ever doubted God’s existence?
I wonder if our church, and churches will survive another 30 years?
I wonder where I stand with God? Am I saved? What does “being saved” mean?
What is this whole life thing about anyway?
Am I praying correctly?
What’s happening to our world? I’m afraid.
Why keep trying if I’m not making a difference?
Does anyone even care about me/my family? Are my relationships real?
Does God let bad things happen? If so, why?
Things are so tough right now, I wonder if I’ll make it?
And this is just the short list. These questions get a bit personal; they are uncomfortable. And many of them may not have any one good answer; especially for those who have no relationship with God or a church community.
Sometimes we have to sit in an uncomfortable space to change, learn and grow.
A friend of mine, once told me, “Andrea, you’ve had a lot of hard things in your life, and sometimes you get down, but I don’t worry because you always talk yourself out of it.” Out of what, from what, to what, you ask; for sure clearer thinking. And my faith in God. My faith grounds me.
Now I could share my life’s baggage, the heavy stones that I’ve carried, we could look at those, compare my load with yours, but I think everyone has their own hard. This fallen world can be glorious, but also hard.
And as I said, I’ve had my faith in my higher power to sustain me through those moments. It’s like riding on a seesaw, sometimes your up and another is down, but it is still the same ride. But what about those people who don’t know God? What do they do, how do they survive? And, let’s get real, though I’ve experienced hard, there are many, many others out there and in the history of the world who have a much, much worse kind of hard. Knowing that each life has it’s “hard” is enough, inspection and certainly comparing heavy loads is a fool’s journey, as any judgement in regard to these is not our burden, but God’s alone.
And there comes that dangerous point, in all honesty I was at the edge of that this year, where all I could say was, “I’m just so tired.” Didn’t know what to do to get untired, but now recognize there is a price you pay mentally and physical, when year over year you give out of an empty bucket. My husband was, I think more than a little worried but with his help and faith I’m pushing through. I had my people, and my faith. There are those who don’t even have one person to turn to for help and that is truly sad, and bad news.
I’ve learned that focusing on something good can change everything. Wow, that’s really important, let me say that again, focusing on something good can change everything. In the last months I’ve circled back to a project that has been in the works for years and then met with Pastor Zack about it. Until recently, I just did not have the band width to pull it together. I asked Pastor, is this a stupid idea? Am I theologically off? My education and work experience has, at my age, breadth and depth but a theologian, I am not!. Well, I’m standing up here talking to you, so you know how he answered.
Recently, I heard an interesting concept, that God will make room for what is next in our lives. The making room process, can be closed doors, losses etc. to open space for the NEW - His needs. My “just so tired” has become excitement for the possibilities of a project that I call, “Lost, Found & Transformed”. I am taking a huge leap of faith, by putting myself out here, out there, but succeed or fail, God and I hope you will have my back.
Lost, Found & Transformed are weekly internal and external outreach messages, that ask some of those hard questions. The first issue will be published this Wednesday via Realm and social media to spur engagement, debate, self-reflection and inquiry. I’ve written over a half year of installments, all vetted theologically by pastor. Again, I am not a theologian, but the developer and initial author of this work; just an ordinary person seeking to deepen my relationship with God and His people. I live with you in this fallen world and am doing the best I can and am writing about it.
These are short and sweet messages with prompt questions to encourage thoughtful reflections. I hope they are discussion starters inside and outside this building. If one message, helps one person, changes just one heart and gets one person inspired, then all the work will have been worth it.
As a former teacher I encouraged my students to take appropriate risks. This type of writing is putting a lot out there for potential critical review. I expect that not everyone will like each week’s message, but it is in that curious debate that I hope will bring growth in our community and in our relationship with Christ.
Today is our KICK OFF. This project embodies the idea of growing for the good, as just proclaimed in Isaiah 55:10-13 and Matthew 13:1-9, 18-2, but it’s also about an honest reflection of today’s culture and our lived experiences.
Now let me give you an example of the messages.
You probably know that our culture has shifted to be less connected and more isolating with the rise in technology especially smart phones. That the COVID epidemic worsened human connection and that sociologists are now monitoring the social development of those students who sheltered in place, and learned remotely during their critical development years. Not only that but places where we had gathered, churches, pot luck dinners, soft-ball and bowling leagues, even neighborhoods and more have deteriorated for decades to checked boxes of weekly to do lists, selfies, reels, tweets and chirps!
Too often we are alone even when we are together.
Relationships take a time and nurturing to be real. People crave IRL, but have become so genuinely disconnected that they have never experienced nor cannot remember what IRL looks and feels like. We are moving so fast that we are starving ourselves from what we as humankind pack animals need most – each other, community and relationships.
According to Dr. Marisa Franco, Dr. Jeffrey Hall, Dr. Robert Selman and others working in this field of study, humans develop strong lasting relationships through micro-interactions and trust building over hours and years. Hall states that 40-60 hours are needed to move from casual acquaintance to casual friend and up to 200+ hours for a close or BFF type friendship. Not only is time required, but there are core psychological principles at play, like acceptance and assumption that our new friend shares like thoughts and morals. Then exposure and shared contexts help; this is why our bonds to school friends became so strong, because we were trapped with them in a classroom or our first “going it on our own” college experience. Of course, the age we are when the relationship developed matters. The friendships from 0 – 7 years are more about who’s physically there and available to play, are far different than the social interactions of a tween, or the autonomous adult experiences.
Now consider, if you experienced all of these relationship building events over an online platform rather than physically face-to-face with other people. Consider, the buyer beware, catfishing, memes and more that even the youngest internet users are now aware of and warned about. Relationship building in this “new world” becomes even less trusting and anxiety inducing.
It is in the real critical tough times, “who can I call for help”, that we quickly learn friend from foe. Anthropologist Margret Meade is credited with stating that first sign of civilization were archeological discoveries of bone repair, because humans needed help for safety, food, and more as that leg or arm bone healed. These ancient people were not alone, for community and the more obvious reasons of pure survival. AI, at lease so far, is not coming to save you.
New generations are now in a whole new world of “survival mode”. One where, “who do I go to when the rubber meets the road,” has narrowed even further because they have not had the hours of relationship building that true connections require. AND on top of that, no faith in a higher power, makes that desperate moment even more alone and vulnerable.
But you and I, who grew up before this digital revolution, sit in our aloneness and normalized lack of community for far different reasons. I waved to my neighbor, check; weekly call to mom, check; attended the concert, with 500 strangers, and did not really engage with any depth with a single one of them, selfie, social media post, check, check, check! Got through the grocery with self-checkout, avoided talking to a single person there, check! In a strange dichotomy we now crave interactions, but avoid and even fear them.
How do we fix this? I don’t know. What I do know is this… It’s taken us years to get to where we are now, so there will be no easy fixes. AND the community we are going to create may look far different than the one I remember for years ago. People don’t trust quickly, remember it takes a lot of those micro-interactions, parallel play, minutes and hours for us to move from strangers to friends. I hope that Lost, Found & Transformed can be a vehicle for discourse within and without to begin building a community. Because God wants us to have a community and have community with Him.
I pray that God is there in every writing, reading and sharing of these messages. And I hope that today, I may be the developer and initial author, but there are those here who have something to say, who I pray will reach out to me as contributing voices to this “Lost, Found & Transformed” dialogue. Matthew 18:20 states, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” It is when we gather and do good things that good things grow and develop. This is, I hope how good seeds fall on fertile ground.
Remember to look for Lost, Found & Transformed on Wednesday, but let’s take a few moments to chat in groups of about 5 on these questions.
Are you lonely too? How can we as a church support you?
How would you solve the problem of a standing room only Sunday Worship? Better yet, what does a new community in Christ really look like?
Where in your week do you have micro-interactions with people who are not yet friends and what can you do to engage more IRL?
Here is my risk-taking question; will you feel empowered to share “Lost, Found & Transformed” posts with others outside these walls?
Will you become a “voice” with your story for is project?
As I press "Publish" for this site, it is the Saturday BEFORE Lost, Found and Transformed's KICK OFF.
I honestly don't know how well this project will be recieved by my home church. I hope well. Then I think of how many times I've thought and heard, if someone would just do something! Well I'm someone and this is something. I hope others will join me on this journey. Maybe we can be "someones" together?
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