One hundred years ago the town of Tripoli was a booming
community. There was a great sawmill on the bank of the millpond. There were stores,
hotels (more than one), taverns (pretty sure more than one), a lumber yard and
railway station. Tripoli had schools and even a theater. There was everything that
a growing town would need.
Someone gave the town the name of Tripoli. The name sounds like it came from the Greek, and so it
did. It means “three cities.” In this nascent town of Tripoli, there was great
hopes of promise. Perhaps the community would one day grow to include even the
town of Clifford, and possibly even Brantwood. The three cities.
Now we turn the calendar twelve hundred pages – one
hundred years. The stores are gone, the hotels and taverns are no more…oh, I
think there is one tavern yet, in case someone has a real thirst, but it is not
one of the original taverns. The theater is gone, and the train now just speeds
on by Tripoli without even so much of a thought of stopping. The schools are
gone. Even the sawmill, the enormous engine of the community, is gone.
What remains of all of those original buildings, each
constructed with visions of grand plans of success? They are all gone, each
destroyed either by neglect or by fire.
But there is one other building of one hundred years ago
that I did not mention. That building was a small, unpretentious little church
that sat humbly, near where the creek crosses the road. The church was made of
logs – more or less a sign of poverty in those days. For the settlers in those
early years, the sooner that they could cover up the logs in their homes with
siding, the better. But the best was to have a house built out of lumber.
Out of all of those original buildings in the town of
Tripoli, one hundred years later there remains only one – the unobtrusive
little log church. Gone from Tripoli are dreams of a great center of commerce
and industry. Some might say that there is little hope at all left for the
town. However, the road is still there and the creek is still running, and
where they meet, the Log Church is still standing.
I am not saying these things in a boastful or prideful
kind of way, but I tell this tale of the town of Tripoli as an allegory. In
some way, it is the story of each of our lives. Perhaps all of us, as we were
growing out of adolescence and into adulthood, had dreams of greatness—remarkable
things that we would do and what we would build with our lives. Some may have
even realized a small measure of that success in their lives. But the reality
is, most dreams of youth will never be achieved. And the more sobering truth be
told, none of those successes will last long. They will all eventually fail
through neglect or by fire, or perhaps by some other destructive process.
Like the Log Church of Tripoli, it is only the spiritual
life within us that will remain. It is as the Apostle Paul said of our lives,
“We know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a
building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2
Corinthians 5:1).
Knowing this, why is it that we tend to put so much
effort into building something that can never remain, and then neglect that part
of our lives which will endure? Why do we so often simply ignore our spiritual
lives? Why is it that so many simply do not seek God at all? They spend their
entire lives chasing their own ephemeral hopes, either to never achieve them or
to finally see them vanish in their hands like last night’s dream. Do we not
know what is important?
It is because of this that Jesus said, “Don’t lay up for
yourselves treasures on earth. Here on earth, the moths will destroy the
treasures—or rust. And if these do not get your treasures, thieves will break
in a steal them. Rather than this, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
There, neither moth nor rust can destroy it, and thieves cannot break in and
steal.”
Then Jesus closes with this: “For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).
For one hundred years, the Log Church has ministered to
build the spiritual lives of the people of this community and beyond. Today we
are rededicating it to continue into the second century. This is where our
treasure is.
Like the little Log Church of Tripoli, it is also the
spiritual aspects of your life that will endure.
Today, we are dedicating the Log Church to continue with its task of ministering to the spiritual needs of the local community and beyond. To what do you wish dedicate your life from this time forward?
Today, we are dedicating the Log Church to continue with its task of ministering to the spiritual needs of the local community and beyond. To what do you wish dedicate your life from this time forward?
(Link to news story below)
Local Television News Story about the Centennial Celebration
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