Are you encouraged about our church and its ministries? I am! I often will hear ministers complain about a lack of involvement, a lack of wanting to do anything, a lack of giving, or a lack of spirituality. I am so happy that I am not one of those ministers. You have a great love for Christ and each other. I see a clear love for the lost developing in your hearts as well. You are free with your time and consistent in your giving.
I want us to think for a moment on where we want to go from here. Vision is about knowing where you are going or in our case where Christ wants us to go as a congregation. Our deacons are working on a plan for where we need to go to take care of our building and other financial and physical needs. Our Elders are going to be looking to the future and asking what do we want to be in five, ten, fifteen years and what is it going to take to get there. I am a big believer that if you aim at nothing you will hit it! What do we need to be doing now? Several things come to mind, here are a few:
1. Actively participate in the TEN LIST and Summer of ONE programs. Evangelism is a high priority for many reasons. It is clear in the Bible that we are to be doing this; after all it is our Great Commission. People are in danger of an eternity in hell. We need more workers in our congregation with new and different gifts to expand the ministry. We must make evangelism a priority and this starts with each of you in the congregation.
2. We all need to do a little more in giving. I really want to commend the congregation, in these difficult economic times our giving has remained steady even with the death of many active members over the last few years. However the cost of doing business continues to go up every year. I would encourage us to remember the power of small but consistent giving. First, make every effort to tithe with every check. Second, make an effort to give every Sunday. Giving is a part of our corporate worship. It is something we do together every Sunday. If you Tithe one Sunday a month, then try and give a little the other three or four Sundays too. If everyone gave just one dollar every Sunday, more than we give now, then we would have a $5,000 increase in a year. ($1 x 52 weeks x 100 members = 5,200) The keys to our financial health are Biblical Tithing and faithful small giving every Sunday.
3. Find your ministries within our congregation and work hard at developing them. We all have spiritual gifts and we are given these to be used in our congregation’s life. What is your gifts and where can they be used to further the work of Christ kingdom?
4. Each of us needs to seek the fullness of Christ in our lives. The church and all we do must be about Jesus Christ! If it is about our tradition, or our helping people, or our teaching people just to be good, we miss our purpose. We worship the living Christ, we reach out in his name, we show his love by helping people, and we spread his teaching for his glory. Let us resolve ourselves to make Christ the Lord of our hearts, our families, and our church.
Kyle E Sims
Pastor
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