Community News from Dr. Bob – 02/07/24
For those of you who were at service this past Sunday—or who watched online, you know we had an important sermon. It’s our State of the Church sermon, which we do periodically, but this one comes at a time when we are at a crossroads. Our choices need to be made now, and those choices will determine our options for moving forward as a church. In this past Sunday’s sermon, we went over the results of the various surveys we have taken, looked back on our rich history as a local church, and discussed where we are now in realistic terms. If you missed the message, I’d encourage you to listen to it HERE.
One important passage we looked at was Isaiah 43:18-19:
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
“The former things” include miracles like the Exodus and the parting of the Red Sea. It’s not that those former things are unimportant (on the contrary!). But we can’t live on yesterday’s miracles. We cannot rest on the laurels of the past. Our God is a God who did these great things and can do great things again. He is not finished with this church yet. But we do have to face reality and we have to come to grips with where we are now.
Things to pray through right now include:
- In what ways are you willing to serve, volunteer, and engage in ministry as active disciples of Jesus?
- If you wouldn’t rate your financial giving in the “generous” category at this point, what might God be calling you to do regarding the amount or regularity of your giving?
- What might this new thing that God is doing look like in our case?
- How might he be calling you to be a part of that?
We had cards during the service to write our responses. A few responses we received are copied verbatim below. If you haven’t yet reflected and written your card, you can still send them in now.
And be sure to join us next Sunday, as Pastor Brett will talk more about how we will continue to move forward in the way of Jesus—and what our future might look like.
“Embrace relationships as opportunities for discipleship; allow/invite the Holy Spirit to stir my heart and mind to serve others.”
“Be baptized and continue to grow in terms of serving God, my church, and my community.”
“I am sensing a strong impression to everyday say things that Jesus said and do the things that Jesus did, bringing the kingdom of God to all who would receive.”
“Be the church!”
“Loving others as Jesus loves me.”
“Repent and surrender daily.”
“Get into a small group.”
“Serve on Tuesday nights with Middle School students.”
God, give us the faith and courage to follow through on our commitment from this weekend. We want you, Lord – nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.
Sincerely –
Dr. Bob
